Christmas. Christmas held mixed feelings in the household. Firstly, there was one member that seemed to go a little bonkers around Christmas, putting up decorations and generally making the house very festive. The other adult held mixed feelings, because even if it was a joyous time, it was also his birthday. While many people claimed that a birthday on December 25th was "cool", people actually got away with giving less gifts because he received presents that were both fir Christmas and his birthday. People could be so lame. Not to mention, he was also another year older. This year, he was turning forty. The current forty-something was currently acting like a big kid, popping up from behind the couch with a can of snow spray and coating his son with the stuff.
Brown eyes watched the adult and his adopted son. The twenty four year old narrowed eyes at him, glaring daggers at his father through the thick rimmed glasses he wore. Even now, he still wore the childish style of glasses. David claimed it kept him looking "cute". Bailee wore them because they were familiar. Despite all efforts to get him to wear a pair, Reuben was adamant that he was not going to wear a pair of "milk bottle bottom glasses", which made his father chuckle.
"Aren't you supposed to spend Christmas with your mom this year?" Bailee asked, catching the towel Al had tossed to him and cleaning the fake snow from his glasses.
Ben looked up from the book he was reading to what was his older "brother". David had adopted him when he was seven, barely a year after his mother had given custody of him to his father, which meant that Bailee was now legally his brother. There was a lot of fuss, since there were still a lot of controversy with two men adopting a child, but they had succeeded, and were now one big happy family. "She's going on holiday to some tropical country this year," he replied. "She said that she didn't want me to miss out Christmas with my Dad, so I shouldn't go with her."
"In other words, Harmony would rather play with her new boy toy than spend time with her son," came a voice from the kitchen.
"You're just jealous she has a younger model," Bailee called out, stealing the can from his father's hand and dancing nimbly behind him and coating him in the remainder of the snow. They had made quite a mess of the living room. Luckily, they hadn't managed to get any on Al's new leather corner group. David had moved into Al's bungalow about a year into their relationship, bringing Bailee with him. The basement had then been converted into a bedroom for the older boy so that he and Reuben no longer had to share. Bailee had moved out, but the room was still kept the same as however he left it. His girlfriend had gone on a family holiday, leaving Bailee to spend Christmas with his weird family. Whenever he was around, David turned into a kid - even more so than normal. Since it was Christmas, he was acting even worse than normal. Reuben wondered just how he managed to stay sane.
"Hey, I'm more than enough for him," David called out, tackling his son to the ground. "Quality improves with age," he added, pinning Bails to the ground, a grin spreading across his features.
"Dad, David's beating his son again," Ben called out, uncurling his legs and stretching the out before him, resting them on the older man's back, as the two lay on the ground, wrestling for the now empty can of spray. The floor was coated, and were it not for the fact that Al had informed them both that were they to make a mess they were going to be cleaning it, Ben was certain his father would throw a fit for the state of his living room.
"If he kills him, that's one less mouth to feed," called the same voice from the kitchen.
Bailee let out a soft chuckle, wriggling beneath his father's stronger and larger frame. "Monster! How dare you be so heartless!"
"I have him wrapped around my little finger, don't I sweetheart?"
"Don't call me sweetheart!"
Reuben chuckled, listening to the chaos ensuing around him. He had no reason to be surprised, because Bailee's visits usually involved chaos of some sort. He was here for a whole week; if David didn't render the house to the ground by the end of it, Ben would be sure a higher power had some involvement.
"It looks like no one is coming to your rescue." David let out a a fake evil laugh and began tickling the brunet.
Wriggling, laughing and attempting to break free, eyes looked up to the figure of his younger brother, pleading for rescue. Pushing the thin rimmed, square framed glasses further up the bridge of his nose, Ben set his book onto the table beside him and slipped off the chair. Stepping over the father son pair, he left them to wrestle, seeking out his own father, hands slipping into the pockets of his baggy jeans as he went. He had picked up his father's dark dress sense, and it was mixed with an alternative style. David often joked that a man named Jojo had kidnapped Reuben and influenced his dress sense. Reuben had no idea who this person was, but apparently he had a mohawk. Bailee said he'd been a student at the school their father's had met at.
"You're evil incarnate!" Bailee called from the living room as Ben slipped into the kitchen to find his father removing the dishes from the dishwasher and putting them away. Hopping up onto the counter, legs swung out before him, watching the older man intently. Somehow, David had convinced him to wear a Santa hat, making the man look rather comical.
"Do you think Mom is mad at me for wanting to come and live with you?" he asked, chewing on his lower lip as he watched his father pause his actions. tongue slipped over the ring piercing the middle of his lower lip, running over the cool pink metal.
Star slipped the plates into the cupboard with a soft sigh. After closing the door, he turned to look at his son. "I don't think she's mad at you, Ben," he replied softly. "She's just...She always found it hard to be mother material. She loves you, and she's certainly not mad at you. Harmony just never really took to being a mother very well."
"But this is the third year she's gone off somewhere and left me here when I was supposed to spend Christmas with her."
Another soft sigh from his father. turning around, the man placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder, deep, chocolate brown eyes looking into his son's almost clear blue pair. "She just feels that perhaps you'd enjoy it more if you were to spend it at home, with us rather than in some random country with her. You've got friends and family here, where ever she's gone, you'll just be lonely. She's thinking about you, even if it doesn't seem that way."
Ben looked down at his hands folded upon his lap. "But what you said..."
"I was joking," Al replied quickly, leaning forwards to place a soft kiss to his son's forehead. "Now cheer up, and go and hand those two a mop. you have my permission to kick David in the shins if he's got even a speck of that stuff on my new lounge furniture. Leather doesn't come cheap."
A grin spread on Reuben's lips, and he nodded hastily, hopping down from his perch on the kitchen counter. Skidding across the tiled floor on his socks, he stopped at the door, flashing a big grin at his father. "Oh, Christian asked me if we were coming over for a Christmas party at his Mom's place."
"I didn't know you hung out with the Hearst twins," Al said, looking over at his son. "I know you guys played together when you were younger, and went to the same school, but I never thought you guys would meet up much."
Ben smirked. "Oh, we don't, Christian just came up and asked at lunch the other day. Do you know how annoying it is to know all the teachers? I loose so many cool point because you're a maths teacher."
Al pointed a knife at him, waving it in the air as he spoke, but the smile curled at his lips said he was only playing. "I'll have you know mathematics is a very important subject."
"Oh by the way, Isobel; totally hot"
"She's twelve!" came a shout from the lounge, soon followed by Bailee skidding into the kitchen, shortly followed by his father who had shouted out. "You're a bad, bad boy, Reuben Hughes."
Ben grinned, wrinkling his nose at the older man. "Hey, I'm biding my time"
Folding his arms at his chest, Star shot a glare at David. "He gets it from you."
David scoffed, feigning a look of hurt. "Alastar, I am ashamed that you would say such a thing about me."
"Well, he didn't get his perverted, flirting streak from me. Which means it's all your fault. Since it's your fault, you get the wonderful task of calling Madeline and warning her that your son is going to be dating her daughter."
Bailee was laughing, and Ben was trying his best to stop himself from bursting out. David's mouth had fallen open, hanging agape as Al gave him a task that would involve death, even if he was just the messenger boy. Even Al had a slight smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Why me?"
"Because if you don't warn her, I'll go and try and woo her without her mother warning her just what a pervert I'm taking after," Ben replied.
"I'm not a pervert! I'm...flirtatious!"
"Pffft...Pervert," Bailee added.
"You're all against me," David admitted, a childish pout forming on his lips. It was highly amusing, since he was still coated in fake snow.
"Yeah, but you're my pervert," came the soft voice of Al, now moving beside David, arms wrapping around the older man and stealing a soft kiss, to which both Reuben and Bailee let out a simultaneous "Get a room."
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