serendipity

38: "hallmark movie!"

(ezra's pov)

keaton, leo, max, ser, and i are on our way to a christmas tree farm. the last couple weeks since we've been back from the trip, have been filled with school, school, and more school. midterms are next week and then winter break, here we come.

leela and phoebe are with their families, decorating their houses and mom is working so it's just the five of us.

we're planning on getting a big tree for my house and then a smaller one for max and ser's apartment.

the five of us are gonna stay at my house christmas eve and christmas night. alessandro is even going to stay with us. keaton and leo haven't warmed up to him what so ever but we're all trying.

i look over at ser in the drivers seat and wince internally, feeling guilty. since our last talk about the future and college, it has come up one time. ser told me she doesn't want to get in the way of my future and even if we have to do long distance, she loves the idea of me going to culinary school and doing what i love.

she expressed that it's what i want to do and it would be great for my future. and i completely agree. the only problem is that it's away from ser and max.

so, i made the decision to stay here, with my family. i never had a dream school i wanted to go to so i can take some classes at the community college and i will be perfectly content.

i just haven't told ser yet. and it sounds like great news, but i know she will feel guilty when she shouldn't. so, i haven't told her yet. i'm waiting for the right time but i have no idea when that is.

i shake my head to get out of my thoughts and i see we've just pulled up to the tree farm.

we clamber out and max runs up to me and i lift him into my arms. i feel him shiver so i take off my extra coat and drape it over him while i hold him.

"i love you," max murmurs and i realize i will never get tired of hearing him and ser say that to me. which only further supports my decision so stay closer to them.

"i love you too, kid." i kiss his forehead and follow everyone into the gates.

ser comes to stand next to us so i tuck her into my side. "will you stay the night? we can do cookies and christmas movies with max," she offers and i can't fight the giddy grin that makes it way to my face.

"i wouldn't want to do anything else, my love."

"good, because it wasn't really an option to do anything else." she shrugs and i feel laughter bubble up in my throat.

i look away from ser when i hear someone clear their throat. keaton and leo stand in front of us with their hands on their hips and an eyebrow raised. "are we getting invited?" keaton asks with a little bit of sass in his tone.

"y'all are always invited." ser laughs.

"not always," i quickly add and glare at the two idiots who flip me off.

i hear ser laugh and i turn to her. a smile automatically forms on my face and i kiss her cheek.

"chocolate chip?" max inquiries.

"damn right. there's nothing better," i say and his smile widens.

"damn right," he repeats and i freeze. i look wide eyed to ser who's glaring at me. keaton and leo boom with laughter and i suddenly have the urge to punch them in the dick.

"max please don't say that. your sister is ready to kill me," i whisper-shout to max and he nods with a little giggle.

"sorry, sissy. won't happen again." max apologizes and ser softens up real quick.

i breathe a sigh of relief and urge everyone to start looking for trees.

we look for about 30 minutes until we find the perfect one for ser's apartment. we set it aside and continue our look for the last one.

"oh, oh, oh! e, look!" ser exclaims and points to the perfect tree for the house.

we get a worker to help us and get the two trees bundled and set on top of the two cars: ser's and keatons.

"how about we drop this one off at the house and get it set up and then we can head to ser's?" i suggest and everyone nods in agreement.

------------------------------

keaton and i are digging through my garage, looking for a the tree stand thing which seems to buried under everything in this damn garage.

"i found it!" keaton exclaims and holds up his arm to show me two stands. i sigh in relief and we head back inside to get the tree ready.

it takes about an hour before we have everything cleaned and set up. we head back to ser's and let me say, it was a bitch getting the tree all the way up the stairs because the elevator was so conveniently broken.

by the time we reach the doorstep, we're all breathing heavy from either carrying the tree or just walking up the stairs in general.

ser's keys cling tighter as she unlocks the door and we pull the tree to the living room. out of the corner of my eye, i see ser wince and i turn to her. "we don't the stand thingy," she admits and i let out a breathy laugh.

"good thing i brought an extra." i kiss her forehead before heading back down the stairs, to the car, and back up the stairs.

"ser...i'm filing...a complaint...about...the elevator...being broken," i sputter out as i breath heavily. it's the damn scooby doo fruit snacks, i swear. but i'm still gonna eat them.

she laughs before shaking her head and ushering us to start.

it's takes about half the time with this tree since it's smaller. i sweep up the fallen leaves while ser comes out, carrying boxes of decorations. "this should be fun," ser beams and i suck up all my exhaustion for her.

all of us grab ornaments and hang them on the tree after leo and keaton wrap the lights around it.

i love that their ornaments aren't meaningless. their either pictures or school projects. most, if not all, have sentimental value.

"all right, bud. let's get that star on." i lift max up and he sets the star on top. i set him down and we all take a couple steps back to admire our work.

"wow," leo breathes out and we nod in agreement. for a small tree, it's pretty damn impressive.

ser walks off before bringing out towels and our spare clothes we started leaving here. "go shower and change and then we can make cookies."

we take turns showering and changing into our pyjamas before we all huddle into the kitchen and get started.

we all help to make the dough and then we roll it out and cut it into shapes. some christmas trees, some santa hats, others ornaments.

i look over to keaton who has been oddly quietly. i see his cookie and burst out laughing. "what the hell is wrong with you?" i sputter between my laughs.

he grins, proud. "i like it." and shrugs.

everyone looks over to him and i see ser cover max's eyes. "a penis, really?" ser gives keaton a disappointed look and it only makes us laugh harder.

we sober up and set the cookies in the oven before heading into the living room to pick a movie. we gather around ser who holds the remote and asks, "what movie?"

keaton immediately shouts, "hallmark movie!" we nod in agreement and hurry onto the couch to get ready for the movie.

last week, ser made us watch a hallmark movie and i am forever grateful for it. we've probably watched ten of them since then.

we spend another 15 minutes trying to find a specific movie. when we do, the cookie timer dings and ser sets off to get them.

she comes back in with not only a tray of cookies but a couple mugs of hot chocolate. how she carries it all, i have no idea.

we huddle together on the couch and become engrossed in the cliche and predictable but incredibly good movie.

in the middle of the movie, ser leans in closer to me and i wrap my arms tighter around her. i feel her drift off to sleep as her breathing even outs and i hope the future works itself out.