• \\ Ryden oneshots // •

Are we being cliché, or is this how Christmas goes? 💫

Part II of the 'bilingual kid' universe :)
Point of view: 3rd person
Word count: 7.7k

"The most beautiful thing is to see a person you love smiling. And even more beautiful is knowing that you are one of the reasons behind it."

—

Winter had arrived not so long ago — the coldness in the air was present, and the snow covering the streets made it official. The smell of hot chocolate wasn't missed at this time of the year, flavored with that distinctive peppermint extract Brendon loves so much to put in it, even though Ryan tells him not to — he's having a drink, not washing his teeth.

They were just a few days away from Christmas. The Ross-Urie household couldn't stay behind in the decorations, putting up whatever was needed to see, feel, and smell the christmasy aura. The generally white canvas that was the living room, now was painted with green, red, gold accents everywhere.

The tree was a simple, green tree, taller than all of them — reason why Ryan had to climb a chair, held by Brendon, in order to put the characteristic golden star at the very top. The ornaments on the tree were varied, and it was full to the brim. A mixture of red and gold plain spheres, some of them glittery, snowflakes, little stars, pinecones, a red-golden ribbon circling it, family pictures, toys.

Jayden was the happiest to have their house filled with Christmas stuff, he simply adored staring at the twinkling lights covering the tree, and could watch for the thousandth time the train going in circles around it.

Even though he was still a very little boy, he already adored the holidays as much as his parents did. The colors, the decorations, food, and presents — especially the presents.

However, there was no way the house could stay all pretty and decorated while having an almost two-year-old wandering in the house. At least the decorations that were at his reach, the tree and the little train surrounding it being the most in danger. So, Ryan figured they would need to build some kind of barrier in the living room, impeding Jayden from any contact with the tree in the farthest corner — and it worked.

Out of Jayden's old crib — he didn't need the barriers anymore, he'd climb them anyway — Brendon and Ryan used the wooden, white borders to surround the tree. And it didn't look half bad, it blended with the other decorations well enough for it to go slightly unnoticed — all they needed to do in order to avoid any tragedies.

Even though everything seemed to be falling into place, their house was missing a particular, pretty much necessary, if you want to call it that way, piece in the whole holiday season — it remained gifts-less.

For one thing or another, parenting, working and more, neither Ryan nor Brendon had gone Christmas shopping, therefore, there was not a single present under the tree.

Brendon's eyes went wide when he got a glimpse of the beautiful tree on the corner, finally taking notice that there weren't any gifts underneath. He had forgotten — Brendon, the most passionate person about the holiday, had forgotten about that one little detail.

"Ryan! Where are the presents?" Brendon called out, voice low enough, being careful not to disturb Jayden's sleep. His arms crossed on his chest, covered in a red and brown ugly-sweater he had since forever — Brendon wore ugly sweaters throughout December, not caring what Ryan said about it. He called Ryan's name again when he didn't get an immediate response.

Apparently, Ryan was somewhere in the house but the bedroom, where Brendon last saw him, laying in bed by his side. But Ryan had just come out of the kitchen and stood by his side. "If you keep it up, you'll wake Jayden up."