The Doctor will see you NOW [4] boyxboy

Thirty Five

*** This is the fluff that will not end. Honestly, I think I'm afraid of reaching the end... I'm going to miss this book. No worries yet though, we have to get through their Sunday/Christmas alone first :)

I slept horribly. I read from 1:12 until 3:38 and then was awake again at 5:27. My parents would get up at 6 am and mom would make coffee and at that point I would wake upChristopher and we'd make our way downstairs. There was really no point in trying to go back to sleep now.

I stayed in bed until 4 minutes before the hour and used the bathroom before putting the coffee on for her. I pulled the casserole out of the fridge; I knew it would need to go into the oven but I wasn't sure of the proper temperature. Then I went back upstairs to knock onChristopher's door. I waited until after 6 so I wouldn't wake mom and dad, then knocked. Twice. No answer. Mom made her way past me down the hall and then I slipped into the guest room.

He was practically sideways, one foot hanging off the edge and poking out from underneath the blanket. He was fast asleep and there were so many things I could do to wake him up but alas I was at home. "Chris" I said gently, tapping his shoulder. Still nothing. I sat down beside him and ran my hand down his back. It was Christmas and a rude awakening seemed rather harsh.

"Nnnuhh" he moaned, then turned his head and curled into a ball.

"Time to wake up Pet."

"Night. Sleep."

"It's after 6 and I made coffee. Soon there will be breakfast but we have to open the gifts first."

"Six?" he mumbled. "Serious?" And then he seemed to realize who I was and where he was. He half sat up. "Sorry Sir. It's so early. I'm awake."

"I wouldn't go that far Pet but you are conscious." I dropped him off at the bathroom door and made my way down to get a cup of coffee.

"Morning sweetie" mom cooed. "Thanks for putting on the coffee. You look tired, did you sleep?"

"Not well mom but I'm fine. Chris will be down in a moment."

He came down then, stifling a yawn. "Merry Christmas." I handed him a cup of coffee and he smiled. "Here? Living room?"

Luckily mom knew what he meant. "Go sit on the couch dear, we'll all be in there in a moment." As soon as he wandered out she giggled. "Not a morning person?"

"Apparently not." I thought back to times I'd invited him over. "I don't think he normally gets up until at least 10."

"Poor boy. Let's go in and you can open your things." She noticed the new things right away. "Chris, are those from you?"

"Yes ma'am. Just a little something, it was a bit of a rush yesterday." He took another grateful sip of coffee and his eyes opened a tad more.

"As if I didn't already love you. It wasn't necessary though and I'm afraid we didn't get you anything." She was a tad distraught butChristopher seemed to know what to say.

"After your hospitality and that dinner, please don't think that I'm over here wishing you had. Please, it's more than fine. I promise it's nothing big; you won't feel guilty once you see it."

She smiled. "Well as long as you let me send you home some leftovers I guess we'll call it even then."

"Throw in some of whatever is cooking and we'll call it a deal."

Mom laughed and dad wandered in, fully dressed of course. He never did stay in his pajamas, even for Christmas. "Are we ready?" she asked, handing me a box.

"You always buy me too much, you know I don't need anything." They blew me off as they always did and I soon had a pile of gifts beside me.Christopher loved the sweater and seemed to get a kick out of me opening things. Finally I handed my mom her card and she opened the check.

"It's too much Gregory."

"No it's not. I hope you have a nice vacation." I'd given them a check towards their yearly vacation as long as I could remember and once I'd joined the Practice it had grown to the point where it covered an extra one for them. "Let me know where you decide to go this year."

"We always take a cruise with his gift, Chris, and I'm thinking of going to Mexico this year" she explained. "Do you think it's safe, Greg?"

"I'm sure the cruise lines don't make their money off taking guests into dangerous areas. I'm sure it'll be very nice."

"That's what I've been telling her" dad said "but you know mom."

Christopher handed them their gifts and as I had thought, they loved them. Mom asked me to put the sun catcher up in the window and it looked beautiful. The bottle of bourbon was quickly put front and center on their wine rack. We ate breakfast which was super good, as always. I'd tried making the casserole at home but somehow it was different when mom made it.

We grabbed quick showers and I was loading our suitcases into the respective vehicles by 8. I was running a bit later than usual but sharing a shower had taken time. I passed byChristopher as I grabbed my gifts and mom clapped in glee and then pointed up. Above my, well our, heads was a sprig of mistletoe. "Mother."

"I can't believe you boys didn't walk under it yesterday; at least not that I saw. Now, do we get a kiss?" The smile on her face probably could have lit the entire house, perhaps the block. I'd seen variations of this look before. This was her 'you're doing something we worked so hard for and didn't know if you'd ever do and now you're more normal!' look.

"Don't push them Missus" Dad said, completely uninterested. I wasn't the only one who had been through this before.

Christopher  started to move away but I wrapped my arm around his waist and stopped him. "Merry Christmas Chris" I whispered, then quickly kissed his cheek. Mom squealed, Christopher blushed, and I headed towards the car with the whole entourage following behind me.

"Let's meet at 2 instead of noon." I said as he climbed into his car and rolled his window down.

"Yes Sir" he replied politely.

I hugged mom, shook dad's hand and climbed into my car just as Christopher pulled out of the driveway. "He's wonderful Gregory" she said, smiling.

"Yes, he has potential."

"King of the understatement as always, my beautiful boy" she answered and they both stood waving as I pulled out of the driveway. So far, so good. It had been a good Christmas and now I had a few hours alone to relax on the drive back plus a little downtime once I arrived.