The Skeletøn Bøy

Bonus Christmas Chapter

He was lucky to be married to her. Even luckier that she forgave him.

When she pulled back from the kiss, she reached under the couch for his stocking. It was in the same hiding place it was every year, but he never peeked. And neither did she.

Brent sat on the couch, pulling Elliott's legs onto his lap. The two of them opened their stockings at the same time, kissing each other in-between opening the different gifts that were the perfect blend of usefulness, a shameful want, and an inside joke. Ten years of knowing each other had given them both ample leverage when it came to buying each other gifts.

By the end of the stocking and the kissing, little steps came down the stairs, announcing the entrance of Becca, their daughter. She was gap toothed, blonde, and incredibly outgoing for a nine year old.

When she entered the living room, she threw herself into Brent and Becca's lap. "Merry Christmas!"

Brent and Elliott shared looks, and then hugged her back. It was their first Christmas with their new foster daughter, and they wanted everything to be perfect for her. Becca had been taken away by CPS from a drug house at five years old, and lived in the foster system without a real stable household for years, until Elliott and Brent had found her.

Becca threw herself on the ground with the presents, then look at Elliott and Brent for permission.

"You may open gifts," Elliott answered the unsaid question, and Becca grabbed a large box, wrapped in superhero paper. It was no surprise that she went for that one first, as superheroes were her favorite thing.

Brent ran his fingers through Elliott's long, brown hair, kissing the ends of the strands as he watched his foster daughter open the first gift of their first Christmas. His heart was swelling with happiness. A happiness that he didn't think existed at eighteen years old when he was dating Natasha. He couldn't fathom this happiness coming from the red head, and he shuddered when he thought about how in love he thought he had been.

He had been a fool. There was nothing better than watching Becca tear open her gifts with his lovely wife in his lap, grinning like she was the one opening gifts. Elliott had the biggest heart, but she had suffered the most. He found that admirable.

"A batmobile for my Batman! Thank you!"

The rest of the morning followed in that fashion until Becca had opened all of her gifts, and was now immersed in the Grinch playing on the television, her hands wrapped tightly around her new blanket and her batman, of course.

Elliott watched her with a dopey smile as Brent cooked breakfast in the kitchen. He was making Elliott's favorite: chocolate chip pancakes. He was trying his hardest to make a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake for Becca when his phone rang.

"Merry Christmas!" he answered as a greeting. On the other end was his mother, who was going to be coming over in a few hours for dinner, like she had been since he and Elliott bought the house.

"What time are you guys coming?"

"Probably around noon. Your sister's really sick, so she'll be staying home with your father. But Eric and I will be there."

Brent flipped another pancake. "Sweet. Adrian, Mat, and Anna are coming around noon also, so that'll work out well for everyone."

Brent felt arms wrap around his waist, and felt Elliott press her nose against the back of his neck. The loving embrace made his heart beat hard in his chest, and he momentarily forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

All it took was her arms around him and he lost all rational thought.

"Daddy, look!"

Brent froze at the words that left Becca's mouth, and he didn't answer his mother as he looked towards the young girl. She was holding her batman action figure with a homemade cap around his neck.