"How do you know where Santa is?", Flynn asked curiously.
"Eh, he sends adults a map in case we need to go to him. Like we need to go now since Leo has something important to ask him.", Lana casually said and was really convincing for the kids, who were excited straight away.
So that's what they did. Sean and Amélie had a good nap whilst Lana headed to a nearby mall with the boys.
Leo's excitement died when he was actually facing Santa, who was sitting on a huge chair for his opinion. The old-looking man was bigger than he first thought, even intimidating when he came closer.
"I… I am going alone. You cannot come, Lana", he confessed even though he didn't really want to let go of her hands since he was afraid. But he had to. He needed to do this alone.
"But why not?", the black-haired woman asked in confusion.
"Because it's a secret. You're not allowed to know.", Leo answered. His request to Santa Claus had changed during the drive here. He didn't even think about that toy anymore which he was fighting for originally. No. He had something more important to ask the old man, so he took a deep breath and all his courage to approach him, whilst Lana and Flynn were waiting a few meters away, outside of the line.
When Leo got up the little stairs with which he struggled a little, his self-confidence slowly returned since he had a goal and he needed to share it with Santa. His small steps got bigger and a grin was forming on his face when he finally reached his destination. The old man picked him up, letting him sit on his lap with a bright smile and chubby red cheeks.
Leo turned himself immediately, so he could reach Santa's ear, to whisper his wish into it, like it was the biggest and most precious secret he had. The eyes of the old man lit up, whilst the corners of his mouth got pulled magically to his cheeks, making his grin even brighter. When the boy finished his sentence, Santa was calling out for one of his little helpers that were in an elf costume next to him and asked for a pen and a piece of paper.
As soon as he got it, he started to write a small letter, sealing it probably before giving the piece of paper to the boy.
"Listen, Leo.", he started and got a small glimpse at Lana and Flynn, who were waiting for Leo. "To fulfill your request, I need a little help, alright? So I need you to give that letter to your father. You must do that. Do you think you're capable of doing so?", The old man asked and Leo nodded straight away, having no doubt.
"I am!", he confirmed before taking the letter and packing it into his small backpack he carried with him. "So… you think my wish is going to come true?", he asked with big eyes, looking directly into Santa's with a pleading facial expression.
"I cannot give you my word because it really is something very special you're asking for but I will do my best to fulfill your wish.", the man answered with a grin, before stroking one last time over Leo's hair. "You're a strong little boy.", he assured him with a smile before letting him down on his feet again.
"Thank you, Santa…", The kid answered, having a last look at him before running off into Lana's arms, who picked him up and gave him a big kiss on the cheek since he did such a good job all alone.
The old man couldn't help but follow with his gaze, looking at the three of them with a huge grin on his face. "Merry Christmas, little Leo.", he mumbled before he had to turn back and concentrate on the next kid in the line.
Lana and the boys stayed a little longer in the mall, searching for a Christmas present for their dad, sister and even Lola. Flynn and Leo couldn't hold themselves back from buying one thing for everyone, since they wanted to surprise each of them for Christmas. They ate out at Domino's and stopped at a small play area in the mall before heading back home.
It was around 3 pm now, which means that the boys were at their lowest. All they wanted was to sit down and watch something since they had been running like crazy in the mall. So when they arrived both of them just went to the couch and sat down immediately, asking Lana if it was alright to turn on a show to watch.
"Let's ask your daddy about that.", she said, going upstairs to find not only Sean but also Bex with Bailey in Amélies room, just finishing up decorating it with some Christmas stuff. The little girl was sitting next to Amélie on the floor, going through some books with her friend. The two of them really loved each other, especially since they were only days apart in age, which meant that they are literally growing up with each other.
"Heyyyy!", Lana squeaked when she saw them. "I didn't see your car?!? What are you doing here?", She laughed and hugged Bex tightly.
"Marc was driving us. We moved into our apartment just two days ago and I just needed to see you guys because I missed you.", she confessed and squeezed Lana a bit tighter. "So Bailey and I decided to pay you a visit whilst Marc and Milo are at a soft play.", she grinned.
"That's awesome. Hey Bailey.", Lana said, bending down to the little girl that was looking at her with big eyes, not really sure if she knew that woman in front of her or not. "I haven't seen you for ages.", she confessed, letting her fingers softly guide over her head.
"Yeah, that's true. It's so fun to see the girls together. How big they are already. Well, Amélie actually looks older with all her hair.", Bex laughed. "You could definitely style those out, guys. But the bow on her looks cute as well.", Bex grinned. "Tanya loved putting bows on her, right?", She asked when she remembered and Sean just nodded with a grin. He loved that Lana was picking up the little tradition that his wife started, letting Amélie wear headbands and bows most of the days with a matching outfit.
"Oh yeah before I forget… can the boys just watch some TV? They are knackered after our little adventure.", Lana said, looking at Sean.
"You know you don't have to ask me for that. You can decide as well.", he chuckled since he knew that Lana was still not too comfortable taking over sometimes, asking Sean for his approval.
"It's just…", she sighed. "I don't want you to think that I am deciding all alone… since… you know… they are not my biological children.", she confessed.
"biological or not, Lana. It's okay. Honestly...you don't have to ask me for things like these.", he said. "I will go and turn it on for them and ask how it was with Santa.", he grinned, before giving her a kiss on the cheek and leaving the room.
Rebecca had watched the scene in silence, observing her two friends with a smile on her face.
"You guys are pretty adorable…", she said. "Honestly… I am so happy for you. Both of you are like… glowing. Love suits you.", Bex grinned, whilst Lana was mirroring her expression.
"It's like a dream. You have no idea.", the black-haired woman laughed, sitting down on the little sofa that Amélie had in her nursery. Bex followed her, letting out a relaxing groan whilst sinking down.
"Mama, milk!", Bailey said straight away grabbing Rebecca's legs for her mommy to pick her up. Since Bex was still nursing her, the baby saw her basically like a walking bar with lots of drinks for herself.
"It's after three isn't it?", Bex asked, looking down at Lana's watch. "She always wants to have a little drink around that time. I am trying to stop nursing her but it's just too precious since it's like bonding time every day. Milo gets really jealous, I can tell you.", Bex confessed, ripping her eyes open whilst telling her that.
"Naw. Poor little guy.", Lana said laughingly. "Amélie is having a snack around this time as well and is having a bottle just before bedtime to calm down. It was really hard at first since Tanya was nursing her and she wouldn't drink very well from the bottle at all.", Lana shared and thought about all the struggles she had with the girl after her mother's death.
"Mh… can understand that. Bailey is not enjoying it either but she is 15 months now… it's time to slowly say goodbye to it. At least during the day. I think I want to try to teach her to eat like real food during the day and just have some milk before bed as Amélie has. But I think right now she is too attached to have her nursing time during the day.", Bex confessed, finally picking up her unpainted little girl who really got upset about the fact that her mommy didn't stop talking since she was hungry.
Rebecca just pulled out one arm out of her sleeve, pulling the side down to give her girl excess. Lana watched with a peaceful smile on her face how the girl adjusted to her mother, peacefully lying in Bex's arms with one hand on Rebecca's breast to be even closer to her mommy. It was completely normal for her to nurse in front of other people and especially with Lana she felt safe doing so.
"That is so cute.", the black-haired woman confessed with a huge grin on her face, looking at how relaxed and quiet Bailey got to enjoy her time.
"It is… and it's really something special that I cannot describe. But you know what's not cute? When they actually have all their teeth and start to bite sometimes.", she said, which made Lana laugh since she could only imagine how uncomfortable it must be at some point.
Amélie on the other hand was watching the three of them with an observing eye. You could tell by her facial expression that she was jealous of the treatment her friend got. Her baby reflexes knew instinctively what she was doing and she clearly wanted it too but her thoughts got interrupted when Sean entered the room again.
"Oh sorry…", he said straight away not knowing if it was okay for him to be with them.
"It's alright, darling. She is completely fine when we're talking whilst she is drinking. Thank God...because Milo wouldn't drink when I was not focusing on him and when people were in the same room. But she is cool with it.", Bex explained, letting Sean close the door behind him before he sat down with his daughter on the floor, placing down a plate of fruit and some baby crackers down for her.
"That's good. It's interesting how different kids are, isn't it?", Sean asked Bex. "I know that Tanya didn't have any complaints with Flynn but Leo constantly hurt her whilst nursing, so he was getting bottles from an early age on. He was literally destroying them. We spend so much money on new bottles. Honestly.", Sean laughed, making Lana a bit uncomfortable since she didn't have any experience with that topic. She started to play silently with her fingernails, something she always did when she wasn't feeling too comfortable in a situation. A conversation that gladly got interrupted by Amélie who pushed her plate away.
"No.", she said, looking at her baby friend who was all cuddled up with her mommy. "milky!", she said, pointing at Bailed. She clearly wanted what she had.
"How come she remembers that there is milk inside?", Sean wondered since they have given her the bottle since Tanya wasn't here anymore.
"Baby instincts.", Bex simply says. "I mean they know where to get food straight away after coming out of your body… so… I guess it's just something that has been placed in their heads since the beginning.", she said honestly.
"I mean… I understand that they like it…", Sean said and got an evil stare from Lana, followed by a flying pillow that hit him in the face. "Whaaat?", he asked laughingly, whilst Amélie was basically bursting out in an almost evil-sounding laughter that filled the whole room. All eyes were on her within an instant, before everyone couldn't hold back their smiles.
"Great information that I didn't need, Sean.", Rebecca said after their laughter died. "I just realize that I can never really talk with Lana about her sex life.", Bex said slightly disappointed.
"Why is that?", Sean asked curiously.
"Because YOU would be the guy we would be talking about and I am not sure if I want to know anything about that. You're like my brother….and she is like my sister. Okay, that sounds even worse when I am actually saying it out loud. The point is: You're not any random guy. The one before you was great cuz I was more than certain that she would dump him sooner or later. But you…. No… I don't want to know what my two best friends are doing in bed. Not when they are in the same bed. Ah-ah.", she said.
"Anyway…", Lana said. "I would love to change the topic because there are two children in the room. No matter how small they are...they start to repeat words, so be careful what you're using.", Lana warned. "And Amélie, sweetheart, you should eat your fruits.", she addressed the girl, who was looking at her like she expected something from the woman.
"No.", the little girl said again, before giving the plate to Sean. "Dada"
"I am not hungry. It's your snack princess. You love grapes and those baby cracker stuff, no?", Sean said with a frown since his daughter normally would go crazy about that but today she thought of something better. She stood up from the floor, walking conveniently over to Rebecca to point at her breasts. "Milky!", she said innocently.
"Naw sweetie. I know there is milk but I am afraid I cannot give you any.", Bex said, feeling bad about the little girl who wanted the same attention as Bailey. "I know you miss doing that with mummy. I am sorry.", she said, but of course, Amélie didn't understand. The only thing she picked up was the word 'mummy', so she climbed up the sofa to point at Lana.
"Mama.", she repeated after Bex, whose eyes got huge.
"Wait. Is she calling you Mama?", Rebecca asked since it was like the sweetest thing on earth hearing her best friend being called like that since she knew that Lana was hoping for children for so long. But even for the black-haired woman itself, it was unusual to hear, since Amélie hadn't used it again since that one time whilst practicing with them a scene.
"She… she did it only once.", Lana said with a peaceful smile on her face. She adjusted her sitting position, opening her arms for Amélie to crawl in. "Can I have a hug?", She said, slightly leaning forward to her.
Amélie squeaked out of joy, starting to move in her direction but with a way different intention. She didn't think at all about hugging Lana, no she was going straight forward, grabbed the neckline of Lana's sweater and pulled it down to get what she wanted.
"Amé, gosh!", the woman cried out, whilst trying to get Amélie's hand out of her cleavage which wasn't that easy since the grip of her could literally stand everything. Rebecca just laughed at her friend, who desperately tried to protect her boobs from the little girl, whilst Sean wasn't sure if she might kill him if he would laugh right now. "Amélie. There is NO milky. I don't have any milk.", Lana said, finally able to loosen the girl's grip. "I am sorry… I really would love to. But I can't.", Lana spoke out with a sad tone in her voice. She really would love to give the little girl what she desired but there was just no way in doing so.
"Milky", Amélie said with tears in her eyes. She was only one step away to crack and throw a major tantrum, you could tell.
"I will make you a bottle, alright?", Lana asked but the girl shook her head no. Lana sighed before pulling her into her arms, placing Amélie in the exact same position in which Bailey was still drinking. "Let's calm down and cuddle like that then.", Lana said, looking down at her baby girl whose tears disappeared. Neither Sean nor Bex dared to say anything that could crack up the little girl, why the room was laying in silence. Lana started to rock Amélie slightly back and forth, humming a melody that was well known to everybody.
She stayed like that for only a few seconds before picking up the lyrics, still as quietly and peacefully as possible.
"You Are My Sunshine, My only sunshine.
You make me happy, When skies are gray.
You'll never know, dear, How much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.", she sang-whispered, looking Amélie deeply into her ocean blue eyes before leaning down to give her a kiss on her nose. "I love you Amé. No matter what.", she grinned.
"Mama gain.", Amélie said giggling.
"Again?", Lana asked with a soft smile before repeating her singing one more time.
"Alright. You two can stop making Aunt Becca cry. You already won the award for the most heart-warming moment of the week", Bex said sobbing, trying to get rid of her tears. Even Sean needed to blink twice to see clearly again after what he just experienced. Without holding back, he stood up and placed a soft, loving kiss on Lana's lips. It actually was their first kiss shared in front of anyone other than themselves, making Bex grin proudly at how far they have come and how sweet and perfect they were for each other.
"Okay stop it! Fine. You win the award for the cutest couple as well if that's your intention.", Rebecca laughed, still wiping away the tears that formed because of joy and cuteness, mixed with her hormones. Sean and Lana only chuckled about that comment, stealing one more kiss before breaking apart from each other.
"Ready for your snack now, Amélie?", Sean grinned and placed the plate on his daughter's lap, who started eating straight away. Bailey finished in the meantime as well and was ready to play again after drinking. That's why the girls went back to what they were doing whilst the adults shared a little conversation until Lana recognized the piece of paper in Sean's hand.
"That's the letter that Santa gave to Leo, right?", She asked curiously. "Why did he give it to you? He was hiding it from me straight after he got it and said it was his secret with Santa.", Lana said.
"Well, apparently he is supposed to give it to me. That's what he did. I am going to open it later.", Sean said. Lana wanted to protest and have a look now but that's when Sean was pointing at the window with a huge grin on his face. "Look at this.", he said, making Bex and Lana turn their heads.
A smile crept up to Lana's face, whilst her eyes were literally lighting up in no time. "Seems like the weather finally decided to give us a white Christmas after all.", she grinned and picked up Amélie and Bailey, to put them in front of the window. "Look, girls. It's snowing!", she squeaked. Watching the two of them looking outside with big eyes was totally fun to see.
"Let's go outside, shall we?", Lana said, turning excitedly at Bex and Sean.
"Sure we do! I want to catch snowflakes!", Bex exclaimed before grabbing Bailey to get her dressed. Lana on the other hand got a wave of overexcitement, running down the stairs with Amélie in her arms. "Lola! Lolaaa. Loli look!", she said pointing outside where thick flakes of snow started to cover the grass within no time. The dog started to jump in front of the glass door, barking at the white stuff she missed so much.
"Boys, get your clothes. We're going to catch snowflakes!", Lana yelled from the hallway making them jump. They just realized now that it had started to snow, since they were so tired from their mall trip. But since the snow was something quite rare for them, their energy level shot up, only mentioning it. They rushed to Lana to get all their clothes whilst Bex and Sean came down the stairs as well at a normal speed. Leo and Flynn just said a quick hello, which was quite unusual but they simply didn't have time for more since the snow was way more exciting.
Amélie was kind of trapped by Lana, who tried to dress her as quickly as possible as if the snow would stop any second. The girl looked a bit confused at Sean, not knowing what was actually going on. Lana never ever was that much in a rush.
"Don't look at me like you need help.", Sean laughed. "Sorry… but there is nothing I can do. Lana is trying to show you snow, sweetheart.", he laughed and simply put his coat on with some gloves.
"Can we go? Can we go??", Flynn said, jumping in front of the door excitedly.
"Wait a second. Where are your gloves? Scarfs? It's not LA. You can't go outside like that. You're going to catch a serious cold.", he said, fetching their clothes until they were properly dressed. "Alright. Now you can go but in the backyard. Not on the street.", Sean called out and with that, both boys ran outside in the garden through a gate they had.
Amélie and Bailey looked like a Burrito by now, being completely wrapped in thick warm clothes from head to toe. Lana just threw a coat over herself and wanted to head out but Sean held her back. "Sweetheart. Same for you. I don't want you to catch a cold and right now you look as if there were ten degrees out there.", he said, making Lana roll her eyes. All she wanted to do was run outside like the boys did. She truly mutated into a child herself seeing all the snow that was coming down. She changed her outfit quickly, before picking Amélie up and stepping outside into the winter wonderland.
The huge flakes already managed to cover the ground with a basic layer, still letting some grass shine through. It really was extremely cold, especially because of the breeze that surcharged its way through the blocks. Lana automatically pulled up her shoulders to cover her face more in her scarf, which wasn't really helping but it was enough for now. The small girl in Lana's arms grinned happily when she saw all the snowflakes coming down from the sky. Curious, she held out one hand, trying to get one with a giggle.
Lana couldn't help but smile, watching how the face of her stepdaughter lit up by the view of the white flakes that were dancing calmly in the wind. Both of them were looking up to the sky and grinned at the wonder of nature that they enjoyed.
Sean secretly took a picture of his two girls, grinning at it for a second because of how perfect and peaceful it looked before putting his phone away again. He approached Lana slowly, putting one arm around her to have a closer look at his daughter's first thoughts of all the snow.
Bailey in the meantime wasn't the biggest fan of the cold stuff she didn't know, that landed straight into her face a couple of times. She buried her head into Rebecca's jacket and stayed close to her mommy, who would protect her from that hideous new thing she just experienced.
All five of them joined Flynn and Leo in the backyard, who were trying to make a snow angel but since there wasn't enough on the floor yet, all they did was basically ruin their clothes.
"Oh gosh. Their jackets are brown. Why is the ground not frozen?", Lana wondered and already feared all the washing they would have to do the next day since they couldn't let them go to town like that.
"No worries. I will manage that. I learned pretty much how to get everything out of clothes.", Sean said proudly.
"No details, please.", Lana frowned in disgust. "I really don't wanna know.", she said with a laugh which Bex mirrored.
Whilst they were talking Flynn and Leo managed to form small snowballs with snow they got from a smooth surface before starting to throw them at Lana and Sean. One of them actually hit Lana, making her turn with an evil smile on her face. "Who threw a snowball at me?", She asked, placing Amélie down on the floor to focus on Flynn and Leo who instantly looked afraid since they thought she was being serious.
"It wasn't me.", Flynn said, looking at Leo.
"So it was you.", Lana grinned at Leo before making a small snowball as well to shoot back. Leo ran laughingly screaming through the garden, trying to get away from Lana, but of course, she was able to catch him and lifted him up from the floor. The boy burst out in laughter when she twirled him around before losing her balance and landing on the ground with him.
"You okay?", She instantly asked between laughter and Leo nodded before ensuring her that he was fine.
"You know what, Lana?", he asked and made her chuckle since Sean was using that term most of the time in his sentences.
"What is it?", She asked with a grin that suddenly ebbed down when Leo transported some loose snow into her face, before squeakingly running away.
"Oh I am going to come and get you!", Lana yelled laughing and started running behind him.
At this point, Sean was really certain about the point that he didn't have three kids anymore. No. He got himself a fourth one.