"Merry Christmas!" I heard a little voice whisper beside me, making me stir. I rubbed my eyes, turning to my left looking at the grinning figure beside me.
"Merry Christmas my darling," I replied, pecking her lips softly. She tossed the duvet off of her, stretching her legs out and standing up.
"Come on, it's Christmas morning, there is no time to waste." I sighed, getting myself up, walking over to the cot beside me.
"Merry Christmas son," I told him, lifting him up and bringing him close to my chest. I turned around watching Charlotte throw her hair up into a bun, taking my hand in hers, guiding her down the stairs to see everyone else already sat around the tree.
"Merry Christmas guys!" They all looked up, cheering when they saw the final arrivals show up.
"Present time at last!" Finn shouted, moving down onto the floor, picking up every present from left to right, handing them out to whoever they were addressed too. "I'm so excited."
"Finn, calm down, this is a very special morning for one little man." I smiled up at my mum, her softly spoken voice enough to stop anyone in their tracks.
I bounced Reider up in the air, reaching across to grab a small gift that I saw with his name on. I placed it on his lap, looking down as his hands reached out to touch it.
"Oh babe, give him a hand." I giggled, kissing the top of his head, taking his little hands in my own and tearing the paper off to reveal a gorgeous blanket covered in animals. "That's beautiful."
"Leonie knitted it herself." I looked up at my Mum, holding the blanket up to see it all.
"It's gorgeous," Charlotte grinned, taking her phone and taking a couple of photos of it.
Reider stared at me, unsure why everyone was so excited or what was so good about yet another blanket to add to his collection.
We moved through the rest of his presents, not quite sure why we were ever going to get these back home to Florida.
"Alright, lets go for Charlotte and Eric next." Finn tossed us all our presents, moving them from his organised pile. "Careful," Mum scolded, making him hand them over instead.
He handed me one final one, the only one addressed from Charlotte. I looked across at her, staring with a shake of the head. "What?" She giggled, taking the gift I bought for her.
"I told you not to buy me anything." I tore the corner of the wrapping paper, slowly pulling it back to reveal a book. On the front our names were written, crafted with beads and ribbons with a photo of the two of us on the front. "You made this?" I asked.
"Of course I did, we've had such a special year I wanted to do something to commemorate it." I smiled turning the first page seeing the photo we took together on New Years Eve.
"This is going to make my present look terrible." She shook her head, tearing off the paper of her own, revealing two velvet boxes.
"Please tell me this isn't what I think it is." I shrugged my shoulders, waiting for her to open it before I said another word. She took the smaller one first, opening it up to reveal the cream coloured ring she'd been eyeing up for months. "Eric," she grinned, picking the next one up.
"I knew you wouldn't stick to your promise, so there was no way I was sticking to mine." She took the other box, revealing the matching necklace that she'd also been considering buying before we had Reider.
"You're the best," she whispered, leaning across and pecking my cheek.
"Sweetie, let me see the book," my mum said, reaching across for me to hand it to her. "Wow," she muttered, running her hand along the front cover.
After nearly an hour of talking and entertaining Reider we finally managed to get all the presents unwrapped, piled back up into our stockings to keep safe.
"Right, I'm off into the kitchen to get one delicious dinner prepped, you guys enjoy the movies on the telly."
I watched Mum stand up, straightening out her red Christmas dress out.
"Do you want any help at all Mrs Balor?" Mum stopped, spinning around to look at Charlotte.
"How many times do I have to tell you, my name is Leonie darling, you don't need to address me like that." Charlotte giggled, tightening her bun.
"I know, it just doesn't seem right." My Mum smiled, understanding completely, beginning to walk into the kitchen.
"Don't worry about helping me, you need to make sure that you enjoy your time with Reider." She nodded, turning around and taking Reider into her own arms, lifting him up into the air.
"Baby's first Christmas," she cooed, bringing him down and blowing a raspberry on his cheek. "Why don't you three go and do something, play sports, or build this one's toys." We all stood up under our strict instructions, taking all the boxes of toys Reider had been bought, moving them all into the spare room.
"You've got a bossy one son," my dad joked, pulling out a few drawers and grabbing his tool box to help us out.
"This is going to be terrible, there is not one single piece of Lego." I looked at Finn, raising my eyebrow in disbelief. "It's true, that's the only kind of construction I've ever done."
"Well lucky for my son, I'm a dab hand at all things handyman." The two of them both rolled their eyes, stifling their laughs, setting out to start on their own mini projects.
"This time last year I never thought I'd be sat on Christmas morning building toys for my newborn grandson." He'd deny it, but I was pretty confident I saw a single tear roll down my dad's cheek, as I walked over to him, pulling him into a strong man hug.
"He's very lucky to have you too grandad," I whispered into his ear, pulling away before he got too embarrassed.
"Let's focus please, we've got until lunch to make a little boy very happy."
I laughed across at Finn, emptying the box, knowing I was set up for a very long day of building indeed.