BAZ
I wake up with a startle and look around to see Simon nowhere in sight. The sun is streaming in through the blinds into our room and I squint to see everything better. I swing my feet out of bed and feel around for my slippers on the floor and put them on to go look for Simon.
When I walk out of our room I see that the clock on the wall reads 8AM. Crowley, I overslept.
I creep down the hall to Tasha's room, hoping I don't wake her if she's not already up. When I open the door a crack to peep in I see the most glorious sight. Simon Snow, the man who used to sleigh dragons and garrote goblins in his free time, is sitting in a white rocking chair while holding our little girl and feeding her a bottle.
It truly looks like a picture out of a magazine.
Ever since Natasha came into our lives everyday has been filled with highs and lows that would give even the strongest person alive whiplash. She turns a year old in January and I don't think I could ever properly explain how miraculously fast and dreadfully slow this year has gone by.
All the early mornings, late nights, tantrums, parental tantrums, fights, and firsts have brought us here, and I can't help but feel proud of us for getting here. Especially Simon.
Simon is a natural father. He was nervous at first when we were trying to find a surrogate. He worried that he would be like his own father, or that he wouldn't be maternal or paternal enough, and even that the baby's magic would somehow be messed up because of him. (We had to use his seed because of my vampire-ness, and he got his magic back years ago, but he was still a wreck over the thought that he would muddle up our child.)
We eventually found a lovely woman, a distant Grimm cousin of mine who said she never wanted kids of her own but would be more than happy to help us start our own family, and nine months later Natasha Lucy Grimm Pitch Snow was born.
And now here she is, feverishly sucking on an empty bottle for any last drop and trying to reach out and pull on her father's curls.
"Now you stop that!" Simon giggles whilst gently swatting her chubby little hand away. Tasha just keeps trying and eventually drops her bottle to the floor and giggles along with her dad.
"Dada! Dada!" She squeals as she continues to shove her little fists into Simon's hair.
"Get him, Tasha! C'mon, you got this," I cheer as I finally enter the nursery.
"Oh no Tasha! The beast has finally awoken!" Simon yells while he looks at me and balances Tasha on his knee.
"If I'm a beast in the mornings then you're a monster."
"Hey, I'm good in the mornings! What are you talking about?"
"Oh no, I just mean in general," I smirk. "Now, how is my girl doing on this beautiful Christmas Eve morning?" I ask before I plop onto the floor next to Simon's seat and pick up the dropped bottle to fiddle with in my hands.
"Tasha is doing just fine, thank you very much. We just finished breakfast and we were planning on getting dressed before we went to wake you up but I suppose I can never execute a plan when it comes to you."
"No, I do suppose I'm the one in this relationship who is better at plotting."
"Oh sod off!" He pushes my shoulder and I tip back a bit before tipping upright again, all while staring at him and watching his smile stay glued on his face, never faltering.
"Hey, don't be so violent around the baby," I joke while getting up to take Tasha. "Come on Tasha, we'll get you dressed and then you can beat up daddy."
I take her over to her wardrobe and place her on the floor while I look for her new Christmas dress and some leggings. She doesn't pay much attention to what I'm doing but when I start debating between the black socks and the white ones she stands up and pulls on my pajama pant leg and babbles to get me to finally choose. I go with the white ones.
Simon stays in his chair and watches us while I get her dressed, which is a surprisingly smooth and tearless affair, and when I'm all done he scoops her up and runs to our room.
"I've caught a little rabbit! I have an adorable little rabbit!" Simon yells before tossing her onto the bed and beginning to tickle her tummy. Her rudy-bronze hair goes everywhere and she giggles and yells at Simon.
"Dada stop! Aha! Dada!" She shrieks.
"Alright time out!" I laugh as I push Simon off her and sit her up on the bed. "Go get dressed, Dad, while I fix her hair."
"You're no fun," he pouts.
"I know, but you married me anyways so go get dressed."
"Fine," Simon says with a fake weepy voice. He even trudges his feet to his wardrobe to get his green sweater and a pair of khakis. What a drama queen.
While Simon is in the bathroom taking a shower and getting ready I comb out Tasha's hair and put it into two braids. She hates getting her hair done and struggles through the whole event but I finally get the hair ties on and release her to go play with the things on Simon's bedside table. She loves his fidget spinner. Like father like daughter.
SIMON
I think I'm the happiest I have ever been in my entire life.
As a child I was always hungry and angry, and as a teenager I was lost and confused, and through most of my twenties I was depressed and healing from the trauma the begging of my life had given me, but now I'm just living my life. I have a job, a home of my own, a loving husband, and a kid that I love to bits. I finally found my place in the world, the World of Mages, and in a family. I couldn't be happier.
The realization really hits me after my shower when I'm looking at myself in the fogged up mirror, and I'm smiling like a mad man from just thinking about my life. I'm just so happy.
I get dressed, fix my hair, and when I walk out of the bathroom Baz is sitting on the now-made bed in jeans and a button up, watching Natasha play with my fidget spinner on the floor. I wish I could take a picture of this moment and frame it in my mind forever.
"Are you gonna shave?" I suddenly ask, because his stubble is really starting to look like a beard and I can't tell if I love it or despise it.
"No I wasn't planning on it. Should I?"
"No! You look great!"
I guess I like the beard more than I thought.
"Alright then. Have you eaten anything yet this morning?"
"Nope. I am starving "
"Of course you are, you numpty," he says while getting up and going over to get Tasha. "C'mon, I'll go make pancakes or something and then we have to get ready to go to my parents house. I don't want to be late this year so let's hit the road as soon as possible, please" Baz says sweetly while waltzing out of our room. What a tosser.
I love him.
We have pancakes for breakfast and I swear I eat at least four. Baz lags behind with only two and Tasha has a little one that she mainly crumbles up on her high chair tray. Then we pack a few overnight bags and a bundle of presents for Baz' family along with a few we got for Tasha and we load up in the car to get ready to drive to Hampshire.
It's a familiar drive, but a nice one. We play Christmas songs quietly on the radio and Tasha takes her early afternoon nap in her car seat while Baz texts Mordelia on his mobile in the passenger's seat. I watch the road ahead of me as the buildings and trees whizz by and hum tunes to myself along with the voices from the radio.
At one point Fairytale of New York comes on and Baz pipes up and puts his phone down when he hears the first piano chords.
" It was Christmas Eve babe ," I start to sing softly, glancing at Baz to see him smiling.
"Don't wake Tasha," he whispers while he grabs my hand from my lap and puts it on his thigh, keeping his hand on top of mine and rubbing a thumb over my knuckles.
" I turned my face away, and dreamed about you ," I continue.
He looks at me and I can see the tiniest bit of pink spread across his face along with a grin. " Got on a lucky one, came in eighteen to one. I've got a feeling, this year's for me and you " he sings back to me.
" So happy Christmas, I love you baby. I can see a better time when all our dreams come true ," we sing in unison.
We go back and forth like that for the entire song. Tasha eventually wakes up during it and joins us with some babbling and random words. The world passes us by and we stay in our little bubble just singing together, as a family.
We laugh and try to sing louder than each other, and when the song ends we have arrived in Hampshire and are starting to go up the road to Pitch Manor.
A few moments later we have parked the car and while we're trying to get Tasha out of her car seat all the little Grimms are running out the door with Daphne running after them.
"Merry Christmas!" Mordelia yells before running into Baz' arms, making him lose his balance and almost fall on his arse.
I laugh, but not much before Ancantha and Ophelia are running past me to get Tasha out of the car and Magnus is headbutting me in the stomach, actually sending me toppling to the ground onto my arse.
"Merry Christmas to you, you gremlin" Baz says while smoothing out Mordelia's unruly hair.
"Hey Magnus," I wince out while trying to get up off the ground "are you ready to try out for the rugby team?"
"Yup!" He replies with a big smile that stretches out his cheeks and brings attention to the smudge of dirt he has on his face.
"How was the ride?" Daphne asks while she takes my hand to help me up. "Did Natasha sleep the whole way?"
"She was an angel," Baz replies, and kissing his mother on her temple "and now she's ready to party and eat some lunch!"
Tasha laughs in Ophelia's arms and yelps "Yes yes yes!"
-•-
The rest of the day goes by in a whirlwind.
We have some finger foods and snacks that Daphne prepared for lunch and then all relax in the family room together. Baz has a drink with Malcome, I play video games with Magnus, the girls play with Tasha, and we all watch Elf before dinner. Baz complains that it is extremely cheesy but I love Elf. It's a classic.
We all get dressed up and ready for dinner, a roast and all the fixings, and then we put Tasha to bed. Not long after, Baz and I tell the other kids to go to bed so Santa can come.
"There is no Santa!" they all yell in unison as Daphne herds them up the stairs to their rooms.
"Yes there is!" I yell back.
Baz and I wind down by cleaning up the rest of the kitchen and putting the leftovers away, and soon it's midnight and we are heading upstairs to Baz' old room to go to bed.
"Do you want me to start a fire?" I ask as I take my suit jacket off?
"Merlin, please." He says while getting our pajamas out of a bag.
BAZ
After all these years Simon Snow still looks marvelous in a grey suit.
I'm staring at his arse while he starts the fire across the room and when he turns around to look at me he catches me in the act and smiles.
I roll my eyes and throw his pajama pants at him and start to get dressed. Tasha is across the room and sound asleep but I'm still afraid of waking her.
I get off my blue suit and into my silk pajamas quickly so I can get into bed and get warm, but Simon has something else in mind for himself.
He waits for me to get into bed and then stares me dead in the eye while doing the most awkward and clumsy strip-tease I have ever seen.
"Have you no shame," I hiss. "Your daughter is sleeping right there," I hiss while pointing to the unassuming Tasha.
"She's sound asleep!" He whisper-yells back while pulling down his slacks.
"Crowley, Snow," I laugh out. "Just hurry up and get into bed. I'm freezing!"
"Fine but it's your loss," he says smugly while taking off the last of his clothes until he's in nothing but his pajama pants. "Bombs away," he exclaims before jumping onto the bed and on top of me, grabbing me and hugging me to his chest.
"You're a nightmare," I laugh.
"But I'm your nightmare."
I huff. He isn't wrong.
"I can't deny that," I whisper while turning around in his arms to look at him.
"Merry Christmas, Baz," he says into my hair while he moves his hands from my back to my waist.
"Merry Christmas, Simon."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Authors note: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Here's some annual Christmas snowbaz fluff ;) This fic is also based on this fan art by @KrisRix on Tumblr!