The Gathering, Chapter 62 - And At Michael's House
Title: The Gathering
Rating: Adults Only (NC-17)
Characters: Brian, Justin, and other canon characters
Genre: Fanfiction, Humor
Warnings: None
Timeline: Future – More than 1 year after episode 513
Summary
When Debbie and Carl have their first real date In QAF Episode 214, Carl showed Debbie pictures of his daughter, Vicki, who lives in Salt Lake City, and his son, Carl Jr., who was in the Air Force. I kept waiting for an episode where Carl’s family would actually appear. It never happened, so here’s my version of what happened when Carl’s adult children and their families come to Pittsburgh to meet Debbie and the gang. This is the first Christmas after Brian and Justin legalized their relationship, and they are now living in New York City. Ben and Michael are estranged…with Ben and Hunter living in an apartment and Michael living alone in the house. This story was intended to be a standalone story. This is just a little holiday fluff, but it takes me a while to tell a simple story, so I will update frequently.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lois, Kathy, and Shadownyc…thanks for the beta…you’re the greatest!
Previous Chapters
Author’s Comments: I’m not really happy about the rate of my updates. I’m working hard to post more often, but I’m not there yet. (smile) In the meantime, here is your next installment of one chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 62 – And At Michael’s House
Christmas Eve Night, December 24th
It was an interesting night at Michael’s House too.
Michael had followed in the Novotny tradition and cheerfully decorated the living room area with extensive garland and lights. The tree glistened with its multi-colored ball and lights, and there was the traditional star at the top of the tree. The mantle where the stockings were hung was also decorated in garlands and lights. Michael and JR had discussed every detail, including the placements of each piece of the decorations. Hunter had simply been content to supervise and make his usual comments.
Since they were all gathered in the living room, all the Christmas lights were on. And like every other house in Pittsburgh, this one also had soft Christmas Carols playing in the background.
Christmas was in the air. Everyone could feel it. The Novotny-Buckner family was spending a moment together before everyone scattered off to their own separate homes.
Jenny Rebecca had experienced an eventful day. Now, she had chosen to make herself comfortable in Ben’s arms. She was already dressed in her pajamas and like every kid at bedtime on Christmas Eve…was looking for an excuse not to go to bed.
At the moment, being deep in conversation with Ben had been the first reason to stay up.
Then Michael gave her a second reason with the suggestion for hot chocolate before bedtime.
A few minutes later, Hunter joined Michael in the kitchen.
“Something’s on your mind,” Hunter said. It wasn’t a question.
“You mean besides trying to figure out how to get JR to go to bed?” Michael teased.
“Besides that…”
“Carl’s grandkids are great. I’m fond of Elise and Vicki. But CJ and Philip are different,” Michael said with a shrug.
“What do you mean by different?”
“They settled in quickly. They got used to all of us without batting an eye, and you know we usually take some getting use to. Now, they think they’re all family.”
“They are family! Thinking you belong to this family sort of makes you a part of it,” Hunter asserted. “As long as Debbie and Carl are together, CJ and Philip and their families are part of us,” he felt the need to explain, “And you can’t argue they are in love with Debbie.”
“Ma has this habit of opening her arms to strangers.”
“I take it you’re thinking about Justin?”
“It happens with everyone, but Justin is just a prime example.”
“Lucky for us all! The world would be so cold without her pulling us all into the family. We all know, no matter where we are, we have a family to come back to.”
“And things are pretty good in this family, aren’t they? You don’t see any reason for anything to change, do you?” Michael asked in an almost pleading voice.
“Things are always changing. Brian and Justin are in New York. Melanie and Lindsay and the kids live in Toronto. But they always come back here…to us…to family, so we can drive each other nuts. It goes with the family-territory. I read about it in psych class.”
“What are they teaching you at that school?”
Hunter shrugged. “Stuff…”
“That’s obvious…”
“And this holiday season, our family has grown by leaps and bounds. Because we all love Carl. And he’s very much a part of this family. And now so are his kids and grandkids too. Why does that bother you so much?”
Michael sighed. “Sometimes, I just wonder about family.”
“Are you thinking about Grandfather?” Hunter asked as he settled on one of the stools in the kitchen. “I know this is your first Christmas with him too.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking, after all this time, it’s really nice to have a dad to talk to.”
“I know you and Grandfather have spent a lot of time together talking.”
Michael nodded as he gathered the milk from the refrigerator and set it heating on the stove. “I also wonder about me and Ben? I wonder if he still thinks of me as family.”
Hunter walked over and peeked into the living room. He gestured for Michael to come over and take a look. Both of them watched the animated discussion going on between Jenny Rebecca and Ben.
Hunter felt what they’d just seen should answer all questions. But he knew he was dealing with Michael, so things couldn’t be that easy. “You, Ben, me, and JR are family. We don’t all live together, but this holiday we’re all here together now. You and JR even have stockings hung at our apartment,” Hunter added with a laugh.
“Ah yes, thanks to the supervision of JR,” Michael said with a laugh.
“And Ben and I have stockings hung here at the house.”
Michael tried to interrupt, but Hunter continued on to make his point. “And JR explained to Santa’s elf about both places. We’re family, Michael. Ever since you and Ben adopted me and gave me a family to belong to.”
“Adopting you was one of the best things me and Ben did.”
“I can tell something is bothering you. You probably don’t want to talk about it with me. And that’s okay,” Hunter stood up and took a breath. “But don’t make yourself miserable. Maybe you should talk to Ben. I’m going in to annoy JR,” Hunter added with a wicked grin. He even rubbed his hands together enthusiastically, just for good measure.
Shortly after Hunter left, Ben entered the kitchen. “Do you need some help with the hot chocolate?”
“I think I’ve got it,” Michael said. “Your hot chocolate has always been best. You’re definitely the cook in this family,” he added with a smile. “I’m just slowly heating the milk.”
“No problem. You seem awfully quiet. Is everything okay?”
“Me and Hunter were just talking about family,” Michael explained.
“A worthy topic since the size of our little family has definitely grown. I bet you’re remembering back to the days, when it was just you and Brian and Ted and Emmett,” Ben laughed.
“I remember when it was just me and Ma and Uncle Vic…”
“That must have been something special. And now, you also have Daniel.”
“Hunter was just reminding me that this is the first Christmas I’ll celebrate with Dad.”
“And you gained these other pesky relatives because of Carl,” Ben began to tease, “And from what I’ve seen of Vicki, Philip, CJ, Elise and all their kids…they see themselves as part of our little family now. ”
“But new family members seem to come in with new ideas…”
“That’s to be expected.”
“And they seem so ready to change things.”
“CJ and Philip are really competitive with each other. Who ever heard of a cookie decorating contest?” Ben suggested. “Fortunately, Molly got them out of that one by suggesting a tie.”
Michael laughed. “Oh yeah…I forgot about that.”
“So what were you thinking about then?” Ben walked over to check the milk. “It looks like the milk is ready. It’s time to add the chocolate. And do you have whipped cream or marshmallows?”
“We’ve got both,” Michael said, “And sprinkles too.”
“Oh, this is going to be perfect!” Ben said, before returning to his original question as he moved around the kitchen gathering and mixing stuff. “I can tell something is on your mind. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about the conversation we had earlier this evening about Carl and Debbie getting married?”
“I’ve been thinking about it.” Then Michael got this strange expression on his face. Even though he was thinking about Debbie and Carl getting married, he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. In fact, he had more pressing issues on his mind. “Ben, we’re still family aren’t we?” he finally had to ask.
“Of course, we are. Our living arrangements couldn’t change that. We just have things to work through…you and me. But we’ll always be a family with Hunter and JR.”
“It has been great having you here.”
“Why thank you, Michael. It feels good being here.” Ben said before shrugging. “Look Hunter and JR are waiting for their hot chocolate. We can talk later if you want to. We all need a good night’s rest. Dinner at Brian and Justin’s is definitely going to be interesting.”
Michael laughed. “That’s for sure. I can’t believe Brian would go for this. In fact, Brian’s been acting strange this entire holiday so far. He’s close to CJ and Philip…even though we know that he hates straight people. We also know how he feels about Christmas…yet he seems to be having a good time.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“But then, maybe he’s decided to be a real father and is going out of his way for Gus.”
“Gus seems to be having a good time with all his new playmates,” Ben mentioned with a laugh. “And Debbie did say it was Brian’s idea for us to have dinner there.”
“I wonder what Boy Wonder had to do to get Brian to decide to do it.”
“You can’t hold Justin responsible for everything that Brian does,” Ben said with a smile. “Remember decorating the cookies. If I remember correctly, that was Brian’s idea too. Justin seemed as surprised as the rest of us. I think you tend to forget that Brian is pretty much his own person. He’s no longer the kid you remember at fourteen. Now he’s an adult at 36 years old.”
Michael shook his head, for he didn’t believe that for one second. In his mind, Brian was still Brian. He hadn’t really changed. And Michael had a long history to refer to, stretching back over 20 years…right up to the present. The strange things Brian’s been doing lately…getting into the Christmas spirit…decorating cookies…playing with trains with Gus…were probably done, so Brian didn’t have to argue with Justin. Or, at least that’s how Michael tried to explain it to himself.
But still, the things that everyone said during that drink at Woody’s still made Michael restless. As Michael carried the tray into the living room, his mind was still recalling his discussion with the gang.
Beginning of Flashback…
“But Ma wanted to support me. She wanted to support the fact I couldn’t get married in this country,” Michael reminded everyone.
“But now you CAN get married in this country,” Philip reminded him. “If you wanted to…”
“You and Ben are already married,” Daniel said quietly. “You still have a few things to work out, but you have to admit Ben is still part of the family.”
“Things are better between us,” Michael said quietly. “But he hasn’t said anything about us getting back together.”
“But he hasn’t gone anywhere either,” Calvin said. “He’s hanging right here with all of us for this holiday just like he always does.”
“So there’s hope,” Ted said, wrapping his arms around Blake.
“See?” Daniel asked, gently nudging Michael to get him to see the good points of his life.
“Ben’s probably waiting for you to do something special,” Justin suggested easily.
“What do you mean?” Michael innocently asked. He sighed deeply, especially when he realized who was talking. He definitely couldn’t believe he was listening to Justin.
“Since, as you say, Debbie hasn’t married Carl because of her desire to support you…” Justin said with a wicked smile, “Maybe you should be the one to gently suggest that now would be a good time for a wedding.”
Brian decided to step in here. “Think about it, Mikey…” he said cautiously. “This would be a big step. You know how Debbie feels about marriage.”
“Do you honestly think she doesn’t want to marry Carl?” Ted asked.
“You could do something special for her,” Daniel said. He then paused to let that thought sink in.
“Yeah, I guess….” Michael mumbled. “But she could have gotten married if she wanted to.”
“Not if she did all this for you…” Justin said softly. “Now you can give her permission to be happy with Carl.”
“And it might also show Ben that you’re changing…” Ted added.
“The wedding would be a great idea since we’re all here together,” CJ added.
End of Flashback…
Later, Michael and Daniel had gone for a short walk to talk some more about Debbie and Carl getting married. It was clear his dad agreed with the others. But Daniel had made it clear that it was Michael’s decision. And, he should do what he thought was right.
Michael wished he could have gotten Brian alone. Brian would have told him what was right. But Brian had been rather busy tonight. He could have talked this over with Ben, but something told Michael that Ben was the wrong person to discuss this with tonight. So, Michael had just decided to stop talking and just sleep on the whole idea. He felt sleeping on things on Christmas Eve would give him a much clearer picture in the morning. After all, tomorrow was Christmas. Clearly a magical time as any child can tell you.
Michael took a few steps into the living room. “Hot chocolate…” he announced.
And Jenny pulled Hunter over in the direction of the cups. She wanted to make sure she had lots of marshmallows and sprinkles in her hot chocolate because she said it looked like Christmas.
Hunter ignored the cautioning look from Ben, as he went directly for the whipped cream. “It’s Christmas Eve,” he reminded everyone.
After her cup of hot chocolate, Jenny no longer put up any resistance as Ben, Hunter, and Michael tucked her in. Of course, be clear, it did take all three of them to finally get her tucked into bed.
“And when you wake up in the morning, Santa Claus will have been here,” Hunter reminded her.
With Jenny Rebecca in bed, Hunter and Ben were getting ready to leave. But Jenny had one more request of her own. She asked that Hunter and Ben spend the night.
For just a moment, Ben was speechless. It had been a long time since he’d spent a night under the roof of this house. He clearly had his own doubts and reservations.
“Why don’t you stay here?” Michael sheepishly suggested. “You know that JR is going to go looking for you as soon as she wakes up. She’s going to want to show you everything that Santa left her.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Hunter agreed as he gently nudged Ben.
“I suppose I could bunk on the sofa. After all, it’s only for one night,” Ben said softly. “And just so a little someone doesn’t find another excuse to get out of bed,” he said with a laugh as he leaned down to kiss JR goodnight. “Michael and I will be sure to leave the cookies and hot chocolate for Santa.”
JR smiled and clapped as she turned over for sleep.
“That’s the holiday spirit,” Hunter chimed in before he said goodnight and headed to his room, leaving Ben and Michael alone together.
Michael located pillows, sheets, and blankets for Ben.
And as promised, Michael and Ben set out the cookies and hot chocolate for Santa.
“Remember how we had to explain about the cookies for Santa to Hunter when he first came to live with us?” Michael asked.
“But now he gets it,” Ben said with a laugh, “And he’s good at making sure that JR understands all the family Christmas traditions.”
And as Michael headed upstairs to his own room alone, he tried to reassure himself that Christmas was a magical time. He sighed as he considered that at least, for tonight, Ben was back home…or at least back in the house.
At least part of his Christmas wish had come true.
Next Chapter
Rating: Adults Only (NC-17)
Characters: Brian, Justin, and other canon characters
Genre: Fanfiction, Humor
Warnings: None
Timeline: Future – More than 1 year after episode 513
When Debbie and Carl have their first real date In QAF Episode 214, Carl showed Debbie pictures of his daughter, Vicki, who lives in Salt Lake City, and his son, Carl Jr., who was in the Air Force. I kept waiting for an episode where Carl’s family would actually appear. It never happened, so here’s my version of what happened when Carl’s adult children and their families come to Pittsburgh to meet Debbie and the gang. This is the first Christmas after Brian and Justin legalized their relationship, and they are now living in New York City. Ben and Michael are estranged…with Ben and Hunter living in an apartment and Michael living alone in the house. This story was intended to be a standalone story. This is just a little holiday fluff, but it takes me a while to tell a simple story, so I will update frequently.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lois, Kathy, and Shadownyc…thanks for the beta…you’re the greatest!
Previous Chapters
Author’s Comments: I’m not really happy about the rate of my updates. I’m working hard to post more often, but I’m not there yet. (smile) In the meantime, here is your next installment of one chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 62 – And At Michael’s House
Christmas Eve Night, December 24th
It was an interesting night at Michael’s House too.
Michael had followed in the Novotny tradition and cheerfully decorated the living room area with extensive garland and lights. The tree glistened with its multi-colored ball and lights, and there was the traditional star at the top of the tree. The mantle where the stockings were hung was also decorated in garlands and lights. Michael and JR had discussed every detail, including the placements of each piece of the decorations. Hunter had simply been content to supervise and make his usual comments.
Since they were all gathered in the living room, all the Christmas lights were on. And like every other house in Pittsburgh, this one also had soft Christmas Carols playing in the background.
Christmas was in the air. Everyone could feel it. The Novotny-Buckner family was spending a moment together before everyone scattered off to their own separate homes.
Jenny Rebecca had experienced an eventful day. Now, she had chosen to make herself comfortable in Ben’s arms. She was already dressed in her pajamas and like every kid at bedtime on Christmas Eve…was looking for an excuse not to go to bed.
At the moment, being deep in conversation with Ben had been the first reason to stay up.
Then Michael gave her a second reason with the suggestion for hot chocolate before bedtime.
A few minutes later, Hunter joined Michael in the kitchen.
“Something’s on your mind,” Hunter said. It wasn’t a question.
“You mean besides trying to figure out how to get JR to go to bed?” Michael teased.
“Besides that…”
“Carl’s grandkids are great. I’m fond of Elise and Vicki. But CJ and Philip are different,” Michael said with a shrug.
“What do you mean by different?”
“They settled in quickly. They got used to all of us without batting an eye, and you know we usually take some getting use to. Now, they think they’re all family.”
“They are family! Thinking you belong to this family sort of makes you a part of it,” Hunter asserted. “As long as Debbie and Carl are together, CJ and Philip and their families are part of us,” he felt the need to explain, “And you can’t argue they are in love with Debbie.”
“Ma has this habit of opening her arms to strangers.”
“I take it you’re thinking about Justin?”
“It happens with everyone, but Justin is just a prime example.”
“Lucky for us all! The world would be so cold without her pulling us all into the family. We all know, no matter where we are, we have a family to come back to.”
“And things are pretty good in this family, aren’t they? You don’t see any reason for anything to change, do you?” Michael asked in an almost pleading voice.
“Things are always changing. Brian and Justin are in New York. Melanie and Lindsay and the kids live in Toronto. But they always come back here…to us…to family, so we can drive each other nuts. It goes with the family-territory. I read about it in psych class.”
“What are they teaching you at that school?”
Hunter shrugged. “Stuff…”
“That’s obvious…”
“And this holiday season, our family has grown by leaps and bounds. Because we all love Carl. And he’s very much a part of this family. And now so are his kids and grandkids too. Why does that bother you so much?”
Michael sighed. “Sometimes, I just wonder about family.”
“Are you thinking about Grandfather?” Hunter asked as he settled on one of the stools in the kitchen. “I know this is your first Christmas with him too.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking, after all this time, it’s really nice to have a dad to talk to.”
“I know you and Grandfather have spent a lot of time together talking.”
Michael nodded as he gathered the milk from the refrigerator and set it heating on the stove. “I also wonder about me and Ben? I wonder if he still thinks of me as family.”
Hunter walked over and peeked into the living room. He gestured for Michael to come over and take a look. Both of them watched the animated discussion going on between Jenny Rebecca and Ben.
Hunter felt what they’d just seen should answer all questions. But he knew he was dealing with Michael, so things couldn’t be that easy. “You, Ben, me, and JR are family. We don’t all live together, but this holiday we’re all here together now. You and JR even have stockings hung at our apartment,” Hunter added with a laugh.
“Ah yes, thanks to the supervision of JR,” Michael said with a laugh.
“And Ben and I have stockings hung here at the house.”
Michael tried to interrupt, but Hunter continued on to make his point. “And JR explained to Santa’s elf about both places. We’re family, Michael. Ever since you and Ben adopted me and gave me a family to belong to.”
“Adopting you was one of the best things me and Ben did.”
“I can tell something is bothering you. You probably don’t want to talk about it with me. And that’s okay,” Hunter stood up and took a breath. “But don’t make yourself miserable. Maybe you should talk to Ben. I’m going in to annoy JR,” Hunter added with a wicked grin. He even rubbed his hands together enthusiastically, just for good measure.
Shortly after Hunter left, Ben entered the kitchen. “Do you need some help with the hot chocolate?”
“I think I’ve got it,” Michael said. “Your hot chocolate has always been best. You’re definitely the cook in this family,” he added with a smile. “I’m just slowly heating the milk.”
“No problem. You seem awfully quiet. Is everything okay?”
“Me and Hunter were just talking about family,” Michael explained.
“A worthy topic since the size of our little family has definitely grown. I bet you’re remembering back to the days, when it was just you and Brian and Ted and Emmett,” Ben laughed.
“I remember when it was just me and Ma and Uncle Vic…”
“That must have been something special. And now, you also have Daniel.”
“Hunter was just reminding me that this is the first Christmas I’ll celebrate with Dad.”
“And you gained these other pesky relatives because of Carl,” Ben began to tease, “And from what I’ve seen of Vicki, Philip, CJ, Elise and all their kids…they see themselves as part of our little family now. ”
“But new family members seem to come in with new ideas…”
“That’s to be expected.”
“And they seem so ready to change things.”
“CJ and Philip are really competitive with each other. Who ever heard of a cookie decorating contest?” Ben suggested. “Fortunately, Molly got them out of that one by suggesting a tie.”
Michael laughed. “Oh yeah…I forgot about that.”
“So what were you thinking about then?” Ben walked over to check the milk. “It looks like the milk is ready. It’s time to add the chocolate. And do you have whipped cream or marshmallows?”
“We’ve got both,” Michael said, “And sprinkles too.”
“Oh, this is going to be perfect!” Ben said, before returning to his original question as he moved around the kitchen gathering and mixing stuff. “I can tell something is on your mind. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about the conversation we had earlier this evening about Carl and Debbie getting married?”
“I’ve been thinking about it.” Then Michael got this strange expression on his face. Even though he was thinking about Debbie and Carl getting married, he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. In fact, he had more pressing issues on his mind. “Ben, we’re still family aren’t we?” he finally had to ask.
“Of course, we are. Our living arrangements couldn’t change that. We just have things to work through…you and me. But we’ll always be a family with Hunter and JR.”
“It has been great having you here.”
“Why thank you, Michael. It feels good being here.” Ben said before shrugging. “Look Hunter and JR are waiting for their hot chocolate. We can talk later if you want to. We all need a good night’s rest. Dinner at Brian and Justin’s is definitely going to be interesting.”
Michael laughed. “That’s for sure. I can’t believe Brian would go for this. In fact, Brian’s been acting strange this entire holiday so far. He’s close to CJ and Philip…even though we know that he hates straight people. We also know how he feels about Christmas…yet he seems to be having a good time.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“But then, maybe he’s decided to be a real father and is going out of his way for Gus.”
“Gus seems to be having a good time with all his new playmates,” Ben mentioned with a laugh. “And Debbie did say it was Brian’s idea for us to have dinner there.”
“I wonder what Boy Wonder had to do to get Brian to decide to do it.”
“You can’t hold Justin responsible for everything that Brian does,” Ben said with a smile. “Remember decorating the cookies. If I remember correctly, that was Brian’s idea too. Justin seemed as surprised as the rest of us. I think you tend to forget that Brian is pretty much his own person. He’s no longer the kid you remember at fourteen. Now he’s an adult at 36 years old.”
Michael shook his head, for he didn’t believe that for one second. In his mind, Brian was still Brian. He hadn’t really changed. And Michael had a long history to refer to, stretching back over 20 years…right up to the present. The strange things Brian’s been doing lately…getting into the Christmas spirit…decorating cookies…playing with trains with Gus…were probably done, so Brian didn’t have to argue with Justin. Or, at least that’s how Michael tried to explain it to himself.
But still, the things that everyone said during that drink at Woody’s still made Michael restless. As Michael carried the tray into the living room, his mind was still recalling his discussion with the gang.
Beginning of Flashback…
“But Ma wanted to support me. She wanted to support the fact I couldn’t get married in this country,” Michael reminded everyone.
“But now you CAN get married in this country,” Philip reminded him. “If you wanted to…”
“You and Ben are already married,” Daniel said quietly. “You still have a few things to work out, but you have to admit Ben is still part of the family.”
“Things are better between us,” Michael said quietly. “But he hasn’t said anything about us getting back together.”
“But he hasn’t gone anywhere either,” Calvin said. “He’s hanging right here with all of us for this holiday just like he always does.”
“So there’s hope,” Ted said, wrapping his arms around Blake.
“See?” Daniel asked, gently nudging Michael to get him to see the good points of his life.
“Ben’s probably waiting for you to do something special,” Justin suggested easily.
“What do you mean?” Michael innocently asked. He sighed deeply, especially when he realized who was talking. He definitely couldn’t believe he was listening to Justin.
“Since, as you say, Debbie hasn’t married Carl because of her desire to support you…” Justin said with a wicked smile, “Maybe you should be the one to gently suggest that now would be a good time for a wedding.”
Brian decided to step in here. “Think about it, Mikey…” he said cautiously. “This would be a big step. You know how Debbie feels about marriage.”
“Do you honestly think she doesn’t want to marry Carl?” Ted asked.
“You could do something special for her,” Daniel said. He then paused to let that thought sink in.
“Yeah, I guess….” Michael mumbled. “But she could have gotten married if she wanted to.”
“Not if she did all this for you…” Justin said softly. “Now you can give her permission to be happy with Carl.”
“And it might also show Ben that you’re changing…” Ted added.
“The wedding would be a great idea since we’re all here together,” CJ added.
End of Flashback…
Later, Michael and Daniel had gone for a short walk to talk some more about Debbie and Carl getting married. It was clear his dad agreed with the others. But Daniel had made it clear that it was Michael’s decision. And, he should do what he thought was right.
Michael wished he could have gotten Brian alone. Brian would have told him what was right. But Brian had been rather busy tonight. He could have talked this over with Ben, but something told Michael that Ben was the wrong person to discuss this with tonight. So, Michael had just decided to stop talking and just sleep on the whole idea. He felt sleeping on things on Christmas Eve would give him a much clearer picture in the morning. After all, tomorrow was Christmas. Clearly a magical time as any child can tell you.
Michael took a few steps into the living room. “Hot chocolate…” he announced.
And Jenny pulled Hunter over in the direction of the cups. She wanted to make sure she had lots of marshmallows and sprinkles in her hot chocolate because she said it looked like Christmas.
Hunter ignored the cautioning look from Ben, as he went directly for the whipped cream. “It’s Christmas Eve,” he reminded everyone.
After her cup of hot chocolate, Jenny no longer put up any resistance as Ben, Hunter, and Michael tucked her in. Of course, be clear, it did take all three of them to finally get her tucked into bed.
“And when you wake up in the morning, Santa Claus will have been here,” Hunter reminded her.
With Jenny Rebecca in bed, Hunter and Ben were getting ready to leave. But Jenny had one more request of her own. She asked that Hunter and Ben spend the night.
For just a moment, Ben was speechless. It had been a long time since he’d spent a night under the roof of this house. He clearly had his own doubts and reservations.
“Why don’t you stay here?” Michael sheepishly suggested. “You know that JR is going to go looking for you as soon as she wakes up. She’s going to want to show you everything that Santa left her.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Hunter agreed as he gently nudged Ben.
“I suppose I could bunk on the sofa. After all, it’s only for one night,” Ben said softly. “And just so a little someone doesn’t find another excuse to get out of bed,” he said with a laugh as he leaned down to kiss JR goodnight. “Michael and I will be sure to leave the cookies and hot chocolate for Santa.”
JR smiled and clapped as she turned over for sleep.
“That’s the holiday spirit,” Hunter chimed in before he said goodnight and headed to his room, leaving Ben and Michael alone together.
Michael located pillows, sheets, and blankets for Ben.
And as promised, Michael and Ben set out the cookies and hot chocolate for Santa.
“Remember how we had to explain about the cookies for Santa to Hunter when he first came to live with us?” Michael asked.
“But now he gets it,” Ben said with a laugh, “And he’s good at making sure that JR understands all the family Christmas traditions.”
And as Michael headed upstairs to his own room alone, he tried to reassure himself that Christmas was a magical time. He sighed as he considered that at least, for tonight, Ben was back home…or at least back in the house.
At least part of his Christmas wish had come true.
Next Chapter