In the living room Nizhoni and Rose sat together on the cloud-comfort sofa. They each held a cup of tea, the warmth from the ceramic mug dispelling the chill of the season. The fire blazed. The crackles and pop of the cedar are a symphony in the quiet room. The silence was not uncomfortable, but rather the opposite. Each felt quite at peace in the moment. Aside from the fire light, two lamps also helped light the room while keeping the ambience in the mood. 

“I’m really glad you convinced him to come. It’s been…a long time since I’ve had children in my home. Jaxsen is a delightful boy.”

Nizhoni smiled. “Yes, he is.”

“He reminds me a bit of you when you first moved next door,” Rose said as she sipped her cup. She smiled lightly at the memories of Sebastian and Nizhoni as kids. From the moment they became friends he was protective of her.

Nizhoni’s smile faltered but did not fade. “Yeah?”

“Mm. A lost child trying to find a foothold in this crazy world.” Rose smiled sadly. “I must say, though, dear, I love you like my own, and I’m glad that the two of you finally found each other. He’s been in love with you for most of his life. What you did for him after Danny…I know things are strained between him and I, but I’m glad that he's alive for things to be strained.”

“I couldn’t do enough. But I did what I could. I love him too much to watch him just…self-destruct.” Nizhoni did not like thinking about those days, yet at the same time she understood the need to talk about the past. This was never a subject Rose could bring up with Sebastian and as Nizhoni glanced over at the elder woman, understood too that she had no one else to talk to about the matter that experienced it. If she talked to anyone at all. Nizhoni wondered if she ever did.

“You’re good for him. With the exception of Daniel’s birth, I’ve never seen him as happy as he’s been with you. He’s always had that look on his face ever since you moved in next door.” Nizhoni smiled and blushed lightly.

“I love him,” she answered simply. She looked down the hall to the door her boys were just behind. 

Rose followed her gaze. “You think he’ll come back out any time soon?”

Nizhoni scoffed. “Are you kidding? That man was sound asleep within minutes. We’ll see him in the morning and that, suffice to say, means that you and I have Santa duty.” Rose chuckled with her.

“It’s quite alright.” There was a pause, her gaze following back down the hallway. “Sebastian has had him, what? Six, seven months now?”

“Yeah, somewhere around in there.”

Rose nodded. “He’s…vastly improved since he last allowed me to see him. That little boy has given him something back, he’s mending his soul and stitching up his heart.” She looked over at Nizhoni and smiled. “The love of a child is unlike that of any other kind of love. It’s pure, innocent, and untainted with such conditions life sets upon people. Jaxsen has such a pure and innocent trust in Sebastian. It’s something neither have had in a long time. You can see it when they look at each other.”

When Jaxsen woke the next morning he found himself nestled still in Sebastian’s arms. He felt safe and warm and loved. He smiled at the feeling. 

“Daddy, wake up.” Jaxsen gently shook Sebastian awake. When he opened his eyes Sebastian smiled at the blue eyes smiling back at him. “Morning, Daddy. It’s Christmas. Let’s go see what Santa brought,” Jaxsen exclaimed excitedly. While he had admitted his knowledge about Old Saint Nick, Jaxsen had decided, just before succumbing to sleep, that he’d hold on to the magic Santa had to offer.

Nizhoni and Rose, both hearing Jaxsen’s excited yelps about Santa, stepped from their rooms smiling. They found Jaxsen in the living room standing in front of the lighted tree, mouth a gape at the sight of the mountain of colorfully wrapped gifts.

“Wow,” he said, drawing out the word in amazement. He grinned at Sebastian who smiled back.

“You wanna pass everything out again?”

Suddenly he looked self-conscious, looking between the gifts and Sebastian, and shrugged. Sebastian frowned and knelt down in front of him.

“Hey, Jack. What’s wrong, sweet boy?” Jaxsen shrugged and leaned into Sebastian’s chest. “Why don’t we sit here and we’ll hand them out together?” He nodded and took several calming breaths before turning around and sitting in Sebastian’s lap. Sebastian kissed his cheek and grabbed a gift. He didn’t know what the sudden change was; now wasn’t the time to ask, but as he held Jaxsen in his lap, nuzzling his nose into his cheek, he felt him relax. There was a giggle that escaped him at his nuzzling, and it made the knot in his chest and throat subside. They continued passing out the gifts, the better majority going to Jaxsen. Once everything had been opened and admired, Sebastian wrapped both his arms around his son and squeezed him lovingly. Nizhoni, who sat beside Sebastian, smiled at the two. Just as Jaxsen turned and kissed Sebastian’s cheek, Rose snapped a picture. 

“I love you, Daddy.” There was the slightest pause before he said ‘Daddy’, but they both smiled a genuine smile at the finality of the title. Suddenly the adoption hit Jaxsen. He knew, of course, that it was final, as he’d seen the paper document legalizing the transaction, so to speak. But as he looked around the tree, the gifts, the smiling faces of his family, it suddenly hit him that this really was it. His eyes watered and spilled, but he was smiling. Sebastian smiled as well, the moment not lost on him. On any of them.

“I love you, too, my son,” he said and pulled him close to his breast.

The morning of the twenty-seventh, the day before they were supposed to leave, Jaxsen woke excitedly. He looked out the window and gasped. It snowed during the night. He was hoping that it would snow a bit more than it had so there would be enough to sled down the large hills surrounding the property. All the local kids sled down these hills and he'd been excited ever since Sebastian told him about it. The hills were steep with luscious grass and wildflowers in the summer, and in the winter, the snow covered them into giant mounds that made for perfect sledding. At breakfast Jaxsen was bouncing in his seat, a grin plastered to his face. 

“What’s got you all wound up, mini muffin?” Rose asked in-between bites of her homemade waffles.

“It snowed, Gramma Rose!” Jaxsen exclaimed excitedly.

She chuckled. “Yes, it sure did.”

“I promised I’d take him sledding,” Sebastian stated, stabbing another bite of his waffles. 

Rose looked at Jaxsen with a worried eye. “How’s your head feeling, muffin? Your head was hurting last night and you were complaining of not feeling well again.”

“I feel alright, Gramma.” He outwardly smiled and inwardly grimaced. He was lying and he knew it. He just really wanted to go sledding; he wouldn’t expose himself too much to the elements. Maybe just an hour or so. That would be okay, wouldn’t it? He decided it would be fine.

An hour came and went quickly. There were several neighborhood kids sledding down the hill as well. At first seeing the six or seven other kids playing on the hill, Jaxsen became a bit shy, thinking of going back, but Sebastian told him they were good kids, so they went. Sebastian introduced him to the boys and girls on the hill, all of whom welcomed him warmly, before the races were in session. Two at a time they raced each other, someone else racing the winner of the previous round; Jaxsen even winning several rounds himself. At noon the kids dispersed, each being called to various duties or lunch. Soon just Sebastian and Jaxsen remained.

“Come on, Jack. We should go inside also. Get warmed up and fed, how’s that sound?”  Sebastian said, reaching out his hand for Jaxsen’s.

Jaxsen smiled. “I am pretty hungry,” he agreed. “Can I have one more go?”

“We should get going, Jack,” Sebastian countered.

“Please, Daddy. One more?” Sebastian laughed. He could never deny Jaxsen’s cute faces that he reserved for getting what he wanted. He was helpless against those blue puppy dog eyes and what’s more is that Sebastian knew Jaxsen was aware of how well the manipulation worked on him. 

“Fine, one more. That’s it, though, okay?”

Jaxsen beamed and nodded. “Okay, I promise, Daddy.” With a wide grin Jaxsen sat down on the plastic sled they’d picked out at the local Dollar General, and pushed off. As he picked up speed he pushed himself a bit more, giggles emanating from his lips. Just before half way down, Sebastian felt his heart drop and his blood coagulate in his veins. 

The synapses in his brain were all firing for him to run but he was frozen. Suddenly and with a great shout of Jaxsen’s name, Sebastian bolted down the snow covered hill. He ran as fast as he could, his feet catching in shin deep snow. But even as he ran, pumping his legs as hard as he could, he knew he’d never make it on time. At the sound of the panic emanating from Sebastian at the call of his name, Jaxsen half turned in the plastic, purple sled and glanced behind him. He could make out Sebastian trying to run toward him, his face taunt and lined with terror. He turned back and saw the reason for Sebastian’s overwrought consternation. Fear gripped him as he realized what he was heading for. He could hear Sebastian screaming for him to do something…he couldn’t make out what…and before he could contemplate it further, his sled buzzed past the caution tape blocking a shallow section of a small fish pond. The impact threw him bodily onto the ice, sliding along its surface. He stood slowly, his heart racing. He looked up to see Sebastian just feet away from the edge of the pond, shedding his heavy jacket and discarding it without a second thought. 

“Get flat. Jaxsen lay flat!” Sebastian yelled to him, gesturing for Jaxsen to get down, but it was too late. Jaxsen took a breath to call for Sebastian when suddenly the ice gave way from under him. The water was frigid, the shock of the cold making him gasp as his head sank below the surface.