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The dust finally settled, as the last box of Christmas decorations were taken out of storage and placed in a large pile in the middle of Peter and MJ's lounge. Over many years they had acquired a wide range of different ornaments and decorations. Their Christmas tree was never like the colour coordinated ones on social media but one that reflected their family life a lot more.
All the boxes seemed to almost be spring-loaded waiting with excitement to be opened. The Christmas tree itself was a great investment of theirs, having survived through many different houses just to be shoved back into storage once January rolled around again.
'We should probably put the tree up before the little monsters get out of school and daycare. You know they'll want to decorate it as soon as they enter the door.' MJ said with reason, looking at Peter.
'Yeah. I might take out a few of the fragile decoration as well, just in case.' He replied, picking the tape, which was keeping the box closed, off one of them.
'We should have enough time to do all that before someone has to go and pick them up from school.'
With that, the couple started their search through the mountain of boxes to find the one containing the Christmas tree. After several failed attempts by Peter to find it, MJ pointed to the corner of the room with a light chuckle, where they had placed the tree's box for easy access.
'You couldn't have told me that five minutes ago when I first started looking now could you?'
'It was more fun to watch you struggle though.' She said with a large smile invading her face.
There was something about Michelle Jones's smile that completely captivated Peter. It made him all warm and mushy, well more than usual, inside, especially when he was the cause or recipient of it. When the twinkle in her eyes teamed up with her smile, Peter 's whole world focused in on her and her alone.
The assembling of the tree was quite a quick process, going up in a matter of minutes when they actually worked together. It stood tall in the corner of their lounge, the place it's stood for every year they have called this house home. It's the perfect place for it really; the lights sparkling from within the branches provided the room with a welcoming, warm glow but didn't reflect in the TV screen, a great thing for movie nights.
Taking a few steps back, they admired their few minutes of hard work. Peter snaked his arm around MJ's waist, pulling her gently into her side as she laid her head on his shoulder.
'Do you remember when we first got this tree?'
'Yeah.'
It was an almost a painfully cold afternoon in the weird period of time between autumn and winter when the weather seems to just do as it pleases and, for them, it was the day Peter and MJ had finally moved in together. Ideally, they would have waited until their leases on the properties they currently owned ended but Peter's apartment had already flooded five times and had lost complete power twice and the first semester hadn't even finished yet. Michelle's apartment, on the other hand, had no issues with its facilities it was more the people in it. She had already started completely ignoring her roommate and the annoying remarks she made whenever she felt like it. Moving in together was the best descision they made that year.
It hadn't come to much of a surprise to anyone, after all they had been dating for at least a year and a half by that point, and they were all really excited about helping the couple to move in. Of course Tony had done background checks on all the residents and an overall safety check before they were allowed to move in officially.
Once everything had been set up with everyone going home for the evening and all the empty take away boxes being dealt with appropriately, Peter turned to Michelle with a knowing look.
'You know what we need?' He didn't wait more than a second before answering his own question. 'A Christmas tree.'
'Right now?'
'Yeah, it's almost Christmas and we haven't got anything festive in here. We NEED a tree.'
With a small shake of her head, she smiled,'Ok then, let's see if we can find a tree then.'
Normally she wouldn't have given in that easily but she had just moved in with the person she loved and she was feeling all sentimental and warm inside. It just felt right. They would go on a night-time adventure to find a Christmas tree.
As it turns out, not many shops were open that late at night but that didn't really matter much to them. They were wrapped up in layers of coats and hoodies, both their own and each others, with bobble hats, scarves and gloves pulled on tight. They walked hand in hand, laughing as their breath fogged up the air in front of them. The coldness of the outside air didn't even penetrate the first layer of warmth, thier hearts creating enough warmth for one another to fight of any chills.
When they finally found a shop that was both open and sold Christmas trees they rushed inside, being enveloped by the warm shop air. Looking around, they grabbed the last tree available and carried it over to cashier, who was quite amused watching their antics.
Dragging their tree back to their home was quite a monumental task but once it was there it went straight up. The tree that would hold so many memories from that day forward, ingrained in their Christmas traditions, basically part of the family.
'That was a fun night,' Michelle carried on, 'but I got to go pick the monsters now.'
'I can go if you want to stay here.' Peter offered.
'Nah its fine, I promised them I would pick them up this morning. You have to filter out the fragile decorations anyway.' She replied with a laugh.
Peter pulled her in for a final hug and she pecked him gently on the lips. They slowly pulled apart, preparing to get their assigned jobs completed. One heading to the school to pick up the kids and the other to filter through as many boxes as they could removing everything that could get broken or damaged in the coming hours, as a precaution.
Peter sat down on the floor, becoming shorter than the mound of boxes next to him. The task didn't seem very monumental to begin with but the sheer amount of boxes to look through in the short amount of time he had was quite a task. He grabbed a little cookie from the side that they had made as a family the previous day.
From the first box Peter started to search through, he pulled out a small snow globe. It was one of those where you inserted your own picture. On one side was a small photo of a very little Peter squashed in between his parents. He didn't remember that day very well at all but it was still one of the most complete memories he had of his parents and he could piece it together with all the stories had had been told over the years.
It was Christmas eve and Richard and Mary Parker had decided to take their two year old son to the mall, picking up some very last minute presents on the way. It was a cooler day than the milder weather they had been experiencing during this christmas season. Peter's oversized coat keeping him warm and his little rosey cheeks peeked out from between his hat and scarf.
The little family was happy. They laughed their way through the day with large smiles on their face and giggles erupting from Peter's small body. It was a perfect break from their work that took them away from their son more than they had ever wanted. They treasured these little moments, knowing too well that Peter wasn't going to stay this small forever.
A little picture booth in the middle of the mall seemed to be a perfect way to capture this moment in time.
A picture that would stay in Richard's wallet until the wallet lost its use once again and the picture moved into a little snow globe that could live forever on the shelf surrounded by decorative stars in Uncle Ben and Aunt May's little apartment that just acquired a new resident.
Peter's mood sombred a little remembering his parents. Just because their smiles were starting fade from his memory didn't mean he missed them or loved them any less, he'd just learnt to live with them in his memories instead of standing by his side.
He gently turned the snow globe around, smiling sadly at the picture placed on the other side. It was one of his favourite photos of him, May and Ben. Peter had finally managed to convince them all to wear matching Christmas jumpers.
'Aunt May, please can we get these. Please.' A younger Peter had begged.
Peter had seen a red reindeer patterned Christmas jumper that had a large range of different sizes, enough for it to fit all three of them. Peter's little heart, in size nothing to do with the amount of love it could hold, had been set on it from the moment he laid his eyes on it.
Ben looked over Peter's head to catch his wife's eye. This was a big step for Peter. He had been suffering greatly from the loss of his parents and had completely withdrawn himself into his own little shell. Expressing a want for something like this was new and the little smile on his face was something that had been missed greatly. They knew that grief was a rollercoaster of ups and downs but it was a good start.
The jumpers were bought and the camera had been set up in the front room. A quick flash and a picture of the new family was produced and given to Peter.
He had put that photo in a few years later when he realised that just because he had new guardians, it didn't mean people thought he loved his parents any less, which of course he didn't. The picture was given its permanent place there when the number of living people in that photo changed from three to two.
A text notification brought Peter out of his memories. Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, he unlocked his phone. It was a message from MJ telling him they were going to be late home because they had met up with some friends and were going for a hot chocolate from the cafe near the school.
He continued to sift through the masses of Christmas decorations. The majority of them were shatter proof, good for the kids but actually bought for a clumsier adult. Out of a particularly large box, Peter picked out a little ceramic gingerbread house.
It was the day after Peter and MJ had moved in together. The sun was beginning to set, marking the start of the second night in their new place and the only things up were still just the bed and the newly acquired Christmas tree. The doorbell rang.
'I'll get it.' Yelled Peter.
The door opened to reveal May carrying two large bags of takeout. A relief to the two teens, who had yet to eat anything for dinner.
'I thought you two might appreciate some food and you know how good my cooking skills are so I brought some takeout to share.' May said placing the bags down on the counter.
She pulled Peter and MJ into a warming hug.
'Oh, I almost forgot. I brought you guys a little gift to commemorate your first home together.' May said, walking back over to the bags.
She pulled out a small tissue paper wrapped gift, handing it to MJ. Peter wrapped his arms around MJ's waist and rested his head on her shoulder, watching her carefully unwrap the small gift.
The pair laughed as they placed the little gingerbread house on one of the Christmas tree's branches.
Peter placed the little house on a high up shelf, to prevent any casualties, before returning to his assigned job. He had built a system of colour coding all the decorations that the kids, or 'little monsters' as Michelle referred to them, could use. As the current pile he was picking his way through decreased, a bright pink bauble caught his attention, causing a laugh to rise out of him.
He carefully picked it up, as the sound of a key in the lock echoed through the house and the door swung open.
'Don't you dare put that monstrosity of a decoration on the tree.' MJ almost yelled.
Peter and MJ had decided that they needed some new Christmas decorations. They had been dating for over six years and living together for at least four and a half of that. Their little quest had taken them all around the city and into a variety of different shops.
Several hours into their expedition they found some insanely brightly coloured baubles in just as obnoxiously coloured boxes.
'Peter, under no circumstances are we getting any of these baubles. Okay?'
'Okay, we will not get them then.'
They continued their small Christmas decoration shopping spree, looking in several more shops, before finally heading home.
'I've got a meeting with Pepper now to discuss some important issues. You'll be alright by yourself won't you?' Michelle asked.
'Yeah, I'll be good. See you later. I love you.' Peter said bringing her into a hug and placing a kiss on her cheek and another on her lips.
'Love you too. See you later.' Michelle headed out the door.
Peter wasn't that far behind her but his destination was very different. He was heading back to one of the shops they had visited together earlier. His pace quickened as his excitement grew.
His eyes scanned over the luminous boxes, trying to decide which one was the worst. It was the pink. He grabbed a pink one off the shelf and located the cashier to pay for the little object. He rushed home, having no time to waste.
He carefully removed the bauble from the box, hiding it in amongst a large pile of clothes. Opening one of his draws, he gently removed a little box. Lifting the lid, he checked the contents was still as perfect as it was when he originally picked it out. With an affirmative answer, he placed the small box, currently in his shaking hands, into the bauble box and wrapped it in Christmas paper to the best of his abilities.
By the time MJ returned home, the sun had disappeared over the horizon and the stars had started to shimmer in the night sky.
'Hey, I'm back.' MJ called, walking through the door.
'Hi, how was the meeting?'
'It was good, went as well as we could expect it to. I'm going to get my pyjamas on. Can I meet you on the couch for a movie in a minute?'
'Yeah, I'll get some blankets ready.'
Peter retreated into the lounge to take a few calming breathes to try and relieve his nerves. That's how MJ walked in on him. He was stood in the middle of the floor in his pyjamas, holding a pile of blankets, taking deep breathes.
'Peter,' she started sounding worried, 'are you alright?'
'Hmm. Oh. Yeah, I'm good.'
'You sure?'
'I got you a present.' He said, dropping the blankets and grabbing his previously wrapped present.
Peter thrust out the present in front of him for MJ to take. She carefully took it in her hands.
'Unwrap it.'
'That is what you tend to do with presents.'
'Sorry.'
Michelle laughed at that, placing a soft kiss on Peter's cheek.
The wrapping paper started to reveal a bright pink box. MJ looked up at Peter. A mix of emotions swirled around in Peter's eyes, an unusual reaction to a bauble in a box. She continued unwrapping until just the box remained in her hand. Lifting it up, she noticed that the weight of it didn't quite match up to its expected contents. Carefully opening the box, she took out a smaller more intricately decorated box.
Peter stepped forwards, taking the little box out of her hands. Michelle watched in slight confusion before it all clicked in her mind.
Peter got down on one knee, opening the box, revealing a simple ring with a gorgeous little gem embedded in it. It was the one she had pointed out to Peter many months ago during one of their many discussions about marriage.
'Michelle 'MJ' Jones will you make me the happiest, luckiest person ever?' a deep breath 'Will you marry me?'
'Yes'
Peter slipped the ring onto MJ's finger, as her vision began to blur with the tears in her eyes. They pulled each other into the tightest hug, squashing their bodies together as much as they could. As they slowly parted, Peter's hands framed her face with his thumbs softly wiping away the tears that had started to roll down her face.
'Was it really that bad?' He said laughing and placing a sweet kiss on her lips.
All she could do was laugh and hold him closer.
Maybe the bauble wasn't as bad as it first seemed.
A pair of feet could be heard running towards Peter.
'Daddy!' A little voice yelled as the body collided with his sat down form.
'Hey, Princess. How was school?' He said, enclosing his arms around her and placing a kiss on the top of her curls.
'It was good but boring. We were writing our names again and doing really easy adding.' She replied, laying her head against his chest.
Peter let out a small laugh and raised one of his hands to carefully stroke her soft curls. A small smile crept onto Michelle's face as she watched from the doorway. She quietly entered, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around both of them. A little giggle erupted from somewhere between Peter and Michelle's body.
'I put Benji and Kayla down for their afternoon nap but now I'm exhausted.' She said resting her forehead on his.
'How about I go grocery shopping now so we have food in the house, you have a rest and then we decorate the tree later?' Peter suggested.
'A rest sounds amazing right now.'
Peter gave Michelle a light kiss on her temple before untangling himself from the hug.
'May, you want to come to the shops with me?'
'Yeah!' A little excited voice piped up.
'Alright, go get your shoes on and I'll meet you at the front door.' Peter said ruffling her hair. He turned back to MJ, 'Love you, see you in a bit.'
'Love you too. Don't take too long or the twins are going to wake up before you're back.'
'Ok, I'll try my best.'
They shared a tight embrace and a quick but soft kiss.
Once Michelle had heard the door click shut, she glanced over to the pile Peter had been looking through. The pile was full of shimmering reds, golds and silvers along with all the brightly coloured baubles they had gotten for the kids. On one of the high up shelves was a smaller pile of decorations Peter had taken out. Amongst them was a homemade bauble, created by her and her late mum.
A twelve year old Michelle lay at her mothers side on the small hospital bed. It was the first Christmas that they wouldn't all be at home for, so she had decided she didn't want to be there either. She was clinging tightly onto her mother.
' Michi , it's going to be alright. You and Papa are going to have a wonderful time.'
Michelle just clung on tighter. She didn't want to think about a life where her mother wasn't there with her.
The kind hospital staff were handing out Christmas gifts to all the kids stuck in the hospital over Christmas, to try and make the festive time just that little bit more enjoyable . Michelle had received one herself, even though she was not being treated herself, but the nurses seemed to understand what she was going through.
She carefully unwrapped her gift. A little decorate it yourself bauble craft set.
The afternoon was filled with mother and daughter decorating it together. Laughter when the little sticky gems, meant for the craft, ended up attached to each others faces and proud smiles when the little bauble turned out perfectly.
Every year after that it was hung on the tree. In memory.
A small tear slipped out of her eye as she replayed one of her last memories with her mom in her mind. She missed her mom so much but now as a mother herself, she couldn't image the pain her mother was going through, knowing that her children would have to navigate a world without her there to guide them.
She quietly made her way into the twins room to check on them. They were sleeping peacefully in their little Christmas baby grows. It was their second Christmas but last year they were too small to fit any of the festive clothes the shops had on offer, so this year Peter, and Michelle although she would never admit it, went wild on all the tiny Christmas clothes for them.
The front door opened and Michelle could hear two sets of footsteps enter, one set very small and the other a bit bigger. Peter had completed the shop in what seemed like record time but, then again, she had threatened him with the twins waking up before he got back. The twins were always at their cuddliest when they were only half awake.
'Hey were back.' Peter whispered into the twins room, after spotting Michelle in there.
'Yeah, I guessed.' She said standing up and walking over to Peter.
Peter immediately noticed the lone tear track down her cheek. Reaching out to pull her into a loving embrace.
'You found the bauble from you and your mom?'
A small nod came from the head on his shoulder.
He hugged her tighter, running a hand up and down her back. Both had known the pain of losing parents and parental figures but they knew that even that understanding didn't take away the pain of it all.
'Where's May?'
'Decided she wanted to change from Princess May to Pirate May.'
A little whine filled the room before two sets of tears began to flow. They shared a kiss before going to pick up their babies.
'Do you know where they left their sippy cups this morning?' Michelle asked.
'Yeah, I filled them up a second ago. I'll go find them.' Peter said, rearranging Kayla so she was more comfortable and heading towards the kitchen.
He returned with two sippy cups, handing them to the twins. Michelle and Peter made their way towards the lounge, avoiding the large piles of decorations spread out all over the floor. Two little feet padded after them, following their path through the decorations. They placed the twins, who were enjoying their drinks, down on the carpeted floor.
'May, you want to help decorate the tree in a bit?' Michelle asked.
'Yes please, Mommy.'
'Ok, Daddy just needs to put the lights on it first, then we can do it.'
'Ok.' May said as she advanced towards MJ, giving her a hug.
Michelle may have allocated the job of Christmas tree lights to Peter because she remembers the mess they entered the box last year after they were taken down. She had a feeling that Peter knew that too but he wasn't arguing what she said, a good sign for her.
Peter picked up the tangle of lights out the box, before turning to Michelle with a look that said 'really'. MJ smiled at him, hugging her daughter tighter. After a minute of searching, Peter found the plug end of the lights and started his attempt at untangling them.
'How on Earth do lights get this tangled up?' He said in an slightly exasperated tone, 'How are you even supposed to untangle them?' He said with a sigh.
Half an hour later and Peter had managed to set free only around three quarters of the lights. Progress was slow but at least it was going in the right direction. He needed to focus on that.
'Shall I start the mac'n'cheese so you can concentrate on those lights without cute distractions?' Michelle said with a light laugh, looking at the kids surrounding Peter.
'That sounds like a good idea. I'll try and get these lights on the tree before their bedtime.'
'Ok, good luck.'
MJ picked up the twins, who had managed to cling onto Peter's legs, and walked with May into the kitchen. She placed the twins in their little matching high chairs at the table, before bringing out May's little step so she could help with the cooking.
May picked out the three box from the pantry, placing them on the counter. She poured the pasta into the pan, with a little help from MJ. Michelle carefully stirred the pasta, as the table was neatly laid by May. Just as the pasta finished cooking, Peter popped his head around the door.
'Good news. The lights are on the tree and they actually work. Not sure how but they do.'
'Just in time as well, me and May have just finished making the food, haven't we?' she said looking at May.
'Yeah, Daddy. I helped.'
'Who knew pirates were so helpful.'
He picked up May, twirling her around and placing a kiss on her cheek.
The meal was a success with the majority of it being eaten and only a very small amount ending up on the floor, courtesy of the twins. The minimal amount of dishes had been used in the preparation of the food and could all be placed in the dishwasher. One of the may reasons the pair loved this dish was how quick it was in both cooking time and cleaning up. Less time spent doing boring tasks like washing up meant more time with the family, something they both treasured very dearly.
'Pyjamas then tree?' Peter asked MJ.
'Yeah, it's getting late. I'll help May. You good with the twins?'
'Yeah, they had a bath this morning didn't they?'
'Yeah, just need to change them into their pyjamas.'
'Ok.'
Michelle took May to get change and brush her teeth, while Peter picked up Benji and Kayla. He looked through their drawers, trying to decide which piece of sleepwear would be best.
'You two want to be snowmen tonight, isn't that right?' he said, tickling their stomachs and being greeted by delighted squeals.
'I'll take that as a yes.'
Once all had been changed, they walked through to the lounge. Benji and Kayla had been handed the few Christmas toys that had been left intact after all the Christmases May had played with them.
'Alright, May, it's up to you know. How do you want to decorate the tree?'
'With everything.' She said, making wild gestures with her arms.
With that everything went on the tree. All the tinsel, all the baubles (every single one that hadn't been previously removed). The tree was a bit bottom heavy, despite Peter and MJ's best attempts to even it out a bit, but overall it looked rather good.
'Last decision. Star or angel?' Michelle held them both up for her.
'Umm, star, please.'
Michelle handed May the star and Peter picked her up giving her access to the top of the tree.
The tree was finished, once the star had been securely fitted.
They stood back to admire the tree. It had been a busy month but the tree had finally been completed.
'Time to take the twins to bed, you coming little monster?' MJ said.
'Yeah, Mommy.'
The little family entered the twins room, a little night light giving the room a relaxing feeling.
'You want to say goodnight to your brother and sister, before they go to sleep?'
Michelle was met with a tired nod and yawn. May gave a hug to both of her siblings and a small kiss on their heads, as Michelle and Peter gently laid them in their cots and covered them with their blankets. The remaining three crept out of the room, May stumbling along in her tired state.
May's room had a single bed along one of the walls with a little woodland scene throughout the seasons painted on the opposite wall by MJ. Glow in the dark stars had been stuck to the ceiling in as accurate constellations as you could get with plastic stars. She had her own little clock that projected the time onto her ceiling.
MJ leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.
'Goodnight, sweet dreams, honey. Love you.'
A small giggle was heard from the other room. Michelle looked at Peter before heading out the room and back to the twins to settle them back down for the night.
Peter kneeled down next to May's bed, brushing the loose strands of hair out of her face.
'Love you darling. Sweet dreams. I'll see you in the morning.'
Peter quietly stood up and pulled the door to, as May slowly drifted off to sleep.
Once all the kids had finally been put successfully to bed, the two reunited in the lounge.
'You want to decorate our little Christmas tree?' Peter asked sleepily.
'Sure'
Each Christmas the couple had their own mini tree that lived in their room. It provided a place to put the priceless and sentimental decorations that they didn't want broken or damaged. They had a little box that contained the majority of these decorations but some were always bound to end up in the wrong place, thus providing a job, done by Peter this year, to sort through the other decorations.
They made their way into their bedroom, one of the bigger rooms in the house. They had many pictures of them and their growing family up on the walls, as well as several of MJ's pieces of artwork.
MJ held the presorted decorations box in her hand, gently bringing it into the room, before placing it on the bed. Peter had been carrying the small Christmas tree as well as a few lights that they could put on it. After finding an appropriate place for it, Peter handed the lights to MJ to untangle.
'You can do coding and science up to and beyond Stark level but can't untangle some lights. That sounds a lot like the dumbass I married.'
'Hey, you married this dumbass.' He laughed.
Once the lights and tinsel had been arranged neatly and evenly on the tree, the little box of ornaments was opened. The first thing to come out was a little teddy bear ornament with a yellow bowtie around its neck. MJ looked up and met Peter's eyes with a smile.
It was Christmas time again for Peter and MJ but unlike all the other times, no decorations had been put up yet. MJ hadn't been feeling great, with the worst times being the morning. It wasn't pleasant but Peter had devoted his time to making sure she was as comfortable as possible and decorating was no longer one of his top priorities.
'Peter, what's wrong?'
Of course, even when not feeling great herself, she always noticed when something was bothering him.
'Nothing, nothing.'
'Peter.'
'I can just hear a weird sound but it's not weird exactly, just unusual. I thought it would go away but this is the second week I've heard it.'
'Why didn't you mention it before?'
'Other stuff was more important.'
'Well, what does it sound like?'
'It's rhythmic but still much quieter than most of the other sounds. It's definitely not my heartbeat and not yours because I know what yours sounds like and mines mine. But it's not there all the time, mostly just here and that time we went to the shop last week.'
'Like a small heartbeat?'
'Yeah, I guess.'
'Peter...'
'Yeah.'
'I think we might need to go to the shop.'
'Why?'
'Peter you're not an idiot. Think. It's a little heartbeat. Only around me. I've been sick in the mornings.'
'Oh. OH.'
Michelle let out a laugh at Peter's sudden realisation.
You really think... think that we could be parents.'
Michelle nodded.
The five minute wait between the test and the results seemed to be the longest five minutes in Peter's entire life. The whole idea of parents, while being scary, had been discussed between the two, both deciding that they did, in fact, want kids at some point.
Two little pink lines.
They were going to be parents.
The first appointment was booked shortly after that, confirming the little heartbeat's new presence in their lives. Michelle was going to blame Peter and all the pregnancy hormones pumping through her body for getting the little teddy ornament on the way back from the appointment. At least they had stuck with her gender neutral colour scheme.
The next thing to come out the little box was a little family set of elves, all of varying size. Two large, one medium and two small. MJ handed them over to peter with a smile for him to place them on one of their shelves.
The elves started off as less of an item for them but a clue to the others. Peter and MJ had offered to host the smaller Christmas party at their house this year as Mayah , or more fondly known as May, was now four and old enough to play with the other children properly. It was well known that Michelle was pregnant and was well into the second trimester; it was just that nobody knew there were two, by some miracle that had been kept a secret.
Michelle had first spotted the range of elves, joking about how they could reveal the twins that way. Peter may have then gone back to buy them later that evening, just to make MJ laugh. He loved her laugh.
They now sat pride of place on one of the little coffee tables, daring someone to spot them. It had almost become a game for Peter and Michelle to try and guess who was going to notice it first.
It was May.
'Nice elves you got there.' May said, pointing to the five elves.
'Yeah, one for each of our little family.' Peter replied, placing his arm around MJ's waist.
May looked back at the elves, then Peter, then MJ.
'Twins?' She whispered.
MJ just nodded. May pulled them both into a hug.
'Congratulations!' a moment 'I'm going to have three grandkids.'
A smile broke out on all three adults faces.
The third item to come out didn't have many memories attached to it specifically, after all it was just a Christmas photo frame. However, over the years in had intertwined itself with the Parker-Jones Christmas traditions until it was present at every single festive celebration. Each year on November 30, they would take a family photo, no matter where they were. It seemed to be one of the only pictures that actually got printed out instead of staying in digital form.
This year, the little family had gathered in their lounge, Aunt May waiting opposite the couch after being appointed temporary photographer. They had been arranged so that Peter and Michelle were sat on the couch with little May between them and each twin sitting on an adults lap. By an early Christmas miracle May had managed to capture a moment when everyone was smiling and looking at the camera, well part from the twins but they were only a year old.
Peter and MJ were wearing coordinating, not matching, jumpers, while May had chosen to wear a Christmas dress with snowflakes on it. The twins donned little reindeer baby grows.
MJ carefully slid the picture into the frame, before placing it on her bedside table.
The little Christmas tree stood proud with its array of unique ornaments hanging from the branches. It gave off a warm orange glow, lighting up the room. The sun had completely set and the evening city life was beginning to wake up. Peter and MJ's day was coming to an end; they loved their three children with all their heart and more but they were energetic in ways the adults had not been for years.
One their room had been cleaned up and become habitable again the pair got themselves ready for bed. Michelle laid out the stockings on the floor for easy access tomorrow evening. In a nice little row it went:
Peter, Michelle, Mayah , Kayla, Benji
Each name having its own special meaning to them. Mayah and Benji after Peter's Aunt and Uncle, two people he would forever be grateful for among many, and Kayla after one of Michelle's mom's nicknames. Benji and Kayla would never have the joy of meeting who they were named after but they would always know them through stories passed along. Mayah always insisted on being called May, making Aunt May cry just as much as when she first found out that one of her little grandkids was going to be named after her.
As they snuggled into bed, Peter and MJ's arms found their way towards the other person pulling them close.
'Merry Christmas Eve Eve, MJ.' Peter whispered into her ear while giving it a kiss.
'Merry Christmas Eve Eve, Peter.' MJ said with a jokey sigh.
'Love you.'
'Love you.'
A few flakes of snow began to fall outside, gracefully dancing past the window.