A Kiss For Your Freedom

Emma's POV

After a long time spent against each other, I finally got up and got dressed. Dorian just sent me a message, they found it and they will be back soon. I'm going to the kitchen to prepare something for them to warm up as soon as they get there. know Jason usually takes care of that, but this year he has to take care of himself and with the kids, we wanted to do that for him.

He doesn't ask any more questions, he knows that we are acting for him, that we would do anything for him, that we only want one thing, that he get well quickly. We are so happy to finally be home, to be able to turn the page that we just want to immerse ourselves in the Christmas spirit.

An hour later, when I'm just taking a new batch of cookies out of the oven, the children push the door excitedly, screamin before running to their father.

“Daddy, daddy,” Melissa shouts, “look what we brought back” she said, smiling.

Dorian enters in turn, dragging behind him a magnificent tree which will quickly find its place in the living room. I see Jas smile as I bring out cups of hot chocolate and cookies for everyone on a tray. He places the tree in its usual place and everyone rushes to this snack while Julien is already asking for the decorations to dress our Christmas tree.

- Very good choice, said Jason to Dorian, he is really handsome.

~ Thank you, but it's the children’s choice, he said smiling.

They are proud of themselves and I like seeing my family like this, happy and smiling. After a good time spent together, understanding that we won't be able to contain Julien’s excitement for long, we decide to take out the decorations and le the children do their thing while we watch them have fun. After a few minutes, we had to intervene to help them put it everywhere. Julien climbs into Dorian’s arms to place the star at the top while Mélissa has fun spinning around the tree with garlands.

A good hour later, our tree is ready and even if it has nothing to do with the ones I knew as a child, I must say that it is surely the most beautiful one we have ever made. We take the time to observe it, all gathered together, pressed against each other. I love seeing this sparkle in our children’s eyes, it's as if magic exists and they are discovering it for the first time.

The wait will still be long for them, Christmas will only be here in three weeks but I intend to make every day a day of celebration and ensure that the wait is as sweet as possible. Dorian is going to be very busy over the next few days, he wi be building most of the toys, even though he has already been preparing some for a while now. It must be said that he goes slower than before with his arm but that doesn't stop him from creating real works of art that continue to amaze me every time.

At times, I come to say to myself that it's a waste, he has such talent that we shouldn't selfishly keep him to ourselves bu each time, he reassures me by explaining to me that in these eyes , what he does for us here is more important than building a piece of furniture for someone who will never see it again. He prefers to see these creations evolve, live within our home and that is not to displease the children.

We spend the rest of the day, intoxicated by this Christmas spirit, to please the children, we decide to share the evening meal under the tree and when it is time for them to go to bed, Dorian adds wood in the fireplace as I lead them to their room.

Coming back into the living room, I find Dorian in Jason's arms before settling down next to them, watching the flames dance in the hearth.

“That was a really good idea," Jason says, hugging us.

“We thought it was time," Dorian replies gently.

~ And you were right. The kids are going to be unbearable but that's not it, I love this time of year.

I smile, curling up a little closer to them. It's our favorite time of year and this year, our Christmas will have a special flav it will have the taste of freedom.

Dorian’s POV

We've worked a lot these past few days. Emma did workshops every day with the children to keep them patient while Jas can finally move with more ease even if for the moment he avoids too much effort. For the occasion, Emma plans to prepare a real feast for our greatest pleasure.

On the morning of the 24th, you can already feel the children’s excitement, so much so that I ended up asking them to go for a walk outside. We then launch into a snowball fight which I hope will calm them down a little. Children have never been known for their patience and I believe that all parents in the world know that on this day, nothing can really keep them in place.

However, I must admit that we are no better than them. We also want to spend this evening together. We too want to see those sparkles in their eyes when they open their presents. It seems that this time of year brings everyone back to childhood.

I smile as Melissa throws a snowball at me that hits the top of my head and pretends to be hurt before collapsing to the ground. They immediately run towards me but I jump up before launching after them to their bursts of laughter. Life is really sweet here and even more so now that we are all aware that nothing can disturb this peace, this tranquility that we all need.

We come home when the little ones are too cold to stay outside, the smell emanating from our home awakens our appet and although it is busy, we rush to the kitchen to find Emma there. I try to taste the dish but she manages to stop my gesture before telling me,

- Hands off, it's not ready vet.

- Come on, I said, trying to coax him, let me taste it.

- Out of the question handsome brown. Go join Jason with the kids, I don’t want you near me until it's ready. I know you well enough to know how this is going to end.

I can't help but smile, she's right. She knows that we risk coming back to bother her several times, so I kiss her quickly before leaving the kitchen. We then prepare a beautiful table with Jason. We put our best foot forward, as they say. We really want this evening to be as beautiful as possible.

Once we're finished, we prepare the children, put them in other clothes that are a little more festive and this time, when find Emma, she has finished these preparations. She smiles when she sees the children, ready for the evening, and goes t change, putting on a dress, something she almost never does.

It's crazy, even lost in the middle of nowhere, we still try to do our best to make everything as comfortable, normal as if w lived in the city and looking around me, I realize that we have perfectly succeeds. We sit down at the table, Emma has rea delivered, the dishes follow each other more delectable than the others.

The children never stop complimenting her, for the occasion, she takes out a good bottle of wine from which she gives us glass. The evening is pleasant, really pleasant and everyone's smile is the best sign of it. Our tree is shining, magnificent, a few hours, the gifts will be piling up at its base. The night will be short for the children, as for all children in the world. Once dessert is finished, we take the time to play with the little ones before going to bed much later than usual. We tidy the house together, giving them time to fall asleep before dressing warmly with Jason to go to my workshop and start bringing all the presents into the house.

We then discover that Emma has already placed two presents under the tree without us noticing this fact and placing the rest little by little. Seeing the pile, I say to myself that fortunately we only have two children otherwise I doubt that the living room will be big enough to accommodate everything. But after all, they deserved to be spoiled.

Once our journeys are finished, the three of us sit down to contemplate our work. With a drink in hand, we enjoy this sweetness, this warmth of being together and happy all three of us. We stay like that for a long time, immersed in a tenderness that pushes us to settle a little more comfortably in the chair, until finally, we fall asleep against each other. Two small tornadoes come to wake us up, jumping for joy. The sun has only recently risen but for the children that doesn matter, only the mountain of gifts is of real importance. Emma smiles at them before accompanying them to the foot of t tree and watching them tear open the packaging before marveling at their new toys.

Julien goes back and forth between all of us to show us these gifts and when they are finished, there are two left, the two that Emma dropped off before us. The kids come and hand them to Jason and me. I look up, a little surprised. From the beginning, we haven't had the habit of giving each other gifts; in general, we focus on the children.

She smiled before telling us,

- Open up instead of looking at me like that. It's for all of us, I haven't deviated from tradition, she adds, getting up to come and meet us.

We then unwrap the gifts, I then come across a framed photo of the five of us. It's the first one we have, in fact it's the onl one we have and I can't help but smile when I recognize where it was taken. I turn my head to see that Jason is holding or of the three of us tenderly embracing. by the expression on his face,

~ I asked Melissa to do it when we were at her house. I figured it was time for us to add frames to our decor.

jason gets up to take her in his arms, I follow closely to join in this embrace, thanking her. We quickly install these frames which bring even more life to our home and as I look at them, I tell myself that our family is just magnificent. It was a ver good idea, a wonderful idea, an idea worthy of her and her way of seeing things.