It's the most wonderful time of the year…

The blaring music wakes him up, but he just covers his head with a pillow to try to drown it out. Not this time of year again.

He hears muffled footsteps, and then he feels the weight of someone landing on top of him. He groans in pain and tries pushing her off him, but she just giggles and lifts the pillow off his head. He opens his eyes to look up at her, and she grins down at him.

"Happy December first!" she exclaims.

"Christmas isn't for another twenty-four days, Ally," he says, running a hand down his face tiredly.

"Not true. Today's the first day of Christmas."

"There are twelve days of Christmas. Not twenty-five."

"Not in my world."

"Well, on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…"

She smiles wider.

"A headache," he deadpans.

She pouts. "But it's the most wonderful time of the year."

"Yeah, for you."

"I know you like Christmas now."

"It's a love-hate relationship."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Fine, no hot chocolate for you."

"You can't deprive me of your hot chocolate. That's like depriving me of oxygen."

She shrugs innocently, a smile on her face. "You can't enjoy hot chocolate without being in the Christmas spirit."

He sighs. "Can you at least turn the music down?"

"Nope. It's the most wonderful time of the year."

"It's also the darkest and coldest time of the year."

She smiles and crawls off him, snuggling into his side. "And that's why you have a girlfriend to cuddle with."

He sighs, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her head. "You're lucky I love you."

"I know. And you're lucky I love you."

"Yeah, I am."

He closes his eyes, and slowly he drifts back to sleep.

When he wakes up again and looks at the clock, he just about scares Ally to death with how loudly he curses.

"What?! What's wrong?!" she exclaims, looking around for some kind of problem.

"I'm late for work! I have a meeting in ten minutes!"

He rushes to the closet and gets dressed as quickly as he can before sprinting to the bathroom to brush his teeth, cursing every thirty seconds.

"You're the CEO. What're they gonna do, fire you?" she asks him.

"This meeting is with Johnathan Sanders, Ally."

"Oh. Yeah, you better hurry."

He doesn't say anything else, running out the door to get to the office on time.

He runs into the meeting with barely a second to spare, trying to catch his breath and fix his tie while apologizing profusely to Johnathan.

"Austin, there you are."

He shakes Johnathan's hand. "Again, I'm so sorry. I overslept."

"Happens to the best of us," Johnathan says.

Austin nods, sitting down at the conference table across from him.

"So, how's the girlfriend?"

"She's good," Austin says with another nod. "She gets a little…excited at Christmas time. Gonna be a long month."

Johnathan chuckles. "I don't know how you of all people could deal with that."

Austin shrugs. "I honestly don't know either."

"From what I've heard, she's bossy and an overbearing perfectionist. A real witch with a capital 'B,' if you know what I mean."

Austin tilts his head, knitting his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Hey, man, no hard feelings."

"No, of course not. It's only my girlfriend you're talking about," Austin says sarcastically.

"Well, it's not like you're marrying her or anything, right?"

Austin freezes for a second, taken off guard by his statement. "What?"

"I mean, you've been dating for two years, and nothing has really happened."

Austin presses his lips together in a tight line. "Maybe we should reschedule this meeting."

"Austin – "

"I have other things I have to attend to." He stands up, holding out his hand. "My assistant will be in touch."

Johnathan sighs and shakes his hand, exiting the room.

He storms in the apartment, slamming the door behind him and dropping his briefcase on the counter. Ally looks up at him from where she's working at the kitchen table while he undoes his suffocating tie.

"Well, you don't look nearly jolly enough for the first day of Christmas," she says.

He doesn't bother looking at her. "I'm not in the mood," he mutters.

She sighs and gets up from the table, walking over to him and resting a hand on his arm. "What happened?"

"Don't wanna talk about it."

He starts walking over to the couch.

"Would peppermint hot chocolate help?"

"I thought I wasn't allowed."

"I'm willing to make an exception."

"You are a saint."

She smiles, looking slightly relieved that it's not her he's mad at. Then, she walks over to the cabinets to get out the ingredients for the hot chocolate.

"I'm just about to finish planning the best princess birthday party ever for the most adorable five-year-old you've ever seen," she says. "I think party planning is my calling. Pretty much the best job ever."

"Yeah, you're good at it," he says, grabbing his briefcase off the counter and walking over to the couch.

After making sure she can't see him, he opens his briefcase and pulls out a piece of paper. It's a flyer, actually. For the Christmas party in his office. Which hasn't been planned yet. Another thing he has to worry about.

"So, wanna talk about what's bothering you yet?" she asks him a few minutes later, handing him his mug and sitting next to him with a mug of her own.

"Not really," he says, shutting his briefcase before she can see the flyer.

"Maybe I can help."

He sighs. "It's just been…a crappy day."

"Well, that isn't allowed. It's the first day of Christmas."

He rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his hot chocolate and instantly starting to feel better. "Well, remember that meeting I was almost late for?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"The meeting didn't happen."

"What? Why?"

"Johnathan said some things that pissed me off. So I kicked him out."

"Wow. What'd he say?"

"Just…things."

"About work?"

"No."

"About you?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"It doesn't matter." He takes another sip of hot chocolate. "Anyway, after he left, the copy machine went haywire, the coffee machine caught on fire, and my parents are already bothering me about the stupid Christmas ball."

"Wow. Anything else?"

He shakes his head, taking another sip. He refuses to tell her about the party because he knows that she's going to want to plan the whole thing and he doesn't think he can handle it.
She looks at something behind him, and her face lights up. "Oooh, Christmas colors!"

She reaches for the flyer, which he was dumb enough to leave sticking out of his briefcase. His eyes widen, and he sets his mug on the end table to grab her wrist to stop her.

"Ally, no – "

She pouts, setting her mug down to try to grab it with her other hand. He grabs her other wrist.

"What is it? I wanna see!"

She tries pulling her hands away, but he tightens his grip. "It doesn't matter," he says. "Hey, wanna watch a Christmas movie?"

She looks at him, her face brightening. "Really?!"

"Mmhm. Any movie you want."

She smiles more, and he lets go of her hands. She stands up to find a movie, but first she reaches behind him and grabs the flyer before he can stop her.

"Ally – "

She gasps, reading the flyer. "You're having an official office Christmas party?!"

"Yeah – "

"I'm invited, right?"

"If it even happens."

She frowns. "What do you mean?"

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "That's another thing I have to worry about. We don't have anyone willing to plan it."

He watches her face slowly get brighter and brighter until she may as well be the sun standing in the middle of the living room. But she quickly calms down enough to talk, a smile still on her face.

"Wow, if only your girlfriend had a career as a party planner or something… Oh wait!"

"No."

"Please?!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll go crazy."

"You like when I'm crazy."

He rolls his eyes. "Ally, no."

"Ally, yes."

"You're not planning this party."

"C'mon, please? I know the office because I used to work there, I love Christmas so it'll be super easy, I'm qualified because party planning is my job, I'm your girlfriend – "

"Which is why I know you're gonna let this consume you and you'll probably drop dead in the middle of the office if any little thing goes wrong."

"Pretty please, Austin? You can stop worrying about it completely, push it out of your mind. I'll take care of everything."

"No."

"If you don't let me plan it, I'm gonna be on top of you asking about it twenty-four seven."

"That's your choice of words?"

She seems to realize what she said, but she narrows her eyes at him. "That's my choice of words and I'm sticking to it."

He exhales. "Fine, you can plan the party."

She grins. "Really?!"

"But, remember that this is a party for an office full of professionals."

"Got it. Professional. Classy." She's bouncing on the balls of her feet, practically about to burst with excitement.

"Everything needs to be approved by me."

"Okay. You're on top."

He nods. "Just like always."

She grins and presses a quick kiss to his lips before running to the table to grab her laptop and then sprinting upstairs. He hears the door to her office shut and he sighs, wondering just what he got himself into.

Rockin' around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday…

He wakes up to blaring Christmas music yet again, and he groans, reaching over to Ally's side of the bed. Of course, she isn't there. He doesn't know what he was expecting.

"Ally, turn that down!" he calls.

It's Saturday, and he refuses to have his weekend sleeping in compromised by Ally's Christmas spirit.

When the music continues to blast throughout the apartment, he sighs and gets up to start going into the kitchen to tell her to turn it down. But then he realizes the music is coming from her office across the hall.

He walks in and sees that the music is coming from the speaker next to her computer. She's fast asleep with her head resting in an uncomfortable-looking position on her desk while her hand sits on top of the volume button on her keyboard. It must've fallen there when she fell asleep.

He sighs and turns off the music before shaking Ally's shoulder gently. Her eyes flutter open, and she knits her eyebrows. "What time is it?" she asks him tiredly.

"Seven in the morning. Did you even come to bed last night?"

She shakes her head. "I was getting in the Christmas mood and I got all these ideas for the party."

He sighs, smiling slightly. Then, he realizes she's wearing her reindeer onesie and there's a plate of crumbs that look suspiciously like gingerbread.

He runs a hand through his hair. "Ally, honey, you haven't left this room all week."

"That's not true. I come out for most meals and to go to the bathroom. And to sleep. Most of the time."

"This is getting out of hand."

"I just want it to be perfect."

"I'm sure what you already have is better than anyone else could've come up with."

"But – "

"You've still got over a week until the party, Ally. Why don't you take a break?"

"Because it's a Christmas party."

"You're letting it consume you like I knew you would – "

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are. It's the weekend. You shouldn't even be working."

"The weekend means I have more time to work."

"The weekend means that I finally get to spend time with you after stressing all week."

She smiles. "Aw, that's sweet. But I have to get this done. Goodbye."

He exhales. "Fine. Desperate measures."

He picks her up off her chair bridal style.

"Hey – "

"You are taking a break from planning this party whether you want to or not."

"Why are you like this?" she whines.

"Because I miss you, Ally. And you're going crazy."

She pouts as he carries her to the bathroom and sets her down.

"Now you take a shower, and I'll make you a breakfast that isn't gingerbread cookies. Okay?"

She sighs. "Scrambled eggs, please."

He smiles and kisses her cheek before walking out, shutting the door behind him.

He hears the shower turn on, and then he hears her faint voice singing a Christmas song.

He makes her breakfast, and she walks downstairs just as he finishes. She rubs her eyes and sits at the counter. He hands her the plate.

"Tired?"

She nods. "I don't feel good."

"You're probably getting sick after being cooped up in that room eating nothing but gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate for a week."

She pouts up at him and he sighs, kissing her head. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Watch Christmas movies with me all day?" she asks, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Only because you don't feel good," he says.

She smiles a bit and starts eating while he goes to grab the movies.

Suddenly, he sees her run out of the room in the corner of his eye. He knits his eyebrows and follows her, but she rushes to the bathroom and shuts the door before he can ask what's wrong. He hears her gagging, and he sighs.

"Ally, you okay in there?" he asks gently.

"No," she manages.

He frowns. "Need anything?"

"No," she chokes out again. "Please just – go away."

He presses his lips in a tight line. "Okay…I'm here if you need me."

He tries his best to concentrate on his work, even with his girlfriend running around the office and ordering people around to help her set up the decorations for the party. But she's insisted on playing Christmas music again and right now, he doesn't think he can handle it.

You better watch out, you better not cry…

"Ally?" he calls, sticking his head out of his office.

She turns to look at him from where she's trying to explain to someone how to perfectly wrap tinsel around the giant tree in the lobby. "Yeah?" she asks him innocently.

He gestures for her to come over, and she says something to the guy she's talking to before shoving the tinsel in his hands and walking over to Austin. He takes a step to the side, and she walks into his office. He follows her, shutting the door behind them.

"Ally, I know you have this party planned to perfection, and I know you can't set it up by yourself in time, but you're kinda screwing everything up right now."

She frowns. "We're almost done – "

"I know. But the music and you sending my people off to put up decorations instead of doing their actual jobs and you just running around the office, it's…it's too much."

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to calm down."

"I'm perfectly calm. I just want this party to be perfect like you wanted."

"Ally, I don't even want a party."

"What?"

"I don't like Christmas."

"But I thought – "

"I'm trying. For you. But – "

"But you're getting annoyed with me."

"Ally – "

"No, no, it's fine. I'll calm down."

He presses his lips together. "I'm sorry. I'm being the worst."

She doesn't say anything, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Hey," he says gently, trying to lift her chin so she'll look at him.

He sees the tears in her eyes, and his face falls. "Ally, I'm sorry – "

"You're fine," she says quickly, her voice shaking slightly. "I – I don't know why I'm so emotional. I'm okay. Promise."

He swallows. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

He knows he should be admiring all of Ally's incredible planning and setup for this party, but he can't take his eyes off her. She looks amazing, and the proud smile on her face is lighting up the room.

"Ally, this party is perfect," he says.

She looks over at him and smiles. "You aren't even looking at it."

"I know," he tells her, smiling back. "It's still perfect."

She giggles and kisses his cheek. "C'mon, let's go mingle."

They start walking around to talk to people, and Austin marvels at how much Ally's people skills have improved. She makes conversation with everyone in the office with ease, and everyone loves her. Austin hardly even has to say anything.

But after a while, Austin notices a slight change in Ally's demeanor. She seems a little shorter in her responses to certain questions from people, and she's more tense than she was earlier.

He suspects she's probably just getting tired – it has been a pretty draining couple of weeks for her. So he disconnects her arm from his and grabs her hand instead, leading her away from the main area of the party.

"Where are we going?" she asks him.

"My office."

"Austin, I'm really not in the mood for – "

"Just to talk," he assures her as he opens the door. "You deserve a break."

She nods and walks in, and he follows her, shutting the door behind them.

"Are you okay?" he asks her.

She shrugs and nods. "Yeah. I'm just really tired."

"You haven't really been feeling good lately."

"I've probably just been overworking myself with this party," she admits. "You were right."

He smiles a bit. "Maybe. But it was cute seeing you all excited about it."

"I thought it annoyed you," she says, tilting her head.

"Oh, it did, don't get me wrong. But it was cute. And it was very you."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, considering I love you, I don't think so."

She smiles a bit. "You're lucky I love you too. If you were anyone else, I would've been mad at you for blocking my creativity so much."

He chuckles and takes her hand, kissing the back of it.

"Hey, can we just get out of here?" she asks him.

He nods. "You read my mind."

They say goodbye to everyone at the party and immediately go home.

By the time both of them are finally in bed, it's almost midnight.

He's already half asleep while she's still shifting positions and trying to get comfortable. It's a kind of tell of hers – she gets restless when she's sick or stressed.

He reaches out and pulls her into him so her back is pressed against his chest. He presses a kiss to her head and buries his nose in her hair, rubbing his thumb in small, gentle circles on her stomach. She finally starts to relax, and soon enough her breathing is even and matched perfectly to his.

"Hey, baby, how was the doctor?" he asks, setting his briefcase down on the counter.

"What?" she asks, turning to look at him, slightly wide-eyed.

He knits his eyebrows. "Hey, baby, how was the doctor?" he repeats.

"What doctor?"

"Uh…the doctor's appointment you asked me to book for you because you've been feeling so crappy lately…?" he says. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, that doctor," she says. "It was fine. I'm fine. They just said I need to get more rest and eat better food. But I can do that after Christmas."

Austin chuckles. "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

She smiles a bit, and he walks over to sit next to her on the couch.

"How was work?" she asks.

"Pretty good, actually."

"That's good." She leans her head on his shoulder. "What's the latest on the Christmas ball?"

"It's this Saturday, and we have to be there at six."

"Does your dad like me or not this week?"

"I can't tell."

"Great. What's for dinner?"

"I dunno, I just got home."

"Oh. You're right."

He looks over at her. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asks her.

She lifts her head and smiles at him. "Never better. Only a week and a half till Christmas!" she exclaims.

He smiles slightly and kisses her forehead. "Do you wanna go out for dinner?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "Let's just order pizza or something."

"Okay."

He calls her favorite pizza place and orders their food, and then he looks at her again.

His conversation with Johnathan runs through his mind, and he wonders what would've given Johnathan the idea that he and Ally were gonna break up anytime soon. If it was up to him, he doesn't think he'd ever break up with her.

"Hey, Ally?"

"Yeah?" She looks over at him.

"What do you think about…us?"

She raises her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno, it's just…we bicker a lot, and we rarely agree on anything, and we just…don't seem like the greatest couple."

She frowns. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No, of course not," he says immediately, grabbing her hand gently. "I just…certain people have said things, and – "

"And it's getting to you," she says, sounding heartbroken. "And you're rethinking our entire relationship and you want to break up with me, and – " She cuts off and hiccups, a few tears escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

He knits his eyebrows and shakes his head, cupping her cheeks and wiping her tears with his thumbs. "Hey, hey, hey," he says gently as she looks up at him, "I'm not breaking up with you. I don't want to break up with you. I honestly don't think I'm ever gonna break up with you."

She swallows, staring at him wordlessly. "R – really?"

He nods. "Yeah. The reason I asked you in the first place was to see if…to see if you might be thinking about breaking up with me."

She shakes her head, smiling slightly. "You're stuck with me."

He smiles back at her and pulls her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her shoulder. "I wouldn't wanna be stuck with anyone else."

He and Ally walk around the party arm in arm, greeting and talking with the guests. Ally's manners and conversational skills have gotten much better since the first Christmas ball, and Austin finds himself feeling surprised at how put-together and graceful she seems at events like this.

After greeting everyone, Ally wanders off to dance to the Christmas music with Dez while Austin walks over to talk to his father.

"Austin," his father says with a nod.

"Hey."

"I see you're still with…her."

He looks in the direction his father is looking, and he sees Ally and Dez giggling and jumping around to the upbeat Christmas song playing in the ballroom. Then he looks over at his father, who has a disappointed look on his face.

"Uh, yeah. I am," Austin says. "I thought you liked her."

"I don't dislike her as a person, son. I dislike her for you." His father looks over at him, and he raises his eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Can you really see yourself with this girl? Can you see yourself having a life with her? Marrying her? Having kids with her? You're so much more mature than her, and older – "

"By three years."

"All I'm saying is that I don't think you two are a good fit. You're professional and serious and well-mannered. She's the opposite."

"That's not true at all. She started her own business, which she is very serious about, and I'm pretty sure everyone her likes her more than they like me. Except you."

"She's wearing red."

"She wears red every year."

"It's obnoxious."

"It's different, dad. She's different."

"You never answered my question. You aren't getting any younger, Austin."

"I'm only thirty!"

"Can you see yourself with this girl?"

"I love her."

"I didn't ask you whether or not you loved her." His father rolls his eyes. "Answer my question."

"I can see myself with her, okay? I do see myself with her. I see our wedding day, I see our kids, I see us growing old together and everything in between. And I don't need you and everyone else trying to tell me what you think you know about my relationship."

He storms off before his father can respond, marching upstairs and onto the balcony.

He rests his forearms on the railing and looks out at the lit-up city below him, wishing he could be as happy as his girlfriend during Christmastime for once. He remembers everything he just said to his father about Ally, and he realizes he really meant it. He realizes he wants all of that with her.

He just doesn't know if she wants the same thing.

He's so caught up in his thoughts, he doesn't even hear her come outside. But he feels a hand on his arm, and he closes his eyes, knowing exactly who it is because of the way his body instantly warms up despite the biting winter air.

"You okay?" she asks him gently.

He nods, but he knows she won't be convinced.

"Did your dad say something?"

"Yeah," he mutters, opening his eyes and looking down at the railing he's leaning on. "I don't really wanna talk about it."

She kisses his cheek, and he takes a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Christmas is supposed to be about love," she says.

"Wanna tell him that?"

"I would if he'd listen."

"I don't think he's willing to listen to anyone. About anything. Unless they're agreeing with him."

"Not even you?"

He shakes his head, taking a deep breath. "It feels like all we have is a professional relationship. There's no love there."

"I'm sure there is, even if it doesn't seem like it all the time."

"It really doesn't seem like it tonight."

"Then I guess I'll have to love you all night to make up for it," she announces.

He looks over at her, raising his eyebrows and smiling slightly. She knits her eyebrows in confusion, and then her eyes widen.

"You know that is not what I meant."

"You sure about that?"

"It's Christmas!" she splutters.

He just smiles and wraps an arm around her, pulling her into his side. "I love you," he tells her while she pouts at him.

"You love teasing me."

"I love that too," he admits. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Is it more teasing?"

He shakes his head. "It's kinda serious."

She tilts her head while he turns to face her, his arm falling away from her shoulders. "Okay," she says.

"Do you…see a future with me?" he asks her hesitantly, fearing her answer.

She swallows. "What kind of future?"

"Like…an 'Ally Moon' kind of future."

Her lips part slightly in surprise. "My first name sounds really good with your last name."

He smiles slightly, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. "So, you do see a future with me?"

She nods, mirroring his mile. "You see one with me?"

He smiles more and envelops her in a tight hug, burying his nose in her neck. "I don't see a future with anyone but you."

Rockin' around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop…

He groans and buries his head under his pillow, wishing she'd quit waking him up like this and just stay in bed for once.

But that isn't who she is, and he knows it.

He finally heaves a tired sigh and drags himself out of bed. He walks downstairs to see Ally perfectly awake and ready for the day, humming quietly to herself at the stove. He makes his way over to her and wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder and closing his eyes.

"It's about time you finally woke up."

"You know I'm not a morning person."

"And you know I am. Hot chocolate?"

He opens his eyes to find her holding two steaming mugs, and he sighs, taking one.

"You know, one day I'd just really like to wake up to you next to me. Just once."

She smiles, and he kisses the top of her head before taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"You should probably go get ready for work."

"I don't have to be there for another hour and a half. Which is why I should still be asleep."

She rolls her eyes good-naturedly. "You'd sleep your entire life away if you could, babe. Try waking up and enjoying life for once."

"I do enjoy life," he argues.

"Debatable."

"You think I'm not happy?"

"I didn't say you weren't happy. I said you don't enjoy life."

"What's the difference?"

All she does is smile at him and take a sip of her hot chocolate.

"What's the difference?" he repeats.

"Being happy means you don't want anything. You're content with the way things are in your life, and that's good."

"Well, great. I don't see the issue then," he says.

"Actually enjoying life, though, is doing the things you wanna do simply because you want to do them."

He raises his eyebrows. "Those are complete opposites."

She shakes her head. "I have everything I could ever want in life right now. I have a family I love, a job I love, a boyfriend I love…there's nothing else I need, nothing else I want. But that doesn't mean there aren't things I want to do."

"I don't understand."

"Austin, remember when I woke you up at two a.m. and told you I wanted to go skinny dipping?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Yes. And then said that that's against every rule that exists for this building's pool and I told you to go back to sleep."

"And then I dragged you out of bed and we did it anyway. Because we wanted to."

"Okay…"

She sighs. "When was the last time you did something just because you wanted to?"

He presses his lips together in a tight line, finding himself unable to answer her question.

"I know you're happy, Austin," she says gently. "But imagine how much happier you'd be if you learned to truly enjoy life."

He swallows and sets his mug down wordlessly. She sets hers next to his and presses a kiss to his cheek before starting to walk away. But he catches her wrist and pulls her into him for a tight hug, burying his nose in her neck.

"I love you," he tells her. Just because he wants to.

Her words stay with him all day. He repeats her question to himself in his mind like a haunting mantra: When was the last time you did something just because you wanted to?

Her voice teases him and taunts him as he packs up his things to leave work in the afternoon as the sun already starts setting in the sky outside his window. He does his best to ignore it, but it's not easy. He knows she has a point. When was the last time he did something for the sole purpose of doing it? Is there even anything he wants to do, but might be holding back on because he's too afraid of the consequences?

He finds himself answering his own question when he awakens from a sort of trance in the middle of a Tiffany jewelry store with his nose pressed against the glass encasing a variety of diamond rings. He knits his eyebrows and stands up straight, looking around and wondering how he ended up driving here when he was positive he was going home.

Then he looks back at the specific ring he was staring at. Oh.

The ring is elegant, with tiny diamonds set into the band surrounding the beautiful cushion-cut diamond in the center. It reflects the store's lighting and creates a million rainbows, all bouncing off each other on the large diamond.

He swallows and looks around for someone working there, and he waves over the first person he sees.

"This one," he manages, his voice shaking with nerves after his realization. He points to the ring. "I want this one."

"Alright…uh, you okay?" the middle-aged man asks him.

He swallows and nods. "Y – yeah," he says. "Just – um, can I get the ring please?"

"I need a size," the man says, walking around behind the counter.

Austin doesn't even hear what size he tells the guy because of how much his mind is reeling. He's never even asked Ally her ring size before. But somehow, he knows he's right.

He goes into another daze. He's vaguely aware of the man wishing him luck as he leaves the store after buying the ring, but he doesn't come back to his senses again until he's sitting in his parked car at home.

He tries to calm his pounding heart as he opens and closes the tiny velvet box, as if he might find that the ring magically disappeared in the few seconds he had it closed. But the ring is still there every time, and his mind starts spiraling out of control as he considers what everyone is going to say if he really goes through with this.

Johnathan Sanders might think he'll be less committed to his company and their partnership if he has a wedding to worry about. His father will most likely be beyond disappointed. He can already see the distasteful look behind Ally's back.

He shakes his head quickly, trying to channel his inner Ally. She doesn't care what anyone else thinks. She doesn't worry about consequences. She does things because she wants to. She enjoys life.

He opens the box again and stares at the ring, taking a deep breath.

He doesn't realize how long he sits there with the open ring box until his phone ringing breaks him out of his daze. He jumps and closes the box quickly when he sees it's Ally calling him, as if she might see the ring when he answers the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, where are you? I made dinner."

He checks the time. He's been sitting out here for an hour.

"O – oh. Sorry. I'll be there in like two minutes."

"Is everything okay?" she asks, her voice laced with concern.

"Yeah, why?"

"You seem…jumpy."

"Oh. I'm fine. Everything's great. I'll see you in a few, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Love you, bye."

He hangs up on her quickly and checks on the ring one more time before hiding the box in his briefcase and getting out of the car.

He has to wipe his sweaty hands on his pants ten times on the elevator ride. You'd think he was heading for his execution or something.

When he walks in the apartment, he's met with the smell of pancakes and a reindeer at the stove. He swallows as she turns around and smiles at him.

"You like?" she asks.

"You know how I feel about that onesie," he tells her, trying to keep his voice even.

"You tell me you don't like it, but I know you think it's adorable," she tells him, narrowing her eyes. "Go change. We're having breakfast for dinner, your favorite."

He nods and starts walking away, but suddenly she's in front of him, blocking his path, looking up at him expectantly with her arms crossed. He stares at the red nose on the hood of her onesie to avoid her expectant gaze.

"What happened?" she asks him.

"Nothing happened."

"Something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong."

"You won't even look me in the eyes."

"How can I look you in the eyes when you're a grown, twenty-eight-year-old woman wearing a reindeer onesie?"

She narrows her eyes at him, and he brushes past her to walk upstairs.

"Austin," Ally whines, grabbing his arm with both hands to stop him. "Is this about this morning? Because I didn't mean t – "

"Nothing's wrong, Ally," he tells her. "I'm just going upstairs to change. Like you just told me to."

She pouts at him. "I feel like you're mad at me."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm not mad at you." I'm about to ask you to marry me, for crying out loud.

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now can I go change so we can stuff our faces with pancakes?"

She smiles a bit and nods, and he walks upstairs, kissing her forehead as he passes her.

He walks into their room and locks the door before quickly changing into a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt. He knows she'll probably get after him for not dressing "comfy" enough, but he refuses to propose to her wearing sweats.

I'm going to propose to her.

He opens his briefcase and takes out the small blue velvet box. He opens it gingerly to make sure the ring is still there.

It is. Just like every other time he's opened it today.

He closes it carefully, his heart pounding. The next time he opens it, he'll be on one knee. He hopes the ring will still be there when he does it.

He puts the box in his pocket and sets his briefcase on the dresser before taking a deep breath and walking back downstairs.

"Took you long enough," she says as he walks back in the kitchen. When she looks at him, she frowns.

"I don't wanna put on pajamas just yet," he tells her.

"But – "

"I'm gonna shower later so I'll just put them on then."

She sighs. "Fine."

He tries to calm his heartbeat. You aren't even doing it till after dinner. Calm down.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asks him, handing him a plate of four perfectly stacked chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup.

"I'm positive. You worry too much."

"You stress too much."

"I'm happy, remember?"

"Yeah, but – "

"And I'm gonna try to start taking your advice. Enjoy life and all that."

She raises her eyebrows. "Really?"

He nods. "Yeah. But forget that for right now. I'm starving."

She giggles a bit and rolls her eyes, reaching up to tousle his hair. He narrows his eyes at her playfully and steals a strawberry off her pancake stack before sitting down at the table.

"Oh, you'll pay for that," she tells him. "You will pay for that."

"Is that so?" he asks her challengingly.

"Mmhm. Just you wait. You won't even see it coming."

He smiles and shrugs, taking a bite of his food.

A couple hours later, they're finished eating and curled up on the couch, just talking. Normally, he likes nights like these, where they hang out and simply enjoy each other's company and conversation. But tonight's a little different. Tonight, he wishes they were doing something, anything that might distract him from his building nerves.

"When we have kids, we aren't gonna have room for all those ornaments plus all their homemade ones," Ally notes after a few beats of silence, staring at the tree.

He looks over at her. "We're gonna have kids?"

She looks at him, swallowing. "If. If we have kids."

He swallows too. "When. I want all that with you."

She exhales a sigh of what sounds like relief. "Oh. Good. I want it too. With you, of course. I don't know why – "

"That future we talked about. I want it," he says before he can stop himself, interrupting what was probably going to be one of her awkward rambles.

She nods. "Me too."

He turns on the couch to face her more and grabs her hands. "I know I'm…hard to deal with. I know I'm argumentative and cold and always stressed and most of the time I don't seem happy at all."

She frowns. "Hey, stop it – "

He shakes his head. "But I want you to know I'm happy with you." His heart pounds against his chest and suddenly he starts talking in a rush. "You make me so happy, I can't even put it into words. Before I met you, I had nothing to live for except the company. But then you came into my life with your peppermint hot chocolate and ear-piercing Christmas music and your peppiness and excitement and everything about you, and you just…you turned everything completely upside down for me."

Her cheeks tint pink. "You make me happy too, you know."

"I know that. I don't know how, but I know that I do. But Ally, you...you light up every single room you walk into. You're like this – this embodiment of pure sunlight, and everyone revolves around you because they want to, because they love you. And I know I'm rambling and you probably think I've lost my mind, but I just…can't comprehend how lucky I am to have you."

She smiles a bit, her eyes glistening. "You're gonna make me cry," she says with a giggle, her voice shaking with the tears she's holding back. "Especially because I know you're being serious if you can say all this when I'm wearing a ridiculous reindeer onesie."

He smiles too, letting go of one of her hands to cup her face. He wipes a tear off her cheek with his thumb and she sniffles, searching his eyes.

"I love you so much," he tells her, holding her gaze so she doesn't notice him letting go of her other hand to reach into his pocket.

He presses a soft kiss to her lips to give himself a few seconds to muster up all the courage he can find.

He pulls away from her slowly and shifts off the couch and onto the ground, kneeling on one knee as he pulls out the box and opens it to reveal the ring he bought just a few hours ago. But when he finally looks up at her, her eyes are still closed, and she has a wistful smile on her face.

He swallows. "Ally Dawson," he says quietly, as if talking too loud might shatter the ring.

She opens her eyes, first looking at where he was on the couch. She knits her eyebrows and then looks down at him, but he can see her mind register what's going on just a split second after she sees him. Her jaw drops and her hands fly to her mouth as she lets out a shaky squeak of surprise through her now-falling tears.

He smiles and looks down for a second, trying to blink back his own tears before looking up at her again.

"Will you marry me?"

She nods, unable to get any words out as she scrambles off the couch and tackles him in a bone-crushing hug, burying her head in his shoulder where he can feel her tears seeping into his shirt.

He cries out in surprise as he falls to the ground, but then the fact that she said yes sets in and he wraps his arms around her tightly, resting a hand on the back of her head and burying his face in her hair, unable to stop his own tears from escaping his eyes.

Once he manages to calm down a bit, he lays his head back on the floor, sighing in pure relief and staring up at the ceiling.

"I was so scared you were gonna say no," he manages with a shaky voice as he runs a hand through his hair.

"You're an idiot," she tells him, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"I know."

She finally lifts her head and sits up, sniffling and wiping the tears off her face before pulling the hood of her onesie off her head.

"I can't believe you thought I was gonna say no!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I can't believe you proposed to me while I was wearing a reindeer onesie!"

"I'm sorry!"

But they're both laughing giddily with voices that keep giving out as they finally manage to stop crying.

He covers his face with his hand and lets out his last few giggles before finally looking up at her where she's still sitting on top of him.

She thrusts her hand in his face wordlessly. He crosses his eyes to look at it, and then he looks up at her again.

"What – oh, am I supposed to…oh."

He quickly takes the ring out of the box – he can't believe it didn't disappear – and slips it on her finger, kissing her hand before she pulls it back to look at the ring.

"Austin…this ring is gorgeous. When did you even get it without me knowing?" She looks at him.

"Today."

"What?"

"I didn't even realize I was getting it until I was staring at it in the store. And then it was all I could think about."

"That's uncharacteristically spontaneous of you," she notes.

"I've decided to enjoy life more," he tells her.

She smiles and leans back down, pressing a kiss to his lips. He sighs and wraps his arms around her again, closing his eyes.

She pulls away far too quickly for his liking.

"We're getting married!" she shrieks, climbing off him and standing up.

"I know!" He stands up too, watching her bounce up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly.

"We have to call my friends and my parents and your friends and your parents and – "

"Or we could save all that for tomorrow," he suggests.

"And do what instead?"

He picks her up bridal style and presses another kiss to her lips.

"I'll give you three guesses," he says.

"A guessing game. How romantic."

"You know I can't seduce you when you're wearing that," he tells her. "We've talked about this."

"Well, that's not my fault."

He rolls his eyes good-naturedly and sets her down. "Just get your cute little reindeer butt upstairs and take it off."

She grins and bounds upstairs. He laughs and shakes his head, running after her.

"Ally, c'mon! We're gonna be late!" he calls as he paces in the living room.

"I'll be right there!" he hears her faint reply.

She walks downstairs in a hurry, holding her shoes in one hand and holding her dress up with the other.

"I can't get this stupid dress zipped," she says, her stress and frustration evident in her voice.

"When you got it fitted you said it felt perfect," he says, knitting his eyebrows.

"It did." She turns her back to him and moves her hair out of the way. "Maybe the zipper's just stuck or something. Or maybe I've just had too many Christmas cookies."

"You? Have too many Christmas cookies? C'mon, Mrs. Claus, I don't think that's possible."

"Does that make you Santa?"

"Absolutely not."

"Does that mean I'm cheating on Santa with the Grinch?"

"No."

"Oh yeah. You're more like Mr. Scrooge."

"Okay, well, we can figure out who I am in the car."

He tries to zip up her dress and frowns when the zipper hardly budges.

"See? Too many Christmas cookies."

"Just suck it in, we have to go."

She takes a deep breath, trying to suck her stomach in. He finally manages to zip up her dress, and then she sits on the couch to put her shoes on.

"Great," she groans. "These don't fit either."

"What's going on with you? Did all your clothes shrink?"

"No."

"Well, you don't look different."

She manages to pull her shoes on, and then she stands up, making an uncomfortable face.

"Can we go now?" he asks.

"You try having malfunctions with your entire wardrobe."

He rolls his eyes and grabs her hand, dragging her out.

"Why are your clothes suddenly not fitting you?"

"They're too tight."

"Then get bigger sizes."

"Are you calling me fat?!"

He looks over at her, confused at how she jumped to that conclusion.

"Where in that sentence did I call you fat?"

"When you said to get bigger sizes!"

"Ally, I didn't – "

"Whatever, Austin. I get it. I disgust you now." She pulls her hand out of his grip and marches to the car.

He rolls his eyes. "Oh my – Ally, what is going on with you?" he asks as he gets in the driver's seat.

"Nothing's going on with me. But apparently something's going on with you where you suddenly hate me."

"Sweetheart, I just told you to get bigger sizes if your clothes don't fit."

"So basically you think I'm fat and disgusting and you hate me."

"I didn't say any of that," he says as he starts driving to his parents' house.

"You didn't need to. I knew what you meant."

He glances over at her. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing's gotten into me."

He sighs. "It's Christmas Eve. This is your favorite night of the year, babe. Why are you so grumpy?"

"So now I'm fat, disgusting, you hate me, and I'm grumpy? What's next, you wanna break off our engagement?" she snaps.

"Ally, come on. I didn't say any of that."

"You said I was grumpy. So now you're a liar."

He presses his lips together in a tight line, deciding against engaging in any further argument. He's pretty sure there's no way to win this one.

"So…are you excited to tell my parents about the engagement?" he asks her, trying to change the subject.

He sees her look over at him with a smile on her face out of his peripheral.

"Yes," she gushes with a deep sigh. "I'm so glad we waited to tell them in person."

He smiles a bit, letting out a mental sigh of relief that she's already over their argument.

"Me, too. And my grandma is gonna be more excited than anyone."

Ally smiles more. "You're right. Do you think your mom will help me plan the wedding?"

"I think she'll go crazy over it," Austin admits.

"What about your dad? How do you think he'll take the news?"

"Probably not well at first. But he'll be happy about it eventually. He does like you."

"He just doesn't like me with you most of the time."

"He will."

Ally sighs and stares out her window. "Why am I not good enough for anyone?"

He glances over at her. "What?"

"I'm not good enough. No one thinks I'm good enough. I'm especially not good enough for you."

He parks in front of his parents' house and looks over at her. "Ally, where is this coming from?"

"It's coming from the fact that your dad doesn't want me with you because I'm not good enough. And neither does your business partner!"

"You're better than good enough – "

"No, I'm not." Her lip starts quivering, and he goes into panic mode. He's hardly ever seen her cry. She's such a happy person, he's never really had to deal with anything like this from her before.

"Hey, hey, hey," he says gently, taking her hands. "You're incredible. You're perfect for me. I wouldn't be marrying you if you weren't."

She sniffles, her eyes starting to fill with tears as she shakes her head. "I'm nothing, Austin. You're this smart, rich, sexy CEO, and I'm a freaking party planner. I'm worthless." A few tears escape her eyes, and he quickly grabs her face and wipes them away with his thumbs, frowning.

"Baby, don't say that. You're worth everything."

She shakes her head again. "I'm not. Why are you with me?"

"Because I love you, sweetheart. You know that."

"I'm not worth it."

"C'mon, Ally. Stop saying that. You're worth all the love in the world and more. You make me happier than I've ever been in my entire life. I can't live without you."

She sniffles and closes her eyes. He wipes a few remaining tears off her cheeks.

"Okay?" he asks her.

She nods, and he kisses her forehead before getting out of the car.

She stares at the ground as they walk up to the front door. He faces her and grabs her shoulders.

"Sweetheart, I really need you to pull yourself together. Can you do that?"

She nods, not looking up from the ground.

"Just for a few hours. But hey, it's your favorite night of the year, Ally!" he exclaims, trying to cheer her up. "And we're announcing our engagement to my family! This is happy, remember?"

She nods again, her eyes still trained on her feet.

He sighs and wraps an arm around her waist, ringing the doorbell.

The door swings open to reveal Austin's mother smiling at them. "We were worried you guys wouldn't make it!" she exclaims, stepping aside. "Come on in, dinner's almost ready."

They walk in, and Austin tries to think of anything he can do to cheer Ally up. He almost wishes she was sad more often so he'd know how to handle it.

"I'll meet you in there," she says to Austin before they get to the living room. Then she separates herself from him and walks to the bathroom.

He presses his lips together in a line and walks out into the living room.

"Where's Ally?" his grandmother asks. "She's the only reason you were invited."

Austin rolls his eyes, smiling slightly. "She's in the restroom. Don't worry, I wouldn't show up without her."

He glances over at his dad, and he doesn't look completely annoyed that Ally's here. Maybe the engagement announcement will go fine after all.

Ally returns, and before she can even get to the couch a gasp sounds from across the room. Everyone looks over to see Austin's mother standing in the kitchen doorway with her hands over her mouth.

"Mom? Is everything okay?" Austin asks, standing up.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asks, pointing to Ally's left hand.

All heads turn to Ally's hand, and then everyone stares at Austin.

He catches Dez's eye, and the redhead smirks at him. He swallows and moves to stand next to Ally.

"Uh…we have an announcement," he says.

He glances over at Ally, hoping her mood has improved.

By some Christmas miracle, she's smiling again.

"We're engaged!" she squeals, holding up her hand to show off her ring.

"Well, it's about time," Austin's grandmother says, rolling her eyes.

"My son is getting married!" his mother exclaims, running over to hug him.

He chuckles and hugs her back, and she pulls Ally into the hug. "And my daughter-in-law!" she gushes.

Ally giggles. Suddenly, Mimi pulls away from the hug. "I almost forgot. Dinner's ready!" she announces.

"Finally, the announcement I actually care about," Dez teases, patting Austin on the back and rushing into the dining room. His parents congratulate him and Ally before following, along with Austin's mother and grandmother.

Austin's father remains in the room, and he doesn't stand up from his seat.

"Hey, go on in there, okay?" Austin says to Ally.

She bites her lip and nods, glancing at his father nervously before walking into the dining room.

"You proposed to her," his father says.

Austin nods, holding his cold gaze. "I did."

"You're marrying her."

"I am."

"And you don't care about the consequences."

"I don't."

"You love her?"

"I do. More than anything."

His father exhales and stands up. "Well, son, if that's the girl you're going to spend the rest of your life with, then I really can't complain." He pats his shoulder and starts walking into the dining room with the others.

"Wait," Austin says. "You're not mad?"

His father turns back around to face him. "She's…matured over the past couple years. She's still not great for your career, but I know from experience that money doesn't last. Love does."

"So…you support our relationship now?"

"Let's just say that I can't imagine you loving anyone else enough to actually want to marry them." His father tousles his hair and walks into the dining room.

Austin just stands there, in complete shock.

Ally walks out a few seconds later, but he doesn't notice her until she's waving her hand in front of his face. "Hey, are you okay?" she asks. "Is what your dad said really that bad?"

"He's not mad," Austin says slowly, looking down at her. "He…he said that love lasts and that he can't imagine me marrying anyone else. He's actually supportive."

Ally smiles. "That's amazing!"

"I know!" He laughs and hugs her, picking her up and spinning her around.

As soon as he sets her down, her eyes go wide and she runs off down the hall.

He frowns and follows her. She rushes into the bathroom and locks the door. He knits his eyebrows and knocks. "Ally, is everything okay in there?"

"Y – yeah, I'm fine. Just a little…a little dizzy from spinning."

"Uh…okay. Do you need anything?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I'll meet you in the dining room."

He presses his lips together in a tight line and walks back to the dining room, where the rest of his family is already sitting down.

"Where's Ally?" Dez asks him as he takes his seat.

"Restroom. She hasn't really been feeling well lately."

"Ah," Dez says with a nod.

"Should we wait for her?" Austin's mother asks.

Austin shakes his head. "No, she wouldn't wanna keep everyone waiting. I doubt she'll have much of an appetite anyway."

His mother frowns a bit, but she starts passing the food around the table while everyone scoops helpings onto their plates.

A few minutes later, Ally finally walks into the room and sits next to Austin.

"Feeling a little better?" he asks her.

She nods, her eyes trained on the food. "Much better."

He raises his eyebrows, following her line of vision to the turkey and bowl of mashed potatoes. Before he can even ask if she needs anything, she's piling so much food onto her plate that he wonders if she's planning on taking some home.

Apparently she's not, because she eats every last bite. And then she eats two pieces of pie.

And then she crashes.

He practically has to carry her to the car because of how exhausted she is by the end of the night, and she falls asleep as soon as they drive away from the house. But he doesn't mind. He just enjoys the Christmas decorations lighting up all the buildings in the city as Christmas music softly plays on the radio.

If you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can't beat home, sweet home.

He wakes up slowly, still far too tired to open his eyes. But he's quite aware that his fiancée is still snuggled up next to him, and he welcomes it as a nice surprise.

Then he realizes it's Christmas, and the worry sets in. He sits up quickly.

"Ally? Are you okay?" He shakes her gently.

She whines tiredly and tries to pull him back down next to her.

"Hey, it's Christmas. What're you still doing asleep? Wasn't I supposed to wake up like three hours ago to obnoxiously loud Christmas music?"

"Consider this a Christmas present."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Mmhm. You wanna go back to sleep?"

"It's ten."

"It's Christmas."

"I want hot chocolate."

"The one time you don't wanna sleep in."

"We did sleep in. C'mon, it's Christmas."

"You don't like Christmas."

"But you do."

He gets up and walks around to her side of the bed. Then he picks her up bridal style and carries her down the stairs and into the kitchen. She yawns and stretches when he sets her down, and he smiles at her.

"Hey, in all the excitement yesterday I never got to wish you a happy anniversary," he tells her.

She smiles a bit. "Pretty soon we're gonna have a new anniversary."

"Mmhm. And you won't be Mrs. Claus anymore."

"I'll always be Mrs. Claus."

"Alright, alright. Just make the hot chocolate while I make breakfast."

"And then presents?"

"And then presents."

She grins, and they start cooking.

After they eat, they take their mugs of hot chocolate to the coffee table and sit on the floor in front of the tree.

"Can I open my present first?" she asks him with a weird tone in her voice.

"Uh…yeah, sure. Are you sure everything's okay?" he asks while he hands her the gift. "You always make me open mine first."

"I'm fine," she says. "I'm just…not ready for you to open yours quite yet."

She opens the gift and immediately smiles at the two plane tickets inside. "Hawaii?" Then she sees the note inside and opens it.

His eyes widen. "Oh, you don't need to read that – "

She grins and holds it out of his reach, reading the note. "'I was thinking that maybe getting away to an island where we would pretty much be completely alone would be a good way to see if we can handle a real future together. And I wanna see you in a bikini again.'" She looks at him, raising her eyebrows. "Really?"

"I got the tickets and wrote the note and wrapped the present before I knew I was gonna propose!" he tells her. "But I was thinking about it…"

"And you wanna see me in a bikini again."
He smiles sheepishly. "That too."

She rolls her eyes.

"Alright, now where's this present you weren't ready to give me?"

She swallows, immediately looking nervous. "R – right."

She bites her lip and hands him a perfectly wrapped box. He takes it and frowns at her.

"Hey, why do you look so nervous? You know I'll love anything you give me, right?"

"I – I know. This is just…different. I don't know how you'll react."

"Well, you don't need to worry. I already know it's gonna be perfect."

He unwraps the box and opens it, immediately smiling when he pulls out a reindeer onesie that matches hers, except a few sizes bigger. "You were worried because I complain about it when you wear it," he says.

"N – not exactly – "

"But you also know that secretly I love it."

She swallows. "There's – there's more."

He sets down the onesie and looks inside the box again. He looks up at Ally, who looks about ready to pass out as he pulls out the second item in the box.

It's another reindeer onesie that matches Ally's, except this one is quite a few sizes smaller.

"Uh…did you get my size wrong the first time or something?"

She shakes her head, chewing on her lower lip nervously.

He looks at the onesie again, and then back at her. "This…isn't for me, is it?" He speaks slowly, carefully, because he's pretty sure he already knows what's going on and he's trying to process it all at once.

She shakes her head.

He stares at the tiny onesie again, holding it in his lap. He runs his fingers over the soft fabric and smiles a bit. He doesn't even realize he's crying until a tear falls on the onesie and darkens a spot of the brown material.

He laughs a bit and runs a hand through his hair, tightening his grip on the onesie that just turned his life upside down. He meets Ally's nervous gaze.

"You're serious?" he asks her, his voice cracking with emotion.

She nods.

"How…" He clears his throat when his voice cracks again. "How long have you known?"

"About a month. That doctor's appointment a couple weeks ago was confirmation." She struggles to speak, whether from nerves or emotion he isn't sure.

"This is why you haven't been feeling well. And why everything seemed to go wrong last night."

"It's been like that for a while. You've just been so busy…you haven't noticed."

"A – Ally, I'm so sorry – "

"It's fine," she says quickly. "I'm not mad. I'm actually kinda glad. I wasn't ready to tell you until today."

"Why were you so scared to tell me?"

"I was worried you'd be upset. I mean, a child out of wedlock…that's gotta have some pretty serious consequences."

"You really think I care about the consequences?" he asks gently. She shrugs, and he shakes his head, smiling. "We're…we're having a baby, Ally."

She looks up at him and nods, a smile finally forming on her face as well. "We're having a baby!"

He laughs and hugs her tightly, burying his nose in her neck and closing his eyes.

"You've made it impossible for me to dislike Christmas now," he tells her.

She laughs, which makes him laugh, and he pulls away and kisses her.

"Mommy, Daddy, wake up, wake up, wake up!"

He feels the bed shift as the four-year-old climbs in between them.

"Santa came! There are presents everywhere and the cookies and milk are all gone and he left me a note! Come on!"

He feels a tug on his arm, but instead of getting up, he just wraps his arm around his daughter and pulls her into him.

"Mommy!" she whines. "Tell Daddy to get up!"

"It's early, Olivia," Ally says tiredly.

"But it's Christmas! C'mon, Daddy, get up!"

She tries to wriggle out of his grip, but he just pulls her closer and pretends to start snoring. Olivia giggles.

"I know you're awake, Daddy," she says. "It's Christmas! The bestest day of the whole year! Come on!"

She tries to get out of his grip again, and this time he lets her.

"She's your daughter," he says to Ally, not opening his eyes.

"Oh, just get up, lazy," she replies.

"Yeah, just get up, lazy!" Olivia exclaims.

"Fine, fine," Austin says, opening his eyes and sitting up.

Ally's already out of bed and putting a jacket on, and Olivia is jumping on the mattress, her blonde ringlets bouncing up and down.

He stands up and opens his arms, and Olivia squeals excitedly and jumps into them, wrapping her arms around his neck. He catches her and kisses her head.

"You're lucky you're cute."

"You tell me that a lot," she giggles.

"And don't you forget it. Now let's go see what Santa brought you."

He carries her downstairs while she rambles to Ally.

"I think I heard him last night! I heard the reindeer land on the roof and I heart his jingle bells when he was putting the presents under the tree!"

"Wow, really?" Ally asks her, a smile on her face. "You know, I think I heard him too."

"Did you hear him, Daddy?" Olivia asks him.

"I did. His jingle bells were louder than Mommy's snoring."

"Hey!" Ally exclaims. "I don't snore!"

Olivia giggles and Austin sets her down in the living room.

"Mommy, can you make hot chocolate?" she asks.

"How about after you open your presents?" Ally suggests.

Olivia grins and nods. "First, Daddy has to read the letter!"

She grabs the piece of paper off the coffee table and runs over to where he and Ally are already sitting on the couch. She crawls onto his lab and snuggles against his chest. He clears his throat.

"'Dear Olivia,'" he starts in his signature Santa voice. She giggles, and he continues, pointing to the words as he reads them. "'You've been a very good girl this year. I got all your letters and I read every single one of them. I love you very much and I hope you have a merry Christmas. P.S. The cookies you made were delicious.'"

Olivia beams at Austin. "He got all my letters!" she exclaims excitedly.

Austin smiles. "He did! Now go open your presents!"

The four-year-old climbs off his lap and runs to the tree, first grabbing her stocking and dumping out all the candy stuffed inside.

"She's gonna be bouncing off the walls for the next three months," Ally tells him quietly.

He shrugs, smiling at how excited his daughter is. "Worth it."

Ally leans her head on his shoulder while Olivia starts ripping open all the presents under the tree, squealing about how each one is exactly what she wanted.

"Merry Christmas, Austin," Ally says, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers.

He kisses her head and smiles at Olivia's giddy giggling as she continues to open her presents.

"Merry Christmas, Ally."

I know sequels are never as good as the original, but this fic is very dear to me and Lexy's hearts, because the original was the first fic we ever wrote together (awwww) so we wanted to do a sequel because we're sappy and nostalgic. Thanks for reading, and have a merry Christmas/happy Hanukkah/happy Kwanza/happy winter season, and a happy New Year's!