AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, here I am with another new story. Technically, it's a Christmas fic ( or rather one set around the holiday time ) and yes, I know I am a few weeks late, but who doesn't love a surprise out of the blue Christmas fic? Christmas fics make me happy and give me smiles and I like to read them year round so I hope you all do too! This is a one shot-primarily basically fluffy except for a couple of curse words. This stars my couple of choice...Dean Ambrose and my own OC, Martha and introduces two ( or three, depending on how you look at it! ) new characters to the Dartha universe. I was hoping to have this up by the actual holiday time, but I was having some personal problems then and lost the mood to really do anything around then, but I figure better late than never, right?

A little backstory on their little Ambrose family: Dean and Martha have been happily married for awhile now and had rescued a dog from the side of a road. He has been with them quite awhile now and is named Justice ( corny, I know, but what else would a Hound Of Justice name his dog? LOL ) who loves tummy rubs and being with his human family. Dean and Martha also have two little kids. A boy and a girl. I picture the little girl around a little older than toddler age even though I know in my scenes she seems to have very "advanced" speech! LOL! Again, her father is a promo master so I picture his kids talking in complete sentences at a very young age! ;-) Her name is Lucy Marie Ambrose and she will quite proudly tell you she is a Daddy's girl! She has dirty blonde curls just like her Daddy and big brown eyes like her Mommy and she wants to be a wrestler like her Daddy when she grows up...or a princess ( she hasn't decided which yet ) ... or a wrestling princess. She is quite rambunctious like her Daddy, but has a big heart like her Mommy. An important piece of info to know about Lucy is that for all her impressive manner of speaking at a young age, she still doesn't pronounce the beginnings of some of her words sometimes ( like the opposite of Dean when he used to cut off the " G " at the end of darling in his promos ) or sometimes mispronounces her words wrong like using the word wub instead of love because she is so young ( thus when it comes to her, the way I write her dialogue is the way I intend it - misspellings and all, but I think even with the sometimes " babyish " way I have her speak that you can still understand her ). She has an older brother nicknamed DJ whoses full name is ( of course ) Dean Ambrose Junior ( with Moxley as his middle name in tribute to Dean's indy wrestling past ). He has dark brown hair like his Mom, but blue eyes like his Dad. Both kids have been genetically lucky to inherit Dean's dimples which they use to their advantage to get out of trouble with their Mom like Dean does! DJ can be as playful as his sister,but is usually found enjoying quieter pursuits like drawing or reading and writing like his Mom. He is fiercely loyal to his Mom and little sister and no one better mess with them when he is around as Dean has stressed the fact that they protect them always, no matter what. Just like any little boy, DJ's best friend ( after Justice, of course! ) is Dean.

I can't promise when, but hopefully this won't be the last time you see little DJ and Lucy. They are heavily ( and IMHO, better ) featured in something else I am writing, but that won't be finished for awhile now. You don't have to read the other Dartha stories to read this one, but if you want to, it would be nice! While they are married here and are the same characters as in my other fics about them, this doesn't necessarily follow that it is a sequential order in their relationship if you get my meaning? Yes, they are basically the same characters, but not one hundred percent and not one hundred percent in the same universe. More like a different side to them. This one shot is probably a better companion piece to what I am writing now than something I have already written about them ( such as they are featured in " Conversations Overheard In A Shield Hotel Room" for example ) Anyway, enough of my yapping and onto the story! As I said, some of the names I picked may be common and over used in a Shield Dean fic, but I like them so I used them. I would be grateful if you would please read and review should you be so inclined! :-) I own nothing except for Martha, DJ, Lucy, Justice and the plot. Dean Ambrose is owned by WWE, Vince McMahon, and Jon Good. I'm not a professional writer and just write for fun and enjoyment and hope others find it in my stories as well!

"Mom, when is Dad coming home with the Christmas tree?" DJ asked for the tenth time in about an hour.

Instead of losing patience with her young son, Martha forced herself to remember that he was just excited that it was almost Christmas and because Dean was on the road so much this month, they were quite behind on all things Christmassy this year so now that he finally had a few days off in a row, today would be the first day they could honestly start decorating as a family.

"Yes, Mommy! I wanna see 'ree!" Of course, now Lucy had to chime in to imitate her big brother.

Martha had decided to stay home with the two over eager little kids and left Dean in charge of getting the best prettiest live Christmas tree he could find.

"Daddy will be home with the tree soon, guys! He said he would get one on his way home from running errands today."

" 'hen we can 'ecorate?" Lucy asked in her clipped manner of speaking.

" Yes. Then we can decorate." Martha smiled at her young daughter.

Suddenly they heard a car pull up into their driveway.

"Daddy 'ome!" Lucy shouted.

"With the Christmas tree!" DJ supplied.

As the two little kids ran to the window in the living room to watch their father unload their new Christmas tree from their car, Martha looked down at Justice in his little doggie Santa hat that DJ and Lucy insisted they put on him to get him in the Christmas spirit and said, ''Well, come on. You might as well see Daddy bring in the tree too!'' She walked to the window with the dog following closely behind wagging his tail happily.

Once they were settled in between the children, Martha lifted Justice up and carefully placed him on the windowsill making sure DJ had a good grip on him so he wouldn't fall before she let go. The dog seemed just as excited as they were to see the tree and he placed his wet nose against the windowpane so as not to miss any action. Being a little taller, DJ had a pretty good view, but Lucy's nose barely peeked over the sill and she didn't want to be left out of anything. Even standing on her little pink sneakered tippy - toes, didn't seem to help much so she quickly looked around to see what could help with the situation and spotted the telephone book by the phone. Running as quickly as she could on her chubby little toddler legs to go get it, she brought it over and placed it on the floor where she was standing and stood on top of it.

There!

That was better!

She was as tall as DJ now and could see over the windowsill...just in time to see Daddy come out of the car.

The kids were so enthralled in watching Dean's every move that they missed their mother's confused expression. Dean was supposed to have brought home a live Christmas tree. So why was the top of their SUV empty? If he got one, wouldn't he have tied it to the roof?

The kids suddenly also noticed that there was no sign of a Christmas tree. Lucy turned to Martha and with a quivering lower lip, she whispered, "Did Daddy 'orgot?"

Martha looked down at her youngest then looked at her son. He looked back at her with wide disappointed blue eyes. The kids were SO looking forward to having a tree today! Martha turned back to her daughter and ran a hand through her dirty blonde curls soothingly. "No, I'm sure Daddy didn't forget. I'm sure there is a good ... Look! Daddy is opening the back! See? He DID get us a tree!" Although why would he need to put the tree in the back instead on the roof was beyond her, but at least he didn't forget and they wouldn't have two crushed little kids on their hands.

Both the kids quickly looked back to the window and saw their father start pulling something out of the back of the car. Something ... green ...

" 'ree! 'ree! 'ree!" Lucy chanted happily and hopped down from the book to follow DJ and Justice as they ran to the door to await their father's arrival.

Suddenly, the door flew open and there stood Dean Ambrose being greeted by three -four, if he counted the dog-expectant faces.

"Daddy, you get 'ree?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Yeah, munchkin. Daddy got a tree..." Dean answered with a small glance toward his wife.

"Great, Dad! I can't wait to decorate it! Where is it?" DJ asked excitedly.

"Leaning outside ..."

Martha noticed that he seemed to give her a nervous look, but brushed it aside. "Let me help you bring it in then, babe. Must have been heavy and awkward ..." she started to say and move towards the still open door when Dean stopped her with a hand motion.

"No, I got it. Not a big deal. It doesn't weigh ... um ... much."

"I ... well ... okay," she replied slowly with a small curious smile at his attitude. Dean was sure acting funny for some reason.

Dean looked like he was about to say something else, but changed his mind. He walked back out the door and lugged the Christmas tree into the living room.

As the small children looked on with baited breath and excitement shining all over their little happy faces, Martha felt a little confused. The tree was smaller than she was expecting and looked a little funny, but maybe that was because it was tied up?

Dean closed the door and untied the ropes that the man at the Christmas tree farm had helped him secure the tree with - after asking him for the fifth time if he was SURE that was the tree he had wanted - and stood the tree in the corner of the living room in the stand where he and Martha had agreed earlier that it would go. Once the tree was situated and the branches all arranged as best as it could be, he stood back and nervously waited his wife's reaction. The tree wasn't EXACTLY the best, but Dean knew he HAD to get this one. There was no way he could have left it behind and lived with himself. He just hoped that Martha would understand ...

Martha stood speechless just staring at the tree. It was at least taller than she was ... BARELY - thank God! - but in some sides, a lot of the needles and branches of the tree were missing and others had more than enough giving it a slightly misshapen crooked look. She leaned closer and gently prodded a couple of branches with her finger. Broken! Some of the tree limbs were actually broken in some places. She made a face of dismayed confusion. The Christmas tree was one of the best things about the holidays, in her opinion. Her kids waited to decorate a great tree almost as soon as the last drumstick from the Thanksgiving turkey was put away in the fridge. The tree was important and she would hate to see the kids disappointed by Dean's choice. It didn't exactly look like a traditional Christmas tree ...

"Dean! This is like ... like ... like ... that Charlie Brown tree that we saw on TV last night with the kids." Martha threw up her hands,slightly exasperated. She knew she was exaggerating - the tree wasn't THAT bad - but she was frustrated. "What happened to getting one of those great big fluffy trees? What in the world were you thinking?"

As Dean's blue eyes flashed his hurt and disappointment at her reaction, Martha instantly regretted being so harsh with her husband. Obviously, Dean had put A LOT of thought into his choice.

"I saw tons of people go by that tree. Just pass it by without giving it a second look for the bigger, fuller, better looking trees. Just writing it off like it couldn't make a good Christmas tree just because it didn't look like they thought it should. They were all just writing it off like it was nothing. No one wanted it ..." Dean's soft voice trailed off as he stared at the ground.

"I ... what?"

Dean's stormy blue eyes raised up to meet his wife's confused brown ones. "It wasn't anyone's first choice. It was NEVER going to be ANYONE'S first choice. No one ever gave it a second look ... even CARED to give it a second look. It wasn't good enough for anyone. So it's a little ... broken ... in places. So it's not like how anyone pictured it should look. Does that make it a bad tree? Is that a reason for the entire world to just write it off like it was nothing, like it was crap and not good enough and didn't deserve a home?" Dean's voice had cracked with emotion and he turned his back to his wife in his embarrassment.

'Shit! This kind of thing wasn't supposed to get to me anymore! I have a home now ... a wife and kids ... I love them and they love me ... a good life. They love me. FUCK! A good life ... a good life ...' Dean repeatedly thought to himself over and over in a futile effort to keep the tears from his eyes. He reached up and swiped the back of his fist angrily at his eyes, trying to rub away the treacherous tears threatening to fall from his eyes unknowingly looking much like Lucy when she would fall and skin her chubby little knees and cry until Mommy would come and make it all better with her magical kisses and magical Big Bird bandages.

Suddenly, Martha understood why Dean felt how he did about the tree and why he picked that one to bring home. Her brown eyes instantly gentled and became soft as she saw Dean's emotional reaction. Martha quickly walked towards Dean and gently turned him around to engulf him into a big hug. Squeezing the arms she had wrapped around Dean's waist, she whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry. I didn't understand. I'm sorry ..." over and over again.

Dean didn't trust himself to speak just yet so he stayed silent as he stood there rigid in his wife's embrace.

Martha just kept holding him and repeating her words softly over and over in his ear and gently rubbing his back until his tense body uncoiled and his body softened enough to where he felt comfortable to be able to wrap his own arms around her body and bury his face in her long ebony hair.

After a minute, he slightly pulled away from her and looked into her face. "I just wanted it to know that SOMEONE wanted it. I know it's just a tree ... just a stupid fuckin' tree, but I just wanted it to know ... just wanted it to know ..." Dean trailed off as he shook his head and cleared his throat of all emotion while looking at Martha with wide blue eyes pleading with her to understand.

"I want it, Dean. I want it. I want it so much that after Christmas, I'm gonna plant it in the backyard so every year we can look at it and remember what a wonderful Christmas tree it was and what beautiful memories it gave us."

Dean gave her a small tearful smile pleased with the idea that the tree would stay with them long after Christmas. He was relieved that his sweet wife had a big enough heart to understand why he HAD to pick that tree even when a small part of him didn't quite understand it himself even now. He reached out and drew her closer to him for a strong long hug.

"Awww ..." Both Dean and Martha turned when they suddenly heard Lucy's little sad voice. They were slightly startled as they had both forgotten that the two little ones were there and most probably listening with interested ears. She was facing looking at the tree. " ... 'oor 'ittle 'ree. It sad and all 'lone. No 'orry,'ittle 'ree. We you 'amily now. We 'ake 'are of you and wub you." The parents watched as Lucy tried to wrap her pudgy little arms around the tree to give it a hug as best as she could. Meanwhile, DJ was happily getting all of their ornaments ready to start putting them on the tree and told his little sister, "Yeah! This is going to be the best Christmas tree EVER!"

Martha turned back to her husband who was looking down at her with a small smile on his face. She wrapped her arm around him again and reached up to place her palm against his strongly beating heart. "What am I going to do with you and your great big soft heart?"

Dean thought for a second then with a hopeful look in his blue eyes, whispered, "Love me?"

Martha softly smiled and said, "Always, my love, always. You and our kids will ALWAYS be my first choice. After all, if it wasn't for YOU giving ME a second look, I wouldn't be as happy as I am today." She hugged him then slid her hand from his heart up to cup his cheek and bring his face down to hers for a sweet Christmas kiss.

They would have kept kissing if it wasn't for the interruption of their son's young voice asking his father a question.

"Dad, do you think people can be Christmas trees?"

Dean looked over at his boy and laughingly replied, "What?"

"Do you think people can be Christmas tree like? I mean with the way they act ... the way they are." DJ struggled to explain what he meant to his family with his limited little boy vocabulary. "I mean, if Mom were a Christmas tree, what kind of tree do you think she would be?"

Lucy giggled. Sometimes her big brother could be so silly like their daddy, but she liked the idea that their parents could be shiny and bright like Christmas trees! She loved Christmas and she loved her Mommy and Daddy so it was perfect!

"That's easy for me to answer! Mommy is a Christmas palm tree!" Dean exclaimed without hesitation.

"Oh yeah, cause I am SO tall and willowy, right?" Martha gestured to her so very NOT tall and NOT willowy body and rolled her eyes at her husband with a smirk.

"No. It's cause you are so beautiful and you make my heart happy when I see you."

Martha's heart was warmed by the sincerity she saw shining in Dean's eyes as he said the sweet words.

"And that makes me a palm tree?" She replied trying to bite back a small smile.

"And that makes you a palm tree," Ambrose answered matter-of-factly, nodding solemnly.

"Mommy, 'hat kinda 'ree is Daddy?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Daddy?" Martha pondered her daughter's question while looking over at Dean with a serious face. "Daddy is ..." she paused then her face lit up in a bright smile. "Daddy is a cactus Christmas tree!"

"A cactus!" Dean exclaimed. "I give you something pretty and exotic like a palm tree and you give me a cactus!" He laughed good naturedly, throwing up his hands.

"And anyway, Mom, a cactus isn't a tree. It's a plant!" DJ chimed in, pleased to be able to show off his newly acquired information from big boy school.

"I know, but Daddy is the PERFECT cactus Christmas tree!"

Dean looked at Martha in slight confusion.

Seeing his expression, she explained to him, "Well,look at you, Dean. On the outside you seem all prickly and thorny and hard, but on the inside you can be soft and vulnerable. Once you discover that, you can fully appreciate and love your wonderful and unique loving personality." Seeing her husband with a self - deprecating smile on his face and about to interrupt, Martha quickly continued before he could protest. ''You do, Dean! Just like a cactus can be a thing of beauty in an otherwise barren desert, your personality ... your ... everything ... makes you beautiful to me."

Dean looked down as a soft blush tinged his cheeks. His pretty wife certainly had a way with words. One of the many reasons he loved her so much. He gently tugged her closer to him again and wrapped her in a big hug in his strong muscular arms.

When they finally pulled apart, Martha whispered to him, "You know, this was a very sweet loving thing you did. Just makes me remember why I love you so very much, Dean."

Dean smiled big enough to make his dimples pop out. Martha had managed to look past his own " broken-ness " and found a man that could be worthy of her love and had faith in him to be a good husband and father. With her and the kids, he really had everything he could ever want this Christmas ... and for always. He placed a gentle kiss at his wife's temple. "I love you too, Martha, darlin'. I love you too ..."

As Dean's raspy voice trailed off and she felt a tender soft kiss from his warm lips at her forehead, Martha looked at her two young children happily picking out the ornaments that they wanted to place on their new Christmas tree first. The dog had his nose dug into a box of tinsel presumably trying to " help " the kids and the snow was softly falling outside to blanket the world into a winter wonderland, she thought to herself, 'I have my man and our kids and we're all together. It's all we really need to be happy. Our special little tree is just a wonderful bonus. This is a gonna be a pretty great Christmas after all!'

THE END