First Christmas

“Oh, look at you,” Danny whispered into the Moses’ basket, leaning over to give his five-month-old son a kiss on the forehead.

The infant waved his arms in his little red sleep-suit, patterned with tiny reindeer. Danny grinned, tilting his head down at him; at Oliver Joseph Kurily-Barakat.

“You’re up real early, y'know. It’s half past six. We’ll let your daddy sleep a little longer, huh? Yeah. Yeah we will. Are you excited for your very first Christmas? I shouldn’t be telling you this but believe me, your parents and Santa have spoiled you very badly already,” Danny talked quietly, lifting the baby from his bed and cuddling him close. “I can’t take you downstairs, Daddy won’t want you to see all the presents before he’s up, so we can play in your room.”

He carried Oliver through to the bedroom that would be his own in a few months, as soon as he was old enough to sleep through the night without needing about four feeds in between. The spacious room was littered with various toys and clothes that he’d already grown out of, and his cot that he hadn’t even slept in yet, but someday. It would be one of the many milestones that Danny and Jack documented in Oliver’s Baby Book of Firsts. It was already brimming with so many photos and scribbled notes of things most parents probably wouldn’t bother to commemorate. Things like the first time Jack danced around the livingroom with him, the first time Danny and Jack sat down to play guitar to him and sing a lullaby, the first time they propped him up to watch a cartoon, the first time he cuddled into his grandparents and seemed to recognise who they were all -- all manner of things. It was mostly Jack who grabbed the camera and took ten photos at different angles and printed all of them, to see which one would look best in the book. He usually couldn’t decide and ended up gluing in three, to which Danny would always shake his head at it. But it was one of the reasons he loved Jack -- he was always excited about life. Having another tiny life to be excited for just made him absolutely rapturous.

Danny sat Oliver down on the bedroom floor, handing him one of his plush building blocks to chew on. Oliver was very good at sitting up by himself already -- something else that had sent Jack absolutely delirious with excitement. He took thirty photos the first time it happened, all of Oliver sitting in exactly the same spot doing nothing but drooling, and refused to delete any of them.

Danny certainly had a task ahead, keeping a five-month-old quiet, but he managed it for another half hour or so before Oliver started to whine with hunger. He was going to have to get his bottle downstairs, but Danny didn’t want to go down without Jack. He must have charged about five spare camera batteries in preparation for today. He wouldn’t want to miss Oliver’s first look at all the presents, even if Oliver probably wouldn’t know or care about what was going on.

“Shh, baby, just a little bit longer,” Danny hushed Oliver, scooping him up and lifting him high above his head to try and keep him entertained. Oliver managed a gummy grin before Danny heard the bed shifting in the next room. He smiled, lowering Oliver back down and holding him perched on his hip. “Sounds like someone’s awake.”

He tiptoed back through to the master bedroom, seeing Jack lying with his eyes closed, but the duvet had been kicked to the floor. He always did that right before he woke up. Danny spotted a sticky bow from the pile of discarded wrapping stuff on the floor, picking it up quickly and planting it right on Oliver’s head.

Barely containing the giggles, Danny crept over to the bed and placed Oliver down next to Jack’s slowly waking form, right by his face.

It only took seconds of Oliver playing with his hair for Jack to open his eyes, blinking a few times as he focused on his baby reaching for his nose. Without his glasses, things were a little blurry, but he spotted Danny looking like an excited little kid in the background almost immediately.

“Merry Christmas, Daddy!” he beamed, plucking Jack’s glasses off the bedside table and handing them to his husband so that he could actually see.

“Merry Christmas,” Jack mumbled sleepily, a grin spreading on his face as he reached to support Oliver with one hand while he sat upright. He placed his glasses on, patting down his messy bed-head with a chuckle. Flicking the bow on Oliver’s head, he outright laughed. “And what’s this? My first present of the day already?”

Danny laughed with him, sitting down on the bed too and lifting Oliver close to Jack’s face so the baby could ‘kiss’ him. He was getting good at learning kisses, nodding his head towards Jack’s cheek. He clapped with delight, telling Oliver how good he was as he took the baby from his husband and cuddled him close.

“Oh, my little Christmas present! You look so cute!” he crooned, letting Oliver lean back in his hands so he could see both his parents. “How long have you two been up?”

“A little over a half hour, we wanted to let you sleep a little longer since you were the one who was up later than me wrapping presents,” Danny smiled, leaning over to also kiss Jack’s cheek.

“That is very nice of you both,” Jack smiled, once again touching the bow on Oliver’s head.

Danny studied the look on his husband’s face, a deep ache in his chest with the love he felt for him. Jack’s eyes were just so full of happiness, contentment, kindness, and a never-ending adoration for their son. They had waited so long to get a baby, their names staying on the adoption waiting lists for over two years. Two lonely Christmases had passed where they masked their pain with extravagant gifts for each other, for their friends, for their families, but for the longest time, Danny and Jack knew something was missing.

But they had finally gotten a call, to say a young girl was seven months pregnant and looking to adopt out her baby -- and she’d picked them. Danny and Jack had never been so grateful.

Oliver Joseph Kurily-Barakat had entered the world at 3:15AM on August 13th, weighing seven pounds and two ounces. He had the darkest blue eyes the two men had ever seen, and a little tuft of silky black hair at the crown of his head that made him look almost identical to Jack when he was born. He had come out wrinkled and purple in the face with skinny long limbs; he was going to be tall. But he was the most beautiful thing the couple had ever set their eyes on.

The gift they had waited so long for had come a tad too early for the festive season, but he was still the greatest Christmas present Danny and Jack could’ve asked for. They were already talking about the possibilities of adopting a second child, one that was already born, because they wanted Oliver to have a baby sister.

Tears were leaking from Jack’s eyes as he thought about it, looking towards Danny and knowing his husband was thinking the same things.

“Baby’s first Christmas,” Jack whispered tearfully.

“The first of many,” Danny promised, reaching to hold Oliver’s tiny hand and press a kiss to Jack’s mouth. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

Jack just let the tears fall, smiling into the kiss as Oliver gurgled in front of them. Jack wouldn’t mind if this was all he got for Christmas, for the rest of his life. As long as he had Danny and their baby, every Christmas would be perfect.