Francis dropped the present he was wrapping so he could answer his phone while it was still ringing.
“Papa, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to tell you!”
“Michelle? Slow down, I can't understand you.”
“My roommate, Mei, invited me to spend Christmas with her and her family.”
“Oh.” he picked up the gift he dropped, it had been for Michelle. “Then you won't be home?”
“No, Papa, I'm sorry.”
“It's fine.” he sighed, “Have fun.”
“I will. Is Dad there?”
“No, he had to take a business trip.”
“On Christmas?”
“He'll be back tomorrow morning. I'll pick him up at the airport, and we'll get Alfred and Ivan while we're there.”
Michelle giggled, “This was my last Christmas to be the youngest.”
Francis smiled, thinking of his eldest, Alfred, and how the boy used to swear he would never settle down. Now he was married to a wonderful man, and the two were expecting a baby via surrogate within the next few weeks. “So it is. Too bad you'll miss it. Do you want us to just send your presents to your dorm?”
“That'd be great, Papa. I'll find some other excuse to come home soon, I promise.”
“That's all right, bébé. You're only young once, enjoy it.”
“Thanks, papa.”
Francis’ phone beeped, he glanced at the screen, “Matthew's calling me, I have to go.”
“Bye, Papa!”
“Allo? Mathieu?”
“Papa, hi, um… I called to tell you we're stuck in the middle of nowhere.”
“Oh, no. What happened?”
“Something on the car broke. Gil’s been arguing with the only mechanic in a hundred miles about fixing it.”
“Can't Gilbert do it himself?”
“Yeah, if he was at his own shop. But he's not, and this guy is refusing to negotiate.”
Francis could hear what sounded like his middle child's boyfriend grumbling in the background. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, I just wanted to tell you we might not make it by Christmas if we can't get this figured out.”
“Oh, I could get it figured out!”
“Gil,” Matthew shushed his boyfriend. “We'll do our best, but no promises.”
“That's fine, just be safe. Do you have somewhere to stay?”
“Yeah, we're lucky enough to have the only hotel for a hundred miles right across the road from the mechanic. We'll be fine. I'll let you know when we're on our way again. I love you!”
“Love you too.”
Francis sighed, that was another batch of presents he didn't have to worry about yet. He carefully moved them off his bed. He could still wrap Alfred's, at least. The next day would be Christmas eve, Arthur and Alfred and Ivan would all be home then.
He finished wrapping his presents for the three of them, as well as some for the baby, then went to take a shower. When he got out, he checked his phone, only to realize he missed a text from Arthur and had a text asking him to call his husband.
“Arthur?” he asked as soon as the other man answered, “What's wrong? Did something happen?”
“My flight’s being delayed,” Arthur sighed, “Bad weather.”
“Delayed by how much?”
“I don't know yet. Hopefully I'll still be home tomorrow. What time are the kids getting there?”
“Ah, well. Michelle’s spending Christmas with her roommate, and Matthew and Gilbert are having car troubles. Alfred's supposed to let me know when he's landing.”
“You might want to call him yourself, you know how that boy is.”
“Mhm. Do you have somewhere you're staying?”
Arthur sighed again, “Just the airport.”
“Arthur,” Francis protested, “You can't stay there! Find a hotel.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're not as young as you used to be, you can't just sleep anywhere!”
“You would know what is like to be old.” Arthur teased.
“Arthur!” Francis scolded him, “I'm serious, you're all alone there. Please find somewhere to stay.”
“You worry too much.”
“Fine, sleep in the terminal. Be robbed and wake up with cramps! See if I care.”
Arthur laughed, “I love you. I'll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.”
“I'll call you in the morning, let you know if there's any change.”
“Okay. I love you too.”
“Goodnight Love.”
“Goodnight.”
Before he went to bed, Francis said a prayer for Matthew and Arthur to be safe wherever they were, as well as for Alfred and Michelle to be safe while they traveled.
---
Francis was woken by his phone ringing again. “Allo?” he answered, still half asleep.
“Francis?” his husband's voice came through the line, “Are you awake?”
“Completely.” he lied.
“Everything's grounded.”
Francis was immediately awake, “No.”
“I'm afraid so. I don't know when I'll be home. I'm sorry. Do you know if Alfred’s plane is getting through?”
“No. I'll try calling him, see whether or not he's in the air.”
“I'll be home as soon as I possibly can, I promise.”
“Just be safe. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Francis hung up, calling Alfred instead.
“Yo, Pops, what's up?” Alfred, always the early riser, sounded as cheery as ever.
“Hi, I just wanted to know when you would be arriving?”
There was a moment of silence. “Oh, fuck. Ivan I know what I've been forgetting!” There was a muffled mumble from Alfred's husband. “No, not that. I'm sorry Pops, I thought we already told you. Ivan and I decided to stay here. Y’know, since the baby's almost due. We don't want to miss anything incase she comes early.”
“Oh.”
“I'm really sorry.”
“No, that's all right! Do what's best for you. We want you to be there for your baby. But we'll still miss you.”
“Yeah, we miss you too, Pops.” there was another muffled response from Ivan, “I gotta go. Tell Dad I said hi!”
“Mhm.” the line went dead. Francis flopped back into bed, no point in getting up now.
---
Francis took his time wrapping presents that afternoon, since there was no rush now. He skipped his plans for a fancy Christmas eve dinner, since it was only him, and went to midnight mass.
He laid on the couch after he got home, staring at the Christmas lights in the dark. Not only was this the first Christmas without any of the kids at home, this was Francis’ first Christmas alone. When he was younger he had always spent Christmas with his grandfather and cousins. Then he met Arthur and started spending Christmases with him.
Francis tried to pretend the lights were only blurring because he was tired.
---
“Francis?”
Francis slowly woke up, trying to make sense of the silhouette standing over him.
“Francis, are you all right?”
Not Father Christmas. “Arthur?”
“What are you doing sleeping down here?”
“You said your flight- How did you get here?”
Arthur smiled, “Christmas magic. Where is everyone?”
Francis shook his head, “Alfred and Ivan aren't coming. I haven't heard anything from Matthew yet. It's just me.”
Arthur looked up at the tree, “Oh. It's been a while since we were alone for Christmas.”
Francis nodded, “Before Alfred.”
“It's weird that it's this quiet. Remember all the times the kids stayed up to wait for Santa?”
Francis chuckled, “I'm sure Alfred will convince their little one to do the same thing once she's old enough.”
Arthur sat down next to Francis and wrapped his arms around him.
“You're cold.” Francis complained.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too. I wasn't looking forward to spending Christmas alone.”
“I wouldn't either. But I'm home now.”
“I'm glad. Are you hungry?”
“Is four in the morning!” Arthur protested.
“I don't care. I made a cake and someone has to eat it.”
Arthur pulled Francis closer and kissed him.
“What was that for?”
“Because I'm with you and I'm home.”
