The 12 Days of R.J: Holiday One Shots

'Twas the Night Before Christmas at The Caswen's

A/N: unedited bcs Im tired. Merry Christmas Eve
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Ricky never liked holidays because his parents never celebrated them. In fact, they never even acknowledged holidays because they were too busy fighting or talking about their divorce in secret. Although, Ricky knew what they were talking about. He could not stop thinking about divorce which is why he never acknowledged holidays, until E.J came into his life. E.J on the other hand, loved holidays. He even loved April Fool's Day and Chinese New Year. His favorite holiday was Thanksgiving though, probably because of the food buffets The Caswell's house maid made. When the two polar opposites, starting dating there was never any mention about how Ricky would celebrate Christmas or if we wanted to be pinched on St. Patrick's Day. Ricky barely acknowledged the special days when he was dating E.J. It might have been because he was too busy being in love with him or the fact that his family never really celebrated anything with him.

So when the couple decided to take their relationship to the next level, they also decided to start celebrating these special days with each other. E.J's first celebration with Ricky was his proposal. It was scary and on the rooftop of their apartment building. Ricky didn't say 'yes' to his true love at first. He just stood their shocked so that's why he is always a nervous wreck when it comes to their anniversaries. However, after a small meltdown from the older man who was a recent graduate from Berkley with a Bachelor's degree in Media Arts and Education; Ricky convinced himself that he would face his fears and get married. He was afraid that his love life would end up like his parents but was also sure that E.J was the only one for him. He couldn't live without his, lifeline.

Their most recent celebration was their first wedding anniversary, this past June. They had waited two years to get married after that overwhelming engagement and also because Ricky was finishing his studies. They got married on Ricky's Birthday. Ricky wanted an outdoor wedding. Everyone came to the wedding even Corbin Bleu who called him 'R.J' one year at Camp Shallow Lake and Jack and Dani who weren't close with the Caswen's.

Two years later, after they got married, they decided to start talking about adoption since they couldn't have children. Of course, Ricky was hesitant about this at first but E.J just wanted to talk about 'options'. Ricky had his fair share of encountering homophobic people in his life. Adopting was a hard process for the two men to be included in since they were part of the LGBTQ community and most adoption agencies weren't accepting.

After another long two year search for an accepting agency, they finally found one that Ricky liked. All that mattered to E.J was the fact that Ricky liked the adoption agency. He wanted his husband to be happy since this was mostly an agreement that E.J made himself about being able to take care of a kid as young men. The two men had to impatiently wait to get their adoption license and then do a load of paperwork over the course of 14 months. Ricky was the most impatient because E.J was telling him about things they would do with their toddler like going to the Children's museum. E.J on the other hand, was used to the loads of paperwork and lots of payments for toddler clothes, toys, and even DVDs. He had a large family on his mom's side and lots of younger cousins. So he was prepared to have a toddler.

The young men officially signed the adoption paperwork to adopt, Atlas Jeremiah Caswen on November 24, 2028. Atlas was 3 and a half years old and not potty trained since his last home was an abusive foster care home that didn't teach him anything. Ricky and E.J knew that potty training was a priority but family bonding came first since Atlas was so shy and not used to having loving and accepting parents.

That meant that Atlas was the small family's late Thanksgiving gift. E.J was ecstatic to spend Thanksgiving, Hanukah, and Christmas with his son. The Caswen's celebrated Hanukah because Ricky's mother married Todd who was Jewish. Ricky never liked Todd for coming to his first musical and ruining it but he soon accepted that Todd was part of the Bowen family. Although, Todd has yet to meet Atlas yet. Ricky was careful about making that mistake and only introduced him to Miss Jenn who was his godmother instead of his mother. Later on, when Ricky was worrying about Atlas not having a connection with his extended family, E.J understood Ricky's motives and kissed his husband to ease his anxiety about.