A Safe Place II SBI (on hiatus)

Chapter 36: Unforgiving Faces

Chrismas day.

That cold morning, Phil woke up earlier than he expected, his alarm hours away from hitting 7 AM any time soon.

 He couldn't really stay asleep any longer it seemed. The moment he woke up, his mind filled with all of the "what if's" of the day, worry riling his brain until he could no longer sit still in bed, feeling wide awake now.

Just outside his window in the dark abyss of the night, he could hear the winter wind outside, white dots barely being seen sprinkling down his window as he got up. It was a white Christmas. Even if the news spoke of a blizzard later that evening.

He checked his alarm clock. '5:24'

Notch, seems like insomnia was going to get the best of him for the night, and on the busiest day of the month, he could only think.

 He stared at the wandering trickle of snow and couldn't help but feel the very nervousness piling up days before weighing on him at that very second. It was the day...the day where he would pop the question. The day they would all ask Tommy to join their family.

His first Christmas as a Watson,  his first Christmas since he was 3 in fact. It wasn't really a surprise for the 3 of them really with what they know now about his foster homes and how badly they had treated him. And yet even so, a pang of anger pinched their hearts when Tommy told them so casually, just a few days before Christmas. A night of them all watching Disney movies in the living room, all of them huddled together in cozy blankets.

When Techno asked him if he was excited for Christmas, the blonde simply told him he didn't know. As Phil can recall, the kid quietly mumbled how after his mother died, his father stopped even speaking of the holiday and how he usually went out Christmas day to the bar, leaving the kid to hide in his room for when he came home drunk. His foster homes never let him join them either. They usually locked him in his room, making him wonder why everyone thought he didn't deserve to be a part of the holiday.

The worst part was Tommy didn't even sound that angry about it. Rather neutral, like it was completely fine and normal as he'd fallen asleep cozily against Techno, right there and then.

A moment that left everyone at a loss for words and just staring at the 13-year-old sleeping soundly against the pinkette whose eyes were blown wide.

That night, it seemed everyone decided the same thing. They were going to give Tommy the best Christmas of his life.

It wasn't long from then Wilbur and Techno planned the day out inside and out.

They decided that they would be making breakfast bright and early that morning...well, Breakfast would be made by...one of them at least. They both had argued about who since that day but in the end, Phil had left it to them to decide (no matter the likely chance of that person starting a fire on Christmas day).

 They both also planned to bring the kid's friend's over as a surprise as well, all while Phil would get the official adoption papers from Puffy at her office in town. Nerve-racking anxiety spread around the house like wildfire as Christmas was counted down by the day.

He quickly snapped out of his thoughts, clapping his hands together to focus on being diligent if he was truly going to be up for the rest of the night, and decided that he should finish the gift wrapping for everyone. It was going to be a long day truly, so, without another second to waste, he walked out to the hall, still in his pajamas, and walked to the youngest's room where it stood shut, hoping that the kid was still asleep, that insomnia wasn't biting at the back of his head as well. And opening the door, he was happy to see the blonde thankfully sleeping in his bed peacefully, wrapped up in Techno's red blanket he gave him and his stuffed cow snuggled to his chest.