A Second Chance

35

All I want for Christmas is you

"Niall, can you please open the door for me, it should be Anne, Robin and Harry, " Maura asks her son when she hears the doorbell while she is still in the bathroom to put on make up after she has straightened her hair with a hair dryer.
She is already dressed in her best red shift dress, as this night they have a lot to celebrate.

It's not only the birth of Jesus, but also Bobby's last blood test and MRI showing that there isn't any cancerous tissue left in his body after his surgeries and chemotherapy and  Niall's recovery as well are good enough reasons to celebrate.

She will be forever thankful that fate gave them a second chance, she's humble enough to know that she hasn't done anything to deserve this, she could have been so easily the one mourning the death of her child, but he was rescued and she was dead the moment the car crashed into the tree.

Life isn't fair.  She told Anne so, occasionally when they found that it was necessary to let it all out, their grief, their sadness, their frustration and their non-understating.

Anne however never resented her the rescue of Niall, never blamed him for her sorrow, she and her they became  a defiant holdout against the judgemental gossip around them.

So their friendship is another reason to celebrate this night.

The last three hours went by tortuously slow, Niall feels queasy all day while butterflies are dancing nervously in his stomach.
He wants it to be a perfect evening, he wants to look as good as even possible for his handsome boyfriend, who amittedly can pull off everything, a sheer button up shirt or just a rugged tee.
Niall has also been questioning his Christmas present for Harry, he thought it would be a good idea but he isn't sure any longer.

So when the bell rings and his mum calls him from inside the bathroom his heart seems to skip a beat to only beat faster bit by bit.

This is what Harry does to him, even if he's not in the same room with him, the mere thought of his boyfriend let his heart beat in overdrive and butterflies come alive.
He flings the door open and flashes Anne, Robin and Harry his most welcoming smile.

He wants to throw himself into his boyfriend's arms, wants to kiss these plump pink lips, wants to feel and touch and taste them so badly that it almost hurts.
He can hardly restrain himself from doing it though.

But all he does is welcome the guests, hug them briefly and lead them into the house, he helps them with their coats attentively and walks them into their spacious living room with a  Christmas tree put up in front of a French window.
A beautiful tree that is decorated  with fairy lights, shimmering and colourful ornaments and tinsel, a lot of tinsel.
There are already some boxes wrapped in pretty paper with stars, santas and elves and matching ribbons under the tree.

The dining table is festively decorated with Maura's best chinaware, her family silver, candles and a white table cloth.

Niall helped his mum arranging everything, she was close to getting worked up about this and that,  neither Niall nor his father  understood  what was going on, why she was making such a fuss about everything, but they had made their fair share of similar experiences to know not to question anything.

Therefore they just offered to help her out with whatsoever needed to be done.

A plan that always works for them  and a proven guarantee for a peaceful Christmas celebration.

They sit around the table to start with dinner now after the guests have also placed their gifts under the tree and they've made some small talk for a while.