Beyond The Pale

All I want for Christmas

Raina's POV

Ashe woke us up at almost 9 AM on Christmas morning, and I have to admit, seeing him crawl into bed with Monty and I to get our attention was a cute sight. To see them cuddled up together, smiles on their precious faces, made part of me wonder how I ever got so lucky.

"Merry Mickey Christmas, Mommy!" Ashe said excitedly, and I stole him away from Monty and gave him an abundance of kisses. "Mickey Christmas?" I questioned, and he looked at me funny. "Mickey is going to be one all day today, mommy! The TV told me!" I inwardly groaned. Merry Christmas from The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang, I guess.

Monty, Ashe and I rushed downstairs and I was partly disappointed that all of our friends had already left out. But nonetheless, I flipped on the coffee pot and sat in the kitchen until it had finished brewing. Monty and Ashe were watching Mickey from the couch in the living room, so I made Monty and I a cup of coffee, grabbed Ashe a juicebox and asked if anyone was hungry.

"Can we eat after presents?" Ashe questioned, and I nodded, sorting the rest of the gifts, declaring Ashe and Monty go first. Before the first present was opened, Monty insisted that we flip on the video camera.

Ashe blew through most of his presents pretty quick, from Monty and I both, so I made Monty open his presents next. I'd bought him simple stuff, like flannels and jeans and stuff I knew his parents wouldn't buy for him. I also bought him some new shoes, cologne, and some new tires for his Jeep. But Ashe's present he decided on was what I was so excited for. After Monty thought he'd opened all of his presents, Ashe ran up to his room, and brought back down a box.

"What's this big guy?" He handed Monty the box and sat in his lap, and Ashe looked up brightly at him.

"My mommy and me have been practicing our rhyming. So I wrote you a..." he looked at me for the right word, but I waited to see if he could figure it out. "We wrote you a... poor-him." I burst into laughter at the look on Monty's face. "A poem, Ashe. Not a poor-him." I was still chuckling when Monty looked at me. "That...is awesome buddy. Let's see it."

Monty took the lid off the box, and pulled out the book Ashe and I had made. I'd taken several pictures that I had of Ashe and Monty, and had them formatted into a book, the words of the poem at the bottom, like a story.

Monty looked to me, his expression unreadable. "Go on babe, read it out loud so we can get it on video." I urged, and with a sharp inhale of breath, he began reading shakily.

"Monty, when you first met my mom, I was scared to get close. It was just me and her, and I loved her the most,"

Monty flipped the page, Ashe grinning wildly the whole time.

"You quickly became my very best pal, though I don't know when, and I don't know how."

Monty's voice was cracking already and I could feel the tears welling up in my own eyes as he continued to read.

"You taught me how to throw my first ball, taught me to catch, from you I learned it all.

At first I didn't know if you'd stay, it was just me and Mom, and we liked it that way.

But then I realized I loved you so much, and so did my mom, she loved you a bunch.

You're part of our family, what was two is now three, and I hope that's the way it will always be.

Please stay with us, we'll love you forever, through good times and bad, for worse or for better.

You're more than a friend, and here's how I know. It's pretty simple, Monty, you are my hero."

At this point, Monty and I were both squalling. It had been Ashe's idea to get this all together, this is what he'd wanted to do for Monty. Monty wrapped Ashe up in a hug so tight I worried he might hurt him. But Ashe hugged him back, before whispering to Monty, "I love you so much, Monty. Thanks for being our family."

Monty looked at him, a smile on his face. "Ashe buddy, I love you so much. I'm never going anywhere. I promise." Ashe held out his pinky. "Cross your heart?" Ashe asked quietly, and Monty hooked his pinky aroun Ashe's. "Cross my heart." Monty promised. I stood up to grab my gifts, and instantly became light headed. I felt the color rush out of my face, and instead of heading towards the tree, I rushed for the bathroom. All of the crying had surely made me sick.

I emptied the contents of my stomach, which wasn't much considering I'd only had a cup of coffee to drink. I got so sick so fast, I didn't have time to tell Monty what was up. So in a flash, he was the the bathroom door, asking if I was okay. "I'm fine, babe. Just..got to emotional I guess." He sat down on the edge of the tub, rubbing my back. "I hate to ask this, just because it's like, invasive or whatever, but... when was the last time you had your period?" He questioned, and I felt sick all over again. It had been well over a month, and Monty and I had never used protection.

"Last month, sometime, I'm wanting to say the fifteenth. So.. I'm late." I mumbled, and Monty brushed my hair back. "Do you think.." He started, and I turned to look at him. "It's definitely a possibility." I finished, not sure how I felt about hearing the words out loud. I flushed the toilet and brushed my teeth, taking a hard look in the mirror. I hadn't even thought about the fact that we never used a condom, which was on me for being irresponsible. I looked to him, a wave of emotion flowing through me. He could tell I was kind of freaking out.

He wrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead. "Think Walplex is open?" He asked, and I shrugged. "I'll go buy you a test after you open your presents." He whispered, and I nodded at him. I wasn't exactly in the Christmas spirit anymore, but he was being insanely supportive, so that was a plus. We headed back to the living room where Ashe was sitting on the floor, content with Mickey Mouse in the TV.

"Time for mommy to open presents." Monty said, sitting next to me, his hand resting gently on my thigh. Ashe handed me presents one by one, and I opened them curiously. Monty knew me so well, but there wasn't anything I really wanted, so I knew he didn't know what to buy.

The first gift was super cute, it was a coffee mug with a picture of him and Ashe on it. He'd also bought me some clothes, (no doubt with Jess's help) a pair of boots I'd pointed out in the mall. Two different Champion sweatshirts. The last gift was the one Monty seemed most excited about me opening.

It was a dainty charm bracelet, complete with 5 charms. There was a Mickey mouse charm, a book, a coffee cup, a baseball, and a charm that looked like a bell. before I could ask questions, Monty started to explain.

"Mickey Mouse for Ashe. A book, because you're a teacher. Coffee, because you are a coffee junkie," he chuckled, and I rolled my eyes at him. He helped me put it on, all while explaining the last two charms. "A baseball, for me. And a bell.. A wedding bell. Because you know I'm gonna marry you, right?" I grabbed his face and kissed him, and he took my hand.

"No matter what happens today," he touched my stomach briefly, looking me in the eye, "I'm not going anywhere."