Sanders Sides One Shots & Shorts

A Hand-Made Christmas (Familial LAMP)

Okay, so this fic is technically Logicality but it's about the family, not the ship/romance so...

Also, I know that it's not Christmas yet, but our world is so negative right now... I think it could use a little extra Christmas. This is based on one of my absolute favourite Christmas stories: "Christmas Presents" by Stuart McLean!
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Date Published: Dec 10, 2019
Word Count: 4796
POV: 3rd Person

One night at dinner, a Sunday night late in October, Patton set down his fork, looked around the table, and said, "So, I've been thinking about Christmas lately..."

Logan, Patton's husband, gasped.

Well... he didn't really gasp. It was more of a hiccup than a gasp. Although, it wasn't a hiccup technically, and could've easily been misconstrued as a gasp. Everyone at the table turned and looked at him. "Excuse me," he said. He tried his best to smile, and tugged at his tie a little.

Patton began again. "I've been thinking about Christmas," he said, cheerily.

"Me too." His youngest son, Roman, said wistfully. It was as if he could already see the stuffed stockings and wrapped toys stacked as tall as he was. He had always shared Patton's extremely early Christmas cheer, although for much a different reason than Patton himself, but that never bothered the father. His comment earned a judgemental look from his older brother.

"And I was thinking," said Patton, "that it would be fun if this year..." Logan was shaking his head slowly back and forth unconsciously, staring at his husband while a vast array of emotions flickered across his face like playing cards; despair, hope, confusion, and finally the last card... horror.

"...and would also be, y'know, more in the spirit of Christmas..." Patton continued, "if we made presents for each other. Instead of buying them?"

Patton's words were met with dead silence.

Then, Virgil dropped his own fork. "What?" he said, his teenage sass seeping into the word like food dye.

Roman's eyes were wide. "But, everything I want is made out of plastic. Does anyone here know how to mould plastic?" He asked, eyes sweeping around the table at the other three members of his family.

Upon seeing the expressions on his family's faces, Patton was quick to add: "I don't mean every present. We don't have to make everything. I thought maybe we could put our names in a hat or something, and we could all draw a name, and we'd have to make a present for the person whose name we drew. I thought it'd be nice!"

"I like exploding stuff too!" Roman added, and his legs shot out under the table, colliding with his brother's knee, which made Virgil hiss. "Exploding things are good, especially if they're made of plastic."

Virgil dropped his head into his hands, purple bangs scrunching up in his prying fingers. "God."

Logan was nodding, a small smile playing at his lips. He couldn't refuse Patton, he'd never been able to.

***

It was two nights later when they drew names. Patton wrote everyone's name onto little sticky notes that he'd stolen from Logan's study. He'd then folded them up, and dropped them into one of his favourite popcorn bowls. He'd gathered up the whole crew. He'd torn Logan from his work, Virgil from his phone, and Roman from his electronic train set. He'd sat them all in a row on the old brown couch in the living room, where they all waited with varying expressions on their faces, all unreadable. Patton, though, was grinning from ear to ear, swishing the bowl around, and urging them all to pick one.