Underneath the Tree (gg)

Chapter 13 - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Summary:
Rio takes Marcus to go see Santa, Beth and her kids tagging along. (It's Christmas Eve)

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"Mommy! Get up! It's Christmas Eve!" Emma shakes Beth's shoulders, rocking her back and forth, waking her up.
"Huh? Oh, yes it is... why are you up so early?" Beth rubs the sleep from her eyes, sitting upwards to pull Emma into her lap.
"I'm so excited," Rolling out of Beth's lap, Emma runs through the bedroom door, sprinting downstairs.
Moving to her feet, Beth's phone chimes, reaching for her nightstand to check it. Picking it up, the name makes her smile. Rio. Sliding it open, she scans her eyes over the message. Mall 2:00 pm.
"That's it?" Beth whispers, sliding her finger over the screen looking for more messages.
Standing up, she contemplates what to text back. I have my kids today. Pressing send she awaits another response. A surprisingly quick notification goes off. Bring em. Beth reads the text over multiple times, verifying what he just said.
Shrugging her shoulders, she makes her way into the bathroom, getting the hot water of the shower started.
Before going in she realizes, "Kenny! You're in charge while I'm showering!" Hearing a small yell, Beth assumes that he heard her. Stepping into the shower, she allows the hot water to stream over her body.

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"Kids, we need to be in the car in 2 minutes!" Beth frantically runs around the kitchen, searching for her purse. Taking a minute to breathe, she glances towards the counter, her purse sitting on top. Letting out a large sigh, she walks over to grab it, leaving the house quickly. Buckling each kid in, she strides towards the front seat, taking a deep breath before pulling out of the driveway.
"Mommy..." Jane fiddles with the zipper on her jacket.
"Huh?" Continuing the drive down the street, Beth turns into the main road.
"Where are we going?" Rocking back and forth in her car seat, growing more eager.
"We're going to the mall." Beth answers definitively, the kids soon erupting into cheers.
"Santa's at the mall!" Emma bursts out.
"Oh yeah, is he? That's cool." Beth trying to keep the conversation light, "I don't know how long we're going to be there. So don't get super excited."
The kids remaining the excited screams and cheers, yelling through the music playing on the radio. Oh my God! Beth removes her hand from the steering wheel to rub her forehead, a small headache forming. Smiling lightly, feeling relieved as she pulls into the mall's parking lot. Rio's already standing outside of his car, Marcus running around near him. Beth pulls into the parking space near him, the kids unbuckling quickly and hopping out of the car.
"Hey mama." Rio calls out as Beth gets out of the car, her eyes widening as he says it.
"Mommy, why does he call you mama?" Jane hops out of the car, shutting the door behind her.
"Oh it's just-" Beth's cut off.
"It's a nickname, let's not over complicate it." Rio takes his hands from his pocket, brushing Beth's hand in the process, "Let's go." Grabbing Marcus, he leads the way towards the mall's entrance.
Beth follows behind, making her kids link arms while going over the crosswalk. Entering the doors, they glance around, taking in all of the festive decorations. Jane and Emma running to stare into a pet store's window, the puppies in the window making small noises.
"Mommy I-" Emma yells from across the floor.
"No Em, we can't get a puppy." Beth laughs walking over to grab her kid's hands, dragging them back towards Rio, "So what did you need me here for?"
"Marcus wanted to see Santa, and I wanted to see my girl." Staring into her eyes, he grabs Beth's waist, directing the kids to follow them towards Santa, "Alright, y'all are gon' tell him what you want, then you'll take a picture." Each kid nodding in response.
Walking towards the gated area, the line is oddly short, so they take their spots and begin waiting. Moving up quickly, Emma runs in first, practically jumping into his lap.
"So how you been?" Rio focuses his attention directly towards Beth.
"Terrible." She glances downwards towards her boots, avoiding his gaze.
"Now why's that?" Reaching for her chin, he pulls it upwards.
Letting out a small smile, "Well, obviously Dean, and some perverted asshole at the Home Depot. It's just been a shitty week." Beth bites her cheek nervously.
"Who's this Home Depot guy? You got his name?" Rio looks around, clearly phased from what she just revealed.
"No, b- but he works in the Christmas tree section." She stumbles over her words, "Why."
"I'm gonna handle it." Rio finishes, just as Beth's about to speak, a man is handing them pictures of their kids.
"Oh thank you!" Beth grabs the pictures, each one having what the kids asked for written on the back. She nods taking in the information, gathering her kids, Rio leads them towards the food court.

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"Thanks for inviting us today... kids what do you say?" Beth motions her children towards the porch, making them speak their appreciation towards Rio.
"Nah it's nothin." Rio watches as Beth fiddles with her keys, finding the right one, she twists the door handle open. The kids run inside quickly, Marcus hanging behind.
"Did you want to come in? Stay for a little bit?" Beth still standing near the entrance, awaiting a response.
"Yes, please say yes daddy!" Marcus pulls at Rio's arm, making him concede.
"Alright, but remember, it's Christmas tomorrow, so we gotta get home later." Marcus storms inside after the rest of the kids, Rio nodding as he leads Beth all the way in by her waist.
Moving into the foyer, Beth begins hosting, "Is there anything I could get you, any drinks, food?"
"Nah, I'm good." Rio walks towards the couch and takes a seat, Beth making her way into the kitchen, coming back with a bottle of red wine and two glasses despite Rio having just denied.
"You're able to make it tomorrow, right?" Beth confirms as she begins pouring large glasses of wine.
Rio doesn't respond, instead he just nods his head, focusing into Beth's eyes. Looking back towards him, she glances to the left, a Santa hat sitting on the back of the couch. He follows her gaze, grabbing the hat and pulling it on. Beth let's out a loud laugh, smiling brightly.
"What? You don't think I could pull it off?" Rio turns his head, allowing a view from all angles.
Beth leans in closer, as if she's trying to read him, her gaze intensifying. Why is he always in a good mood? He's so... different. Rio leans in after her, grabbing the back of her neck lightly, he pulls her into a passionate kiss. Sinking into it, she places both her hands on the sides of his jaw. Rio leans in further, pushing Beth back against the arm of the couch. Continuing, Kenny comes walking downstairs, treading lightly. Looking forwards gazing into the couch, he sees Beth and someone he can't distinguish. All he can see is the Santa hat. Walking back upstairs, he chooses to leave them undisturbed for the time being. Breaking off the kiss, they maintain heavy eye contact, Beth pulling the hat off of his head, laughing as she does so.
"Do you want to stay the night?" Still holding each other in an embrace, Rio nods in response, pulling her back into another kiss.
"Look, I'm not kidding. Mom is kissing Santa!" Kenny comes running downstairs with Marcus and Jane following.
Beth and Rio pull away quickly, regaining their composure, "Hey kids. What's up?" Beth wipes her lips with her sleeve, trying to remove any smudged lipstick.
"That's not Santa, that's my dad." Marcus points towards Rio and let's out a big laugh, Jane laughing as well.
"B- but!" Kenny storms upstairs, confused.
"Hey, stay upstairs okay? We're going to watch a scary movie." Beth waves Marcus and Jane off.
Jane stopping halfway up the stairs, "A scary movie? It's Christmas."
"Yes, it's a scary Christmas movie, now leave please." Shooing them away, Beth and Rio exchange a small smile, realizing they just got busted.

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