“Okay sweetheart, put the plate next to the glass of milk now,” Blaine told Mollie as he set the glass down on the coffee table.

Kurt smiled from his spot curled up on the couch as he watched his husband help their three year old daughter prepare Santa’s snack. “Are you ready for bed, babydoll?” he asked her.

“No daddy. I want to stay up and wait for Santa!” she said happily.

“Oh, but Santa won’t come until you’re asleep. So the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner he’ll bring your presents, and the sooner it’ll be morning and you can wake up see what he brought!” Blaine was almost as excited as Mollie about this Christmas.

Kurt stifled a laugh as he stood up. “Okay you two, time for bed. Come on munchkin, let’s get you tucked in,” Kurt said as he swung Mollie up into his arms and carried her to her room.

When Kurt walked back into the living room ten minutes later, Blaine was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, the only light in the room coming from the blazing fire and the twinkle lights on the tree. Kurt pulled the throw blanket off the chair as he walked by then snuggled up next to Blaine, pulling the blanket over both of them.

“Should we give it twenty minutes?” he asked sleepily.

“Yeah,” Blaine responded. “That should be enough time for her to fall asleep.” He paused. “Wanna make out?” he asked Kurt with an exaggerated leer on his face.

Kurt laughed as he turned and pulled Blaine down on top of him. “That sounds like a great idea,” he murmured with a smile against Blaine’s lips. After all, they had to pass the time somehow.

************

It was more like an hour later that they were sitting on the floor, surrounded by the pieces of the elaborate doll house that “Santa” would be leaving for Mollie.

“What the hell?” Blaine complained in frustration as he tugged at his curls again. “How is it that two college educated men can’t figure out how to put together a little girl’s dollhouse?” Any semblance of order had been destroyed as he repeatedly ran his fingers through his hair or tugged absentmindedly at it when he couldn’t figure out where a piece went. He really looked kind of adorable at this point.

“I dunno. You know, if we were a ‘traditional’ family you could have a woman here, pointing out how you’re doing it wrong and being just generally helpful,” Kurt said cheekily.

There was a moment of silence as they made eye contact, Kurt’s eyebrow raised in challenge and Blaine’s expression one of mild horror. Then they both burst into laughter.

Kurt looked at the directions for a moment, turned them upside down, then turned to the myriad of pieces currently spread out over the bedroom floor. “Okay Einstein, I think this piece goes here…”

************

Another hour later and they put the last piece in place. Well, the last piece they could find a place for; there were four pieces that they were convinced were just added to the box to confuse parents. Those pieces were placed in a plastic baggie to be brought out if the damn thing fell apart at some point in the future. As tempted as Blaine was to rip the “instructions” into a million pieces and throw them dramatically into the fire, he refrained and placed it in the baggie with the leftover pieces before the two men went back to the couch to enjoy the snack they’d placed there with Mollie earlier.

“This is the real reason Santa gets a treat; after putting together all of those stupid toys, he better have something to make it worth his while,” Blaine griped as he munched on the chocolate chip cookie.

“Mmm…” Kurt agreed as he enjoyed the sugar cookie with decorative frosting. “Don’t forget to leave a few crumbs for effect.”

“Yep. Are you ready for bed? We’re still getting up at the crack of dawn to get in here before her, right?” Blaine asked.

“Don’t you want to see her face when she walks in and sees the dollhouse?” Kurt asked. “Especially after all the work we put into it. Besides, we need to get an early start with our celebration here if we’re going to join Noah and Rachel and the kids for Christmas/Hanukkah dinner.”

“Fine, crack of dawn it is,” Blaine complained dramatically as he stood up and held out a hand. “Let’s go.”

************

“Wake up sleepyhead!” Blaine sang to his husband’s shoulder, the only part of him not buried under the blankets and pillow. “I brought coffee. It’s six o’clock and she’s still sleeping, but I don’t think that’s going to last for much longer.”

Kurt groaned as he rolled over and scrubbed his hands over his face. “’m awake,” he mumbled, sitting up and making grabby hands for the coffee with his eyes still closed.

“Uh uh,” Blaine sang, “Kiss first.”

“Too early… morning breath… and you’re obnoxiously cheerful for six AM on a day off,” Kurt grumbled.

“Okay grumpypants. Wake up, drink your coffee, and let’s go sit in front of the fire while we wait for our darling daughter to wake up and realize it’s Christmas morning.” Blaine leaned over and stole a chaste kiss before Kurt opened his eyes, then placed the coffee in his hands.

A few minutes later, after drinking half of the coffee and finally opening his eyes, Kurt was conscious enough to follow Blaine out to the living room. The fire was roaring again, the Christmas lights were on, there was Christmas music playing softly on the stereo, and the dollhouse looked great in the daylight. They sat down on the couch, Blaine curled into Kurt’s arms, perfectly content to just enjoy each other until Mollie woke up and came downstairs.

“Look baby,” Kurt whispered into Blaine’s curls. “It’s snowing.”

They were both watching the fat flakes drift silently through the air when they heard a gasp and a reverent whisper. “Santa came!”

They turned to see Mollie, dark curls tousled from sleep and hazel eyes wide and bright, staring in wonder at the dollhouse. She turned and looked at her daddies as she bounced up and down and clapped her little hands. “Santa came and he brought me a dollhouse!”

Kurt and Blaine both smiled at the little girl’s excitement. “Yes he did sweetheart,” Kurt said. “Why don’t you go look at and see what else is over there.”

Kurt looked down into his husband’s hazel eyes - the same beautiful eyes as his daughter – to see Blaine looking back at him with his heart in his eyes. “I love you so much,” Blaine whispered before he leaned in and kissed Kurt sweetly on the lips.

The next few hours were spent throwing bows all over the room (while Kurt attempted to gather them to save while Blaine grabbed each one he could get his hands on to stick to his own head), shredding and spreading the wrapping paper everywhere, and excitement over each new item.

Kurt and Blaine had both been a little dismayed when they pulled out the presents to place under their newly decorated tree and realized how many they had for Mollie. There were several from each of the grandparents (whom they had seen the day before, wanting to spend Christmas morning with just their little family), Finn and his wife had given her two gifts, and the daddies had been buying, wrapping and hiding gifts for several months. The resulting mountain of presents was evidence of just how spoiled Mollie was. And they hadn’t even gotten to the Puckerman’s yet, where they knew she would have at least one more. (Several more, if Kurt knew Rachel.)

In addition, Kurt had given Blaine a beautiful set of diamond cufflinks, while Blaine had given Kurt the new, complicated kitchen gadget he’d been wanting for months. Overall, it had been a pretty good Christmas.

“Okay guys, time to get ready for the Puckerman’s!” Kurt exclaimed as Blaine groaned and Mollie pouted. (She had definitely gotten her father’s puppy dog eyes.)

“But I want to stay here and play with my new toys,” she whined.

“Don’t you want to see Jon and Belle and Uncle Noah and Aunt Rachel?” Kurt asked her.

Mollie’s eyes brightened. “Aunt Rachel will have presents for me!” she exclaimed as she skipped off to get dressed.

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other in horror. “Oh my God, she’s gonna be a mini Rachel if we don’t rein her in quick,” Blaine whispered. “Next year we need to cut way back on her Christmas presents. And birthday presents. And just because presents.”

Kurt sighed. “We’re not going to accomplish anything today. Let’s just get ready and head over.”

Kurt stood and pulled Blaine up from the couch and into his arms. Blaine tucked his face into the side of Kurt’s neck, breathing deep. “Merry Christmas sweetheart,” Kurt whispered.

“Merry Christmas my love.”