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safty · 7 years

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I don’t know if it’s convenient at all but here is all the Christmas chapters in To The Rescue in one spot

Make sure you pee before u read

Getting on the road was bleary and difficult the next day, and Seth was really grateful that Roman was taking the wheel. After they started moving and had picked up Seth's things from his apartment, he'd fallen asleep again in the backseat before they'd even left the metro. Days of waking up ridiculously early had caught up to him and Seth was sleeping furiously.

Dean's hand shook his knee and he winced, jolting awake. Both of his boyfriends were staring at him from the front seat of their parked car.

"Want some breakfast babe? Hate to wake you, but I figured you'd want food."

"Huh? Yeah." Seth sat up, wiping drool off his cheek.

Dean grinned. "You were snorin' real loud."

Some coffee, bacon and eggs and he was a little more awake, peering at his surroundings from the window of the Jeep. Seth had never been farther north in the state than Gainesville, and yet things were definitely feeling more 'Southern'.

When they were getting close to Tallahassee, Roman's phone rang and he used the display in his car to answer it.

"Hey mom."

"Hey sweetie, I was just going to run to the store and I was wondering if you were getting close or not?" Roman's mother's voice crackled through the stereo of the car.

"We should be fine... " Roman shrugged, looking to his lovers. Dean and Seth shook their heads.

"Okay! Well, your father's still at work and I might be out when you get in, so if nobody's answering the door, Mandy said she would be home today so you could pop in next door and she can let you in with her key."

"Okay."

"Yeah, and what I did was I got you guys reserved in the basement den. So the couch bed is all made up with the cot and I put some extra blankets down there in case it gets cold. If you guys wanted to put anything in the fridge though, I would use the garage fridge because we got… just a whole big dinner mess in there right now."

"We'll be okay mom. It'll just be another two hours or so," Roman said firmly. "You know us, we can handle it."

"Well of course hun, I just want to be helpful." She sighed. "All the kids will be coming over in the evening and we're doing gingerbread again. It would be really great if you could help out with that. See if Dean wants to be our photographer again."

" Absolutely ," Dean drawled from the front seat. Mrs. Reigns chuckled.

"Well good, I'm so excited to see you guys again and to meet Seth. You in there Seth?"

"Yeah, hi!" Seth piped up, leaning in so he could be heard. "I'm excited to be there!"

"Lovely. We'll see you boys soon, drive safe!"

Spanish moss and woody forests gave way to more open areas, as well as billboard advertisements for marina space and timeshares. Palm trees shifted in a light wind and the sky appeared deep blue and cloudless. Seth cracked his window for a time to get some fresh air. He was feeling a little restless, stuck in the back seat.

"Do you think we'll have time to go to the beach?" Dean asked, looking at Roman over his sunglasses.

"Maybe… it's cold though…"

"It's fifty five!" Seth laughed. "That's fine for a walk!"

"Maybe we can convince Rosey to let us take Harley on a walk or something, I dunno," Roman said, looking to Dean. "You know how it is… Gotta take a guilt trip if we want to go anywhere."

"We can take Milo and Tamar, they're good."

Around 1:30, the highway turned and tilted, rising up sharply. Seth moved closer to the window, peering out and feeling his stomach tighten. They were driving over the ocean and the view made his body feel like it was soaring. Small waves curled and broke below, while pelicans and other sea birds soared high in the air. Pensacola was flat and small, making the sky above it seem enormous and endless.

"I gotta piss." Dean shifted, also looking at the water outside.

"Bad?"

"Not that bad."

"What's that?" Seth asked, pointing out of the window to a huge military complex. Planes were circling the bay area, flying in tight formation. "National guard?"

"Naval base!" Roman said eagerly. "Blue Angels are always flying around."

The planes soared over the highway and Seth sighed, sinking deeper in his seat. Roman merged into the exit lane and he wondered where exactly they would be going. It hadn't occurred to him how quickly they were doing this until they were in the actual town. Seth would be meeting Roman's whole family and they'd only been dating for a few weeks… but then… this week they weren't dating… technically .

They wouldn't be touching each other or really sleeping together. It wasn't as though Seth required a lot of physical contact, but there was certainly a part of him that was starting to initiate it unconsciously. Really, Roman himself was the worst offender, always grabbing them from behind or resting his head on their shoulders. Would they have any slip ups?

"Isn't there a key under the flower pot?" Dean grumbled, crossing his legs. Roman turned off of the main road, pausing at a stop sign.

"There might be, mom forgets about it a lot." Roman shrugged, slowing to a stop and grinning into the mirror. "We're here ."

Seth whipped his head around, watching as Roman and Dean got out, looking up to a large, two story house painted mint green. The lawn was lush and well manicured, but currently, the whole front was adorned with the kind of decorations Seth would call excessive . String lights, a plastic santa with reindeer on the roof, snowmen and candy canes lined the path and face of the house. Mixed with the tropical palms, it was surreal.

Dean jogged ahead of them, running to the front and picking up a flower pot to uncover a key.

"I'll grab my shit, don't sweat," he muttered, getting the door ajar. "I'll be a good boy and flip the seat."

Seth pulled his bag over his shoulder, walking up the path to the now opened door. Roman held it open, smiling.

Everything was very well kept and Seth recognized a familiar scent of glade plugins and fabric softener. Coats and shoes were packed away neatly, the entryway enshrined with a wooden cutout that read LOVE REIGNS in thick block lettering. Immediately, a little dog charged into the room, barking and alert.

"Superman, shush," Roman hissed, poking the little dog back. It panted happily, wagging its tail. Seth could see it had an old, white face.

"He's cute," Seth noted, watching Roman pick up the dog and cradle it in his arm. Nobody else appeared to be around, the house vacant and quiet except for their own footsteps.

"You want the tour?" Roman asked, nudging his shoulder playfully. Seth offered to take Superman, pulling the dog into his arms and letting it lick his neck and beard. He nodded, grinning.

Roman's house was overwhelming even in silence. On every surface in every room, decorations, possessions and photographs seemed to be competing for visual dominance. The living room was a huge circle of chairs and a sofa, an enormous flat screen television and a Christmas tree that looked as though it was pushing up the ceiling. Under the tree, gifts spilled and piled out, flowing almost halfway across the room.

On the coffee table was last year's family Christmas photo. Seth wondered if the cameraman had been forced to back up all the way to the back wall of his studio. In the middle, he picked out the faces of Roman, Dean, and his ex, Bryan.

In fact, there were a lot of photos of Roman and Bryan all around the house. The double refrigerator was covered in pictures, and easily, Seth picked out three photos of the former couple.

On the top of the stairs, an old picture of Bryan and Roman marked the landing and Seth had to stop in his tracks, laughing.

"Do they know yet?" he asked, pointing. Roman rolled his eyes, sighing.

"I've asked, no lie, my mom looks at me and just says then give me a better photo."

He looked at the floor awkwardly and Seth set Superman down on the floor, uncomfortable. The photos of Roman and Bryan were cute, surely, but Seth knew the moment that he and Marek had broken up, his mother had had the decency to take their Christmas card picture off the mantle.

The tension dissolved as soon as they went down the hallway, which was a virtual shrine to Roman and his siblings. His old room had been converted to a guest bedroom, painted a soft blue and carpeted with beige. Seth giggled madly, staring at the array of photos from his childhood that hung around the door frame. Every picture showed a chubby, slightly confused baby with a careful scowl.

"Oh god, you're a ham ," Seth snorted, pointing to a pee wee football photo of Roman with a buzzcut, looking fiercely serious. Roman just blushed, shaking his head.

"You'll see every photo of me ever this weekend. Mom's serious about digging out the albums" he mumbled, continuing down the hall. Seth watched the frames morph into other siblings, showing Roman's sisters and his older brother. Out of the four of them, Roman seemed to be the most serious, face set stony in every photo.

"Okay, I need help " Seth said desperately, turning to the largest photo in the middle of the hall. "Who-"

"Okay," Roman laughed. "Quiz time."

"That's you, I'm not an idiot," Seth scoffed, watching Roman point to himself in a family photo. It had to have been taken some time in the nineties. Roman looked to be in elementary school.

"I'm the youngest, then it's Summer ." Roman pointed to the girl closest to him, her hair long and beautiful like his own. "She's important, you'll see a lot of her this weekend probably. We get along good, I like her husband a lot and her kids are adorable."

"Okay, Summer. Summer Reigns ." Seth chuckled.

"Exactly! It's dumb so you'll remember!" Roman laughed. "And then, there's Vanessa. She and my mom fight all the time and she owns a nail salon."

"Vanessa," Seth repeated, looking at a taller, larger girl that was resting her head on her mother's lap in the photo.

"Rosey," Roman said, pointing to the oldest boy, who was huge compared to everyone else in the photo, probably teenaged. Roman's face looked cold. "He lives next door with his family."

"That's it? You're not close with him?" Seth smirked, looking between the two brothers in the picture. "We don't talk that much, no." His mouth twitched. "There's a big age gap and all, but I dunno. We just don't have a lot in common." Roman turned to his parents in the photo, pointing to a large, older man with long hair and a greying beard.

"My dad is Sika and he runs a shipping and distribution company. Once he retires, Rosey's going to sell the restaurant he owns and take it over. Lisa-" he shifted his hand to a blonde, well kept woman. "She has a real estate license, but mostly she's just a homemaker. Super grandma. Watches all the grandkids and does stuff with church to help with other people's kids. I think by existing , me and all my siblings are just supposed to have as many kids as possible."

"Really?" Seth laughed, taking in the large photographer with new eyes. "That's… crazy… do you want kids?"

Roman bit his lip, a complicated look on his face. He blinked and nodded. Despite the moment's hesitation, Seth thought he was sincere.

"No pressure or nothin'," Roman said lowly, passing by the door at the end of the hall and knocking hard. "Uce, you good?"

"Takin' a shit. Sorry," Dean muttered from beyond the door.

They both laughed and kept walking, making their way down the stairs at the end of the hall, coming back out into the kitchen.

"That must be why you're always fuckin' me so good," Seth purred, giving his ass a pat. "Trying to knock me up or something."

" Jesus ," Roman snorted, laughing. "I need a drink, you good?"

They went out into the garage, making sure Superman didn't slip through the backdoor. Seth followed, watching Roman make his way to a refrigerator, popping open the door and looking inside. He crept closer, wanting to keep the mood light. The way Roman was talking and moving around made Seth wonder how comfortable he really was having Dean and Seth there. Dean obviously seemed fine, but Roman definitely seemed on edge, like he was holding tension in his body and walking in small steps.

Seth supposed all families were different; he didn't want to be too quick to judge.

"Miller lite? Natty Ice?" Roman offered, picking through beers. "Nah?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Seth shook his head, leaning his weight toward Roman as he picked out a beer. They nearly started as the garage door shuddered open, shifting onto the ceiling as a gray SUV pulled up the driveway and into the stall.

They broke apart and Roman waved. Seth could see an older woman inside, smiling and waving back excitedly behind a pair of sunglasses. Lisa , Seth repeated in his head, sure it was Roman's mother.

"You're here! I saw the Jeep!" She pulled out of the car, not bothering to pull the keys from the ignition before hopping down to throw her small arms around her son. They embraced and she rocked him, moaning with happiness before planting a kiss on his cheek. "How was the drive?"

"Fine, we got up early enough." Roman shrugged. "We just got in a second ago, haven't even gone downstairs yet."

"And you must be Seth!"

"Yeah, hey!" Seth turned pink, trying to follow suit as Lisa pulled him in for an identical hug, unmistakably feeling him carefully. "Thank you… so much for inviting me!"

"Absolutely! We want Roman to bring the people he cares about. It's so good to meet you! You boys breaking into the beers already? Where's Dean?"

Seth blinked, but Roman seemed quick on the uptake, following his mother back to her car.

"Yeah, upstairs. Did you want a hand? We still gotta unpack the car, but I can help you out and they can grab the rest-"

"Seth dear, why don't you help me-" Lisa turned to him, eyes wide and hopeful. "It's really not much- Roman, why don't you get your things because you know where everything goes."

Before anyone could answer, she had pressed two grocery bags into Seth's hands.

"Lots of powdered sugar! We made so much gingerbread, we knew we were going to have to get more if we wanted all the little houses to be put together right-"

Mutely, Seth followed Lisa back into the house, awkwardly trying to hold the door open for her. Roman hung back, face tight and jaw set as he pushed the button for the garage door so he could make his way back to his car.

"Thank you so much dear!" Lisa sighed as Seth set the bags down on the kitchen counter. Superman panted, walking between their feet. "Now, where did Roman say you were from again? Illinois?"

The next people to arrive at the house were Roman's nieces and nephews, children of his brother Rosey. Seth assisted Lisa, trying his best to be helpful and communicative, and Dean rejoined them after grabbing their things from the car. The back door slammed hard and a boy and a girl came racing in, backpacks on their shoulders.

"Grandma! Can we go to our friend's tonight?" the girl asked, pleading. They each glanced to Seth and Dean momentarily, but seemed entirely focused on their request, panting hard. "Nevah and Sam- they said we could come to their house and their parents got them the new Rock Band! Dad said we had to ask you!"

"The whole family is going to be here tonight! Why do you want to go there?" Lisa asked. "Everyone is going to miss you!"

"Jordan's not coming 'till seven because of football!" the boy piped up. "We don't care about gingerbread!"

" Now , you two were supposed to be my helpers." Lisa sighed, staring intently to the children. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of other opportunities to go and see your friends, but this is family time! Uncle Roman's already here and all your cousins are coming!"

The kids pouted, stamping their feet. Roman chuckled, setting a beer down in front of Dean.

"It's not fair!" the boy said, screwing up his face and swinging his bag. "We're gonna be around family all of break! Why can't we do tonight?"

"Koa, you know Grandpa would want you to be there, do you want to make him sad?"

"Why don't you go over there until dinner?" Roman proposed. "Come back before eight or so."

"Can we do that Grandma?" the girl asked, nodding quickly. Lisa sighed, shooting Roman a withering look.

" No , that's the final answer. Go put your bags down at home and make sure you get here before your aunties show up, ok?"

Koa and the girl left, sulking as they stomped to the back door with their bags dragging on the floor. Roman sighed, toying with the salt and pepper shakers on the counter.

"Is Dad coming home early today?" Roman asked, trying to divert his mother's souring mood as she pulled pans down from the counter, looking annoyed.

"No, Jimmy and Jey are picking up Nia from the airport, so that's all sorted out. Really, Summer and Vanessa probably won't be here for another hour or two, so it's no rush. Everyone else will be here either tomorrow or on Christmas morning."

"Buffet for tonight?" Dean asked, sipping off his drink.

"Yup, buffet tonight and tomorrow it looks like. I'm saving all my energy for Christmas."

Roman showed Seth downstairs where they were sleeping, effectively finishing the tour as the sun began to set. The basement was warm and well finished, with another gigantic TV and a small bookshelf. More pictures lined the walls, showing vacations and moments that were likely captured when Lisa and Sika were just married.

"What's the buffet?" Seth asked, pushing his bag to the side of the fold out couch and looking at the large cot wearily. He felt a little overwhelmed.

"This Chinese place down the road," Dean answered, plopping down on the bed and curling his toes. "They do a lot of seafood and stuff, it's good."

"Yeah, we like to do that a lot just so everyone's fed and there's no bother," Roman explained, looking to Seth carefully. "Sorry if my mom's a little overbearing, but I think she really likes you, honest."

"Yeah, no, I wasn't concerned about that..." Seth shook his head. "It's all good."

They watched television for a little while, zoning out to some show about deep sea diving on the Discovery Channel until it became obvious people were arriving upstairs. Dean and Roman seemed intent on refreshing drinks and Seth obliged as well. He hadn't been in much of a drinking mood, but something about the energy in the house told him he'd do well to keep a little buzzed to remain social.

" Hey brother!"

One of Roman's sister's clasped him in a huge hug at the top of the stairs, effectively blocking Dean and Seth from reaching the landing. In her arms, she was carrying a baby, and a huge purse was slung around her shoulder.

"Vanessa," Roman introduced her to Seth, taking the baby and smiling. Vanessa beamed, hugging him while Dean nodded to her husband, a tanned, slightly overweight white guy wearing a trucker hat and jeans.

"It's great to meet you." Seth nodded, hearing children from the front door again.

They mingled, and suddenly, everyone was there at once. Looking out the window, cars were parking on the street and Dean took the cue to hold the door, greeting everyone with a half smile as they hauled their roller bags over the front. Superman barked, nearly getting stepped on every few minutes.

"Dean, my man!"

Two nearly identical men with long hair and facial hair similar to Roman's clapped Dean on the back. They laughed loudly, carrying luggage over their shoulders.

A little lost, Seth hovered close to Roman, hoping for an introduction.

"Jimmy and Jey," Roman explained, "My cousins."

Behind them, a large woman with wavy brown hair came in, looking a little haggard, but excited. She looked behind her, muttering something, and a smaller woman followed.

Seth blinked, smiling as they made eye contact. The first woman was obviously Samoan, but her friend was Japanese.

"Nia! You made it!" Lisa came in, pulling the larger woman close to embrace. Dean melted against the wall, trying to make space.

"Yeah, the flight wasn't too bad. The only issue was we had to do some run around to get our bags."

Nia said something in Japanese and the other woman smiled, nodding and bowing to Lisa.

" This is Asuka."

Seth's heart sank, eyes darting around as names came shooting out like popcorn. It was hopeless , there was no way he could remember everything, but he did his part in greeting everyone and making sure he wasn't in the way. Koa and his sister returned, looking slightly sour as Lisa told them to take coats from everyone. A little boy ran between Seth's legs and chased after Vanessa, yelling.

The baby in Roman's arms yawned and peered up at him. Seth couldn't help but feel a tingle of saccharine joy, seeing his boyfriend holding his infant niece.

"Penelope," Roman said, nodding to the little girl. "I might be full of it, but I still think she likes me best."

"She's cute,” Seth agreed, watching as yet another couple came in through the front door.

"Roman!"

"Hey, hey."

A comparatively smaller woman hugged him and Seth supposed she had to be Summer, his last sister. Dean looked exasperated, pushing the door fully open again, but not before a man came through the door and grinned at him.

"Hey Dean! We got this, it's okay." He gestured to his two sons, ushering them in through the door. "C'mon kids, you were just complainin' about how cold it was…"

"Dean!" one of the little boys cheered, jumping up and down. "Up Up Up!"

" Milo ," Dean sang, immediately hoisting the young boy into his arms. "What's up kid?"

"Mom said! Mom-" Milo laughed, "Mom said you might not come!"

"I'm here, ain' I?"

For about twenty minutes, everyone was just milling around, shaking hands and getting settled. In his head, Seth tried memorizing names, attempting to engrain them all in his brain. The hands around his beer were sweating and he was sure he looked stupid, leaning on the wall until he was in the way, then leaning on the bannister. Eventually, Roman handed him Penelope and Seth took her with some hesitation while Roman left to see to something upstairs.

"Are there more people?" Seth asked Dean, rubbing an unsure hand over the baby's back and trying to steer clear of the children running around. Dean shrugged.

"Roman's brother and dad will come, but I think that's it, at least for tonight. More people will come later."

They all came to sit in the living room, pulling up seats wherever they could be found. Vanessa rescued Penelope from Seth, and Roman rejoined them bearing more drinks. His face was a little rosy, but Seth was glad he wasn't worrying about his boyfriends. Everything seemed to be going fine.

Dean and Seth just sat on the floor, folding up small as everyone came to pile even more gifts under the tree, emptying out bags with wrapped presents. The children cheered, picking through the boxes, much to Lisa's annoyance.

"Come and sit everyone, Grandma wants to take a picture!" She beamed, pulling on a pair of glasses to see her phone and eagerly snapping a few photos of all the kids crammed against the coffee table. "Jordan's not here. We can do some phone magic and just put him in later, right?"

The dynamics were pretty much as Roman had described, and it was fascinating to see all of the family together talking. Seth and Dean didn't really have much to add, but they listened and drank.

"How was Hawaii? You haven't told us yet!" Lisa asked of Summer and her husband, Trevor. The attention of the group shifted to the couple sitting together on the couch.

"It was great! I think we're going to go back in a few years if we can manage it." Summer beamed, looking to Trevor. "We don't know about doing an all-inclusive again, but-"

"Yeah, it would be great if we could see some of the other islands or something," he said. "But those are a lil' more pricey."

"We should do a cruise one year!" Lisa said, drinking from her wine. "Haven't I been saying that? God, I would love to take your girls and Mandy or something. Nani, my friend, you know? She got a huge deal on a trip that loops around the Bahamas and comes right back through here. I just haven't had a vacation in so long!"

"Yeah, well," Summer shrugged animatedly, looking to each of her siblings. "Vacations are expensive..."

They all grinned knowingly and Seth had to stop himself from giggling. It was so obviously Roman's family- he could see traces of his lover in each of the people sitting in the circle. Jimmy, Jey and the young boys all surely looked like they'd been cut from the same tree, but all the women mirrored Roman's assured way of talking. The way his mother laughed, spreading her lips and bearing all of her teeth was so distinctly Roman, it made Seth's chest feel bubbly.

"When are we making houses?" Milo asked, leaning on his father's knee and wobbling around.

"We can do that now! We have a few hours before dinner. I think Rosey said he was on his way?" Lisa checked her phone. "We just need to make up some frosting and we'll be good!"

Dean immediately stood up, clinking his beer glass and letting Milo and his brother giggle and pull on his arms. Seth smiled again; he watched Dean work with kids all day at the pool, but Seth could tell he really liked the little boys.

"We'll make a ginger mansion ," Dean said gruffly, playfully bonking Milo with the bottle. "Gingerbread jacuzzi ."

Seth rose up too, happy to do whatever he could. He knew he was probably being a little too quiet, but he was always a little shy in large groups.

"Roman? Nia? Did you guys want to help too, then?" Lisa asked. "Give the moms and dads a break?"

Nia said something in half japanese, half english and Asuka nodded.

The last time Seth had made a gingerbread house was when he was in first grade and he'd done it at school. He remembered bringing a bag of mini marshmallows to share, as his teacher had requested. It was a fun project for one of the last days of class before the holiday break, but sadly, his house was smashed on the bus ride home and he cried to his mother about it all evening.

Now, Seth didn't really care much about making his own house, but Roman, a little tipsy and playful, began constructing a house with gingerbread slabs and invited his lovers to work on it.

"Dean is helping us!" Tamar argued, grabbing unwrapped chocolate kisses and throwing them in his mouth. Dean nodded wisely, mixing up some frosting and sitting between the two boys.

"Seth's a better architect, I'm sure," Dean mumbled, holding a gingerbread square and letting Milo apply globs of frosting.

Koa and his sister Madison didn't really seem to care much about making houses, but sat down to work anyway, feasting on candy and waiting for Lisa to hand them some cookie pieces. Nia and Asuka sat down next to Seth and smiled, looking at the array.

"So… you guys are from… Cali?" Seth tried, trying for some sort of conversation. Asuka nodded happily.

"Yeah! We just flew in today. We haven't been to Florida before! In the bay, it's a lot more chilly, so it's a nice break," Nia said, picking up some gumdrops and collecting the pink and white ones. "My family isn't very supportive… so we took Lisa up on her invitation."

"Oh, okay." Seth nodded, remembering that Roman had told him about a gay cousin. "Good to meet you guys."

Roman giggled at his shoulder and Seth turned, watching him constructing some sort of triangle.

"What are you doing? That's so wrong," he laughed, turning the plate to see the weird little teepee from all angles. "This is all off."

Lisa put on Christmas music and they all worked. Seth was a little short on elbow room, sitting next to Nia and Roman, but he made it work, disassembling Roman's bizarre creation and putting together a neat, square little house. Dean was mostly letting Milo and Tamar stick m&m's and gumdrops to everything, stacking the gingerbread roof neatly.

"Hey Jordan!"

Seth looked over his shoulder and a teenaged boy was standing in the kitchen, dressed in a large hoodie and sweats. Lisa put a hand on his back, patting him, and Roman turned around to nod to his nephew.

"Just get done with practice?"

"Yup." Jordan looked at each person and slowly stalked off, going back to the living room. Seth smiled, he remembered being in high school.

Roman was just sticking a licorice trim to the bottom of the house when an enormous man came in the door, following Jordan's path and pulling Lisa into a side hug.

"We about ready to go soon?" he asked, taking a look at all the houses. "Uncle Afa wasn't coming, was he?"

"Not tonight."

Roman nodded to the man and Dean didn't even bother to look up. Milo and Tamar burst out laughing as Dean painted a face on the side of the house in frosting.

"Is that Rosey?" Nia asked quietly as soon as the man left. "I haven't seen him in ages !"

"Yeah, that's him," Roman confirmed. "He cut his hair two years ago."

"Yeah, now it's just you rockin' the locks. You and Sika."

"Oh Roman, that's such a nice house!" Lisa admired, coming over. Immediately she whipped out her phone. Respectfully, Seth moved over, giving Roman some space to be seen.

"Oh Seth, get closer! You two are darling!" Lisa chirped. "I think we'll have to put your house on the mantle tomorrow."

"We want to go on the mantle!" Milo yelled, balancing his body weight between the chair and the table and swinging back and forth. "1243! Gumdrop Avenue!"

Lisa took pictures of all the gingerbread houses before they tried to clean up a little, putting the frosting bowls in the sink to soak and organizing the candy. Seth felt a little strange, going to wash his hands, but he had eaten a lot of peppermint patties, so he just assumed it was sugar.

Dean elected to drive the Jeep, not that Roman was really drunk, but Roman and Seth both sat in the back together. Having a moment away from all the noise and commotion of the family was appreciated.

"You guys doin' okay?" Roman asked, leaning towards the driver's seat. "My fam's picking up the check like the always do."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Seth said, stroking his beard. Dean just nodded. "Was there… any reason you didn't want them to know about all this yet?"

"They… don't even know Dean's living with me," Roman sighed, sinking back and running a hand through his hair. "It's complicated obviously. That house is technically owned by them, so they… have a lot of say about it."

"It's a little soon still," Dean said quietly.

"Yeah, of course." Seth shrugged. "I just… everyone seems so nice…"

"Eh, wait till the first fight," Roman said hesitantly. "Nobody's mean , we're just… we're a big family with a bunch of egos… Everyone has an opinion."

Roman's hands fell on Seth's thigh, rubbing comfortingly. Seth smiled, warming to the touch. He pulled his hand over Roman's and held it carefully.

The Chow Tyme China Buffet just barely had a large enough parking lot to contain every member of the Reigns family. Palm trees shook lightly in the calm breeze, and Seth could smell the ocean in the distance. As they entered, they drew the attention of everyone around. The children were loud, and Roman, Dean and Seth hung in the back, content to let Lisa take charge of everything.

"Oh, and Sika's already here!" She laughed, pointing to the huge table that had been assembled in the middle of the dining area. An older man with long white hair was sitting at the front, his fingers folded in front of him. He waved, nodding to his family.

Seth thought they would all disperse and grab food, but instead, they all sat, preparing a drink order. Lisa sat next to Sika and Roman came over to greet his father, so they ended up close to the head of the table.

"You can sit here, dear," Lisa offered, pulling out a chair and smiling to Seth. "Roman always puts his elbows on the table and boxes me in."

"Don't know where he gets it from," Sika said, chuckling. He nodded to Seth, but Seth stuck out his hand, trying to make the best first impression.

"Seth Rollins," he said firmly, bowing his head a little. Sika shook it.

As soon as they were all settled, Lisa put her hands on the table, insisting everyone join together. Mutely, Seth mimicked her, looking around.

"Devin, you say grace this time," Sika instructed, looking to Vanessa's husband carefully.

Devin fumbled, quickly tugging off his trucker hat and looking to his wife, bowing his head.

"Bless us oh lord… thy gifts we are about to receive… from… thy bounty… through Christ our lord."

"Amen," everyone echoed. Seth curled his lip, looking around. He'd forgotten Roman's family was so religious, but then, he guessed he should have expected something with all of the Catholic decorations all over the house. He'd swear he'd seen a crucifix in every room, along with the usual decor that said something to the effect of Christ and Blessing lining most of the picture frames in the house.

Dean looked similarly out of place, waiting to see who would rise for food first.

The whole dinner itself took probably two and a half hours, with everyone making the most of the all-you-can-eat options. Lisa fussed over everything, going to each grandchild in turn before getting her own plate, and making sure everyone was comfortable. Sika sat patiently, observing everything and sipping from his water while the individual families helped themselves. Seth watched carefully as he seemed to shift between his children, his neck rotating slowly as he surveyed the scene.

Sika was a very quiet and reserved man, but when he spoke, everyone seemed to harken to him. With each of his children, he made direct conversation, diverting the attention of the group to individuals as he saw fit.

"Well, now's as good a time as ever," Rosey said, turning to his wife after finishing an explanation of Jordan's football ambitions. Jordan himself sat quietly, eating crabcakes.

"Yes, well," Mandy said, smiling mischievously. "We're expecting again."

"You are?!" Lisa nearly slapped her plate on the floor in her urgency to be closer to her daughter-in-law. Everyone around the table applauded, with the exception of Rosey's children who just looked annoyed.

"Summer baby." Rosey nodded. "We're actually thinking of… well… doing Lisa or Sika for names."

Everyone raised their glasses, saying Manuia! and toasting the family. Lisa dried her eyes while Rosey just looked smugly around the table, earning a smile and nod from his father.

Eight now? Seth saw Jimmy mouth to Jey, looking speechless.

"That is very good to hear," Sika said, turning to his other son. "Roman, you are feeling better?"

"Huh? Oh-" Roman nodded, wiping his mouth. "Yeah... I felt better a while ago."

"How are chickens?"

"Just… just the one. She's good."

"Oh... that is good."

Sika drank from his glass and continued to eat, leaving a sort of absence in the air. Vanessa began asking Mandy about the baby, and Nia translated bits of conversation for Asuka. Seth looked at Roman, a little bemused, and then he felt eyes on the back of his own head.

"Your family is far away?" Sika asked Seth, "You are like Roman? You moved away?"

"Oh, yes," Seth said quickly. "My whole family, they live in the Midwest… I came down to Florida for a change."

"That is hard, to move away," Sika said. "I am always telling Roman, he will come back soon. After he and Dan stop living together, I thought he would come back home."

"He… his house-" Seth tried, trying to steer clear of any uncomfortable topics. "His house is very nice," he swallowed. "So is yours, you have a beautiful family. I don't think I've ever met such a bunch of happy people."

"Thank you," Sika said seriously. "Roman is a good man. He is very-" Sika gestured, and Seth was almost positive Roman was staring back at him. "He is very confused , but he has very good friends."

Seth nodded awkwardly, turning his attention to his food. He wasn't really sure what Sika meant, but there wasn't any good way to ask about it.

"Hey Lisa," Dean mumbled, looking around Seth. "Can you pass the soy sauce?"

The rhythm of the meal, it seemed, was to get full, wait around and listen to conversation, drink, and then keep eating. Seth was already uncomfortably full by eight thirty, but Lisa kept offering him almond cookies from her plate. Rosey, Jimmy, Jey and Roman all seemed to be in brotherly competition, stacking their plates high and putting food away quickly.

"Another beer sir?" the waitress asked Seth. He politely declined, waving his hand.

"Well, you can all thank me for having hot water at the house tonight," Lisa said animatedly over her third glass of wine. "It's been a nightmare , I'm tellin' you. Now, I had to go to take Superman to get groomed and then swing by the plumbing company because I wanted to show them the photo of my pressure relief valve, because I thought it was broken, right? You kids remember how bad it was when you guys were in high school? Well, it was doing that again -"

"Mom, you really don't need to tell the whole story," Vanessa laughed. "It's fixed… that's the ending."

"-Not five minutes away from my car, I have this lady storming into the office of the plumbers and she's accusing me of animal abuse because I left Superman in the car! I mean, just yelling and saying that if I took any more time, she was going to break my window!"

" Oh my god ," Vanessa mouthed. Seth smiled and Dean nodded eagerly, trying to be supportive.

"Now, I had just planned to be in there for a moment, right? I had my phone out and I was trying to explain the problem, but this lady would not leave it be!"

"Mom, if you used the kennel crate I had gotten for you, this wouldn't be an issue!" Vanessa said, looking to the group. "Like, every time I go out with her and we bring Superman, we get called animal abusers because she won't crate this dog."

"If I put him in there, he will bark the entire time! Anyways-" Lisa continued, largely only addressing Dean at this point.

"Because you have to crate train him!" Vanessa laughed, rolling her eyes. "You spoil that dog so bad mom."

Trevor looked to Summer and Summer sighed, chuckling under her breath. Roman blinked, peering down at his plate.

"I do not spoil him! We always had him in the front seat and it's never been an issue until the last few years! He's not a big dog like your dog, I don't need to crate train him!"

And just like that, a screaming match nearly started in the middle of the restaurant, with every family taking cover in their own way. Lisa and Vanessa both were gesturing madly across the table, hurling insults at each other while Sika sat, poised and calm. Devin looked to the tablecloth stupidly, occasionally catching eyes with his son until Penelope began to cry and he went to assist her. Trevor took Milo and Tamar to the soft serve machine and Mandy stroked her daughter's hair, bored.

Roman, detached and unaffected, sat sipping his beer with an uncomplicated smile on his face.

"Can we not do this right now? Mom, are you effing kidding me?" Vanessa scoffed, running her manicured hands down her face. "Every goddamn time-"

"Do. Not. Use that type of language," Lisa said dangerously. " You're the one making a scene!"

"Mom, I was just telling you how to deal with your friggin dog! I wasn't trying to assault your intelligence! You were just talking about this to us last week, can you treat me like an adult?"

Highly uncomfortable, Seth saw the bathroom sign in the corner and shuffled off. By the time he had returned, Vanessa was in tears and the bill was paid.

"Sika always makes her apologize and then she always cries," Dean said under his breath to Seth. "You didn't miss much."

It was a very strange sight to Seth, who wasn't used to any such hysterics, but Dean and Roman seemed completely unaffected, shuffling out of the restaurant and bidding goodbye to all the siblings that were returning to their homes.

"Dean! We're in the play this year!" Milo said, spinning in circles by the gumball dispensers outside. "You have to see us!"

"What? Oh." Dean squinted. "The Christmas one?"

"We're shepherds!" Tamar said, opening up every dispenser flap to try to find a prize. "We don't have to say anything."

"Christmas play?" Seth asked, watching the boys run out to the car as Trevor pulled up in a Tahoe.

"Yeah, on Christmas Eve the kids do a play at their church." Dean nodded. "We do that, and then we go to fuckin' mass in the morning."

" Seriously ?" Seth asked quietly. The trip was starting to feel like a marathon. The whole family was discussing the photos they'd be taking the next day and Seth started to wonder if he'd be getting much sleep at all. Roman reappeared, tossing his keys back to Dean as they shuffled off.

"Just us, Jimmy, Jey, Nia and Asuka tonight." he sighed, rubbing his nose. "Breakfast should be pretty easy."

"I ate so much, I'm not gunna shit 'till Christmas," Dean snorted, opening up the door to the Jeep and sliding in.

"Well, my dad likes you too," Roman said, grinning to Seth. "He was just paying- said he really liked talking to you."

"Oh… great," Seth mumbled, sliding into the back again. "I don't think I'm ever not impressive. I just have to actually talk is all. You're sure your sister's okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine," Roman laughed. "They all know their lines by now, they've been doing this all their lives."

"Does that only happen with her?" Seth asked, buckling in. Roman slung a hand around his back, slumping in his seat.

"Nah, well, it only happens with her constantly . Dad butts heads with Rosey and me sometimes, but he's not like mom. Summer probably gets it the easiest, she's just smart enough not to engage."

It was only a few blocks back to the house, but Seth fully relaxed into Roman's hold, letting his head bob back while the car carried them out. The night sky was much brighter than in Orlando, as Pensacola was so much smaller. The stars were beautiful, peeking through the clouds.

"Almost Christmas," Dean noted, turning down the church choir music that was playing softly on the radio. They all nodded, sleepy and full.

Cramming into the car early the next day and getting to a shopping mall downtown was a blur. That night, Dean had agreed to take the cot, and Roman and Seth slept on the pull out couch, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. But only after Jimmy and Jey had kept them up till past midnight, telling stories and drinking beers.

It took Seth several tries to get his button down fastened correctly, without missing any holes. He yawned and blinked, eventually just throwing a sweater over the whole thing anyway.

"Good morning boys!" Lisa greeted them in the kitchen, her face layered with makeup. "Grits and biscuits!"

More heavy food, and Seth was nearly passing out on top of Dean in the car. He shuddered awake when Roman pressed a coffee into his hand.

"Hazelnut, right?" Roman asked. Seth nodded, sitting up and taking a long drink from the cup.

When they arrived at Sears and arrived at the photo area, Vanessa's family was running late, so Lisa called her, shrieking over the phone while Sika stared absently at the shoe department. Seth was really glad that Roman's family had invited him for pictures, but if he'd had the option, he would have gladly stayed at the house and slept in.

"She's on her way up," Lisa said, shaking her head and trying to fix her hair again. "I suppose we could get our individual ones out of the way."

Rosey's family went first, getting a few pictures with his wife and then just the children, then everyone together, alternating poses and angles. Dean sat on his phone, looking similarly tired.

"We weren't supposed't pick up Grandma were we?" Jey asked, looking to Jimmy fearfully. Jimmy froze, but then relaxed.

"Shit, no, don't scare me like that." Jimmy laughed. "She's getting breakfast with Uncle Afa."

Gradually, the store was becoming busier and Seth just sipped his coffee and kneaded his forehead, plopping down next to Dean and trying not to look too broody. It didn't take Roman long to walk over and sit down on the floor with them, tapping their feet with his fingers.

"Sorry this is such an ordeal," he apologized, pulling his hair over his shoulder. "I think we're doing the food court for lunch and then we'll have some down time before dinner."

"No prob," Dean mumbled, shifting and blinking hard. "Coffee'll kick in inna sec here, I'm fine."

Seth hadn't realized it, but he and Roman had almost worn the same thing. Dark grey sweaters and black slacks. Dean was wearing a long sleeve blue shirt and khakis, looking almost corporate casual.

"Y'all wearin' that to church tomorrow too?" Jey asked, pacing the area. "I ain' brought enough clothes, I'm gunna have to run home or somethin'..."

"Why're you even stayin' the night?" Dean asked. "Don't you live a few miles away?"

"So I don't get another DUI," Jimmy said, chuckling quietly.

"Are we DONE yet?" Tamar asked, bouncing out of the photo studio in front of his family. Summer and her boys had just finished.

"We gotta do the family ones, but we can go look at toys in the meantime," Trevor said, looking to Summer. She nodded and waved at Roman.

"I think y'all are up to bat." She gestured to the group. "Jimmy and Jey can sneak in."

"We'll see what mom wants." Roman sighed, standing up. Seth, Dean, Jimmy and Jey followed him into the studio room where Lisa was standing outside.

"Vanessa's still not here? Great ," she huffed, pulling Roman into the room. "You look fantastic , sweetheart."

Seth and Dean hovered, unable to keep from grinning as Roman did a few individual shots, looking stormy and serious until the photographer put a hand to his mouth, gesturing to smile. Roman cheesed, his eyes immediately falling slack, his lips revealing straight, even teeth.

"Uce, stop seducing us," Jey teased, laughing as Roman puffed out his chest and pulled his hair back.

"Boys, why don't you go in too then-" Lisa nodded, walking the twins onto the set and posing them as she liked. Roman stood in the middle on a riser while Jimmy and Jey framed him. Lisa then frowned, guiding Seth up to stand alongside her son, having Dean stand below them on the floor.

"That's great, with... the heights." She nodded, pulling back. The photographer motioned and they focused their gazes toward the camera.

"Perfect, and then, maybe… just family?" Lisa suggested. Dean and Seth stepped down, wordlessly. Seth had no ambition to go and wander the mall until the group photo rolled around. He was fine to wait in the lobby area.

"Oh- but, Seth-" Lisa stopped, leaning in close and rolling her lips. "Would you want to get a photo? Just you and Roman?"

"Huh?"

"We could do a set of you and Roman, would you be interested in that?"

Seth blinked, and he turned his head slightly. Dean was standing by the photo desk, looking at examples for framing options, bored. Suddenly, he realized what was being insinuated and he had no idea what to do.

"If you don't want to, that's okay," Lisa said slowly, "I just thought I should ask ."

"Oh… no… I mean." Seth coughed, looking back at the studio. "I… should uh… you should ask Roman."

"...Alright," Lisa said, looking confused. She turned, making her way back into the studio.

None of them could have anticipated this, but Seth wasn't fully panicking just yet. His reaction hadn't been great, and now it probably really looked as though there was something suspect going on. But Seth hadn't thought about having to clarify this kind of assumption. Yes , he and Roman were dating… but… not by themselves.

Confused and unable to move past the awkward moment, Seth wanted to quip something to Dean, see if he could confirm this belief- but Lisa reappeared.

"Let's do it!" Lisa said, smiling bright. Roman followed in her wake, popping his head out of the door, looking alert. Seth caught his eye, brow furrowed.

What the fuck was going on?

"Can we have Dean come too?" Seth tried, looking to Dean and nodding. Dean looked up from the binder of sample photos he was peering at, completely oblivious to what was happening.

Lisa froze, looking between them.

"I… suppose…"

The three of them stood and Seth was now really sweating under the hard lights of the cameras. Purposefully, Seth stood next to Dean, trying to use him as a barrier.

However, Lisa had a vision.

"Is this-" She set a hand on Roman's shoulder. "This… how we want it?"

Seth looked at Roman again, completely disregarding the awkwardness of having his mother on the spot. Roman swallowed, looking between Dean and Seth. It was unnerving; he didn't look terribly confused or apologetic.

"This works," Roman said quietly, breaking eye contact with Seth to smile for the camera.

"Smile everyone," the cameraman instructed, frying their eyes with light.

"Nia's… next then…" Lisa muttered, distracted. "Would you boys grab them?"

Roman said something, but Seth didn't bother looking back. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but his sweater was suffocating him.

"Your mom-" Seth blurted the moment they'd made their way out to the lobby. "Does she think- She sounded like-"

"Yeah, I know ." Roman sighed, looking between Dean and Seth. "I didn't SAY we were, I just like… let her think we were, okay?"

"Huh?" Dean blinked. "What's up?"

The more Seth thought about it, the more it made sense. The framing of their photos, the honeyed voice, preferential treatment, extra helpings at breakfast. It was subtle, Seth had just assumed it was the kindness of an excitable mother, but then, Dean didn't really receive the same magic.

"Okay, so, when I first told her you were coming, she sort of asked and I didn't know how to handle it," Roman explained. "I never said yes mom, we're dating I framed it like, oh you never know …"

Seth looked scandalized, eyes wide with fear, but immediately Roman pushed back.

"Look! I told you already! I didn't want to tell them everything yet! I just wanted this to all be simple and easy. We come here, we do the holidays, I kinda get everyone used to seeing the three of us, right? This is a lot for my family to handle!"

"Well, now you gotta tell her the truth!" Seth hissed, trying to keep quiet so they weren't noticed. "It's just… it's not fair-"

"I don't give a shit." Dean shrugged. Seth looked at him and Dean frowned. "Look, it's just family, you tell them whatever you gotta to get them off your back!"

"How is this okay with you?" Seth pleaded. "Are you serious? You just don't care that they don't see us together?"

"We wasn't-" Dean laughed. "We weren't gonna be a couple this whole weekend anyway. We agreed to that."

Summer craned his neck in their direction, looking curious. Seth bit his lip, taking half a step back.

"I'm not comfortable with this." Seth shook his head. "No. I don't like it. What are we supposed to say when we really want to tell the truth? Won't it just-"

"We are definitely not worrying about that now ," Roman said firmly. "And I'm definitely not making a scene here ."

The tightness of it, the pitch of the tone made Seth's heart sink in his chest. Dean looked to the ground, exhaling. Roman looked almost predatory, his face set, arms folded.

Seth didn't know what to do, and so he simply walked away, brushing past them to continue down the tiled floor, past the jewelry section toward the exit. He could feel Roman and Dean watching him leave, perhaps shocked, but Seth felt justified. In his head, his pulse beat fast. He didn't know where he was walking or what he was supposed to be doing, but sitting in the photo lounge wasn't what he wanted.

Is this our first fight? Seth thought, chuckling darkly as he stopped between a Dunkin Donuts and a AT&T wireless stand. There wasn't anything in the mall that was particularly appealing to him, but ahead, there was a circle of benches in front of a crappy little fountain.

He sat, whipping out his phone on instinct. If it wasn't Christmas Eve, Seth would have thought about talking to Cesaro, Sasha or Jimmy. Everyone he knew was likely doing similar activities at the moment- spending time with family and doing holiday things. Seth didn't know how long he was going to sit out- if the family photo would go on without him or not, but at least at the moment, he didn't care.

How could Roman not see the problems with this? It made no sense. Dean had specifically talked to Roman about how he was afraid that he and Seth would forget about him. Even though Dean said he didn't care, Seth knew him well enough now that he could see when he was lying. It was written all over his face.

What bothered Seth the most though, was just that by being complicit, he felt so dirty. He was trying to be more open and honest about his feelings, and since cheating on Marek, Seth thought that he had learned his lesson. Reflexively, he still hid, still had issues being forthcoming with his feelings, but it was all a process.

Seth leaned back, sure that he looked weird sitting all by himself. He pulled his fingers through his hair, untangling a few knots, trying to calm down his heart and mind.

"You okay?"

Seth jumped. Dean was standing behind him, sipping on an Orange Julius.

"I just... need a second."

Dean sighed, turning to come to the front of the bench, leaning on the little fountain and looking to the ground again. His face looked tired, maybe a little annoyed, but mostly just worn.

"I asked Rome-" Dean sniffed. "I asked him why he couldn't just tell his ma' that me and you were dating, just to like, get the heat off his parents." He kneaded his forehead. "That kinda fucked him up a little."

"Yeah?" Seth's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"He wants to impress 'em, you know." Dean waved. "Wants to look like a big guy that has his shit together. I've seen him do this every holiday, you know, he shows up and, well, after he left Dan, his family just started pickin' on him for being single and not makin' much money. It sucks."

"But that's such a bullshit excu-"

"I know, it's no excuse." Dean rolled his eyes. "This just isn't about us, you know? Not about our feelings."

"Well, we have them." Seth snorted. "Look, if Roman made it like he was only dating you, don't you think that would make me feel like a shitty third wheel?"

Dean heaved a breath, grinning darkly and immediately Seth shut up, watching him shrug sarcastically.

"I ain' got no idea," Dean scoffed.

"Dean, I love you," Seth said firmly, frowning at the expression on his lover's face. "I really do, I don't want you to feel like that. That's why I'm speaking up."

"I 'ppreciate it. I think." Dean squinted. "But uh, I am sort of living with this dude. If we piss off his parents, that might fuck that up."

"I'll take you in," Seth said in a heartbeat. Dean blinked, and Seth looked away, his heart beating fast.

Dean moved, opting to sit next to Seth on the bench. There was a burgeoning want on behalf of both men to hold each other, to do something that was physically assuring. But there was still some fear in the air. They were in public, it wasn't really smart. Dean rubbed his thumb on the seam of Seth's pant leg, breathing deeply and staring. After a few minutes, he offered Seth some of his drink, but Seth declined, thinking hard.

"Man, when we get back home. We're gunna fuck him up ," Dean said, mouthing fuck silently. Seth burst out laughing, watching Dean crudely hump the air. "He's always super down to bottom after he's with his family too, something about gettin' like, humiliated by them just preps his ass."

"Really?" Seth giggled, watching Dean just nod, mouth open, reliving some past experience.

"Almost as slutty as you." "Shut up."

"I'm serious."

"I KNOW you're serious- just-"

Seth sighed, rubbing his eyes. He hadn't really thought about Dean's living situation, but it was obviously a lot more important than being wholly truthful. Even being around Roman's family now, Seth couldn't tell if they would be thrilled having Dean living at Roman's house.

It was a topic that he didn't really want to discuss at the moment, Seth didn't want to get Dean anxious.

Family photo in 5... Roman texted them. Seth trembled slightly, but Dean shot up, tossing his empty cup in the garbage.

"I know you're not trying to… box me out," Dean assured him, holding his hand out to help Seth back to his feet. "I think it's just… it just happens to me a lot."

"Yeah, which is why I give a shit."

"Well." Dean leaned back, looking anywhere but at Seth. "It's not gonna feel right, but we know who we are, ya know?"

Seth pinched Dean's hand with his thumb and forefinger, some small form of encouragement.

Re-entering the store, Seth tried to pull on some mindless positive face. He was sure if he'd taken off his sweater, he would be sporting sweat stains, so he just kept his arms at his sides. All of Roman's family was standing up, fixing each other's ties and hair, waiting.

I told my mom to just lay of of relationship stuff because it was making u uncomfortable Seth and Dean's phones vibrated, alerting them to the group conversation. didn't say anything else n it will probably come up again, but im goin to divert it as much as possible. Im sorry.

Roman caught their eye before they had a chance to respond, nodding. Seth and Dean nodded back.

It was enough for now.

"Oh good! Oh good! We're ready!" Lisa waved happily as soon as she saw Dean and Seth. Somehow, they all managed to file down the narrow hallway, earning some strange looks from the Sears customer's nearby. Roman stayed close by them, quiet and impassive.

The siblings and the parents went together first, and Seth watched sympathetically as Roman was sidelined by Rosey, standing below his brother and his father next to Summer. Right at the flash, he pulled a warm grin, trying his best to keep up the facade.

When they finally all crowded in to take the group photo, it took almost fifteen minutes to get everything perfect. Roman seemed content to shift toward his cousins and his lovers in the composition, standing just above both men. Nia rubbed her hands on Asuka's shoulders, and Trevor leaned into Summer, giving his children some words of encouragement.

If he could have, Seth would have taken a moment to put his hands around Dean's shoulders and maybe kissed him on the side, sure that nothing he could say would be as comforting as an assuring touch. Seth hadn't imagined it would be this difficult to keep his hands off him.

Though, he would need to receive affection from Roman before he returned it, there was still some sort of formal apology needed before they were all going to be cool. But being around the family all day, no such opportunities arrived.

The group made their way over to the food court afterwards, and all three of the men were quiet and subdued. Roman and Seth went to stand in line at Chik-Fil-A, but Dean went for Sbarro's instead.

They sat together, but didn't talk much. Even though they were a few tables away from Lisa and Sika, it didn't seem like a great idea to be talking candidly about anything important.

The sort of uneasy silence continued all the way home and then into dinner later. Seth tried to be sociable, sipping wine and walking around the house from conversation to conversation, but more often than not, he just ended up petting Superman. Roman kept tabs, making sure that wherever Dean and Seth were, they were comfortable, but all the family members were so busy that they mostly went unnoticed. Vanessa and Devin had taken over a room upstairs to wrap gifts, and Nia and Asuka had gone to lay down for a period of time, likely the most overwhelmed by so many people.

Dean was sitting in the living room with Summer, looking at photo albums,so Seth thought to join them.

"I'm looking for the one-" Dean paged through a leather bound volume- "the ninja turtles."

"Oh, shoot, here," Summer laughed, setting down her drink and pulling out a black album. Dean moved over so Seth could sit next to him, and they cackled, finding a spread of photos with a chubby, adolescent Roman, mired in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise.

"Mom, I want a coke," Tamar, said, flopping down onto the couch and nearly knocking over a stack of albums sitting next to her. Quickly, Summer grabbed them, frowning.

"Why don't you go ask dad to grab you one from the garage?" she tried, setting the books on the floor. "We're looking at pictures."

"Is that you mom?" Tamar asked, pointing to a girl in a fairy costume in front of their house. Three children were all dressed up and smiling happily on the front step. Rosey, much older, was dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, not participating.

"No, this is me," Summer said, tapping a picture of the girl dressed as Belle from Beauty and The Beast. "That's Aunt Vanessa."

Disinterested, Tamar skipped off, but Seth grabbed a book off the stack and began to sort through it, letting Dean watch over his shoulder as he poured over the photographs. The pictures were dated around the mid eighties, all likely taken on disposable cameras. The first few pages documented the repainting of the exterior of the house, with Rosey and Sika wearing work pants and walking around with paint-trays in the sunshine.

Seth could tell by the wear of the pages that the albums had been well loved. Summer leaned over, watching.

" Real old," she laughed, watching as Seth opened the page to a picture of Lisa, vastly pregnant and holding a small baby girl. "The house next door was still owned by that one Pentecostal family."

"I seen this one before," Dean muttered, watching Seth turn the page. "And there's Roman."

Hospital photos showed Lisa grinning and holding a large, wailing newborn. Even at birth, Roman had a full head of hair and a worried expression.

Most of the book was Roman's first year and Seth couldn't help smiling stupidly as he turned the pages, seeing Roman look less like a wet, newborn alien and more like a pudgy baby dressed in floral prints. He burst out laughing at a photo of Vanessa taking Roman down a slide in her lap while he screamed and cried.

"He was sort of our baby," Summer explained, pointing at a picture of the girl's bathing him in the sink. "There's this creepy one in there somewhere where you can see he's about the same size as our dolls."

"Totally." Dean laughed, seeing Roman propped up against a wall in a sea of lifeless barbies and babies. The children had enough toys to entertain a whole daycare.

Paging through a few other albums, Seth felt mischievous, seeing so much of his boyfriend while he was in the other room, talking with Jimmy and Jey. Roman's life through pictures looked very sweet and endearing, a picture perfect family with all the awkward nineties haircuts and high waisted pants imaginable. Even as he grew bigger, so many photos showed him spilling over his mother's lap while the rest of the family was rolling around in the grass or swimming at the beach.

"Momma's boy." Dean nodded, watching Seth exhale softly at a photo of Roman wearing a straw hat and sitting by a wheelbarrow while Lisa pulled weeds outside.

"Did your family…?" Seth asked, finishing an album right around when Roman was starting school. He looked to Dean. "Do they have these?"

"Eh, a couple maybe." Dean shrugged. "My grandma took a few pictures, but we moved a lot and whatever wasn't in a frame probably got chucked out as some point."

Seth nodded. He wasn't sure what he expected. At his parent's home back in Davenport, both he and Brandon had a single photo album that contained a sort of highlight reel of their childhood. Seth hadn't looked at his own in years, but it had a lot of the same principle family shots. Church. Christmas. Swim Team. State fairs.

"Oh, we've got the albums out!" Lisa cooed, sinking down and pulling out a book lined with red and white binding. "We should have had this one opened up!"

"Here we go." Summer laughed, watching her mother flip through the book, trying to find something. Seth and Dean waited patiently, smiling.

"You've got to see this one," she said, pushing the book into Seth's hands. Seth accepted it, nodding happily. "It's my favorite one of his."

An infant Roman was sitting under the Christmas tree in footie pajamas with little candy cane print. He was drooling, and clutching a stocking that was as long as he was, but he was giggling. In swooping red cursive under the photo, Roman's First Christmas was written.

"We've got to get going soon-" Lisa sprang back up again. "Summer, were your boys-"

"We're ready." She nodded. "Their costumes are all packed."

Dinner was incredibly rushed. Another trip to the Chow Tyme Buffet and everyone was eagerly trying to put food away to make it to church in time for the play. Roman was a little bright and tipsy again, giving Dean and Seth a playful slap on the ass in the parking lot in lieu of any sort of drawn out conversation.

By the time he was fed, Seth was feeling less angry and anxious on the whole. He was starting to understand how the family was functioning as a sort of gigantic, symbiotic creature, moving from place to place. Seth didn't like keeping quiet and uninvolved, but dropping the polyamory bomb in public simply wasn't an option. Lisa was the family's momentum in everything, and the moment she became confused or distracted, things started to fall apart.

"Afa was coming and bringing Grandma, right?" she asked Rosey, pushing her plate away from her as she dialed her phone fiercely.

"I think it's a lil' late now. I don't think Grandma was coming to this." Rosey shook his head. "Afa might, but not Grandma."

"She came last year though! The last that I knew, they were all coming and they were meeting us there!"

Rosey, Summer and Vanessa's children all had a part to play in the Christmas Pageant, and so they left early to make it in time. Lisa scoffed angrily, hearing a voicemail for the third time in a row.

"We will know when we get there," Sika said, putting his hand over his wife's. "If it happens it will happen."

The church was a drive through downtown Pensacola, all lit up for Christmas Eve. Everything was beautiful and serene, and even though it wasn't the Christmas he was used to, being so warm, Seth felt peaceful, seeing a lack of pedestrians and cars. From his side, Roman nudged him, leaning toward him across the back of the Jeep.

"Everythin' okay?" he asked, pulling his hand across Seth's back. Seth shivered slightly, graciously falling in.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. "It's all okay."

"I should have warned you about this, but I just forgot my mom gets like this… You can probably see it."

"Yeah, dude, it's okay." Seth nodded, blinking into Roman's armpit. "My family isn't like this at all, that's why I didn't get it at first. It's fine."

"How about you Deano?"

"M'fine."

"I love ya both." Roman kissed Seth's forehead, tickling him slightly with his beard. "I think aroun' Easter or so, that'd be a good time to talk to 'em. A few months."

Seth and Dean didn't say anything really, but the silence was agreement. None of them knew the form their relationship was really taking and Seth didn't even know if he wanted to tell his own family yet. He'd be going to Davenport soon and would need to figure out exactly what he was going to say, but even he wasn't sure about anything.

It was easy to feel upset about Roman not being honest, but Seth knew that he didn't have all the answers either.

The Christmas Pageant was one of the most adorable things Seth had seen in a long time, and although he was less than interested in religion, Roman's niece's and nephews made it worth it. Milo and Tamar were squirmy and giggly the entire time they were on stage, hamming it up despite their lack of lines. Koa and Madison, though a little less excited, still put on a show for their parents.

But when they left, finishing up taking photos of the children's costumes in front of the church, Seth sighed, imagining their return for mass in the morning.

"If you don't want to come, it's ok." Roman smiled. "I'm obligated because I'm family, but I can give an excuse."

"You dragged me there for how many years?" Dean said, exasperated, hopping into the backseat of the Jeep. "Lookin' like an ass 'cause I'm fallin' asleep and shit?"

It was a little weird, as Seth and Dean ended up being the only ones staying home, but Lisa and Sika didn't seem to mind. They slept together on the pull out couch that night, and barely stirred the next morning as Roman shifted around, getting changed and making his way out the door.

"I'll make coffee for you guys," He whispered, leaning over and rousing them slightly. "Merry Christmas."

"M'rry Chrissmass." Seth mumbled back, eyes closed.

An hour or so later, he stirred, feeling strands of sunlight coming through the hopper window. Dean snored lightly, laying on his belly, face buried in the covers. Eventually, Seth sat up, blinking and pulling his phone off the charger.

It was strange to think it was Christmas and he was so far away from both Iowa and Orlando. States away, his parents would be making coffee and sticky buns, getting ready to drive to the family farm in Buffalo and see his grandfather.

Merry Christmas Seth! We love you! His mother had texted him early that morning, probably just around when Roman had left Tell us when it's a good time to call!

Merry xmas probably this afternoon Seth replied love u too

Absentmindedly, he checked his Instagram and his Facebook, scrolling through his friends feed's to see what they were up to. Cesaro had been invited along to his friend TJ's house, and had taken some pictures with their tree. It seemed that Sasha was just happy to be back at home with her family dog, and was snapping lots of photos of the pet.

With an acute pain in his chest, Seth thought of Kevin, all by himself on Christmas Day. Bringing the little dog up to Pensacola wouldn't have been a smart option, but Seth still felt awful, knowing that he wouldn't see him until tomorrow.

Slowly, he stood up, easing off of the pull out bed and walking to the stairs where he got better cell phone coverage. It was probably really stupid of him, but with Dean sleeping, Seth felt strangely lonely all of a sudden. The house was completely still and quiet.

He looked up the number for Wyatt's Canine Outpost and dialed, wondering if anyone would even be answering the phones on a holiday.

"Wyatt's." A gruff voice barked against the phone. "Happy Holidays."

"Merry Christmas, I'm really sorry… for calling, uh." Seth bit his lip, pushing some stray hairs out of his face. "My dog is there right now, I was just wondering if you could tell me… he's never been there before-"

"Which dog?"

"Kevin? Kevin… Rollins?"

Much to his relief, it seemed that Kevin was doing just fine at the boarding facility. Seth cracked a smile, hearing the man over the phone reach for some papers and look over some notes that had been put on his file.

"He's doing just great, yeah. He likes to play in the room with the big dogs for awhile and then when he gets tired, we put'em with the smaller, older pups. He really likes this beagle-"

"A beagle?" Seth laughed, trying to keep his voice down. He sat down on the steps with his toes hanging off the side. He wasn't sure why it was so funny to him.

"A beagle named Bacardi."

"That's great. I was really worried-"

"Nah, he's fine. He's been running his tail off around here, so he'll probably be real tired once ya pick him up. If you want, we got cameras in the playrooms here, so you can just go to our website and watch him play."

"Oh wow, really?" Seth grinned. "That's awesome! thank you so much."

Reassured, Seth thought about going upstairs and grabbing some coffee, but he could hear Dean stirring back on the bed. He returned to their corner of the basement, leaning down over the couch and gazing at his boyfriend, who had similarly curled up to his phone.

"Merry Christmas," Seth said. Dean smirked, and he leaned down, planting a kiss upside down over his mouth.

"And a happy new year," Dean muttered, tossing his phone to the side. "Man, not going to church is the best ."

"You're tellin' me." Seth laid back down, pulling the covers over him and wrapping Dean up into his arms. "When do they normally get back?"

"What time's it now? 8:30? Probably 'n an hour and a half or somethin'... It goes so damn long." Dean yawned. "Then we do presents and stuff."

For a little while, Seth just lay, spooning Dean quietly. They were both a little stinky from sweating through the night, but Seth didn't care. It seemed like ages since they'd been able to cuddle or touch each other, and now that the house was empty, he was going to take full advantage. Their hair was a mess and they each hadn't shaved in a few days, but nothing mattered.

"You wanna shower?" Dean suggested, patting Seth's thigh. "It's been awhile since I tried to fuck 'n a pull out bed, I don't wanna break nothing."

Seth blushed, he'd thought he'd been fine concealing his morning wood between his thighs, but it was probably crazy obvious. Dean rubbed his forearms.

"It'll be fine. They won't get home in a while."

Nonetheless, there was some urgency as they rushed up the stairs and pulled towels out of the linen closet. They both grinned, shutting the door and turning the lock, pulling off their shirts and letting the water run warm. Dean grabbed him around the hips, squeezing playfully before bringing him close to kiss.

The two hadn't been able to be intimate really at all since AJ had stormed in and found them at work. Seth had been so busy with work and being exhausted and stressed out, sex wasn't the first thing he'd been thinking about. Now, in Roman's family's beautiful main bathroom, he was shivering eagerly.

"Fuck," Dean panted, pulling away giggling. He was sporting a wet spot on the inside of his thigh where Seth's dick had just been pressing into him. Seth blushed harder, his shoulders twitching.

"It's been awhile," he grunted, dabbing at the end of his dick where he was leaking fast.

"All full up and ready to shoot?" Dean snickered, testing the water with his hand. "Let's get clean before we get dirty."

Seth could just imagine Roman's expression if they'd bothered to tell him that they'd spent their Christmas morning jerking each other off in the shower instead of going to church. He would have rolled his eyes, maybe shot Dean a sort of withering glance. Really, Seth felt like he needed it if he was going to get through the day. Ignoring the tender soreness in his knee, he bent down and sucked Dean off under the water, holding onto the side of the tub for stability while he lapped away.

Dean groaned, fisting his hair and playing with it under the water. Only because they were in the shower, Seth let him come over his face and chest, grimacing slightly before Dean wiped him down and they swapped. Seth felt fingers cup the base of his cock and shoot playfully up his rear, and in about ninety seconds, he was losing himself down the shower drain.

"Fuck, you were holding it in," Dean said slyly, watching Seth shudder and pant, coming long past his usual average.

It was too inviting to just sink down into Dean's arms, but they climbed out of the shower, hearing Superman whining on the other side of the bathroom door. Quickly, Seth dried his hair, dipping into some of the available green tea conditioning products.

Sexually satisfied and clean, they sat on the couch with large mugs of coffee, curled up in blankets on the living room couch. The grandfather clock ticked in the corner and the downstairs heater kicked on loudly, giving the house a sort of steady hum. Seth and Dean sat, partially cuddling, watching the tree lights dim and fade into different colors, making the wrapping paper on the gifts shine bright.

A little after nine, the family returned. The children came running through the doors like wild bulls, racing for the tree and tearing off their jackets.

"How was it?" Seth asked as Roman came in, dressed formally.

"Church," He shrugged. "Good I guess."

"Nia, did you want to give Uncle Afa a hand quick?" Lisa could be heard from the back porch. "This front step is always shaking, Grandma has a hard time with it-"

Grandma Tovale was an incredibly old woman whom required her son's assistance with getting up past the back steps and onto a walker as soon as she got inside. Jimmy, Jey, and Roman all cleared the way, making a path to the living room where she could sit in front of the tree. As usual, Seth and Dean stood, mostly useless, drinking from their mugs and smiling and greeting the family as they returned. As soon as everyone had a drink in their hand and a doughnut, they assembled around the tree to begin the gift exchange.

The children had all broken into their stockings early and were trading gift cards. Seth sat on the floor with a pillow and Dean brought them their own stockings.

"Oh wow." Seth's face lit up.

"Yeah, ours were on the back of the closet, not on the bannister." Dean pulled out a few rolled-up undershirts and a Macy's gift card. "Nice. They go all out with these."

"Really?" Seth pulled out one of his own, nearly losing his breath. Roman's family had given him 150 dollars credit.

Lisa insisted all of her children sit together on the couch for a photo by the tree. They all barely fit, but she seemed content. Milo kept poking his face in eagerly by their feet.

"And we'll just do the charms now too then!" She said, setting her phone down. "Sika, did you grab them?"

Sika produced a few small black baggies from his pocket and Seth watched curiously as small, bracelets were handed to each of her children.

"Every year-" Dean explained. "Or at least, I think, well, Lisa gives them all these little things for these bracelets she has for them."

"Roman has a charm bracelet?" Seth exclaimed. Roman sighed.

"I don't WEAR it, it's a FAMILY thing," He insisted. Lisa sighed, watching as the children opened the baggies and showed everyone what they had received.

Rosey and Vanessa each got a tiny cross, nodding to their mother with thanks before adding it to their already very full bracelets. Summer's was an eiffel tower.

"Because of your Paris trip in the spring!" Lisa explained.

"Yeah, thanks mom, this is great."

Roman pulled out a tiny animal, so small in his hands it was difficult to see.

"A turtle." Sika nodded, looking seriously at his youngest son. "Just like your brother and sisters have."

Roman nodded, very quiet, looking to his parents with bright eyes. Seth didn't quite understand the significance. He looked to Dean for some sort of explanation, but he didn't seem to understand either.

They moved onto trading the mass of gifts under the tree and Seth was content to sip his coffee and watch, just glad that he was invited into the group. However, Roman moved to the floor to sit beside them and suddenly, Seth was being handed boxes and bags.

"Welcome to the fam." Dean said wisely, smiling as he too had received some gifts. Seth looked at the labels on his presents, seeing most read FROM THE REIGNS FAMILY as well as a few that said SANTA.

There were far too many people to go one at a time, and so they all just busied themselves with making a huge mess and occasionally yelling or laughing as they unwrapped a particular gift.

"New sweaters?" Dean asked, turning over a hoodie he'd just unwrapped that read REIGNS SHIPPING AND DISTRIBUTION in large block print. On the hood, AMBROSE was stitched in cursive writing.

"Our team wanted new ones, so we get an order together, make more personalized this year." Sika explained, setting down his own coffee to lean in. Seth had opened a similar hoodie, gazing at it fondly. Sika tugged at the sleeve, nodding. "Inside, very soft."

Roman also got a sweatshirt, and Lisa was quick to snap a photo of all three of them, posing with their new clothes.

"You guys! What?" Seth opened up a second box and began to feel almost sick, seeing the Nike logo splashed across the top. Everyone laughed and Seth exhaled hard, blinking. His own family didn't dote on him this hard. It was a lot to take in.

"Merry Christmas!" Lisa beamed, pulling out her camera to take a picture of Seth unveiling a black pair of Metcon training shoes.

"This is ridiculous, thank you so much." He sighed, looking to Roman curiously. He had been talking about getting new shoes and surely, his lover had taken the hint, passing the information off to his family. Roman winked at him and Seth shook his head, dismayed.

In addition to everything else, he got a small book of Paleo-Crossfitter recipes, and a wealth of warm, fuzzy, socks. For being away from home and out of his element, it was probably one of the best Christmas's he'd ever had.

"It's no problem!" Roman kept reminding him, as Seth endlessly babbled thanks, wringing his hands with the wrapping paper and feeling faint.

"Uce's family rules." Dean agreed, tugging one of his own gifts open. "Oh-"

"It's used- but it's still a new model-" Sika nodded, watching as Dean opened up a case, revealing an ipad. His eyes widened, shocked. "I use that one for work, but then I get another one."

"A tablet?" Dean laughed. "Someone's gonna have to show me how to use this..."

"Oh! Hey," Seth prodded him with his foot. "We can call your family on there! Like you wanted."

Roman got a swath of gifts from his siblings- a new phone case, chocolate covered nuts, and a nice bottle of wine. From his parents, he opened a box that contained a small circular, electronic.

"It's a device that links all your others, plus it can control your lights and thermostat if you set it up." Rosey explained, "I have two at my house, I make 'em order new toliet paper, and then the other one is like, my alarm clock."

Roman opened it bewildered, looking at the charging element and turning it on. A harsh voice spoke from the speaker, sounding like an older, british man.

"You can change the voice too, when you set it up."

"Yeah, don't let that wake me up," Dean snorted.

It took about three seconds for the words to sink in and Dean immediately went pale. Roman blinked and Seth looked around stupidly, half pretending he hadn't heard it. Luckily, Lisa was helping Tovale open up a box of snacks she'd received in her stocking.

Sika however, cleared his throat, staring at his son intently. Roman shrunk, looking to the sea of wrapping paper. Everything was suddenly cold and Seth had no idea what to do.

"Mom, sit down for a sec," Summer insisted. Seth couldn't tell if she'd heard what was said, but she seemed to sense something was amiss. "You need to open your present."

Obviously feigning confusion, Lisa sat eagerly by her husband, wondering aloud what her children could have possibly gotten her. Seth stole a glance at Roman and he still looked visibly shaken. Sika was still gazing toward him, carefully, but his eyes flicked away as Rosey handed Lisa an envelope.

She tore into it, commanding the attention of everyone in the room as she squealed, pulling open her's and Sika's gift.

"What is it?" Jordan asked his father, staring.

Lisa burst into happy tears, showing a travel package with tickets inside. Sika, put a hand around his wife, rubbing her arm and kissing her on the shoulder.

"Oh, thank you so much everyone," She said, dabbing at her eyes. "Oh, it's going to be so exciting! We haven't been there in so long!"

"Merry Christmas," The children echoed.

As soon as Lisa had pulled herself together, Nia stood up, blushing hard around her face. They stopped picking up wrapping paper for a moment and looked, watching her fumble with something in her hands.

"This has been such a wonderful time, I really just want to properly thank all of you," She said, voice shaking slightly. "I'm still not sure if this is the best time, but I'm kinda freaking out right now so if you'll excuse me-"

Everyone stared and Asuka frowned, looking up to her girlfriend. Nia sank down to one knee and Lisa screamed.

Nia said it in Japanese, but it was readily clear to everyone what was happening as soon as she squatted and pulled out a silver ring. Asuka clapped her hands over her mouth and immediately threw her hands around her lover, crying and hugging. All of the children awwed and Devin held Vanessa, who was also tearing up.

Seth was just completely thrown, unsure what to do other than smile and clap. It was surreal, watching the scene of a woman speaking in half Japanese and half English, crying and laughing as she slid the ring over her finger. With so much going on and everyone cheering the announcement, it seemed they could have dodged Dean's slip of the tongue.

Dean himself still looked shaken and unsure, obviously apologetic, but unable to articulate it properly in the environment.

Drinks were poured for congratulating the engagement and slowly everyone began to fan out. The children were all excited to play with their new toys, and Lisa had to begin the process of feeding everyone for dinner.

Seth and Dean looked to Roman, trying to talk, but before they had the opportunity to pull him aside, Sika jumped him.

"You go help with dinner," he grunted, "Ask your mother what you can do."

"He's fucked ," Dean hissed under his breath, kneading his forehead angrily. "I'm a fuckin' idiot …"

"It… it just happened…" Seth shook his head. "I don't think… it was quiet-"

Dean just made an inarticulate noise. Seth frowned, shifting out of the way so Trevor could make his way down the hall.

"Let's… let's call our families." Seth suggested. "We can try to figure out your new ipad, yeah?"

For the better part of the afternoon, Seth and Dean hung out in the basement. They left the door open, so as not to seclude themselves rudely. Both men were both a little on edge and anxious, but Seth tried to distract Dean by showing him how his ipad worked and how to download applications. It wasn't simple, but Seth had his own ipad to show him side by side.

"I can't believe they gave me this, I don't know how to do none of this," Dean sighed.

"You can watch shows and stuff though, it's cool." Seth tapped the Skype program they had just downloaded. "Here- I'm gonna call my family."

"Do you want me to leave?" Dean asked, blinking. Seth thought for a moment.

"It's fine. It's up to you."

He confirmed over text that his parents were ready, then dialed. Dean didn't move, sitting next to Seth to look over his shoulder and see the screen. In the reflection of the glass, Seth smiled, noticing their matching sweatshirts.

The receiver picked up and Seth's Mother and Step-dad were there. Brandon was leaning in as well, all sitting around the kitchen table. "Hey!" they all cheered, smiling at the screen. Seth smiled back, happy to see the familiar faces.

"Merry Christmas!" Seth said. "How's everyone doing?"

There was a pause and Seth frowned, watching his parents and brother all blink and freeze. The screen went black, and then, the call ended.

"That went well." Dean laughed. "Did it break?"

"I think- I dunno." Seth sighed, closing out of the call and texting his mother.

After a lot of back and forth technical support that made him want to tear his hair out. Seth just settled to call his mother over the phone and give her the details of his Christmas that way. Dean sat as his side, playing solitaire on his new device and sighing.

"We could still try your mom if you wanted," Seth said, setting his phone aside after he'd finished talking. "I think it was my mom's skype that was the issue. Would you wanna do that?"

"Sure, we can try." Dean shrugged. "My sis was texting me earlier and they're together. They're probably around."

Dean confirmed with his sister over a message and Seth sat, letting Dean try to set it up himself, giving input whenever he paused on a screen, unsure.

"Did you want me in the call?" Seth asked, trying to be polite. Dean shrugged similarly, wrinkling his nose.

"I don't care," He muttered. "They don't care either. Not about gay stuff."

"Oh… nice."

The call dialed and picked up. Seth blinked, re-adjusting on the bed.

On the screen was a woman that looked older than Dean with long, thin hair pulled back to the top of her head in a scrunchie. It was difficult to see everything, given they were looking at a pixelated display, but Seth thought she looked rough. She was heavier than Dean, with pale greying skin that hung off of her strangely, obviously low-income.

"Hey brother!" She waved, loose bracelets jingling around her wrists. Dean half smiled, leaning into ipad screen.

"Hey girl, how you been?"

"I'm ok." Dean's sister shifted, straightening her hair in the reflection. "I worked this mornin' and me and ma were gonna go to the casino for a little bit, but she's sleeping right now."

"Oh… Ok." Dean nodded. "How was work?"

Seth felt strange, sitting in on the conversation, but it was interesting. Dean's sister was a CNA at a nursing home, and was rather pleased about making time and a half for working on a holiday. The background to the Skype call was bare and unadorned, except for a November calendar hanging limp on the wall.

"Crystal, this is Seth" Dean said, swinging his arm around Seth's shoulders. "He's one of my boyfriends."

"Hi Seth!" Crystal grinned back. "He's really cute Dean!"

"Why're you like, surprised?" Dean scoffed. "Are you still seeing... that one guy?"

"No… he was mean," Crystal sighed. "He called me today and I thought about going over, but then you texted me."

"Yeah, no mean guys." Dean picked at his finger. "So, I'm a piece of shit brother, but I'm still making your gift, so I'll send it to you when it's done."

"That's ok!" Crystal said. "What is it?"

Seth watched Dean's cheeks turn pink.

"I learned... how to make blankets... kinda like the ones grandma made…"

"Like knitting? That's so cute!" Crystal smiled. "Oh Dean, that's so awwwesommmme!"

Seth chuckled. Crystal seemed sort of slow and spacey, but her enthusiasm for her brother was sweet. Dean just rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Hey-"

Summer knocked on their door and both men turned. She smiled, waving. "Food was almost done, sorry if I was interrupting-"

"Oh no, it's cool." Dean nodded. "Crystal, you wanna give 'ma my regards?"

"Yeah! We're gonna go soon I think," She smiled, "Whenever she wakes up."

It sounded bleak, but Dean didn't pause for thought, waving to his sister before going to hang up the phone call. Seth rose, feeling jittery again as Summer waited at the door. She wore an inquisitive look, regarding both of them men carefully.

"Ready for some holiday ham?"

Maybe he was being paranoid, but Seth thought Roman's family was looking at them strangely. They all said grace and food was passed around the huge dining room table, but Seth felt like he was being watched for longer than it took to pass mashed potatoes.

Even the conversation seemed thin, that was at least, until wine went around a few times and everyone began discussing their gifts and plans for the New Year.

Roman was unreadable, his lip set, avoiding the gaze of his lovers as Lisa talked animatedly at his side, telling everyone about the restaurants she planned to visit in Samoa during their vacation. Seth drank deeply from his glass, not bothering to relish the pinot noir. He wasn't sure when they were leaving the next day, but if things were going to be this stilted and awkward the whole night, he couldn't imagine that they'd stick around too long.

"That was amazing," Seth directed to Lisa at the end of the meal, nodding and pushing his empty plate forward. "Really delicious."

"Oh, it's no problem dear." Lisa waved, on cue, everyone else around the table muttered their thanks, agreeing.

There was a mention of Coconut Cake to follow in an hour or so, while Sika made a fire in the living room. Seth wasn't sure if he wanted to try to pull Roman aside at this point, as he looked occupied with the dinner clean up.

"Dean! You have to ride my hover board!" Tamar insisted as soon as they rose from the table. Dean cleared his throat, finishing off his wine and squinting.

"What?"

"My hover board!"

"They make hover boards?"

Against the better judgement of all the adults in the room, they started playing with the boy's hoverboard in the hallway. Once Tamar showed everyone how it was done, Dean, Jimmy, Jey and Milo all tried it, just barely remaining upright as they leaned their weight around.

"Do you want me to hold your drink Uce?" Jimmy laughed, watching Jey mount the board with his wine glass, kicking the fringe of the carpet out of his way.

"Nah bro I got this," he snorted, taking a drink off his glass as he scooted along, managing to keep his arms aloft gracefully.

Seth peered into the kitchen, which was very full. Everyone was puttering around, claiming leftovers and trying to help Lisa clean up. Someone said something and everyone laughed, but Seth didn't hear it.

"I want to ride it to school." Tamar grinned, watching Jey dismount so he could hop on. "Julian brought his to class though and he got it taken away..."

"Aw shit, I mean-" Jimmy laughed. " Poop . I meant poop. Anyone want a beer?"

The kitchen grew quiet and Seth frowned, distracted. He was pretty sure Roman was in there, and he was starting to feel anxious. There was too much clatter of tableware to hear much, but Sika was talking.

"Seth?"

"I'm fine," Seth muttered, checking his phone. "I think, I'm gunna go… pack…"

He wasn't worried about being anti-social anymore, everyone was too busy to notice if he slipped away. There wasn't really anything that he needed to pack- all of his things were still in his bag, and his gifts were kept in a neat little bundle by his bed. But Seth sat down, scratching at his chest, wondering if he couldn't just watch a little TV to calm his mind down.

Unfortunately, the kitchen was right above his corner of the basement.

"Well, honey if you wanted to tell us something, we'd understand." Lisa's motherly tone came muffled and Seth winced, putting his face into his hands, heart pounding fast. "If this is about you being-"

"It's NOT about that mom, it's really not. I swear, I just-"

"Well what is it? He got so upset when I brought it up earlier-"

"Can't I just say I don't want to talk about this right now? I don't get why we can't just leave this be! Like, if I'm telling you I don't want to talk about it, don't you think I have a good reason?"

"Don't raise your voice at your mother."

"I'm not!"

Seth felt ill. Roman's voice was panicked and upset and he could hear now that no one else was talking or shifting around. In other corners of the house, silence had fallen. All he wanted to do was pull a blanket over his head and try to deafen the noise completely, but Seth knew he couldn't.

"Are you dating Seth then, or not?"

"I'm not answering that!"

Seth's heart skipped a beat and he stood up, cursing under his breath. If he left Roman all by himself upstairs, that was wrong, right? Even though there was nothing he could do?

Quickly, Seth jogged up the stairs, at a loss for what he was doing, but sure he couldn't hide from it. Devin and Vanessa stared at him from the entryway to the kitchen, watching silently.

Dean followed in his wake, looking pale as a sheet and Seth stared back at him, hoping someone had a plan. Summer came to their sides, laying a hand on Dean's arm.

"Hey, guys, this isn't going well, I'd just-" She whispered. "You don't wanna go in there-"

"I know, but-" Seth's voice broke. Roman sniffed loudly and reflexively, Dean and Seth went to the doorway, looking in.

Sika was standing over Roman as he sat in a chair. His face was red and his eyes were wet, staring at his father, terrified. Sika looked steady and calm, but red-faced. The whole scene made Seth nauseous.

"You live in the house we own." Sika said dangerously. "You are keeping other people there? You are telling us lies? You do not call us enough and you tell us one thing and say another- this is not what I teach you, what we expect of you."

Roman caught the gaze of his boyfriends in the door and he screwed up his face, burying his head in his hands. Seth felt his own eyes become wet, his arms trembling. Sika turned, looking over his shoulder and Seth and Dean stared back, pleadingly.

"Roman," Sika muttered. "Come into the garage-"

"Dad-"

"You hear me."

Roman rose and Lisa and Rosey backed up, letting him pass. There was silence until Roman moved out of the room, making his way to the garage, the door clicking shut behind him.

The last big fight Seth remembered having with his family was when he was sixteen and working his lifeguard job at Pine Lake Summer Camp. He'd asked his mother if he could take one of her cars for the week because he wanted to take Marek to a concert in Minnesota that Friday. It had been a lot to ask- Seth hadn't ever traveled so far out of state before, but he bought the tickets ahead of time to guarantee a spot.

"No Seth," Holly, his mother had said firmly. "Brandon uses the car when you're at work and I don't know who you're staying with."

"Yes you do!" Seth whined, leaning on the dining room counter and pouting. "Liam and his friends have come over here a bunch of times! If I don't go, I'm going to be wasting a bunch of money 'cause I already paid for everything!"

"Well that's too bad!" Holly half laughed. "You didn't ask me earlier and you're not going!"

Livid, Seth went to his room and slammed his door, angrily instant messaging his boyfriend about how unfair and stupid it all was. The next day, he'd be leaving for camp and he'd been looking forward to the concert all month.

my mom is such a fuckin bitch!! Seth had typed angrily into his desktop computer, wiping his eyes. Fuck it brandon doesn't even leave th house. I'm just going 2 leave early and take it

In a streak of defiance, Seth took the car at six in the morning. Heart beating fast, he turned his phone off and blared Underoath with all the windows down, racing on the rural roads. He'd almost gotten away with it, but his mother showed up on Friday after the camp session had ended. Seth was just planning to make his getaway, but his mother drove up the dirt road in her minivan and practically chased him across the field.

"I could have called the police on you! Stealing my car!" She grabbed his arm, red in the face and furious. "Give me your cell phone! You're not getting it back until school starts!"

"Mom!"

Seth cried hateful, angry tears as he sat in the back of his mother's minivan. Brandon drove the station wagon home, never more than a few cars behind them.

The fight was over ten years ago now, but it still felt vivid and raw in Seth's mind. He'd been a fool for acting out, and after a few weeks of tense silence and scowling glances, Holly and Seth's relationship had more or less gone back to normal. Maybe even better, as Holly seemed to understand that Seth just wanted to have more freedom and privileges.

"If you can keep a 3.5 GPA this semester, I'll let you take a trip," Holly had said over dinner, the last Sunday before school started. Seth was griping about something, but he immediately lightened up, thinking hard of places he wanted to go.

He had never been a problem child, and Holly and Bob had never wanted to limit him in any way. As Seth got older, they encouraged him to do whatever he wanted and take risks. College had been forced on him a little bit, but after trying and failing, they didn't continue to push the matter.

Watching Roman and his father fight was surreal to Seth, who couldn't imagine anything similar occurring in his own family. If either of his parents had tried to pull him aside and question his ability to make decisions, Seth would have just laughed it off and walked away. But then, he was out and away from home, emancipated from his family on a financial basis. The only thing that linked them now was his health insurance, and soon, that too would lapse.

As soon as Roman and Sika disappeared, Lisa looked completely disheartened, sinking down into a chair. Rosey offered her a drink and she just waved it off, heaving a sigh and dabbing at her eyes.

Dean turned on his heel and walked away. It took a moment for Seth to gather himself, shaking his head, but he knew he didn't want to be alone. The noise from the garage of Sika's raised voice felt like needles under his skin.

"Dean, where-" Seth followed his trail to the front of the house and out the door. Dean walked to the Jeep and Seth's felt weak. "Dean!"

"Fuck," Dean muttered, padding his pockets. "It's nothin' I just… I just wanted a smoke." He turned back. "Car's fuckin' locked."

"I got menthols," Jey offered, standing in the doorway.

Jimmy, Jey, Seth and Dean all sat on the front step, smoking and trying to ignore the distant rumble of voices behind the garage doors. Seth didn't participate, but leaned on his knees, trying to steady his breath. Dean just looked exhausted.

"We all okay?" Summer asked, coming out the front door. "Who's got cigarettes? I want one."

Not but a moment after grabbing one from Jey's pack, Milo burst out the front door and she flicked it, not wanting her son to see her smoking.

"When are they going to be done? I wanted a coke from the fridge!" Milo pouted, coming to his mother's side.

"We'll see Mi, we might have to wait awhile. Why do you want a coke this late? Didn't you already have one?"

"Dad said I could," he muttered.

"Well, why don't you go see dad about it. I think there is some in the big fridge, you might just have to dig for it."

Milo ran back inside, yelling to his brother "THERE MIGHT BE SOME." The boys giggled and stomped off.

Dean rubbed his forehead, looking properly exhausted.

"So, what is going on?" Summer asked, picking up the cigarette from the ground again. "I think everyone was curious but nobody wanted to ask anything."

Dean looked to Seth, and they both sighed, not really sure where to begin. It was obvious they couldn't hide anything anymore, but it seemed like there was a lot to tell.

"We're… polyamorous…" Seth said, squinting. "Do you…?"

"Oh, yeah! " Summer's face opened up and she smiled, laughing lightly. "I went to a liberal arts college, I know."

"Yeah, well," Seth sighed. "We haven't even been… doing this for that long."

"Wait, so you're all dating each other ?" Jimmy asked. "How that work?"

"Beats me man," Dean said darkly, taking a long pull of his cigarette. Seth licked his lips, jiggling his leg.

"Well, I moved down here," Seth started, trying his best not to ramble. "I started working at the same pool, at White Water, and I'd never dated two people or anything, but once I started hanging out with these guys, I think I knew I didn't want to just see one or the other..." He swallowed. "I hung out with them both individually, but we're all friends and stuff."

"Makes sense to me." Summer shrugged. "You didn't want to exclude anyone."

"Well, I love them both ," Seth said. "It wasn't like I could pick."

"Yeah, and I'm living with Rome' right now 'cause my place got infested with bed bugs," Dean added.

"Roman told me that." Summer nodded. "He just didn't tell Dad, which honestly, I think is why he's pissed."

Seth flinched, hearing the voices in the garage pitch up louder. Roman was crying, it was rough.

"Well shit man." Jey clapped Dean on the back. "Now you really are part of the family, huh?"

"We'll see for how long…"

"Oh shut up ," Summer sighed. Seth trembled. "You know just as well as us that this is just how we celebrate the holidays. I think Vanessa's just happy she gets a pass this year."

"No shit," Jey laughed. "She probably doesn't know what to do with all this time."

It was maddening to hear Roman's family joking so lightly about the matter while inside the garage he was being yelled at. Seth looked to Dean, trying to get some sort of assurance, but he looked remote and unreachable. Before he could stop it, hot tears were leaking down his face and Seth bit his lip hard, trying to pull himself together.

"What? Oh, hey-"

"Oh, it's okay…"

Summer put a hand around him, but Seth couldn't lean into her touch. Sitting upright and shaking as he let out a choked sob. Everything felt like dread. Roman's father would force them to break up and Dean wouldn't have his place to live. There was nothing they could do about it.

"It's okay," Summer repeated softly, rubbing his back. "Really… they're going to shout for a bit and then come out and drink a little and everything will be fine."

"I don't want… I don't-" Seth swallowed, sure that Dean was staring at him. He just screwed up his face more, unable to say anything.

"Why don't you give us a sec," Dean muttered, setting down his drink and his cigarette. "We'll come in inna bit."

"Okay," Summer nodded. "Let us know if you need anything..."

The three left and closed both sets of doors, leaving Dean and Seth alone in the light of the porch. The voices in the garage were starting to level out and become softer, but it didn't comfort him. Dean moved in closer, awkwardly pulling him into a hug and resting his head on top of his brown hair, rubbing his arms slowly.

"I'm scared," Seth choked, breathing Dean's scent of body wash deep into his lungs. "I don't want us to break up, I don't want this to happen."

"I don't want that either," Dean said softly, putting a hand in his hair and rubbing his scalp. "Summer is right though, this is just kinda part of being here."

"I don't want to come back here then!" Seth half laughed.

"But you got new shoes."

"I don't care," Seth sniffed, wiping his eye. "I didn't think… I thought Roman would tell his parents about you living with him or something… I can't imagine how you feel."

"I don't think they're gonna make me move out," Dean said, shifting so he could more comfortably hold Seth. "They do like me, I am like family and so long as Uce tells 'em it was a matter of keeping me out of the cold, they'll probably be happy that he did it."

"Then why are they so mad?" Seth asked. "They don't care he's gay… they like us-"

"It's the whole not telling thing." Dean nodded. "Just like Summer said, they're mad he was hiding stuff and they want to be aware of everything that's happening in his life. You don't know-" Dean rubbed his eyes. "I live with him, and I've known him for longer. There's a reason Rome's like, the mom , you know what I mean?"

"Yeah." Seth smiled.

"Yeah, like, he had a rough spot in college where he was drinking too much and failing his classes- really he was probably like, figuring out he was gay and shit. But when he wanted to move down to Orlando, his family was super worried. They didn't want him to do it. They thought he was going to fuck up really bad... His dad really only let him do it on the condition that he live in a house they owned." Dean picked his cigarette back up, blowing the smoke away from Seth. "And he's saving a ton of money 'cause he's only paying them a little bit of rent to live there, and he's supposed to be figuring out a better job and settling down."

"That's so…" Seth wiped his eyes.

"It's weird as fuck, I know, but it's just Roman," Dean said, gesturing uselessly. "It's just what it is and he's accepted that. He tried doing it all with Dan and for a long time, his family was super happy! They were trying to push that so hard, so when Roman broke up with him, his Mom yelled at him basically as bad as his dad is now."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, I KNOW ," Dean said loudly, looking to Seth seriously. "But you know what I mean? You just can't- It's different. Roman's life is just different than ours." Dean pointed to his chest. "Roman doesn't tell me that I'm wrong cause I like, don't have a big family and don't talk to them as much, like, he knows that my life is like, the opposite of his. Instead of giving me shit for it, he just tries to help me a lot." Dean settled down, taking a sip of his drink. Seth looked down at Dean's lap. "Roman's annoying as all fuck most of the time and the other day- the other day at home, he tried to tell me which way the goddamn toilet paper was supposed to go. Uce is nuts, but I wouldn't… I wouldn't try to change him."

Seth didn't say anything, content to let Dean rub his head while he lay, thinking. Trying to put a relationship together, Seth hadn't thought about these sorts of things, the sets of expectations that were placed on each man. If anything, they had blatantly tried to ignore them, committing to an unconventional relationship.

"Do you think…" Seth heaved a sigh, thinking. "Do you think that his family will let us keep dating him?"

"I dunno." Dean shrugged. Seth felt weak again, pulling trembling breaths as he held onto Dean's leg.

"You gotta think, what the point of all this is." Dean sighed, laying the hand over Seth's head down.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked, eyes wide.

"I mean, we can't all marry each other." Dean shrugged. "We can't make our own kids."

"Since when did that matter to you?" Seth sat up, staring at Dean, scandalized.

"I mean, that's what Roman's parents are probably thinking," Dean amended, "You know I don't give a fuck about that stuff."

"Well, who's to say we can't just live and be happy?" Seth asked. "Why can't we just do what we want?"

"I dunno, why can't we?" Dean laughed. "Look, Uce has disappointed his parents a bunch and they still love him, so maybe we're overthinking this. But they do definitely want him to like, settle down and get all homey, yeah? I mean, he wants that too. We're like his kids."

"Don't say that, that's weird." Seth shook his head. "I know what you mean, but don't say it like that."

"Well, you know what I mean ." Dean sighed, flicking his cigarette butt.

The moon was full and the stars were shining bright. Seth exhaled, looking up at the cloudless sky, wondering exactly what he was supposed to do. If Roman had to call the relationship quits, they would just have to live with that. Though, Seth wondered if he would do so if he didn't have a better alternative than just being single.

He would fight for us , Seth thought, hopefully, breathing in the salty air and leaning on his palm. Ants were crawling over the concrete and he watched them mindlessly.

But then, if it's his family, would he really have a choice?

Dean laid on his back, putting his arms over his eyes and clearing his throat. Seth watched him breathe evenly, tapping his foot on the step.

"I love you a lot Dean, no matter what," Seth said feebly, putting a hand on his knee and smoothing the denim. "I'd be a fuckin' wreck if you weren't here."

"Hey, same to you," Dean mumbled. Seth smiled and Dean sat up again, lips pursed.

"I've been thinkin' a lot lately," he said, looking to the dark street, matting his messy hair out of the way. "Like, what this is. 'Cause, I'm really… happy? I haven't really been this happy before when I'm with someone."

"Yeah?" Seth said softly, watching Dean assemble his words.

"Mmhm… I just. I like having the both of you and aside from all this," he pointed to the garage, "this is really great. I like this family stuff and I want to…"

Dean sniffed and Seth put a hand on his lower back, watching.

"I want to do this. A lot. I don't want this to be over either." A tear fell from his eyes and he heaved a shuddering sigh. "I feel like, I feel like I'm realizing a lot of things and it doesn't feel… hard in the same way it does before? Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, yeah," Seth whispered. "I wanna be here for you. I know Roman does too."

Everything was quiet except for the croaking and humming of bugs and lizards. The Christmas lights all over the front of the house shined bright, and Seth and Dean held each other, just breathing in and out. Seth was scared, but the touch was something between distraction and reassurance. They were okay, things weren't certain, but they never really were. They could hear talking inside the house and children playing outside in the back, but they didn't move.

Maybe twenty minutes to a half hour later, the front door swung open and Roman appeared. Summer, Jimmy and Jey were behind him, but as soon as Seth and Dean looked up, there was relief.

"I'm okayyyy," Roman said quietly. His face was red and his eyes were bloodshot and wet, but he was grinning. He sunk down and Dean and Seth grabbed at him, pulling him to the floor and into their arms. Roman giggled and they laughed, forcing him into their laps.

"Rosey's got his moonshine out," Summer offered, smiling at her brother and his boyfriends. "Whenever you feel comfortable coming back in, you'll be fine. I think mom wanted to apologize to you two."

"We're good," Roman said, his voice wavering slightly. "I'll be in inna sec."

They were left alone again and Dean and Seth immediately hugged Roman tighter, unwilling to let go.

"It's fine," Roman grunted, rubbing at his eyes.

"It didn't sound fine!" Seth scoffed. "You don't- you don't have to-"

"It's fine," Roman reiterated. "Dad… was mad that I didn't tell him, mad that I haven't been visiting or talking to the family much. I told him everything-" He paused, biting his lip. "He's not super happy about it, but I think that he'll come around."

"Nice." Dean rubbed Roman's chest.

"We… talked a lot… about a lot of shit," Roman exhaled. Seth ran a hand through his hair. "I dunno. I kind of just want to get really drunk and not think about it."

"That's okay," Seth laughed. "So long as you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Roman nodded. "I'm so sorry you guys, I swear-"

"Hey, I'm sorry my dumb fuckin' mouth-"

"No." Roman shook his head, looking to Dean seriously. "It's me. I fucked up."

Both of them pet Roman for a liberal amount of time, making sure he was as alright as he assured them. It had been a difficult night for everyone, and Seth wanted to ask more questions, but knew that it could wait until later. They had a six hour drive home the next day, and a few days before he would have to leave for Davenport. So long as there wasn't any glaring issues they had to address, it could wait.

"We love you," Dean said firmly to Roman, laying a hand on his arm. "I'm glad we came, we love you a lot."

"Yeah. Me too." Seth nodded. "We do."

"Thanks guys," Roman said, pulling them down until they were all flush with the concrete. "I love you too, we'll figure this out."

#To the Rescue #fic

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