blue christmas
Plot: Patton tries to prove that Santa is real to his twin brothers.
Characters: Janus Sanders, Logan Sanders, Patton Sanders, Roman Sanders, Remus Sanders, Virgil Sanders
Word count: 2573
Pairings: Romantic Loceit, familial DRLAMP
Warnings: holidays/Christmas, food, debating whether Santa is real, alcohol/alcohol mention (let me know if I missed anything and i'll be sure to add it, I don't want anyone to get hurt - if you need clarification on any of these feel free to dm or send an ask!)
masterlist read on ao3
I've never written a one-shot outside of canonverse so pls be nice i'm afraid
Gift for the wonderful @theimprobabledreamersworld 💛 Hope everyone has a great holiday season (if you're celebrating) and a happy new year 💛 and no the title has nothing to do with my name but it is kinda funny to me
---
“Okay, boys, hold my hands,” Patton held his hands out to his sides, prompting his six-year-old twin brothers to take them.
The school bus had just dropped the three boys off at their bus stop after the last day of school before winter break - the highlight of the season. Ten days, no school, and of course, Christmas. The harsh, mid-December wind made their eyes tear up from the second they stepped off the bus, and the few remaining leaves that had fallen from the trees cracked under their feet as the eleven year old walked Roman and Remus across the street toward their house.
It wasn’t hard to notice an odd mood shift in the boys - Patton always meets them at their classroom at the end of the day to walk them to the bus, but they weren’t their usual energetic selves that day. They almost seemed sad, which is unusual for them, and it breaks Patton’s heart just thinking about it.
“So… did you have fun at your class’ holiday party today?” Patton smiled brightly, looking between the two boys who barely looked up from the sidewalk.
Roman shrugged. “I guess,” he mumbled, kicking a rock with every step he took.
“What’d you do at the party?”
“Someone’s mommy brought in cupcakes,” Remus answered, in the same tone. Patton could tell they weren’t in the mood for talking, so he dropped it. What could possibly be bothering them?
He dropped their hands and pulled the door open, ushering them inside, where their dad, Logan, was waiting for them.
“Welcome home, boys,” he reached out and started to help Roman pull his jacket off, quickly noticing his sons’ attitudes and raising an eyebrow.
Patton reached out for the end of Remus’ scarf, ready to start pulling on it so Remus could spin out of it wildly until he hit the wall and burst into maniacal laughter, just like he did every day - but instead, he tugged the scarf off his neck before Patton could reach it and shrugged his coat off before leaving for his room. Roman quickly followed.
Logan shook his head confusedly before looking over at his oldest son. “Did something happen with the twins?”
Patton finished hanging up his own coat and turned to his dad, shrugging. “They didn’t say anything to me.”
“Well… they’re normally rather loud, I’m sure we’ll find out one way or another.” He offered Patton a small smile. “Your father and I just took some cookies out of the oven, would you like one?”
“...Two?” The young boy asked hopefully, hoping Logan would excuse an extra cookie for the holiday.
Logan laughed before leading Patton toward the kitchen. “We’ll see.”
—
As much as their family had hoped it would disappear by dinner, Roman and Remus were sat at the table, lazily picking at their plates with the biggest pouts anyone had ever seen from them cemented onto their faces.
Logan was struggling too much to get three-year-old Virgil to eat a single bite to question them.
“Boys, I promise you, your meals are doing you no good by sitting on the plate,” Janus lectured them, taking a sip of his water.
They both grumbled in response.
“Come on, guys, cheer up,” Patton told them, with as bright and cheery of a voice as he possibly could muster. “You love this time of year! Roman, building the gingerbread house? Remus, pretending to be Godzilla and knocking it down? Leaving out cookies and milk for Santa?”
They winced at the last bit, making Patton tilt his head.
“Did something happen at school today? You boys are acting like something is wrong,” Janus asked, getting up to readjust the toddler’s bib as Logan tried to dodge the tiny hands pushing his own away.
Roman muttered something under his breath, which none of them heard.
“Could you please repeat that, sweetie?”
“Alex said Santa Claus isn’t real!” Roman barked out, dropping his utensils to the table, his hands trembling in anger. Logan’s hands rushed to cover Virgil’s ears, who looked around confusedly and reached up to tug at them.
Janus sat back down and gave his son a surprised look; it was expected of Remus to cry out like that, but he’s never heard it from Roman before.
“Oh? Well that’s… silly, why would Alex tell you something like that, hm?”
“He said he saw his daddy eating the cookies last year when he needed to go to the bathroom,” Remus said sadly, lazily swirling his finger in the gravy on his plate.
“And how does he know it wasn’t Santa?” Logan chimed in, smiling softly to himself when he successfully got Virgil to take a bite.
“Because Santa is supposed to wear red, he doesn’t wear green pajamas, Dad,” Remus’ facial expression quickly switched to annoyed as Janus grabbed a napkin to wipe off Remus’ hands.
“But Santa is real,” Patton told them.
Logan and Janus shared a look - it was only a few months earlier that Patton discovered the tooth fairy wasn’t real, and subsequently figured out the truth about Santa as well. They braced themselves for a tough holiday season, this being the first of which Patton no longer believed, and were amazed to find that the holiday spirit and magic never left their son’s eyes. He still marveled at the sight of Christmas lights, and his mood could instantly be lifted when a holiday themed-commercial played on the TV. They knew he’d want to keep the magic alive for his brothers, but this was the first they’d seen of him actually trying.
“And how do you know?” Roman crossed his arms, furrowing his brows at his big brother.
“Because I met him!” Patton responded as though it were the simplest answer in the world, a bright smile stretching across his face. “And you guys did too. Remember, two weeks ago, we saw him at the mall!”
“Alex said that wasn’t Santa, it’s just a guy in a red suit,” Remus said.
“Well, fine, if you don’t believe me, I’ll tell you guys something I’ve never told anyone before, not even Dad or Father,” Patton leaned in closer, as though he were telling them a secret. The boys leaned in too, their interests suddenly piqued.
“Last year, on Christmas Eve night, I got really thirsty in the middle of the night, so I came down here to get some water… and Santa had just come down the chimney. He was drinking some of the milk we left out for him.”
“Oh yeah? Prove it!” Remus leaned back in his chair, again, not believing a single word.
“Fine, I’ll prove it,” Patton said, reaching into his pocket. Janus watched his son, not having a single clue where this story was going.
Patton pulled his hand out, clasping onto a silver bell on a long red string. “He gave me this. He said it fell off of Dasher’s reins.”
Roman reached out for the bell, inspected it closely, and dropped it to the floor with a loud clang. “Sounds like a load of baloney.”
“Oooh, I love bologna-”
“I know, Remus. Let’s go.” Roman pushed himself away from the table, leaving his plate behind and walking toward the stairs, Remus following quickly after.
Logan pulled Virgil into his lap, soothing the now-fussy toddler who startled when the bell hit the floor. Janus bent over to pick it up.
“Where did this actually come from?”
“We watched the Polar Express at school today, the teacher handed them out after.”
“Ah.” Janus began collecting the plates from the boys’ places. “That was quick thinking, Patton, thank you for that.”
Patton smiled as he stood up and cleared his own place setting. “I figured they were too little to stop believing. I didn’t want it to get ruined for them so soon, but it doesn’t seem like it worked all that well…”
Logan suddenly had a lightbulb moment.
“Patton?”
“Hm?” The tween swiftly turned to face his dad.
“How would you like to be our little helper this year?”
—
“Can you put this next to the plate on the coffee table, Ro?” Logan handed a tall glass of milk to Roman, who dragged his feet unenthusiastically across the carpet to put the glass next to the cookies, which was soon joined by a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, courtesy of Janus.
“Janus.” Logan raised his eyebrows at his husband.
“It’s good to give him options, Logan. You never know, maybe wine is what he’s wanted all these years.”
“This man probably has the strongest bones in the world with the amount of milk he drinks. Let’s not break his streak by giving him alcohol, hm?”
“This is pointless.” Remus folded his arms across his chest and fought the urge to swing at the treats on the table, not even wanting to leave them out for someone who won’t even eat them.
Janus chuckled and lifted the boy into his arms. “Well, someone will be surprised when they wake up in the morning and all of this is gone, won’t they?”
“No I won’t, because it won’t happen.”
“Well, I’d just love to continue this little argument we have going here, Mr. Grinch, but it appears it’s past your bedtime.” Janus started walking toward the stairs, still holding Remus in his arms.
“Why does he get to stay up?” Roman whined, pointing at Patton who was sitting on the sofa, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
“Because he’s a big boy, Roman.” Logan gently grabbed Roman’s hand, holding an already asleep Virgil against his other hip.
“Hey! I’m six! I’m a big boy too,” Roman mumbled as Logan led him up the stairs and into his room.
Patton could barely contain his excitement - he got to help his dads put out the presents for his brothers and show them Santa is real! That’s practically a gift in itself, at least for Patton.
Janus came back down the stairs first, smiling when he saw Patton bouncing in his seat.
“Can we start yet, Father?”
“No, Pat, we have to wait until they’re all asleep, and Dad needs to be here too.”
He nodded and turned his attention back to the movie as best he could, but found himself checking the clock every ten seconds. How long could it possibly take to put Virgil and Roman to sleep?
Apparently… around an hour. That’s how long it took for Logan to finally come back downstairs and nod at Patton, giving him permission to jump up and pull out all the presents from the hiding places his dads had shown him the night before. Every present that wasn’t his, he held up for his dads and asked what it was, wanting to guess how excited his little brothers would be when they opened it. Logan and Janus were so busy during the holiday season that they don’t even remember wrapping them, let alone what they all are, so every answer was ‘I don’t know, we’ll just have to see in the morning.’
When all of the presents were arranged beautifully under the tree, Patton rushed over to the coffee table, where his dads were sipping on the milk and wine.
“All I’m saying is that Santa is probably bored of the same old thing in every house.”
“Please, Janus, I highly doubt you’re the first one to think of giving him alcohol. Where’s your sense of morality? He can’t operate a sleigh and keep all his presents in order if he’s drinking at the wheel.”
“... What wheel, Logan? It’s a sleigh. And the reindeer are the ones pulling it.”
“We couldn’t have at least left a healthy alternative? If we’re switching up the traditional menu, why didn’t we leave him celery sticks as well as cookies?”
“Right, because it’s so exciting to leave him vegetables.”
Patton ignored their conversation as he reached for the third cookie - which they had told him earlier that evening, was specifically for him.
“Did you remember to sign the letter for the boys?”
“‘Did you remember to sign the-’ Yes, Logan, I’m not a complete idiot.” Janus’ mocking expression had a slight smirk on it as he sealed the envelope, addressed to Roman, Remus and Virgil, and signed with ‘Mr. C.’
Patton’s eyes began to droop from the cookie and few sips of milk Logan had shared with him, which made his dads smile.
“Looks like Santa’s helper is getting tired.” Logan stood up, pulling Patton into a hug. “Why don’t you head to bed, Pat? We got the rest from here. You did a really great job.”
A sleepy smile stretched across his face as Janus kissed the top of his head. “Thank you for your help, Patton. Merry Christmas.”
—
Patton was startled awake early the next morning, as the sun was just rising over the fresh, glistening snow that must have fallen overnight. Stomping echoed through the hallways and down the stairs, and two loud gasps brought a smile to Patton’s face. He quickly jumped out of bed and pulled on his robe and slippers, swinging his door open and looking down at the twins from the top of the stairs.
“What happened, guys? Are you okay?”
“HE’S REAL! Santa’s real! Look, look, Patton, the cookies really are gone! Alex was wrong!” Remus ran to the bottom of the stairs holding an empty plate, holding it up so Patton could see it.
The older boy rushed to his dads’ room, pushing open the door and announcing that Roman and Remus were awake. Sleepy mumbles came from the king-sized bed, but sure enough, they were downstairs within five minutes.
“Dad, Santa left a note! Can you read it, please, please, Dad?” Roman pushed the letter into Logan’s hands as Janus started to help unwrap a toy for Virgil to play with to keep him occupied.
Logan unfolded the letter and cleared his throat. “Dear Patton, Roman, Remus, and little Virgil, I’m very proud of how well behaved you boys were this year. Keep it up, and you’ll end up at the top of the nice list for sure next year - but, Remus, while I left no coal for you this time, it is not acceptable to hit your brother with a chair when he does something you don’t like.” Logan gave his son a disapproving look as the young boy’s eyes widened.
“How did he know about that?” Remus asked, looking at Roman, who shrugged.
“Regardless, I truly hope you enjoy your gifts and wish you and your dads a very Merry Christmas and a splendid New Year. Sincerely, Santa.” Logan folded it back up, smiling, and handed it to Roman.
“Look, Remus! There’s a reindeer print on the outside! It must be from Rudolph!” Roman squeaked, holding it out so his brother could see.
Logan’s face twisted in confusion as he looked at Janus, who mouthed, ‘Stamps.’
Roman and Remus rushed up to Patton, waving the letter in his face.
“Did you hear that, Patty? You were on the nice list too! Santa said so, see?”
“I heard!” Patton jumped in his seat, celebrating with his brothers.
Even though he’s getting older, Patton refused to let the magic of the holiday season ever fade. Especially not for those he loved more than anything. He almost wouldn’t have even minded if he had no gifts under the tree with his name on them - seeing his brothers this happy was enough for him.
---
let me know if i missed any tags 💛
taglist: @theimprobabledreamersworld @cats-pyjamas @writerwithtoomanyships @imma-potatoo
