Joys of the Season: An On Fire Christmas

Robert whistled as he crossed the lawn to the firehouse, his coffee mug steaming in his hand. December had arrived, bringing with it a dusting of snow, making everything look new and bright. The first snow always was fun, until you slipped or you got a foot wet as the snow turned into slush, or if the snowfall was accompanied by a frigid blast of arctic air. Luckily, everything was perfect on the short walk between the house and the fire station, not even the wind through his short hair a bother, so he was still whistling when he went through the door...

...and stopped dead in his tracks. It looked like Santa's workshop had exploded all over his fire station.

Well. This explained why Sam had been gone "shopping" for so long yesterday.

"Isn't it great? You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get the streamers way up there. And the balloons, oh, my God. I had no idea they'd take so long to fill!" Sam beamed at Robert from where he'd been waiting, just to the left of the door. "The kids are going to love it."

Robert blinked and looked around again, imagining Sam doing God knew what -- but no doubt something dangerous -- to get those streamers on the rafters, and he was almost afraid to ask. "The kids?"

The last he'd checked, he and Sam might have been married, but they were definitely low in the kid department. As in none. Being gay helped with that.

"Duh, yeah." Sam wiggled his way closer, arms spread wide. "All of them. I figure we can put a table on that wall for the snack food and stuff, and Michael will be, well, not Santa, but something like that -- can he sit in the engine? That would be awesome!" Sam's eyes went huge and pleading. "A school holiday party. See?"

Oh, God.