Unlike the last time Law had visited, the smell of pine permeated throughout the apartment instead of cigarettes. It seemed Rosinante had decided to take Law's advice to heart and finally quit smoking for good, and was a full 3 months clean now, much to Law's pleasant surprise.

The holiday smell originated from a few nearly burnt out candles strewn about the living room. The Christmas tree was fake (less likely to catch on fire, even if he had stopped smoking, and cheaper considering it didn't need to be replaced every year) Law and Rosinante had gone out shopping for new ornaments after Law turned up at the man's doorstep yesterday

For a few moments neither of them said anything. Rosinante was dishevelled, having obviously just woken up and wasn't wearing any makeup yet. Law's cheeks and nose were flushed red from the cold outside, despite wearing a warm scarf and mittens, in his hands he held a small black suitcase swollen with items packed inside. Law blinked, Rosinante blinked back.

"So... does my brother know you're here?" Rosinante finally asked warily. He loved Law but god his brother was a menace, especially where his little drag brother was involved.

Law nodded, an almost cheeky smile on his face "I convinced him to spend the holidays in the tropics doing things little publicity grabs aren't allowed to see"

Rosinante rubbed his hands down his entire face, forehead to chin, rolling his eyes "And you convinced him to send you here... how?"

"By reminding that at any point I can start wearing drag in public."

Cora whistled "and ever since my stunt he's had to do a huge LGBT rights campaign with his company for a positive spin, so it'd look terrible if he made you stop" He kneeled down to ruffle Law's hair under his hat "I'm impressed"

Law looked to the ground "Didn't want my first Christmas without them to be with him"

Rosinante scooped Law into a hug before the boy noticed him move, squeezing him tightly. He knew Law was having a hard time, he knew things were hard and changing every day. This first year without them was full of firsts, and now his first Christmas. Law gently wrapped his arms around the older man embracing him, enjoying the warmth and safety associated with him. Law hadn't had a proper hug since he left Corazon 3 months ago.

Law tried his best to quiet his sniffles, and Corazon pretended not to notice. For a few minutes the two simply hugged in the hallway. It'd been so long since they'd seen each other; texting and phone calls simply didn't cut it.

"Did Doffy get you the tutors I promised?" Cora whispered, not wanting to break the moment.

"Mhm" Law nodded into the older man's shoulder "my grades are back up again"

Corazon squeezed the boy even tighter "I'm so proud of you" his chest was full of pride, a kind reserved only for parents when facing their child after they made a difficult decision. Corazon would only barely admit this to himself. Releasing Law he reluctantly stood up "well let's get inside and unpacked"

As it turned out, Corazon had managed to replace the old couch, and Law was tempted to set this one on fire too. He just wanted an excuse to share Cora's bed again, nightmares didn't stand a chance when you had a 7 foot drag queen protecting you. Probably reading Law's mind, Cora promptly offered his bed as a place of rest for both of them for the coming days. He did so out of a need to spend even more time with Law, and a need to save his new couch from meeting the fate of its predecessor.

Law's condition had been steadily improving over the last few months, and his medication was down by a quarter. He was back on mostly solid foods, and was taking advantage with this newfound gift by eating a candy cane with the largest grin of his life. They'd hung a few on the tree but Cora promised he could save some for eating now.

There hadn't been any presents under the tree when he'd arrived, but they'd quickly added some. Law already had some expensive makeup packed away in his bag which he'd wrapped once he'd arrived, and Cora had managed to sneak away and get some gifts for Law while they were out shopping.

They'd also picked out some gifts for Luffy and Ivankov, upon Cora's suggestion that they invite them over for Christmas.

"If we invite Iva we have to invite Bon Clay, and if we invite Luffy we should probably invite their brothers too..."

Law chimed in "are they being raised by Iva too?"

"Ah," Rosinante sat back from the paper where they'd been writing and crossing out ideas for how best to celebrate the holidays "Not quite. To tell you the truth even I don't know how they met, I think through Luffy's grandfather? Anyways, Ace is being raised by Luffy's grandfather, Sabo, the middle brother, is being raised by his foster mom Dadan."

Law leaned forward, intrigued by this new information and kicked his feet under the table "How come Ace is being raised by Luffy's grandpa, But Luffy isn't? Wait," Law stilled, perplexed "Wouldn't that make Ace Luffy's uncle and brother?"

Cora gave an amused exasperated huff, smushing Law's hat over his eyes, causing him to whine "They're only three years apart and if Luffy says Ace is their brother then I'm inclined to believe them. The whole situation is complicated and I feel like I would get a game of thrones worthy explanation if I asked."

Law pushed his ugly hat up off his eyes, sticking his tongue out "full of sex, murder and betrayal?"

Cora shrugged, amused at Law's bluntness "probably, but I just meant really complicated. Now if we're inviting Sabo then it goes we invite Dadan, but I think we can get away with not inviting Garp since he's my boss..."

After clarifying that Cora meant his boss at the police station, not the drag bar, they decided to invite Garp so he wouldn't have to spend Christmas evening alone. They'd gone out and bought snacks (locked away for tomorrow, or else they'd be gone by now) as well as a fire log for a more festive holiday mood.

Currently Law's cell phone sat in a homemade speaker make out of a red plastic cup to play soft holiday tunes. Law sat between Cora and the fire to protect him, and all was well. Law honestly hadn't felt this content in a long time, a warmth in his belly keeping him happy.

"I got us some hot chocolate earlier, if you're interested" Cora waved in the general direction of the kitchen, his festive makeup sparkling in the lowlight "Just to complete this holiday setting."

Law hummed in agreement as Cora got up. He felt he couldn't be more at peace than he was right now. Today he'd decided on simple mascara and blush, and the stares from strangers in the mall had been worth Cora's prideful gleam. With his stomach handling more complicated deposits he was able to properly enjoy the holidays with Cora by his side and Doflamingo thousands of miles away, as he should be.

They'd even hung stocking above the fireplace. Hell, they were probably going to put out milk and cookies for Santa Claus tonight. Law pretended his stomach didn't flutter in excitement at the thought.

Cora returned, feet bare, and a steaming mug of hot chocolate in each hand. He even managed to place each mug on the table before the disaster known only as Cora's damn clumsiness struck, and he slammed his big toe into the table and fell (thankfully) backwards onto the floor. Law couldn't contain his giggles as he picked up one of the mugs, warming his hands before slowly sticking his tongue in the hot chocolate to check the temperature.

Without getting up, Cora shot one arm up from the floor, pointing at the ceiling and smugly exclaiming "I even bought marshmallows"

True to his word, Law noted six miniature marshmallows happily bobbing in the hot chocolate, slowly dissolving into sugary goodnes. Having found the temperature agreeable, Law took a tentative sip "What even are marshmallows anyway?"

"Yummy" Cora slowly sat up, rubbing his back "Yummy is what they are"

"I meant what are they made of? Besides sugar of course"

Corazon sat down beside him, having gotten off the floor as gracefully as he could manage. He carefully lifted his own mug for a sip "Hell if I know, they're just really good. Heck" he caught himself "Heck if I know"

"Too late" Law took another sip, hiding a sly grin only an eleven year old could manage "You swore on Christmas Eve, shame on you Cora"

"Damn it all" Cora muttered, managing one more sip of chocolaty goodness before burning himself and spewing hot chocolate everywhere.

Law yawned "M not tired"

Corazon chuckled, shifting Law in his arms "Of course not, that's why you're not falling asleep in my arms."

"Mhm" Law managed a small nod, eyes still shut. Carefully, oh so carefully, Corazon rose and carried the boy to bed. Behind him stood the tree, several presents with various pieces of different wrapping paper taped together as wrapping paper waiting patiently for Christmas, labeled in the shaky handwriting of an eleven year old to Ivankov, Luffy, and Cora-san.

Cora had to ignore the excitement in his chest when he remembered the nickname Law had given him during his last visit, having heard Luffy use the term with Iva and wanting to share that familiarity with Cora.

Had Law been subtly trying to call him dad?

Corazon barely managed to place Law on the bed before falling backwards, slipping on a pair of fishnets. He wiped the indulgent thought from his mind completely before it could start to fester. Law had a father, a dead father he buried himself less than a year ago. Cora didn't need to be Law's father.

He could be his Cora-san.

Carefully, quietly without waking Law, Corazon snuck out of the room. He had a few presents to wrap himself, and some stockings to stuff.

For a few precious moments when Law awoke, he didn't stir. He wasn't sure where he was, but that he was safe and warm and comfortable, a feeling he hadn't managed to capture since-

Since he'd visited Cora, to which he remembered blackmailing Doflamingo into allowing him to spend the holidays with his preferred guardian. Which meant he was home, tucked into bed, snuggling with Cora. He let a little sigh of content escape him, snuggling closer. Cora-san had been so nice to him even though he'd showed up on his doorstep with no notice. He'd taken him Christmas shopping, made him hot chocolate, carried him to bed last night-

Which meant today was Christmas.

With little warning, Law launched himself into the air with a squeal of joy. From the blankets Cora groaned after the sudden awakening. Law didn't wait for him, sprinting to the living room where a tree stuffed with presents beneath it sat waiting. Lights twinkled on the tree, and snow gently drifted down in the window. What caught Law's eye in particular were the bulging stockings sitting beneath the fireplace.

Cora came up behind him in a housecoat and Law's eyes teared up. The elder man kneeled beside him "hey, hey what's up? You just that excited?" he teased

Law sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve with a small" ew" from Cora "I didn't think Santa would know where to find me, cuz last year I lived in Flevance and most of this year I lived with Doflamingo all over the place and we kept moving and I thought Santa might be mad cuz of..." he trailed off not wanting to continue.

"Law" he gently cupped the younger boy's face "I promise Santa didn't put you on the naughty list, just look at all those presents! He's had no reason to, you've been a very good boy this year"

Law sniffled again "and he knew where to find me"

"and he knew where to find you" Cora smiled "Never doubt Santa, why I bet he knew you'd be here for Christmas ever since we met"

"when you set the couch on fire" Law gently chuckled

Cora nodded "when I set the couch on fire. Long lasting friendship in the making. Come on" he took the boy's hand pulling him towards the bedroom "how about we set up with some blankets in the living room and then open Santa's gifts?"

"What about the rest?" Law grabbed one of the comforters off the bed, while Cora collected pillows

"we can open those after breakfast. Growing boys and drag queens need their food you know!" Together they waddled into the living room, arms heavy with blankets.

"Okay, but after you open your presents from me first okay?"

"it's a deal"

Law greatly enjoyed the chocolates and trinkets he'd gotten from Santa this year. They were a little different from what he usually got, but he liked them none the less. Cora cooked eggs and bacon on the stove, careful not burn himself (despite having already done so, several times) with splattering grease. Gluten free French toast sat ready to fried, courtesy of Law who now set the table with plates, cutlery, butter, and syrup.

A ring from the doorbell startled both of them from their activities, and caused Cora to yelp as a splatter of hot grease snuck past his defenses onto his arm.

"I'll get it" Law shouted while Cora jumped around in pain "Put cold water on it!" he suggested before opening the door.

At the door stood a delivery man "I have deliveries for Law Donquixote" who scowled "and Rosinante Donquixote"

Said man came over upon realizing it wasn't a door to door salesman Law could scare away "I'm Rosinante" Law scowled again as Corazon took the packages from him "who are these from?"

"Doflamingo Donquixote" He dropped the packages

"Is it a bomb? Is it toxic? Is it illegal?" Law poked the packages carefully from behind Cora's leg "good god please tell me there's nothing alive in there, tell me there's nothing dead in there"

"I assure you the contents of the packages are compliant with American law, and the rules of the postal company. Can you sign here?" he handed a clipboard over to Cora, who reluctantly signed without knowing what was inside. Upon receiving the signature he nodded and turned away, waving "Happy holidays"

Carefully the two of them picked up their respective packages and brought them inside. Once the door was shut behind them they dropped them once more.

"We open them now and get whatever horror revenge monstrosities Doffy sent out of the way and then continue to enjoy Christmas, forgetting he ever sent anything, deal?" Law nodded. Scissors were collected (childproof for Cora, much to Law's delight) and the two of them stood in position "on the count of three, one... two... THREE"

The boxes fell apart to reveal two immaculately wrapped gifts

"No fucking way"

"you swore on Christmas, bad Cora"

"I don't care I call bullshit" he poked his with the end of his (childproof) scissors "I still think there's something dead inside mine"

Law felt the outer edges of his, but couldn't feel anything spelling imminent doom for either of them "Well I say we put them under the tree and open them last, that way we can enjoy the rest of the presents without it being tainted by whatever" he poked the present once more "is in here"

"Yeah okay" he reluctantly agreed, placing his gift under the tree with the rest, several inches away from the other presents to avoid contamination "Should I get the fire extinguisher?"

"probably"

Once breakfast was enjoyed to its fullest, the two of them sat down in the living room to enjoy each other's gifts. Corazon greatly appreciated the gifts of higher end makeup from Law (and appreciated it all that much more when he learned Doflamingo had been forced to pay for it) and Law was a little more surprised at his own.

"Are these... the textbooks from that time?" Law gaped, holding one of the medical textbooks from the sketchy college store in hand

"that time with the douchebag with extreme internalized gender roles and an inability to mind his own business?" he scooped Law into a hug "of course I noticed you admiring those books. You probably forgot, considering asshole incident, but I remembered"

Law snuggled closer, holding the large textbook in one hand "I'm gonna read this in a day"

"Law no"

Law beamed "Law yes"

But there comes an end to all good things, and once all the presents had been opened, and the wrapping paper put it away, all that remained were Doflamingo's suspicious deliveries.

Law hid behind the couch "you go first"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Law ducked down low as he heard the sound shredding and tearing paper. Scissors in hand, Law awaited Cora's pained screams to hurdle the couch and attack whatever beast Doflamingo had sent. However once the tearing quieted, all that could be heard was a soft "motherfucker"

Peeking over the edge, Law saw Cora holding a diamond necklace.

"No way" Law slowly approached him, scissors in hand. When nothing growled, or exploded, Law let the scissors drop "are those real?"

"yep" in his other hand he held a card "If you're going to sparkle, might as well do it with something quality. To my favourite little brother, Corazon" he wiped away a tear "motherfucker, I'm his only brother" he sniffled "he even called me by my stage name. It's almost touching"

Law cautiously approached his own gift. With shaking hands he unwrapped it, revealing a card and a locket. Turning it over it didn't seem anything special, a small silver oval thing with some decorative swirls engraved on the front. Searching for clues to its importance, Law opened the card, which only brought more confusion

Still holding his gift, half expecting it to start dissolving his skin, Cora asked "so? what does it say?"

"I don't get it. Money and connections can get you anything, but more importantly inside anywhere. Merry Christmas Law" He turned to Cora, searching for answers.

He shrugged "maybe look inside it? Who knows what rare artifact he's stolen and hidden inside" he glared at his necklace "this is probably stolen. I should return it to the authorities"

"Don't bother" Law struggled to pry open the locket "I know you like it"

He whined "it's so pretty"

With a snap, the locket popped open. When nothing fell out, he looked inside and dropped it with a tearful gasp.

"What? What is it?" Cora came over, beautiful stolen necklace forgotten in place of his upset boy. He should have known Doffy would send something upsetting, and now Law was crying, and the necklace was just a distraction and-

Tenderly, Law picked up the locked "look" he faced it towards Corazon.

Inside was a family portrait of Law and his original parents, his younger sister on his lap. It must have been taken well before the effects of the Amber Lead syndrome became a threat because Law looked healthier than Cora had ever seen him. He grinned at the camera, his younger sister waving. Both of his parents stood tall and proud behind their children, happiness radiating from their smiles.

"oh Law" he gathered the younger boy in his arms, who sniffled "how'd he even get in? they said Flevance was going to be a no go zone for decades" he wiped at his tears "I thought I'd lost everything. I thought I'd never see them again"

Corazon sighed "and the Grinch's heart grew three sizes that day"

Maybe Doflamingo wasn't as evil as he Corazon had always wanted to think.

Later in the evening the doorbell brought much less negative feelings from both of them.

Law welcomed as Iva and Luffy came in, Iva greeting Cora in full drag makeup and Luffy greeting Law in a red and white Santa Claus dress. They led both of them to the living room where they had snacks (gluten free) and presents waiting.

They sat around and chatted while they awaited the others, Luffy stated they wanted to be an anarchist when they were older, and Garp and Ace arrived in a whirlwind of shouts and removed shirts (Ace was apparently still very dedicated to the free the nipple movement, even in subzero conditions)

Later Sabo and Dadan arrived resulting in all three siblings doggy piling on top of the poor woman who shouted at the "damn affectionate brats" without sounding too angry, and wiping away happy tears ruined the whole pretending-to-be-angry effect anyway.

Bon Clay's elegant arrival marked the official beginning of the party, all three drag queens happily discussing current events, Ivankov complimenting Corazon on the stolen necklace. All four kids had begun running around the room shirtless (resulting in Luffy, who'd arrived in a dress, to run in nothing but their underwear) even Law, getting chased by Garp holding the various articles of clothing the four of them had removed. Ivankov, Corazon, and Dadan were forced to scoop their respective children when they ran past to settle the chaos.

Whining, the four of them put their clothing back on with the promise of opening presents. Secretly Corazon was delighted Law had been confident enough to run around shirtless, remembering the poor nervous boy from months ago who'd hated all his surgery scars from the amber lead.

Law gave Luffy some sparkly glitter pens for Christmas (for an extra special revolution) while Law received a pink bow tie and a fake mustache from Luffy, remembering playing dress up in the back of Kamebakka. Law stuck the bow tie in his hair, but saved the mustache for later.

All the adults exchanged boring adult gifts which they all seemed to be more or less pleased about. Most of the drag queens exchanged makeup and jewellery, Garp received mugs from anyone but he seemed overjoyed to have received a "world's best grandpa" mug from his boys, so he mustn't have been too disappointed at the others (Corazon had cheekily gotten him a "world's second best boss" mug and Ivankov a "world's best boss" one)

After gifts they all sat down for dinner, a joint effort by just about every adult in attendance. Each one loudly proclaimed to their respective child (Bon Clay proclaiming to all 4) that they'd done the most work, before shouting to contest the other's declarations. During the distraction the three brothers started grabbing as much as they could, Law catching on and stuffing his own plate before running to the living room at the kid's table. There was much more yelling once the parents realized nearly half the food was gone, much to their enjoyment.

Two nearly avoided food fights, and one nearly avoided fist fight, later had all the kids yawning and reading for bed. Tempers lowering and chuckles softly escaping, the respective adults picked up their complaining children claiming "I'm not tired" and "Government defeating forces never rest" and walking to the door.

Shoes were sorted and divvied up, Law clutching Cora-san's leg and tiredly waving goodbye to his friends. Adults hugged and promised to get together again sometime soon, and keep in touch. Garp held Ace on his back while yell-whispering at Cora not to be late on Saturday, Ivankov with Luffy on their hip reminding Cora of his shift next week, Bon Clay mindful of all the sleepy children gave Cora a quick peck on the cheek before leaving the door with a flourish.

Once all the guests had left Cora gave the apartment a sweep. Dishes needed to be cleaned, left over dinner needed to be put away, floors needed to be swept. The kid's table in the corner needed to be wiped down (and probably bleached) but right now his priority was the yawning eleven year old clutching his leg with tiny fists.

"Come on" he whispered, hoisting him up into his arms. A tired "'m not tired" might have escaped the boy, but it was mostly indistinguishable from the tired gibberish of an exhausted eleven year old past his bedtime. Carefully he held the boy, carrying him to bedroom.

"Won't you ever be able to find your own way to bed? hm?" Cora joked, lowering him into the bed. He gently pulled off the boy's socks, then his over shirt and jeans "Come ooon" he lifted the whining boy so he was upright "put your pajamas on"

He continued to whine until Cora caved and got the boy his pajamas and medication for the night. Once all was done Law lay down and went out like a light.

Cora chuckled, running his hand through Law's hair. It had gotten longer, the patches that had fallen out from his illness gaining some length. His skin was more flush, no longer the sick sunken in pallor from his last visit.

He still had his scars from his surgeries, still had dark circles under his eyes from sleepless nights haunted by nightmares of his family. He still lugged around an extra toiletries bag just for his medicine.

But he smiled more, he opened up to strangers, he experimented with makeup, he studied his passions. Law was growing up, and becoming an extraordinary kid every step of the way. He wasn't normal, but Cora never was either. Normal wasn't for everybody. The rules weren't made for the extraordinary, they were written by them.

Cora leaned down and gave Law a peck on the forehead "Merry Christmas, Law"

Written weeks in advance, and only half edited last night I do really actually like this chapter and I hope the rest of you do too :) Y'all can thank Jesse J on AO3 for this chapter, she left a wonderful review awhile ago and that night on my bike ride home from work it was snowing and I was just like you know what? I'm doing this. Kudos to my wonderful beautiful Beta Ally.

A lot of my on family traditions made it into this fic, opening gifts from Santa then breakfast then family gifts, kids table for dinner, stuffed stockings on the floor etc :D If any of you spotted the car commercial quote fight me