Once again Ethan found himself being woken up way before his alarm. He almost jumped out of the bed when he came face to face with all five of the other kids, all still wearing the matching pjs Penelope had presented them the night before.

"What are you doing?" Ethan questioned them as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Ssh," Mattie scolded.

"We're going to go wake the moms up," Declan explained; whispering to avoid his older sister's wrath.

Ethan nodded, groggily, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed. A few yawns and stretches later he was following them to the master bedroom. New to this, Ethan followed Declan as he walked to the right side of the bed; Emily's side. Mattie and Jo went to the left; his mom's side. Link and Emma carefully climbed on the bed from the foot towards Penelope, who was in the middle. Mattie held up a hand, ticking down her count. "1..2..3"

With warrior cries the kids, minus Ethan, jumped on the bed attacking its occupants with more jumping and shouting. "It's Christmas! Wake up!" They screamed.

Emily woke up with a groan at the abrupt wake up call; the small knee in her back didn't help. Penelope woke up with a smile quickly grabbing the nearest kid, who happened to be Link, and attacking them with hugs. Alex woke up in shock, but soon became victim to the laughter sweeping through the room. Emily was the first to notice Ethan still standing beside the bed. "Come on."

Ethan shook his head, this was their thing not his. Emily huffed, gently pushing Emma towards Penelope, before standing up. Ethan may have been taller than her, but much like his Uncle Spencer he was kind of a pipe cleaner. Emily also had her weekly gym visits with Derek to her advantage. Before he knew what was happening she had already grabbed him and threw him on the bed. Much like with the others, Penelope was quick to attack him in hugs.

Glancing around him, Ethan decided this was defiantly the best way to get up Christmas morning. The wide smile on his mother's face as she caught Emma and showered her with kisses only made the moment better.

:::::::

Ethan couldn't hide his shock as they ascended downstairs to the living room. He'd never seen so many gifts under the tree; though it had just been him and his mom for years and now there were six kids under one roof. Emma and Link ran the rest of the way stopping just short of the tree as the waited for everyone else to join them. Emily, Penelope, and Alex were the last ones down.

"You can start," Emily told them as Penelope picked up the camera sitting on the mantel.

Soon the sound of ripping paper and exclaims of joy filled the room. Some of the bigger items they had received so far included a doll house for Emma, a new bike for Link, new lacrosse equipment for Declan, and laptops for the twins. Link happily held up a kid's science kit for Penelope to snap a picture. "This is so awesome."

"I thought maybe we could do it together," Ethan suggested quietly.

Declan and him had bonded pretty quickly, being around the same age and sharing a room helped, and Emma liked everyone. And with the twins at college that left Link, who he hadn't really tried to form a bond with. He hoped the science kit would encourage this bond. "I'd like that," Link replied.

The next present Ethan unwrapped was a chess set. At first he was confused since they already had about three lying around the house. That was until he noticed it wasn't just any chess set; it was a Doctor Who chess set. "Thanks Dec."

There was more ripping of paper until all the kids were down to their last gift. So far most of Ethan's gifts had consisted of books and clothes. Opening the last box he had to double check who had given it to him. "How?" He asked in awe looking at Penelope and Emily.

"Allie told us you run track; and from what we've heard you're pretty good," Penelope said.

Ethan smiled as he admired the new red track shoes. "Thank you so much."

Emily and Alex started cleaning up the wrapping paper and bows that by that point were all over the living room floor. "There's one last gift for you guys to share. So you have to close your eyes and be very quite," Penelope instructed.

They all followed her instructions creating a semi circle in front of the tree. They couldn't began to figure out what the last present could be. There was the sound of walking and then a door being opened. "You can open your eyes now," Emily told them.

Sitting in front of them was a tiny black ball of fluff that looked up at them with curious eyes. "Can I pet it?" Emma asked.

"Just be gentle," Alex reminded her.

Emma held her hand out to the kitten before gently petting him. "What are you guys going to name him?" Penelope asked.

"Fluffy," Emma suggested.

Mattie and Jo shared a look with Declan as the mentally agreed the kitten wouldn't be named Fluffy. "How about Sergio?" Declan asked.

"I'm actually reading a book right now that has a knight in it named Sergio," Ethan added.

"Do you all agree?" Emily asked.

All the kids nodded before turning their attention to Sergio as they took turns petting him.

:::::::

Breakfast had been eaten, gifts had been played with, and now they were getting ready to go to Dave's. "What's the dress code for this dinner?" Ethan asked Declan as they walked down the hall to their room.

"Dressy/Casual; not suit and tie dressy, but no jeans," Declan told him.

"Who's all going to be there anyway?"

"Grandpa Dave, Aunt Erin, and her kids. That's pretty much it. Lillian's boyfriend might be there; I'm not sure," Declan told him.

Ethan hesitated before asking the question he had been wondering about since his mom had told him about this dinner. "How come we go and no one else from the team does?"

Declan bit his lip. "I'm not really sure. The rest of the team usually go to see their families during Christmas, and Mom and Mama really don't have family so we go to Grandpa's."

"I didn't know that," Ethan admitted. He'd never heard them mention their families, but that didn't mean they didn't have any.

"Mama has step-brothers but they live in California, and aren't on the best terms. And Mom has the Ambassador, but the last time she saw her-" Declan paused. "Let's just say it didn't end well and they haven't spoken since. What about you guys?"

"I have an uncle and grandfather, but Mom doesn't really talk to them. Like not at all."

Declan gave a sad smile. "That's why we go to Grandpa Dave's and Aunt Erin's; they're our family."

:::::::

Ethan found himself sitting between Ava, Erin's middle daughter, and Declan in Dave's living room. They'd already had more than enough food; Ethan didn't know how Dave did it in one day. "I remember when I first met the twins," Dave started.

"It was a disaster," Emily said shaking her head at the memory.

"It couldn't have been that bad," Alex said.

Emily quirked an eyebrow as a challenge. "Just wait."

"It was a Christmas function. Erin forced Jason and I to go-"

"I didn't force you," Erin defended.

"Either way we were working the Ambassador's security detail. The twins were about three at the time. So here I am wanting to be anywhere but where I am, but I still have a job to do. It was still relatively early in the night, and not many people were there yet. Then all the sudden there's a commotion in the middle of the room and the Ambassador starts yelling. Naturally I run to the commotion grabbing for my gun, before I could get it out someone ran into me. I look down and my brand new, very expensive, shoes are covered in jelly. Sitting at my feet is Jo, her face and hands covered in peanut butter and jelly. Not far behind her is Mattie who is just about the same in nothing but tights and dress shoes. Running behind them was a very frazzled Emily with Mattie's dress."

"I didn't want her to get peanut butter and jelly all over it, but they ran off when I tried to clean them up," Emily added.

Dave picked up where he left off. "By this point I see there is no threat, except maybe to Emily as the Ambassador is giving her an earful. Once the girls were cleaned up I ended up spending most of the night with them and Emily. I retired shortly after that."

"I do, once again, apologize about your shoes," Jo stated.

"Are we the reason you retired?" Mattie asked with a smirk.

Dave laughed. "No."

Ethan decided that right in that moment that he loved having a family and he could definitely get use to it. He couldn't wait to see what the next year held in store for them.

:::::::

AN: So this is the end, but don't worry New Years with the Prentisses should hopefully be up in a few days where the adventure continues.