A/N: As you'll soon be able to tell, I've been in a very Christmasy mood lately…so I guess this is what happened. Here's a purely fluffy winter night in the Grace home. Post Giant War, obviously. Enjoy!
It was a quiet night. The snow storm had sent everyone in the neighborhood scurrying back into their warm homes to hide.
The day, however, had started off quite the opposite. Jason and Piper had been awoken to the soft pounding of little feet down the hallway, followed by excited squeals. They had both smiled at each other, knowing exactly what had happened.
Before either of them had a chance to even sit up, two little girls had pounced on their bed with a chorus of "Wake up!" and "It's snowing!"
Chuckling, Jason pulled his oldest daughter to his chest and pushed a lock of hair out of her beautiful, wonder-filled eyes.
"Come on, Daddy!" she had exclaimed, pulling out of his grasp and heading towards the doorway, her younger sister in tow. They were in the coat closet within seconds, pulling out mittens and scarves.
Piper laughed and leaned her head on Jason's shoulder, who pressed a kiss to her cheek gently.
"I guess we should go help them before Emma tries to shove a mitten on Kate's head," Piper muttered into his side.
Jason just laughed, throwing the covers off of his legs and going to join his daughters before any fatal mitten-attacks could occur.
The day had been filled with chicken noodle soup, snowball fights, red noses, and even a few incidents with the snow shovel-don't ask- but before they knew it, night had crept up on the little family.
"Come on, Miss Emma!" Piper called from the bathroom. Sighing, Emma put down her candy cane and hopped off of the couch. Jason watched her trudge away amusedly from the kitchen as he rinsed out a bowl. Shaking his head, he placed the bowl in the drying rack and stepped into the living room.
Kate appeared in the doorway with wet hair, clutching her plush Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to her chest. He would never admit it, but Jason's heart melted at the sight of his little girl in her blue snowman onesie.
Kate giggled as he scooped her up into his arms and sat down on the sofa, wrapping them in a warm blanket.
For a few minutes, they just stared at the twinkling Christmas tree. It was adorned in shiny, red spheres, candy canes in every color of the rainbow, and of course, the two tiny footprints imprinted in plaster strung up near the front. At the top sat a porcelain angel, the colorful fairy lights reflecting off of her face. A fire roared in the fireplace and "Silent Night" played faintly from the radio.
Never in his life would Jason have imagined he could be this happy, here with his family. It was times like these that he couldn't even remember what is was like to feel afraid or sad like he had as a teenager, during the Giant War. Maybe things do get better after all, he thought as he stroked Kate's soft blonde hair.
Just as Kate's eyes were beginning to droop, Emma pranced into the room wrapped only a towel. At the sight of her wild sister, Kate jumped up and immediately went to stand by her.
"Emma, for God's sake, let me put your pajamas on!" Piper exclaimed exasperatedly as she walked into the room, a reindeer onesie that matched Kate's folded in her arms.
Emma ignored her petulantly and went over the tree to pluck a candy cane off of one of the lower branches.
Piper sighed and put her hands on her hips. "I guess you won't be wanting any hot chocolate, then."
At this, Emma looked up, a candy cane sticking out the side of her mouth. "Hat Choflate?" she mumbled past the candy.
"Mmm hmm. Only good little girls get some. I suppose I'll just be making hot chocolate for three tonight."
Emma ripped the candy cane out of her mouth and Kate giggled. "But I am a good girl, Mommy! I promise!"
With an exaggerated sigh, Piper shrugged. "But you won't let your Mommy put your jamies on you. That's what good little girls do."
Shaking her head furiously, the little brunette rushed up to her mother and tugged at the pajamas in her arms. "Yes I will. We can do it right now."
With a sly smile in Jason's direction, Piper lifted her rebellious daughter into her arms and carried her back into the bathroom.
She sat Emma down on the toilet, pulling the towel off of her and hanging it back on the rod. Emma shivered dramatically and pulled her legs to her chest.
Piper rolled her eyes and held the holes for the feet of the onesie out to the little girl. Emma slipped her feet in hastily as her mother stuck her arms through the sleeves. Zipping it up, Piper smoothed Emma's hair down.
"Now isn't that better?" she asked.
Barely giving Piper time to turn off the bathroom light, Emma nodded and tugged her down the hall. The smell of warm cocoa immediately filled the daughter of Aphrodite's nostrils and she smiled.
When they stepped into the living room, they were met by a grinning Jason juggling steaming mugs and an eager Kate tugging at his sleeves.
"I want some, Daddy!" she complained, staring up at Jason with her big eyes.
Piper grinned back and took two mugs from him, gesturing towards the sofa.
The family sat there in front of the fire, sipping cocoa and watching the snow fall furiously out the window, until little eyes began to droop and yawns became more frequent.
Finally, they scooped up their little girls-Jason holding Emma, Piper with Kate-and carried them down the hall.
After the two girls were tucked in, Piper placed a kiss on each of their foreheads and Jason pushed their hair out of their faces gently.
They returned to their own bedroom and crawled into bed tiredly, but contentedly. As the snow continued to fall soundlessly, only two voices could be heard in the silence.
"Goodnight, Superman."
"Goodnight, Beauty Queen."
And all was well.
A/N: Yeah, I know I stole a quote from Harry Potter. I just couldn't help myself, you know? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and please leave me some feedback!
PLEASE READ: So I posted a really short one-shot called "Please Don't Leave Me" about Piper getting pregnant and telling Jason and all that, and I'm not sure if I should add onto it or not. I wouldn't mind making it into a multi-chapter fic, but I'm not sure if anyone would want to read it. If you could, just take a look at that and tell me what you think? Thanks!