Chapter Six

It's Christmas Eve at last.

The presents are neatly wrapped—Izo's handiwork—and sitting beneath the tree, waiting to be opened in the morning.

The stockings are filled to the brim with all sorts of delicious treats and goodies.

Thatch's special Santa cookies and milk have been eaten—Newgate wouldn't be at all upset if he never saw another cookie again in his life.

Everything is done and accounted for, and yet sleep eluded Edward Newgate as he lay in his enormous bed and stared up at the darkened ceiling. There's an anxious churn in his stomach that an overstuffing of Thatch's cookies cannot be blamed for entirely. Rolling onto his side, Newgate closed his eyes only to open them again and roll back over to stare blankly at the ceiling once more. His gaze flicked over to the alarm clock on his nightstand.

1:36 AM.

Edward Newgate released a frustrated sigh.

Why can't he sleep? He's far too old to have butterflies in his stomach over Christmas, isn't he? Which meant there had to be another reason. His mind wandered to his older, not-so-legally adopted sons and looked forward to seeing them all again. Even though he just saw them several hours ago. From there, Newgate's mind turned to his two adopted sons.

Ace and Luffy…

That must be it. Newgate can't sleep because it will be his first ever Christmas with Ace and Luffy. He wanted this to be a good Christmas for the boys which is why he might have gone just a little bit overboard with their gifts. But only a little teeny tiny bit.

And—What was that?

Hearing a soft noise out in the hallway, Newgate eased himself into a sitting position with his ear cocked towards his door.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Sounded like a curious someone was creeping out of their room to sneak a peek at their presents downstairs. Kids will be kids after all. Newgate grinned to himself as he slipped out from beneath his covers to catch the culprit. "Probably Luffy," his mind supplied as he quietly eased his bedroom door open.

Sure enough, it was Luffy out in the hallway.

However, the six-year old didn't appear to be sneaking around at all. Instead, Newgate noticed the child pacing back and forth in front of Ace's partially open bedroom door with his plush's ear firmly clamped between his teeth and his straw hat on his head. When he caught sight of Newgate watching him, Luffy froze in place. Eyes wide and… red?

Luffy had been crying recently.

Concern flooded through him and, in two kick steps, Newgate rushed forward to kneel in front of the smaller boy. "Luffy," Edward Newgate kept his voice quiet. He didn't want to accidentally wake up Ace. "Are you alright? Why are you out in the hall and not in bed?"

Luffy sniffed, teeth clamping down harder on his toy but otherwise did not reply.

The kid's refusal to answer meant he'd have to guess what was wrong, Newgate supposed.

"Are you hurting anywhere? Does your tummy hurt? Are you hungry?"

A head shake. No.

"Alright, let's see, are you having trouble falling asleep?"

A nod. Yes.

Well, they were at least getting somewhere. "Did you have a bad dream, maybe?"

Another nod.

Gently, Newgate pulled the plush out of Luffy's mouth. "Do you want to talk about it, Luffy?"

"No," was the boy's quiet answer.

"I see," Newgate glanced between Luffy and Ace's door. "Were you going to wake Ace up?"

Luffy dug his toe in the carpet. "No, I was gonna get in bed with him 'cause being with Ace always makes me feel safe."

Hesitant at first, but slowly becoming confident, Newgate lay a hand atop Luffy's head and ruffled the sleep tousled locks as he smiled gently at Luffy. Luffy didn't flinch away from him. Happiness spread through Edward Newgate at that. "How about instead of bothering Ace, you and I head into the kitchen for some hot chocolate? Then we can sit on the couch and stare at the Christmas tree while we enjoy our cocoa. Maybe it will help you forget all about your bad dream. Does that sound good to you, Luffy?"

"Mhmh! Yeah!" Luffy eagerly bobbed his head.

"Guararara, okay. Let's go get us some cocoa."

Then, surprised by his own boldness, Newgate stood up with Luffy held securely in his arms. The small boy made a soft sound of surprise since the only person who ever picked him up these days were his older brother. Makino, too, sometimes. It felt…. Nice. Safe. Almost as if it were his papa holding him.

Luffy hugged his plush reindeer as he leaned against Newgate's broad chest, startling Newgate whose steps faltered somewhat on the stairs. The billionaire had not expected Luffy to take to being held by him at all. "Comfy?" Newgate asked, voice soft. He resumed his trek down the long, semi-darkened staircase.

"Yeah," Luffy softly admitted. He tilted his head to look up into Newgate's face. "Are you gonna make Thatch's hot chocolate?"

"No. We'll have to settle for instant cocoa since I'm rather hopeless in the kitchen, gurarara. I hope that's alright with you?"

"Shishishi, it's fine with me! I like all kinds of hot chocolate. Well, except peppermint hot chocolate. It tastes super gross to me, but I like peppermints though. I guess I don't like it mixed in with chocolate. Ah! But I love, love, love whipped cream and marshmallows in my hot chocolate! Can I have some in my cup, please?"

On that Christmas Eve night, Edward Newgate learned three extremely valuable lessons: 1) Luffy is a chatterbox once he gets going and will talk about anything under the sun, 2) one should never take their eyes off Luffy, even for a second, as the boy has a penchant for getting himself into trouble and 3) upset stomachs and hot chocolate do not go well together.

But, in the end, Newgate hardly cared as he reclined on the couch with Luffy stretched out, fast asleep, on his chest with the Christmas tree lights extending their gentle warmth over them. Shifting into a more comfortable position, Newgate closed his eyes while he rubbed soothing circles over Luffy's small back.

This is what he had been missing out on all these years.

An old friend's words of, "I'm a father, Newgate. My life couldn't be any more complete than this," stuck with him as he drifted off to sleep.

-xxx-

"Ace. Ace. Ace? Come on, sleepy head. Time to wake up. It's Christmas morning! Your papa is impatiently waiting—"

"Patiently! I'm patiently waiting!"

Soft giggles greet his ears. "My bad. Your papa is patiently waiting for you to come see what Santa brought you last night."

Warm in his bed, Ace grinned and cracked his eyes open to see his mother's smiling face as she leaned over him. Her gentle hand in his hair.

"Merry Christmas, Ace."

"Merry Christmas, mama!" Ace leaned out of bed to wrap his arms around her neck. Then, as she drew back, he reached a hand out to touch his mother's swelling tummy. "Merry Christmas, little bro!"

"You think the baby's a boy, Ace?" His mother asked him as they walked down the hall, hand in hand. His mother's hands were always so warm.

"I do! And I'm gonna be the best big brother ever!" Ace proclaimed. "Just wait and see, mama!"

His mother laughed, bending down to plant a kiss on top of her son's head. "I'm looking forward to it, Ace. And I know you will be a wonderful big brother."

"Ace! Merry Christmas!"

"Papa!" Ace shouted, gleefully launching into his father's waiting arms.

"Hey, looky here at what Santa's brought you," his father said after squeezing his son tight.

Ace turned to look under the tree. His eyes grew wide at the sight of a brand new shiny black bicycle with a red bow tied about its handlebars. "Oh wow! My own bike!" The six-year old clambered from his father's lap to check out his new bike. "I'll call it 'Striker.' Isn't that a cool name, papa?"

"Hahaha! It's a very cool name, Ace!"

From his perch, Ace glanced at the rest of the presents. "Did Santa bring a present to my baby brother?"

His parents shared amused expressions before his mother answered, "Well, no, because your brother or sister hasn't been born yet."

"Which means, Santa won't know what to bring them just yet."

"Oh." Ace slumped.

"Ah, but that's alright. I got something real special for the baby and you'll be able to see it once your mother opens it," his father indicated a rather large box leaning against the wall behind the tree.

"It's a crib! Oh, Roger, you didn't have to get this so soon. The baby won't be here until May after all," his mother said after removing the wrapping paper, but she teared up anyway as she caressed the box.

"Well, I figured it'd take me forever to set the damn—don't repeat that, Ace—thing up, so I went ahead and bought it. I hope you like it, love."

"I do. I love it. It's perfect, Roger. Everything's perfect," rubbing her abdomen, Rouge smiled lovingly at her husband and son.

Ace grinned back.

His mother was right. Everything was, indeed, perfect and would be even more perfect once his baby brother is born.

Ace blinked. They weren't at home anymore. The Christmas tree is gone, replaced by a cold downpour and drenched gravestones. His father is there beside him gripping his small hand and Ace felt his father's trembling arms as he sobbed heavily. Blinking again, Ace's gaze zeroed in on the rain soaked gravestone ahead of him that bore his beloved mother's name; Rouge D. Gol.

Somewhere behind them, Ace could hear the faded sounds of his new baby brother's sharp cries.

Luffy…?

Ace's eyes snapped open and he shot upward from the pillows, breathing heavily as if he'd just finished running a marathon. Furiously he wiped away the lingering tears, surprised he'd been crying in his sleep. He just hoped no one had heard him. Newgate would no doubt ask, and Ace wasn't inclined to talk to him about it. Adopted parent or not. Luffy, at least, knew better than to pry. Instead his baby brother would offer him his trademark grin and bone crushing hugs. Ace pulled his knees up to rest his forehead atop them. He seriously wouldn't mind one of those hugs right now.

It's been years since he last had that dream. Not since after Ace had come to terms that his and Luffy's father wasn't ever coming back for them. Somewhat. A miniscule fraction of him carried the hope their father will one day come back to get them. But, it's only a small fraction of him and those feelings were only churned up during the holidays. Like now. It's Christmas after all. The time for miracles, right?

Ace huffed in anger, clenching his fists. Screw it. Screw that man. Screw those feelings. Roger D. Gol wasn't ever coming back. End of story. It's just him and Luffy now. Well, it'll be back to just being him and Luffy once Newgate decides he doesn't want them anymore or finds them too much to handle. Or… Ace's eyes narrowed as he recalled the conversation he overheard last week. About that kid Newgate claimed wasn't his. But, what if it was? What then? While at Dadan's, Ace had witnessed firsthand what happened when the adoptive parents are able to conceive a child of their own; they sent the poor bastard back to Dadan's. The kid had been so distraught he killed himself. A kid, a year younger than himself, took his own life rather than face an unsure future.

Not that he ever would even consider offing himself, at least Ace had Luffy and that gave him plenty of purpose to live. He made a promise to his mother he'd be the best big brother in the world and protect Luffy. If Newgate did find out that kid was his by blood and decided to toss them back into the system, then at least he and Luffy had each other. Which is fine with Ace. He had planned for them to leave once he turned eighteen anyway. It wouldn't bother him at all—not even a tiny bit—if Newgate dumped them back into Dadan's care.

Ignoring the twinge in his chest, Ace pulled off the blankets to head across the hall to Luffy's room. He's surprised his little brother hasn't gotten him out of bed yet. Christmas is Luffy's favorite holiday—next to Thanksgiving and Halloween, of course. In Luffy's room, to his horror, Ace doesn't spot Luffy. He checked the bed, throwing back the covers, before heading into the bathroom to check there too. No Luffy. Ace bit his lower lip, thinking. Luffy wouldn't have gone downstairs already without waking him up, would he?

Ace rushed downstairs where he checked the kitchen first, then the dining room, then the pantry after that and finally, Ace peeped into the living room. There he spotted his little brother curled up on Newgate's chest as the older man is stretched out on the couch with his hand wrapped around Luffy's back. For a moment, Ace sees red, but he quickly dispelled it as he shook Luffy awake.

"Luffy? What're you doing sleeping down here with… him?" Ace asked, noticing but completely ignoring a waking Newgate.

Luffy sat up rubbing his eyes as he answered. "I couldn't sleep and Mr. Newgate, he made me some hot chocolate. Then I fell asleep out here."

Pulling Luffy away from Mr. Newgate, Ace frowned into his brother's face. "You should have gotten me instead."

"We didn't want to wake you up, Ace," Newgate said, smothering a yawn. "Luffy told me he had a bad dream and I couldn't sleep anyway, so we just kept each other company for a while before we both fell asleep."

"You had a nightmare, Lu? Then you definitely should've woken me up then. Was it that really bad one again… the one where…?" Ace trailed off when he noticed Newgate listening in on their conversation.

"Yeah. But, it's fine, Ace!" Luffy impatiently assured him. The smaller boy's gaze slid past Ace to the tree, then back to Ace and he suddenly burst out, "Merry Christmas, Ace! Look, look, look! Santa came! He really came! HE BROUGHT YOU THE HAT!"

Forced to cover his ears from Luffy's excited shouts, Ace couldn't help but grin as he watched Luffy dance all over the living room with Ace's gift from Santa clutched tight to his chest. Sure enough, it was the exact same orange cowboy hat Ace had been eyeing last year. Luffy excitedly plopped it down onto Ace's head. "Wow! You look so awesome Ace! Now we've both got cool hats!"

Ace knocked back Luffy's straw hat to affectionately ruffle his little brother's hair. "Heh, I guess we do."

Without meaning to, Ace met Newgate's warm gaze only to quickly glance away, swallowing back the lump forming in his throat.

"This is from Santa to you, Luffy." Newgate told the youngest brother, effectively catching Luffy's attention.

Delight spread across Luffy's face as Newgate placed a model pirate ship painted black and red complete with its own miniature pirate figurines for Luffy to play with. Ecstatically, inspected each and every part of the ship and the figurines. "Oh wow! This is awesome!" Luffy exclaimed, fiddling with the sails. He paused, looking up at Ace. "But, I didn't ask Santa to bring me anything since I already got my wish this year super early."

Ace crouched down beside his little brother, his new hat dangling by its string down his back. "That's true, I guess, but he still needed to leave something under the tree for you," seeing Luffy's doubtful expression, Ace quickly added, "Think of it this way, Lu. Santa Claus brought you a second gift because your first Christmas wish, that we'd be adopted together, was incredibly unselfish."

"Really? He brought me this 'cause I was unshellfish?"

"Unselfish," Ace corrected his little brother, face crinkling into a smile as he laughed. "That's right, Luffy."

"How'd he know I like pirates so much 'cause I didn't tell him about it in my letter," Luffy questioned, absently playing with the pirate captain figurine between his hands. "Is it 'cause of his mystery magic?"

"Yep. He's Santa Claus, Luffy, I think he knows everything."

"Santa's so awesome!" Luffy cheered. "Ah, but not as cool as Ace 'cause Ace is the coolest ever!"

"Gurarara!" Newgate laughed.

A blush creeped across Ace's face and the pre-teen playfully shoved his younger brother. "Quit saying sappy stuff like that, Luffy."

"But, it's true!"

Ignoring his older brother's further protests, Luffy started to play with his pirate ship, effectively tuning Ace out. Seeing that his little brother was ignoring him, Ace shook his head then sat back to watch Luffy play with his 'Santa' gift. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning his torso, Ace glanced behind him to see Newgate grinning at him like a fool. A prideful fool. No. Like a prideful, fatherly fool.

Bristling, Ace dismissed such thoughts.

"Why're you grinning like that?" Ace asked, scowling. "It's kind of creepy, just so you know, old man."

"No reason," Newgate answered, still grinning despite Ace's scowl directed his way.

"Okay then…" Ace shook his head, then turned towards Luffy as his younger brother pulled on his arm, begging for him to play with him. As they played, Ace subtly glanced over at Newgate. The old man's eyes were closed as he leaned back into the couch, arms crossed and with what can only be described as a fond smile on his face.

-to be continued-

Hey guys! Happy belated Christmas and New Years! I hope everyone's new year is off to a good start. I know mine is. I'm terribly sorry I haven't updated in a while and I really wanted to, especially this chapter for Christmas. I don't know why exactly, but this chapter was a struggle to write out. It's not even that boring of a chapter either. I'd have one idea, scrape it, have another idea, only to scrape it too. I must have written and deleted and rewritten this chapter more than seven times—honestly, I lost count after the fourth delete. This is the end result, and I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. I hope you guys find this chapter to be worth the wait.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews!

Until chapter seven,

Runa