Christmases were always spent at the Snyder Farm, a tradition Luke wouldn't change for the world. This year was no different. He had spent Christmas Eve at his mother's house so that he could bake cookies and help them track Santa on Christmas Even, and open stockings and a few presents with the kids on Christmas morning. They all knew, though, that the real presents and festivities would came later that evening. He arrived at the farm house shortly after eleven o'clock with bags in each hand filled with gifts, greeting Emma with a kiss before placing the presents under the tree. The next few hours were spent helping Emma to cook and Holden to prepare the dining table. Around 2pm everyone else began to arrive and by three they had a full house.

Lily came by first with the kids. Carly, Jack, Parker and Sage were next, sharing the usual hellos and adding their own gifts to the growing pile in the living room. Meg and Eliza, who had spent the morning with Paul and Emily, were next. Meg explained that Paul and Emily were having Christmas dinner with Barbara, Henry, Will, Gwen, Casey and Allison, otherwise they would have come as well. She mentioned that Noah would be there, too, but Luke tried to act as if he hadn't heard. Aaron and his girlfriend, Janie, were both present, and Lucinda made her grand entrance a short while later. Katie and Jacob were the last to arrive and were only staying for gifts before having dinner with the Hugheses.

Opening presents with the Snyders was truly an event. Everyone was given one present and they opened them in order of youngest to oldest, for the most part. The adults usually teased each other over who was older than the others, leading them to simply go around the room in no particular order once the kids had all opened something. The adults, as always, had fewer gifts than the children, so by four thirty they were down to just the kids. Luke sat on the arm of the couch beside Holden and Jack, laughing as Ethan opened his gift from Carly and Jack; a story book that read aloud and even sang when necessary as you flipped the pages. Lily gave a mock shudder at the rather obnoxious gift that Ethan couldn't stop turning the pages on, earning laughs from everyone, especially Jack and Carly.

Dinner started promptly at five o'clock. Katie and Jacob said their goodbyes and Luke helped Katie to the car, carrying the bag with all of Jacob's many gifts. Back inside everyone settled into their seats, which took some time as there was no real assigned order, but they worked it out with little problem. For once, everyone seemed to be okay with each other. Emma led them in grace before the chaos ensued, food passing every which way.

It was delicious, though that was to be expected from anything cooked by Emma Snyder.

"Oh, I hope Reid enjoys all of this," Emma was saying later as she helped Luke to pack some left overs into plastic containers. Luke smiled.

"He'll love it, grandma," he said affectionately, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "You know he loves your cooking."

Emma blushed. "Oh," she said happily, unable to hide how flattered she was. Luke laughed. After years of being complimented on her cooking, Emma was still modest. He couldn't help but admire that about her.

Shortly before seven Luke was saying his own goodbyes, leftovers and presents stored in a large reusable shopping bag.

Ethan was first, practically jumping into Luke's arms and causing the blond to let out a soft "umpf!" at the sudden weight, but he laughed it off, holding Ethan with ease.

"Did you have a good Christmas?"

"Yes!" shouted Ethan, showing off the action figure in his hand. Luke laughed, setting him down before turning to hug Faith and Natalie, wishing them both a Merry Christmas and reminding all three to behave for mom and dad.

"Which means playing with your loudest new toys at 7 o'clock in the morning is probably not a good idea," he said with a wink.

He made the rounds, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and sharing a few hugs and kisses before finally returning to the kitchen to say goodbye to his parents.

"Give Reid our best," Lily said, kissing her son on the cheek.

"I will, mom," smiled Luke as Holden moved in for a hug.

"Merry Christmas, son," he said proudly. Luke held him a moment longer.

"Merry Christmas, dad," said Luke, beaming at his parents. They were still separated, officially, but they stood close to each other as they watched him go.

His flight left at 7:30. One of the perks of having his own jet was that he didn't arrive until 7:15 but was still in the air by 7:34. The flight was just over two hours long and Luke drove himself again. He was at Reid's just after 10pm.

It was late, but Luke was running on adrenaline and plenty of sweets at this point. Carefully he unpacked all of the food, sticking some in the oven, some in the microwave, and by 10:30 he had a pretty impressive meal set up for them on the back patio. He loved that Dallas was still warm at night, even in December.

As they ate Luke talked about Christmas at the farm, enthusiastically recounting the opening of presents and having dinner with the entire family. Reid smiled, genuinely smiled, as he listened. He couldn't help but think of how wonderful it all sounded.

"Did you work today?" asked Luke, biting into another small chunk of honey glazed ham.

"Yeah," Reid nodded. "I worked the ER, actually, for most of the day. Everyone wants Christmas off, I had nothing better to do, so I figured I might as well cover for them," he shrugged, scooping up a mix of mashed potatoes and yams in one bite. Luke smiled at him from across the table, shaking his head a little. Reid was acting nonchalant, like working today had been no big deal and simply a way to fill his time. While Luke didn't doubt that was true on some level, he also knew Reid well enough by now to know that Reid had actually agreed to cover the shifts because he was a good person and wanted his colleagues to be able to enjoy Christmas with their families. He knew Reid would never admit that this was a part of his motive, but just knowing it himself was good enough.

Luke rushed them through the end of dinner, insisting that they could have dessert later, but that they had to exchange presents before midnight, that way it was still on Christmas. Reid rolled his eyes at the sentimentality of it all, but agreed.

They left their plates outside thanks to Luke's hurry, but Reid didn't mind. He was smiling at Luke from the living room, endlessly amused by how into Christmas he was.

Luke rummaged through his bag before joining Reid on the couch, sitting with one leg folded beneath him, a small package wrapped in simple brown paper with a white ribbon wrapped around it laying in his lap.

"Okay, I sort of have two things," Luke began, ignoring Reid as he sighed into the couch. "Here." Luke held out a small present that he pulled from his pocket, wrapped in multiple layers of bright blue and white snowflake wrapping paper. Reid laughed a bit as he tore through yet another layer before finally getting to the small gift underneath.

"Ear plugs?" he asked curiously. Luke smirked, leaning forward and tapping the annoying device literally attached to Reid at the hip. Reid looked down, saw the pager, and actually laughed.

"If you can't hear it, it can't drag you away," Luke teased. Reid leaned forward, filling the small space between them and kissing Luke lightly on the mouth.

"Sounds good to me," he grinned.

"Alright, you next," said Luke eagerly.

"What? No, you told me two gifts, I'm too anxious now. You can't hold out on me like that," teased Reid dryly. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said with a mock groan, smiling as he handed the larger and somewhat heavy gift to Reid. He played with it in his hands, testing the weight and giving Luke curious looks. "Just open it!" Luke laughed. Finally Reid tore through the paper.

Before he'd even pulled all of the paper away, Reid paused and was smiling. He glanced up at Luke, shaking his head with a grin before removing the paper completely. He turned the book over in his hands, reading the back quickly before looking at the cover again. It read, "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story."

"I remember you said you attended one of his lectures during school," explained Luke. "I found the book completely by accident but it immediately made me think of you."

Reid looked up, his smile stopping Luke from saying anything further.

"It's great. Thank you," said Reid, once again leaning in for a kiss. He dropped the book into his lap, one hand covering it, the other laying gently against Luke's face. They parted and Reid was still smiling at him, though it became a bit more mischievous instantly. "Only you would buy me a book," he teased. Luke turned red and sat back a bit, causing Reid to laugh.

Without being told Reid reached behind him for Luke's present.

"Here," he said almost nervously, holding the gift that appeared to be about the same size as the book in front of him. Luke took it happily, not hesitating a moment before tearing open the cheap wrapping paper. As the gift inside became visible, Luke let out an excited laugh.

The first thing he saw was a simple card. He opened it, giving Reid a quick look, before reading it out loud.

"Luke, I'm sorry that this isn't very creative. Hopefully you like it anyway. Reid."

Luke smiled up at Reid, his brown doe eyes already bathed in admiration. He continued to pull off the wrapping paper, revealing the rest of the gift inside.

It was a dark brown leather bound journal. Along with it came two matching pens, two pencils, an eraser, and brown and tan sticky notes. Luke turned them over in his hands, long fingers lightly trailing over the binding, the individual pens and pencil, over the elastic band that held the journal closed. Luke bit his lip, looking up at Reid.

"It's perfect," he breathed, eyes still looking over his gift.

"Really?" questioned Reid, not seeming convinced.

"Of course it is," smiled Luke, falling forward and kissing Reid. He held the journal set to his chest, other hand resting behind Reid's neck to hold them close. When Reid realized that Luke had a little more than just a simple kiss in mind, he reached forward, hands braced against Luke's hips to hold them steady.

Next thing he knew, Luke was moving forward, still kissing him lazily on the mouth while moving their presents on the coffee table. He settled himself in Reid's lap, who welcomed him happily, tugging him forward as hands moved over the fabric of his shirt before slipping underneath. It wasn't long before they were making their way to the bedroom, giving each other their best gifts yet.

Reid hadn't had a chance to shower after work, rushing home to meet Luke, so before bed he insisted on cleaning up. He showered while Luke finished bringing in their dishes from their earlier dinner and collected up the discarded wrapping paper from the living room. Twenty minutes later Reid wandered quietly in the main part of the house, clad only in scrub bottoms, to find Luke sitting at the kitchen table, his back turned to Reid.

Reid stopped, a sappy smile falling onto his lips.

Luke was writing in the journal.

Hell, maybe he hadn't done such a bad job after all.