‘thoughts’

Telepathic speech

'Animal speech'

Humming as he helped baste his mother’s buns in the pan before putting them back into the oven for another five minutes, Jared smiled as he listened to his mom and sister talk about things. It always amused him how much they could gossip about things as if they hadn’t just spent three hours the previous night doing the same thing. He finished just as he felt his cell phone buzz in his jeans and pulled it out and floated it to his ear. “Hey! Merry Christmas!” he said in greeting while putting the buns into the oven.

“Hey yourself. How’s your mom?” Jensen asked over the other line and Jared grinned.

“She’s fine. She’s finishing up our turkey as we speak and I just put the buns back into the oven for their glaze,” Jared replied before winking at his mom when she glanced at him. “Jensen says hey,” he explained.

“Jensen better come and visit soon or I’ll whip him with this towel! And Jeff as well!” Sherri retorted and Jared grinned as Jensen laughed.

“Yes ma’am,” Jensen said and Jared repeated it, which got a giggle from Megan and his mom before they returned to their cooking. “So are we still on for doing that thing?” Jensen asked idly and Jared knew that it was what had been on Jensen’s mind the whole time.

“Yea, so far as I know. Eliza is going to pick up Jeff before coming here, so if you want, you can come over and then she won’t have to make another trip. Phil’s going to meet us there and get us inside since he knows the place best,” Jared answered before grinning at his questioning mother. “Hold on,” he said to Jensen before covering the mouthpiece. “We’re going to sneak over to Eden at about two in the morning and set up Christmas for Evie,” he told them. “She doesn’t have any decorations and none of her family’s going to be able to be with her for Christmas, so we’re doing this for her,” he added and smiled as Sherri’s eyes became soft with sympathy.

“You better take her some of our treats, boy! Or I’m going to whip you good!” she threatened her son and wiped at her eyes as she turned back to the turkey.

Jared grinned widely. He loved his momma. “Ok, I’m back…momma was threatening me to take some of our candies and such. So what’d you get Evie?” he said as he walked out of the kitchen to talk in private with his boyfriend.

“This really soft blanket. It’s dark green and has blue and purple wavy stripes in it. What about you?” Jensen answered and Jared could hear him shifting in the background and knew he was in his bed.

“I got her some hair jewelry. Kathy said she loves sparkly hair jewelry, so I got some hair clips for her. Do you know what Jeff got her?” Jared asked as he went onto the back porch and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night for Christmas Eve and he was kinda glad. He had to remember to wear his thick coat for their trip though…the weather channel had said it was snowing heavily in the Smokies.

“I think he got her some CDs. He told me that he went onto her Amazon dot com wish list,” Jensen responded and chuckled.

“Smart boy…” Jared growled and grinned as Jensen laughed softly. “So what’d you get me?” he asked sweetly as he leaned against the porch pillar.

“Nothing I’ll tell you now. You’ll get it later,” Jensen growled and Jared snickered.

“Fine, be that way.” Jared sighed and Jensen snorted at him. “So I’ll see you at one or so?” he asked as he heard his mom call.

“Yea. Eliza said she’d send a call to us just before picking us up. She said that we’re also supposed to make sure we have some decorations for her tree. What’d you get?” Jensen said and Jared bit his lip.

“I got those old fashioned glass ornaments and those old bubbly lights…you remember those?” Jared inquired as he thought back on his youth when he’d just stare at those lights for hours.

“Yea, I do…nice choice. I know she likes those,” Jensen remarked and Jared couldn’t help the grin at the confirmation. “Ok, now *my* mom is calling! I’ll see you around one!” he stated and Jared smiled.

“Yea definitely. Merry Christmas…I…I love you,” Jared answered hesitantly. They didn’t express their feelings often, but the holidays brought it out in him all the time.

“Yea…um…love you too,” Jensen responded tentatively and Jared grinned, imagining Jensen rubbing the back of his neck like he would when having to admit to such feelings. “See you.”

“Later man. Drive safe,” Jared returned and smiled as they hung up. Their plan had to work…he wanted her face to light up with happiness.

“Jared honey? Everything set?”

Looking over his shoulder at his mom, Jared smiled even more. “Yea momma…everything’s good. I think she’s going to really like it,” he answered her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders when she came up to his side.

“She’s real special to you, isn’t she?” Sherri asked as she stared out over the backyard and leaned into her youngest son.

“Yea…she’s not just the Chosen One to us. She’s…” Letting out a soft sigh, Jared looked up at the sky again. “She’s like Jensen and Jeff to me.”

“And Jensen and Jeff? How do they feel?” Sherri inquired as she looked up at her son’s face.

“The same. We all feel a strong connection with her as her Guardians. But we also feel things that can grow if we try. It’s hard being away from her…it’s like I’m aching from being apart from her, almost like I ache when I’m away from Jeff and Jensen for too long,” Jared explained and looked down at his mother.

“A real soul bond, hmm? It’s about time you three got that last piece. We all were wondering if maybe Sati was crazy when she’d said that,” Sherri murmured as she looked back out. She sighed and smiled as she shook her head. “Well, time to eat anyways…git in here and clean up!” she ordered as she went back inside.

“Yes ma’am!” Jared called back and looked up at the stars for a bit before turning to go inside. Time flew for him as he ate, opened presents, and just hung out with his family before going to Midnight Mass. Soon, it was about one and they drove into their driveway and he saw Jensen’s truck. Getting out, he bounded over to his lover who was leaning against it and kissed Jensen deeply as they hugged. They parted when Megan whistled and Jared blushed a bit as he stepped back a bit, but still kept his hand laced with Jensen’s.

They all went inside after Christmas greetings and hugs were shared all around. Jensen and Jared then went into Jared’s room as the rest of the Padalecki clan got ready for bed. Jensen pulled out a present and grinned at Jared’s delighted look. “Thought, since it’s Christmas already, that I can give this to you,” he explained gruffly and grunted as Jared hugged him enthusiastically before shoving a present at him.

“Totally agree and we’ve got some time,” Jared responded before plopping onto his bed and opening the present eagerly, to Jensen’s amusement. He smiled up at his lover as Jensen sat down next to him on the bed and opened his present a bit more carefully. Opening the box, Jared crowed as he pulled out the latest football game. “Dude!! I love you! And I’m so wiping your ass with this!” he cried and Jensen laughed.

“Yea, yea, we’ll see,” Jensen retorted before opening his own box. He laughed as he pulled out a digital recording camera, one of the more expensive professional kinds. “Jared! This…this!!” He stopped, speechless as he pulled it out of its box and looked it over. He looked over at Jared and smiled brilliantly before leaning in and kissing Jared deeply.

“I have a request though,” Jared murmured into Jensen’s mouth as he put aside his present.

“S’at?” Jensen purred as he licked at Jared’s mouth.

“The first thing you record is you, me, and Jeff…” Jared growled and Jensen laughed as he leaned back.

“You want my first recording debut to be gay porn?” he asked teasingly and Jared grinned wickedly.

“Damn straight,” he responded before leaning in for another hungry kiss. But, before they could get hot and heavy, they both jerked as something pinged them.

Guys, I know you are just sooo wanting to get at it, but I’m coming by in a couple of minutes. Be ready to go. Oh, and Jeff says to save him some of that…wait, I don’t even want to know…

Jensen and Jared both laughed at Eliza’s disgust and helped each other up and out of Jared’s room. Sherri kissed them both on the cheek and handed Jared a large container that was most likely holding enough treats to feed five people instead of one. Jared went to the garage as Jensen went to his truck and they grabbed their own bundles and met outside of Jared’s house just as Eliza and Jeff appeared. Jensen and Jared hugged Eliza before kissing Jeff in greeting and wishing each other Merry Christmas before Eliza grabbed their hands. “All right! Now remember…not a sound! I’ve already told Philip that we’re coming and he’s my link to where we’re meeting!” she ordered and they nodded before preparing to go. Their world became dark and then light again and they looked around to find themselves in Eden.

“Eliza, you’re a doll,” Jensen declared and grinned at her as they parted.

“Hey! There you are!” Phil stage whispered as he came over and grinned at them. They found that they were at the bottom of Evie’s stairs and got to work as soon as they finished greeting Phil. Jensen and Jared started to put lights up along the banister of the stairs and all around the porch as the other three went into the house and started decorating and setting out the food in there. They were done in an hour and, thanks to Jensen keeping Evie asleep, were able to leave without disturbing her. The final gift from them was when Phil brought over a cat carrier from his house and let three cats out. Eliza had set up their kitty pans and food in the nook by the washer and dryer and Jared, Jensen, and Jeff couldn’t help but play with them a bit before they left. The three cats, Dusty, Jessie, and Angel, all went towards the guest room then and curled up around their mistress, who was sleeping peacefully with soft Christmas music playing in the background.

Jared found himself watching her sleep along with his lovers for a while as Eliza and Phil finished putting the presents out under the tree. He longed to go and curl up with her and knew his lovers felt the same, but they didn’t. Instead, they turned and left with Phil and Eliza, making sure that the timers would turn the lights on properly before leaving. At the bottom of the stairs, they all stared up at Evie’s house for a minute, then let Eliza take them back to their places as Phil went to take the Path to where he was going. Jeff promised to call later to check on when they were getting together and they got a couple of kisses in before Eliza huffed and made them part. Jensen and Jared grinned at each other before going to Jared’s bedroom and curling up together. It was too late for Jensen to drive back and he was exhausted, so they settled for sleeping.

A few hours later, Jensen drove off for home and Jared returned to his family for the present opening. But just as he got to the living room, his cell phone vibrated. Pulling it out, he smiled broadly as he saw the text.

You made me cry…thank you. Merry Christmas, Mr. Padalecki.

TBC