It might be the Christmas season, but this is one day Adam takes out of his holiday festivities to celebrate the birth of someone he finds far more special than Christ--however sacrilegious that might sound.

Adam adhered to nearly every Christmas tradition, from mistletoe to caroling to tons of greenery and lights strewn around his house and yard, but however much he adored his family and friends, the tediousness of sitting down and addressing envelopes and putting stamps on them all always kept him from getting into the habit of sending cards.

Candy canes are, Adam decides, the most ridiculous decorations to hang on Christmas trees considering that every time he passes the tree he snags one and now, halfway through the month, most of the edible decorations are gone.

It amused him how many of the "old fashioned" Christmas traditions people clung to were relatively recent inventions, but Adam didn't let that stop him from throwing himself into the spirit of it all anyway and demanding they be followed.

All the lights in the house were out save for those on the Christmas tree, casting flickering shadows on the wall they danced on and off, while Adam stared at them, hypnotized, and wondered if things would ever get back to how they'd been.

Hanging stockings hadn't been a tradition he'd worried about last year, but knowing he was going to get to have his grandchildren with him this year had Adam scouring stores for the perfect stocking stuffers to make young boys smile.

Fully aware that he was responsible for dampening spirits, Adam was determined to drag everyone into the holiday mood well before Christmas arrived, no matter what it took.

While there had been no Santa Claus in Adam's youth, he remembered fondly the subversive figure of Father Christmas showing up occasionally to rail against the Puritan banishment of celebrating Christmas that had haunted his childhood.

There were plenty of sparkly things tied up in bows under the tree that were meant to spoil her, but the biggest gift Adam wanted to give Claire was a life free of the loneliness that had haunted his.

Looking around the flat that had seemed so spacious before they started hanging greenery and lights but was now starting to resemble some parody of what Santa's living room might look like, Adam was forced to admit it was possible he and Peter had gone a bit--just a bit, mind you--overboard with the decorations.