#thank you to britton bean for the inspo

[sweaterkittensahoy]

For RWRB, their first Christmas together please 🥰

When asked ten seconds after it happens, Alex will declare that he's pleased that David has carried the family tradition of making an ass of himself at a major event.

Henry will squeeze Alex's hand so hard that Alex will have to hide a wince, and in bed that night, Henry will apologize as he kisses Alex's knuckles and fingertips and the center of his palm.

"It's not supposed to be fun to make a mistake at an event," Henry murmurs as he nuzzles Alex's wrist.

"Oh, baby," Alex breathes out, curling his hand over Henry's jaw to lead him up for a kiss. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think about it."

"It's okay," Henry says, and he's smiling as he dips in and kisses Alex. "It was perfect, really, after the shock wore off. That I could--" He breathes in slowly and stares at Alex with tears in his eyes. "That I could make an error in public like that and it was...funny. And fine. And no one pulled me aside to lecture me on propriety."

Alex has to blink away his own tears. He pulls Henry into a tight hug. "Is it safe now to tell you that Nora's been watching everyone react on social media, and everyone loves David?"

Henry chuckles. It's al little damp on the edges. He wipes his eyes against Alex's shoulder, and then settles to one side, his head still on Alex's shoulder. "Show me the highlights," he says.

"You sure?" Alex asks, although he's already reaching for his phone. Henry nods, and Alex goes to his text thread with Nora. The last several messages are just links to gifs and videos of the moment David decided he absolutely would NOT continue to wear his Christmas sweater as part of the White House festivities.

In the videos, he bites the bottom edge of it to try and pull it off, loses his balance and goes rolling under one of the Christmas trees. Which wobbles, stills, and then wobbles again as a loud growl comes from under the branches.

And then the tree goes crashing down. And, a few seconds later, David emerges from the mess, unscathed and naked, shaking the sweater in his mouth like he's defeated it.

Henry giggles, then laughs. Alex starts reading him people's responses: 'David did nothing wrong.' / 'Me after family dinner on Christmas Eve.' / 'Same energy as whipping off your bra after work.'

There are several gif sets as well, showing the side-by-side of the tree going down and the cake toppling almost two years ago at Phillip's wedding.

"How do they even have those?" Henry asks, gasping for breath as he wipes tears of laughter off his face.

"Christmas miracle," Alex replies, and he laughs when David pops up from the foot of the bed and yips at them to be quiet. "Oh, I'm sorry, is the destructor trying to sleep?"

David wags his tail, then bounces up the bed, jumping up on Henry to lick his face.

"I can't say it's something I thought would become a family tradition," Henry says as he pets David and leans over to kiss Alex's shoulder. "But it feels perfect, somehow."

Alex beams and scratches David behind the ears. "Yeah," he agrees. "It does."