Christmas had, Carlos thought, always been one of those holidays where he'd felt reminded that his parents had had too many of them. Before he was disowned they hadn't been bad, but the easiest time for the shyest Sanchez to feel lost in the shuffle, between mass and dinners and presents. Then, of course he'd been disowned and as much as it hadn't been his favorite time, it quickly became his least favorite. It was empty, he thought; the Kagans had tried, but Christmas wasn't really their thing.

Carlos had learned quickly to aggressively treat it as any other day, and he hadn't considered doing any differently now that he and Gael were dating. Gael would want the time with his family, after all, and even if Carlos didn't have a dislike of Christmas, he didn't expect that theirs was the kind of relationship that involved holidays.

His eyes narrowed a bit, then, when he smelled the scent of holiday dinner as he approached his rooms and he frowned a bit as he unlocked the door and looked at the rather transformed apartment. It would be Gael, because who else would?

"Gael?" He said out loud as he closed the door. "Are you here, or am I supposed to think that Santa Claus made a late visit?"