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Title: Thankful
Author: Jules
Part: 1/1
Pairing: TimberNick
Rating: PG
Warning: Slash warning. Bigroupal Warning
Disclaimer: Fiction for entertainment purposes. Not true. None.
Notes: Written for TimberNick slash Challenge. Had to use the phrase "Christmas shopping'. At least that's what I think the challenge was for. It's been so long.

~~~~

Four days left of shopping and Nick still had no idea when he was going to have time to buy his presents. He'd left things until the very end, citing that he still had plenty of time so there was no need to rush. Now, he was down to the wire and hadn't realized just how many people he was buying for. And judging by the schedule that his assistant had handed him that morning, his window of opportunity had shrunk considerably. Chewing his lower lip nervously, a habit that he still hadn't been able to break himself of, Nick pondered what his next move would be. He could blow off an interview or two and reschedule them for after the new year. That would give him enough time to get some of it done, but he'd still be behind and nothing would be ready for the giant bash they were having on Wednesday night.

It had started off as a small, intimate dinner for four. Nick and Justin, JC and Chris. Well not JC AND Chris as JC'n'Chris, like they were Nick'n'Justin, but just JC and Chris. Separate but together as in coming in the same car but not having any type of recreational sex or deeper feelings towards one another beyond friendship. Nick and Justin had simply raised eyebrows and shared knowing looks as JC fought to explain the reason why he and Chris had nothing better to do on Christmas Eve and why they were doing nothing together rather than being home with families. It didn't matter why they were together, as long as they didn't have to be alone. Justin was spending New Years at home with his family, so that freed him up for Christmas with Nick, and ... well Nick had both Christmas and New Years free so he was pretty much going wherever the action was.

The intimate dinner party for four expanded to eight when Brian and Leigh invited themselves over for Christmas eve dinner informing Nick that Kristin and Kevin would be joining them as well. Baylee would be in attendance, something that Nick was infinitely grateful for since it had been far too long since he'd seen him last. Once Joey heard that pretty much all of Backstreet was going to be in attendance, then he, Kelly and Briahna were coming to which Lance quickly responded that he might as well join the party. A phone call was made by Lance to Howie who then called AJ and pretty soon the Timberlake-Carter residence was going to be full to capacity.

"And you were worried that we'd bought too big a house," Justin had teased Nick as they'd received AJ's call telling them he was fucking pissed that they'd invited everyone except him but seeing that he had nothing better to do, he'd still grace them with his presence for Christmas Eve dinner. Each and every one of the extra bedrooms had been claimed, although Nick didn't understand the logic behind Lance, Kevin, AJ and Howie staying at their house overnight when they all had houses of their own in LA.

As if having fifteen people, although the numbers could have been higher, neither Nick or Justin could keep up with the guest list at this point, weren't enough, a few days earlier Nick had received a phone call from Aaron asking if there was room for a few more people for Christmas. "Les, Ang and I were wondering if we could come and spend Christmas Eve with you. Dad's doing Christmas day, which you and J are invited to, but we heard that you were throwing a rockin party and thought we'd come. And you can't say no kids allowed Nicky because I know Baylee and Briahana are going to be there and they're like... real kids and we're not. So we're coming. What time should we be there?"

Nick had groaned in frustration while Justin giggled at how out of control their 'quiet little Christmas' had gotten. So Angel, Aaron and Leslie coming meant that they weren't adding three more people to the guest list, but seven, Aaron's girlfriend, Angel's boyfriend and two of Leslie's friends who had nothing better to do than spend Christmas Eve with a houseful of international pop stars. "Yeah yeah. But you're all sleepin on the floor," Nick warned.

"No worries bro. It's just gonna be the three of us sleepin' over, everyone else has to be home that night."

So here it was, the fucking 19th of December, not only did Nick have to figure out how the hell he was going to feed this many people, but also keep them entertained and still have their presents bought for them for Christmas Day. It had been easier before when he wasn't going to see them until different times after the holiday so he could buy their presents as he went along, but now that they were all going to be in one place at one time, his plan of letting things go until the last minute were shot to hell. Watching the first few flakes of snow float around in the air, Nick had a bright idea of how to get everything done and still have at least a shred of sanity.

"J, baby, how are you?" Nick said into the phone after dialing his boyfriend's cell phone number.

"Good, shouldn't you be in a meeting or something?" Justin looked at the clock, wondering why Nick was calling him at that exact moment. He'd been booked solid before Christmas to be able to give them time between Christmas and New Years to go to Tennessee to visit his family.

Blush covered Nick's face and he could feel his skin getting warm. "I'm supposed to be, but I was just taking a break and thought I'd call you. I need a favour from you."

Despite the fact that Nick couldn't see him, Justin raised an eyebrow in suspicion, knowing that his lover was going to ask him for a favour. He waited, listening to what was going to come next.

"I know you warned me that this was going to happen.. and I know you're going to say I told you so, but I ... You see ..."

"Spit it out Nickolas."

"Christmas is only a few days away, and I know everyone's coming to the house on Wednesday for dinner and then Christmas we're gong to open presents before everyone leaves to go spend the day with in-laws and friends and family..."

"Yes..." Justin's lips curled into a grin, knowing exactly what his lover was going to say next. He wanted to hear the older man say it though.

"You know what everyone likes.. could you ... since you're done already... maybe..."

"What Nick, just tell me."

Nick paused, narrowing his eyes. "You're loving this aren't you? You know exactly what I'm getting at and are doing this on purpose!"

Justin's giggle was more than enough evidence that Nick needed and as he groaned, Justin burst out into full blown laughter. "Say it..."

"I haven't done my Christmas shopping yet and I was wondering if you could maybe..."

The tears were forming in the corner of Justin's eyes and he had to hold onto his stomach to try and ease the pain. Every year it was the other way around, Nick was always so organized and Justin was the one scrambling in the end, but this year Justin had done his early and now it was Nick who was under the gun.

"Fuck you Justin."

"I love you too baby," Justin wheezed out between breaths. "Oh Nicky, how much do you love me? I mean really?"

Nick was silently pouting and refusing to talk.

"How much do you love me?" Justin repeated, still giggling. He knew that it was only pissing Nick off more but he couldn't stop. When Nick didn't respond Justin snickered again and tried to calm himself. It took a few minutes but when he was under control he started again. So I was just about to call and leave you a message on your cell anyways.. Do you want to know what it was going to say?"

"No." Nick's arms were crossed over his chest, well as best they could with the phone in one hand, and his lower lip was stuck out.

"Oh baby.. yes you do. Don't be such a sucky baby Nicky," Justin's voice was teasing and the blonde couldn't help but crack a smile. "I was just about to call and tell you that everything's set for Wednesday. Rather than us spend all day trying to make enough food for everyone, it's going to be a buffet style. Everyone's bringing something and we're going to move everything out of the dining room. The table's going to go along the far wall and that's where everyone's going to get their food. They can eat it standing in there, or in the kitchen or the living room or the den. I figure that we're not all going to need to be in the same place the whole night, so it'll be more comfortable than trying to fit us all around a table or something."

Nick scowled. He loved Justin so much sometimes and just hearing the younger man tell him the plan of how to accommodate everyone was just strengthening that love. It was hard to stay mad at him sometimes, so he scowled again before the shy smile formed on his lips. "Continue."

Justin held his laughter at bay. He could picture the expression on Nick's face perfectly, knowing the blonde was having a rough time trying to stay upset with him after laughing and teasing him. "So yeah. We've come to the conclusion that we're going to have more than enough food. Everyone's bringing plenty, plus I called a friend of Jayce's who is going to hook us up with some finger foods and hor d'eurves for before hand. We've got more than enough room to fit everyone as long as they all don't want to sit and eat in the same place."

When Nick and Justin decided to finally move in together and get their own place, everyone had laughed at them when they were decorating. The basement was fully furnished like a game room, complete with a pool table, air hockey, three plush sofas and a 60 inch TV. Hooked up to that television was a N64, PS and PS2 not to mention old school systems like Atari and just regular plain old Nintendo. It also had a VCR and dvd player. There was enough room for all their guests to be down there at once, just not as comfortable as they might all like, especially with kids running around and people trying to eat. The living room was vaguely similar, except the 60 inch TV was more like a 48 inch, but it was plasma and built into the wall with a wood cabinet that could close it off. It was decorated much more tastefully than the downstairs, but still had the same extras the downstairs had. The kitchen was large and spacious, set with a table that seated eight and a bar in the middle that people
 could sit at, and eat or talk, yet also had the double sink on the far side.

If everyone was given the opportunity to wander and eat at their own leisure, there was more than enough space to house the now reaching 30 number of people that were coming.

"That's a perfect idea baby, I don't know why we didn't think of it before." Nick had forgotten completely that he'd been pouting and was finally looking forward to Christmas Eve. He'd wanted everyone together in one place, but just the stress of how things were going to play themselves out was putting a damper on the mood. There was still the issue of having everyone in the same house at the same time and not ending the holiday with bloodshed, but Nick had to be confident and trust their best friends to be on their best behaviour, at least for twenty four hours.

"I know. Kevin had phoned to ask if we needed help with anything and we got to talking. He'd wondered if it was going to be sit down and when I said yes, he told me he didn't think it was a good idea. Then he suggested to just clear out the dining room, make it buffet style and have people eat wherever they could find room or felt comfortable. We bounced a few ideas off of each other and by the time we hung up, the whole thing was planned. He's phoning your guys, I'm phoning mine and we're ready to rock and roll."

Nick's jaw dropped at that news, never in his life expecting Justin and Kevin to collaborate on anything. And not just the fact that they collaborated on planning Christmas Eve, but the fact that Justin admitted that Kevin's ideas were good and that they'd had a pleasant conversation. Justin and Kevin had long since come to heads over their place in Nick's life, admitting that despite the fact that they hated each other and probably always would, they would try to get along for Nick's sake. Of course, that had barely lasted ten minutes and they'd just agreed to stay on opposite sides of the country from one another and if they did have to be in the same vicinity, they ignored the other was there at all.

"Wow." It was all Nick could say as he rubbed his eyes and wondered when he'd stepped into the twilight zone. He knew he had to get back into the meeting but he didn't care at that point. This was much more important. "So..."

"So.. Everything's set for Christmas Eve, so we can stop worrying about it. Since it's our house, we're in charge of the turkey... or turkey's actually. I figure we'll get two at least..." Justin continued talking about the food until finally Nick interrupted.

"You're wonderful baby, and tonight when I get home I'll show you over and over again how much I love you. But the reason I called..."

"I'm not done. Let me finish and I'll let you talk baby.. Please?"

Nick paused and exhaled. "Okay. What else."

"So I know you're busy and you haven't had time to do much of anything. So I sort of... well I know you haven't gone Christmas shopping yet.. so ..."

"Yes?"

"I've gotten something for everyone for you. For us."

Nick's jaw dropped open. "Huh?"

"Well... I've been shopping since Halloween," Justin giggled nervously. "Just picking up things here and there... you know. And well... I sort of.. I've done all our Christmas shopping. I thought we'd give out gifts together this year. It's our third Christmas together and ...I thought maybe it should be an us thing from now on." Justin's stomach was churning and he was nervous to hear how Nick would react to that. They'd been together for almost four years, but this was their third Christmas together. Never once had they really talked about making things a Carter-Timberlake or Timberlake-Carter present or what have you, but Justin had figured that if it was going to be forever, which they both knew it was, they should start having other people get used to it too. Plus he loved shopping for the both of them, knowing it was a partnership. "Is that...."

"Oh J..." Nick couldn't help the tears that were welling up in his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Like.. I bought my mom and dad stuff, your dad stuff... our brothers and your sister.. I bought the presents and just need you to sign the cards. It's all from the two of us. So when we go to dinner with your dad and the kids on Thursday, the presents are from both of us. When we go to visit mom, Paul and the boys, everything's from us."

At any other point in his life, with any other person Nick would have immediately felt cautious and confined if anyone had have told him they'd done that. Buying things as a couple was serious and meant the relationship was serious, that they were officially saying that they were together and it was forever. Up until that point, Nick wasn't sure he was ready for that type of commitment, but hearing Justin confess he'd bought their presents already... hearing the love and tenderness mixed with nerves in his voice caused for his heart to melt and his pulse to race. "I love you so much Justin," he whispered softly.

"I love you too Nicky. I was so afraid you'd be mad..." Justin let out a deep breath and smiled, glad that he'd made the right decision. "I bought the presents by family. Like, we have a present for Kelly and Joey.. of course Bri got her own. One for Lance.. one for Jayce.. and Chris. Then I got Brian and Leigh something, Baily something of his own, AJ got one, Kevin and Kris got one and then Howie. They're all from both of us. Not to mention Aaron, Angel, BJ and Leslie. Although when they let us know they were coming for Christmas eve and were sleeping over, I went out and got them more stuff so they'd have stuff to open ON Christmas morning as well as Christmas dinner with your dad."

Nick was so choked up he didn't know what to say. He made a few sounds trying to speak but found he was speechless.

"Nicky don't worry. Tonight when you get home, we'll go over everything and you can have a look at the gifts. If there's anything you don't want, we'll take it back and get something else. Then we can sign the gifts and I'll have someone gift wrap them tomorrow."

Nick laughed. Shopping was one thing, but wrapping presents... he knew neither of them could do that worth shit. They talked for a few more minutes before Nick really did have to go and get back to his meeting. As he hit the end call button on the phone, he realized that for the first time since the plans had taken a wide turn and everyone was invited, he was fully able to get excited about having everyone in one house under his roof at the same time. The food was taken care of, his presents, except for Justin's, were bought and Christmas really was going to be special.

Christmas eve day flew by for Nick and before he knew it, his cell phone was ringing. "Nicky? What time do you think you'll be home?"

"Everyone there already?" Nick looked at his watch and cringed. He hadn't planned on things taking as long as they had but now it was nearly six and he still had one more stop to make before he could head home.

"Lance just phoned from the airport. He should be here within the hour. And Brian, Leigh and Bailey just showed up. All we need is you and everyone's here."

Nick could hear the commotion in the background and grinned. Contrary to what he'd believed, everything had gone off without a hitch so far. From what Justin had told him, there was enough food for them all to eat for the next week, everyone had been filtering into the house slowly all day as their flights came in and people who were actually in LA started to come over. They'd made sure there was enough alcohol for those who were drinking, and enough of everything else for those who were not. JC's friend had more than come through with the appetizers and Justin confessed that if things kept going the way they were, he wouldn't be hungry at all for dinner.

Rooms were pretty much preassigned as the house was being decorated so there had been no problem as to who would be sleeping where. Aaron, Angel and Leslie were going to be sleeping in the basement on the sofas which were admittedly, as comfortable as real beds. It was going to be a very special Christmas, Nick was certain.

Within the hour, Nick pulled into his driveway grinning at the cars that were lining the property. He didn't know what they'd have done had there actually been snow this Christmas, not that there had ever been snow as long as he could remember, but knowing their luck, this would have been a first. He stopped outside his front door and took a deep breath, curious as to what he would find when he opened the door.

AJ saw Nick first, calling out to him from across the room. "NICKY... MERRY CHRISTMAS." Like a scene from a movie, the whole room went silent and everyone turned to look at him, standing in the doorway.

"Hey everyone..." He waved sheepishly, blushing. Everyone called out greetings before going back to previous conversations. Justin crossed the room and took him in a deep kiss, pulling him into the kitchen which was occupied by Joey, Lance and Kevin who were all discussing some of Lance's newest 'toys'.

"And if you press this button, it automatically updates your stocks within a five minute..."

"Five minutes? Are you serious?" Kevin's eyes were wide and he moved to touch the contraption in Lance's hand, something that made both Nick and Justin along with Lance and Joey gasp.

"Kev.. NO.." Nick called, warning his older band mate. When Kevin jumped back, Lance safely put it away and Justin and Joey began to laugh. "The first rule is never touch Lance's toys. NEVER. It's more for YOUR own good than his."

Kevin looked at Justin who nodded in agreement. Lance simply shrugged. "It's true man. I made the mistake of using his camera once and ...."

"How fucking hard is it to use a camera Justin? I mean, point and shoot. POINT AND SHOOT. All you had to do was press the one little button and..."

"And with that trip down memory lane, we're going to go into the other room and start getting things ready. Nick, Merry Christmas.. good to see you." Joey pulled Lance out of the kitchen, leaving the three men alone. Nick and Justin simply laughed while Kevin watched in further shock.

"I had no idea..."

"Not your fault Kev. He's just a little anal." Nick hugged the other man and sat down at the kitchen table. "So how are things?"

"Good, we were just waiting for you so we could eat. Everyone's been nibbling all evening, but we thought we'd do a toast with everyone in the room, say grace and then have dinner. Everyone can disperse throughout the house to eat.. Then..."

"Well then," Kevin said, breaking in, "..we've sort of made something for the two of you, so we're all going to settle in the living room or basement, wherever we can all fit in comfortably and watch."

"Watch?"

"It's a documentary... something that Joey and I put together of old footage we had. Between the two of us we have more than enough so, we thought it would be a really great Christmas gift for you two.."

Nick and Justin exchanged surprised looks, their fingers tightening around each other.

"Well, not just for you two. We figured that when everyone saw it they'd want one of their own, so they're stocking stuffers for everyone. But we wanted to watch it when everyone was in the same room, so we're going to do it tonight after desert."

Nick took a deep breath to settle the nerves that had settled in his stomach. It just felt surreal to have everyone all together under his roof celebrating such a special holiday. "So come on baby, let's go in and round up the troops." Justin pulled him to his feet, motioning for Kevin to follow. It took a good ten to fifteen minutes, and a lot of squishing, but they managed to get everyone in a warped circle in the dining room. Nick and Justin stood at the top of the circle, staring at their best friends, family and extended family. It was nearly enough to bring tears to everyone's eyes.

"We just wanted to thank everyone for coming. Granted, we should just be thanking Jayce and Chris for being here seeing they were the only ones actually invited," Justin paused as everyone broke into laughter. "But looking at everyone's faces, I can't imagine us not spending this time together. It's the first time we've all celebrated Christmas as one big happy family, but I hope it's not the last."

Nick nodded, cutting in with his two cents. "I've known most of you for over ten years, some of you it feels like longer... a LOT longer. But we're all family and family should be cherished. Despite arguments we've had, disagreements we still currently are having and everything that goes in between, I never want to spend a Christmas without you, whether it's in person or spirit. Our house is always open to all of you, day or night, rain or shine. So thank you all for choosing to spend Christmas with us, and know that we've got to be at my father's place by four tomorrow, so we want you out of here by at least noon."

"NOON?" Someone from the back called out. Everyone started to laugh and Chris stepped into the circle, his hand on his chest. "I wasn't planning on even getting up till noon. Then I still have to open all the presents you all got for me, have left overs...."

"Okay, one, but after that we're calling the cops. And don't think we won't." Justin broke into laughter as everyone chimed in their agreement. "But enough of that, Nick made us wait for far too long so we're going to say grace and then dig in."

As Brian stepped forward to deliver grace, everyone bowed their heads and grabbed ahold of the hand of the person beside them. Midway through Nick couldn't help but look up and peek. Everyone had their heads down and their eyes closed. A feeling of absolute love and adoration passed over him. He still hadn't talked to his brother or sisters, or gotten to talk to Brian and hold Bailey, but the night was still young and knowing everyone, they'd have to be kicked out the next day for staying too long. He tightened his grip on both Justin's hand which was being held in his right hand, and Kevin's in his left, pleased when they both squeezed back. One by one everyone broke from the daze they'd been in listening to Brian's grace and Nick understood completely what it felt like to be thankful for what he'd been given.

It took five seconds for one of the babies to start to colic and the guys to get into an argument over something or another. It was going to be a long night, but Nick didn't care. He wouldn't change anything for the world.

Finis.


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