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jule1122 · 2 years ago

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Malex Fic - Let your heart be light

A day late, but this a little fluff for Day 2 of @rnmnewyear2023 Holiday Lights. This is part of an AU I haven’t written yet. The relevant things to know are Michael and Alex left Roswell after Alex was injured but before any of he events of S1 would have happened. Alex is a music teacher and Michael is an agricultural engineer working as a consultant. Pharaoh is Alex's service dog.

Title is from “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Thank you to @im-the-punk-who for the song suggestion.

Let your heart be light on AO3

The first year Alex taught at Bristol, Michael kept his distance. He wanted to give people a chance to accept that their new music teacher was a disabled vet with a service dog before reminding them that he also had a husband instead of a wife. But it didn’t take long for Michael to recognize some of the best parts of Roswell in Bristol.

He and Alex were welcomed without question. A small, farming community, Bristol had a hard time keeping and attracting younger residents. When the last music teacher retired, the school had gone two years without a music program until Alex agreed to take the job. The farmers and ranchers had been surprisingly open to working with Michael, eagerly listening to his ideas for making their farms more efficient and profitable. The fact that they were married to each other was unimportant in light of what they offered the community.

Once Michael got to know most of the families in Bristol and the kids Alex taught, his presence at school events was expected. He was reminded that not only should he be there to support his “handsome husband,” but in a town as small as Bristol, school events are community events. So Michael spends the first two weeks of December attending a series of school concerts.

The elementary concerts come first. Kindergarten through third grade on Tuesday followed by fourth grade through sixth grade on Thursday. The gym is packed both nights - filled with parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and any other adult that can claim a tangible connection to one of the children performing. Michael squeezes into a seat in the back row, letting the parents battle it out for seats with the best camera views.

Michael can tell how nervous Alex is at the beginning of each concert as he thanks everyone for coming and goes through the song order for the night. He keeps his eyes fixed on a spot on the wall, and Pharaoh is pressed tightly against Alex’s leg. But once he turns to the students lined up on the stage, the tension in his shoulders eases, and even though he can’t see Alex’s face, Michael knows he’s giving the kids a reassuring smile before they begin.

Alex keeps the elementary concerts lighthearted and fast paced - full of songs about snowmen, reindeer and sledding. There is almost as much dancing as there is singing, and Michael can see the effort Alex put into making sure each child has a chance to shine. Alex plays the piano for some songs and directs the students for others - Pharaoh relaxed at his feet throughout. Michael laughs and claps along with the rest of the audience, regretting his choice of a seat in the back when Alex guides the kindergartners through pantomiming a snowball fight, and he doesn’t have a good angle to film him.

After the concerts, Michael sticks close to Alex while he accepts hugs from his students and thank you’s from their parents. Michael knows he’s beaming as proudly as the parents are, but he can’t bring himself to care. He loves seeing how much the school has embraced Alex and seeing Alex confident enough to enjoy the attention.

Every now and then, Michael feels a tug on his sleeve and one of the kids he knows from visiting farms or from Alex’s music lessons will be trying to get his attention. “Mr. Guerin’s husband,” they begin, which never fails to make him smile, before asking if he saw their solo or favorite dance move. Michael’s more than happy for them to reenact their favorite part of the concert while they wait for their parents to finish talking with Alex.

It’s late by the time they’ve said goodbye to everyone, and Alex has finished his part of the teardown. On Thursday night, as they make their way through the parking lot, Pharaoh happily walking between them, Michael gets an idea. “Next year we should get one of those antler headbands for Pharaoh.”

Alex gives him an unimpressed look, “She would never forgive you.”

Once they are in the truck, Pharaoh knows she’s off duty so Michael doesn’t hesitate to hold her face and kiss her nose before speaking to her. “You’d wear the antlers, wouldn’t you girl,” he coos. “They kids would love it if you looked like Rudolph.”

Alex just laughs and rests his head on Michael’s shoulder. “Stop tormenting my dog and take me home.”

“Yes, dear,” Michael teases back as he starts the truck.

The next week brings the high school choir concert. It’s Alex’s least favorite class since most of the students are only in it to get an art credit needed for graduation. If they don’t play an instrument and don’t want to take an art class, choir is their only option. There are only twelve students in the class so the gym is only half full - the audience dwindled down to parents and Michael.

The concert goes by quickly. Michael can tell the students are doing their best not to stand out, and Alex has chosen songs that focus on group singing rather than individual talents. When it’s all over, Michael couldn’t name a single song from the concert since he spent the whole time watching Alex at the piano, a sight he will never tire of.

The students rush off as soon as they are released, and it doesn’t take long for Alex to speak with the parents that stay after. Michael is happy to have an early night in this otherwise busy time of year. Once they’re home, he lights a fire in the fireplace and reminds Alex of just how much he likes watching him play the piano.

The last concert of the season is the seven through twelve grade band concert, and the one Alex is most excited about. He’s been eager to show off his favorite class to everyone, especially Michael. He’s been bragging for months about how hard this class works despite their limitations. Bristol is a small school district which means the band is also small, many of the students can’t afford instruments and while they can get them from the school, the school’s instruments are older and not in the best shape - Michael is working on that, slowly repairing what he can. Many bands rely on their students taking private lessons, and Alex is the only music teacher within reasonable driving distance, and many students don’t have time for lessons.

Alex let the band choose their own songs for the concert, and they surprised even him with the challenging material they picked. For the last few months, Alex has been holding extra practice after school three days a week to get them ready for the concert. They get to the school earlier than normal since the set up for the concert band is more complicated than the previous concerts. Even Pharaoh picks up on Alex’s nerves, sticking closer to him than she usually does when it’s just Michael and Alex.

Once the chairs are set up and the students start coming in, Alex and Pharaoh head for the band room, and Michael wanders back to the gym. He talks to some of the parents and teachers he knows before taking a program and finding a seat. It’s another packed house for the concert, and Michael ends up between Mrs. Winthrop whose grandson plays the french horn Michael fixed up over the summer and Linda Myers whose daughter is in seventh grade and plays clarinet. Her two younger daughters, who sang in the elementary concerts, lean over their mother to wave at Michael.

Alex spends a little more time introducing the band than he did at the other concerts. He makes sure to emphasize the difficulty of the material and all the extra work the students put in. Michael can tell he’s more excited than nervous so he’s hopeful the performance will live up to expectations. Once the music begins, Michael can’t look away from Alex. When he was working on his degree, Alex thought conducting would be his least favorite part of teaching, but he ended up falling in love with it. His passion shows throughout the concert, and Michael is not ashamed to admit he thinks Alex is hot as hell when he’s conducting..

The band’s performance is impressive, and they get a standing ovation after every song. Before the final song, one of the seniors Michael recognizes but can’t name comes out to the front of the band.

“Our last song is ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ and we had a bet with Mr. Guerin. If we made it to this point in the concert without any major mistakes, he would join us for this song, and I would get to conduct. Do you think we won the bet?” she asks the audience with a wink.

The applause is deafening, and Michael joins in, clapping his hands and whistling.

“That’s what I thought. I’ll take this,” she takes the baton from Alex’s hand and gives him the microphone.

Once she turns toward the band, Michael waits for Alex to walk to the piano, but instead one of the other students brings him a chair. The music starts, and after a few bars, Alex begins to sing:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on

Our troubles will be out of sight

Michael lets out a gasp as tears begin to stream down his face. Alex keeps his eyes on Michael as he sings, and Michael’s not sure he breathes through the entire song. He can’t believe his beautiful, amazing husband who barely left the house the first year they were married, is singing in front of his students and most of their community. He’s not sure he’s ever been prouder.

Mrs. Winthrop pats him on the shoulder and hands him a tissue. When the song ends, Michael is still frozen in place until Lisa nudges him and he gets to his feet along with the rest of the audience. “You got yourself a good one,” she whispers in his ear.

Michael wipes his eyes and nods without looking away from Alex, who is grinning and watching as his students take their bows. It’s all he can do to keep from flinging himself into Alex’s arms once the concert is over. He settles for standing next to Alex and tightly clutching his hand.

Everyone wants to talk to Alex - students and parents hugging him and thanking him for all his hard work. Alex easily deflects the compliments, but Michael loudly agrees with everyone who tells Alex how wonderful he is. Michael’s vibrating with so much energy that Pharaoh side-eyes him and leans into his leg like she does with Alex when he is stressed.

#rnmnewyear23 #malex fic #my fic #rnm fic #fluff #married Alex and Michael #Alex singing #Michael adores his husband #Christmas concerts

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