EIGHTEEN: Merry Christmas, Babylove [FLASHBACK]

It was Christmas Eve and as disappointed as Charity Donimari was that her father would be out of town until after New Years, she was just as excited that Bruce was going to spend the night with her. He was working until eleven and then was heading straight to her house which was only ten minutes away. From stories that Bruce had told her about his childhood, she suspected that he'd never gotten to have a proper Christmas and she was going to make sure that he did.

She'd decorated the house with the artificial tree that had been packed away the year. There were twinkling lights, garland, and ornaments that had adorned the tree for numerous years before. Two stockings were hung up, Charity's from childhood and one she'd bought and decorated for Bruce. She'd filled them with candy, snack foods, and fun little gifts. There were a couple of gifts under the tree for him as well. She had a stack of movies over by the television, a roast ready to be made the following day, and spiked hot chocolate. Oh, and of course there were milk and cookies— there was no way she'd have forgotten those. It was going to be a relaxed holiday and she was going to spend it with the man she loved.

It was a little after eleven as Charity puttered around, fussing over last-minute touches. She had a fire blazing in the house's small fireplace, some random Christmas movie playing on television and hot chocolate warming on the stove. She was already decked out in her Christmas pajamas— red and green reindeer pajama pants, a matching long-sleeved shirt, and warm fuzzy socks on her feet.

She was startled when she heard the doorbell ring, but that turned into excitement as she almost jumped off the couch and went to the front door. Opening it up, she grinned at her boyfriend and threw her arms around him. "Hi Baby, Merry Christmas!"

He grinned, hugging her back as he looked down at what she had on. "Merry…" chuckling, he shook his head, "ah, well… I feel like I'm overdressed." He'd come straight from the bar, wearing a black button-down shirt with worn jeans and his beat-up leather jacket. He kissed her on the forehead, "missed yeh, love."

"I missed you, too." Without hesitation, she pulled him into the house and shut the door behind him, locking it. She gave him a moment to take in the decorations, before walking over to the couch. "Trust me, you are not going to feel overdressed for long, because…" She grabbed two articles of clothing and then held them up for him to see. "Ba-BAM! I got us matching jammies!" They did match, his clearly men's pajamas. "We get to be twinsies." She grinned at him, hoping he was okay with that.

One brow lifted as he considered the gift, just a little overwhelmed at the sight of all the Christmas cheer. He couldn't remember what the holidays had been like back home and once he'd been foisted off on the American cousins, he'd been avoiding the holiday because it was depressing. This though, this seemed anything but with all the bells and lights and garland strewn everywhere. "Those are somethin' else," he murmured, shrugging out of his jacket to hang it by the door.

Her smile faltered as her arms dropped some. "I know it's silly, but I guess I thought it'd be fun." Her shoulders went up in a shrug. "You don't have to wear them." She set the pajamas back on the chair. "Are you hungry? I made cookies and hot chocolate."

"No, no…" Bruce made his way over to her, shaking his head, "I'll wear them— I love them. Silly is good. Need a bit of that after today." He started unbuttoning the shirt he had on, not even bothering to go somewhere private to change even though the living room curtains were open to show off the beautiful tree to the neighborhood. He tossed the dress shirt down beside the festive jammies, standing there in just a threadbare wifebeater he'd had on under it as he looked at her, considering her other question. "Cookies an' hot cocoa, hmm? Now that sounds right heavenly."

Whenever he took off his shirt, she always stopped and stared. She couldn't help it; he was so handsome and all hers. Unable to stop herself, she got close and kissed him on the lips. Her arms found their way around his neck as the kiss deepened. She felt like she was bursting with the love she felt for him.

When the kiss broke, Bruce chuckled softly. "Merry Christmas," he murmured, glancing down at the pjs. "Think I've got an idea…" before she could say anything, he grabbed the pants and pulled away from her side, heading to the bathroom. He left her there, still breathless from the kiss and he wasn't gone too long before he emerged with just the reindeer pants on, still in that same undershirt. He tossed his jeans on the chair with his shirt, favoring her with a smile.

"I think I prefer this." She went over to him and went in for another kiss. Her hands rested on his biceps as she pulled away. "I guess if we really wanted to go for matching, I could wear your pajama shirt and strip the bottoms?"

"You could," he nodded, "would be big enough on yeh, cover all the bits that need covering." He glanced over at the chair, "or could wear the one I just took off. Either way."

"I'll be right back." She gave him a quick kiss and then disappeared into the bathroom. Charity stripped off the pajamas she'd had on and threw on his shirt which came down to her upper thigh. Walking back out, she gave him another smile. "You want some cookies?"

"I'd love something sweet," he replied with a smirk, taking in how good she looked with all that leg showing. "Go on… yeh built this up so much. Wanna see what else we've got in store."

"Then I need you to go get comfortable on the couch and I'll be right back." Walking over to the kitchen area, she grabbed an oven mitt and took the sugar and chocolate chip cookies that were warming in the oven. Next, she pulled out two Christmas-themed mugs and poured the spiked hot chocolate into both. She put the mugs on a tray and the cookies on a plate. Once everything was loaded up, she took the tray over to the couch and set it on the coffee table. "Help yourself."

Rather than get comfortable, he was looking at the tree, staring at some of the ornaments that looked as though they'd been around since Charity's childhood. Smiling as he turned around, there was a hint of sadness in his eyes that he did his best to hide. "Goodness, love… who's coming over? The whole neighborhood?" He walked over and joined her on the couch, reaching out to take a cookie.

Charity shook her head as she sat down with a cookie in hand. "It's just you and I." She was worried then that maybe she had overdone it and bit down on her lower lip. "I kinda got the feeling you never got to do much celebrating and I thought we could start our own traditions. Is it a stupid idea?"

He finished off the cookie he'd been munching on, nodding as he moved over closer to her. "I think that's a hell of an idea." He reached over and took her hand, giving it a squeeze before lifting it up to his lips and kissing the back of it. "You've outdone yourself, Cherry. This… it's really nice. All of it." There was a bit of a catch in his voice as he looked at her, taking a slow breath. "Yer right. Haven't really… no trees or anything like this. There's lights at the bar but the past six years or so, I'm the one putting them up. Cleanin' up the aftermath on Christmas Eve an' Day after all the sad sacks get plastered. Don't recommend it."

"Well, I promise that from this year on, you are going to get the full Christmas experience." The kiss to her hand caused her to goosebump as it usually did. "Tomorrow morning when we get up, we'll do our stockings first and then I've got a couple of presents for you. I'm also going to make chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, bacon… The works. We'll just spend tomorrow together and relax."

She'd really gone all out— the mention of a couple presents; he was thinking maybe he hadn't done enough. He'd only done the one real gift on Maureen's recommendation and it had cost him most of the money he'd been saving. Swallowing that unease, he nodded and reached for another cookie. "Think that sounds marvie, love."

Charity beamed at him and got on her knees as she leaned over and kissed him softly. "Bruce, you've given me so much this year. You've given me your heart and all of this is just a small token." She swallowed hard and pressed her forehead against his. "I can't… I don't ever wanna have to picture my life without you."

"You won't ever have to." He sounded so sure of that fact as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. "Promise that. Cross of the heart an' hope tae die— all that silly superstitious shyte."

Charity put her hands on his shoulders and hugged him as close as she could. Part of her wanted to cry because he made her so happy and she never wanted to let him go. "My dad's gone until after New Years. I want you to stay here with me. I'm on Christmas break… we could wake up together and we could play house."

The thought of spending time alone with just them was really appealing, especially since Maureen had said he could have the time off if he wanted. The thought of falling asleep next to her and waking up in the morning held a certain appeal even though he'd probably end up with blue balls by the end of it. He didn't really care about that. He could always relieve that pressure in the shower on his own— last thing he wanted to do was force himself on the poor girl. "Play house, hmm?" He chuckled, "does that mean I'm on brekkie duty? Squeeze some fresh juice. Whip up something tasty?" Everything he said felt like it had a double meaning and he broke off eye contact, the tips of his ears flushing red.

"I'd like that," Charity replied, oblivious to how much he'd managed to fluster himself.

"Well then," Bruce nodded, pulling her closer as he nuzzled her neck. "Promise you'll wear this tae bed then?"

"Uh huh…" She nodded and grinned at him. "I've got a few other shirts I could model for you." The grin on her face wasn't going to go away any time soon. Hugging onto him, she rested her chin against the crook of his shoulder. "Even though I miss my dad, I am so grateful to have you here."

"Talkin' about traditions…" Bruce's voice came out softer than usual as he stared into the fireplace, watching the flames dance. "There really aren't a whole lot where I'm from. The Church had a ban on the whole shebang for the longest time. Know that sounds so fuckin' sad, don't it? Almost a quarter of a century old, never had a proper Christmas shindig— never had all these boughs of holly an' cheer."

"Then I am going to make even more sure that you enjoy this." She leaned in and nuzzled her nose against his neck. "And if we get some more snow, we're gonna go make a snowman."

"A snowman?" Bruce chuckled, pulling her closer with a squeeze. "Now you're pushin' it, love. Sure you don't wanna roll about in it, make some snow angels instead? Or go find a metal pole to lick, see if that ol' myth is true?"

"Actually, that myth is true and second… if we play in the snow, then we can come back inside and warm up by the fire." Waggling her eyebrows, she gave him a kiss.

"Or," his tone was teasing, "we can skip the winter shyte an' just warm up. I'd prefer that, honestly. If yeh wanna get wet first…" he gave her that cheeky smirk, "there are far better ways tae accomplish that, love."

Charity got off his lap and then offered her hands to him. "Think a good spot might be my bedroom, to try that out. You can show me if you like?"

She was offering him the world on a silver platter but he balked, feeling wrong about it. Rather than outright reject it, he let her tug him along towards the hall, pulling back when they passed his jacket. "Cherry… wait."

She turned and looked at him, puzzled until she saw him slipping his hand into his jacket pocket.

He pulled out a little box, wrapped in metallic green paper, adorned with a cascade of curly red and white ribbons. Sheepishly, he looked down at it before holding it out to her. "Maureen wrapped it. Am all thumbs, it seems. Ruined a whole roll of that damned paper in the process—too fuckin' slippery."

Her smile was gentle as she took the box from him. "It's almost too pretty to open. You want me to do it now?"

"Traditions, love." He forced a smile and it was tinged with a strange sort of sadness she didn't really understand. "Cherry, I'm sorry. I…" he faltered.

"What's wrong?"

"Yeh went tae all this trouble, put together this perfect night for us with all the trappings an' all I've got for you is this one little…" he sighed, shaking his head as he realized she'd torn off the paper to reveal the small box inside, eyes widening when she saw the logo from Tiffany's.

"You didn't…." she lifted the lid and saw the most gorgeous pair of diamond stud earrings, teardrop shaped that seemed like they were full of rainbow fire, utterly dazzling even in the dim light. She knew they must have cost a fortune, worth more money than she'd ever had in her bank account at one time. "They're beautiful."

"Really? Yeh like 'em? I wasn't sure they'd-"

"No," her voice came out soft, awed as she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "I love them— I love you."

"Merry Christmas, Babylove." He held her tight, kissing the top of her head as she buried her face in his chest, feeling as though he might have managed to get this holiday thing right after all.