May all your Christmases be bright...

[awickedtime]

Raised in the Church of Night, Nick's never celebrated Christmas before, but it's important to Charlie and Rosie, so it's important to Sabrina, so it's important to Nick. He'd basically given Rosie and Charlie free rein to decorate the apartment, which is draped in lights and glitter, the tree shimmering merrily in the corner. It's not dissimilar to some of the festivals that he had celebrated in his life. The iconography is different, though.

They've carved out time to spend together, in the midsts of all the other meals, all the other obligations with the found families that they've made themselves. Nick had agonised over gifts for the girls, less so for Charlie, and they're neatly wrapped in paper and metallic ribbon. He's proud of how pretty they look, if he's honest.

Comments

[forthsofar]

Rosie nods, remembering that afternoon on the beach and the way Charlie had entrusted her with that difficult truth about his past and his family. As it had that day, her heart aches a little for him, hearing the faint woundedness behind the things he says.

"It won't," she says, with as much conviction as she can manage. "We'll make it as different as we possibly can, however we can."

[teenagerenegade]

"If anyone can, it's us," she says, flashing a broad grin at her, nuzzling into her shoulder. "Do you want your Christmas present?"

[forthsofar]

"Of course I want my Christmas present, Charlie," she giggles, ruffling his hair as he presses his face into her shoulder. "It's not very mature of me at all, I know, but I've been looking forward to presents all day. Just like nearly every Christmas."

She grins at him, then waves her hand towards the tree. "I put yours over there too, so you know."

[teenagerenegade]

Getting up from where they're sitting, he goes over to the tree and retrieves the two parcels. Rosie's is large and soft, containing a sweater, soft and mossy green, that he'd seen in a store and immediately been able to picture her wearing. He holds it out to her.

"It's just..." He blushes faintly. "I saw it and thought of you."

[forthsofar]

The present he hands her is so much larger than the one she'd gotten him, and for a moment Rosie feels just the slightest bit guilty. But it's the thought behind the gift, not the size, that matters most, and she knows it. The wrapped parcel in her lap, she looks up at Charlie for a moment as he stands there blushing, a bright smile on her face and her heart overflowing with affection. "In that case, I can't wait to see what it is," she says, waiting for him to sit before she tears into the paper.

The sweater inside is beautiful and soft, the kind of green that she knows looks striking on her; she lets out a pleased little giggle as she strokes a hand down the plush knit, fingers tracing the delicate pattern of cables. "Oh, I love it," she says, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

Sitting back, Rosie glances with ill-concealed anticipation at the other gift in his hands, the narrow box containing a pair of gloves in a rich brown leather that's almost the same chestnut as Charlie's hair. "It seems we both saw things out shopping and thought of one another," she says. "I hope you like them."

[teenagerenegade]

Charlie has never been the kind of boy who rips into gifts. He takes his time, carefully unsticking the tape and unfolding the paper. When he sees the gloves, a broad grin spreads across his face and he immediately tries one on, flexing his fingers.

"These are perfect," he says. "I love them."

[forthsofar]

Charlie's as methodical about unwrapping the gift as he is with so many other things, savoring each stage of the process, and while Rosie always finds it endearing, in this moment she can't wait to see his reaction to what lies inside the curls of ribbon and the shiny foil of the wrapping paper. At last, he's taking the gloves out, beaming as he tries them on, and Rosie answers his grin with one of her own.

"Oh, good," she says. "I know you'd been saying you needed a new pair, so..."