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“We have to find the perfect pumpkin.”
Jake's words brought an easy smile to Emma's lips.
She couldn't recall the last time she'd been close enough to anyone to spend the holidays with, and while he'd been planning endlessly for the precinct's annual Halloween Heist, Jake had somehow still managed to get her out to a pumpkin patch with the intention of them finding the perfect pumpkins for carving.
“Does it really matter?” She questions, arms folding across her chest. “I mean, the second we carve it, it's going to start decaying anyway.”
“Of course it matters! John McClane's face is going on that pumpkin, Emma!”
Laughter falls from pink lips, an action Emma Swan could never avoid partaking in when in the presence of Jake Peralta.
“I don't know how you're going to get John McClane's face on a pumpkin. I don't have that much skill when it comes to pumpkin carving.” She informs him, head canting to the side as she watches him examine yet another pumpkin.
“Come on, I believe in you, Em.”
She snorts, eyes rolling. “I don't.”
.
The rest of their time within the pumpkin patch is spent playfully bickering, and Emma's heart really only continues to swell with emotion. She'd grown up without these silly little traditions, and here was Jake, going out of his way to make sure she was able to experience them at least once in her lifetime.
When they get back to her apartment, she lets him run wild. He sets the pumpkins down by the sink, then moves over to her dinner table, where he pulls out the pumpkin carving kits he'd purchased prior to their trip. He sets them down and she follows him back to the sink, where drags her trash can over to. He then pulls out a dagger and she yelps.
“Jake, what the hell?”
“It's Rosa's. I figured it'd work better to start off with than a regular kitchen knife.”
“I'm kind of surprised she even let you borrow it.”
“...”
“She didn't let you borrow it, did she?”
“I'll get it back to her desk before she even realizes it's gone.”
She laughs again, shaking her head and motioning for him to continue; there is no way he's going to get anywhere near Rosa's desk without her noticing. She was going to kick his ass, no questions asked.
“Alright, so we're going to hold onto the stem here,” he mutters quietly, and she leans over to watch him work, “And cut a whole just a bit bigger than your hand so that you can pull the insides out.”
“That … sounds so much grosser than it probably is.”
“Makes it that much more fun, Em.”
“If you say so.”
He continues sawing through the top of his pumpkin for a little longer before finishing up and handing the dagger over to Emma.
She takes it, and even though it's quite the simple task, she hesitates.
“Em?”
Emma blinked, gaze blurring as jade hues water with unshed tears.
It's ridiculous, she knows, to get so emotional so suddenly over something as simple as carving a pumpkin. She had been so willing to go along with his ideas without consequences, it had never occurred to her that the emotions of experiencing something she'd never been able to take part of as a kid would have such an effect on her.
“I – I'm sorry.”
“Hey, don't apologize,” he takes the dagger back, sets it off to the side and takes her hands, “Talk to me Emma, what is it?”
“It's stupid.”
“I'm going to bet that it's not.”
“I just … well, I told you. I didn't get to do stuff like this as a kid. Didn't have anyone to spend holidays with; carving pumpkins, decorating, baking …” her voice cracks and she pauses, gaze dropping before she brings it back up to meet his gaze. “I didn't think it was going to hit me this hard. I'm sorry, Jake.”
“Quit apologizing.” His words are softly spoken, and he pulls her in. Arms snake around her, chin resting atop her head. “I'm an expert in repressed emotions, remember?”
That pulls a laugh out of her, and she lets her own arms snake around his middle, holding on tight. “We're something else, aren't we?”
“Yeah. Kind of a mess. Kind of perfect for each other.”
“We're a perfect mess.”
A perfect mess.
She was inclined to agree.
end.