Work Text:
December 25, 2019
She’s nodded off about four times since they woke up this morning. And it’s not the book’s fault. She’s just a little too warm and far too comfortable.
It’s snowed even more in the night. As they can see from their warm, cozy cottage bed, it’s reached the window panes now. This bed is much smaller than what they’re used to these days, but she doesn’t mind. He’s half on top of her, and half asleep. Waking every ten minute or so to kiss her and pull her a little closer before he dozes off again. He smells like coffee breath and chocolate croissants, and Julia feels like she’s won the lottery.
Julia smiles to herself as she looks at the discarded lingerie from last night still on the floor. She stretches underneath him and accidentally wakes him up. He gruffs unbecomingly until he sees her face. Suddenly beaming as he appears to re-remember where they are. He looks at the time on his phone, taking another sip of cold coffee and then once again, pulls her closer.
“Since we both broke the no pressies rule just as it struck midnight... I should fess up that I got you another one.” She doesn’t mind, but she plays along and rolls her eyes as he turns towards the nightstand and returns with a green, medium rectangle box with a red bow on top. “It’s not flashy, and it’s not excessive. And I’d already gotten this before we came here.” In the box lies a plain, frosted glass bauble. It’s perfectly lovely, though a little… unexpected.
“David, you already got us new baubles.” She looks at him, slightly bewildered.
“Those were just cheap M&S ones. This is more special.” David waves her off and sits up more comfortably against the headboard. Nodding towards the gift box. “Take a look, it opens up.”
“Is this to put treats in for the children?” She makes a guess as she takes out the paper and opens the top carefully.
“Not exactly.” He stares at her excitedly as she finally sees what’s inside. In a carefully placed mass of cotton fluff, lies an eternity ring in thin, white gold. Twists of tiny diamonds winding all the way around the band. It’s the most special piece of jewelry she can remember seeing.
“I wasn’t messing, Julia. I want you forever. How does spending the rest of our lives together sound? Grow old with me?” His eyes have stubbornly welled up, he can barely see as he blinks away the tears. Taking her hand, holding his breath as he waits for her to answer.
“Yes,” She manages a choked yes and nods, kissing him breathlessly as she nods again, over and over until she can answer him properly. “Yes, I very much enjoy the sound of that.”
“Me too.” David beams as he retrieves the ring from the bauble and slips it onto her finger. As he’d hoped. A perfect match. She admires it quietly, twisting it on her finger as he watches. Overcome with emotion, a little afraid to speak for the fear that it will only come out as gibberish.
“Does this mean you’d like us to get married?” She looks at him, a little unsure of what to assume this is exactly.
“It means whatever we want it to mean. If you decide you want to marry me, we’ll do that. But it means... that I love you. And that there’s no one else for me and no one else for you.”
“I really do, you know. Love you.” She grabs his hand and looks at him, a serious glint in her eyes. “I’ve never been the person who believed in all that... one perfect person for everyone. I don’t think I do now either. I don’t think we’re perfect, or that we’re perfect for each other. We’ve worked really hard at becoming better people and to be honest with each other, but there’s nothing perfect about us.” Just ask your mother’s guest room. “But there is no one I’ve ever loved as close to perfect as I love you.” He kisses her hard. Giggling at his own desperation as he laughs through his own tears. Caressing her jaw as he pulls away. Catching a glimpse of her new ring out of the corner of his eye.
“Growing soft on me, Montague.” He says jokingly, sniffling as he catches his breath.
“Positively puddly.” She looks at him adoringly, holding his hand, tracing the inside of his palm with her index finger.
“I did get you one more thing,” He almost swallows his words. “But you can only have it if you make a promise.”
“What?” Another surprise has her baffled. She only got him the one gift.
“That we eat it in bed.” She stares at him quizzically as he dives under the bed and springs back up with a big family box of Celebrations.
“Where did you get a tin of Celebrations on Christmas Day?”
“I stopped by right before they closed yesterday, when I was driving people home.” He smiles and winks and leans back into the headboard and wraps her in his arms. “There was one left in the absolute wreckage that was Tesco’s. Hidden underneath all the cardboard. Just waiting for you and I to eat it.”
“Thank you.” She stares at the familiar red box, shoving her hand in when he takes off the lid and very pleased to emerge with a large handful of her father’s favorite chocolates. If only he could see her now, if only he knew how happy she was. How much she wishes things had been different and he could have been here.
David starts to feel queasy about eleven chocolates in. They’ve put the candy wrappings in order on top of the duvet, ranking them from worst to best as they eat.
“This time next year… Might look very different.” Julia nods and pushes the chocolate box away from her with a queasy look on her face. Settling into his arms with her new cup of tea, a quick kiss on his lips first. “Think we’ll find our perfect house?”
“Not until you realize that we will never find a five bedroom house where I want to live, for the price you want to pay for it.” She warns him playfully. They’ve discussed and discussed and discussed their plans to buy. He seems unable to adjust his price range to get what he wants and she seems unwilling to move anywhere but 5 feet outside of Battersea.
“Unexpected things happen all the time. Something you never expected sometimes turns out to be the something you needed the most.” David nudges her gently, taking another sip of tea.
“Not in London real estate.” She quips back.
“We’ll find the perfect house for us, love. Things’ll work out. And we’ll have a good life. You, me and the kids…” David tries to assure them both. Though he accepts he’s doing it more for himself because sadly she’s right. It’s on him to finally take in how expensive London is. It irks him just a little bit that she’s right a lot of the time, even about things he wouldn’t think she’d know about. Definitely right about this. Her mind is devastatingly attractive to him, but also a bit of a blow to his ego. On the plus side, he’ll never get bored. She’s a challenge in the best sense of the word.
“Probably a dog...” Julia sighs and squeezes David’s hand. He’s been trying to resist the begging from both kids for a pet for years, but with the possibility of a large garden and more room, it’s become hard to resist. They’ve grown quite inventive in their various attempt at ultimatums. And while she can’t say the idea of training a new dog for several months is something she particularly looks forward to, she does like the idea of what an animal can teach the children about responsibility. She’s added a list of demands if David is to entertain it.
“All four of us, and whoever else is meant to join us.” David cuddles closer, kissing the crown of her head as he spreads out in the bed. In their bed, his hand can’t even touch the side when he’s in the middle of it. Now he can reach his coffee cup. And the Italian Christmas cake next to it. He hands a piece of the cake to her and takes the rest for himself. For someone that doesn’t like Christmas very much, Julia’s proven very good at knowing all the good Christmas desserts.
“Charlie wants to name it Spot.” She informs him between nibbles of light, fluffy fruit cake. “He told me last week when I took him to the GP.”
“Aye, Charlie and Ella, you and me... and Spot.” He chuckles. “Sounds perfect.”
“What time is your Mum expecting us?” Julia twirls the beautiful new ring around her finger. She wonders if Eleanor knows. If she’ll be glad to know. She hopes so. She’s never worried about the approval of a mother before. And she doesn’t need it, she’s the utmost confidence in this relationship. But she wants Eleanors if she can have it.
“Around lunch time.” David has no intention of getting out of bed until he absolutely has to. So he was intentionally vague with his mother, knowing that while she always says Christmas Day lunch starts at 1, they never ever eat until 3 at the earliest.
“Does she know about this little surprise?” She shows him her hand, touching the ring with an awed smile.
“I think she suspects it’s coming but I haven’t told a soul.” David nuzzles her face, and touches her ring. Softly caressing her finger as they get a little lost in each other.
“We should probably get ready if she’s expecting us.” Julia starts to sit up, but finds herself pulled back by a pair of strong arms that refuse to let go. She turns to look at him and meets his tender gaze.
“Let’s stay here a wee bit longer.” She smiles and leans back, wrapping herself in his arms again. She wouldn’t mind never leaving this exact moment. “I like being in bed with you.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed that.” She bites her lips and looks at him with a naughty smile. David shakes with laughter and kisses her fervently. Pulling back a little breathless as he touches her face.
“Aye, that too. But we don’t sleep in like this, do we? Maybe we’ll do that more.” He relaxes again, and hears Julia’s sigh. She looks out the window and takes a deep breath. Takes his hand in her own and laces his fingers between hers.
“When we’re married, we’ll have to put it in legal writing.” And with those words, David’s world stands still for a long, perfect moment.
Julia looks up at him with a cautious, attentive look. Deeply aware of what she’s chosen to say in not so many words. David smiles brightly. He wants to jump out of bed and jump back into it, do a backflip and a twirl and then roll around in it with her. Instead he simply smiles back at her as she gives into a soft giggle. She did mean it.
“Good thing I’ve got a great barrister.”
“Hope you can afford me.” Julia smiles cockily and David whispers something obscene in her ear to makes her laugh. He tickles her sides and kisses her neck until she turns the tables on him and sits on top of him, kissing him torturously slowly.
They’re about an hour and forty five minutes late for Christmas Day lunch. Aunt Molly has just served herself the first roast potato when they pile into the living room, a little red cheeked and a lot embarrassed. David makes a quip about how it’s the first year they’re all ready before 3, and gets a few knowing stares back from various aunts, uncles and a humorous scolding from his mother.
They’re glad to get a chance to pull Eleanor aside before anyone can ask any questions about the new piece of jewelry on Julia’s finger.
“It’s all the better now you’re here, loves. I just got off the phone and I cannae say that even with all the ice and snow I wouldn’t rather be right here than far away in Madagascar with your sisters.” Eleanor rolls her eyes and pats David’s back as she opens another wine bottle. They’ve pulled her into the kitchen with a purpose.
“Philippines, Mum.” David corrects her. His sisters have chosen to celebrate Christmas with their families in the Philippines, to his mother’s distinct disapproval.
“All the same, Davie.” Eleanor covers the back up tin of roast potatoes with foil as Julia and David wait by the door. David anxiously stroking her back while they watch her potter.
“Got you a present.” David steps forward and hands his mother a small, beautifully wrapped present. Not his doing, or Julia’s, obviously. “A little silly one you can open before the others”
“Don’t I feel special? Look at my boy, isn’t he handsome?” Eleanor ruffles David’s hair to an exasperated sigh as David walks toward the kitchen window and sits down at at chair.
“The most indeed.” Julia remarks with an adoring smile from across the room.
David watches nervously as his mother moves slowly, he’s pretty sure tortoises move faster in fact, to sit down in her favorite chair opposite him. Slowly unwrapping as she compliments the paper and the ribbon and the gift tag, while David waits in torturous slow agony.
“Oh look. Oh isn’t it gorgeous.”
“Do you like it, Mum?” David winks and nods enthusiastically, hoping his unusually bright mother might just catch on before they have to tell her outright.
“Aye,” Eleanor nods, a slightly befuddled look on her face before she turns to her son and asks, obviously still quite confused. “But what am I to do with a ring box, Davie? Where’s the ring?”
“I’m afraid I took that.” Julia holds up her hand, showing it off. Eleanor jumps up and gasps, needing a bit of assistance to sit down again as she catches her breath. Looking at it again and again as she cries and laughs in David’s arms.
There are questions upon questions, smile upon smile when they sit down at the beautifully decorated dining table with the rest of the family. A lot they don’t have an answer to. Julia steals away for a breath to herself, watching them all from a distance when she realizes she has found what she’s missed for many years. She looks up and sends a grateful thank you to whoever may have had a hand in sending her the kind of large, boisterous family she never had before.
One day, when they’re ready, they’ll be married. Maybe with a larger family, maybe in a big house with a garden, or in their little flat. Maybe next year, or maybe not for another ten. But no matter what, they’ll be together.