Work Text:
J.D. cursed softly and glanced at his watch: Veronica should be here any minute, and he didn't have time to think of anything better to do. Normally he didn't forget important and not-so-important dates, but not this time: J.D. had remembered Valentine's Day only half an hour ago, thanks to another stupid song on the radio.
Of course, Veronica wasn't a big fan of Valentine's Day and had probably forgotten about it, too: it had been a rough start to the year. She was finally promoted, but along with the sizable raise came the mess that remained after the previous partner was fired. For the past month, she had almost slept on the job. So J.D. wanted to do something to cheer her up and at least take her mind off her problems for a while.
All would have been well if he had remembered about the day in time! Instead, he realized it at the last minute, and the only thing that occurred to him was a frankly stupid idea.
The sound of a car pulling up was heard outside. J.D. put on his most seductive (and, in Ronnie's opinion, stupidest) grin, took two slushie cups from the table, and turned to the door. The door creaked open.
"Happy Valentine's Day, love... oh, shit! Good evening, Mrs. Sawyer," he said, stammering, feeling the blush wash over him from head to toe. J.D. chuckled awkwardly, catching the woman's shocked look, and quickly put both cups down. Thankfully, he'd gotten the extra-size drinks...
"Jason," Mrs. Sawyer nodded dazedly, frozen in the doorway. "Why are you... uh..."
"What's going on?" Veronica asked with weary curiosity as she appeared at the entrance; the bag of groceries immediately fell out of her hands, and she crawled to the floor after it, bent over with laughter. "Oh God, why are you?.."
"Well hello to you, too, honey," J.D. looked at her sourly, shifting from foot to foot. Damn, this was the most idiotic situation he'd ever been in in his life! He stood in front of his wife's mother, dressed only in socks, and covering a strategically important spot with a pair of cups filled with colored ice. By the way, the slushie was already slowly melting in his hands. " Um... surprise?"
"Really, what a surprise," Veronica pressed her palms to her cheeks, flushed with laughter. "Oh, where's... all the stuff?"
"In the bedroom," J.D. awkwardly cleared his throat and, trying not to look in his mother-in-law's direction, muttered: "Mrs. Sawyer, um... would you mind leaving us alone? Just for a minute."
She shifted her stunned gaze to his face and quickly stepped back.
"Yes, of course! I just forgot something in the car... something, I forgot something, yes," the woman waved her hand in confusion and almost ran out the door.
J.D. sighed and cursed quietly to himself. This idea had been idiotic from the start! He should have just bought Veronica flowers.
"Set that slushie down somewhere before it freezes my favorite part of you," with a mocking chuckle, Ronnie rose from the floor and stepped closer to him.
"I was hoping your favorite part was my brain," J.D., calming down a little, set the cups on the table and reached for Veronica's hug. He missed her like hell.
"'Sorry, I was starting to doubt it today,' she wrapped her arms around him, still laughing, and gave him a quick kiss on the chin. "You must have forgotten what I said this morning about mom coming?"
"Yeah, it's totally slipped my mind," he laughed and tucked his nose into her short-cropped hair. Even though Veronica had been spending most nights at work lately, she still smelled like home. "I should probably go get dressed. And then I'll apologize to Mrs. Sawyer for the, uh, over-hospitable greeting."
"Hey, but I didn't get a good look at my present," Veronica smiled slyly and ran her fingernail down his twitching throat. He swallowed.
"Ronnie, sweetie, could we reschedule the gift-giving for tonight?" he looked back awkwardly at the still open door and added in a loud whisper, "Look, you're really not making things easier for me!"
"Yeah, I can feel it," Veronica giggled, lowering her gaze. "I thought I'd finish some papers tonight, but I guess I could do it tomorrow morning. Or even nearer to noon. So what do you say about that?"
J.D. grinned smugly: "That I'm the best gift in the world?"
Veronica shook her head and couldn't help but burst into laughter again, "I couldn't agree more. Now hurry to the bedroom and get dressed! A few more minutes and I'll jump on you, and then we'll both have to blush in front of mom.”