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Christmas Eve, 2004.
The annual Christmas Eve party at the Graham’s residence was nothing short of festive. A 40 foot Christmas tree decorated in ornaments of various shapes and sizes stood proudly at the entrance, Christmas lights hanging by the window, wine poured endlessly in the sea of familiar faces while the catering crew walked around carrying trays of appetizers to offer guests. Christmas music filled the air, with Ashley's cousin manning the grand piano to play some Christmas tunes.
The Grahams pulled out all the stops when it came to the Christmas party. This was her mother's favorite holiday and she was a huge influence in keeping the tradition of having a big party every year.
Eversince her mother died, Ashley had stepped up to the plate as a host for these gatherings. She dutifully stood by the entrance to personally greet the guests, handing out bags of Christmas-themed party favors she put together. Ashley and her dad decided to hold the party at their private residence, instead of the White House. They wanted to feel home at least during this time of the year.
She wore a sparkly green mini dress paired with black stockings and stilettos. She opted to wear a headband with deer antlers for fun. She received endless compliments that night, from young kids to the older adults. They commented on how beautiful she looked and how great of a job she was doing as a host.
Holding a glass of champagne, she moved from one group of guests to another, making sure everyone was taken care of. There were about 40 guests, a mix of her dad's big family, her late mother's family and closest friends.
Guests poured all night, everyone wanted to be a part of the famous Graham Christmas.
But there was really only one person she wanted to see more than anyone else. A certain agent who saved her life many months ago.
It wasn't too hard to spot her dad from the crowd. He wore the goofiest Christmas sweater, the type that lit up from front to back, and paired it with a santa hat.
She loved that he was able to enjoy himself despite the rough year he had.
She discreetly stood beside her father and wrapped her arm around his waist as he was in the middle of telling a story to her uncles and aunts. Without breaking his monologue, he automatically put his arm on his daughter's shoulder.
“...and then the bear said, ‘thank you for this food I am about to receive,” he said, dramatically raising his arms above his head to “give thanks.”
The group roared in laughter. She clearly missed something, but it didn't matter, as long as everyone was having a good time.
When the group recovered from the joke, Ashley gently leaned into his ear. “Hey, can I borrow you for a sec?”
She led her dad away to a semi- quiet spot. “You said you invited Leon, right?”
“Of course I did.”
“Is he coming?” she asked, trying not to sound too eager. “You didn't send him away for some assignment over the holidays, did you?”
“I don't know if he's coming but I didn't send him anywhere. You might want to ask Emilia.” Emilia was her dad's personal secretary. She would have received Leon's RSVP, if he sent it.
Of course she was dying to check with Emilia, except she was on vacation for the holidays. Ashley was not about to interrupt her personal time just to ask a mundane question.
“Oh, no, it's okay, I was just wondering.”
Her father looked at her with a hint of concern. “Are you having a good time, hun?”
She gave him a big smile. “Of course. How could I not?”
“You're doing a great job tonight, taking care of everyone. Your mom would have been so proud of you,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
She casted a downward gaze. “Thanks dad. You're not going to get sentimental on me now, are you?”
He chuckled lightly. “No, I'm just proud of you, kid.”
“Well, I better get back to my hosting duties,” she nodded towards her spot earlier.
“And I better get back to telling bad jokes.”
She laughed at this and walked back to her spot, shaking her head. She collected the empty glasses she found along the way, handing them over to one of the staff members.
She glanced at the enormous wall clock to her left. It was a quarter past 6. The night was young. Plenty of time for him to show up.
—---------------
“Thank you for coming, uncle,” Ashley said as she walked her uncle through the door, the last one to leave.
“Merry Christmas, Ash.”
“Merry Christmas, uncle Dan.”
Closing the door, she looked up at the clock. It was around 10:45 at night.
Technically, the invitations stated that the party was from “6 pm to 11 pm”, but most of the guests left between 9:30 to 10:30 pm.
After the last guest left, Ashley helped clean up, but she didn't have to do much. The staff was efficient and fast.
As a yearly occurrence, some guests had gotten too drunk to drive home and opted to stay in their guest rooms. She estimated that there were about ten of them who had way too much to drink, and it was almost always the same offenders every year.
All she could do was shake her head and laugh to herself.
She sat by the fireplace, red wine in hand. She was tired but not anywhere near ready for bed yet, her mind was too hectic - she needed to wind down.
“Staying up late?” She heard her father calling from behind, feeling his hand on her shoulder.
She looked up on her right, just enough to meet his eyes briefly. “Yup, just enjoying the peace. I'm going to bed after I finish this wine.”
He tapped her shoulder once. “Well, I've had enough partying for the day so I'm going to bed.”
She let out a small smile. “‘Night dad, sleep well.”
She heard his receding footsteps when he spoke again. “Tomorrow, we open gifts.”
“K!” She answered back. They have established a tradition to open their gifts to each other on Christmas morning, no matter how old she got.
She took a sip of her wine and stared coolly at the dancing fire. Her mind went straight to him.
I hope you're okay, Leon, she thought.
Her ruminations were interrupted by soft knocks on the door.
“Huh? Did uncle Dan forget something?”
She opened the door to her Secret Service agent posted outside. "Hey, 'sup Hunter?”
“Got one more guest,” Hunter stepped aside, revealing a familiar agent standing not too far behind him.
Her eyes landed on his and her heart immediately fluttered. He looked relaxed as he smiled at her, both his hands stuffed in his pockets. He wore a green Christmas sweater with a reindeer logo. Only he could look dashing in an “ugly” sweater. She noticed he was carrying a bottle of wine.
“Hey,” he said, holding the back of his neck with his free hand. “Sorry I'm late,” he said sheepishly.
Once she recovered from her initial shock, she composed herself and greeted the agent.
“Oh, hi Leon,” she used the same voice with him as with every guest she greeted tonight - formal but welcoming. “What can I do for you?” she said, leaning against the door frame.
She was surprised at how calm she was considering how much her insides were screaming.
“Here for the Christmas party?” he said, sounding unsure. The house certainly looked too quiet.
“Yeah, you see, the party ended about half an hour ago,” she said in fake derision.
She wasn't seriously going to turn him away, but she could have a little fun with him. Served him right for being extremely late.
“That so?” he said, pulling the invitation from his back pocket. He scanned the card briefly and looked up at her. “Says here it ends at 11?”
He was technically right, but who shows up to a party 10 minutes before it ends?
Ashley studied his face, trying to figure out if he was being cute or did he genuinely think this was acceptable? She found both possibilities endearing nonetheless.
She glanced at her wristwatch and sighed, her face displaying a playful smirk. “Huh, guess you're right, which means we still got 10 mins left to party.”
He practically bounced on the balls of his feet, walking up to her. “That's the spirit, let's get to it then!”
She couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm.
“Ya, except I'm the only one you got.”
He shrugged, completely unbothered by this information. “Party for two, then? If you're up for it?”
Her heart wanted to jump out of her chest. The great and elusive Leon Kennedy was not opposed to spending Christmas Eve with just her?
What was it that they said about Christmas miracles?
“Why not, beats being alone with my own thoughts anyways. Come on in.” She opened the door wider, he nodded as he walked past her.
Ashley closed the door behind her. “You missed the fun. Should've gotten here sooner.”
He turned his face away for a brief moment and looked back at her. “Missed the fun? Nah, I think the fun just got started,” he said as he continued inside the house, admiring the lavish decorations adorning every corner of the house.
Ashley eyed him curiously. He was surprisingly jovial, perhaps the first time she had seen this side of him.
Who knew Christmas parties forced Leon Kennedy out of hiding?
“Why were you so late anyway?”
“That's a long story. Tell you about it over drinks?” he said, holding up the bottle he'd brought.
Her lips pulled into a smile as she grabbed the bottle from his hand.
“You got it.”
Leon Kennedy ended up staying at the Grahams until 2 that morning. They ended up talking for hours until they lost track of time, falling into a natural rhythm of banters and candid conversations. At one point, Leon somehow ended up wearing her antlers headband.
On her end, it very much felt like a first date that you never wanted to end.
This time he suggested that they exchanged numbers; Ashley jokingly warned him that he was “going to regret it,” to which he laughed and responded, “already regretting it!" just before he got inside his car.
Watching him drive away, she briefly wondered if this could be the first of a potential yearly tradition. She and him, just having casual conversations about everything and anything before Christmas dawn.
Only time will tell.