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“It’s too quiet.”
“Wot?” Eggsy murmurs, face still firmly planted in his pillow, vaguely aware that his husband is sitting alert on his side of the bed. Harry reaches for his glasses on his side table, checking the time on the clock as he slides the glasses on, cursing when he sees that it’s past eight o’clock.
“The kids must be up, and it’s silent,” Harry tells Eggsy, nudging the sleepy younger man, “they’re up to something.” Memories of past holidays where the children had attempted to surprise their parents came to mind and he tripped out of bed, Eggsy’s grip on the sheets almost trapping him.
“Or maybe they’re bein’ kids,” Eggsy sighs, reluctantly shifting so only one cheek rested on his pillow, opening one eye to judge Harry. “Kids sleep in Harry. Especially teenagers. Lord knows I did.”
Harry’s tempted to get back into bed, the still warm cotton sheets calling his name. Maybe curl up against his sleepy (and grumpy) husband, kiss the wrinkles from his small disgruntled frown away. But then he thinks about how last Christmas the kids had set fire to the kitchen in an attempt to make Christmas cookies and he’s out the bedroom door and walking down the hallway towards the kids’ rooms.
Lizzie is eight, nine tomorrow on Christmas, but she’s still a firm believer in Santa, cookies and milk outside her door just in case on the 24th, and door decorated to the nines for the holidays. Harry smiles to himself, poking his head into the room, letting out a quiet sigh of relief when he sees Lizzie curled into a cocoon of her many sheets. One small hand has escaped the mass of blankets, clutching a large pug plushie Eggsy had bought a few years ago, a replica of the same pug that was snoring away at the foot of Lizzie’s bed.
Content that nothing is awry, Harry closes her door gently before turning towards his son’s room. Lee is fifteen, sixteen in February, and hasn’t believed in Santa in years. That doesn’t stop him from feeling the holiday spirit, however, his room sporting a string of blinking green and red lights that wrap around every empty space. Lee’s door is already open, so Harry walks in softly, nothing seemingly amiss. It looks like Lee is also curled in a blanket cocoon of his own, but, Harry walks closer, the bundle on the bed appears to be more of a bulbous mass than the result of Lee wrapped up.
“Fuck,” Harry groans, pulling away the sheets to reveal a pile of pillows lain out to simulate Lee’s form.
“Wazzit?” Eggsy murmurs, shuffling into the room, thick blanket wrapped around him. His hair is stood up on all ends (it’s fucking adorable, Harry thinks to himself) and his eyes are barely opened, but Eggsy finds his way to his husband, wrapping him in a warm embrace.
“Lizzie’s still asleep, but Lee’s out of bed,” Harry reports, pressing a kiss to Eggsy’s temple before curling his arm around Eggsy’s waist, the two walking out of Lee’s room and headed downstairs. The house was still dead quiet, sans the happy couple, which made Harry nervous, especially considering their eldest was out of bed. Eggsy seemed not to care, content to lean against Harry, still barely awake and swaddled in warmth.
The living room was clear, and the kitchen was also empty, no sign of Lee anywhere in the house.
“I can’t find him,” Harry whispers, stumped, wondering how in the world his teenage son had managed to sneak out of the house without his knowledge. “How?”
“We’ve trained ‘em well,” Eggsy comments, shuffling into the kitchen to start breakfast. There was also a turkey he had to pull out of the fridge for Christmas dinner. Once Lizzie woke up she could help with the prep for the side dishes, but the turkey had to be stuffed after it finished brining. Eggsy checks the clock while Harry paces the hallway, he had two hours before Christmas dinner preparation really needed to get started, their friends and family arriving around four.
Merlin and Roxy were bringing Elyan, the newest addition to the Merlin department, a talented Egyptian hacker who had caught Merlin’s eye in the middle of an undercover op. Elyan (or Raahim outside of missions) had been recruited for his talents, and then prompted ended up in the middle of a Roxy and Merlin sandwiched, the couple falling in love with his wicked charm and wit. Eggsy had mostly invited him for his Palace Bread. Theoretically the dish only required bread, honey, and heavy cream, but Raahim added something that never failed to have agents and handlers alike clamoring for more.
His mum and Daisy were coming of course. Daisy was twenty already, a student at the London School of Economics and Political Science, studying towards a degree in Business Mathematics and Statistics under the tutelage and recommendation of Bors. Eggsy is still thankful that Bors had taken a shine to his starshine, Daisy quickly becoming the agent’s favorite whenever she visited headquarters.
Bors had been a strong influence for her ever increasing love for math, the agent helping her with her homework while Eggsy and Harry were away, encouraging her to participate in math competitions, even going so far as to write Daisy’s letter of recommendation when she nervously applied to LSE. It had made all the difference, and now Bors was an unofficial member of the Unwin family, Daisy (genuinely) and Eggsy (cheekily) calling him Uncle Bors. He’d be coming to Christmas dinner as well, right after he completed his current mission in France. Percy was on that mission too, now that he thought about it.
“Harry, is Percy comin’?” Eggsy mused, cracking his sixth egg and tossing the shell, looking over his shoulder to see his husband still pacing the halls.
“What?” Harry murmured, focusing on their allegedly missing son.
“Percy, did Mum confirm he was comin’?” Eggsy would never get over the fact that his mum and Percy were dating. Both had lost their partners to Kingsman, and when Eggsy had finally told his mum about Kingsman, Percy and Harry had been there to help explain. Percy had stayed behind to help Michelle adjust to the information while Eggsy and Harry had returned home to care for their kids.
A week later, Michelle was noticeably happier, and Percy was sneaking off from headquarters to go lunch with someone. It didn’t take long for Eggsy to put two and two together, but he didn’t mind. Percy was good to his mum, and she was happy, and that was all that mattered.
“Yes, yes,” Harry muttered before disappearing up the stairs. Eggsy smiled to himself, enjoying Harry’s reaction to not knowing what was going on. Lee wasn’t missing, their son was grabbing some last minute gifts for under the tree, something he had told Eggsy last night while Harry was tucking Lizzie into bed. Eggsy also assumed that there was a girl involved, but he would grill Lee about that some other time.
For now, he had to focus on making these scrambled eggs (the only kind of eggs that Lizzie would eat) and how much he had to cook for tonight. Including Harry and the kids, dinner was going to be an eleven person affair. And with a growing teenage boy and a handful of active agents, he was going to need more food than usual, starting with the almost eleven kilogram turkey brining in the fridge.
“Morning daddy,” a sleepy voice pipped up from the kitchen door.
“Mornin’ Lizziebug!” Eggsy sets the whipped eggs to the side and turns to embrace his daughter, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she yawns. “You’re up early.”
“Papa was making a lot of noise,” Lizzie replies with a frown, tired eyes glaring up at him, “Why is he being so noisy?”
“Lee went to get the presents for Uncle Bors and Percy,” Eggsy whispers, winking as Lizzie makes a soft noise of understanding.
“What’s for breakfast?” she asks, hauling herself up onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar, settling her chin on her arms as she watches Eggsy cook.
“Scrambled eggs, toast, and some fruit,” is the reply she gets while Eggsy settles a few slices of bread into the toaster and grabs their egg pan. “And then we have to start workin’ on food prep for later. You’ve got the potatoes right?”
“Yeah!” Lizzie says excitedly. Her favorite part of holiday dinners was making the mashed potatoes since it meant that Eggsy and Harry let her peel the potatoes and mash them up. She even got to pick what went in them each year. Last year she wanted to use brie cheese, but this year she wanted to get fancy. Papa had taken to the store and let her pick out her favorite cheese (smoked gouda) and got her some pancetta to put into this year’s potatoes. ‘Fancy bacon’ he had said, and Lizzie had been quick to add it to their basket. Daddy and Uncle Merlin loved bacon!
Eggsy quickly scrambles the eggs in the pan, seasoning it liberally with salt and pepper, leaving it to cook for a moment while he grabs a container of ricotta cheese from the fridge, carefully mixing it into the eggs and cooking it until the eggs are cooked through and the cheese is clearly visible still. Whistling to himself, Eggsy takes the pan off the stove and plates the eggs. Lizzie hops down from her stool and goes to grab the toast out of the toaster, placing a slice on each of the four plates, running off to the fridge while Eggsy cleans the egg pan.
“Chives daddy?” she calls out, standing on her tiptoe as she looks towards the back of the fridge.
“Top door shelf,” Eggsy tells her, rummaging around the drawers for clean silverware, when Lee walks in through the front door. “Mornin’ Lee.”
“Hey dad,” Lee says casually, putting three already wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree in the living room before joining his dad and sister in the kitchen. “Where’s papa?”
“Bein’ a worrywart,” Eggsy says, rolling his eyes while taking the chives from Lizzie, his daughter carrying the small container along with the bowl of fruit salad he had made earlier in the week. “He couldn’t find you this mornin’.”
“I told you I was going to pick up the presents?” Lee asks, confused. Eggsy winks at him and Lee snorts. The two move breakfast to the dining room while Lizzie goes to fetch Harry from upstairs. Eggsy can vaguely hear Harry freaking out over his glasses, Merlin no doubt on the other line.
“Can ya get the orange juice?” Eggsy asks Lee while he sets down the glassware and silverware. Lee nods and comes back just as Harry enters the dining room.
“Lee! Where have you been?” Harry exclaims, eyes wide as he takes in the sight of his son.
“Beds empty, no note, car gone! You could’ve died! You could have been seen!” Eggsy mutters under his breath and Lizzie bursts into laughter in her seat beside her daddy.
“I went on an errand of dad, chill,” Lee sighs, sitting next to Lizzie, ignoring Harry’s bewildered expression. Harry turns to look at Eggsy, betrayal in his eyes.
“You could’ve told me!” Harry hisses, taking his seat at the table. Eggsy smiles around a mouthful of fruit and says nothing. It’d been awhile since he got the jump on his husband, it was a nice feeling.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One breakfast (and apology to Merlin over the comms) later, the dishes had been put in the dishwasher and the Unwin-Harts were dressed in their Christmas wear. Lizzie decked out in her red velvet Santa dress and an equally red apron while she carefully went over her potato recipe. Lee was content in his Christmas jumper covered in white pine trees and reindeer, green crushed velvet trousers on to complete his own Christmas look.
Harry and Eggsy were another story, wearing red corduroy trousers (to Harry’s dismay) and matching jumpers, gifts from Elyan. A plush reindeer head stuck out of the front, bright green wreath around it, along with flashing Christmas lights. Eggsy loves the jumpers to death. Harry vows to burn them before Christmas the next year.
It was almost one and Eggsy and Lizzie were moving around each other in the kitchen as Lizzie slowly and methodically made her potatoes and Eggsy took the turkey out. With the first of their guests coming at three, Harry and Lee were tasked with cleaning up the house, stray wrapping paper and dog fur littering various rooms.
“Everythin’ alright Lizziebug?” Eggsy asks, rinsing the turkey off under cold water and patting it dry before putting in on a cutting mat to rest while he checks on Lizzie’s progress.
“Mhhm!” Lizzie hums, having chosen to carve the skins off the potatoes rather than use a peeler. Her tongue was poking out as she concentrated on keeping the skin in one piece, carefully maneuvering the sharp knife in her hands.
“Lemme know if you need anythin’,” Eggsy assures her, checking the progress of the oven, still preheating, and turning the turkey breast side down into a roasting pan. A lump of homemade herb butter is resting on the counter beside him and he rubs the turkey down with it, making sure to coat over and under the turkey skin, sticking any remainder inside the empty cavity.
“Cranberry stuffin’?” Eggsy calls out to the rest of the house, debating on which stuffing recipe he wanted to use. Upstairs the sound of the vacuum stops and he gets two yes pleases in response. “Cranberry stuffin’ Lizziebug?” Another positive hum.
The basic stuffing ingredients are already prepped; celery, onion, and bread pre-seasoned in a bowl to the side already. The sage and thyme leaves he needs are fresh in the produce shelf of the fridge, dried cranberries in the cabinet right next to the fridge. Taking what he needs, Eggsy chops up the herbs and mixes them into the bowl, pouring two handfuls of cranberries into the bowl as well before he starts to stuff the turkey. When he can’t fit anymore of the stuffing inside, Eggsy carefully ties the drumsticks together with twine just as the oven beeps to let him know it’s reached the temperature he needs.
Eggsy grabs the roasting pan and places it gently in the oven, sticking in a meat probe to monitor the temperature before closing the over door.
“I’m so thankful for stacked ovens,” he sighs happily. Imagine having to wait for the turkey to be done before the side dishes could be cooked, that’d be a nightmare. He checks the blackboard on the wall, a project Lizzie had been adamant about, tired of her dads forgetting when they needed to pick up groceries. He writes with the chalkboard marker on the counter beside it the time the turkey went in, and crosses off stuffing casserole as one of the side dishes. Mashed potatoes had been crossed off as soon as Lizzie had put on her apron and Eggsy can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.
There’s still the brussels and carrots to make, as well as sauces. Elyan is bringing a dessert, and his mum had promised to bring the Christmas pudding, but Harry and the kids were adamant about adding a chocolate cake to the menu.
The hour pass quickly, Lizzie boiling her potatoes in salted water and draining them into a smaller pot, taking the pot and the masher into the living room to watch the Harry Potter marathon Lee had started. Eggsy methodically blanches the brussel sprouts in the meantime before setting them aside while he heats up a wok. Four small spoonfuls of goose fat that Harry had picked up from France is added to the wok, along with sage and pre-peeled chesnuts, Eggsy cooking it as he hums a Christmas tune, adding the sprouts in after a moment.
Lizzie walks back into the kitchen with her bowl of potatoes, scurrying to grab a casserole dish for Eggsy to pour the hot sprouts into.
“Thanks Bug,” Eggsy says, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Foil is put over the dish and he puts it into the empty oven before moving onto the honey-roasted carrots. The easiest, but tastiest recipe Eggsy knew, he boils the carrots, watching Lizzie mix in her grated Gouda and thin strips of pancetta into the potatoes before putting them in a dish of their own.
“I’ll put that in the oven wiv the carrots,” Eggsy tells her when he sees Lizzie consider standing on a stool to put the dish in the oven, “Go help Lee and your papa spruce the house up.”
“Alright!” Lizzie cheers, running off to find her brother.
The carrots are drained and cooled while Eggsy mixes a heap of honey together with olive oil and orange juice in his smaller roasting tray. The carrots are tossed together with the mixture and he puts the tray in the oven with the potatoes.
“Now that that’s done with,” he mutters to himself, crossing off the dishes from the blackboard list. He had to make a gravy for the turkey and cranberry sauce for the sides.
The cranberry would have to sit for awhile, so he starts that first, dumping a bag of fresh cranberries into a saucepan placed on the back burner, adding in sugar, water, and orange zest and stirring, watching as the sugar dissolves. The sauce will have to sit for about twenty minutes, on medium until the cranberries burst.
Eggsy checks the turkey’s internal temperature, knowing it wasn’t anywhere close to done but making sure, before he starts the gravy. There’s neck meat and giblet that he had removed before prepping the turkey, and a container of turkey juices that the butcher had given him, assuring all the while that these were the best pan juices from his wife. Eggsy smells the juices, saliva almost shooting out of his mouth from the aroma before he puts it in a sauce pan, adding in turkey brother and some leftover Riesling, leaving it to simmer as he starts the second part of the recipe. Butter is melted in another pan, flour added to make a roux for thickening the gravy, and he pours in the hot combination from the other pan. He stirs it, gravy thickening under his gaze, and adds in the turkey parts, humming as it all comes together, seasoning as he goes.
But the time the gravy is done, the cranberries have burst, and both sauces are ready for consumption. They’re put into sauce containers for later and put in the oven. And then all that’s left is the chocolate cake.
Eggsy checks the time, three pm, and as if on cue, there’s a knock on the door.
“Aunt Daisy!” Lizzie cheers, running to the door, throwing it open and embracing Daisy.
“Hey Lizbeth!” Daisy laughs, lifting Lizzie up in a bone-crushing hug before setting her down. “Oh! Smells good Eggsy!”
“Thanks starshine,” Eggsy whispers, wrapping his little sister into a long hug. “Hey mum.” He looks out the door and waves at Michelle over Daisy’s shoulders. Michelle nods, hands occupied with holding a large dish, walking into the house and greeting Lizzie and Lee.
“Pudding?” Lee asks, excitedly relieving Michelle’s hands of the dish. Eggsy gives him a pointed look while he detaches himself from Daisy to close the front door. “I mean, hey grandmum! Hey Aunt Daisy!”
“Better,” Eggsy sniffs, ruffling Lee’s hair as his son heads to the kitchen. “Harry’s in the livin’ room sortin’ the presents. I’ve gotta bake the cake and then we can open some Christmas crackers and tell terrible jokes.”
“Uncle Bors and Percy are bringing the gifts with them after they come back from France,” Daisy tells Eggsy, following him into the kitchen, “I’m pretty sure they forgot to buy some.”
Eggsy rolls his eyes, knowing that Bors could be scatter-brained. Percy, however, probably had some gifts hidden at headquarters where Michelle and Daisy wouldn’t look. “Those two,” he sighs, reaching under the counter to grab the cake pans.
“Need any help?”
“If you could grab stuff out of the pantry, that’d be great.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By six o’clock, all the side dishes and desserts had been fully prepared, and the turkey was almost ready to come out. The cake, German chocolate cake, was resting on a cake stand, coconut-pecan filling spread thickly between each layer. All side dishes and the pudding were resting in the oven, set to keep warm until everyone had arrived and it was time to eat.
Eggsy and Harry were curled together on the couch, watching as Daisy schooled Lee and Lizzie in Mario Cart, Michelle laughing at their antics while Merlin and Roxy shouted support for their favorite Unwin-Hart. Merlin and Roxy had arrived around four, arms full of gifts, relaying that Elyan would be showing up later with Bors and Percy as he was their handler.
Christmas crackers had been opened, Lee winning most of the crackers, a pile of thin tissue crowns adorning his hair. Eggsy had had the honor of reading all the jokes, adopting a silly announcer’s voice for each bad pun.
(“What does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in a chimney?”
“Claustrophobia!”
“Very good!”
“Boooooooo.”
“Shuddup Rox, I don’t make t’jokes, I just read them.”)
“Bors and Percy should be getting’ here soon right?” Eggsy murmurs, head tucked into the crook of Harry’s neck. “Their flight was ‘ours ago.”
As if on cue, the front door flew open, revealing Elyan carrying two serving platters, Percy with a pile of presents in one hand (holding the door open with the other), and Bors barging through with bags and boxes piled haphazardly in his arms.
“Merry Christmas!” Bors boomed dumping all the present by the tree and sweeping Daisy and Lizzie into a giant beer hug.
“Merry Christmas!” the children echoed, puppy piling on top of their favorite “uncle.”
“Where do I put these?” Elyan awkwardly whispers to Eggsy, hands still occupied by the dishes. Eggsy untangles himself from Harry and walks Elyan to the kitchen, relieving him of one of the dishes so he can still maneuver around.
“Does it need t’be heated?”
“No, it should be fine,” Elyan says, sniffing the air as the aroma of the kitchen reaches him. “It smells great in here!”
“Thanks!” Eggsy says happily, just as the meat probe beeps, letting him know the turkey is done. “Oh shit, can ya clear a space for me to put this?” He gestures at the counter which is covered in loose trash and various pans and dishes. Elyan stacks the dirty dishes and puts them in the sink, leaving enough room for the roasting pan Eggsy pulls out from the oven.
“That smells amazing,” Elyan sighs, staring at the beautiful browned and crispy skin of the turkey as Eggsy puts it on the counter.
“Food?!” Lee shouts from the living room.
“Not yet!” Eggsy calls back, “It has to rest before I can carve it!”
“Oh…can we do presents then?” Lee hollers, making Eggsy sigh. Elyan laughs lightly, following Galahad back into the living room where Lee has hurriedly sorted the new gifts, the eldest Unwin-Hart in the process of distributing the brightly wrapped boxes and bags.
“I think he’s expecting something,” Harry says as Eggsy joins him again on the sofa, bringing a bright red throw around the both of them. Eggsy snorts, watching as Lee, Lizzie, and Daisy decide the order of presents, eventually deciding on youngest to oldest. JB waddles on over to Lizzie and she excitedly opens her smallest gift, the pug curling up in Lizzie’s crossed legs.
“Oh thank you Uncle Bors!” Lizzie cries out happily, a gold necklace adorned with crystal sets dangling from her hands, “it’s beautiful!”
“I overheard you and Daisy talking about Swarovski,” Bors announces proudly, “so when I saw the necklace in Paris, I knew I had to get it for you.” Percy coughs from where he’s seated beside Michelle. “Well, Percy saw it in Paris, but I knew you would love it.”
Lizzie immediately puts on the choker (“Regent Choker from Atelier Swarovski,” Daisy will tell them later when Eggsy asks what the big deal was, “retails at 629 euros. Must’ve been a pretty penny since it looks like he added in some colored gems and had it altered.” Harry will look vaguely impressed, but Eggsy will still have no idea what the big deal is) and Lee is next, choosing his largest gift.
“Oh fuck,” Lee whispers, staring in awe at the gift, a new sweater and sweat pant set from Adidas, brightly colored and gaudy, something he had only seen before in his sketches.
“Language!” Eggsy chirps cheerfully, pleased that his gift had been received so well. It hadn’t been easy, the set was one of a kind, created using some of the mock ups patterns Lee kept in his room. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree after all, Lee loved the same Adidas prints that Eggsy did, even borrowing the plaque jacket Harry had given him during his recruitment days on occasion.
“Oh god,” Roxy groans, burying her face in Merlin’s shoulder, “it’s like Eggsy’s honeypot days all over again.”
“I wasn’t lyin’ when I said posh girls an’ boys love a bit of rough!”
“Ugh dad,” Lee groans, trying to erase any thoughts of his dad seducing posh targets while he slides on his new sweater.
There is laughter all around at Lee’s expense, and the gifts continue. In the end, Lizzie ends up with a new collection of jewelry and clothes, enough for the upcoming spring season that she won’t have to do much back-to-school shopping. Lee gets a bunch of athletic gear, with Merlin and Harry teaming up to buy him a new formal wardrobe of different bespoke suits and shirts. The only outlier is a custom game console Elyan has made for him, a combination of existing consoles that adapts to any game. Eggsy is pretty sure that Elyan has become Lee’s new favorite, with Lee staring at Elyan religiously throughout the rest of the gifts.
Daisy receives jewelry and college supplies, including a new computer from Merlin and Elyan, a collection of math essays Bors and Percy had compiled, and more clothes from Michelle and Roxy. Harry and Eggsy had tried to get a word in about the clothes, but had been silenced by the women’s skeptical glares, only following them around to pay for the gifts in the end. It all works out, Daisy ecstatic about her gifts.
The adults had chosen to do a Secret Santa instead of getting a gift for everyone. Michelle almost squeals when Roxy gifts her with a kitchen renovation, a list of designers and workers at her disposal and no limit on the budget. Giddy with the promise of the new kitchen, Michelle presses a medium box into Elyan’s hand with a wink. Elyan bursts out laughing at the custom Snuggie in the box, Roxy and Merlin’s faces plastered all over the backwards robe.
“Mum!” Eggsy chokes out when he sees it. Harry is gasping for air beside him, the looks on Elyan’s lovers’ faces priceless as they take in the obnoxious pattern on the Snuggie. Michelle shrugs, unrepentant, while Elyan tosses a box at Harry.
“Handy,” Harry comments when he carefully unwraps the gift to reveal a new pair of glasses, “I don’t recall having broken my latest pair yet though.”
“They’re the prototype for the new standard glasses,” Elyan explains while he slips on the Snuggie, “figured Arthur should be the one to try it out first. It’s got a graphical user interface, and we finally put in a visual translation program so you don’t have to deal with your handler or the Siri voice in your ear.”
“Real time translation?” Harry wonders, putting on the glasses and looking around the room. “Let’s try a hello.”
“Bonjour?” Eggsy asks, and Harry makes a content noise when the translation flashes across his glasses.
“Doesn’t obstruct my view, so that’s good,” Harry announces, pointing at the huge box resting besides Bors’ chair. “Your gift Bors.”
“Whadya get me boss?” the man asks, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Is it a Christmas bonus?”
“You’re a millionaire in your own right Bors, I don’t think you need a bonus,” Merlin mutters over his glass of wine, coughing when Roxy elbows him in the stomach. “What was that for?!”
“Be nice, it’s Christmas.”
Merlin sulkily goes back to drinking his wine without another comment and Bors analyzes the hefty box with his hands.
“This is pretty heavy oss an,” he grunts, not expecting the weight as he flips it on its side. “Is it a gun?”
“You didn’t,” Eggsy sighs when Bors rips through the silver wrapping paper to reveal a weapon’s case.
“Is this…this is an anti-tank rifle. You- this- it’s an anti-tank rifle!”
“I want an anti-tank rifle,” Lizzie pouts, staring at her pile of gifts, now disappointed they hadn’t included a weapon. “Can I get that next Christmas?”
“No is getting’ an anti-tank rifle next Christmas,” Eggsy groans, mentally cursing his husband, “I prefer this house in one piece fanks.”
“Promise I won’t test the rifle here boss man lite,” Bors says with a cheeky wink, “that’ll be another present on top of the one behind you.”
“Much appreciated.” Eggsy leans behind the couch to grab his gift, a bright gold box about the size of a shoebox. Probably a shoebox actually, he thinks, pulling away the paper to reveal an Adidas logo.
“Well this is a throwback,” Eggsy laughs, pulling out a pair of winged trainers, almost an exact replica of the ones he’d grown accustomed to wearing in his first year at Kingsman, the only difference was what looked to be gold shoelaces, because Bors was a rich prick.
“Lee told me you finally tossed out your old pair after what, twenty years? Figured you needed a new pair to replace it man.”
“Sweet,” Eggsy whistled, kicking off his slippers to put on the trainers happily. “Thanks man.”
“Who’s next?” Michelle asks, looking up from her tablet where she’d been researching the names on the list Roxy had given her. Her son looks up with a sheepish look and digs around beside his seat looking for a present.
“Merlin catch!” Eggsy shouts suddenly, and Merlin looks in time to have his face meet his gift rather than his wine. Roxy gingerly takes the wine glass from her lover’s hands, watching in amusement as Merlin rubs his face to check that that really happened. Elyan picks the box up from where it’s fallen on the floor and hands it to Merlin.
“Guess what it is!” Lee exclaims, watching Merlin examine the box. As long as Lee can remember Merlin had been able to guess his gifts before he opened them, down to the smallest detail. Every year he hoped that Merlin would be stumped, but that hope was disappearing as a grin spread across the Scotsman’s face.
“Macallan 1946 still in the LaliqueCire Perdue decanter,” he announces before gently opening the box and pulling out the small container of single malt whiskey. “Excellent.”
“HOW?” Eggsy yells, “There was no electronic or paper trail! How could you have possibly guessed that?”
Merlin says nothing, a wide grin plastered on his face as he hands a gift bag to Percy, the spy having to untangle himself from Michelle to reach for the bag. The normally unfazed spy blinks in surprise when he pulls out the tissue paper and sees a small multi-colored ball blinking back at him.
“BB-8?” Percy whispers, picking up the toy, gasping when it beeps at him in response.
“One of a kind,” Merlin says proudly, “Made it myself since the ones in store are shite. Responds to voice command and can be set to follow a preset pattern around the house.”
Percy is silent, waving at the droid and listening to it chirp back at him, before he walks over to Merlin and quickly hugs him.
“Thank you,” Percy mutters before detaching himself and sitting back besides Michelle, his girlfriend smiling fondly while he lost himself in playing with the toy. Not many knew that Percy associated most of his good pre-Kingsman memories with Star Wars, and he was smitten with the droids in the movies. Elyan and Roxy rewarded their partner for his surprisingly thoughtful gift with kisses on the cheek.
“And last but not least, for you Roxanne,” Michelle said, handing over Percy’s gift to his niece. It was a stack of multiple boxes, all kept together with a giant red bow, and Roxy took them happily.
“You look pleased,” Daisy says, looking over her aunt’s shoulder, “do you know what it is already?”
“I’m sensing a theme with Bors overhearing things,” Roxy replies, pulling open the first box, “so my guess is Zuhair Murad. I was talking about one of the older collections that I just adored back when I first started Kingsman, but never had to opportunity to get any.”
“That’s so pretty,” Lizzie exclaims when Roxy holds out the first article of clothing, a long gold dress with a sheer skirt and beading adorning the sleeves and neckline. There are more formal dresses of different colors, each with sheer paneling, and a selection of cocktail dresses as well. By the time Roxy is done opening all the boxes, the floor is covered in tissue paper and Daisy has already taken hold of a few dresses, ready to play dress up after dinner.
“Thank you so much Uncle Percy,” Roxy says, drawing him into a hug. He takes a break from BB-8 and hugs her back, the Mortons rendering the room quiet with the sentimental feelings filling the room.
The moment gets broken up by the growl of hungry stomachs, and Roxy falls back from her hug laughing, poking her uncle in the stomach before turning to Eggsy.
“Dinner?”
“I guess,” Eggsy concedes, and Lee cheers before getting up and running to the kitchen. “Remember to use the oven mitts this time!”
“Yeah dad!” Lee shouts back, trying not to remember last year when he accidentally tried to grab the dishes straight out of the oven in excitement.
Eggsy smiles as he watches his family and friends get up and make their way to the dining room, the kids setting the table, and Bors taking the responsibility of carving the turkey.
“Are you alright?” Harry asks, wrapping an arm around Eggsy’s waist, “you’ve been staring into space.”
“I’m good,” Eggsy sighs, leaning on his husband happily while the adults gather all the wine in the kitchen, Elyan carrying an assortment of whites into the dining room.
“Daddy, Papa, we can’t eat without you!” Lizzie calls from her seat, pouting while she stares at the turkey being placed on the table.
“Yeah dad!” Roxy teases, “hurry up!”
Eggsy huffs a laugh in the crook of Harry’s neck and pulls Harry with him so they could eat, but Percy stops them before they can join the rest of their friends and family at the table.
“What?”
Percy looks up meaningfully at the doorway and smirks before he sits down beside Michelle.
“Pucker up lovebirds,” Roxy teases when they realize there’s mistletoe hanging above them. Eggsy laughs and wraps his arm around Harry’s neck, pulling him down towards him.
“Merry Christmas Harry,” he murmurs. Lee and Lizzie groan, sticking their tongues out at what they know will happen next. Harry kisses Eggsy slowly and tenderly, holding Eggsy close as they make the kiss last. Harry can feel Eggsy’s smile against his lips while their kids groan in mock-disgust, but dinner is growing colder by the minute and he pulls back.
“Merry Christmas Eggsy.”