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It wasn’t your first Christmas together, not by a long shot, but every year the holiday season still managed to feel special. Each year, Mihawk insisted that he didn’t need any sort of gift, that just having you was enough for him. Each year, you ignored that entirely and got him something anyway.
This year, you’d taken up a new hobby, and planned to give him something homemade instead. You figure homemade gifts are just that little bit more special. So, with your knitting needles in hand, you began to knit. You had to begin quite far in advance of the holiday, especially since you were planning on picking up extra shifts at work around the holiday itself to be able to afford the extra cost of heating in the cold weather and the gifts you wanted to buy for your loved ones. It wasn’t the largest project, but it felt special because it was the first one that you’d be gifting to another person, and because it was Mihawk you needed it to be perfect. You started over more than once, determined to get it exactly perfect.
It was only once you’d wrapped his gift and slid it beneath the tree on December 18th - because the gifts belong under the tree long before Christmas day, it makes it look pretty - that you were confident you felt good about what you’d created. You were sure he’d love it. Well, he’d love anything you gave him on principle because you were the one to give it to him but that was beside the point. This year, he wouldn’t try to remind you that he didn’t need anything. This year, he was just going to be happy to unwrap your gift, you were determined.
The two of you kept Christmas day casual, that was something you’d learned after the chaos that happened on your first Christmas together. You made sure to see friends and family around the day, but the day itself was reserved for the two of you to spend together. You let yourselves sleep in as a treat, ate a warm breakfast together rather than overnight oats, enjoyed some Christmas music as you cooked and ate. Just a slow start that the two of you could enjoy together, always somehow touching just for the enjoyment of being close. There was only one thing better than slow mornings together and that was in fact a slow Christmas morning. The apartment you shared was beautifully decorated, with the garland you’d had Mihawk fix at the top of the living room doorway with a curtain pole sparkling with the lights you’d added, the mistletoe you’d pinned at the bedroom doorway for fun, the little snowmen you’d insisted on buying last year just because you loved them so much. It was perfect, just what you loved, and Mihawk always indulged you on that.
Finally, you sat together on the sofa, a blanket pulled over both your laps because despite the heating being turned up, the cool outside air was still nipping at your toes. You reached beneath the tree, where half the gifts were already gone, having been given away the day before when you saw friends, and took out the package that you’d wrapped for Mihawk. He took it with an indulgent smile, golden eyes glinting with reflections of the fireplace video you’d put on the TV to make the room feel more cozy.
“How many times-”
“I know. You don’t need anything. But I did something different this year, I’m really excited for you to open it.” You cut him off, reaching over to gently squeeze his hand.
“Alright, darling.” He said on a sigh, but you knew he was nowhere near as exhausted as he pretended to be. You’d overheard him talking to his friend Crocodile about it once - it wasn’t that he disliked recieving gifts, in fact he found it endearing that you were so insistent on getting one for him, he just truly didn’t want for much.
You watched eagerly as he unwrapped the jumper that you’d knit for him, each row perfected to ensure that nothing would be out of place when he unwrapped it. His pale fingers traced over the yarn, admiring the pattern you’d managed to make, then carefully unfolded it to admire the item in its full glory.
“So this is what you were working on so secretively.” He mused, a small amused smile tugging at his lips that told you you’d already won.
“Well, there’s one more part.” You said with a smirk, then reached over to pull another package out from under the tree. You shredded the paper, uncaring for the mess you left behind in your eagerness to reveal the item, then held up an identical, if slightly differently sized, jumper.
“You made two. So we can match?” He asked after eyeing the two jumpers for a moment.
“Do you like them?”
“They’re lovely, darling. Shall we put them on now?”
“Yes!”
The both of you pulled your jumpers on over your pyjamas that you were still wearing, and you pulled Mihawk in quickly to take a quick selfie together to show them off, which you posted to your socials with a simple “happy holidays” as the caption. You padded away after a while, taking a small trash bag of wrapping paper to the door, and when you returned you found Mihawk fiddling with the hem of his new sweater, admiring it.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Not at all. I think this may be the best gift you’ve given yet, my dear.”