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“Come on Fitz, it’s our first Christmas together, our first Christmas off base in who knows how long; we should spend it together. You know, just us.” Jemma pleaded, setting the keys down on the table inside the front door of their apartment.
“Try telling that to my mum!” Fitz responded. “Ever since I told her about us she hasn’t stopped talking about about having us for Christmas dinner.” Fitz fell into the black leather couch after kicking his shoes off. He heard the door of the closet slam.
“Well if that’s the case, my dad’s been blowing up my phone for the past two weeks asking when he should expect us. If we’re going anywhere it should be there, otherwise he’ll have my head.” Jemma contended while rummaging through the wooden cupboard above the stove. The last time she’d seen either of her parents in person was before SHIELD. Jemma’s current occupation didn’t allow for much off time. They did videochat a lot, but it wasn’t the same.
“And then he’ll have your’s.” she added
Fitz, still spread out over the couch, pulled a pillow over his face and mumbled: “Can we please just talk about this in the morning?”
“First thing then.”
7:47AM
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Some other words followed, but Fitz didn’t pick them up. His eyes were still cloudy from sleep and his nose was stuffed up.
“- I know our kitchen’s a bit small, but if we get the turkey early and get everything else out of the way we can get everything done before they arrive. Oh, and the table settings! We don’t have enough cutlery!” The fully-awake Jemma explained while rolling a pen down a pad of paper. He turned over to gaze at her, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes.
“Jemma! What are you talking about?” croaked Fitz.
“I was trying to tell you my plan for having our parents here.”
“I thought thought the deal was we couldn’t have anyone here? The whole deal with Mace in his office remember? ” He huffed, and fell back into his pillow staring up at the ceiling. “It would be nice though…”
“But we can!” Jemma elaborated, turning over to face him, her eyes gleaming. “We’re allowed to share our location with immediate family! You knew this already, remember? I told you we could have our parents over and you said as if that would ever happen, then I said-”
“Oh wait. I do remember now. .” Fitz consented, although he was still a bit unsure.
“Oh come on, Fitz. This will be wonderful! I haven’t seen your mother since we graduated from the Academy and that was years ago! And you haven’t even met my dad before!” maybe something about hearing the excitement in her voice?
“Yeah, well, the way you talk about him I feel like I shouldn’t want to. What’s an armed forces veteran going to think of a scrawny engineer like me?” muttered Fitz
“Ohh Fitz, are you feeling inadequate?” mocked Jemma. “He’ll love you! In his own way of course, he doesn’t show it, but he’s a really loving guy.” Getting up from their bed she leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Plus,” she smirks. “You forgot about pasty too.”
“Jemma.”
“Pasty, for sure. Scrawny, not so much. Still love you, of course.”
Jemma pushed her hair back behind her ear, smiling at Fitz.
“Now, back to planning.” She said promptly. “I have a draft email ready to send.” Jemma clicks the pen and reaches for her computer on the counter..
“Fire away.”
The smell of rosemary filled the small apartment, and while Fitz moved quickly between chopping the vegetables and checking the turkey thermometer, Jemma was pacing back and forth between the door and the window facing the front of the building. A week earlier, after they sent the invitation, they got an immediate reply from the Simmons family, with a lengthy letter of how excited they are. The response from Mrs Fitz came later, and was much shorter: “I’LL BRING THE STUFFING”.
“Jemma, would you stop worrying and come here and mash the potatoes?”
No reply.
“Jemma, you know they aren’t supposed to be here for another hour--”
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Jemma interrupted.
Fitz paused, eyes narrowed and head tilted to the side, trying to figure out what she meant. The sounds of her quickly walking away and then the sound of clutter reached him. Fitz put down the knife, and he peeked his head around the corner, seeing Jemma trying to reach some fabric in the upper part of the hall closet.
“Oh Fitz, could you reach that for me?” She said, pointing to what she was grabbing at. Fitz made his way over, looking at a beaming Jemma, and reached up and felt the piece of fabric Jemma was looking for. Pulling it down, it fell into the shape of an apron.
“Well, read it!” Jemma prodded eagerly.
Fitz turned the apron around revealing a bright red design with the words “Kiss the Cook” printed on the chest.
“Umm…” Fitz stammered, pointing at himself with a puzzled look.
“Well yes that’s for you! Early holiday present! Put it on! And you better get back to the kitchen, where you belong!” She gave him a crooked smile and kissed his cheek.
He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, shaking his head.Pacing back to the stove while tying the knot at his back, he remembered what he was saying before. “There’s still an hour!”
A heartbeat later, a shriek echoed through the hallway, so loud it could have been the fire alarm. Instinctively, Fitz ran around the corner with a paring knife in hand, ready to fight whatever the cosmos threw at them this time. But standing under the door post was a tall white-haired man and a short brown haired woman, both being embraced by Jemma.
“But… you weren’t supposed to be here until five!” Jemma exclaimed, with the biggest smile Fitz had seen in a long time.
“Well we figured we should be a bit early. It’s not everyday I get to see my government-agent-scientist daughter. What are you up to anyway? Or is it still ‘classified’?” The woman, Mrs. Simmons, questioned. “And oh Leo, oh how you’ve grown up!”
Fitz put on a forced smile “Please call me Fitz” he said before shooting his hand, which still held the knife, behind his back. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Only if you call me Alice, dear.”
Mr. Simmons then walked up from behind his wife and held out his hand for a handshake.
Fitz, quickly turning his shocked look into a smile looked upward, and after awkwardly shifting the knife to his left hand behind his back reached out and reciprocated the gesture. He made an effort to make it nice and firm, just as he’d prepared.
“Nice to finally meet you, Fitz.”
“Nice to meet you too, sir.”
“Oh, please. No sir. Oliver is just fine.”
“So, how are our scientists doing?” Mr. Simmons--Oliver-- added, pasting a smile on his face.
“Oh just great dad!” Jemma responded eagerly, ducking past him. “Come, look around!”
As the group of them made their way past the kitchen, Fitz ducked back in there and kept his head down and got back into the rhythm of things. All of a sudden Alice joined in beside him and picked the pot of gravy up and started whisking it.
“You can’t let it sit too long or it’ll go turn to Jell-O” She said with a laugh.
“Oh you don’t have to do that,” Fitz said nervously “here I can take that.”
“Leo- err I mean Fitz. Let me tell you: there hasn’t been a Christmas since I was 15 that I haven’t been in the kitchen.” She paused and looked around. “It seems like you could use me too.”
“Okay well,” Fitz stammered, looking around not making eye contact. “Could you pull out the cranberry sauce? From the upper shelf in the fridge.”
Alice opened the fridge and while looking for the sauce she bobbed her head back and forth humming Jingle Bells . She set the can down on the counter and turned to Fitz, and said very seriously: “I don’t think this will be enough.” Fitz gave her a puzzled look. “You know, I bet Jemma could down this whole can herself. Oh I’ve got to tell you about the time she got so excited over cranberry sauce, she spilled it all over herself! It was when she was ten that-”
“Mum!” Jemma called from the living room. “You are NOT allowed to tell the cranberry sauce story! Fitz, don’t listen to her she’s mad.”
“That’s okay Alice,” Fitz began, raising his voice so Jemma could hear. “I’ve got more sauce in the back.”
Alice let out a hearty laugh, and Fitz smiled.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
At around 4:45PM there was a faint knock on the door. Fitz wiped his hands on his apron and went to the door. Behind it was his mother with two cardboard in tow, and a huge grin on her face. “Merry Christmas Leo!” After coming in and dropping her things she gave her son a big embrace, and a kiss on his cheek. “You haven’t shaved? Who raised you?”
Fitz, laughing, brushed it off.
“And your apron is messy, and your sleeves should be rolled up!” She took to herself to roll up his sleeves. Fitz backed away pushing his sleeves up himself.
“Mum- I am a grown man- mum- I know- yes- mum -”
“Grown men still need their mothers, Leopold.” His mother clucked her tongue even though her eyes shined.
Jemma came around the corner and hugged her, “Hello Emma, so nice to see you again.”
“Jemma, darling!”, Mrs Fitz pulled back and looked her up and down “Radiant as ever. Although I must say the years have been treating you kind-- quite unlike how they’ve treated me!”.”
Smiling, Jemma replied: “Oh hush!, you look beautiful as ever.” She turned back and gave Fitz a wide grin, and he grinned back.. “Oh come in,” Jemma glances back at Emma.”please, our home is yours.”
Mrs Fitz bent down to drag the two boxes into the living room. “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have had this in Scotland.” She huffed, carrying the boxes before Fitz and Jemma stepped in to take them. “Thanks, dears. But if only you would live closer! Would’ve saved a lonely, old, woman a trip and a half, and having to lug all this around.”
“Mum!”
“What, Leo? I am old , you know.”
Alice chimed in from the kitchen “Yeah really, you two live about as far away as you can get from the UK.”
“Well we’re all here under one roof, and it couldn’t have been that bad for any of you right?” Jemma said loudly for everyone to hear.
Ms. Fitz stood up, and with wide eyes and a deep breath sighed, “Actually, you would not believe what I’ve been through the past 13 hours.”
The night was filled with stories and laughter, wine and food. Oliver told the story of how he and Alice met on a stalled train. And though Jemma had heard it many times before, it was only now that she was able to appreciate it as a love story. As she leaned her head on Fitz’s shoulder she thought of how convoluted theirs was, but how great of a story it would be to tell their kids.
When it came time to open presents, the small family crammed into the two even smaller couches. There were necklaces, sweaters, and all kinds of Christmas cliche gifts, courtesy of Emma who clapped her hands and giggled with every present. Then there were power tools because “every man needs a screw gun, and every girl needs a chainsaw” according to Oliver, who winked at them. And finally, the last gift remaining was a small blue envelope.
To Jemma & Leo
From Mum, Mum, and Dad
Inside, there was a note that read:
For you two to get away and have a real Christmas without us stepping on your toes. Xo
There were two plane tickets enclosed.
Both Fitz and Jemma looked up from the note excitedly.
“Seychelles? How did you know we wanted to go?”
“:Well you wouldn’t stop talking about it,” Fitz began. “I’m sure it came up in conversation somewhere. It was the only thing on your mind for a month!”
Mrs Simmons smiled kindly, “Actually we didn’t know anything…” Jemma looked puzzled “Your father and I went a few years back, and we really loved it, figured you’d think the same.”
“Huh” snorted Fitz “must be a Simmons thing.”
“Very funny Fitz” Jemma said, rolling her eyes. “Thank you very much. We’ll really enjoy it.”
And though as much as the parent’s in the room would disagree, a night with them in a crowded hot apartment was worth so much more than a trip to Seychelles.