Title: Dreaming of a White Christmas
Rating: K+
Prompt: Jess desperately wants a white Christmas, but London is having unseasonably warm weather this December. What can Becker do to fulfil her wish?
Despite the predictions of the Met Office, there were no record breaking amounts of snow in November 2013. There were a few little flurries and a handful of icy mornings but nothing Jess would classify as 'real snow'.
December started and showed promise, cold and bitter, but ice wasn't snow and as Christmas Day crept closer and closer, the weather turned unusually mild and her dreams of a white Christmas looked, well, bleak.
She tried to rationalise it, forcing a smile and agreeing with her friends and teammates that a snowless winter would make their jobs easier but it escaped no one's notice that the young Field Co-ordinator had clearly set her heart on a picture perfect white Christmas.
When she was asked about why it meant so much to her, her eyes went soft and her expression distant. She spoke wistfully about the Christmas's she had as a child and how the best ones she could remember were made all the better because they were snowy ones. She admitted that maybe it was a little childish of her but Christmas always seemed more magical when it was accompanied by a layer of crisp white snow, when you could get up and look out of the window and see the usual grey cityscape transformed into a flawless white wonderland. She loved to watch from her balcony as the kids in the neighbourhood had snowball fights and see snowmen take shape in the park across the road under the careful ministration of children and their parents.
But, she added with a brave smile, she would rather the team and everyone else at the ARC were safe so conceded that perhaps no snow would be better.
The closer Christmas Day got, though, the more Becker caught her sighing wistfully over the weather forecasts she looked up on the Internet. It had become a little routine for her, checking first the Met Office website and then the BBC Weather page, in the hopes that one of them would predict a little scattering of snow overnight on Christmas Eve. She didn't want much, just a thin layer of snow to wake up to on Christmas Day but even that, it seemed, was too much to ask for.
"You probably think it's silly of me, don't you?" Jess asked him quietly one night as they made their way out of the ARC and towards their parked cars. "To get so worked up about a white Christmas?"
"I don't think it's silly." There was a lot of words he could use to describe the woman walking alongside him but silly wasn't one of them, at least not anymore. Cute, quirky, sweet, endearing... He had even developed a fondness of her ridiculous shoes though he did his best to keep that fact hidden. "I think it's sweet. You obvious have good memories associated with snow at Christmas."
"I do." Her smile was bright – and infectious. Almost without being aware of it, Becker matched it with a grin of his own, encouraging her to continue. "I remember one year, it snowed so much my brothers built a snow igloo in our back garden. It lasted for the whole of the school holidays and we used to have picnics inside it with hot chocolate and the sweets we were given for Christmas. Mum would worry about it collapsing on us so she'd make Dad stand outside at the ready with a shovel but it never did. It was quite sturdy, really, I suppose because it was so cold that the snow froze every night." She glanced at him, blue eyes wide and earnest. "Don't you have any fond memories of snow at Christmas time?"
Being someone who usually kept himself to himself, it would have been natural for Becker to say no and let the conversation shift onto a different topic. But it was Jess asking him, Jess looking at him with those big blue eyes of hers and he found himself wanting to open up and share a little bit more of himself with the Field Co-ordinator who'd somehow claimed such an important place in his life – and, he thought sappily, in his heart.
"I remember we had a snowman building competition one year," he offered after taking a moment to think about it. "We all took part, adults and kids alike. It turned into a girls versus boys thing, with my sisters ganging up with my cousins while my dad and uncle worked with me. It was a great way to spend Christmas morning while Mum and Aunt Kate cooked dinner."
"Who won?" Jess asked him quietly, the two of them coming to a stop beside their respective vehicles – quite how his truck always ended up being parked right next to hers was something Jess had never questioned. "You or your sisters and cousins?"
"It was a tie. My grandparents judged them and couldn't decide between the two. Ours was bigger, of course, "Becker grinned at the memory, shaking his head. "And we made him into a snow soldier, complete with a gun made from tree branches."
Jess laughed a little at that, rolling her eyes at him. "Of course your snowman would have a gun. I'd expect nothing less."
For a few moments, they stood in companionable silence between their parked cars, reluctant to part ways but neither brave enough to broach the unspoken subject between them and make the first move. One day, Becker swore as Jess blushed and turned towards her car, one day he would.
"Drive carefully," he settled for saying instead. "There might not be snow but I heard reports of black ice on the roads so..."
"I'll be careful," Jess promised. "As long as you are, too."
"Always." Becker grinned at her and held her door open for her as she slid gracefully behind the wheel.
A few minutes later, he stood by his truck and watched her drive away. Instead of following her lead and heading home, however, an idea began to take shape in his mind and he found himself walking back through the security checkpoint into the ARC in search of the one person he suspected would be able to help his plan become a reality...
James Lester liked to think he was a very important person. He had a good position and contacts, very important contacts, but when a sheepish Becker knocked on the door to his office after hours, Lester couldn't think of a single person in his bulging address book who could help with the Captain's request.
His first thought was to say no, it couldn't be done. But then Becker had explained, and Lester's own soft spot for their Field Co-ordinator had emerged and he found himself promising to look into it.
And look into it he did.
Two days later, the day before Christmas Eve, Lester summoned Becker to his office and regaled him with the good news – and handed him the all important scrap of paper with the contact numbers scrawled upon it.
He kept his thoughts to himself as Becker accepted it with a heartfelt thank you, a slight flush on the younger man's cheeks and his dark eyes alight with a glint Lester couldn't remember ever seeing in the Captain's gaze before.
"I assume you can take it from here, Captain?" He said instead, making sure to keep his tone just the right side of dry so not to show the interest – and amusement – he felt bubbling up inside him at the situation.
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." A rare grin – a grin, not a smirk – curled the corners of Becker's lips for an instant. "I can handle it from here."
"Good man." Lester fought the smile that itched to surface and arched an eyebrow when Becker remained standing in front of him, staring at the piece of paper. "Well? Don't you have things to do?"
"What? Oh, yes. Right." The beginnings of a blush descended on the young Captain's face but he squared his shoulders and schooled his features into a solemn expression befitting of the ARC's Head of Security before nodding at Lester. "Thank you again, Sir. For the help."
"Not at all, Captain. The hard part's still ahead of you."
The next stage in his plan sounded easy enough but Becker thought it might have been one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Well, maybe not hard as much as... awkward, and more than a little bit embarrassing.
It'd taken two attempts at explaining his idea, and then after his hearing had a few minutes to recover, he'd had to go through it again with the second person living at the property he'd telephoned. That part of the conversation had surprisingly been the least awkward part and Becker suspected he might have Lester to thank for that.
Having sought the approval he needed and had thankfully been given, Becker launched into stage three – using the second number Lester had supplied him with to make the all important arrangements. Again, that had been easier than expected – and again, Becker suspected his boss might have had something to do with it, especially as the figure he was quoted when everything was discussed was considerably less than he'd anticipated.
It was all taken care of in a matter of hours, so it was a relieved and trying-not-to-look smug Becker who stood with his teammates to bid Jess a Merry Christmas she prepared to leave the ARC at noon on Christmas Eve.
Abby and Connor were leaving at the same time, heading to Connor's Mum's house for their first Christmas Day as a married couple. Matt and Emily were staying on duty for the whole shift with Becker as they were planning a quiet Christmas at home and Becker himself, though Lester had insisted he couldn't work the bank holiday yet again, had no plans for the holidays as his parents were away on a cruise and his sisters, though they'd all invited him to join them, were hosting Christmas dinners with their own families and in-laws.
Jess was heading to her parents house, where the whole of the Parker family were set to descend. It would be the first full Parker family Christmas in four years and her excitement at being able to see the whole family – brothers, sister-in-laws and nieces and nephews – was clear to see. She was practically bouncing on the spot, all smiles and hugs as the team exchanged small presents – presents that they swore every year they weren't going to get for each other but which every year they sheepishly revealed at the last minute.
"Have a good Christmas." Becker spoke quietly when it was 'his turn' to do so. He noticed the others seemed to move a short distance away and was glad of it, so couldn't quite bring himself to mind the knowing smiles being sent in his and Jess's direction. "You never know, it might snow."
"Was the rhyme intentional?" Jess teased, either not noticing or not caring about their audience. "And thank you for the thought but I've checked and double checked. There's no snow forecast tonight unfortunately."
It was all he could do not to grin at her. "You never know what Father Christmas might bring." When she laughed, Becker allowed himself a small smile and held out the neatly wrapped present he'd been holding behind his back. "But since I'm not Father Christmas, this is the best I can do."
"Thank you." She smiled brightly as she accepted the gift even though she made no move to unwrap it – he knew from previous years experience that Jess was a stickler for keeping presents until the day itself – and held out a similarly sized present for him. Her smile dropped a little after he took it and thanked her but before he could question its cause, Jess spoke up. "Are you really spending Christmas Day on your own?"
"It's fine, Jess. I'm on call –"
"No you're not. I saw the list, and I know Lester sent a memo out saying he'd fire anyone who called you in unless it's an end of the world emergency." She bit her lip and gazed up at him. "I know Matt and Emily have asked you to join them..."
"And be the third wheel?" Becker arched a sceptical eyebrow. "As nice as it was of them, it doesn't sound like much fun to me. Seriously, Jess, I'll be fine. Christmas isn't as big a deal for me as it is for you."
"It should be." Her brow furrowed and he hated the unhappiness beginning to appear in her eyes. "It's not too late to take one of your sisters up on their offers. I'm sure they'd love to see you."
Becker shook his head, his lips quirking upwards. "I'm fine, Jessica. Go and see your family. If you don't leave now, you'll get stuck in traffic."
She glanced at her watch and couldn't quite stifle a sigh when she realised he was right. Abby and Connor seemed to have the same idea and before long, the group had said their goodbyes and those who were leaving for the day had gone.
Becker left the Ops room for the Armoury in need of a distraction to keep him from wasting the afternoon counting down the hours.
Her parents were acting... weird.
Weirder than usual, anyway, which for them was quite a lot weirder than what Jess would deem normal.
Her mother kept making little squeal-y noises and clapping her hands together. At first, Jess thought it was pure excitement at the thought of having all of her children and their families under one roof at Christmas time but as the afternoon stretched out into early evening, she began to suspect it was something else.
Especially when she noticed the little squeals and hand-claps seemed to have something to do with Jess herself.
After they'd eaten dinner and the kids had been put to bed, Jess was about to broach the subject with her father only to realise that he, too, was acting a little bit... odd.
He kept smiling at her.
Okay, so smiling at her wasn't exactly unusual in itself – she'd always been a Daddy's Girl on account of her being the only girl out of the four Parker siblings but it was the way he kept smiling at her that made her suspicious. It was almost... well, sappy is the word that sprung to mind. She'd never seen her father smile like that before, except maybe the first time he'd held each of his grandchildren and thought no one was looking.
And the weird behaviour seemed to spread as the evening wore on. Her mother would disappear into the kitchen with one of her sister-in-laws to top up the drinks – Jess, for some reason she couldn't fathom but wasn't complaining about, was not allowed to venture into the kitchen so sat curled up on the sofa and was weighted on hand and foot – and when they came back, her sister-in-laws would be wearing the same giddy expression.
Her brothers, too, weren't immune. One by one, they took it in turn to sit next to their father and catch him up on the goings on in their lives. The conversations, taking place on the other side of the room, were too quietly murmured for Jess to hear what was said but she just knew she was somehow being talked about from the way her brothers would grin at her afterwards and, in the case of her youngest brother, wink as though there was some big secret that wasn't being shared with her.
By half ten, Jess was beginning to get tired. She'd tried to stay up till the end of the Christmas film on TV – one of her favourites from her childhood – but eventually admitted defeat and announced she was going to bed.
She half expected someone to stop her and let her in on the secret but no one did. Her mother engulfed her in a hug, which wasn't exactly unexpected but the tears in Elise Parker's eyes when she pulled away were a bit of a surprise.
Able to escape without anyone else acting stranger than they had been all night, Jess made her way to her old room and got ready for bed. After slipping under the covers, she reached for her phone and sent an impulsive text message to the person who'd been on her mind most of the evening – when she hadn't been pondering the mystery of her family's bizarre behaviour.
'I hope you have a Happy Christmas, no matter what you end up doing. See you on Thursday, love Jess xx'
Less than two minutes after she'd turned off the lamp on the bedside cabinet her phone buzzed with a reply.
'I'll do my best. Hope Santa's good to you. Love B x'
She couldn't help the slight squeal that escaped her at his use of the 'L' word and the 'x', and fell asleep with a smile on her face, deciding she'd forego her wish for snow if Father Christmas could somehow arrange for a certain ARC Captain to be under the tree in the morning...
The room was brighter than she was expecting it to be.
Jess stretched out in her bed, smiling at the sound of excited children squealing about Santa, their feet thundering along the hallway and down the stairs of the old house, but she frowned when she realised the bedroom was somehow lighter than she was expecting it to be – especially since a glance at her phone told her it was far, far earlier in the morning than she'd been planning to get up.
Reluctantly leaving the warmth of her bed, she reached for her dressing gown and shrugged it on over her pyjamas as she made her way to the window. She frowned as she noticed the curtains were drawn, realising that she hadn't actually done so herself. Figuring her mother must have done so before she'd gone to bed and she'd simply been too tired to notice the night before, Jess pulled them back... and froze.
The garden was white.
There was a thick layer of snow coating the lawn, the paths, even the branches on the trees...
... But it was only her parent's garden. There wasn't a single flake in the gardens of her parent's neighbours, yet theirs looked like it had been the centre of a mini snowstorm overnight.
Confused, Jess left her bedroom and went in search of a member of her family, hoping they'd be able to solve the mystery. Perhaps one of her brothers – or maybe all of them – had arranged it as a Christmas surprise for the kids? Judging from the raised voices she could hear, her nieces and nephews were desperate to be allowed outside to play.
Heading towards the kitchen via the living room, expecting to find at least one member of her family there, Jess was brought up short when she recognised the person standing next to the Christmas tree, studying the shiny baubles and sparkling lights and realised that he was certainly not one of her brothers.
"Becker?"
The grin on his face was sheepish, the tips of his ears turning red under the weight of her incredulous stare. "Um. Hi. Merry Christmas?"
"You... I... What?" She blinked, unable to think of what to say let alone figure out which order the words were supposed to be in or how to actually get them out. "Did... the snow...?"
"You wanted a white Christmas," he said simply, running a hand through his hair when she continued to stare at him. "And after everything that's happened this year, I thought you deserved it."
"You... For me?" Jess blinked again, and took a half step towards him. "How?"
"I –"
She didn't let him finish the sentence, didn't actually care how he'd done it, just that he had, for her, and he was there on Christmas morning when that was what she'd wanted and she didn't care that her parents were in the next room or maybe even watching from the doorway.
She threw herself at him and kissed him, only belatedly realising she should be thankful that he'd caught her and they hadn't gone toppling into the Christmas Tree because he kissed her back.
He kissed her back.
"You're spending Christmas here," she told him when they parted, flushed and breathless but still maintaining the hold she had on his shirt – though when she'd grabbed fistfuls of it, she wasn't quite sure.
Becker didn't look like he minded the order, but as his gaze shifted from her to something over her shoulder, his relax stance changed and she felt more than saw him tense. "I don't want to intrude..."
"Nonsense!" It was her mother's voice, and Jess knew she should really release Becker from the grip she had on him – especially since she was in her pyjamas and she hadn't introduced him to her family – but she couldn't quite bring herself to do so. "You're welcome to stay, Captain. In fact, we insist on it. Don't we, dear?"
"Of course." And that was her father, and it was his voice that made Jess step back, though she made sure to take hold of Becker's hand and stay close to his side as she faced her parents. "You really must stay. Someone needs to be on Jessica's side for the snowball fight and her brothers always refuse."
She thought about protesting indignantly but knew it was true. Just as she knew she was going to win for the first time ever with her Captain on her side.
"Please stay," she added quietly, turning to Becker as the rest of her family began to spill into the room, the kids heading straight for the presents under the tree while their parents split their attention between their children and the youngest of the Parker siblings. "I won't force you to if you really want to go but I would really, really like it if you would."
"In that case, I'll stay." Becker reached up with the hand that wasn't wrapped around hers and brushed her hair back from her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Jessica."
Her smile was blinding, as brilliant as the snow waiting outside in the back garden for them to play in, and made everything he'd done to make her Christmas dream come true worthwhile. "Merry Christmas, Becker."
End