Serena sighed deeply as she watched Jason nail the mistletoe in the middle of the doorway to her living room. Whilst she wasn't particularly in the festive spirit, she knew it was important to have the trappings of the season fill her house, so that Guinevere knew how important it was to them all. Greta had finally started to feel more herself, but they were all still in waiting mode, she felt. "Aunty Serena, when if the staff Christmas party again?" Jason asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Tomorrow evening," she replied absently, still in the past. IT had been a year since Jason and Greta had married, a year since she had said goodbye to Bernie, and a year since she had truly felt okay, despite putting on a brave face. "Which means I need to get into the kitchen and finish baking. It is going to be a full house tomorrow!"
Serena painted a happy grin on her face as she patted Jason's arm, leaving to head to the kitchen. Greta was there, poring over a cookbook as Guinevere sat in her saucer seat, toddling about whilst squealing happily. "Serena, I think I would like to make pepparkakor. Mister Hanssen is coming with Roxanna, and I know they're a part a traditional Swedish Christmas celebration. You've made things for the others who are coming, even Mister Levy and his family, but nothing for them yet."
"It seems as if we're on the same wavelength, Greta, because that is exactly what I was planning on making next. Did you find a recipe you wanted to use?"
"No, and I've looked through all the cookbooks you own."
Serena shrugged a little as she turned to the counter and rummaged through her satchel for her tablet, setting it up on the stand Jason had gotten for her his first year at her home. "Well, if we don't have a physical copy of the recipe, we'll just have to do a little digging online." Greta nodded as Serena quickly looked up a traditional recipe for the biscuit. As she read off the ingredient list, letting Greta gather up what they needed, she could feel a tiny bit of the Christmas spirit start to worm into her heart, and a true smile replaced the fake grin on her face as she and Greta started to bake.
And then, all of a sudden, it was six, and Serena had just finished changing. Taking one last look at her reflection in the mirror, she ruffled her hair with her fingers, pleased to see that it was finally starting to lay just right. "All right, Campbell, time to put on a brave face for the people," she murmured as the doorbell rang.
Heading downstairs, she heard the excited chatter of the Fletchlings, and found it was a little easier to smile as she watched Theo and Mikey streak past into the living room. She wasn't surprised to see Emma run after them a few moments last, while Evie tried to keep up with them, Ella bringing up the rear. "Dad! You have to kiss Jacula!"
Serena chuckled when she saw that Fletch and Jac were just about to step under the mistletoe, and she leaned against the wall as she watched the play of emotions that crossed Fletch's face as he looked down at his girlfriend. "Go on, it's a tradition," she called out, noticing the look Jac gave her before Fletch nodded dumbly, bowing his head and giving Jac a tender kiss before crossing the threshold into the living room.
"Are you encouraging mischief this year, Ms Campbell?"
She turned her head to look at Henrik, smirking a little. "I finally feel like it might be the right time to start encouraging a little friskiness, yes. I mean, if I can't be happy, I can at least encourage that joy in others."
Roxanna let out a soft sigh as she stepped away from Henrik's side and gave her a small hug. "One day, you're going to find that joy again for yourself. I just know it." Serena nodded as she felt the woman kiss her cheek softly.
"I certainly hope so," she murmured before gently pushing her towards Henrik. "And make certain you stop beneath the mistletoe. That kiss Jac and Fletch shared was a little tame, and I know that you can elicit a little more passion from our CEO."
Roxanna giggled as she nodded, slipping her arm through Henrik's as she led him over to the door, stopping beneath the mistletoe and looking at him expectantly. Henrik met Serena's eye, and she gave him a small nod, watching him sink down to one knee in front of the woman. Sharp tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as Sacha and Beka stopped near the stairs. "We almost missed the show," he murmured as he hugged Serena tightly. She always loved the hugs he gave, since it felt like he was putting the broken pieces of her heart back together.
"You did," she whispered back as she heard Roxanna excitedly respond to Henrik. "And it looks like we'll have another Holby wedding to plan. Are you up for being the man of honor? I know you're one of Roxanna's closest friends."
He nodded as Roxanna tugged Henrik to his feet, wrapping her arms around his neck as they kissed with every fibre of passion in Roxanna's body. Henrik's kiss was a little more reserved, but it was still tender and loving, causing Serena to sigh with a longing deep in her soul for that connection with another person. Sacha patted her shoulder gently as he led her into the living room, though he let her go to head over to Henrik and Roxanna, embracing them both before kissing Roxanna's cheek.
She felt a fresh wave of tears well up within her, and she pursed her lips together firmly to keep them from falling. A part of her wondered if she would ever move on from Bernie, if she could ever be happy again with someone else. That same part told her that the answer was no, she would never be able to get past Bernie, that she had missed out on the great love of her life by being stupid and hormonal. Her lip quivered a little harder as she tried to smile, even as her front door opened again.
"Sorry we're late! Lofty got us all turned around, and then we had to look at some lightshow that one of your neighbours is putting on, and now we're late." Dom air kissed her cheeks before dancing into the living room, Lofty following at his heels, a sheepish grin on his face. Every guest was now accounted for, and she felt so glad to have a full house once more, even if there was still a hole in her heart that only person could fill.
Letting out a soft sigh, Serena took a step back and leaned against the doorway in order to watch her guests interact, feeling like she was a cipher in everyone's life in that moment. And then a pair of hands covered her eyes, and she stiffened a little, waiting for the owner of those hands to speak, feeling like she would fall to pieces if it wasn't who she wanted it to be. "Hello, stranger," a husky whisper said in her ear, and she drew in a short breath as she relaxed back against Bernie's chest.
"Hello, Berenice." She turned around and smiled brilliantly up into her Bernie's face. She looked as beautiful as ever, and Serena let her tears track down her face as she drifted closer and closer into her personal space. "I didn't expect to see you here, of all places."
"I finished out my year in Nairobi, and realized I was just going through the motions in a job I had once loved. Yes, it was my dream job, but part of that dream included you. And even though we left things so jagged between us, I felt a yearning to come back and be with you, Serena. No matter how much I tried, I still loved you too much to let you go."
She nodded dumbly as she reached up and ran her fingers through Bernie's hair, which was still a little longer than her own, smiling giddily as she continued to stare into those stormy dark eyes. "Who, who arranged this little Christmas miracle?" she finally managed to say, and Bernie gave her a little shrug as she stroked her hands down Serena's back until they rested lowly on her waist.
"It was a joint effort between us all," Dom called out, and Serena turned her head a little to see that all the adults were watching them carefully. "A few of us were tired of you mooning about, and knew that we had to do something to right the course of the ship."
Serena let out a little laugh as she looked around at her colleagues and friends. "I suppose I should say thank you, shouldn't I?"
"The only thanks we need is you two acknowledging the fact that you're standing beneath the mistletoe. Everyone else has kissed beneath it so far, after all," Fletch teased, and she blushed a little as she turned back to Bernie, looking up into her face once more.
"We don't have to kiss, if you don't…" Serena's words were cut off by Bernie's lips crashing down on hers, one hand cupping the back of her head as she pulled Serena closer to her body. She hadn't realized until that moment just how much she missed the feel of Bernie's body against hers, and Serena felt the tears start to track down her face as the kiss lingered on. "I've missed you."
"I know, Jason's written me numerous times to tell me that you've been very good at putting up a good front, but there was just something off about you. You have other elves, too, who wanted to play matchmaker, even as you kept your emails to me light and friendly."
"You're my best friend. Even if I had fucked our relationship to hell and back, I wanted to try and stay friends, to get your professional opinions. You were always taking care of me, and as I reflected on our relationship, I realized that I hadn't given you that same support." Bernie cocked her head to one side as she looked at her. "I was a shite partner."
"Yeah."
Serena giggled a little as she swatted Bernie's arm softly. "You weren't supposed to agree with me. You were supposed to puff up my ego, tell me that I'm perfect, and that we're never going to fight again."
"Well, if you want fantasy, we can go watch Love, Actually," Bernie murmured before kissing her once more. "Since this is the real world, we have to acknowledge our faults. I'm shite at writing back when under pressure. It's something that became easier when we were just chatting."
Serena nodded as they drifted into the living room. Bernie took a seat next to Roxanna, giving her a small wink before tugging Serena down onto her lap. "Well, I suppose that this is a happy Christmas for us all," Serena said as she looked around the room, seeing the smiles on all her friends' faces. "Seriously, how long have you all been planning this?"
"Since October, Serena," Greta said as she looked up from playing with Guinevere. "Though I wasn't certain if you would welcome the intrusion. Mister Hanssen said that sometimes we have to do what the person might not want in order to help them the most."
She glanced over at Henrik, seeing the slight hint of a blush that stained his cheeks as his fingers tapped an unsteady rhythm on his legs. Roxanna covered up his hand before leaning over and kissing his cheek, the move calming him immediately. "Yes, well, if someone hadn't knocked some sense into me last year, I might have lost my greatest treasure. And if it makes me a meddler, I will wear that moniker gladly, just to know that I helped another dear friend find their greatest treasure once more."
Serena sighed a little as she nodded. Bernie cuddled her a little closer, and she felt so cozy in her arms, as if this was everything that had been missing in her life for the last twelve months. "Am I your greatest treasure, Serena?" Bernie murmured in her ear, and she nodded. "That's good to hear, since you're mine. And I plan on taking my treasure out on a date tomorrow evening. You can't weasel out of it, Mister Duvall has already agreed to come in a little early for his shift so that you can escape and get ready."
Serena ducked her head a little as she tried to come up with the right words to say to Bernie. "I suppose that I don't have a choice here."
"No!" Dom and Lofty said in unison, and she chuckled a little, feeling Bernie rub her back a little. "We went through too much hard work to have you miss out on this reconciliation. Even Hanssen has agreed to step in if you're called into a tricky surgery. Believe me, we have you covered."
Serena nodded as she snuggled in closer to Bernie, feeling a little more comfortable being in her presence once more, turning her gaze onto the kids who were starting to pass by the food table more and more, clearly hungry. "Well, since we're all having an amazing Christmas now, I think that it's time to eat. Drinks are in the kitchen, feel free to eat and drink as much as you want. And if you need it, there are two guestrooms upstairs, and the sofa can pull out into a bed, as well. Believe me, we could fit all of you in here, if need be."
"Some of us might just take you up on that offer, Serena," Fletch said with a wink as he went over to help Theo and Emma fill up plates. "All right, please, be good for Aunty Serena. We want to be invited back next year," she heard him say none too quietly as they started to fuss and complain about what he was getting them.
"As if you could ever bar them from being here," Bernie murmured in her ear, making her shiver a little. "You love those kids as if they're your own."
"I would have had more, believe me, but Edward didn't want them. We're not going to turn this joyous occasion maudlin, though, Bernie. Because a fresh start deserves a happy start. Even if my engine won't be whining or growling tonight."
"Maybe we can make that happen by the dawn of the new year," Bernie replied before kissing her quickly and pushing her off her lap. "Now, I have survived a long flight and spending the night with two people much younger than me, and I am famished. What did you make me, Campbell?"
"A veritable smorgasbord of flavours, darling. Come and eat your fill at my table," she said with a saucy smirk on her lips, holding her hand out to Bernie. "And if you're good, we'll stop beneath the mistletoe once more before getting our drinks."
"I will hold you to that!" Bernie replied as she clasped Serena's hand tightly, guiding her over to the table. In that moment, she knew that she would let Bernie be as possessive and commanding as she wished, as long as it meant that Serena had another chance at getting love right.