A/N: Well this has been a labour of love! This idea first came to me when I was looking for a Christmas jumper to wear to our Christmas Jumper Day at school, but it was only a very vague idea and I've been fighting with my muse to get it finished. However thanks to some support from HRalwaysliveon, I have managed to get it finished. I hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas!
It was the beginning of December when Zaf announced his brilliant idea at the end of a daily briefing. "We should have a Christmas Jumper day!"
"A what?" asked Harry, barely containing his eye roll.
"Christmas jumper day," reiterated Zaf. "We all make a donation to charity and wear our Christmas jumpers to work."
"That sounds cool!" agreed Jo.
"It couldn't hurt," said Colin. "Might even be fun."
"We could have a prize for the best one!"
Harry looked around the team; Zaf's enthusiasm appeared to be catching. Even Ruth was smiling as she considered the idea.
"When would you like to hold this event?" asked Harry, sceptically.
"Christmas Eve," replied Zaf, in a tone that suggested the date should be obvious.
Harry looked at his watch. "Right, well if no-one one else has any pressing business, I have a meeting with the Home Secretary at ten."
18th December, 8.50pm; The Grid…
"So, have you got your Christmas jumper sorted yet?" Jo asked Ruth, as they sat waiting for a facial recognition to come up with a match.
Ruth nodded. "I picked it up yesterday." She pulled out her phone and showed Jo the picture she had taken; a cream sweater bearing a penguin wearing a pale blue scarf and ear muffs.
"Ooooh, that's cute!"
"Thanks. You got yours?"
"Yup. Popped to Debenhams on the way home last night." Jo turned to the free computer and pulled up the website. "What d'ya think?"
"I like it," Ruth agreed, as she looked at the red festive jumper embellished with 'I LOVE MISTLETOE' and snowflakes. "Are you trying to drop hints to a certain someone?" she asks, a knowing look on her face.
Jo blushed. "Do you think he'll take the hint?"
Ruth looks at Zaf, asleep in his chair, head lolling back, mouth wide open. "I wouldn't like to say."
23rd December, 2.30pm; Briefing Room…
"While everyone is together, I just want to remind people that tomorrow is Christmas jumper day!" Zaf said, after Harry had brought their business of defending the country to a close. "Don't forget your money; all donations are going to Great Ormond Street," he announced. "So give generously."
"It's going to be brilliant!" echoed Jo!
Harry reached into his wallet and handed Zaf some money. "I'll give my donation now, as I won't be joining the rest of you in your festive fashion parade."
A chorus of protests could be heard around the table "What?" "Why?" "Harry!"
"I have a JIC meeting first thing; I will not subject myself to ridicule from Oliver Mace, by donning a Christmas jumper."
"You could wear one in the afternoon," mumbled Colin.
"Do you wish to be taken out and shot?" Harry shot back, ending the discussion. "You're all dismissed," he announced to the team.
"You really not going to wear a Christmas jumper? " Ruth asked, when the other team members had left the briefing.
"I did not. As I said, I have a JIC meeting this morning… I can't see them . Besides, I don't own a Christmas jumper and object to spending money on a tacky piece of clothing I'll probably never wear again. Plus, I really don't want to have to face the hordes of last minute shoppers."
"You're being a Grinch," she told him.
"It could be my head isn't screwed on quite right, it could be perhaps that my shoes are too tight!"
"I'm impressed Harry; you can quote Dr Seuss from memory."
"Catherine loved that book when she was a little girl," he told her. "Every year, from the first December until Christmas Eve, we would have to read it." Harry got a wistful look in his eye and Ruth remembered that his relationships with his children were a little strained.
She cleared her throat. "Well, I'd better get on; you need the latest threat report for your meeting with the Home Secretary tomorrow."
23rd December, 9.40pm; Harry's House…
Harry was nursing a rather large glass of whiskey later that evening when there was a knock on his front door. He opened it to find Ruth stood on his doorstep with several shopping bags in her hands.
"Ruth, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Can I come in? My feet are like ice."
"Of course, of course!" He stepped aside and she entered, shaking snow off her coat and boots and out of her hair.
"I was thinking about what you said this afternoon," she began, as he closed the front door behind her to keep the heat in, "about not wanting to wear a Christmas jumper and I respect that but, given what you said, I think I've found the perfect one for you!" She opened one of the bags and pulled out a green sweater with the Grinch's grin on the front, emblazoned with 'I hate Christmas'."
"Ha ha, very funny Ruth."
"Well, if you don't like that one, then, what about…" she thrust the green one into his hands as she searched the bags. "…this one?" The second jumper was jet black and exclaimed 'Bah Humbug' in big letters.
"I don't know what's worse, being thought of as a Grinch or Scrooge," he quipped. "Are all the bags full of Christmas jumpers?"
"Most of them. One contains a couple of bottles of wine."
"To sweeten the deal about the jumpers?"
Ruth smiled. "I'm not saying you have to wear any of them I just thought… I don't mind it when the shops are busy especially at this time of the year. There's lights and brass bands and snow. I don't know, it's just… Christmassy."
"And the jumpers that I don't like or don't fit?"
"I'll take them back and get a refund."
Touched by her gesture, he gestured to the living room. "Go on through. I'll get the glasses and then we'll see what hideous garments you have in those bags."
After seeing several jumpers, most of which Harry found ridiculous including one that had Rudolph's face on the front and his rear end on the back, and dismissing them, Ruth pulled out a navy jumper with a line of small, white reindeer across the chest and a muted Christmas pattern over the rest.
"As much as I think you should wear something a little more 'out there', I thought this was probably more your style."
"It's definitely quieter than the rest," Harry observed, taking it from her and examining it.
"I got this one too," she said, showing him a similar jumper but in red, with green Christmas trees instead of reindeer.
"I think I prefer this one," he told her. "I'll just go and try it on."
He stepped out into the hall, lifting his t-shirt over his head as he went, giving Ruth a tantalising glimpse of bare skin before he rounded the corner. He returned moments later, wearing the jumper.
"Well?" he said.
"I like it, but then I would… I bought it. It's what you think that matters."
"Surprisingly, I like it."
"So you'll wear it?" she clarified.
"I may regret this, but yes, I think I will."
"Good," she smiled. "May I use your bathroom?"
"Of course… it's right at the top of the stairs."
"Thanks."
While Ruth was out of the room, Harry began tidying away the jumpers that were piling up on his sofa. As he did, he noticed there was still one jumper left. Even though he had decided on the navy jumper, he was curious as to what else Ruth had found on her shopping spree so he had a quick peek. His eyes widened at the message on the front, but his shock was quickly replaced with something else… he had an idea.
Ruth returned to the living room and stopped dead as she saw Harry. He was sat on sofa, one leg on the floor, one up on the couch in a very provocative position, wearing the other jumper… the one she had purchased impulsively and had vowed on her journey from the shops to Harry's house, that she would not show him.
It was red, with the phrase, 'Kiss me under the mistletoe' written on it. Innocuous enough, if it wasn't for the strategically placed picture of mistletoe knitted into the base of the jumper, sitting teasingly above Harry's crotch.
"Oh God!" Ruth was mortified, wanting the floor to open up and swallow her. The blush rose in her cheeks and she bolted from the room.
Harry smiled at her actions and rose from the couch to follow her, picking up her wine glass as her passed the coffee table . He found her in the kitchen, leaning over the counter, banging her head lightly against the wall mounted cabinet above. For a moment he regretted his actions, he hadn't meant to embarrass her.
"Ruth?" She closes her eyes tightly, as if that will make the situation go away. He approaches slowly and slides her glass along the worktop to her. She picks it up and downs it. "No. Still humiliated. Got anything stronger?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Well it's not like the night could get any worse is it; I can't embarrass myself any more than I already have."
"Ruth, there's no reason to be embarrassed. If anything, I'm flattered."
"F-flattered?"
"Yes, that you would want to-"
"Harry!" she squealed, picking up a tea towel off the counter and throwing it at him. "It wasn't meant like that… not that I would necessarily mind… I mean I'm sure it would be quite… nice… oh God!"
A snort of laughter escaped Harry and he was soon chuckling away like Mutley from Wacky Races. She stared at him, wondering how on earth he could find this so amusing. He tried to speak… to say sorry, but he just dissolved into more laughter at the absurdity of the situation and soon, Ruth found herself smiling and laughing along with him.
When they had both calmed down, Harry spoke gently. "Sorry, Ruth. I was just teasing. I heard your conversation with Jo last week… about her using her Christmas jumper to drop hints for Zaf and I couldn't resist.
Ruth was beginning to feel the effects of downing that last glass of wine and it was lowering her inhibitions. "Oh, if I wanted to drop hints I'd be a lot less subtle Harry, trust me."
"Oh?"
She walked towards him, a mischievous glint in her eye, backing him up against the fridge and placed her hands on his chest. Slowly, she moved them upwards towards his face, but he grabbed her wrists and stopped her.
"Don't," he whispered roughly fighting his instincts. "Not unless you are absolutely sure this is what you want."
Instead of verbalising an answer, Ruth stood on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his. His lips were firm but the kiss was soft. She kissed him for a couple of seconds and then slowly drew back a little.
"I'm sure Harry," she smiled.
He leant down and recaptured her lips sweetly, kissing her again and again. The innocent kisses grew deeper. Soon they were swirling around the tips of each other's tongues, and then, investigating the full depth of each other's mouths. Their hands roamed over each other for a few moments before Ruth grabbed the hem of his jumper and pulled it off, only pausing her kiss to get it over his head. She dropped it to the floor as his hands reached her breasts, eliciting a small moan from her.
When the need for oxygen became too much, they pulled back, breathless. Ruth stepped back, giving him a sexy smile. "I think we should take this upstairs," she asserted, before pulling her own jumper off to reveal a pink lace bra. Harry stood staring, taken aback by her sheer beauty and sudden forwardness, and it was only when she was out of the room and calling back to him that he was roused "Don't forget your jumper Harry… we may be needing that mistletoe… I've really fancy a suck on your candy cane!"
Christmas Eve, 1.15pm; The Grid…
"I thought you weren't joining in," Adam commented as Harry walked through the pods, wearing his new Christmas jumper proudly.
"I changed my mind," Harry stated simply, before requesting Ruth's presence in his office.
"It's a Christmas miracle," quipped Zaf, whose jumper was incredibly garish; bright red with a large Christmas tree that when pressed played a variety of holiday tunes.
"I don't think it's the only one," interjected Jo, as she watched Ruth cross the Grid, wearing a red jumper with Christmas trees on it. "That wasn't the jumper Ruth was going to wear."
"Isn't it a man's jumper?" Adam asked, as he once again readjusted the reindeer antlers on his jumper. "I'm sure I saw that when I was looking for mine."
"I did think it looked a bit big," Zaf agreed.
Jo nodded knowingly. "About Harry-sized, I'd say!"