Yes, because I had to do a cheesy Christmas one-shot :P Enjoy, please review :)
"Don't worry, I'll be safe." Yet safety was only partially what the brunette lady was worrying about. She sighed and paced around her bedroom, anxiously playing with a thread on her wool jacket.
"And then you'll be home, right? As soon as this mission's over?" A sigh greeted her on the other line, which only raised the alarm in the girl's core.
"I'm not sure...some rumors are flying around that they may keep us after, or we may get home by New Years. But I honestly don't know…" The brunette bit back a sob as she collapsed in her bed, glad their daughter was sound asleep so she wouldn't have to worry her with her behavior. The silent tears fell down her cheeks steadily as she wished for a miracle, for anything that would allow her husband to come home, and safely too.
"Court? You okay? You're awfully quiet…"
"What do you want me to say? Great, you and your troop are going into a highly dangerous war site. You may get killed," she let out a bitter chuckle here, "even better. You may not even be home for New Years. Don't you realize how much your family misses you? How just plain stupid it was for you to go off and fight in this crazy thing?" Silence greeted her on the other line as she sniffled, almost regretting being so harsh towards her husband. She knew that he was just as anxious to come home, and the harsh treatment was out of line.
"Look...I'm sorry for snapping...it's just really hard without you here…"
"You could always just say you miss me. It would mean the exact same thing, if not more, and it would make my night, Princess." Courtney sniffled again as she ran a hand through her disheveled hair.
"O-Of course I miss you...I...I just want you home...here, with us...We haven't seen you in over two years…"
"I know...I'll be home soon, I promise. How's my Cupcake doing? Is she asleep yet, can I talk to her?" He barely ever got to talk to Vanessa anymore, because she was always long asleep when he called. Courtney bit her lip, feeling bad for the man, and wondering whether she should wake her daughter up from her slumber just so he would get the chance to talk to her. However, it was late, and the four-year-old needed her sleep.
"Well...she's already as-"
"Mommy?" Courtney's head snapped up towards the doorway, where their four-year-old was standing there, her teddy held loosely in one palm, while the other was tugging at the end of her expensive nightgown. The older female's eyes widened as she beckoned her forward. "Just a sec," she whispered to her husband on the phone as she put the object down, hugging her small daughter and lifting her onto her lap.
"You should be sleeping, Baby...did you have a bad dream?" She shook her head no, cuddling up to her mother's loving embrace before looking up at her with her wide blue eyes. "Awe you talking with Daddy?" Smiling softly,-especially on how she couldn't pronounce her 'r's' right and replaced them with 'w's' instead-Courtney nodded, kissing her head.
"You wanna talk to him?" She nodded eagerly, reaching for the phone excitedly. Courtney giggled and handed her the phone happily after putting it on speaker.
"Daddy!"
"Nessa? You're awake? Oh, Honey…" It would take an idiot not the hear the flat out emotion in his voice. He hadn't talked to her in months; he could only call once every week or so, and that was if the family was lucky. Usually he called long after Vanessa was sound asleep, and Courtney knew he hated that he wasn't able to talk to her. Instead, he sent her a large number of cards and gifts, to somehow try and make up for his absence.
"Daddy, come home! I miss you! I want you home for Chi...um..Chli...no...Chistwamas! Mommy's gunna make cookies, and we'we gunna decowate the twee...and I want you hewe…" Courtney heard a sharp intake of breath on the other line, and she assumed it took all his strength not to let the raw feelngs just spill out, especially not if his army buddies were there, which she was sure they were.
"I know, I miss you too, Baby. I wanna be there so badly, trust me...I'll come home soon, I promise...maybe not for Christmas...but maybe after your birthday, or, I'm not really sure…" Courtney heartbreakingly watched as the tears filled her daughter's eyes and she dropped the phone wordlessly.
"Nessie…" She chastised softly, reaching over to take her daughter's hand. With a short sob the small child yanked her hand out of her mother's and ran to her room, slamming the door. "Nessa…? Sweetie, you still there? Vanessa…?" the phone chimed, and with a heavy heart the older brunette picked it up and held it to her ear.
"She was crying…" Silence greeted her on the other line, and she vaguely heard an agitated sigh and something being thrown against the wall. "I'm such a screw up…" he growled, something choking up his voice.
"No, no...you know it isn't you...she's just very...emotional. We both are…"
"I'm sorry, Courtney. I promise I'll come home soon." With that said they both sat in silence with one another, and for a few moments she had assumed he'd hung up on her. "I...I should go comfort her…" Courtney finally said, wiping her eyes free of any tears.
"You probably should...I have to go anyway, to do...something...I love you, Princess. And I swear, I'm coming home soon." She nodded and repeated that she loved him as well, and she also hoped he would come home soon.
And then the line went dead, and that was the end of that.
Sighing, the brunette put down the phone and proceeded to walk towards her daughter's room, where she could hear her quietly weeping. Swallowing her own lump lodged in her throat, the opened the painted door softly and walked into the dimly lit room. "Nessie? Are you alright?" A muffled response came in reply, and Courtney sat on the plush bed, pulling her daughter into her lap and stroking her brown curls.
"Tell Mommy why you're crying, baby," she chided softly, rocking her small, weeping daughter.
"I want Daddy t-to come home...he missed two biwthdays alweady! He didn't go to any of my ballet wecitals…" she paused to insert a sniffle, "and I miss him Mommy! I want Daddy h-h-home!" with that she burst into another round of inconsolable tears, and Courtney only hugged her tighter, knowing that everything she had said was true, and she'd often thought the same exact things.
"I know, I want him home too...but he sends you gifts, doesn't he? Pretty dresses, and lots of ribbons and dolls for you to play with...he'll be home soon. He promised."
"He pwomised last yeaw! I want him home now! I miss how he would tuck me in with lots of little kisses and hugs...and how he wouldn't want to sing me a lullaby if you wewe awound...only when you wewe gone he would sing me to sleep...and cuddle me if I had a bad dweam and...and….it isn't faiw!" she sobbed, and Courtney had to bite her lip in order to keep from starting to cry, as well.
"He'll be home soon, I promise. It shouldn't be too much longer." With that said, Courtney planted a kiss on her sniveling daughter's head and released her from her warm embrace. "You should get into bed now. We have a big day tomorrow." He blue eyes widened curiously at her mother's words, and she was responded with a light tousle of her long curls.
"We're going Christmas shopping tomorrow. We're going to buy gifts for Grammy and Papa, and Auntie Bridgette, and Uncle Geoff, and maybe even Daddy...if he'll get it this year. And if you're a good girl, I'll treat you out to ice cream or something, alright?" The little girl nodded her head slowly, trying to blink away the fat, leaking tears out of her eyes. Her mother didn't fail to notice this as her eyes lowered in sympathy. "Just get some sleep, Nessa. Things will be alright." She was about to turn around, walk out, and close the door behind he, when squeaks that sounded vaguely like mumbled words were directed at her. She turned around to see her daughter, her blankie held in one hand, her teddy in another.
"Can I sleep with you, Mommy? Pwease?" She asked timidly, her small voice scared and filled with unshed tears. Courtney responded with a warm smile and open arms, which her daughter gratefully rushed into and was embraced tightly.
"Things will be alright, I promise Sweetie," Courtney whispered to Vanessa as she lifted her sleepy daughter and walked back to her room. A small hum greeted her in reply, as the arms around her neck grew limper and more flimsy. With a small smile, Courtney put her daughter into her and Duncan's bed, tucking her in gently before climbing in next to her. She rested her hand upon her sleeping daughter's cheek, stroking it softly with her gentle fingers.
She wondered how much more her husband would miss, and if indeed, he would return soon, like he'd promised what seemed ages ago.
o 0 O 0 o
Christmas Eve.
The three weeks had flown by in a dreary mist; Duncan had stopped calling, at it had literally split Courtney's heart in two. She couldn't bear to tell her daughter that he'd stopped speaking to them; she wanted Vanessa to be happy in time for the upcoming holiday. Fiddling with the artificial flower in her hair, she blotted her lipgloss in the mirror, debating whether or not the occasion was important enough to dare open the jewelry box and trigger the memories. Tonight was a special evening. She didn't need to be gloomy in front of the guests.
"Mommy! Mommy! I wanna watch TV! Can I? Till Auntie and Uncle get hewe?" Vanessa trilled, bouncing in place and making her curls spring upward with every bounce. Courtney smiled and nodded, her only rule to keep the living room clean until their guests arrived. As she ran off, Courtney couldn't help but sneak another glance at the innocent jewelry box, perched so innocently atop her vanity, silently begging to be opened.
Longing winning over the unwanted memories, she opened the box, her hands reaching straight for the wooden skull that was given to her oh so many years ago. She held it against her cheek securely, knowing that within lay a ring; but this was recent, given to her on the night that Duncan had embarked on that dreadful journey.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me. To her. To all of us, as a family." Courtney bit out, trying to keep her tone even while holding back furious tears in her eyes. She refused to look at the man completing his packing in front of her, despite all the love she had for him.
"Everything's going to be just fine. It won't take long; maybe a year or so. We'll keep in contact every day, I'll write, I'll call, and it'll be like I'd never left." The brunette huffed, hating how robotic and monotone he sounded. She knew it wouldn't be the same. He was leaving, freaking leaving her and their baby daughter, to fend for themselves for God knows how long.
"You're an idiot," she spit out, words of venom, as she stood from her seat on her bed and stomped away. Towards the living room she fled, where she proceeded to lift their almost two-year-old baby out of her playpen and sit them both on the couch.
"Mama?" Little Vanessa asked, oddly not smiling; maybe she could sense that something wrong was happening here too, Courtney negatively mused. She lightly bopped the infant on the nose, kissing the spot she'd just playfully tapped. "Daddy's such an idiot," she muttered more so for her own benefit of just hearing the words being said out loud.
"That's the fifteenth time you've said that today, Sweetheart. How about a change in words?" Courtney whipped her head away from where her husband spoke while lining his duffel bag against the wall. "Well, it's true," she quipped, bouncing her daughter on her lap.
"Is it? Or are you just angry?"
"It's both. You're a downright idiot for leaving us to pursue something dangerous and life-threatening. What if you never come back? You're going to leave your baby daughter and I all on our own? Well fine. Get out. Go. Go have fun with your army buddies. And you know what? Unless you're calling or writing that you're sorry and coming home, I don't want you to dare pick up a phone, or a piece of paper and a pencil. I don't want to hear it." She paused, breathing heavily, only to see the hurt expression on his face. "I said go! What the hell are you still doing here, staring at me like that! Go fucking kill yourself in the stupid army!" Courtney screamed, tears falling rapidly out of her eyes. Suddenly a loud wail emerged from her lap, and she looked down to see her daughter, crying and screaming her head off.
"Baby….Nessie, no...Stop crying, please…" The wailing child was snatched out of her arms and into her husbands, who quieted down their child almost instantly. Courtney remained silent, knowing it was all her fault their daughter had erupted into such a mass of tears. She hated when her parents fought or even raised their voices at one another.
"Look, Court...I'm sorry you feel that way...I really do. But...this is just something I have to do. I'll be back before you know it, and everything will be fine. Don't you think I'll miss you both too?"
"No," she said blatantly, sniffling and wiping the falling tears out of her eyes. "If you did, you wouldn't go and leave us here all alone…" Duncan sighed from behind her, and was soon situated next to her on the couch, bouncing their calmed daughter with one arm as he wrapped the other around his wife.
"I have to. Trust me, you'll be just fine. You'll barely even miss me." Planting a kiss on her cheek, he stood, staring down at her glumly. "You gunna drive me to the airport, or do I have to call a taxi?"
"Call a taxi. I'm not dragging Vanessa out this late, in that weather, all the way to the airport and back. You can say your goodbyes here, if you have any." Sighing, her husband put the baby down in her playpen before turning to his wife and wrapping his strong arms around her small frame. "I'm going to miss you, so damn much. Promise me you'll take care of Nessa, okay?" Courtney nodded slowly as their lips met, in a final embrace, for who knew how long until they would meet again. The tears continued to trickle down her cheek as he cupped her chin, pecking her once more. "Things will be just fine. You still have your career, and our daughter, and we'll all be a family again, really soon. I swear." She nodded again, more robotic this time.
He then let go of her as he lifted his daughter out of her confines and hugged her tightly before planting a kiss on her tiny head. "Be a good girl for Daddy, alright? Listen to your Mommy, and love her for me, while I'm gone. I'll miss you Nessie." Two small arms tightly wrapped around his neck, almost refusing to let go.
"Daddy, don't go...don' want you to go….want you to stay with Mommy and Nessa," she whispered softly, eyes threatening to leak tears. Duncan said nothing but kissed her head again before walking to his duffel bag and pulling out a medium-sized, defined teddy-bear. He held it out to her, but the small girl hesitated upon taking it. "I bought this teddy for my baby, so she can remember me while I'm gone. But it's a big girl teddy, and you'll have to promise me you'll behave if you want it." She nodded slowly, sucking her thumb on one hand while taking the teddy in the other. He kissed her again before handing her off to her mother, grabbing his duffel bag and swinging it so it perched on h is shoulder.
"I love you all. You'll be alright without me, and I'll be alright." Both girls were quietly crying in front of him, not bothering to hide the tears that wouldn't stop flowing. He gave them each another hug and kiss before exiting to the sleeting night, not to be seen again for a long, long time.
Yet in Courtney's pocket, she felt the new ring he'd deposited in there, her 'big girl' reminder of the man she loved.
Focusing her eyes into reality, Courtney quietly slipped the ring on her finger, a lone tear sailing down the cascade of her cheek. She wiped it away briskly before exiting the bedroom, smiling to see her daughter cuddled up comfortably on the couch, snuggled into the blankets and pillows while watching some show on TV. She sat next to her quietly, pulling her close short after and stroking her hair gently before kissing it softly.
"I hope he comes home soon," Courtney whispered, not really having meant for her daughter to hear. Yet she did, anyways and nodded into her mother's embrace. "You know that Auntie Bridgette and Uncle Geoff are coming over, and we really shouldn't be watching TV and almost falling asleep before they come, right?" Her daughter nodded again against her arm, yet Courtney was the one to ultimately get up, straightening out her red dress before walking over to the Christmas tree and peering down at the gifts below.
She herself only had a few, mostly handmade gifts from Vanessa, while the large pile scattered around the tree belonged to her daughter; half of it from her mother, the other half from other various family members.
Duncan's gifts never arrived on time to be put under the Christmas tree. Never.
So when she silently peered over every gift, her eyes narrowed in confusion when she saw at least four festively wrapped parcels, all who she had been sure she'd never put there before. She was sure she'd never seen them before, either. Picking one up, her heart swelled as se read the small gift card, the inscription reading "For my Baby V. From Daddy". She was confused. His gifts hadn't arrived on time; she'd checked thrice for them, yet they'd never come, just as she'd expected.
So where had this gift come from?
She twirled the box around in her hands, looking up every few minutes or so to check up on her daughter. Suddenly, a knock was heard on the hollow door, and Courtney stood and dusted off her dress, prepared to put on a happy show for her two best friends and their four children. She opened the door briskly, and her eyes widened, her heart sinking down to the floor before swelling up entirely and bouncing back up.
"Duncan!" she screamed, not caring if the whole neighborhood heard, if the whole country heard, or even if people in Pakistan heard. Her husband's arms opened up immediately and she rushed into them, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his slim, muscled torso. He spun her around excitedly while she planted kissed on his cold, wan face, both of them having temporarily forgotten that it was snowing outside and it was well under twenty degrees.
"What on earth are you doing here! You said...you said you wouldn't be here at least, till New Years…" He only grinned at her devilishly in response and hugged her tighter.
"Do you think I'd really let my family go a third Christmas without me? No such luck Babe, you're stuck with me this year, and for every year of your life." Courtney squealed in enjoyment as she smashed her lips upon his, both of them responding instantly and craving for more.
"Mommy! What's taking so long?" their daughter whined from the inside, and Courtney let go of Duncan-temporarily, of course. She'd savor him much later, when Vanessa was long, long asleep-before nodding at him, in a way that fully gave him permission to pretty much forget about his wife and go to their daughter. He gave Courtney a quick peck before running inside, depositing his bags on the floor and running to the living room where he'd first his daughter's voice.
He stopped, right behind the couch, looking at the back of his daughter's head, wondering how she didn't even notice him come in. Unobservant, she was, while tuned in to the correct TV show.
"Vanessa," he spoke clearly, and almost instantly the girl's head whipped around and her face broke out to the largest grin she could manage.
"DADDY!" she screamed, practically flying over to him and jumping into his awaiting arms, where he crushed her to his strong frame and bestowed many kisses on her warm, flushed cheeks, and all over her face, and head, as well. He hugged her tight, and she even tighter, glad to finally have her father back within reach.
"Oh Nessie, how I've missed you so, so much. You're not a tiny little baby anymore." Shock and sadness passed over the small girl's face, earnestly looking him in his eyes while still hugging him.
"Yes I am! I'll always be youw baby…" she said quietly making him kiss her even more feverishly than before. "That you are, Cupcake, and don't you forget it." She giggled, kissing his cheek softly.
"I'm glad to have you home, Daddy. Don't go again...pwease?"
"I swear, I'm not going to leave you guys ever again." And both girls looked at him when he spoke, the last member of the family rushing over and completing the family embrace.
"Geoff'll be happy. Sometimes I'd think that he missed you more than I did." Duncan let out a chortle at his wife's comment, wrapping his arm around her slim waist. "I wouldn't doubt that for a second, Honey. So how many kids they got now?"
"Four...well...four, and one on the way, as of last month," Courtney admitted, looking down as her face flushed a light tinge of red.
"Damn. They gunna be the next nineteen kids and counting, or something?"
"Oh, I'm positive they'll surpass nineteen within the next three years. I'm betting on thirty."
"No way. With the way he screws her, I'm going for fifty."
"You're so on." The husband and wife grinned at each other before meeting for another kiss. "And what about you, Sweetheart? No more kids for us?" Courtney giggled; it was something she'd heavily considered within the last year or so.
"I wouldn't mind another kid. Maybe not right at this moment, bit within a few months, maybe...but we aren't going over three, is that understood?" He saluted her, with perfection only an army soldier like him could obtain.
"Yes Ma'am! Now...present time!" Courtney couldn't help but roll her eyes and Vanessa let out a squeal of happiness. "Now, I only allow you each to open one on Christmas Eve...so, here's one for my Rapunzel…" he walked over to his duffel and pulled out the new Tangled Rapunzel doll before handing it to Vanessa and ruffling her Rapunzel-esque hair. "And for Courtney…she shall receive hers after Vanessa is long in bed." Courtney gasped and hit him playfully on the shoulder before-unable to help herself, of course-she sneakily squeezed his ass from behind.
"You coming home is already enough present. This is the best Christmas ever. Thank you Duncan," Courtney said happily, wrapping her arms around his frame. He pecked her forehead, smiling.
"You're welcome, Princess...but is this Christmas really better than the one where we made Vane-OW!"
Some things never changed; army, or no army.