A/N Hi everyone. I know I've disappeared but December is always a busy month! This is a small fluff and cheesy fic I wrote after The Toy Job, I mean, after that scene, I just had to write something. A new chapter of One Fine Day will be up soon in the next few days, so stay tuned! :)
WARNING SPOILERS!
Christmas, secrets and presents.
After Nate talked about his trumpet and Sam, Hardison told them how his Nana used to save money all around the year so she could buy a big turkey for Christmas dinner and a little present to leave in the stocking of each kid she had at home. It wasn't much but it helped to create that Christmas spirit, especially for those kids who just got there. Eliot told them how he liked to spend his Christmas and his sister's house. It had been too long since he had visited and he wished he could go there. Parker remember one of her foster moms who had actually been good to her. She remember how they had spent one afternoon decorating a Christmas tree and making a snowman out in the yard. Unfortunately it was her husband who most nights returned home and hit both her and his wife.
"So," Nate smiles up at her. "it's your turn, Sophie"
She smiles back. "I guess I'm the last one" She sighs. "Well, as I said I used to love Christmas as a child. My mom used to make the best hot chocolate in the world. I remember me and my sister racing down the stairs on Christmas morning with the smell of pancakes and hot chocolate coming from the kitchen" she smiled reminiscing the sweet memories. If she closed her eyes, she would still feel the aromas in the air.
"Wait?" Parker frowns. "You have a sister?"
Sophie gulps. "Yeah, I have an older sister. I haven't seen her since she had left home after our mother died" She looked down sadly. It had always hurt her that her sister had left her behind, left her with their step-father.
"You don't seem surprise" Eliot nods suspiciously towards Nate who is still sipping his Irish coffee.
"She told me about her." He shrugs.
The others look at him in disbelief. It took more than a year for him to learn Sophie's real name, but she told him about her family before them?
"Guys," Nate rolls his eyes in exasperation" Sophie and I have been together for two years now, what do you think we do all the time we're together?"
Hardison looks uncertain. "Do we really have to answer that?"
Sophie chuckles. "Nate's stamina is great, but it's not that great" she teases them. She loves making them uncomfortable.
Hardison makes a disgust and terrified face. "I didn't want to know that. Please, deleted image, delete image"
"And on that note," Eliot gets up from where he was leaning on the bar counter "I'm leaving. Are we still meeting her for Christmas lunch?" he asks the mastermind.
Nate nods. It's least he can do for them after he practically banned presents and made them rethink about Christmas in general "Twelve o'clock everyone?"
"We'll already be here" Hardison shrugs putting an arm around Parker.
"I have to be here early to put the turkey in the oven and cook the other things" he turns to the hacker. "Did you leave it out to defrost?"
Hardison tries to look innocent. "Ops" He waves his hands in the air. "I was going to do it, but then, you know man, I got distracted with…"
"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot hisses interrupting his rambling and he rushes towards the brewery's kitchen.
"Don't worry" Parker pats the hacker's arm affectionately "If it's not ready tomorrow morning, we can use the hair dryer" she grins satisfied about her idea.
Sophie looks at her strangely and shakes her head "Well, we're leaving" she gathers her coat and handbag she had left on one of the tables.
"We?" Nate raises his eyebrow in question.
"It's Christmas Eve." She puts her hands on her hips irritated. "Don't tell me you want to go back to your lonely and cold boat tonight?"
"Of course not" he smirks. "I just like tormenting you"
She rolls her eyes at him and walks out the door. Nate grabs his coat from a stool and quickly follows her.
"Bye guys!" he shouts before skipping through the door.
Sophie is waiting for him outside, shivering a bit in the Portland cold.
"Are we ready?" Nate exclaims offering her his arm.
Sophie puts her arm through his and together they walk towards her apartment.
She runs her hands up and down his arm as she gets closer to his body trying to capture some of his body heat. "Maybe, you should move into my apartment for some time. It's starting to become a chilly winter. " she suggests breaking their comfortable silent.
He lightly chuckles. "I do have heating on my boat. You make it sound like it's a piece of wood with two oars" he slides his arm out of her grip and then puts it around her shoulders so she could snuggle better against him.
"I'm just saying" she adds defensively.
"You know" he smirks down at her. "If you want to spend the holidays together you can just say so" he tells her knowingly. After all those years, he could read like a book… well most times.
"I was just looking out for you" she isn't very happy that he managed to read behind her lies, but still tries to safe her dignity "Didn't want to read about a man frozen to death in his boat"
"I'll go get some extra clothes tomorrow and stay with you until after New year's day. Does that sound better?" they arrive in front of her building.
"Much" she opens the gate with her key and then they walk inside to get the lift to go up. Her apartment is on the fourth floor and they get out pretty fast. They can hear festive music coming from one the apartments as they pass them to reach hers.
She quickly opens the front door and walks inside and turns the lights on. Nate follows her right behind. Sophie's apartment is as always inviting. Nate can always recognize her touch in the interior design and also some famous piece of art. In every apartment she has lived in, if the one that blow up, she always had incredible pieces of art that she had stolen during her thieving years. Nate didn't know where she kept taking them out from. In the corner of the sitting room there is the small Christmas tree that he had helped her put up the week before.
Nate goes to sit on the couch while Sophie puts the electric fireplace on, lights up the Christmas tree and dims the lights in the sitting room so they only light surrounding them are from the tree and the fire. She then sits next to Nate and he automatically puts an arm around her as she leans against his chest.
"This is nice" she sighs content as Nate caresses her arm lightly with his fingertips.
"It is" he agrees as he watches the flames dancing. "Do you miss her?" he suddenly asks.
Sophie knows immediately who she is and tenses a bit under his touch. "Sometimes"
"Did you ever try to find her?"
Sophie looks up at him and wonders while he is asking all these questions out of nowhere "No, never."
"How come?" he still tries to open her up.
"What if she is living a normal life? She's married with kids, has a stable job and then she finds out that I'm.." she lets the words fall in thin air.
"That you're…"
"I'm grifter! A thief! What would she think of me?" her eyes slightly tear up.
"Sophie, you're an incredible person, a wonderful woman. Don't let what you do define you" he lifts her head towards him and caress her cheek. "You've taught me that" he smiles.
She gives him a small smile "I guess I shall think about it"
He nods "I just don't want you to regret it one day, not looking for her"
The clock strikes midnight and they jump from the sudden notice.
They chuckle. "Well, I guess it's Christmas" Nate exclaims.
"Merry Christmas, darling" Sophie leans over to him to kiss him softly on the lips.
"Merry Christmas" he couldn't help but smile. Even if the holiday still brings painful memories, the woman next to him was helping him create new and happy ones. "Here's your present" he takes a small box out of his trousers' pocket.
Sophie gasps recognizing the jewellery box. "What happen to the 50 dollars limit?"
Nate shrugs indifferent. "That was for the others. Also…" he watches her carefully open the box "… I couldn't really buy a 50 bucks wedding ring" he smirks.
Sophie looks at the golden band shocked, her mouth slightly open. "Why… How…"
"So the next time you tell someone you're married, you'll actually have a ring to show"
Sophie is still missing some pieces of the puzzle. "But we've never…"
"I did mean it in Japan" he tells her seriously.
Once the con had finished in Japan, Eliot and Hardison went to celebrate around the city while they went back to their hotel room to have some quiet time for themselves. Sophie wanted to try some typical Japanese rituals and the burning bowl ceremony seemed to fit them perfectly. They both wrote down their regrets from the past on a piece of paper and their hopes for the future in another one. Then they lit the bowl on fire, burning the notes in flames. It was a symbolic gesture, one that meant commitment to one another.
"Japan…" she smiles at the memory. "So…" she looks at him hopeful
"It might not have been an official ceremony, but yes, that night I've committed myself to you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Those words sounded to cheesy for him has they left his mouth, but he shakes the feeling off. "I thought you meant the same when you told Haslet…" now he is insecure about his gift. Did he read the all thing wrong?
She quickly reassures him. "Yes… yes…" she places a hand on his chest. "Of course I meant the same, I just didn't know we were on the same page. Sometimes it's not so easy to figure out what runs in that head of yours" she teases him.
He smiles back and takes the ring out of the box so he can slide it on her ring finger. "Okay" he exclaims once it fit perfectly. "Now we'll just have to ask Hardison to put a wedding certificate together and make some changes in our profiles."
Sophie can't shake her smile out of her face. "Well, husband of mine" the words sound a bit foreign to her "where's your ring?"
He waves her off. "I don't need one. You know I hardly wore mine when I was married to Maggie"
"Well," she lightly pokes him on the chest. "She might have been okay with it, but I would prefer if you wore one. With all the women checking you out, I would like them to know that you're not available"
He shakes his head laughing. "Checking me out? Seriously?"
"Darling" she pats his chest. "I know you don't notice, but I do, believe me. As soon as the shops open we're going to buy you a ring that you'll like and wear"
He sighs knowing not to argue with her. "Okay"
Her smile quickly turns into flirty. "Now," she runs her hands up and down his chest while his settle around her waist. "How about we relive our wedding night?" she nibbles on his bottom lip initiating a low moan from him.
"Great idea" he kisses her passionately then he moves so he can help her get up from the couch. "Lead the way, my wife" he smirks and she laughs content.
They make their way towards her bedroom as the snow starts falling from the sky.