'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house, Molly Hooper was stirring, and pacing about.
She was waiting for a John to call her. He had been stationed in Afghanistan since August, and he usually contacted her in some way at least once a week. This week she hadn't gotten anything. And it was Christmas eve, for crying out loud! She had been waiting for him to call for almost a week. She hoped he was okay. Molly felt her phone vibrate, and looked down at it. Disappointed, she opened the text from her sister.
It's almost five, are you on your way to the party yet? It read.
On my way, Molly texted back. It was the Hooper Family's annual Christmas party. Of course she was going. Usually, John would go with her. They never missed it. Well, except for once, when they got snowed in at John's sister's house. Boy was that an exciting Christmas. It looked like this year John would be missing it, though. It was bad enough that he had missed their anniversary back in November, but he at least called her then. This was the first Christmas since they had been toghether that they would be spending apart.
Molly sighed, got into her car, and started up the familiar path to her parents' house. It was only about a five-minute drive from her own house. She arrived quickly and knocked on the door.
"Merry Christmas!" Her mother greeted. "I'm sorry about John, I'm sure he's alright, probably just too busy to call. Come in! Come in! I'll take those," She said, gesturing to the gifts in Molly's hands. One was for the grab bag, (it was a coffee mug with a cartoon reindeer on it), and the other was a gift for her sister, Amanda. This gift was a locket with the phrase "Sisterhood is a friendship that never ends" on it. Inside were pictures of the both of them, of course. Amanda was going to love it, Molly was sure of it.
The party was going in full swing when Molly arrived, and immediately Amanda pulled her over to dance.
"Nooooo," Molly whined. "You know I don't dance!" She attempted to escape over to the food table.
"Just one dance!" Amanda said. "Then you can go, Molls. But first, we dance!" Amanda pulled Molly into the parlour that had been cleared out (save the giant tree, with a few presents around it, the sofa at the far end, and the entertainment center) for a dance. Amanda began to dance to "Jingle Bell Rock", while Molly just sort of bounced a bit, moving from one foot to the other.
She never liked to dance, and the only time she would dance was when John forced her to. She recalled the time that he had gotten some friends (and he forced her, as well) to dance to this same song, "Mean Girls" style. She laughed at the thought, and a single tear made its way down her face.
"I-I'm gonna go sit down," Molly told her sister, her voice wavering a bit. She walked over to the food table, piled a plate high with treats, and sat down on the sofa in the far end of the parlour, glancing occasionally over to where everyone was chatting and eating and dancing. She looked down at her phone, waiting for it to ring, expecting a call from John at any moment. She didn't get one. "Merry freaking Christmas," She whispered, more tears beginning to run down her face.
A little while later, when Molly was laying down on the couch watching A Christmas Story on the telly, Amanda came over to her again.
"Come on, its time for gifts!" She said.
"Okay," Molly mumbled, sitting up and straightening out her dress. She stood up and followed Amanda over to the tree.
"First up is grab bag!" Their mother announced. "Alright, everybody, take a number." She held out a Santa hat filled with small scraps of paper. Molly picked and got number 3, Amanda got number 8. This basically meant that Amanda was going to take the gift that Molly picked. Molly was sure to pick her coffee mug, and of course, Amanda took it. When they all opened their prizes, Molly ended up to a restaurant with a strange name, and Amanda gave Molly a knowing look when she took the mug out of the wrapping.
"Alright, tell me the truth," Amanda leaned over to Molly. "You brought the mug, and then took it to guarantee that I would snatch it from you and end up with the mug."
"...Maybe..." Molly giggled. "Okay, before we do the regular gift exchange, I have to use the loo. I'll be back in a moment."
"Oh, alright!" Amanda said. This gave her just enough time to bring out her gift. She couldn't keep it in the parlour all night because it was too big, so she had to go fetch it from her parents' spare room, where she had hidden it. She brought it downstairs, making sure Molly didn't see her, and placed it behind the tree.
Molly came back from the restroom as Amanda was sitting back down, and sat next to her.
Being the youngest Hooper child, Molly went first and gave Amanda her gift. The rest of the exchange sort of went off like a chain reaction, everyone giving and receiving gifts. Amanda absolutely loved her locket.
"Oh, Molly!" She exclaimed. "It's beautiful. I love it! Now, time for your-"
Amanda was cut off by Molly's ringing phone. Molly looked at it. She didn't recognise the number, but she picked it up anyway.
"Hello?" She said, turning towards the door, away from the crowd. "Who is this?"
"Turn around," Said a gentle, but familiar voice. Molly whipped around. Her jaw dropped, as did her phone from her hand. She ran into John's arms, crying, and held fast, breathing him in. Amanda stood by them, grinning like crazy. She knew that she had succeeded in giving Molly the best Christmas gift ever.
"How...? How did you get here?" Molly asked John.
"Why don't you ask Mandy," John replied. "She was the one who planned this all out."
Molly turned to her sister. "Seriously?! Oh my god Amanda. I... You are the best sister anyone could ever ask for." Molly hugged her. She walked back over to John and clung to him, tears still running down her face, soaking John's uniform.
"I was so scared you weren't coming home" Molly said.
"Molly... I have something to tell you," John confessed.
"What..?" Molly asked, suspicious.
"Well..." John pulled a box out of his pocket. Molly's eyes went wide and Amanda gasped, and of course everyone's eyes were on them. John knelt down and opened the box, revealing a small ring within. "Molly, ever since I first laid eyes on you in high school, I knew you were the one for me. When I finally gathered the courage to ask you out, after two years of barely even talking and us hardly knowing each other, you saying yes was the best thing to ever happen to me. And over these past months being in Afghanistan, and facing death too many times to count, I've realized that there was something important I needed to do. So, Molly, would you do me the greatest honor, and make me the happiest man alive? Molly Hooper, will you marry me?"
Molly opened her mouth and closed it again. She had absolutely no words. Tears were streaming down her face. She managed a small nod.
"Y-yes," Molly managed. "Yes, of course! Of course I'll marry you!"
John stood up and hugged her tight. He heard a slight cough behind him, and he looked over to see Amanda pointing up. He glanced up, and of course, there was the mistletoe. He leaned in close to Molly. "We're under the mistletoe," he said, and then closed the rest of the gap and embraced her in a chaste kiss. When they broke off, Amanda tapped Molly on the shoulder.
"And just so you know, Molly," Amanda announced, "I had absolutely no idea about the proposal. That was all Johnny-boy here."
"I missed you so much," Molly mumbled into his neck.
"I'm so glad to be home," John reassured her.
A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading this! This is just a one-shot I started writing on either Christmas eve, or the day before... I can't remember. But, either way, this is a Christmas present for all of my followers! Thank you so much for sticking with me through all the stories I've started and hardly ever updated, and I apologise profusely to those of you who are waiting on updates (Especially for RoWL) Anyway, Merry Christmas! (even though it is a bit late) Review please? X3