"That... Was exhausting," Flora sighed wearily, snuggling further into Clive's side. "Hey, how come you're not tired?"
"I just rolled around playing pirate ninja assasins with the world's coolest nephew, I'd do it every day if I could," he shrugged, fingers entwined in her hair. "Don't tell Luke I said that though, he'll be trying to leave them with us every day!"
Flora giggled, "he might as well, they're always visiting! I suppose I don't really mind though, they're lovely kids, much nicer than Luke was. I'm glad they took after their mother in a way, imagine more Lukes!"
"That must never happen," Clive shuddered, setting his girlfriend off in giggles again. "God, that would be a nightmare... I love James and Clara though, you're right, they're lovely little kids. I think I've always loved kids to be honest, no not like that!" He blushed furiously as Flora laughed at his bad wording, "I mean like, agh!" He gave up, resting his face on her shoulder, "I don't know, Merry Christmas!"
"It's not Christmas yet," she chuckled, sticking out her tongue, "not for another... half an hour."
"Seriously?" The lad jumped, eyes darting around to find the clock. Eleven thirty. Shit. He bit back a blast of nerves.
I can do this. Half an hour is enough time to build up the courage. Luke did it for God's sake!
"Something wrong sweetheart?" Flora's voice burst through his train of thought, startling him again.
"Uh, no, just, wow it's almost Christmas," he grinned,hiding the panic in his voice. He loved her, of course he did, more than anything else in the World. He just wanted this to go right so badly, it was almost killing him to wait. "Hey, wanna stay up until midnight? Like New Year's, but Christmassy," he asked. He hoped she'd say yes. His plan counted on her saying yes.
"Sure," she smiled up at him, eyes creasing slightly at the corners, "I'm sure there's some cheesy film on we can watch the last few minutes of."
There was, and the two curled up tighter together to watch. Clive's arm draped around Flora's waist, her head resting on his chest. The film soon finished, and there were still five minutes to go.
"Why don't we stick the radio on for the last couple of minutes?" Clive watched as Flora leapt up, skipping over to the stereo and fiddling with the buttons.
The last couple of minutes...
He looked up again as the music began to play, A Fairytale of New York, by The Pogues. "Oh I love this song!" Flora beamed, grabbing his hands and pulling him up beside her. He snaked his arms around her waist, keeping a watchful eye on the clock as they swayed in time with the music, counting down to the final stage of his plan. Part of him wanted to bottle, he could ask another time couldn't he? The rest of him fought valiantly against this idea, and he reminded himself how much he loved her. "You can do this, come on, not long now."
"Merry Christmas!" Flora beamed as the clock struck midnight, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him his lips.
"Merry Christmas to you too, beautiful," he purred, kissing her in return. This is it Clive, here you go. "Want to pull a cracker to celebrate?" He bit his lip, holding her hands in his own.
"Yeah okay, I bet I can win this time!" He laughed at her grin as he ran to pull one from the tree, "sure you can, just like every other time!"
"Hey!" She pouted, toying with his pyjama shirt, "I am very strong. Just not in a physical sense."
"Of course you are love," he chuckled, handing her her end of the cracker. "Ready?" Are you ready, Clive? Because ready or not, it's too late to back out now.
They pulled and pulled with all of their might, for the cracker was tougher than most. It eventually broke with a deafening snap, sending both of them tumbling to the floor.
"Oh wow, I actually did win this time, wooh!" Flora grinned cheerily, a smile mirrored on the boy she sat upon.
"But what did you win?" He asked, a slightly knowing note in his voice. Knowing and nervous, to be more accurate.
"Uh, I dunno yet," she frowned for a second as she upended the cracker, tipping her prize into her palm. A small, golden ring. She gasped, gazing into Clive's eyes for an explanation.
"Marry me?" He whispered, taking her hands in his own.