Hey babes! Merry Christmas Eve Eve! :) Today's the 23rd so I'm here posting this Christmas-themed one-shot for the Skyeward Christmas Fic Fest. I had a lot of fun writing this one so I really hope you enjoy! :)
Skye scrunches up her nose at the strong stench all around her as the uniformed man with a tight grip around her upper arm guides her through to the back of the building. He roughly tugs her to a stop as a younger uniformed man steps forward to unlock the large metal door in front her. The man holding her arm shoves her forward and she stumbles over her own two feet as she enters the holding cell. Once she finds her footing again she turns around to face the two men, holding her hands up in front of her and extending them out. "Are these going to stay on me the whole time I'm in here, or do I get to have my hands back at any point?"
The man who led her inside takes a small step forward, grabbing her hands and unlocking the handcuffs.
Skye pulls her hands close to her body once they're free and rubs at her wrists, wincing slightly. She gives the man a tight smile. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," he replies. "Just don't bug me too much and we'll be fine. You're only in here until morning to cool off." The uniformed man turns and walks away, the younger uniformed man shutting and locking the cell door before following after his colleague.
Skye lets out a sigh as she slowly turns and takes in her surroundings. The saddest excuse for Christmas decorations she's ever seen are hanging up around the walls; a string of lights with too many burned out bulbs, poorly made snowflakes, and black-and-white, faded, printed out pictures of different Christmas scenes.
"At least they're trying," she mutters to herself.
Turning her attention away from the decorations, she focuses on the cell she's in. There isn't much inside except for a single concrete bench attached along the back wall.
A loud noise pulls her attention away from the bench and she turns back towards the door of the cell. She watches through the vertical bars as the same uniformed man that brought her in guides another man in her direction. He's tall, with dark hair and eyes, slight stubble on his face and his hair sticking up in all different directions. His blue jeans are dirty, his t-shirt half tucked into the waistband of his jeans, and his shoes are all scuffed up. He's stumbling as the man pulls him towards the cell, slurring his words ever so slightly as he speaks at a loud volume.
Skye groans when she realizes he's drunk. She steps back from the door as it's being unlocked and then the drunk man stumbles through, losing his balance and immediately falling to the floor. He flips over onto his back and smiles cheekily up at the man.
"Take a few hours in here and sober up," the man says with a blank expression. "You'll be let out in the morning."
"Don't act like you don't care about me, Mikey," the drunk taunts.
The man closes the door to the cell and narrows his eyes at the drunk. "That's Officer Roland, to you, Ward. You should know that by now, you spend so much time in here you're pretty much an expert on everything and everyone here."
"It's because I crave these little moments that we get to share," the drunk jokes. "I'll miss you when you leave."
The officer just rolls his eyes and walks away, leaving Skye alone with the drunken man.
She stands off to the side of the cell, not wanting to be too close to the man, and just thinks to herself about so many different things.
"What are you in for?"
Skye looks down to see the drunken man still lying on the floor, making himself comfortable. "What?"
"I asked what you're in here for," he repeats casually, folding his arms underneath of his head. "It was some kind of a fight, right?"
"Why would you think that?" she asks him.
He gestures to one of his cheeks and then at her.
Skye reaches up to her cheek and flinches when her fingers touch the tender skin below her eye.
"So what caused the fight?" he asks her.
She shakes her head. "It's stupid."
He shrugs. "Probably is. But I still wanna know what caused it."
Skye sighs. "I didn't even start the fight, just so you know. It was that stupid bimbo Lorelei who started the whole thing. She thinks she's so much better than everyone else because she comes from money and is always flaunting it everywhere she goes. I swear she has this whole entire police department in her damn pocket, that's the only reason why she's not in here too."
"Well who hit who first?" he asks.
"Um, it's all kind of a blur, to be completely honest with you, it all happened pretty quickly. But I think...I think I might have hit her first. Then all hell broke loose. And then the cops showed up and she got cut loose while I got thrown in here." She gestures to the cell around her.
He nods. "I see."
She nods as well and lets out a breath. "Yeah." She moves over to the bench and sits down on it, leaning back against the wall. "So what are you in here for?" she asks him, though she feels she may already know the answer.
"What makes you think I'm in here for anything?" he asks. "Maybe I just like spending time with all the officers here on Christmas Eve," he says with a small smile.
Skye shakes her head. "Nope. I'm not buying it one bit. Plus, you're definitely drunk right now."
The man shrugs. "Public intoxication, the usual for me."
Skye raises her eyebrows. "Getting drunk and tossed in jail on Christmas Eve is a normal thing for you?"
The man shrugs. "Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, St. Patrick's Day, Labor Day, Halloween, pretty much every other weekend. I'm in here quite a lot."
"Clearly," she says, observing the way he's so calm and relaxed on the floor of the jail cell. "You don't seem too drunk right now, though. Also you're not acting like a complete idiot or being rude or anything like I've seen before."
"Spend a lot of time with drunks, do you?"
Skye shrugs. "I've known a few of them over the years. Some more unpleasant than others."
He nods. "Right. Well, not everybody gets drunk the same way. Mikey tells me I'm pretty docile when I'm drunk, but I'm apparently still a danger to the people in this town and it's why he tosses me in here all the time so I can sober up. But really, I think it's just because he secretly loves my company." He smiles.
Skye furrows her brows. "Wait, you look really familiar. Have we met before?"
He breathes in deeply and then shakes his head. "I don't think so."
"Are you sure? Because you look really familiar."
"Maybe you've just seen me stumbling drunk around town before," he says. "That's what I'm known for around here."
She shrugs. "Maybe. I'm Skye, by the way," she tells him.
He looks up at her. "Grant."
"Nice to meet you, Grant."
"You too."
.
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"Hey Grant, can I ask you something?" Skye speaks up a little while later, still sitting on the bench while Grant is now sitting up on the floor, his back resting against the wall with his eyes closed.
He opens his eyes to look over at her and shrugs. "Go ahead."
She hesitates for a minute before opening her mouth. "Why do you get drunk so much?"
Grant takes a deep breath. "Because it's easier," he says simply.
"Easier than what?" she asks.
"I didn't have the best childhood growing up," he explains. "And my adult years haven't really turned out to be much better so far. So it's just easier to drink the days away."
"Oh."
He nods his head slowly with a tight smile. "Yeah."
"How was your childhood bad enough to make you get drunk all the time?" she asks him. "You don't have to answer that if it's too hard or anything. I'm just curious."
He shakes his head. "It's fine." He swallows. "My uh, my family wasn't the picture perfect family my parents lead everyone to believe we were. Behind the scenes it was a much different, much crueler story. My dad was a senator so he didn't really pay attention to us, and my mother was always dutifully right by his side, not caring what any of us kids did. Which then allowed my older brother all the opportunities he could wish for to torment me and my little brother."
"Sibling rivalry," Skye says. "It's not really that uncommon of a thing."
Grant chuckles darkly. "Yeah, well, it's probably not the kind of tormenting you've heard of. He would hit us constantly for the stupidest stuff. I got the most of it because I wanted to protect my little brother. Sometimes he'd force me to do the hitting, and I was just so scared of him that I did it."
Skye quickly blinks her tears away, shifting on her seat. "That's awful."
Grant nods. "Yeah. Drinking to drown out all those memories became the best option for me because if I'm not drunk then I'm thinking about my sucky upbringing and that just causes problems in and of itself. Sometimes I wish I didn't have the family I do, that I was an orphan or something. It would have been a hell of a lot better than what I went through."
Skye's chest tightens. "Being an orphan isn't exactly a walk in the park either," she tells him.
He looks up at her and furrows his brows. "What? How do you...you're an orphan," he states in realization.
Skye nods. "Mm-hmm. Unlike you, I never knew my family. Even if they would have turned out to be jerks, I never even got the chance to find out."
"Did you ever get adopted?" he asks quietly.
Skye shakes her head. "Nope. There were a few possibilities when I was younger, but they all sent me back to the orphanage after just a few weeks or months. As I got older there were less and less opportunities for me to get adopted. Most people don't want an older kid, they want some cute, young kid that they can mold and shape and influence. I just wasn't good enough anymore, never really was."
"I'm sure that's not why," he tells her.
"Well that's what it always felt like," she comments. "Ended up leaving the orphanage when I turned sixteen, though. Dropped out of high school and lived on my own in a van I found for a little while. Then I met Trip about a year and a half later, not too long after I learned how to pick pockets; I got pretty good at it but somehow he caught me in the act of lifting his wallet. And instead of turning me over to the cops he took me in, helped me out. Gave me a family."
"He did?" Grant asks, furrowing his brows.
Skye nods. "Mm-hmm. He became my best friend, my pseudo big brother. His family welcomed me with open arms and made me a part of their family. I was still on edge though, for a while, worrying that they'd eventually see I wasn't worth anything and kick me to the curb."
"But they never did," Grant guesses.
Skye shakes her head with a smile. "No, they never did. They never formally adopted me, either, but I didn't really care at that point, and it wouldn't have really mattered much considering I was almost eighteen. I was just happy to finally have people who cared about me. They even helped me get my G.E.D. and put me through college."
"Sounds like a pretty great turnout for you," Grant says.
Skye nods with a smile. "Yeah. They're the best."
"Well I guess not all of us are lucky enough to actually get a family that treats them well," he says bitterly.
"Maybe not," she replies. "But just because you had a crappy childhood doesn't mean the rest of your life has to be crappy too, you know. You control your own life. I took control when I left the orphanage to live how I wanted to. You can take control tonight and do something else."
"That's easier said than done," he tells her, turning his head away from her and staring out the cell door.
Skye just sighs quietly and turns her own attention to the small window outside the cell, calmly watching the snow fall.
.
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Looking up when they hear the shuffling of feet on the concrete floor and keys jangling together, Grant and Skye see Officer Roland making his way towards them, spinning his key ring around his index finger.
He silently steps up to the cell door and inserts the key into the lock, twisting it to the side before pulling the door open.
"You're free to go now," he says simply.
"Wait, really?" Skye asks, standing from the bench and moving towards the door. "I can leave?"
Officer Roland nods his head. "The charges against you have been dropped," he informs her. "So you're free to go. Just don't make a habit of getting into fights in the middle of the street on Christmas Eve. Or any other day for that matter."
Skye smiles at him. "I promise I won't."
"Great. Now get out of here." He gestures with his head towards the front of the station and then looks down at Grant. "You too, Ward."
Grant stands up and smiles cheekily at the officer as he strides to the cell door. "You're letting me go already, Mikey?"
"In-laws are in town for Christmas this year," he replies. "I'm heading out early and figured I'd let you go so the new guy doesn't have to deal with you all night."
"You do care," Grant teases.
Mikey rolls his eyes. "Just get out of here. And try not to get into any more trouble tonight, alright? Don't need the boss on my tail in the morning because I let you out before you were fully sober."
"I'll do my best," Grant replies. He gives him a mock salute. "See you on New Year's Eve, Mikey. And I'd like some decent food this time around, please. And maybe some bubbly too so I can ring in the New Year properly."
Officer Roland rolls his eyes again and walks away from the cell, clipping his keys back onto his belt as he mutters something to himself under his breath.
Skye and Grant follow Officer Roland's path, making their way through the police station and towards the front doors.
"Goodnight, everyone," Grant says aloud to all the officers still working. "It's truly been a pleasure seeing you on this holiday, as it always is. Happy Holidays, and I'll see you all for New Years."
Pushing open the front doors, Grant steps out into the crisp winter breeze, Skye right behind him. She tugs the collar of her jacket up around her neck and folds her arms across her chest.
"I guess this is where we part our ways now," Grant says, drawing Skye's attention to him.
"I guess so," she replies. "It was...interesting meeting you."
"Yes it was," he agrees with a small nod. He takes a deep breath. "See you around, Skye." He turns and begins making his way down the sidewalk.
"Wait!" she calls out.
Grant stops and turns back to her. "Yeah?"
"Um, what are you doing for the rest of the night?"
Grant shrugs. "Not much. Probably just going to eat something and then sleep for a while. Maybe have a few beers beforehand. Why?"
"Do you want to come to a party?" she asks him.
He raises a brow. "A party?"
She nods. "Yeah. Trip throws this Christmas Eve party every year and, if you want to, you can come with me and hang out for a while, have some really good food. Trip won't mind, he'll probably just say 'the more the merrier' because he's a giant dork that way. But it's always a really fun party and you should definitely come by."
"Thanks," he says with a tight smile, shoving his hands into the pockets on his pants. "But I don't need your charity."
Skye frowns. "It's not charity."
He scoffs. "Sure it isn't. You heard my sad story about how my family treated me like crap and my life's in shambles now so you feel obligated to help me feel better on the holidays because it's a time for giving and you'll feel better about yourself because you did a good deed on the holidays that you think will make up for all the not-so-good deeds you might have done throughout the rest of the year."
"That's not why," she insists, shifting on her feet. "All I did was invite you to a party because I think there's a much better way to spend Christmas Eve than just drowning yourself in alcohol and burying your demons and you seemed like a nice guy under all the alcoholic influence. Honestly, I really don't care if you come to the party; I'm not going to beat myself up over it if you don't show up. But if you change your mind, it's only a few blocks away. You'll know the house when you see it. Come over, don't come over, I don't care. But we'll be there pretty late if you do decide to show up. Merry Christmas, Grant." She turns around and stalks away down the sidewalk.
.
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.
Taking a deep breath as he adjusts the collar of his leather jacket, Grant slowly makes his way up to the front of the house, stopping when he's directly in front of the large wooden door.
Lifting a fist, he knocks three times on the wood before taking a small step backwards so he's not as close when it opens.
"Coming!" he hears from the other side before the door is pulled open to reveal Skye standing on the other side.
She furrows her brows. "Grant?"
"Hi," he says with a nervous smile.
"Hi," she says back.
"This place was really easy to find."
Skye nods her head. "I knew it would be. Trip really loves Christmas."
"I can tell," he comments as he shifts on his feet, looking up at all of the lights and decorations covering the front of the house.
"Those are some nice flowers you've got there," she tells him, gesturing to the bouquet he's clutching in his hands.
Grant looks down at the flowers and then back up at her. "They're uh, they're for you, actually," he says, holding the flowers out to her.
"For me?" she asks, taking the flowers from him.
He nods. "Yeah. They're not the best, but it's all I could get my hands on this time of night."
Skye holds the bouquet up to her nose and breathes in deeply before pulling them down and smiling at Grant. "They're beautiful, thank you."
He gives her a small smile. "You're welcome." He reaches up to rub at the back of his neck. "I, uh, I wanted to apologize."
"For what?" she asks.
"Being rude to you earlier when you invited me over. Sometimes when I'm...drunk, it's hard for me to tell exactly how I'm acting."
"Well I appreciate the apology."
"And about all of that, back in that cell tonight, everything I told you about my childhood and my family, I've never actually told that to anyone before."
Skye gives him a teasing smile. "I was your first? How sweet."
He chuckles. "Yeah. I don't know why I told you everything that I did, but it felt good afterwards. I've never had that kind of feeling before. I think I might have liked it."
She gives him a small smile. "Well I'm glad I could help you out."
He gives her a small smile back. "Me too."
There's a quiet moment between the two of them, neither one knowing exactly what to say.
As Skye goes to open her mouth to say something, another voice from within the house calls out.
"Skye? Girl, who's at the door? You've been over here forever."
Skye turns her head and smiles at the man approaching her.
"Trip, hey," she says to him.
"Hey," he says back. "Who's this?" he asks, nodding in Grant's direction once he reaches the front door.
"Oh, this is Grant Ward. Grant, this is Trip."
"Nice to meet you, Grant," Trip says, taking a small step forward and extended his hand out.
Grant hesitantly takes his hand. "You as well."
Trip takes a deep breath and leans against the doorframe. "So are you the guy who was in jail tonight with my sister?"
Grant nods. "That was me, yes."
"Well I'm glad you're out too, man. No one should have to spend Christmas Eve alone in a jail cell."
Grant shrugs. "Thanks. But it's nothing I'm not used to. I would have been fine."
It's quiet between the three of them before Trip speaks up again, standing up straight and looking right at Grant. "Well don't just stay out in the snow, man, come on inside and join the party." He takes a step back and waves Grant into the house.
"Thanks," Grant says, stepping up into the house and giving Skye a small smile as he passes her. "You have a great house," he tells Trip, shrugging out of his coat and handing it over to Trip when he extends his hand for it.
"It does the job." He hangs Grant's coat up in the front closet and then takes a deep breath. "Alright," he says, looking at Grant, "if you would follow me into the living room, I can introduce you to everyone else that's here." He turns and makes his way into the living room.
Skye gives Grant a soft smile and places a hand on his arm. "It'll be painless, I promise." She gives his arm a light squeeze before making her way into the room.
Grant takes a deep, calming breath before following after Trip and Skye.
"Yo, everybody," Trip calls out to the people in the room. Everyone turns their attention to him. He smiles at them all. "I'd like you guys to meet Grant Ward. Grant, this is everybody. Over there in the corner looking all winded from sucking face all night is Lance Hunter and Bobbi Morse. Standing over by the fireplace most likely talking science and engineering is Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, and Alphonso Mackenzie. On the couch we have Lincoln Campbell and Kara Palamas. And over by the tree is my lovely girlfriend Raina."
"Um, hi," Grant says, waving awkwardly. "Thanks for, uh, thanks for letting me join the party."
"Oi, are you the Grant Ward that's also the town drunk?"
"Hunter!" Bobbi scolds, smacking the Brit on the arm.
"Geez, Bob," Hunter scowls as he rubs his arm. "Was that really necessary?"
"You don't just ask him a question like that. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"It's fine," Grant speaks up before the argument can progress any further. He sighs and nods. "Yes, most days I'm usually stumbling around the town completely drunk, which is why I was actually in a jail cell tonight. But someone told me earlier tonight that there's better ways to spend the Christmas holiday than drinking the night away so I figured I'd stop by and see what this party was all about." He glances down at Skye and smiles at her before looking back up at everyone.
"Well we're glad you changed your mind, man," Trip tells him. "The more the merrier." Skye covers her mouth to hide her laugh and Grant does his best to hide his amused smile. "I'm assuming Skye is willing to play hostess for you tonight," Trip continues, "so I'll leave you two alone so I can get back to my girlfriend." He smiles and drops a kiss to the top of Skye's head before moving over to join Raina by the tree.
Taking a deep breath, Skye turns to look up at Grant. "So, do you actually want to be here at this party, or were you just being nice by showing up?"
Grant shakes his head. "No, I actually wanted to come here tonight. I meant what I said."
Skye smiles. "Great. Then come on, I'll introduce you to FitzSimmons. They're kinda hilarious when they talk over one another and Jemma will probably get all flustered around you because your face is, how she would put it, 'aesthetically pleasing'." She lets out a quiet laugh and then gently grabs Grant's wrist, pulling him with her over to the fireplace.
.
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.
"I was wondering where you ran off to. You doing alright?"
Grant turns his head to see Skye approaching him, carrying a glass of champagne in her hand. "What?"
"I asked if you're alright," she repeats. "I turned around for a second to answer Bobbi's question and when I turned back you were gone."
"Oh, um, yeah, sorry about that. I'm fine. Just needed to get out and get some air."
Skye nods. "Ah." She steps up beside him and leans forward against the back porch railing. "Was it getting overwhelming in there for you?"
"Just a little."
"I'm sorry."
He shakes his head. "It's fine, not your fault. I'm used to being around large crowds because my parents were always throwing parties for something or other. I'm just not used to large crowds that actually want me around and want to engage me in conversation. My parents' parties were always full of stuffy rich people who didn't really care about what my siblings or I did. Much like my parents themselves."
"Wow."
Grant nods. "Yeah. So I just needed to get out for a minute and relax. Don't let me keep you from your party and friends, though," he tells her. "You should go inside and hang out with everyone."
"I want to be out here," she replies.
"Why?" he asks.
She shrugs. "Because I like you."
He turns slightly and looks down at her. "You do?"
She looks back up at him and nods. "Mm-hmm."
He furrows his brows. "Why?"
"Because you're a good guy," she tells him. "You just got a bad break in life, that's all. But by coming here tonight to this party, you're showing that you want to do better, to be better."
"Really?"
She nods once. "Yep. Also, the stubble is really working for me," she tells him with a small smile, lifting her champagne flute to her lips.
He chuckles. "Good to know. Trip's a really great guy, by the way. I'm glad he decided to let you be a part of his family instead of turning you over to the cops."
"So am I," Skye says. "I can't even imagine what might have happened to me if I hadn't met him. And by met, I mean tried to pick his pocket."
Grant smiles. "Yeah, I figured that part out."
Skye nods. "Right." She takes a deep breath. "So, besides becoming completely overwhelmed inside because of all the people who wanted to talk to you, how do you feel about Christmas so far?"
Grant looks down at her and gives her a small smile. "Honestly? It's not too bad."
"I'm home!" Skye calls out as she steps through the front door and closes it behind her, toeing her shoes off and setting her laptop bag down against the wall.
"Mommy!"
Skye grins at the sound of two pairs of feet pounding quickly against the hardwood floor of the front hallway.
She stoops down and opens her arms up, right in time to catch her son and daughter as they leap into her arms and hug her.
"Oh, I so do not like working on Christmas Eve even if it wasn't a full day," she says, hugging them tightly. "I miss you guys too much."
"We missed you too, mommy," her daughter says, pulling out of the hug. "How was work?"
"It was pretty great, Jess, thanks," Skye says with a smile. "And how was your day?"
"Good," Jessica says. "We helped daddy bake all of the Christmas cookies."
Skye smiles and nods. "I know you did. He sent me all the pictures he took of you guys."
"We made lots of cookies," the little girl tells her mom. "There's so many. I want to eat all of them."
"Well you have to wait until the party. And even then, you only get one."
Skye looks up to see her husband entering the room with their youngest daughter sitting comfortably on his hip.
"Hey you," she says with a smile.
He smiles back. "Hey." He turns his attention to their two oldest children. "Jess, Andy, go wash up and then get your coat and shoes on. And no arguing," he adds as they make their way down the hallway. Once they're out of earshot he turns his attention back to Skye, smiling at her. "Hi, beautiful."
"Hi there, handsome," she replies, standing up and walking towards him. She lifts herself up onto her toes and softly presses her lips to his. "And hello to you, baby girl," she says when she pulls out of the kiss, smiling at her youngest. She pulls her daughter out of her husband's arms and plants kisses to her chubby cheeks as she settles her on her hip. "I missed you so much while I was at work, Iz."
"She missed you too," Grant tells his wife. "I think she kept trying to say 'mama' but nothing came from it. Pretty soon, though, is my guess."
"That would probably be the greatest Christmas present I could ever get," Skye tells him. She looks at her daughter. "What do you say, baby girl? Wanna make this the best Christmas ever for mommy?"
Izabel just stares up at her mom, reaching out to grab at Skye's necklace and pull it into her mouth, babbling nonsense around the piece of jewelry.
Skye looks up at her husband. "You ready to head out?" she asks him.
He nods. "Just about. Want me to finish getting Iz ready while you get changed?"
Skye shakes her head. "No, I got it. I've gotten pretty good at the whole 'getting my kid ready while getting myself ready' thing." She smiles and leans up to press a quick kiss to his lips before making her way up the stairs.
.
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"Mikey!" Jessica and Andy shout as they make their way through the police station, rushing towards the Officer standing behind the front desk.
Officer Roland turns and smiles at the two kids approaching him. He squats down and opens his arms up to the kids. "Hey, guys," he says as he hugs them. "How are you?"
"Good," Jessica says. She smiles wide at him. "Merry Christmas."
Officer Roland smiles at her. "Merry Christmas to you too, sweetie." He stands up straight and looks over at Grant and Skye. "Hey guys."
"Mikey," Skye says with a smile, stepping forward to pull the man into a one-armed hug, being careful not to squish Izabel. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Skye." He pulls back from the hug and shifts his attention to Izabel. "Hey there, cutie," he says, grabbing one of her hands and wiggling it. "I can't believe how big you're getting."
"She'll be eleven months in January," Skye tells him.
Mikey breathes out. "Wow."
Skye lets out a small laugh. "Tell me about it."
Mikey laughs quietly and then looks up at Grant. "Another year, man. Congratulations."
Grant gives him a small smile. "Thanks. It feels pretty good."
"I'm sure it does."
"Mikey! We brought cookies!" Jessica exclaims, interrupting the adults. "They're in mommy's bag. I'll get them." She rushes over to Skye's side and begins tugging at her bag.
Skye chuckles. "Slow down, Jess." Skye pulls open her bag, grabbing the Tupperware of Christmas cookies and handing it to Jessica.
"Thanks, mommy," Jessica says, taking the container and walking over to Mikey. She holds the container up and grins. "Here you go. They're all in shapes for Christmas."
"Thank you very much, Jess," he says with a smile, taking the cookies from her.
"But you have to share with everyone," she tells the older man.
Mikey chuckles. "I promise I will." He looks up at Grant and Skye. "Can you guys stay for a bit?" he asks.
Skye shakes her head. "No, sorry. We'd love to, but we have to get to my brother's house for the annual Christmas Eve festivities."
Mikey nods. "Right. How could I have forgotten?"
Skye shrugs. "It's been a whole year."
"That it has. I guess I'll let you guys get going, then. It was great seeing you."
"You too," Grant says. "Merry Christmas, Mikey."
Mikey smiles. "Merry Christmas, Grant."
.
.
.
"We're here!" Skye calls out as she and her family step through the front door of Trip's house. "Jess, Andy, shoes and coats off, please." She turns her attention on her youngest daughter and pulls the little girl's coat off, tossing it to Grant and then removing her boots and setting them on the ground.
"There's my favorite nieces and nephew."
"Uncle Trip!" Jessica and Andy shout and then run across the hardwood floor towards their uncle.
Trip laughs as they tackle him to the floor, hugging him tightly. "I missed you guys," he tells them, sitting up and shifting the kids into his lap. "How are you guys?"
"Good," Jessica tells him. "We brought cookies for the party."
Trip smiles. "And I'm sure they're just as good as they always are."
"Is that the Ward clan I hear?"
They all look up to see Raina entering the room with a young boy sitting on her hip.
"Hi Auntie Raina," Jessica says with a smile. "Hi Dante," she says to the little boy. She stands up from the floor and moves over to Raina to hug her around the legs.
"Hi, sweetie," Raina says, hugging Jessica back. She looks up at Grant and Skye. "Did you have a safe drive over?"
Skye nods. "We did. Merry Christmas."
Raina smiles. "Merry Christmas."
"Mommy, can we go play in the living room?" Jessica asks.
"Yes, but please be careful of the tree and decorations."
"We will." Jessica grabs her little brother's hand and the two of them make their way into the living room, Raina following behind them.
Skye smiles after her kids before turning to face her brother as he stands up from the floor. "Do I get a hug now?" she asks him. "Or do I have to tackle you for one like my kids did?"
Trip chuckles. "Come here." He steps forward and pulls her into his arms, being mindful of Izabel. "Merry Christmas, sis."
"Merry Christmas, bro," Skye replies.
They pull out of the hug and Trip turns his attention to Izabel. "Hey, cutie," he says with a smile. He plucks her out of Skye's arms and hugs her before settling her on his hip. Izabel squirms for a minute before her face scrunches up and she leans out of Trip's arms, reaching for Skye.
Skye sighs and steps forward to take her daughter. "Sorry," she says. "Iz just recently got over a fever so she's still in that clingy phase where she doesn't want anyone but me. Of course, she'll take her daddy when I'm not there, but most of the time it's me she wants."
Trip nods. "I get it. Leon was the same way when he was younger and got sick. Didn't want anyone else except for his mama."
"I think it's cause we carried them for nine months so they already know us and are still getting to know daddy," Skye says. "Anyone else is pretty much a stranger."
"Makes sense." Trip turns his attention towards Grant, smiling kindly at him. "Hey, man, how's it going?"
"Pretty good," Grant replies. "You?"
"As good as always." He takes a deep breath. "Now, should we head into the living room? The party has already started."
Skye smiles at her brother. "Lead the way." She grabs Grant's hand in hers and they follow Trip into the living room, immediately being greeted by all of their friends.
"And the last little troublemaker is now fast asleep," Skye says as she makes her way into the master bedroom.
"Out like a light?" Grant asks from where he's sitting up on the bed.
Skye nods as she walks over to the dresser. "Mm-hmm. They got so worn out playing with all their gifts today."
"They usually do."
Skye smiles, stripping out of her clothes and pulling out her pajamas. "And that is definitely a very good thing. Especially on Christmas Day."
Grant nods. "Yes it is. Best part is they conked out not too long after dinner. Of course, that might mean they won't sleep all night, especially Izabel."
Skye lets out a small sigh. "We'll deal with that bridge when we get to it." She moves over to the bed and pulls the covers back, climbing in and lying down next to Grant, curling up against his side. "For now, I just want to lie next to my wonderful husband and have a good night's sleep before we have to get up again and live another day."
Grant smiles and holds her closer. "Sounds like a great plan." He drops a kiss to her temple and shifts on the bed so he's more comfortable.
They lie in silence for a moment before Grant takes a deep breath and then speaks up.
"You know, this has been a really great Christmas," he says softly.
"Yes it most definitely has," Skye agrees with a nod of her head. "I think part of it is because it was Izzy's first Christmas so we got to experience Christmas again through a kid who hasn't experienced it yet. I'm really glad we got all those pictures too. Some of them will be great to use as blackmail when she's older and wants to do something that we don't necessarily approve of and then gets all gru—"
"Are you happy?" Grant cuts her off.
Skye furrows her brows and turns her head to look up at him. "What?"
Grant shifts on the bed so he's leaning above her. "Are you happy?"
Skye tilts her head and gives him a look. "Of course I'm happy. After seven years of marriage and three children I'm more than happy." She reaches up to place a hand on his cheek and speaks softly, "I love you, Grant."
Grant leans into her touch and smiles. "I love you too."
"Glad we cleared that up," she says with a small smile. "Now where did that question come from all of a sudden?"
Grant sighs. "I don't really know. I guess there's just a small part of me that wonders if you regret being with the town drunk."
"You are not that man anymore, Grant," she tells him. "As of yesterday you've been sober for ten years. Ten years, babe. You haven't touched a drop of alcohol in a decade, even though it was really tough for you at times. But you didn't give in to those cravings and that pull. And I'm so incredibly proud of you for that. As are all of our friends, even Mikey. I know he's especially glad that you're not spending Christmas Eve in a jail cell anymore."
"He definitely misses my company all night, though."
Skye smiles. "I'm sure he does. But I think he's very glad that you have a reason not to get drunk every other day."
"Four reasons, to be more exact," he tells her. He holds a hand up and raises one finger for each thing he lists off. "My beautiful wife Skye, my amazing daughters Jessica and Izabel, and my wonderful son Andrew." He drops his hand and smiles lovingly at Skye. "You four are my reasons for not drowning in the bottle anymore. You are the reason I stopped turning to the bottle all the time. You saved me, Skye. And I will always be grateful for that."
Skye shakes her head. "You saved yourself, babe," she tells him. "I may have given you that little spark you needed to stop drinking, but all that work to stop, that was all you. You took the steps to quit drinking and see someone about all your trauma from what your family put you through. And I'm as proud of you today as I was that first day you told me you were going to stop. I love you so much, Grant Ward. You're an amazing husband and even more amazing father to our children."
"And you're a wonderful wife and an even more wonderful mother to our children," he tells her with a smile. "I can't thank you enough for that night in the jail cell."
"You don't need to thank me, babe."
He nods. "Yes I do. Because of you I'm ten years sober."
Skye smiles at him. "Then here's to another ten."
Grant smiles and drops a kiss to her lips. "To another ten."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Still looking for more questions to answer in my Q&A video that I'm doing for New Year's Eve/Day. If you have any you'd like to ask me, about anything, just leave them in a review below. :)
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!