My first Christmas with Callen
We spent our first Christmas in one of Hetty's beautiful homes. I believe that G called it Dovecote. I've heard that she has several all over Los Angeles and that each one is more beautiful that the last. Each of them is more like a museum than a home.
The next year we were living in G's house in Venice. It'd come a long way since I stayed there with him over a year ago. There used to be a chair, two lamps and a table in the living room and a bed and a dresser in the bedroom. There were only a few dishes or pots and pans and never too much food. The Comescus had destroyed all that when they searched his house. When we moved back to Los Angeles from Rhode Island Callen replaced the chair and we moved it to the den. We brought all my furniture to furnish the house. G, initially, had a hard time with all the furnishings. He'd never had anything, so acclimating to "stuff" made him uncomfortable.
As Christmas grew near I began looking for a place to put the Christmas tree. G never had a tree or any decorations during the holiday season. He'd never even gotten a Christmas card. I couldn't imagine a life like that but I'm still learning more and more about my husband. The only real place to put the tree was in the den and I sensed a bit of reluctance on G's part. It is his man cave. I gave in and instead put a chair from the living room in there and made space for the tree in the living room.
Our daughter, Gretchen had turned one in November and also had never seen a Christmas tree. This was going to be the first year with a tree in our home for her and G. It made for interesting times. Gretchen and I went shopping for ornaments and a tree stand after G had left for the day. He had promised that we would go tree shopping after work today. He obviously didn't understand the concept of "the perfect tree." Hetty tried to explain it and so did Sam. It is one of those things that until you do it you don't understand it.
After bringing the tree home and putting it in its stand, G stood back and you could see the question ready to be poised, why a tree? To be honest I didn't know and I promised to find out why. At first he held back, holding Gretchen and then he began showing her the ornaments. Both were amazed by the glint of light on the glass like sunlight on jewels. I began putting ornaments on the tree and the next thing I knew G stood next to me with Gretchen in one hand and an ornament in the other. The look on his face was of wonderment. I wasn't sure whose wonder was more amazing, his or hers. Both G and Gretchen had the eyes of a young child and while I have always thought of my husband as an attractive man the childlike wonder in his face made him even more handsome to me.
I took ornaments out that I had taken from my parent's home in Connecticut he couldn't understand the significance of them. Why save the old scratched balls for the new tree? It's hard to explain what these bits of the past mean to me, especially to a man who has no past. There wasn't a correlation for him. The only ornament that made sense to him was a small silver bell that had my parent's wedding date engraved on it. I explained the sentimental reasons for each of the other twelve ornaments and he slowly began to see the reasons.
When all our ornaments were placed, I gave him the star I carried with me from Connecticut. It was antiquated and bruised, but I loved it, and I truly think he began to see its beauty through my eyes.
When we went to bed that night, G was quiet; he usually likes to talk a bit. When asked about it, he didn't say a thing. He took my hand and placed it on his heart and pulled me closer. He said nothing but I understood it perfectly, he had family.
As Christmas day approached I found G doing more and getting into spirit of the season. We went to Bloomingdale's for their holiday display. He took Gretchen to see Santa and even got her to sit on his lap. We went skating, pulling Gretchen in an old fashioned sled carriage and the weekend before he took us to the Sierra's for fun in the snow. It felt like home to me. I hadn't seen snow in two years. It was a thoughtful gift.
Christmas Eve was spent with family. Sam and his family, Deeks, Kensi, Eric, Nell and Hetty all came over to spend the evening with us. Sam was enjoying watching his partner interact with them all. Christmas had been an alien concept to him and he tended to spend it alone, now he couldn't and it made Sam happy to see my husband so happy. They all left around ten and we put Gretchen to bed. Santa made his visit and we went to bed.
The next morning I rose and went to the kitchen to bake the cinnamon rolls and start coffee and tea. I wanted everything done and in its place before G got up but I had forgotten who I was married to. He was already up and sitting by the tree. I said good morning and kissed his cheek. It hardly woke him from whatever he was thinking about so I went on my way. I'd grown so intent on my cooking that I didn't hear him come up behind me. He grabbed me around my waist and planted a kiss on the back of my neck. I could feel the love emanating from him and it was warm and cozy, just the way a family should feel on Christmas Day. The coffee was ready and my tea was in "our" teapot. We were ready to start the day. We went out on the patio to watch the neighborhood wake up to the glorious day. We could smell the rolls baking and if the timer went off we'd hear it. We'd also hear if Gretchen woke up. She was sleeping in today. We spent the next half hour basking in the love and the sunlight.
Gretchen finally woke about nine o'clock, so we fed her breakfast and had some cinnamon rolls, coffee and tea. When we finished eating we escorted Gretchen to the living room, the tree and the presents. She was excited but unlike her father she was intrigued with the colored papers and boxes. She sat there giggling on her dad's lap. We had given her clothes, oh yeah a big yawn for children and some other toys that were age appropriate. The only present that she wanted to play with is a ride on train. Callen watched her ride the train all over the house. She will have a great time with Uncle Marty with that. He loves trains and her.
Gretchen played with the boxes while G and I exchanged gifts. I had bought him some long sleeve tee shirts and some button down shirts. Many were in colors that complimented his eyes. I also bought him a new watch with our wedding date engraved on the back. He must have liked it; he put it on right away. It was my turn. Callen took me into his arms and gave me a box. Inside the beautifully decorated box was a necklace. It took my breath away. It was entwined hearts of yellow and pink gold and where the hearts met were three diamonds. I had him place it around my neck at once. The clasp fell where he had placed his kiss this morning. I'd bet he knew that. He then placed another box in my hand which I opened. Inside was a silver bell, not unlike my parent's, with our wedding date engraved on it. I was very touched by this memento of his love. We turned and placed it on the tree together. I sat holding him and he reached behind him for two more boxes. In one was a gift card to Nordstrom's and the other held another gift card to a leather shop downtown for a new leather jacket.
It was getting to be noon time and we were expected at Hetty's for two o'clock. It was time to get ready.
We'd been married for over a year and technically this was our second Christmas together but this one was all us, our own tree, our own home and time to be with our own family. For us, this was truly our first real Christmas together.
A/N: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all NCIS:LA fans everywhere. If you are of other faiths may the New Year bring you all the blessings you need.