"You could come round, you know. I'm not doing the whole roast dinner and trimmings, but I make a very passable Cornish pastie."
He smiles, but still shakes his head. She wonders, briefly, if he is demurring out of worry that her invitation is nothing more than a polite gesture she doesn't expect him to accept.
"I'm not religious, Alex. You know that."
"Neither am I. Since when is Christmas about religion? I was under the impression it was about shameless commercialism, lying to children and encouraging greed."
He smiles, continuing to rifle through his papers, but is still noncommittal.
"Ben would love to have you there, Tony."
And now he does look up, considers a moment. His smile is soft, but as genuine as her invitation.
"What time?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alex wipes her hands on her apron and opens the door. She is greeted by the sight of Tony hill holding a bottle of wine and a very shoddily wrapped present. If she looked closer she would notice that the paper has "Congratulations" written all over it, and carpet fuzz trapped under the tape. She lets him in anyway.
"Tony!" Ben exclaims, his excitement evident on his cherubic face. "Mum told me you were coming! Is that a present?"
Tony hands the bottle of wine to Alex and ruffles Ben's hair with his free hand.
"Elementary, my dear Ben," He says as he offers the package to her son. Alex retreats to the kitchen just in time to see Ben grab tony by the arm and drag him across the room.
"Come see the tree, Tony!"
Tony smiles wide and allows the boy to lead the way. In the kitchen, Alex pops the pasties into the oven and sets the timer. She tidies up, and a few moments later leans against the doorjamb to survey the scene. Tony and Ben sit cross-legged on the floor. The present Tony brought hasn't lasted ten minutes. Ben is squealing in delight, clutching the Lara Croft game cartridge in his soft, childish hands. She wonders if Tony had noted the model of his game system on a previous visit or if it was just a lucky guess. Either options seems equally plausible.
Ben leans against Tony and points out the christmas ornament he made in school. Tony tells him it's "Very good indeed. Nice work, Ben."
Alex feels her heart flutter a bit in her chest. How did this happen? How has he managed to make her son love him? The men she's half-heartedly dated since Ben's dad left have all made an effort to reach out to him. And it's not like Ben had been hostile towards any of them, he's far too sweet a boy for that. But he hadn't taken to any of them. And then it hits her. Tony likes Ben. For Ben. He's not looking to win points with her, not trying on the role of father and seeing how it fits. He just likes the boy. It makes all the difference.
The timer rings, and she's startled to notice how long she's been watching them.
"Dinner, you two. Ben, set the table."
Ben springs up and into action. Tony wanders into the kitchen. She tilts her head at the wine.
"Will you do the honors?"
He smiles and nods, digging around the utensil drawer in search of a corkscrew. Alex plates up the food. From the other room, Ben calls out "Can we have popcorn with maple syrup?"
Tony cocks a hopeful eyebrow at her and she laughs. "After dinner. If you finish all your vegetables."
She hands him a plate of food, and he counters by offering her a glass. She stops a moment, just looking at him. She considers.
"What?"
"I'm glad you came, Tony."
He chuckles and follows her to the table.
"See if you still that way when you're picking popcorn kernels out from your cushions."
She suspects she will, even then.