This is for Loboselina's 12 Days of Charming Family Christmas. This is an AU Hyperion Heights verse, featuring Snowing, with a side of Hooked Queen as Rogers and Roni, and minor Rumbelle, as Weaver and Lacey. Each chapter will take place on Christmas each year, detailing the progressions in their lives. Enjoy!
All I Want For Christmas is You
Chapter 1: The Christmas We Met
Since his mother's death, Christmas hadn't had much meaning for David Nolan. It was Christmas Eve and he was a single beat cop in Seattle, more specifically the troubled neighborhood of Hyperion Heights. For that reason, he offered to work that night to give a fellow officer with a family the night off.
This was David's first year on the force and so far, he had made quite a name for himself. He had stopped a couple robberies, a few muggings, and a potential sexual assault. He heard rumors that he had caught the interest of the notorious Captain Weaver and was on the short list to be fast tracked to Detective. But David didn't pay the rumors any mind. If a promotion happened, then it did, but he wasn't too concerned with it.
For now, he was just focused on getting through another Christmas alone. In many ways, since his mother died, he might as well have been an orphan.
His twin brother died a few years earlier. He had been involved in a seedy business deal that went very badly and was stabbed to death. David blamed their step-father, the powerful businessman, George Spencer, and owner of Spencer Industries. He was as dirty as they came, but like Teflon when it came to making any charges stick.
When David became a cop, George had officially disowned him, not that David cared. He had refused to have anything to do with the man since James died.
No, Christmas didn't have much meaning now that his mom was gone. Little did he know, that was all about to change on that night...
"Let go of me!" he heard a female voice demand and hurried into the alleyway, just in time to see a young woman stomp on the foot of her assailant and punch him in the face.
"You little...your father has ordered you home, Miss Blanchard and I'm not returning empty handed!" the man growled.
"You can tell my asshole of a father to go to hell...I'm not going back there!" she cried.
"HEY!" David called out, getting their attention.
"Good...Officer, maybe you can help me make this unruly girl go home to her father. Leopold Blanchard would be very grateful," he said. This earned him another whack from the fiery young woman.
"Woman…" she corrected in offense to being called a girl.
"She looks like an adult, or more importantly, as she said, a woman, which means you can't make her do anything. Now remove your hands or the only place you'll be going is jail," David warned.
"Maybe you didn't hear me, Officer. This is Leopold Blanchard's girl...the Leopold Blanchard that owns half this city," he reminded.
"I don't care who he thinks he is...if she doesn't want to go, then she doesn't have to," David refuted.
"My father may own this town...but he doesn't own me, despite everything he's done to try. If I could do what I'm about to do to him, I would, but since he's not here...you'll do," she said hotly, as she wound up to smack him with her bag. Unfortunately for David, the other man ducked and he was accidentally waylaid by her book filled bag. The man ran off and the young woman was horrified by what she had just done.
"Oh God...I'm so sorry!" she cried, as she helped him up.
"I'm under arrest, aren't I?" she asked. He chuckled.
"No...you didn't mean to," he said, as he got to his feet.
"Oh God...you're bleeding," she lamented, as she fished a tissue out of her bag and dabbed his chin.
"Who was that guy?" David asked.
"Just one of my father's hired thugs. He's mad that I refuse to make an appearance at another one of his horrible parties," she replied.
"It is Christmas Eve though and he's your family, right?" David asked curiously.
"Not anymore...I refuse to be a part of his evil. He and my step-mother Cora are involved in things I want no part of. My step-sister Regina is my real family," she replied.
"I guess I know a bit about that," he admitted.
"Oh?" she inquired curiously.
"My name is David Nolan, but I grew up David Spencer. I took my mother's maiden name when I was old enough," he explained. Her eyes widened.
"Spencer? As in George Spencer?" she questioned. He nodded.
"The one and only. He's my step-father or was. He disowned me when I joined the police force," he replied.
"Be grateful. I wish my father would disown me," she said.
"Yeah...Leopold Blanchard. The Captain of my precinct would love to get a conviction on him," he replied.
"My father never gets his hands dirty. Justice is kind of a joke in this town...no offense," she said.
"None taken," he replied, as they stopped outside a bar.
"Um...my shift is about over. Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.
"How about we get one on the house? This is my step-sister's place," she replied, as they went inside. He was positively captivated by her and not just because she was beautiful. She wore a simple fluffy white sweater with dark wash jeans. Her short hair was pulled back in a messy baby ponytail and he was positive he had never seen a more beautiful person, especially when he watched her smile at the woman behind the bar. He found himself wanting to make her smile, just so he could see her light up and glow the way she was now.
"Hey you...I was about ready to get my bat. Was it another one of those thugs?" Roni asked. Mary nodded and approached the bar.
"Sykes again...but I got a little help from a new friend," she said, turning to him.
"Uh...hi, I'm David," he stammered, as he approached the bar. Roni smirked and did a shot, before grabbing two more glasses.
"Roni...nice to meet you, Officer," she said.
"Oh...it's just David. I'm off duty now," he replied, as Roni poured three shots.
"Well, that's good...because you're just in time to join us for Christmas Eve," she said.
"I wouldn't want to impose," he replied.
"You're not...let me guess, you're an orphan like us. Your mother is gone...and your father is probably a dick, who doesn't approve of your profession in law enforcement. And instead of being alone on Christmas, you volunteered to work," Roni said. David's mouth hung ajar, as he tried to figure out how she could know all that. Mary giggled.
"Don't ask how she does it...that's just Roni. She takes in strays...or girls that need to escape bad situations," Mary said, as David looked curious about that.
"When my father married Roni's mother, she was already grown, but I wasn't. I was sixteen and she took me in when I ran away. She helped me get emancipated from my father and change my last name from Blanchard to Snow. I wanted to be free of him and Cora," she explained.
"My mother is ninety percent of why I drink...I wasn't about to let another person go through that. Plus Leopold Blanchard is a creep and a criminal," Roni added.
"Believe me...I'm a cop, I know," David agreed, as the bar door opened, despite the closed sign and a man that David vaguely recognized walked in.
"Speaking of more strays...here comes two more," she called, as the man put the little girl in his arms down and she ran to Roni and Snow.
"My favorite strays," Roni said, as she hugged the little girl and then kissed the man, whom David now recognized as Detective Killian Rogers.
"Merry Christmas, love," Rogers told her, as he noticed they had a newcomer.
"Officer Nolan, right?" he asked.
"Uh...yeah, Detective Rogers?" David questioned.
"Just Rogers is fine...you know, Weaver's had his eye on you," he mentioned.
"He just helped Mary out with another one of Leopold's lap dogs," Roni informed.
"Good man," Rogers said, as he clapped him on the shoulder and eyed the bottle of rum behind the counter.
"Papa...can I have cocoa?" Alice asked.
"Of course, starfish," he answered. Roni smiled.
"One cocoa coming right up," Roni said.
"Make that two more," Mary said, as she looked at David and he smiled.
"I'd love one," he agreed, as Roni went about making cocoa, while turning up the radio with Christmas music playing. Three more people joined them, as Captain Weaver himself showed up with his wife Lacey, and their son Gideon. It was the warmest Christmas David had experienced in a very long time.
"So...how does it feel to be adopted?" she teased. He smiled.
"Pretty good actually...a hell of a lot better than going home to my empty apartment," he said, as they stared at each other.
"So...Mary Snow? I like it...better than Blanchard," he mentioned. She smiled.
"Really?" she asked. He nodded.
"It really suits you," he replied.
"Thanks...my father's name just means to many negative things, so I made my own identity," she said, as they enjoyed the music together and drank their cocos, while watching Alice get to open one present. As it got late, David knew he had to go, but he found himself sad about that.
"So...Christmas dinner is tomorrow at two," she mentioned.
"You mean...you want me to come?" he asked. She smiled.
"I told you...you've been adopted," she mentioned. He smiled.
"I'll be here," he confirmed, as they noticed they were standing under the mistletoe at the door.
"Mistletoe…" she whispered.
"Mistletoe…" he uttered, as they stared at each other, before their lips finally crashed together. And that was the night that Christmas changed forever for David and Mary for that matter.
"See you tomorrow, Snow…" he said fondly and she grinned.
"Snow?" she asked. He shrugged.
"I like it...I think you're going to be Snow to me," he replied, as she saw him out and watched him go, her heart fluttering in her chest.
"Snow…" she muttered, finding herself giddy that he had his own name for her and at the incredible kiss they had just shared. Christmas certainly was the most wonderful time of the year…