A Holly Jolly Christmas

Robert/Holly

PG

Holly picked up the silver tea pot, a Christmas gift from the year before, and poured two stifling hot cups of English breakfast tea. It was a cold and bitter morning in Port Charles with over two feet of snow and a touch of ice to prove it. The sky was cloudless, but sunless as well. And there wasn't a sign in sight of relief in sight.

The livingroom door slammed shut behind Robert and purely by force of the howling winter wind. "Well I can't get either car out. Not that I thought I could get that little foreign job out that you drive." he said, pulling off his gloves and stuffing them in his pocket. "It looks like I'm grounded for the day, but more importantly you're grounded for the day."

"More importantly?" she said, arching an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"The Christmas bills have started to come in from your little shopping extravaganzas." he told her, hanging up his coat and scarf. "Do I look like I'm made of money?"

Holly smiled. "Sometimes." she replied. "Besides I didn't spend that much."

"The bills come to me, luv." he said, walking over to the fire place to warm his hands. "And you did spend that much."

"Stop being so stuffy."

"My Christmas present better be a good one." he said, rubbing his hands together in front of the fire. "Because the one I got you is absolutely spectacular."

"It will be the best Christmas present you've ever received." she smiled. "I promise."

"How about giving me a little hint?" he said, walking over to where she was sitting on the sofa. "You won't be telling me if I guess. And that's completely fair."

"No, Robert." she replied. "You want to play this game every year at Christmas."

"And you never let me play." he complained.

Holly smiled. "I let you play plenty."

"Oh yeah?" he questioned. "When was the last time?"

"This morning."

"So what are you in the mood for now?" he asked. "I mean what is it that we're going to do all day now that we're trapped here together?"

"I can think of worse ways to be trapped." she feigned offense. "And worse people to be trapped with other than my handsome, sexy, romantic husband."

"I think you have a point." he said, picking up his cup of tea. "Do you want to bake some Christmas cookies?"

"Bake?"

"Yes." he said, slowly. "You know you get a bowl and you put things like flour and sugar and eggs in it. Then you stir it up and then you roll it out and use those cookie cutters to make cute little Christmas cookies. I think as a group effort we could pull it off."

"I don't know how to make cookies from scratch, do you?" she asked. "And besides that sounds like an terribly big mess to have to clean up."

"Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Yes." she replied. "How about a nice, long, hot sauna?"

"Now you're talking."

~Christmas Morning."

Robert was practically giddy with anticipation. He had already shook every box underneath the tree with his name on it to try out figure out his gifts. And so far he had come up with nothing. But luckily for him the day had finally arrived for him to find out what exactly this best Christmas present ever was.

Holly sat on the end of the couch and handed the perfectly wrapped box to Robert who quickly snatched it out of her hands. "Relax a little, darling." she said. "You're worse than a child."

"This wasn't under the tree." he said, examining the package. "Where did this come from?"

"I had it hidden."

"Why?" he asked. "Is this it? Is this the best Christmas present I'll ever receive?"

"It's part of it, yes." she answered, vaguely. "Now go ahead and open it up."

Robert quickly tore the paper away from the box and opened the lid. He pushed aside some useless tissue paper to reveal something silver. Ever so carefully he lifted the contents from the box. "What is this?" he asked, holding it up. "It looks like a miniature barbell."

"Shake it." she instructed. "It makes noise."

He did as she asked and ever so slowly a smile spread across his face. "This is a rattle." he said, beaming. "For a baby."

"Yes." she smiled back. "And not just any baby, our baby."

Robert could hardly contain himself. He drew her into his arms and gave her the most romantic, most sweetest, most tender kiss. "You were right." he said. "This is the best Christmas present I'll ever receive."

"I'm glad you like it." she said. "It would be very difficult to exchange."

His hand slid down over her still flat abdomen. "When?"

"July 16th." she said, her hand covering his. "Almost eleven weeks. I've known for about two weeks now and I've gone crazy trying to keep it a secret"

"This is absolutely amazing." he couldn't stop smiling. "There's no way I can top this present even though I did get you the most gorgeous piece of jewelry you'll ever lay eyes on. But this event calls for celebration. Lots and lots of celebration."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Making love to the most beautiful mother to be in the entire world." he told her. "Unless you have any objections."

"None." she replied. "But what about the rest of your packages?"

"How can they compare to this?"

"They don't." she said. "They can wait."

"This is a very Merry Christmas Mrs, Scorpio." he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the stairs. "I don't know how you're ever going to top this."

"I'll come up with something."

Finished.