A/N: I know there are still a few days left until Christmas, but I don't really know when I'll be leaving for the place, where I won't be able to publish this one-shot due to lack of Internet connection, so I decided to do it today. I hope you are going to like it!
He has always loved Christmas. When he was a child, he had two main reasons why he couldn't wait for them to come. Firstly, his whole family was going to come to them as they did every year. He was an only child, and his parents weren't living very close to the rest of the family, and for most of the time their house was feeling empty. It was at this time of the year, that his aunts, uncles and cousins were coming and bringing much more life to the place. Secondly, the end of December meant, that there were just two weeks to his birthday, and because he didn't have a different approach to it than any other child in the world, he couldn't wait to grow up, so he awaited them very impatiently. It happened sooner than it then felt it would, but even when he was an adult, he never stopped seeing this holiday as the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with his family, something he didn't have a chance to do often since he moved to DC. He always travelled to his home state, to spend time with his parents, try to at least partially make it up to them for being away. He knew they didn't mind, that they were happy if he felt satisfied with his life, even if it meant that their only child was hundreds of miles away from them, but still missed him very much. He always looked forward to this time of year, and it wasn't any different this time. If anything, he was only waiting for it more impatiently than ever.
It was only natural for the grin to come to his face, when the consciousness slowly started to come back to him and he stretched himself. It was only then, that he realised he should have been more careful about it, because he definitely didn't want to wake up his wife, still sleeping peacefully, snuggled to his side, with her head on his chest while her arm was possessively placed across his chest. He wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, holding her against him and placed a tender, loving kiss on her forehead, his mouth spreading in a smile again when he heard her make a soft, humming sound. They have been married for almost three months now, their quarter-a-year anniversary being only three days away. Yet, he still felt as if it was all just a dream every time he was waking up next to her, convinced she was going to disappear from his arms the moment his alarm went off, bringing him back to reality. It happened more than few times in the past, when any deeper feelings between them were absolutely forbidden, even though they couldn't deny that despite this all, very present. They were idiots, to waste so much time, but they only knew it after they admitted their love for each other and saw, how happy they were together and if they had known that they would be back then, they wouldn't have hesitated to take this step much earlier. This, was exactly what both of them were looking for in their lives, and whoever believed that they were making a mistake, getting married not even half a year after they started their relationship, was a complete fool.
He closed his eyes, even though there was no doubt he wasn't going to fall back to sleep, and enjoyed the closeness they shared. He had no doubts she was waking up as well, when he felt her fingers start to move over his chest, her fingertips very gently brushing his bare skin, and he only tightened his grip around her. How much he wished they could stay like this forever, cuddled to each other, not caring about anything else in the world but their intimacy. In theory, they actually could, because they didn't have any specific plans for that they, other than spending it together. As much as they loved visiting their families, they decided to stay at home this year, even if it meant spending it only in the company of the other. It was a fact, that they initially planned to travel to Ohio or Wisconsin, but they had huge difficulties deciding which one they should go to, and didn't really have the place to accommodate both families in their apartment, which before their wedding used to be only Jack's. Besides, they really looked forward to not having to worry about sharing their time with others, because their work left them really frustrated sometimes and didn't allow them as much time together as they would like to have. So, it was decided, and despite their families feeling somewhat disappointed that they weren't joining them, accepted their choice anyway.
"Good morning." she said groggily, moving her head to look up, at his face and her cheeks were graced with a faint blush, when her eyes met the loving gaze of his warm, brown ones. It didn't matter that they were a couple for about eight months now, that he was looking at her like this all the time - and used to do it secretly for the bigger part of the period they knew each other - if she was to believe their friends; she still found herself blushing every time she caught him, no matter how long she wished to sit it, and how much she loved it now. He didn't seem to mind, though, because even though he found it a little funny, he couldn't say that it wasn't also very adorable.
"A very good one, indeed. And now, that you're up, it is only going to get better!" he grinned at her, and she could feel her heart jump once again. Sometimes she wondered if he knew what he was doing to her, with his looks, his smiles, or with these two combined, but then she was sure he was very much aware of it and used them on purpose. They were going to bring him everything, because how was she supposed to say no to him, when he was using his charm on her? No, that she actually wanted to say that, but even if she wanted, she didn't think she would be able to.
"And why should that happen, Mr. Hudson?" she asked, raising her eyebrows playfully at him, only to see him wink.
"Because it's time to open the presents, of course!"
She chuckled, as she saw him shift into a full child-mode; at the beginning of their relationship, she couldn't believe how many of Jack's faces she didn't know, even if she could catch glimpses of them every now and then, and this was the one she came to love very much. It infuriated her at times, of course, when he would look at her pouting, if she didn't share his enthusiasm or agree with him, but it was really great to see, that outside of work, he could be so positively careless.
Just like she thought, he slipped out of the bed and she had difficulties moving her eyes off his body, as he didn't have any shirt on – not that she minded, that he liked to sleep this way, quite the contrary, what gave her a very good view of his upper body. He didn't hesitate to use her moment of inattentiveness and she squealed, when she felt him wrap one of his arms around her back, place the other under her bend knees and lift her off the bed. He carried her to the living room, where their tree was standing proudly and they both couldn't suppress the laugh, when their eyes moved to where they knew they would find the gifts, and noticed Levi lying amongst the boxes. The dog only sighed heavily, being very comfortable in his spot under the tree, noticing the two humans walk into the room. He completely couldn't understand their amusement, as they were looking at him, but these two always acted ridiculously, now even more so than before they were together and he simply closed his eyes back.
There were, of course, a lot of gifts under the tree. Even though they weren't going to open those gifts together, all of their friends and family still thought it absolutely necessary to give something to them, so they had quite a pile now. There were a few for Levi, who got much more interested when Jack went to it, after placing Sue on the ground, and started to enthusiastically tear the paper off the ones, which were for him or for the four-legged member of their family. She watched him for a moment, the corners of her mouth moving up at the image, which appeared in her mind; she could so easily see a very similar picture in front of herself in few years, the only difference being the three kids, present only in her imagination, so far. She could see herself, standing in the very same spot with a baby in her arms, while Jack was sitting on the floor with their son and daughter, revealing the content of the boxes and packages.
She sighed, yearningly, and gave in to the desire to join him and soon opened her presents as well. Having finished the task a while earlier, he watched her carefully, and also in slight anticipation as he waited for her reaction to the gift from him. He was really happy to see her eyes widen, when she tore the paper to reveal the flat jewellery box and open it to see the simple, yet very elegant and beautiful bracelet, and later a bottle of her – and his, too – favourite perfumes. He really loved her gift as well; she got him a new watch, as his last one got destroyed at work, exactly in the style which he liked and a jumper, which he really liked on their trip to the mall but couldn't buy as the shop didn't have his size. He was really surprised, when she told him it wasn't everything, and stood up to bring a small box and hand it to him. His curiosity grew, as he watched her bite her lip in what seemed like a nervous manner and slowly opened it to find a white stick inside, two red lines on it staring at him.
"Is it..?" he started, raising his eyes to her face and even though he didn't finish the sentence, he saw her nod. For a moment, he stared at her with disbelief in his eyes, but his mind was telling him that the small thing in his hand was the best evidence that it was indeed true, and he placed it on the side only to wrap his arms around her and pull her to himself, hugging her tightly.
As much as she felt nervous, the feeling quickly disappeared when she saw this huge, happy grin come to his face and she found herself pulled into his embrace. How they ended up lying on the floor, she had no idea, but she was only aware of his face, moving towards hers and later of his lips, placing loving kisses on hers.
"How long do you know?" he asked, when he had to unwillingly break the kiss because they both needed some air.
"I took the test last week… You have no idea how difficult it was not to run to you and tell you immediately, but with Christmas being so close, I thought that it could be a nice gift, and decided to wait." she explained and his lips touched hers once again, even though much shorter this time.
"It is the best gift you could ever give to me!" he exclaimed, and she nodded.
She knew exactly how much he wanted to be a dad, even though he could not be emphasizing it all the time, and it was exactly why she decided to tell him this way. She was convinced he was going to love it, even though she couldn't stop feeling a little nervous in the end. His reaction was, pretty much, what she imaged it would be and smiled widely at him as well.
"Are there any specific plans for us for the rest of the day?" he asked after a moment, and she shook her head and inquired about his. "My only plan is to spend it with my wife, preferably in my arms, and do pretty much nothing."
Sue, of course, didn't really have anything against it and they were glad for the peace of spending those Christmas alone. They could be the most lazy Christmas in his arms, and probably, one of the less eventful as there used to be a lot going on in his house every year, but they were definitely the best ones in his life. They were the first ones of those, which he spent with the woman of his life, and wouldn't make them any different.