There was no shrill beeping today as the young executive woke from her slumber. She could feel the warmth of her partner sleeping next to her and she could hear the softness of his exhalations. She looked at the digital clock as she sat up. It was a little after ten, the latest she had been asleep in a year. She rubbed her eyes of sleep and stood, grabbing the closed shirt she could reach as she swooped her arm towards the floor as she rose from the soft confines of her bed.
The material swamped her. She did up a couple of the buttons and headed out into the kitchen of their shared apartment. The glimmer of tinsel out of the corner of her eye made her smile. If she turned the radio on it would play her the pre-recorded holiday show. Beneath the tree in the corner were a handful of wrapped parcels.
She filled the kettle from the cold tap and set it to boil.
IThe kettle boiled and she quickly poured the hot water into three mugs, two with instant coffee granules another with a tea bag./i Black with two sugars, white with one and a white tea with none,i she kept chanting to herself in her head. She put two sugars in one and one in the other coffee. She got the milk from the fridge.
"Crap, which was two sugars?" she guessed and poured the milk into the middle cup and into the cup with the floating teabag.
The entered the meeting carrying the two coffees in one hand and the tea in the other. She placed the tea in front of Morgana, the Executive Manager of Fiction and rounded the table towards Leon and placed the white coffee in front of him. He thanked her and turned his attention quickly back to what Uther was saying. She put the final cup of coffee down in front of Arthur, Uther's son.
He couldn't be more different from their tyrant of a boss if he tried.
She might be there to get them coffee during meetings or take down minutes when Merlin wasn't there but unlike his father Arthur never treated her as if she was any less than them. She was an up and coming junior editor. She deserved a little bit of recognition for not complaining when Uther decided to use her as a coffee machine.
Arthur smiled gratefully at her.
She couldn't help but return the smile. One finger was still caught around the handle of the mug as she withdrew her hand, knocking it and spilling coffee all over the desk with the quickly spreading puddle expanding towards Arthur's pile of papers, "Shit," she exclaimed under her breath. She grabbed the pile of papers as Arthur picked up his laptop with great speed.
Uther had stopped talking and was glaring at her. He muttered something about 'incompetence'. Mortified, Gwen ran from the room and back to the small kitchenette to grab a tea towel and the kitchen roll to mop up the mess with.
Arthur was stood when she returned, his laptop and papers abandoned on his chair as he pulled at the front of his suit trousers. Gwen quickly put a bundle of kitchen roll over the main puddle, it immediately soaked through. She gave Arthur the tea towel wordlessly. He started to dab at where the coffee had spilt down his trousers, "Sorry."
"It's okay," he said with a reassuring smile.
Uther cleared his throat behind them, "Perhaps we should continue this later," Gwen's cheeks burned in embarrassment.
She mouthed another apology at Arthur and quickly departed from the room.
Five minutes later when the rest of the staff had disbanded from the meeting Gwen knocked quietly on the door to Arthur's office and entered quickly without waiting for an answer, "I'm really so- Sorry!" She turned around to face the door. Laughter was his reply.
"That's okay, Guinevere," he said pulling on his clean pair of trousers, "I smelt distinctly of coffee," he said with no sincerity in his voice, "You can turn around now," he said as he tucked his shirt into the top of his suit trousers and did up the button.
"I should have waited."
"Doesn't bother me either way," he shrugged, "Not like you saw anything apart from my embarrassing socks, was it?" She would never admit to, despite her embarrassment, checking out the way his underwear hugged to his behind as he'd bent to pull the leg of his trouser up, "What was it you wanted?"
"I came to apologise."/i
Out of habit she kicked their bedroom door shut as she entered with the two cups of coffee; one for him, black with two sugars and one for her, white with no sugar. She rounded the bed to his side and set both cups down on the bedside table.
She sat on the edge of the bed and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He stirred slightly but didn't wake so she kissed him again and once more for good luck. The third time he responded as she pulled away. He pulled her down to him and hefted her over into the middle of the bed, hugging her small frame into his chest. He opened one of his eyes and slowly blinked until he could focus, "Nice shirt."
"Thank you," she looked down at it. It was a medium red, something that Arthur wore a lot of the time, "It makes me feel Christmassy," she said with an impish grin. She kissed him again, tender and slow, "Merry Christmas."
His cold hand slipped over the bare skin of her thigh, resting just before his fingers would be tracing the curve of her bum. Gwen hooked her leg across his thighs, resting her hand in the crook of his neck. She traced her finger lightly over the hairs on his bare chest. His other hand worked its way through her long curls, lulling her to sleep. A light kiss to her forehead brought her back to the world.
She fidgeted, her leg moving across his middle. He moved his hand pointed further up her leg. Her breath caught in her throat. She bit her lip, taking the moment to slowly run her flat hand over his abdomen and under the thin sheet that covered him.
iThere was snow outside, which is strange for March, but it hads left flakes in her hair and on her coat and her scarf. The cold hads left her skin bitten with the chill and to him she's never looked more perfect, "I've had a great night, thanks," she said as they reached her door. She put her key in the lock and opened it. She stood in the darkness of the doorway and looked nervously up at him with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
She pushed onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
This wasn't the first time they've been on a date. It wasn't the first time that she's kissed him either. The last time they'd gone out together she'd invited him in and they'd had a final glass of wine on the sofa watching a rerun of Mock The Week on the television. Somewhere along the line one of them had initiated a kiss and it had only ended when it started to get a little too far.
It had been a little embarrassing for Arthur. He'd had to excuse himself not long after. It was late and he really didn't want to sort himself out in her bathroom.
Now, stood outside her flat without the invite inside, he wasn't expecting anything to come of the night further than kissing her good night and going home. He tucked her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek in his hand as he kissed her. He hadn't thought that she'd respond by opening her mouth to kiss him back. His tongue met hers briefly before he'd stopped.
It was her hand in his hair at the nape of his neck that had taken him back to her. She took a step back, making a point to take him with her as she pushed backwards into her small home. The door slammed, her keys clattered as they missed the table top and fell to the floor.
Gwen slipped her hands beneath his jacket and pushed it from his shoulders. He let loose his grip from her waist slip and let the garment fall to the floor. He started to fumble with the buttons on the front of her coat as she pulled off her scarf and gloves, discarding them wherever they landed. Her coat fell from her arms and she kicked it out of the path towards her bedroom door.
She reached for his shirt button, breaking their kiss to look up at him as she did so, seeking his permission, "Are you sure?" he mumbled, stumbling over his words, she smiled and carried on flicking open the buttons of his shirt. His hands moved from her waist to the tops of her legs, fiddling with the bottom hem of her dress before slipping his hands beneath the material to the tops of her tights and gently rolling them down the tops of her legs.
She kicked out of her shoes as they reached her bedroom door and broke away from him to yank down her tights and pulled them off of her feet. Arthur ridded himself of his shirt, not caring for where he threw it. When Gwen looked back at him he couldn't help but smirk as she let herself take his half naked form in.
He put his hand through her hair and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. Gwen busied her hands at the back of her dress pulling down the zipper. She shrugged off the small sleeves and let the garment fall to the floor. Before she stepped backwards out of it she worked on the button of his jeans. He pushed them off, breaking the kiss to look at her now, stood before him in nothing but her underwear. He'd never expected her to be an owner of lacy French lingerie. She'd always seemed so conservative at work.
He toed off his socks and pulled her into him so her bare flesh was flush to his own. Within the second she led him to the centre of her room to her bed and kissed him, she manoeuvred so he had his back to the bed and then kissed him so he moved towards it. The back of his legs hit the side of the bed and he brought her down with him as he landed. She had her knees either side of his hips.
"Wallet," he said as her hand inched down towards the growing bulge in his boxers. She raised an eyebrow. She resisted making a quip about money but instead leaned, the movement grated her centre against him. He swallowed, fingers gripping her hips so she didn't slip as she reaching reached into the bottom draw of the small cabinet. She produced a small foil packet and proceeded to open it. She pushed up onto her knees as he moved to rid himself of his final garment of clothing.
Gwen rolled he condom down his hard length, and he hissed at the touch. She silenced him with a kiss. He moved the kiss to her jaw, along her neck and down to her pulse point. As his trailer reached her bra strap he pulled it down over her shoulder and reached behind her to unclasp the clip with one hand.
He lifted her and led her down on the bed, teasing the material of her knickers down her legs. He slipped himself between her legs, spreading them as he turned his attention back to her breasts, running a trailer of kisses between them before he took one of her nipples in his mouth. With one hand he teased her centre, the curls slick making it easy for him to slip one finger into her, his thumb playing with the sensitive nub. She involuntarily bucked her hips.
A second finger joined the first, thrusting in her. He pushed up on his other hand to take her in. Her legs straddled about his hips. She hooked her legs around his, bringing him closer to her, his erection by her centre. He removed his fingers from her entrance and thrust his cock in their place./i
Arthur reached past the two cups of slowly cooling coffee and grabbed a tissue from the box. Gwen rested against his shoulder slowly regaining the breath she had been struggling for moments before. She still had her leg hooked over his leg but it rested between his now as he cleaned himself up and discarded the tissue in the bin.
He reached down the bed and pulled the duvet up over them. He was leaning against the headboard, bringing Gwen up to a more seated position as she snuggled into his side. He kissed her temple as he lifted his coffee from the table; now the perfect temperature to gulp down without scolding himself.
With his empty hand he reached back to the table and lifted her cup and handed it to her. She smiled, kissed him on the cheek in thanks and took a long slurp from her coffee.
iShe'd never been invited out of the office for one of their two-to-one meetings in a coffee shop before. She was quite excited. Merlin was out sick, so she had him to thank really for Arthur needing a right hand person man to make sure everything went smoothly.
They sat at a table in the corner of the nearest Costa, Arthur had his small laptop out on the table in front of him whilst Gwen sat nervously waiting. He'd bought her a coffee and all she could do before the client arrived was drink it.
"Right, sorry, I'll stop ignoring you in a sec," he apologised taking a large swig from his coffee. He finished typing his sentence and clicked send on the email. He shut the lid to his laptop and leant his arms on top of it casually, "Thanks for this."
"No worries, I've always wanted to come on one of these."
"Don't know why, they are really quite boring."
"But important, without them we'd have worse relationships with our clients."
"Exactly. I needed to speak to you as well; about your position in the company."
"Sounds ominous," she said holding her latte glass in her hands as it rested on the table between her drinking from it.
"It's not. It's a good thing," he smiled at her reassuringly before turning back into the formal businessman, "The Assistant Editor of Children's Fiction is leaving the company at the end of the quarter and on good authority, we think you'd be good for the job," she blinked at him, "You're constantly showing that you can do the work. Morgana agrees with me that we think you'd be better off in Children's fiction than normal Fiction."
"I don't know what to say, thank you."
"Will you take the job?"
"Yes, of course," she grinned. She'd originally applied for a job in Children's Fiction but the place had been taken by another post-grad. They'd offered her a job in General Fiction instead and she'd happily accepted it. Anywhere was a foot in the door.
Arthur raised his coffee cup to her and she toasted her latte glass to it, "Congratulations."
"Thank you."/i
"I'm glad you like it," he said reciprocating the kiss she sent his way. She gently fiddled with the box and handed him the chain and turned her back on him. She pulled her loose hair over her shoulder and held it out of the way. Arthur looped the chain around her neck and did up the clasp, fumbling with the small mechanism for a second before it connected. Gwen ran her fingers over the delicate chain and caressed the pendant. Three diamonds were set in a white gold surround in a teardrop*. She didn't want to know how much money had had spent on it.
Arthur pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. She was still wearing his red shirt and very little else as she sat between his jogging bottom clad legs. They were sat at the base of their silver and red decorated Christmas tree opening the few presents they had gotten each other.
"Here, last one for the man who has everything," she said giving him a soft present that he immediately squeezed.
"More socks?"
"It's good enough for Dumbledore," she grinned. He opened the paper and pulled on one of the pairs over his bare feet and wriggled his toes, "See, amazing."
"And pink."
"You don't have any pink ones yet," she said with a small smile. He shook his head at her before slowly kissing her in thanks. Every year, twice a year on Christmas and his birthday she had gotten him a set of socks. It had quickly become a thing.
"What's the last one?" he said nudging it with his foot. It was hard and the sized of an a5 piece of paper.
Gwen chewed on the inside of her lip and picked it up. She handed it to him, "It's for both of us."
iShe'd been stood outside his front door for a good five minutes before she knocked. She hadn't been invited and she hadn't called. Coming over unannounced wasn't something she did normally but today called for it. If she'd rung he might not have picked up or have told her not to bother.
She couldn't put it out of her head.
Their minor dispute about impending titles had turned into a full on make-out session without so much as an invitation.
"Guinevere?" he said as he opened his door. He hadn't been expecting her to ever speak to him, unless necessary, again let alone turn up at his flat with a bottle of wine in one hand.
"This is for us and we're going to drink it and we're we are going to talk."/i
Arthur indicated and turned the car into the end of Tom's drive. Gwen's face lit up when she clapped eyes on her childhood home with fairy lights in the window. She could see her father through the kitchen window along with Merlin's mother and Merlin himself already wearing one of the cracker hats.
Gwen rang the bell and waited; Tom shouted from the kitchen that the door was open and she pushed lightly on the wooden door, "Help yourselves to drinks and such," he said welcoming his daughter with a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug. He even pulled Arthur into a one armed 'man hug' before letting him go into the kitchen to get a drink.
"White or red?" Arthur asked.
"White please," she replied, "It's easier to hide," she said quietly for only him to hear. He picked up the bottle and made a show of opening it for anyone that was watching. He filled one large glass and quickly replaced the cork. He grabbed the White Grape Sholer that was on the side for the younger guests who were yet to turn up and poured out an equally sized portion into another glass.
"Here you go," he handed her the glass and together they approached the sitting room to join Merlin and his mother, Hunith.
"Merry Christmas, you two."
"Merry Christmas Merlin," Gwen greeted kissing him quickly on the cheek.
"Doctor Who in t-minus thirteen minutes," Merlin announced taking his usual armchair.
"Not that you're counting down or anything," Gwen joked taking her place next to Arthur on the sofa. She'd already discarded her shoes at the door and curled her feet under herself as she leant into Arthur. He slipped his hand around her, resting it interlocked with her on her stomach, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of her index finger, "When's everybody else arriving?"
"Tom said any time now," Hunith answered, sitting in one of the old chairs that had been gathered to give enough sitting space once all the guests arrived.
"Excellent; I'm starving."
"He's got quite a spread this year," Merlin interjected. "So much good food."
"How much have you eaten already today?"
"About the equivalent of five large Christmas lunches."
"Why are you not the size of a house?" Gwen complained, adjusting her sitting position so she could rest her head against Arthur's shoulder.
"Says the woman who ate an entire large tin of Celebrations on her own?" Arthur laughed poking her in the side.
"I was hungry."
"Didn't you eat dinner?" Merlin asked aghast.
"We slept through dinner," Arthur admitted with a small grin on his face. They'd had every intention of getting up just after ten once they'd drained their coffee cups but had drifted back to sleep again quite content that it was Christmas and they didn't have anywhere to be until the evening.
"You slept through dinner? Christmas dinner?"
"We'll have it tomorrow," Gwen shrugged, "It's not like it's our first Christmas. We've done it properly once before."
iThere was a massive crash that woke Arthur from his sleep on Christmas morning. He'd been dreaming of snowmen flying through the air and having a rather intimate snowball fight with his girlfriend. Which hadn't been good for him waking up.
A few minutes later and there was another crash followed by a smash and a loud expletive; Arthur made to move then; . "You alright?"
"Yeah," Gwen called back. Arthur reached the doorway and saw Gwen perched on the counter with her bare feet hanging two feet above the floor, "I broke a glass and I don't have shoes," Arthur took the prompt to pull his trainers on and grab the first pair of other shoes that came to reach; his business pair.
"Cinderella shall go to the ball," he said with a cheesy smile as he slipped his shoes onto her much smaller feet. He placed a light kiss to the end of her nose.
"With Prince Charming already between my knees, why go to the ball?" she said pulling on the rim of his jogging bottoms to bring him back to her so she could kiss him properly.
"A matter we shall address after we've cleared up the glass," Gwen sighed and deliberately pushed slid herself down from the counter between it and Arthur at a slow rate, "Stop it," he commanded, reaching past her left leg to open the cupboard under the sink to grab the dustpan and brush. A piece of glass crunched beneath her feet as she moved, "Try not to trek it everywhere."
"Yes Dad."
"I would hope you don't act like this with your father."
"We're a very/i close ifamily."
"That I didn't need to know," he replied crouching to scoop up the broken glass. Gwen hopped over the pile and headed to the oven on the other side of the kitchen. The turkey was cooking slowly. It was so big that they'd be eating turkey for dinner for weeks. Cut up into curry, sandwiches for lunchtimes and every roast dinner between then and Arthur's birthday at the end of January. At least they wouldn't starve.
Gwen wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and turned her attention back to the vegetables. They needed peeling and cutting ready for boiling at midday.
Arthur tipped the broken glass into a carrier bag, tied it and put it by the bin. "Come here," he beckoned; Gwen obliged leaving her chopping knife on the side. Arthur reached out rubbing her cheek with the pad of his thumb, "What have you been using flour for?"
"Bread sauce."
"Do you even like bread sauce?"
"No. You?"
"No," he laughed.
"Good. It didn't work anyway."
The day passed with not so much as a snow flake falling from the sky; "So much for a White Christmas," Arthur grumbled as he looked out of the window. The news report the night before had told people to be prepared for pandemonium as the city fell into panic about snow on the lines and the roads. It had all been a load of over hyped twaddle; apparently.
"Maybe if you stopped watching the clouds it would come," Gwen said from beneath the fleece blanket. She curled up against the arm of the sofa with a large glass of wine and one of the boxes of chocolates Arthur had been laden with from company suck-ups.
"Every kid in England is going to be looking outside for snow."
"Yet none of them are as impatient as you."/i
Standing in the warmth of the conservatory, Gwen looked out at the garden as it quickly became blanketed in the white flakes at were hurling themselves from the clouds above like a skydiver without a parachute. It was quiet in the house, the kids were already fast asleep in the spare room and their parents were in the living room not likely to wake them. For that Gwen was grateful.
"I wondered where you were," she looked over her shoulder at the door.
"Hey Dad. Just watched the snow, it's a bit calming."
"What do you need to calm down from?"
"House full of Elyan's family; Gwaine and Arthur playing Battleships at full volume; Merlin getting overly excited about Doctor Who."
"And you? What's going on in that head of yours?"
"Everything and nothing at the same time."
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."
"Merry Christmas, Dad," she kissed him lightly on the cheek. He left her to her thoughts. She wondered what it would be like to be her brother; married with two young children that spent all day everyday talking non-stop. They really were small Elyan'sElyans. She wondered what it was like to be promised to one person and one person alone for the rest of your life.
She fumbled with the pendant around her neck and smiled. Maybe she already was.
"It's snowing."
"You get your White Christmas," she replied without looking at him. The grass was coated in layers of snow now, by morning it would be thick enough to make a decently sized snowman without using up all the snow at once.
"Perfect day."
"Really?"
"Really," he smiled and point above their heads. Gwen laughed and shook her head at him and his corniness. The white berries seemed to glow in the darkness that Gwen stood in; "I didn't put it there," he said stooping and kissing her lightly on the lips.
"Lucky I was stood under it, really."
"Had I been moments earlier I'd have had to kiss your Dad. That would have been embarrassing," Gwen laughed and leant back against his chest. He snaked his arms around her keeping her close, "The next year is going to change everything, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"That's kinda fucking scary."
"Yeah."
"Ready to go home?" he asked as he nuzzled against her neck, dropping small kisses to the bear bare skin. He felt her hummed reply reverberate down her throat and kissed her pulsed point once more, "We can play in the snow in Hyde Park tomorrow," he promised.
"I'd like that."
iTearing through Hyde Park at what feels like a hundred miles per hour, two parents chase after their son. He's giggling as his feet leave a trail in the white from where he came. Before him the undisturbed blanket is a canvas ready for his mark to be made.
He tripsped over his own fast moving feet and landsed gloved hands first in the snow. He doesn't cry like they expect the toddler to, he just laughs and flails his arms around in the cold making a wonky snow angel at no prompt from his parents. His light brown curls escape from under his hat, some now so wet that they stick to his coffee coloured forehead.
"Careful Llac," his mother warns, picking him up from the floor to make sure that he is okay, "Can't be having you taking after your father," she says swinging him about her hip. A thud on her back makes me stumble forwards a step but she righted herself easily.
"Oi," her partner shouts at her. She smiles sweetly and lowers the boy to the floorground. He runs towards his father and bundles himself into his shin. He rightsed his son's hat on his head and brushes off the snow from his shoulders only to have the boy deliberately fall backwards into the snow with a shrill laugh, "That was your fault."
"Snow angels are fun," she reasonsed with her hands in her pockets.
"Not as fun as snowmen," he repliesd as he crouchesd and begians to gather the snow into a ball. Llachau rollsed onto his stomach and started to help bring snow into a pile. He was a quiet child, quite capable of speak but choosing to communicate in laughter and smiles. His pre-school supervisor told them he was shy. That once he started to make friends they'd never be able to make him shut up. They knew she was right. Once he was alone in his room playing with his toys they would hear him chatter away on end making up wild stories.
Their love of literature and make-believe had certainly won through.
Half an hour later and with his father's borrowed scarf and his mother's hat; his first snowman stood proudly before them. Out of her pocket his mother pullsed her camera and took a picture of it. She set the camera up on a bench near by and set the timer ready to take. She ran back across the snow and cuddled into her partner's side. Theirside, their son standing between them with his eyes scrunched shut and the cheesiest grin on his face.
The flash goeswent off. There they stanood, their weird family in the snow of Hyde Park, spending their Christmas with each other. Once the moon hit the sky and the day turned to night they'd return to their home, the three of them together tucked beneath a fleecy blanket with the red and silver tinsel decorating themselves rather than the tree.
In one hand she holds a small white book with a small silver trim, in the other she holds the photograph they printed out. In the back of the book there're small tabs for photos such as it to be placed and she slips it in. Next to it in silver pen she's already written the caption, 'Family Christmas #3'. In the arms of the man she loves she flips back to the front of the book, one they started to fill out four years ago to the day when she gifted it to them both. Now it was full of the important dates and 'first time's; full of photos and memories that they shared as their family.
One small family together at the time of year when love is all you need.
* NOTE: ./product/18ct-gold-0-50ct-diamond-pendant-12141511