This was written for the Author 2 Author Delena Holiday Exchange on LiveJournal for a prompt written by morvamp. I hope you enjoy it.
The prompt was as follows:
When a letter addressed to Santa accidentally arrives in Elena's apartment mailbox, she can't resist the temptation to read it. When she realizes it's from the young boy next door with a recently (a year or so ago) widowed father, she has even more reason to respect their privacy and stop. However, she's never been great with boundaries so she continues on. And yeah, maybe her interest has something to do with the impeccably attractive father of said boy with the devastatingly sad eyes, but that's beside the point.
When she gets to the line: 'All I want this year is for daddy to be happy again' she doesn't stop herself, the way she has in the past, from knocking on their door.
I hope you enjoy this one.
It was cold. It was icy. It was absolutely everything I hated about winter. It was times like these that I wished I lived in the South where snow was either very rare or non existent. I was bundled up in a sweater, a winter parka, mittens, a toque and knee high boots. The knee high boots were more of a fashion statement than anything else, also a very bad choice for weather like this. I had slipped three times between my office and my apartment building but catching a cab this close to Christmas was next to impossible. I would have still been standing outside the office. It was only an eight block walk, it was manageable in the cold weather. All I knew was when I finally got to my apartment I needed a hot cup of coffee and my fluffiest pyjamas. I was not leaving the house again until after Christmas. Christmas in New York City was a gong show and I had no intention of being a part of that. All my gifts were already bought and mailed. My family back in Virginia always got their gifts insanely early since the mail system was iffy in December.
"Good afternoon Miss Gilbert. Enjoying the chilly weather?" The door man asked when I got to the apartment complex.
"Not even a little bit. I think I am moving to Florida the first chance I get." I told him and he chuckled as I unlocked my mail box and pulled out the small pile of letters and bills. He honestly thought I was joking. I'm dead serious. But then again I enjoy every other season in New York so moving was a bad idea. Maybe I would just take the whole winter off work so I could stay home the entire time. It was an option that would require me being rich so I could afford to take a couple months off every year.
"It's a magical time of year Miss Gilbert. You should enjoy it more." He scoffed and I shook my head stomping the snow off my boots on the mat at the door.
"No thank you. There is a cup of coffee with Baileys in it, a warm bath, fuzzy pyjamas and my fireplace waiting for me upstairs. I'll talk to you next time I come out." I told him and he smiled at me. George was the best doorman my apartment complex had. He was kind and he made sure to visit with me every time I venture out of my apartment. Which was mostly only for work and other essential treks.
"Noah slow down! Do you want to get hit by a car?" I heard a voice yell from outside the door. I looked over my shoulder and my neighbour Damon had his arm wrapped around his son Noah's arm who looked contrite. Damon looked panicked and I could imagine why. It was no secret that a year ago almost to the day Damon's wife Rose was killed in a car accident. The man looked broken every single time I saw him. That didn't stop me from noticing how handsome he was. But he was a widower in grief and I couldn't make a move on that. It was wrong. I usually had no boundaries really, but when it came to something like that I did.
"I'm sorry daddy." Little Noah said as George opened the door for them and they walked in. They walked past me without saying anything and went to the elevator.
"Poor man." George murmured when they were gone.
"I can't imagine losing someone like that. And I can't imagine being so afraid of something happening to someone else that it sends you into a panic like that." I responded and he nodded.
"It's sad for sure. That little boy is going to grow up without a mother now because of some driver who wasn't paying attention to the walk signals." George spoke softly and I smiled softly at him.
"It's sad but at least Noah isn't an orphan. He still has a dad who loves him very much." I said hoping that would cheer my favourite old man up.
"It's true. I just wish they would start living again. They're only existing as if they're waiting to go too." George whispered and I patted him on the back and kissed his cheek.
"I know, but I better go. Like I said lots to do upstairs." I told him and he smiled at me.
"Alright, you have a wonderful Christmas Elena." He told me cheerfully.
"Thanks. You too." I said before walking to the elevator and waited for it to come back down.
When I finally got to the tenth floor I slowly walked down the hallway to apartment 1001. Directly across the hall was apartment 1002 which belonged to Damon and Noah. I had never went over there and I never planned on doing so. It would be so weird. I wasn't one of those girls who felt the need to get to know her neighbours. I only lived here. Once I unlocked all the locks on my door I walked inside and relocked them. This was New York after-all, a single girl living alone couldn't be too careful. It's part of the reason I chose an apartment on the tenth floor. No one could scale the building to break in unless they were Spiderman. I dropped the mail in the dish beside the door along with my keys and hung my purse up. I took all of my winter clothes off and hung them up where they're supposed to go before gathering up the mail again. I sorted through it the way that I always did; bills in one pile anything else in a different one. When that was done I took a quick shower and came back out to actually go through the mail. I could feel my fingers and toes now so that was an added bonus. The bills were the same as they usually were, except this time there was a card in my power bill thanking me for being such a good customer. I laughed and tossed it into the bin. I didn't need a card from the power company, it's not like I had a choice in the matter. I needed electricity. Predictably there was a card from my mom and step-dad, one from my brother and his wife. My best friend sent me a card with the promise that my gift was on it's way but would be late. That was so Caroline to send the card and not the gift. She claims she forgot and she probably did. But it happens every single year so "I forgot" kind of loses its validity as an excuse. The final envelope in the pile is different from everything else. The name on the outside says it's addressed to Santa Claus and I'm not too sure how it ended up in my mail box. I tried to tell myself not to read it but somehow I found my fingers tearing at the seal in the envelope. The tri-folded letter was written with a child's messy scrawl but it was legible at least. I poured myself a glass of wine and settled into one of my bar stools to read the letter.
Dear Santa, my name is Noah Salvatore I am seven years old.
I stopped reading for a moment when I found out it was Noah from across the hall who wrote this. I didn't want to invade his privacy but something compelled me to keep reading. I needed to know what a little boy who had lost so much wanted.
I know you get a lot of letters like this every year but I hope you'll read mine. I don't need much, I don't have much to ask for. Most little boys want superheroes or hot wheels cars. They want the new video games or the newest toys. My friends all want iPod's for Christmas. What I want is something you can't buy in a store. What I want most in the world is for my mom to come back but I know that's impossible. It's okay that it's impossible because I know she's watching me from heaven. My dad tells me that every night before I go to sleep. This year for Christmas if you could do one thing for me please Santa. All I want for Christmas this year is for my daddy to smile again. I just want my dad to be happy again. I want us to have fun again this Christmas.
Thank you Santa.
Love Noah Salvatore age seven.
I had tears in my eyes when I finished the heartfelt letter written by the seven year old across the hall. All he wanted was for his dad to be happy again. The boy would be so disappointed when his wish didn't come true. His letter ended up in my mail box and some would say that it was fate. That it meant that I had to make sure that little boy and his father had a good Christmas. But I wasn't that person. Grabbing my keys I left my apartment needing to ask George what I should do about it. It would be wrong to just ignore this. Noah deserved to have a good Christmas but I didn't know how to do it. I had never been that person who goes out of her way to help people. It's not who I am.
"Miss Gilbert, didn't think I'd see you again tonight." George said when I stepped off the elevator in my flannel pyjamas.
"So this ended up in my mail box. What do I do about it?" I asked him thrusting the letter at him. I watched as his expression changed and his eyes actually grew misty.
"You help Noah." He told me.
"How am I supposed to do that?" I asked him frustrated.
"I have it on good authority from the little man himself that they're not doing anything this Christmas. It's too close to Rose's death for them to celebrate. Maybe you should buy yourself a turkey and all the fixings and invite them over." He suggests. When he said that I realized that's exactly what I wanted to do. It had nothing to do with the insane attraction I felt for Noah's dad, it had everything to do with the little boy who wanted a good Christmas this year.
"You're right." I said kissing his cheek once again and rushing back to my apartment I got dressed again quickly and put all my winter clothes back on and ran out again.
I had promised myself I wasn't going to leave this apartment until after Christmas and here I was going out to buy a turkey on Christmas Eve. I was clearly losing my mind. But I couldn't stand the idea of a little boy suffering through Christmas. When I got to the store there were only a few turkeys left and a bunch of people heading in their direction. I ran through them to grab the first one my hands touched then went to get a cart. I wandered the aisles to get all the things you need for an excellent Christmas dinner. I just hoped they would agree to come over or else it would be a waste of a lot of good food. As I was wandering I found a couple small gifts that I figured Noah would like. I didn't want to go all out and be deemed some sort of creepy stalker woman but I wanted the kid to be happy.
When I got home I dropped all of my bags off inside my apartment and for the first time since I moved in I knocked on the door across the hall.
"Just a minute." Damon's voice called from inside. I stood patiently waiting for him to open the doors. I was always shocked at how sad his eyes always were whenever I saw him. He opened the door a couple minutes later with Noah standing right beside him. Noah smiled at me but Damon's expression didn't really change.
"So I know this is weird and all but I was wondering what your plans are for Christmas?" I asked them deciding to just go with it.
"We're not doing anything." Noah piped up and Damon frowned.
"Noah, no." He said and I smiled.
"Nothing at all?" I asked Noah this time.
"Nope, we don't even have a turkey." Noah told me and I smiled.
"Well that's perfect then. I just went out and bought a turkey because it's Christmas and all that. But I'm the only one there and I don't know anyone in New York really. So I was wondering if the two of you would like to join me for Christmas dinner?" I asked them.
"Can we dad? Please. Please?!" He asked getting to a near shrieking tone in his excitement.
"Go inside Noah, please." Damon said as he stared at me suspiciously. Noah pouted for a minute but did as his dad said.
"Why?" Damon asked me and I smiled softly.
"Do you want the real answer or the perfectly constructed one I gave your son?" I asked him,
"The real answer. Everyone knows why we're not celebrating this year." He said to me and I nodded.
"When I got my mail today somehow the letter your son wrote to Santa ended up in there. Among other things he asked for a real Christmas dinner with all the fixings. I can give him that." I told him.
"What else did Noah ask for? He wouldn't let me read it." Damon asked. I was glad he wasn't mad at me for reading it. I felt guilty about reading it because in a way it was an invasion of his privacy.
"He wants you to be happy again. All he wants is for you to smile again." I told him and he nodded.
"So you think that him having this dinner tomorrow night will make him happy?" Damon asked me.
"Only because he asked for it. If you don't want to come, it's fine. It's just I bought all that food and I found a couple toys that he mentioned in his list. No little boy should be miserable at Christmas time." I insisted and he finally nodded his head.
"Alright, we'll come. What time should we come over?" He asked.
"How does 6 sound?" I asked him.
"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow..." He trailed off when he realized he didn't know my name.
"Elena." I told him.
"I'll see you tomorrow Elena." He said before stepping back into his apartment. I walked back over to mine and smiled when I got inside.
The next morning I immediately got to work on the food for dinner. I put the turkey in and started making everything else. I had never actually cooked a turkey before but the tutorials online were supremely helpful. While everything was cooking I cleaned up my living room and brought out a bunch of board games thinking Noah may want to play them. I carefully wrapped the couple presents I got for the boy and set them under the tree. At quarter to six I went to get ready. I had no idea what to wear to this so I slipped into a black skirt with a white shirt. I pulled my hair back but left my makeup the way that it was. I didn't look like I was trying too hard which was what I was aiming for. To top it all off I slipped my feet into my soft slipper boots. At six on the dot there was a knock on my door and I rushed over to answer it.
"Hi, come on in." I invited the two of them in. Noah looked excited, he was bouncing from foot to foot. Damon carried a bottle of wine and he had an almost smile on his face.
"Here I brought you this." He said handing me the bottle.
"Thank you. I love wine. Do you drink it?" I asked him.
"I'll have a glass every once in a while." He allowed.
"Would you like a glass?" I asked him and he gave me a brief smile.
"I would like that." He said and I went to grab a couple wine glasses for us.
"What would you like to drink Noah?" I asked him.
"Do you have root beer?" He asked me.
"I always have root beer. It's my favourite." I told him and grabbed a can from the fridge. Damon took it and opened it up for him. "Does he want a glass, or is it fine from the can?" I asked.
"Glass would be better. He tends to spill." Damon decided and he grabbed a tall glass from the cupboard.
"I brought you a present." Noah said thrusting the gift into my hands.
"Thank you. Can you just put it under the tree for me?" I asked him and he grinned and ran over to the tree and set it down carefully. I handed Damon his wine and checked the turkey quickly.
"Your house is the same as ours." Noah commented as he wandered around the living space.
"Is it?" I asked as I basted the turkey for the final time.
When dinner was finally ready we all sat down and Damon helped Noah with his plate.
"Thank you for having us over tonight. It's good to get out." Damon thanked me as he took a sip of his wine.
"You're welcome. It's nice not being alone tonight." I agreed with him and he nodded. Noah was right in his element and was grinning constantly. I had succeeded in making him happy, so mission accomplished. I found myself wanting to be around him more often. He was such an amazing little boy.
"You're a good cook." Noah enthused as he demolished his dinner.
"Thank you." I said smiling at him.
"So what are we doing after dinner?" He asked me and I smiled. I was smiling a lot tonight. This little boy made me smile. It made me sad to think of what he's lost in such a short time.
"I was thinking the three of us would play board games and open gifts." I suggested and Noah frowned adorably.
"What's wrong?" Damon asked him.
"I don't have any presents this year because I didn't ask for anything. Santa already gave me what I want." He said softly and I caught Damon's eye.
"Well I bought you a couple presents. I found a couple things while I was shopping that you might like." I told him and he brightened up instantly.
"I bought you presents too Noah. They're just hiding still." Damon added on.
"This is the best Christmas ever." He cheered while Damon and I laughed.
"But I think before we play games and open presents we should help Elena clean up her kitchen. It's not nice of us to leave her to clean it up all by herself." Damon suggested and I tried to brush him off. He was stubborn though and only a few minutes later the three of us were cleaning. I hadn't had anyone in my kitchen, or really even in my apartment since I moved here. This felt nice. Noah talked about his past Christmas's while we worked, he said a lot about his mom and I watched as Damon's eyes grew sad again.
"It's hard isn't it?" I asked him knowingly. I'd seen my fair share of tragedy in my life, nothing nearly as bad as what he's going through but still bad enough.
"Every time he mentions her I go to this place where I panic because he's never going to hear her voice again, he's never going to have her tuck him in. Eventually he'll forget her and I don't know what I'll do when that happens." He confessed and I felt for him.
"It's okay for him to move on. It's okay for you to move on too." I told him and he nodded.
"I'm not ready yet." He said and I nodded. I could understand that too.
Between the three of us it didn't take long to clean up my kitchen. When we were finished we were all sitting on
my couch while Noah perused the games I had chosen.
"Monopoly." He cheered and I grinned. I had been hoping he would pick that one.
"Maybe you should open your presents first then since Monopoly can take a really long time." I suggested and Noah got excited once again. The boy was a breath of fresh air. I loved being around him. I grabbed the presents I had bought for him and handed them over. Damon was relaxed into the plush cushions on my couch and I hadn't ever seen him so relaxed. I sat down a safe distance from him, because being here with him tonight did nothing to extinguish how badly I wanted him.
"Cool! A transformer! Dad look!" Noah cheered when he unwrapped the transformer that I had found him. I was glad he liked it.
"Well would you look at that. That's pretty cool." Damon said smiling at me. I could tell how relieved he was that Noah was having a good time tonight.
"Your presents for me aren't going to be as good as this one dad."Noah stated matter of fact. Damon laughed and Noah picked up his other gift. When he opened that one up he found a stuffed Olaf toy and he somehow smiled even wider.
"I am going to cuddle this every single night before I go to sleep." He informed us and I tried to fight back the full blown grin that was fighting out.
"Well that's good. I'm glad you like them. So are you ready to play monopoly?" I asked him and he cheered and sat down on the floor. Damon and I joined him and I took my usual job up as banker. Neither of them argued with me and I was glad. I was always the banker, mainly because I didn't trust anyone not to cheat.
We played for almost two hours before Noah passed out at the board.
"I saw that one coming." He said picking Noah up and laying him on the couch.
"Does this mean you're leaving?" I asked him.
"We should finish the game. Noah will ask me in the morning who won." He explained and I was relieved. I got up and poured us each another glass of wine. The mood had changed drastically the moment the child fell asleep. The childlike carefree part of the evening went away and now there was something heavier in the air.
"So thank you for tonight. So much. Noah needed it but I didn't realize how badly I needed it too." Damon admitted to me and I was happy that he enjoyed himself.
"I'm happy you came. It was good for me as well." I told him and he nodded.
"You're different than I thought. I noticed you a few times coming and going." He told me and I was shocked he even noticed me.
"You noticed me? Wow, I thought I was the only one of us who knew the other existed." I said shaking my head.
"It's impossible to not know you exist Elena. You're beautiful and now I know that there is more to you than just that." He said and I felt my heart flutter in my chest.
"Noah is an amazing child." I said as I took my turn. I rolled a six and took my move handing over the money I owed him for landing on his square.
"He is. He's been so amazing the past year. I know he misses Rose but he doesn't let it run his entire life like I do. He's so resilient. I want to be better for him but I'm having a hard time bouncing back from this." He whispered. He glanced over his shoulder at the little boy so he could brush his hair off of his head and I saw how much he loved him.
"I lost my dad when I was Noah's age. He was my best friend and eventually I recovered. It took my mom longer though. She finally remarried about five years ago." I confessed.
"I'm sorry." He apologized and I shook my head. The lights were low and I had candles burning. It was suddenly very intimate in here and I knew I had to end this before I got too invested.
"Do you think Noah would notice if we just lied and said you won? You're going to win anyway and I'm getting really tired. It's been a long day." I asked him.
"No I suppose he wouldn't. Thanks for having us over." He said standing up and stretching.
"It was great. The best evening I've had in a long time." I told him as he picked up Noah and I led him to the door. When he walked out the door I shut it behind him and leaned against it taking a deep breath. I stood there for a couple of minutes before there was a knock on the door. I looked through the peep hole and saw Damon without Noah in his arms.
"Hey. Forget something?" I asked him. He didn't respond he just leaned in and kissed me. The kiss was soft at first but it quickly grew in intensity. It didn't matter that he hadn't kissed anyone in around a year because he was still very talented at it. My hands were on his chest and his were holding my face in place. I let out an embarrassing moan but he never stopped. My hands went into his dark hair and raked my fingers through it. Every inch of his body was pressed against mine and I wanted more. This was the single best kiss I've ever received and I wanted to keep doing it. His tongue was in my mouth pressing intimately against mine. He really knew how to use the it. When we finally broke apart I was weak in the knees.
"Wow." I whispered unable to catch my breath.
"You want to know what I want for Christmas? There is still time for you to make my Christmas wish come true." He asked
me.
"What?" I replied still fighting to catch my breath.
"I want to take you out. Just you and me. I'll find someone for Noah. I want to see more of you." He told me and I nodded.
"I would like that." I said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One Year Later
It had been a whirlwind year but everything had turned out beautifully. The three of us were sitting around our Christmas tree ready to open gifts. Damon and I had been a couple since our first kiss in the doorway of my apartment. Noah had been pleased to find out about it which was funny considering how much Damon worried about telling him. Noah was so excited to find out we were together which made it easy for us. Six weeks ago Damon and Noah had asked me to move in with them. I said yes. Apartment 1001 across the hall sat empty now and I hoped it would for a long time.
"Dad this one is for you." Noah called out handing Damon a gift. Damon was sitting right beside me on the couch with his arm around my shoulder. He had been different tonight. There was a calmness to him that I hadn't experienced before. Noah had been more excited than usual too. I figure it was because of Christmas but I wasn't too sure. Damon unwrapped his gift which I knew was from Noah since I helped him pick it out.
"Wow, thanks buddy." He said opening up the picture frame with a picture of Damon, Noah and I skating at the Rockefeller centre a couple weeks ago. Damon stood up and went over to the mantle where the picture of Rose still stood. He picked up the picture and replaced it with the picture of the two of us.
"Mom this one is for you." Noah said and I jumped at what he called me. It seemed it surprised him too because he covered his mouth. Damon looked shocked but he appeared to be overjoyed.
"Noah." Damon choked out.
"I'm sorry." Noah apologized profusely.
"Don't apologize. If you want me to be your mom, I'll be your mom. I love you Noah." I said to him and he smiled.
"This is the best Christmas ever." Noah squealed as he ran back over to the tree. After he handed out a few more presents he went back to the tree and looked underneath.
"There's one more under there Noah." Damon told him so the little boy got down on his hands and knees to search. We both heard a little "aha" when he found what he was looking for.
"It's for you." He said happily. He handed the small wrapped present to me and went over to his sizable pile of toys.
"You guys are spoiling me today. Noah there is one more under there too. It's for your dad from me." I told him and Noah ran back to the tree. He looked under it once more and nestled inside the branches was the gift I had hidden there earlier today.
"You open yours first." Damon told me and I smiled. I was sure whatever it was I would love it. Noah sat down on the coffee table and waited for us to open our gifts. When I pulled the paper and the ribbon off of my gift there was a velvet box sitting in my hand. I choked back a sob as I watched Damon slide off of the couch until he was kneeling in front of me.
"Elena Marie Gilbert you saved my life and Noah's. You have been there for us when we didn't have anyone else. You made my sons dreams come true and you have no idea what that means to us. So now we're here asking you if you'll be a part of our family forever. Elena Marie Gilbert will you marry me?" He asked me and I broke down.
"Do you want to really be my mom?" Noah asked me as if I was capable of responding right now.
"Yes." I finally answered. Damon beamed at me and opened the box to slide the ring on my finger.
"I picked it. I told daddy that I thought that's the one you would like." Noah informed me and I kissed the top of his head before kissing Damon with everything I had.
"Now just so you know whatever is in this box is never going to trump what you just gave me." Damon warned me and I tried to pull myself together. Noah looked on excitedly and I took a deep breath. Damon carefully unwrapped the paper and came to a small flat box. When he pulled the lid off he almost dropped what was in the box.
"Elena does this mean...?" He started when he saw the stick in the box.
"Yes." I answered for him.
"What does it mean? What is that thing?" Noah demanded. He hated being left out of the loop.
"It means that you're going to have a little brother or sister." Damon finally told him. Noah froze for a second before he started crying.
"What's wrong? Are you upset?" I asked him worried. I didn't know how I would react if he wanted to be an only child.
"I'm the luckiest boy alive. Santa has made all of my dreams came true. He brought us you and he's bringing me a little brother or sister." He cried.
"Maybe you should write a thank you letter to Santa." Damon suggested and he nodded and grabbed a piece of paper from the desk.
Dear Santa,
Thank you for giving everything I asked for. Thank you for giving me my family back.
Love, Noah Salvatore, age 8.