Written for a WWE Secret Santa on Tumblr.
Brie stands back with her daughter, Chloe, as they watch Roman setting the tree in the stand in front of the window. She still can't believe how well the day has gone so far. It's the first time that Roman's met Chloe and Brie couldn't have asked for a better way to start.
"How's that?" Roman asks.
"Looks good," Brie answers. "I think it'll have to move a little. But that can wait until we have the light and ornaments on."
Roman nods as he steps back to stand with them. "Chloe, I think you picked a great tree."
Chloe beams up at him. "I think we all did," she says. She turns her attention to Brie at that point. "Do we get to start on the cookies now?"
"Of course," Brie answers. She smiles when Chloe runs to the kitchen. "Honestly, I don't know if she's more excited about making the cookies or making them with you." She looks at Roman.
"With me? She wants to make them with me?"
"Yes. It's all she talked about this morning when we were getting ready and waiting for you to get here."
"Well, I hope I can live up to expectations." He follows Brie into the kitchen where Chloe is gathering everything they need for their cookies. "So what kind of cookies are we making, Chloe?"
"Double chocolate chip and also butter cookies with jam."
"Wow. Sounds good. What kind of jam?"
"Raspberry." She looks at him. "Do you like raspberry?"
"I do."
"Good."
They spend the next hour preparing the cookies. Once they have them in the oven and the kitchen cleaned up, they make their way into the living room to start decorating the tree. Brie can't remember the last time she had someone who could help her with the lights. It would also be the first time they would be able to put the star on top of the tree without having to get a stepladder. Once they get finished with the lights, the three of them begin putting up the ornaments.
"There's no certain way you want them on?" Roman asks.
"No," Brie answers. She smiles at him. "Wherever you want to put them, go for it."
"Okay then."
They're about halfway through the ornaments when the timer goes off. Chloe shrieks and runs into the kitchen. Roman chuckles as he watches the young girl.
"Something tells me she's excited," he says.
"Just slightly. Just have your thumb ready."
He frowns as he follows Brie into the kitchen. "Why do I need to have my thumb ready?"
"Because we have to press our thumbs into the butter cookies," Chloe says with a slight roll of her eyes. "Then we put the jam in."
"Oh. Well, okay then." Roman watches as Chloe starts making prints into the butter cookies as he washes his hands. "So just like that?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm…" He smirks. "I think you may need to help me, Chloe."
"I can do that." She pulls him over to stand beside where she's at on the step stool. "Gimme your hand." She makes a fist with all of his fingers, leaving his thumb out. "And you just push down…" She puts his thumb in the middle of one of the cookies. "…like that. And when we get finished with all of them we go back and put the jam in."
Brie can't help but stand back and watch the two of them. She loves how well they're getting along. It actually amazes her because Chloe has only ever been like this with one other man, Nikki's boyfriend. Chloe usually keeps her distance from the other men around. Brie could never understand why. She never spoke down about her father in front of her; though Chloe hasn't seen the man in nearly three years and that was a short visit. With Roman, however, Chloe's gravitating toward him.
"So how much jam do we put on?" Roman asks. He watches as Chloe puts the jam on the first cookie. "Nicely done."
"And now we wait," Chloe says after they finish. "Well, we finish the tree while we wait."
"Well, lead the way." Roman smiles at Brie when Chloe grabs his hand and pulls him to the living room.
Brie follows them with a soft laugh. "I think I have some competition."
Chloe wrinkles her nose. "Mom," she mutters.
When they have all of the ornaments up, Brie looks at Chloe. "Looks good," she says.
Chloe nods. "It does." She looks at Roman. "Do you like it?"
"I do," Roman answers. "It looks beautiful." He smiles at her. "Do you put anything on the top?"
"Yes. We have a star. I've always wanted to put it on, but I can't reach."
"Well, we'll have to take care of that won't we?" He looks at Brie, smiling when she hands Chloe the star. "All right, you ready?"
Chloe frowns. "For what?"
"You're going to put the star on the tree." He carefully lifts the young girl up toward the top of the tree. When she has the star on, Roman sets her down. "There we go." He smiles down at her.
Brie steps over. "Looks great."
Roman slides his arm around Brie's shoulders and kisses the side of her head. "It does. Thank you for letting me a part of this."
"Thank you for wanting to be a part of this." She smiles up at him.
"Now we each get a cookie," Chloe explains as she pulls Roman back to the kitchen.
"Well, I think I'm okay with that."
Brie sits down at the counter. "Only one, Chloe."
"But Mom…"
"One." Brie raises an eyebrow at her. "You can have another after dinner."
"Fine."
Roman chuckles as he takes a bite of his cookie. "This is really good."
It's nearly nine when Brie finally gets Chloe to bed. Of course she isn't too surprised by that fact. She also knew how tired the young girl was. Once Brie got her into bed, it was only a matter of minutes before Chloe was asleep. Brie then returns to the living room.
Roman smiles at her as she sits down beside him. "That was fun," he says.
Brie looks over at him. "It was. She likes you."
"I like her."
"Yeah?"
He nods. "Yes." He wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. "She's a great kid."
"I think so too."
He kisses the top of her head. "I'm not running, Brie. I'm not like any of the others."
She smiles as she shifts to lean against him. "I know that. You are different from anyone I've ever met before."
"Is that a good thing?"
"Yes." She looks up at him. "I hope she didn't bug you today."
"She didn't. I've always loved kids."
"So you've said." She kisses him. "I think I'm going to go ahead and repeat what Chloe told me before you got here."
"Oh yeah? What'd she say?"
"This isn't going to be the best Christmas ever."
THE END