The Gift of Maggie

by waterlilylf

A Christmas story celebrating the return of Taco, Leo, and Maggie to the story-telling business and a brush with disaster that might threaten Trowa and Quatre's first Christmas together and future happiness. Yaoi. 3 x 4

Note 1: This is set in the Puppy Love universe, about nine months after Quatre and Trowa first meet. If you haven't read that story, all you need to know is that Maggie is Quat's Cairn terrier, Leo is Trowa's, Taco is Dorothy's deranged and highly delusional Chihuahua and Shinnie is Duo and Heero's border collie.

Note 2: Many, many thanks to the amazing Kaeru Shisho, who read over many, many drafts of this one, and to Snow for the title.

A very Happy Christmas to everyone, and best wishes for a wonderful 2012 (which is obviously the best GW-themed year ever!)

The Gift of the Maggie:

(AKA Going Beyond Puppy Love)

'Dios mio,' Taco put his paws over his ears, wailing. 'Make him stop, Magdalena. Por favour. This is killing me.'

'I think it makes him feel better,' Maggie said uncertainly. They were both on the sofa, watching Quatre play his violin. Not happy music, but very, very sad.

'Better?' Taco spat. 'It makes me want to bite off my own ears. Why can't he play a happy song? I liked that one he was singing before; the battle song. Silent Bite, Holy Bite. A good song for a guerrero! It celebrates war and violence!'

'He's not a guerrero! And he doesn't like war. You know that.'

And then the music stopped stopped and the silence was almost worse somehow. Maggie curled up tightly on her cushion, watching him. 'I wish he wasn't sad.'

'He's sad because his amante is evil,' Taco said at once.

'Trowa is not evil,' Maggie retorted. She knew perfectly well why Quatre was sad and of course it had nothing to do with Trowa, who loved him almost as much as she did. 'Don't be stupido. He's sad because of his horrible family.'

'He has nothing to complain about! My mistress's uncle tried to kill me. Now, that is a bad familia. But Senora Dorothea does not mope about; she drinks the vino and then she is happy. Your human needs to drink more.'

'Maybe,' Maggie said doubtfully. Wine did make humans happier, sometimes, but Quatre didn't drink too much of it and she didn't blame him. She'd tasted wine, when Trowa had left a glass on the floor once, and it had been disgusting. 'He doesn't like it very much though. It's a shame he doesn't drink beer at all. Shinnie says it's lovely. That might make him feel happier.'

Taco twitched his tail at her. 'Beer is drink for campesinos only. Hidalgos drink wine.'

'Quatre can drink beer if he wants.' She jumped off the sofa and ran over to sit at her human's feet, whining gently.

'Hey, Princess.' Quatre reached down and settled her on his lap, smiling when she reached up and swiped her tongue across his chin. That was better! Maggie looked up at him adoringly, and then rolled over for him to tickle her, lost in pure bliss. She loved having Leo and Trowa live with them, but sometimes it was nice when it was just her and Quatre, the way it had been at the start.

Then that horrible, high pitched noise started from the kitchen again; the third time since Trowa had gone out that morning.

'Oh no!' Quatre gasped. He tipped Maggie gently on to the floor and ran into the kitchen, with both dogs running after him. He opened the oven door which stopped the awful noise, and then said one of those abrupt, ugly words that he hardly ever used and that Maggie hated. She didn't blame him this time; the kitchen was full of smoke and it smelt dreadfully of burning things.

He said the word again as he took out a tray covered in black things out and again when he touched one of them. He held his finger under the tap for a minute and then sat down on one of the chairs, sad again.

Maggie took a flying leap into his lap and licked his poor hand gently. She loved Quatre with all her heart, but humans were hard work sometimes. What did it matter, really, if he couldn't make things in the oven the way Trowa and Duo could? He could do so many other things and food was nicer raw anyway. It was like he was determined to be sad today and there was nothing she could do to change that.

Taco's ears pricked suddenly. 'Trowa! I hear the car!'

He ran into the sitting room with Maggie a step behind. Trowa would make things better. He would lick Quatre's mouth – the way she wasn't supposed to; so unfair – and everything would be all right again.

They perched on the window seat with Leo and watched Trowa park outside.

'Oh!' Maggie gasped, pressing her nose to the window. 'He's got a tree on the car. A real tree.'

'Idioto,' Taco yipped gleefully. 'Quatre will go loco if he brings that in here.'

'No, he won't,' Maggie said at once, but she wasn't sure if it was true. She didn't really think Quatre would want a tree in their house. He didn't even like her bringing in leaves and twigs from the garden. 'He likes it when Trowa brings him flowers and a tree is just a huge flower, really.'

'He'll be furioso,' Taco gloated. 'Maybe he'll throw him out and the cat, too.'

Leo hissed. 'Maybe he'll finally see sense and throw you out. Into the gutter with the rest of the rats.'

'Oh, please don't fight,' Maggie begged them both. 'It's Christmas. Quatre says it's all about love and peace and being nice to everyone.'

He'd been sad when he said it though; he'd been sad rather a lot lately, just because his stupid, stupido family didn't want to see him or talk to him and it was Christmas. They were the ones who should be sad, in Maggie's opinion, because they weren't getting to see him.

She dashed out into the hall, getting there just before Quatre. She scratched at his legs to be picked up and snuggled against his chest, asking him not to be angry with Trowa, who couldn't help not being as clever as her master because no one else in the world was, except maybe Shinnie.

Quatre and Trowa didn't fight very often, but it was the worst thing when they did; almost as bad as Quatre being angry with her for something.

Trowa was beaming when the door opened, like he'd done something clever. Idioto, just like Taco had said. Surely he could tell that Quatre was stressed out about things anyway? And now he was bringing home this stupid tree and making it all worse.

'Hey, honey.' Trowa gave one of her ears a gentle pull and then licked Quatre's mouth. 'I got your tree.'

'I see that,' Quatre said a little warily. 'Trowa, it's huge.'

Trowa's grin got even bigger. 'That's exactly what every guy wants to hear from his boyfriend. And it's fine. I measured your ceiling before I went out. It'll fit perfectly, and I can trim a couple of inches if you want.'

'I suppose so.' Quatre took a deep breath. 'I'm not sure, actually, Tro. If it's too tall, it'll be out of proportion for the room.'

Trowa just laughed. 'Yeah, and all the guests at your party are going to bring tape measures to check that the proportions are spot on. Chill, Quat. I swear, I spent a full hour looking at every tree the nursery had and this one is the most perfect tree in the whole of Sanque.'

To Maggie's relief, Quatre started to laugh as well. 'I know, I'm being silly. I just want everything to be perfect for Christmas Eve.'

'Right then. Cancel the party and we can spend the whole night in bed,' Trowa said promptly. Then he leaned over to lick Quatre properly on the mouth. 'Our first Christmas together. Of course it's going to be perfect.'

'I love you,' Quatre said softly. 'So much.'

'How about you put Maggie down and show me exactly how much?'

Once on the floor, Maggie joined Taco who was sniffing around the tree. It smelt nice, like the forest Quatre and Trowa took her to sometimes, and she wondered if it minded having to leave all the other trees and come to live in a house. Would it be lonely without its friends?

'It's just a tree, Magdalena,' Taco told her, when she asked him. 'They're only good for one thing.'

He lifted his leg against the trunk.

'No! Bad!' Trowa snapped, leaning down to tap Taco's nose with one finger.

Taco snapped back, and then ran to hide behind Quatre's legs.

'Trowa, don't. He's just a dog. He thinks that's what trees are for.'

'You let him get away with far too much.'

'You know why,' Quatre said softly, picking up Taco and stroking the back of his neck.

Trowa just nodded. 'How about we get the tree set up? You have a couple of hours before your concert rehearsal, right?'

Quatre groaned. 'Don't talk about the concert, please. It's tomorrow and half the choir don't even know the words to some of the carols.'

'Yeah, but they're just little kids. No one's going to care if they're not word perfect.'

'I'll care,' Quatre said grimly. 'But, yes, let's do the tree. That'll be fun!' He stood back to let Trowa carry the tree through the hallway. 'You're right. It is perfect. I'm sorry; I've had a horrible day so far. It's the first time I've organised the concert at school and I 'm scared it's going to be a disaster, and I burnt three batches of gingerbread because I forgot all about them, and there's still so much to do for the party on Saturday and…'

'Relax, honey.' Trowa pulled him close and nuzzled his neck, the way Maggie loved to do. 'Forget your horrible day; it's about to get a lot better. The concert's going to be great; people think it's seriously cute when kids make mistakes and the party's going to be fine.'

'Goodness, I hope so. There's still so much to do!'

'Then we need to prioritise, right? We'll get the place decorated, and then when you get back from your rehearsal we'll have dinner and then I'll drag you upstairs and see about giving you an early Christmas present. How about that?'

'That sounds perfect,' Quatre glowed up at him. 'Thank you.'

'What I'm here for,' Trowa said lightly. 'Listen, I hope you don't mind, but I stopped off at Cathy's on the way home and picked up some of our old decorations as well. She's not bothering to decorate this year; no point when she's going to be on holiday.'

'Of course I don't mind,' Quatre said at once. 'It's a lovely idea.'

'Your human's so good at making mine feel better,' Maggie told Leo admiringly, as they jumped back up on the window seat to watch Trowa fetch a big box from his car.

Leo, who didn't believe in praising human accomplishments, just went on with the serious business of licking one paw.

Maggie gave him a quick lick on the ear. 'I know you love him really. Even if you never say it. And I'm sure he does too.'

She hoped so, anyway. Trowa was so lovely, she sometimes felt a bit sad that Leo didn't show his love a little more. She did try to make up for it, but she had Quatre to love first of all and that was her official job. Shinnie had told her so that very first night she'd been taken away from her mother. He'd said that she was going to a human who was lonely, and felt sad sometimes, and that she would have to love him very much.

And she did, more than anything.

She ran over to him; he was kneeling beside the three boxes that he'd already taken down from the attic and beginning to unpack them.

The things weren't very exciting; candles at first, and then glass and silver ornaments wrapped up in tissue paper that rustled when you touched it.

'Wow.' Trowa came back in and set his box down. 'Seriously, they're your Christmas tree ornaments? They look like they should be in a display cabinet or something, all that silver and crystal.'

'Oh.' Quatre held up a little silver bell. 'My grandmother gave them to me, the first year I lived here. They're from Paris. She wanted me to have something special. Don't you like them?'

'Yeah. They're just…kind of fancy.' He looked at his own box. 'I think my stuff's not really going to go all that well with them. I've just got tinsel and some old things Cathy and I made when we were kids.'

'Trowa, don't be silly! I love tinsel. I actually meant to buy some but I didn't have time. What else have you got? You really have ornaments you made yourself? I love that. Can I see?'

Trowa's box was much more exciting. There was a fat little man in a red coat which made Taco growl, and then some little animals, and then long strands of coloured paper, and then the ball, and Maggie fell instantly in love.

It was shiny and red and it sparkled, and she yearned for it with every atom of her being.

'Oh, sweetie, no,' Quatre took it away just as her nose touched it. 'That's not something to play with. It's to make our tree look pretty.'

Maggie put her nose on her paws, watching Quatre put the lovely, shiny, perfect thing on the tree. It wasn't very high up; she could probably reach it if she jumped. Quatre might be sad again though, and he was happy now, choosing the perfect place to put all the pretty things and passing some of them on to Trowa and exclaiming over them.

They were so lovely together, the two of them. She could practically see how happy they were, licking and touching each other as they moved around the tree, Quatre carefully choosing the best place to put each ornament, and Trowa putting his on the nearest place and then teasing Quatre when he moved them.

'Hey, Mags! D'you like this?' Trowa asked, throwing something soft over her back.

She looked back to see what it was and both men laughed at her.

'It's called tinsel,' Quatre told her, taking it and draping it over the tree. Then he reached into the box and pulled out a long red strand. 'Do you want to put it all on the tree? We could put some around the doors.'

'I know where to put it. Give it to me.' He took the shiny rope and slid it around Quatre's shoulders. 'Now, come here.'

'Oh!' Maggie hopped up and down, watching Trowa tug on the lovely tinsel and pull Quatre into his arms. 'They're going to do that thing Shinnie's humans do, when they tie each other up. I didn't think Quatre knew about that.'

'Maybe Senor Duo told him,' Taco suggested. 'Or my mistress. Humans are stupid creatures, you know. They need to be told everything.'

'My human is not stupid,' Maggie said, but she knew, deep down, that Taco was right. Humans were stupid about some things; it was why they needed pets to teach them what was important. 'But, yes, maybe Duo did tell them. I hope so. I want to see them do all the things Heero and Duo do. Quatre would never be sad, then; he'd be having too much fun.'

And then maybe they could buy some of the lovely toys that Shinnie's humans had, and she was sure Quatre would let her play with them because he believed in sharing and kindness, and he wouldn't shout the way Shinnie said Duo did sometimes when he tried to play too.

Since Quatre and Trowa were busy playing with each other, she slipped a little closer to the tree. It was so pretty. And the red ball, her red ball, was moving a little and shining in the light.

'Maggie,' Leo said warningly. 'Don't. Quatre won't like it.'

'I know.' She took a determined step backwards. 'I'm just looking. They're not paying attention, anyway.'

She gave the ball a last mournful look, imagining it tucked into her basket where she could look at it anytime she wanted, and play with it, and resolutely turned away, looking at the humans instead.

She couldn't actually see much of Quatre, Trowa had backed him against the wall and was pressed over him. She could hear him though; moaning and sighing and murmuring Trowa's name like it was the most precious thing in the universe.

That was all right then; he was happy, at least for the moment. He went on being happy after they'd stopped moving around, letting Trowa just hold him and talking quietly.

'Not such a horrible day any more?' Trowa asked, teasing.

'Definitely not. It's a wonderful day.'

'Good,' Trowa stroked the back of his neck gently. 'So, want to tell me what's really wrong?'

Quatre curled closer to him. 'It's not always the easiest time of the year, that's all. It's silly, really. My parents never even celebrated it with us; they used to go to Switzerland for the skiing and my sisters usually went to stay with friends.'

'What did you do?' Trowa asked quietly.

'My nanny used to put up a tree in the nursery and our cook would make special food. When I was older I used to go to Zechs' family. That was always lovely; I used to pretend they were really my parents.' He sounded so sad that Maggie's heart ached, then he forced himself to sound brighter. 'I'm so glad you're coming to me to the palace this year. It's always so beautiful at Christmas.'

'You know, if someone had told me last year that I'd be spending this Christmas Day at the palace in Sanque with the prince and princess, I'd have laughed in their faces. Or that my best friend would actually be shacked up with the prince. 'Course, I probably wouldn't have believed I'd have fallen head over heels for this cute blond guy either.'

Quatre laughed up at him. 'I seriously hope you're talking about me.'

'No, I meant Zechs…..ow!' He dodged as Quatre jabbed a finger into his ribs, and Taco danced around them barking in excitement at the thought of a fight. 'Of course I meant you, Quat.'

'Huh.' Quatre pretended to sulk, but it was clear he was only joking. 'I certainly hope so.'

'Yeah, just as well, really, since Zechs is taken and Wufei would set his killer dog on me if I …stop trying to hit me, OK? I'm just teasing.'

'Show me,' Quatre challenged, tilting his head.

The licking went on for an interminably long time: Leo wandered off to bat one paw at the lower strands of tinsel; Taco stole a little painted toy off the tree and hid under the sofa with it, and Maggie just watched them and tried not to think about the lovely, sparkly red ball and how much fun she could have with it.

'Believe me now?' Trowa asked finally.

'I might need more proof later, but yes, that will do for now.' Quatre sounded smugly pleased with himself, even though he hadn't actually done very much, and then he sighed happily. 'We're going to have a wonderful holiday. What did you do at Christmas when you were little?'

'It depended. If I was at the circus, it wasn't really a big deal, except there were usually two shows so it was busy. If I was here, my dad would take us up to the mountains and hire a little chalet for a few days and we'd go skiing and snowboarding. It was great.'

'We could do something like that next year, if you liked?' Quatre suggested. 'I just thought it would be nice for us to have our first Christmas together here at home.'

'It's great having Christmas here. Doing all the decorating and cooking and stuff. Decorating you with tinsel was fun.'

Quatre stretched, tugging the shiny tinsel around his neck. 'You'll have to do that again. It was fun. It's so lovely having you here, you know.'

'I know,' Trowa said, radiating smugness.

Quatre huffed at him. 'And you're so modest as well!'

'All part of my unique charm.' Trowa said cheerfully. 'And tonight I'm going to decorate you properly, lots of tinsel, and one of those little silver bells on your cock and maybe some red ribbons and take photos and …'

'Trowa!' Quatre gasped, breathless and shocked and excited all at the same time. 'I – I can't …I really have to go now!'

Trowa didn't move. 'The world won't end if you're a few minutes late, for once in your life.'

'No, but I might spontaneously combust if you keep talking like that!' He gave Trowa a quick lick on the mouth and slipped under his arm. 'I have to go, love. I should be back in about two hours. Are you going to stay here?'

Trowa flopped down on the couch, just looking at him. 'I want to drop into the surgery for a bit. There are a few things I need to do. Want me to start dinner if I get back first?'

'Yes, please. Unless you want to eat charcoal. Can you put everyone in the kitchen when you leave? I don't want Taco anointing our lovely tree. Would you mind calling Duo to check just what he's cooking for tomorrow night, please? And maybe look in the kitchen to make sure that there's everything you need for the things you're going to make? '

Then there was a whole flurry of last minute instructions. Trowa just nodded, the way he did, looking down at the list Quatre had hastily scribbled. 'Yes, dear. Anything you say, dear. Try not to go into warp speed, won't you?'

On his way out the door, Quatre swivelled back to make a face at him. 'Oh, and Tro. I don't see why you should get all the fun of doing the decorating. I have some lovely green ribbons upstairs left over from wrapping presents. I might try wrapping you up later!'

Trowa burst out laughing as Quatre whirled out the front door and then glanced down at the list in his hand.

'Your master,' he told Maggie, 'is nuts. Cute and sexy as hell, but totally nuts. Like, it's not enough to organise a charity concert at his school tomorrow, and a Christmas lunch for all the kids at the youth centre after it, but he has to have a dinner party on Christmas Eve as well.'

Maggie waved her tail, agreeing. She knew perfectly well that Quatre did too much, but she knew that he just wanted to keep busy so he wouldn't think about things, and she knew Trowa knew that too.

Trowa laughed and bent down to her, taking a little box out of his pocket. 'So, I've already asked his grandmother and Duo so I just need your approval now. What do you think? Will he like it?'

It was a little ring, very pretty, with a tiny blue stone like her human's eyes. She was sure Quatre would love it.

'A diamond's more traditional,' Trowa said, taking the ring back and putting it carefully in the box and then putting it on the tree, 'but no way was I going to get him one of those. Obviously. And the aquamarine will be better with his eyes. Well? Do you approve?'

Maggie licked his hand politely, not really understanding what he meant. Of course her human would like it. He'd like anything that Trowa gave him.

'I take it that's a yes. Good to hear. I know we haven't known each other for that long or anything, but let's face it, I was a goner the first time I saw him. And after everything that's happened this year….' His voice trailed off, and Maggie licked his face gently. 'Fine, fine, I was a goner when I saw both of you,' he added. 'OK, time for me to go. Come on, you guys. Kitchen.'

'Bastardo!' Taco growled a few minutes later, hurling himself at the closed door. 'This is not his house; it belongs to Senor Quatre. He has no right to treat us like this. My mistress will challenge him to a duel when she comes home from the North Pole.'

'It's your fault we're in here,' Leo hissed furiously at him. 'Peeing everywhere like a puppy! If it hadn't been for that, Quatre would have let us stay to guard the tree. Now, the Bad Christmas Man might come and steal it, and we're not there to stop him.'

'Oh, no!' Maggie stared at him. Shinnie had told her all about the Bad Christmas Man who sneaked into people's house at night and stole their presents and food and even the coal for the fire. 'What if he comes and steals Quatre's ring? And all the other presents? We have to go into the sitting room and guard them.'

'I will destroy the door!' Taco declared, settling down and starting to chew.

'Get out of the way, rat,' Leo ordered coldly and jumped at the door handle, hooking one paw around it.

Freedom!

The three of them sat quietly and just looked at the tree. Their tree, Maggie thought proudly, because the humans had made it pretty and now she and the others were going to keep it safe.

Her ball was still there, dangling delicately from a branch; still shiny and tempting and …No. That wasn't the way to think. Quatre had put it there; that was how he wanted it to look.

'Tell me about the Bad Man, Leo,' she said. She'd heard the story a dozen times, but it would be a distraction.

'He comes at night,' Leo's voice dropped slightly, making her shiver. 'When all the humans are asleep. He uses his magic to get down the chimney and come into the house. Then he steals the humans' food; their cookies and nice treats and even the milk. That's why he is the sworn enemy of all gatos. Cats!'

'I hope he tries to come in here!' Taco said excitedly. 'I will kill him! I will drink his warm sangre and bathe in it! He will rue the day he came to the casa of Don Taco Burrito Quesadilla del Enchillada y Catalonia.'

'Me too!' Maggie said at once. Her human didn't like that sort of talk, but if the man was evil then surely it was all right. 'I'll bite him too and save the presents!'

'And I will shred his beard to pieces,' Leo said happily, flexing his claws. 'Just let him try to come in here and steal our things!'

'Just let him try, yes!' Maggie echoed, jumping up. No one, no bad man, was going to get near their tree when it was so pretty and perfect with all the lovely ornaments and tinsel tangling from the branches. One piece was low enough that she could put up her nose and sniff it, and let it tickle her.

'Maggie. Leave it.'

'I'm just looking, Leo.' She stretched up one paw, just to see how it felt. So soft and sparkly!

'Quatre won't like it if you mess his tree up.' That was Taco.

'I'm not messing it up! I'm just smelling it.' Would it taste like it looked; all glittery? Surely, one quick lick wouldn't do any harm. It tickled her tongue; oddly insubstantial when she tried to bite it, and then she closed her teeth around it, just for a second.

'Maggie, stop doing that!' Taco ran round around the other side of the tree and grasped the other dangling end of tinsel with his teeth and pulled. What a wonderful game! Maggie bit down hard and backed away slowly, admiring the tinsel as it slithered over the branch.

'Oh, no! I didn't mean to!' she gasped as it slid slowly off the branch and on top of her. 'Leo, can you put it back?'

'I knew that would happen,' Leo grumbled, 'Yes, fine, I'll put it back but you can't touch anything else. All right?'

'All right. I promise.' She watched the cat use one paw to toss the tinsel over his back and then jump up on the tree.

'Is it nice up there? What can you see?'

'Everything.' Leo crouched on his branch, and then scratched the bark with his claws. 'Aaaaah. So good.'

'You're not to do that!' Taco shouted. 'You're not to wreck Senor Quatre's tree with your filthy nails. Stop it! Alto!'

Leo spat at him. 'I'll do what I want in my own tree.'

'You won't! I'll bite your tail! I'll bite it off!' He jumped up, growling at Leo's tail which was admittedly dangling in the most tempting way. He couldn't jump nearly high enough to reach it, but Leo hissed anyway, and jumped for a higher branch.

And the tree swayed, once or twice, and then crashed down, with everyone leaping out of the way.

'Stupid gato!' Taco swore. 'Look what you did!'

'It was your fault!' Leo arched his back, fur standing on end. 'You ruin everything, you undersized rat.'

'You dare to insult me! I, Taco Burrito Quesadilla del Enchillada y Catalonia! How dare you? I am a caballero! I have saved Senor Quatre's life innumerable times and vanquished his sworn enemies! I have slain three vets and stopped their evil tortures! I'll bite your whiskers for the dishonour! What have you ever done, you flea-bitten alley cat, to dare to insult me?'

'Stop it!' Maggie yelped. 'Please. We killed the tree. We're going to be in so much trouble and Quatre will be so sad and he wants it all to be perfect.'

'Maybe he won't notice,' Leo suggested. 'Or he might think it's better this way.'

'It is, actually.' Taco casually lifted one leg against the nearest branch. 'Now, we can play with the toys. If we're in trouble anyway, we can't get into more trouble. Maggie, you can have the red ball if you want.'

'I don't want it any more,' Maggie said wretchedly. It wasn't really true, but it didn't look quite so shiny any more, thinking of how very sad Quatre would be to see his lovely tree ruined. 'Oh! The ring! Where is it? Is it gone?'

She found it hidden under a soft coil of silver tinsel. The little box had fallen open and the ring was on the floor. Not broken or anything, luckily. 'It's so pretty, isn't it? I'm sure Quatre will love it.'

'You know what it's for, don't you?' Leo sat beside her, licking one paw.

'It's a present. I know all about them. You get presents when someone loves you. Quatre gives me things all the time.'

'It's a ring.'

'I know.' Her tongue licked over the blue stone. 'Quatre has one already, but he keeps it in the place under his bed with the special violin. It used to be his grandfather's. Do you think he'll wear this one?'

'Maggie, it's an engagement ring. Humans give them to people they want to marry.'

'What?' Maggie abruptly left the ring and whined softly. 'No. No. Trowa can't marry him. He can't.'

Leo stared at her; even Taco stopped tearing one of the little stuffed deer to pieces and came over.

'But you like Trowa,' the cat said, sounding confused.

'I love Trowa. He's my favourite human after Quatre and Uncle Duo. Duo,' she added quickly. She was grown up now. She could call people by their names. 'But Quatre's going to marry Duo so they can have puppies. Babies, I mean. Little humans. He can't marry Trowa because Trowa can't breed. His hair is too short.'

'Lucky for him. He'd just have little vets,' Taco snarled softly. 'Monsters. Monstruos'

'They'd be lovely,' Maggie snapped at him. 'But he can't, so Duo has to do it and they'll have adorable puppies. Like little baby Shinnies but they'll grow up to be like Quatre. I have it all planned.'

'I know you like Duo,' Leo said, 'but Quatre loves my human. Don't you want them to be together always? Trowa would be sad if he didn't have Quatre.'

'Yes, but, they would be together. Just with babies to love them too. And it wouldn't even take long! Shinnie says his humans can do it really fast sometimes. Trowa wouldn't mind that, surely? He lets my human do anything he wants.'

'Don't worry, Magdalena, querida. I have a muy perfecto plan! If Trowa has a problem with your plan, I'll kill him for you. I've killed seven humans already. And lots of vets! It's easy. Then Quatre can be with Duo.'

'You can't kill humans just by biting them,' Leo said loftily. 'Don't you know that, you ignorant little rat?'

'You can! They just come back to life as zombies. Or vampires. Then you can kill them again,' he said happily.

'I don't want Trowa to be dead or a zombie!' Maggie shouted. 'I just need Duo and Quatre to get married so they can mate once. They can only have puppies if they get married first. Duo does the mating thing all the time, and he loves Quatre. I'm sure he won't mind. Quatre wants babies and he can't breed with Trowa.'

It had all seemed so simple in her head; the plan she'd worked out when she was only a very young puppy. She knew that Quatre loved Duo; he'd told her so. And Duo was her First Human; the one who'd taken her away from her mother when she was a baby and she'd lived with him and Shinnie and Heero for three days before going to Quatre. But maybe Trowa would mind? Humans were so odd about things, sometimes. And Heero mightn't like it; he didn't even like other men looking at Duo, according to Shinnie, so he might be sad if he and Quatre mated.

'I don't know,' she said miserably. 'I just want Quatre to have everything that he wants, that's all.'

'Of course you do,' Leo said gently, giving her a quick tap with one paw. 'We all want our humans to be happy. But they think differently, you know. I don't think Trowa would like Duo to mate with Quatre. And if humans get married, it means they promise to love and look after each other forever; not just that they want to have babies.'

'Oh! I didn't know that. I'd like Quatre and Trowa to get married then. But maybe he could marry Duo first, just for a minute. Quatre always says we have to share. And Trowa can lick Heero if he's jealous. Then they'd all be happy.' She looked down at the ring between her front paws and thought hard. 'I know! I'll hide the ring until Shinnie comes to visit tomorrow and ask him. She ran over and nosed the little box shut. 'There! Now, Trowa won't even know it's missing! Perfecto!'

'Maggie, you can't,' Leo began, and then the front door opened.

'Trowa! Oh, no! We haven't tidied up or anything. He's going to be so angry.' Maggie grabbed the ring and hid behind the sofa as Trowa walked in.

He'd been whistling the battle song that Taco liked but he stopped abruptly as he came into the sitting room.

'Oh, shit! He's going to go fucking insane!'

'I'm sorry!' Maggie came out slowly and rolled on her back in front of him, apologising with every gesture.

Trowa just gave her a quick glance. 'I don't think it was your fault, somehow. It was that damn rat, probably.'

Taco stood squarely in front of him, growling. 'You should not dare to insult me, you stinking vet. But, yes, I killed the tree. Not Magdalena.'

Leo sighed, deeply. 'It wasn't just him,' he confessed, butting Trowa's hand with his head.

'Ok, I get it. Joint effort. We'd better get it fixed it before Quat comes home or we'll all be in trouble. Out of the way!' He heaved the tree back upright.

It didn't look that bad, Maggie thought hopefully. A bit lopsided, and all the pretty things were askew; the ones that hadn't fallen on the floor, and the tree had left a lot of its leaves behind, but they made the floor smell good, much nicer than it did when Quatre washed it. Maybe he wouldn't even notice, especially as Trowa was picking up fallen ornaments and replacing them.

'Maybe he won't realise,' Trowa muttered, echoing her thoughts and then looking around for his little box. 'At least this is OK. He shouldn't be back for a while yet and if he's tired he mightn't notice, and I can distract the hell out of him and shit!'

Before anyone could say anything, they heard a second car pull up in the drive.

'It's Quatre!' Taco hurled himself up to the window seat to look out.

Trowa said a stream of very bad words, and then Quatre opened the front door.

'Hello! The kids did amazingly so we finished up early. Maggie? Trowa? Where is everyone?' He was laughing and then he walked in the door and his whole face changed.

'Trowa.' He said it in a very low voice. 'I asked you to shut them in the kitchen.'

'I did.' Trowa picked up the little velvet box and shoved the little box in one pocket. 'I'm pretty sure I did, but I was rushing out and maybe I didn't close the door properly, or Leo can open door sometimes.'

'Oh, just blame the cat.' Quatre was still talking quietly, but he was clearly furious. He bent down and picked one of his little silver things. 'It's all ruined.'

'It's not ruined,' Trowa told him. 'Look, accidents happen when you have animals. It's no big deal; it's just messed up a bit. We can fix it in five minutes.'

'Accidents are things that can't be prevented.' He hadn't even looked at Maggie, even though she was pawing at his legs. 'I asked you to close the door. Just look at this place. Taco's peed all over everything, and the rug's probably ruined with all the pine needles in it, and some of my ornaments are broken.'

Trowa raked one hand through his hair; Maggie was glad to see Leo had gone to sit beside him, very close. 'Quat. I'm sorry, OK? I thought I'd shut the door; I was in a hurry trying to do all the million things you'd asked me to and maybe I didn't.'

'So it's my fault?' Quatre demanded.

'I didn't say that,' Trowa snapped. 'And if you'd just calm down for two seconds and stop making this into a big deal, you'd realise that I'm trying to apologise for one thing, and for another, this isn't some disaster. If you hadn't come home early, I'd have fixed it all up and you wouldn't have known a thing about it!'

'I'm sorry I rushed home to you then,' Quatre retorted. 'How stupid of me, thinking you'd be happy to see me.'

'Now, you're twisting every thing I say.' Trowa's voice was determinedly calm. 'I'm not going to have a row with you, Quat. I get that this is a tough time of year for you, but you're not making it any easier for yourself. You're not actually personally responsible for making sure that everyone in Sanque has a happy Christmas, but you're rushing around and stressing out over every tiny insignificant little detail that nobody but you even notices, and then dragging everyone around you into it.'

'Oh,' Quatre said, very low. 'I see. I hadn't realised I was bothering you that much. I'm sorry. I thought you were enjoying helping me.'

'Quatre..' Trowa began, taking a step towards him.

'We should get it all cleaned up,' Maggie's human said tonelessly and she whined.

She hated them fighting, and now they weren't even looking at each other, and she felt so sad for both of them and she wanted so much to help them and there was nothing she could do.

And then, suddenly, she realised there was.

The ring! It was so pretty, it might make him happy again and she knew humans sometimes gave each other things when they'd done something bad.

'Careful, Mags,' Quatre warned when she ran over to him. He was on the ground, picking up his pretty things carefully. 'There's broken glass and I ..Oh.' His voice changed, utterly. 'What have you got hold of, sweetie? Trowa! Where did Maggie find this?'

'Oh. Shit. I, well, it's for you. For Christmas. You know.'

'For me?' Quatre asked wonderingly. He still hadn't touched it, although he was staring at it. 'Oh, God.'

'Yeah.' Trowa knelt down beside him, picking it up. 'For you. I was going to do this whole romantic proposal thing and I've no freaking clue how Maggie got it, but…Well? You're kind of supposed to say something, I think.'

'Am I? I mean, yes, of course. Yes!'

'Right. Better see if it fits, then. I don't want to lose it again!'

They were both silent as Trowa put it on his finger and then Quatre threw his arms around him and just clung.

'Well done, Maggie,' Leo said quietly, sitting down beside her. 'They'll be all right, you know. Trowa can buy him a baby if he really wants one.'

Taco sniffed. 'He could have done better for himself. Senor Zechs, now. He would be muy suitable. Such an exalted lineage.'

'Zechs belongs to Nataku's human,' Maggie said at once. 'And Quatre could never do better than Trowa. Ever.'

'I'm sorry I was so horrible,' Quatre said, laughing and crying just a little bit at once. 'I'm so sorry, love. You're right; I was getting far too stressed out and I took it out on you.'

Trowa sighed. 'I suppose I'd better get used to it. It's OK, Quat. Really. I totally get it. But I wish you'd realise just how many people do care about you, and you really do have this amazing family who love you more than anything.'

'Yes!' Maggie shouted, flinging herself into Quatre's lap, because Trowa was perfectly right and Quatre didn't need some stupid people who didn't even want him. Leo jumped up on Trowa's shoulders, something he almost never did, and even touched his hair with one paw.

'I think they approve,' Quatre said, smiling and reaching up to tickle Leo under the chin.

'Sure, they do. Very sensible pets we've got. Actually, I did check with Maggie earlier.' He frowned suddenly. 'God, how the hell did she get hold of it? It must've have fallen out of the box when the tree came down. I guess Maggie really did know who it was for when I showed it to her.'

Quatre burst out laughing. 'That's so adorable. You really showed my dog the engagement ring you bought for me?'

'It was practical. I know how much she means to you. Of course I had to check she was OK with it. And for the record, I asked Duo and Relena and your grandmother as well. I'd even have asked that crazy Dorothy if she'd been around! Like I said, you have a whole bunch of people who really care about you.'

'Imbécil,' Taco growled, fairly quietly, settling on Trowa's feet and nibbling his shoe-laces. 'Do not dare to insult my duena. I will chew your toes off!'

'Well, I'm glad Maggie approved,' Quatre bent down and licked the top of her head. 'She's an exceptionally clever dog. And the ring is perfect, really. Have you thought about dates or anything? There's going to be so much to plan! We could have a marquee in the garden here, if we have the ceremony in summer, or Oh! We could ask Zechs if we could borrow the beach house or we…'

'We could calm down for five minutes and decide we're going to take it one holiday at a time,' Trowa suggested. 'We did have plans for tonight, remember?'

'Absolutely! I just need to call Duo and…'

'You just need,' Trowa said very firmly, 'to shut the hell up and let me kiss you. And then take you upstairs. Leo, move, I'm about to be very busy!' He reached up to give the cat a light swat on the neck. Leo squawked and leapt off his shoulders on to the tree, and the inevitable happened. It wobbled slightly and then came down with a crash for the second time.

Quatre, wrapped in Trowa's, arms didn't even notice, not even when Maggie darted forward to grab her wonderful sparkly ball, nor when Taco and Leo began a tug-of-war over a long strand of tinsel.

He wasn't sad any more, and now Trowa could look after him for ever and make him happy.

It was a muy perfecto Christmas, just like her human had wanted for all of them.