Merry Christmas!

It was the night of Christmas Eve, and both Liz and Donald were still working one of Reddington's cases, preparing final documents to hand in before they both left the office. After three days of endless running around, they were both finally getting to leave for home. As much as the case may have spoilt whatever plans they had for the Christmas Holidays, at least they spent it together.

Liz sat a her desk double checking over her profiles and the case files and she heard the door shut close. She looked up to see Donald walking towards her, and they both smiled at each other. He walked up behind her chair and started giving her shoulders a soothing massage. "You're finished?" Asked Liz.
"Just dropped it in for Cooper. Are you?"
"I was gonna head to Cooper's office, but then you came in," she replied and looked up to him, meeting him eye to eye. Don bent over and gently placed a kiss on her lips, " I've been wanting to do that for a while."
"Well, I'm glad that you did," she replied and he kissed her again, more desperate this time.
"You, my dear, need to go hand in your files to Cooper cause we have a last minute dinner reservation at Ginger's on 42nd Street," he told her as he swiveled her around to face him.
"Why I am now hearing about this?" She asked.
"Well I know we had stuff planned for this holidays," he said while stooping down in front of her and taking her hands in his, "and since Miami is out of the question, I didn't want to let today finish without doing something special, it's Christmas Eve!" And with that he placed a kiss on her hands and got up. He walked towards the door while continuing, "I'm gonna collect my coat and stuff and you will meet me in the van."

Donald disappeared leaving Liz in the office to get herself together. She gathered up her files, put on her coat and hung her purse on her hand. She left her office, taking of the lights and headed towards Director Cooper's office to hand in her files. She wished everyone a merry Christmas and then went to the garage where Don had already started the vehicle and waiting for her. She went into the van and started digging in her bag for her phone.
"You're looking for this," said Don who was observing her with her phone in his left hand.
She looked at him first and then at what was in his hand. She slouched as she reach out for it, "where did you get it?"
" You left it by the Aram's desk," he said.
"What will I ever do without you," she teased and bent forward to kiss him before he drove out of the garage with the biggest grin on his face.

XXXX

They drove over to The small Chinese restaurant, beating the Christmas traffic on their way. They had a scrumptious Chinese dinner, and talked and laughed over wine and dessert. When Don had finished paying for dinner, he threw his arm around Liz, and guided her outside, back to car. "I feel as though I've eaten enough for me and two other people!" Exclaimed Liz as she rocked back on the car seat.
"You're just tired Liz, we'll reach back to the apartment in no time," he told her. He drove of and headed for the apartment they now shared. The journey back, was quiet, with the few occasional glances at one another. Donald's free hand, reached over and took hers and laced his fingers through hers. They both held on tightly to one another.

When they returned to the apartment. Liz started undressing from the bottom of the stairs straight until the bathroom. Donald, followed her upstairs, while loosing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. Liz showered first, and got ready to go to bed. When she walked into the bedroom she saw Don still dressed in his white, unbuttoned shirt and black pants. He was shuffling in the draws looking for something and as soon as he realized she had walked in, he shut the draws and pushed something in his pants pockets. He turned around to meet her suspicious eyes, "everything alright Hun?" She asked.
"Ah...yeah," he walked up towards her, and they touched foreheads with one another, "I'm gonna take a shower, and I'm gonna come back to you, 'Kay."
She nodded and went to sit on her bed.

Meanwhile, Don went into the bathroom and took out a small black velvet from his pants pocket. He opened the box and looked at the gold and diamond ring. He bought the ring a week ago, knowing that he and Liz made plans to go to Miami for the Christmas. He was gonna surprise her there. Circumstances may have changed but his intentions were still the same. He was still gonna ask her to marry him. He rested the box by the sink and had his shower. He walked back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, expecting Liz to be awake. Instead she was lying on the bed, fast asleep, but he didn't mind. He knew she was tired. Their last case took a toll on both of them. He put the box on his bedside table, put on his pj's and switched of the light before joining her on bed. He pulled her in closer and held her against his chest. After a few minutes, they were both in a rhythmic sleep.

XXXX

When Liz woke up the next morning, she was wrapped in Don's arms. She looked at him peacefully sleeping and then turned towards the bedside table to look at the clock. Instead she saw the black box. She looked at him and smiled and then sat up. She took the box and open it up. The sight of the ring caused her to gasp and smile. "You like it?" Asked Donald who was now wide awake.

"I don't like it. Don I love it," she exclaimed as she threw her hands around his neck to hug him. They parted and he took the ring out of the box, "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

"Yes Don," and he slipped the ring on her finger.

She brought both her hands to his face and kissed him with everything she had. His hands crept around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She smiled against his tender kisses and quietly told him, "Merry Christmas Don," and with that she started tugging at his T-shirt. After she got it off, Don playfully teased her and pulled her back down on the bed.

XXXX

Liz sat on the bed staring at the ring on her finger. She knew that one day it'd happen, but she didn't expect it to be so soon. The solitaire diamond was a perfect simple fit. Don crawled up behind her on the bed and wrapped his arms around, "I was gonna surprise you with it in Miami, but then I had to settle for this."
"Don, you could've proposed to me in a coal mine and I still would've said yes," she turned to look at him, "I love you." He smiled, "I love you, too." He kissed her, "I'm gonna take a shower, you coming?"
"Gimme a few minutes, I'll meet you in there," she replied. Don left the room and went into the bathroom. She got up and wrapped herself in her robe she had lying on the edge of the bed. As she was about to go towards the shower, her phone vibrated on her bedside table. She look at the screen and saw that it was a message from Red, "Merry Christmas Lizzie!". She smiled before typing, "Merry Christmas Red!" She rested the phone back on her bedside table, now feeling quite contented with herself, and then walked towards the bathroom to join Don.

The end.