A Christmas Gift
It had been a fun day.
Really, a good day.
The kind of day to savor, to enjoy, to remember, to store up as a memory for other days that weren't so great.
Jenna had been wide-eyed and delighted with her gifts. Zoe and Kevin had teased each other like true siblings. Alison and Carter had been purely happy, and the friendly bickering with Henry and Fargo over the football game had been fun. Not to mention the food – Sarah had prepared a Christmas feast for the ages.
Yes, it had been a good day.
And Jo wasn't sad. Not really.
Oh, maybe a little wistful. Sure, her friends in Eureka were as close as family, and she was grateful for them. But she was still going home alone. She pulled into her driveway, and turned off her sporty blue Subaru with a sigh.
It was Christmas.
Happiest day of the year.
And she wasn't sad.
Really, she wasn't sad.
But her eyes were on the snowy ground as she made her way to the door. That must have been why she didn't notice the silhouette on her porch.
"Merry Christmas, Jo." The voice was low, husky, and a complete shock.
Jo didn't quite scream, but she did jump. "Zane!"
He stood. He looked cold, she noticed, as if he'd been sitting on the porch in his leather jacket shivering in the snow Carter's Christmas surprise had created for much too long. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back east."
"Yeah, I know."
"You must be freezing." She hurried past him to the door, fumbling with her keys. He might be cold but warmth was spreading through her at the speed of light. Her cheeks were flushing, her hands tingling, her stomach melting. "Why aren't you with your family? You didn't fight with your stepdad on Christmas, did you?"
"No, I was there this morning. Got to watch the half-sibs go crazy for that game system I brought them, then ducked out early."
Jo pushed open the door, and let herself inside, Zane following her. "Aren't you cold?" she asked. "Why didn't you call?"
He shrugged, watching her, eyes dark, as she slipped out of her coat and hung it up.
"I would have come home," she said.
"I didn't want to interrupt you."
"You could have come to SARAH. Everyone would have been happy to see you."
"I didn't want to see everyone."
He'd made no move to take off his jacket, still just watching her as she kicked off her wet shoes. She hesitated. Then stepped closer, put her hands on the front of his jacket, and tugged him down to her. His lips were cold but they warmed under hers as she kissed him.
He kissed her back, sliding his arms around her, almost lifting her off her feet, his kiss long and deep and thorough, until breathless, she pulled away from him and took a step back.
He was grinning at her now, and she couldn't contain her own smile. "Take off your coat," she ordered him. "Are you starving? Do you want something to eat?"
"Starving," he agreed, as he peeled off his jacket. "But not for food."
She laughed. "Christmas present first." She'd been wanting to give him his present ever since Dr. Tennant had finished making it for her. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the living room.
"This is really why I came home early," he told her, voice joking, as he followed her. "I was too curious to wait."
"Ha," she answered, gesturing to the waist-high box standing next to her small tree. "All yours." She was almost bouncing on her toes. This was the best gift ever. He was going to love it, she knew.
With a chuckle, Zane crossed to the box and began slowly, very slowly, one piece of tape at a time, to unwrap it.
"Oh, you," she scolded him. "You're just torturing me."
"You've been gloating about this present all month," he answered. "I want to savor it."
"Just open it!"
Laughing now, he ripped into the bright wrapping paper, exposing an absolutely plain cardboard box underneath. "Huh," he said. "Nothing on the box? Let me guess, this is one of those boxes inside boxes things?"
She pressed her lips together, trying to hold back her own laugh, as he pulled off the tap and folded back the cardboard flaps of the box. He looked into it, expression skeptical, and then pulled back in shock.
"Oh, my God," he said. "Is that-?" His eyes flew to her and she started to laugh, as, impatient now, he began ripping open the cardboard to reveal the prize inside.
Probably three feet high, it was a metal cylinder, its bottom two thirds ridged with bumps, its top a rotating dome, with multiple appendages.
"You got me a Dalek?" he asked, voice shocked. "A Dalek?"
"Better than that," she answered, joining him next to the machine. She found the switch on the back and flipped it on, and with a whir, the Dalek flickered to life.
Almost immediately it began moving across her floor, as it said in a mechanical monotone, "Must Exterminate Dirt."
"What the hell?" Zane said, staring after it.
"It's a house-cleaning robot," Jo explained. "It vacuums, dusts, does dishes, even laundry. Dr. Tennant wanted to make it able to cook, too, but that would have taken too long and you don't care, you never cook anyway."
"Holy shit," Zane said, watching as the Dalek vacuumed. "That is the coolest present ever. Man, I feel like a slacker now."
Jo folded her hands in front of her and tried to look innocent, as if she wasn't waiting for her gift, and he grinned at her. "Go look in the back of your nightstand drawer."
Her eyebrows raised, but she went off to the bedroom anyway, and pulled open the drawer. What had he put in here? She rummaged around, feeling in the back, until she found a tiny square box that shouldn't be there, but as she pulled it out, her heart sank.
Oh, shit.
It was the size and shape of a ring box.
And she wasn't ready. She just wasn't. After the whole Astraeus mess, she'd known that she wanted to try to make something work between them. But it had only been a couple of months and this Zane wasn't the Zane she'd spent years with. He was a different man. His experiences had changed him.
What was between them mattered. It mattered a lot. But she wasn't ready to make a commitment. Not yet.
She went back out to the living room, box clutched in her hand, heart heavy.
Zane was kneeling behind the motionless Dalek, playing with its switches. "Check this out," he said gleefully, as she entered the room.
He pressed a button and the Dalek said, "I Obey. Dirt Will Be Defeated. Exterminate!"
She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. Zane, looking up at her, spotted her expression and his own smile faded. He stood, as the Dalek trundled forward again, this time waving its manipulator arm with dust cloth attached.
"Zane, I . . ." Jo started. Oh, damn, could she really do this again? Was she crazy? She cared about him, she really did. It wasn't just the amazing sex; he was a friend, too. But did they really understand each other? Did they really have what it took for forever? She didn't want anything less.
She turned her hand, revealing the gift-wrapped box, and licked her lips, trying to think of the right words.
Zane's glance fell to the box and a flicker of uncertainty crossed his face, before his brows raised in startled realization and he said, "Ah, that's not what you think it is. It's just – um, yeah – there's not – I mean – open it, Jo," he finally finished impatiently.
Jo looked down, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and relief, but with relief dominating.
She unwrapped it, slipping a finger under the tape, neatly removing the paper, then opening the box.
Huh.
"A key?" she asked, confused. "Wait, this is mine, isn't it?" It was the key to her downstairs gun safe.
He nodded, grinning. "Go look."
This time, he followed her out of the room and down to the shooting range in the basement. "I was planning to call you and tell you where to find it tonight," Zane said as Jo unlocked the safe. "I figured it'd be a nice way to end the day."
The box was out of place. She would have spotted it immediately if she'd opened the safe, but Zane must have known that she wasn't likely to. The small gun safe in her bedroom was what she used day-to-day: the one in the basement was storage for her more interesting weapons.
Kneeling next to it, this time she couldn't restrain herself. She tore off the paper, and opened the box, then released her breath in a long exhale, as she looked down at the Walther PPQ Navy-X semi-automatic pistol, optimized for water use. She recognized it immediately, even though it hadn't been released in the United States yet.
"Zane! How did you get this?" She looked over her shoulder at where he was leaning against the door frame.
"Totally legal, I swear!" he said, holding his hands up.
"It's not even on the market yet! How did you know I wanted it?"
"Um, the circles around the article and all the stars on the page in your gun magazine sort of made me think you might like it."
Jo stroked the gun in its box, then took it out of its case and checked the feel. The grip was perfect for her hand. "We have to go find a pool," she said.
"It's snowing outside, Jo," Zane protested.
"I want to try it out! It fires under water," she said. "It's got a hole in the striker channel in case the gun gets flooded, and the striker spring is stronger, plus there are guides to minimize hydraulic resistance. But how did you get it?"
He grinned at her. "Long and boring story, but a friend of a friend of a friend works for Walther. I'm glad you like it."
"I love it," she said, carefully putting it back in its box. She gave it one more gentle pat, then closed the box.
He'd given her the perfect gift.
The perfect gift.
She tucked the gun box back in the safe. She'd find the right place for it tomorrow.
Then she stood. "Since you won't let me play with my toy," she said, voice husky, as she walked toward him, "and my house is much too clean to need us to play with your toy, want to play with each other?"
"Best invitation I've had all day," he answered with a chuckle, as he slid his hand around the nape of her neck and tugged her gently toward him for a long kiss.
As they walked upstairs, hand-in-hand, Zane said, "Merry Christmas, JoJo."
She smiled at him.
Not this Christmas. Not New Year's. Probably not Valentine's Day, either.
But someday soon, she knew, he'd have a small box for her.
And when he did? She wouldn't have any doubts.
"Merry Christmas, Zane."
A/N: And happy holidays to all! I hope this story feels like a nice holiday present.
If you'd like to give me a gift (although actually this might be kind of a mutual exchange) my first novel, A Gift of Ghosts, will be free on Amazon tomorrow (Saturday, December 17th.) It's a geeky paranormal romance, set in a quirky small town, and I'm pretty sure that if you like my Eureka stories, you'll like it, too. But it would also be really nice for me to get as many downloads as possible, so the story can climb the Amazon ranks and maybe get some notice. If you don't have a Kindle, you can still buy it and use the Kindle software for PC or Mac (or iPhone or Android or iPad or pretty much any device that you read fanfiction on) to read it. Link's in my profile or search Amazon for Sarah Wynde. Thanks for your help, and I hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!