A/N: I have no clue what's on the third floor in the New York City Macy's, so if it's a home furnishings section and not the women's department, my apologies.
Danny Messer didn't know how many times he had passed by the same ugly reindeer sweater, but he knew it was a lot. He felt like he had circled the entire third floor of Macy's about a thousand times. It was getting to the point where the employees would give him strange looks as he walked by, probably thinking he was about to rob the place. He wasn't, though. All he was trying to do was find the perfect present for his wife, which was turning out as something much more difficult than he had anticipated.
He didn't know why he was having so much trouble finding Lindsay a gift. Since it was their first Christmas together as a family, he figured it would be easy finding a present for her. He wasn't supposed to be having issues finding presents until fifty years down the road when he would realize that he'd gotten her everything he could possibly get. And yet there he was, a couple days away from Christmas, and he still hadn't found anything.
It wasn't as if he hadn't found anything at all. There was the expensive perfume that she wanted, a dress she had seen a couple weeks back, and of course, there was always jewelery. All of that stuff would have been fine, but it just didn't seem special enough to Danny. He was trying to find something that would show her just how much she means to him. Only he realized he probably wasn't going to find that at Macy's.
Glancing at his watch, Danny sighed when he saw that it was already five o'clock. He still had to go to the store to pick up something to cook for dinner, so he decided to just call it a day. Before he left, he grabbed the same ugly reindeer sweater he had passed by so often, deciding it could be a gift for his mother.
When he went to pay for it, he didn't fail to notice the smirk on the cashier's face.
"All that roaming through the store, and you end up getting this horrible sweater? Gee, someone sure is lucky this year," she said, trying to keep herself from laughing.
All Danny could do was glare at her. When she saw the look on his face, she quickly stopped laughing.
"Your total's $34.95," she said in a quiet voice.
Danny gave her the money, took the sweater, then left, feeling pissed off for not being able to find Lindsay a present. And with tomorrow being Christmas Eve and having to work until evening, he had no idea what he was going to do. He knew that Lindsay would want him to be home tomorrow evening instead of him shopping, so he knew that today was his last shopping day.
As he walked outside, he couldn't help but think that he had just ruined Lindsay's Christmas.
_____________
Lindsay couldn't stop staring at the Christmas tree. Something about seeing the tree all lit up gave her a warm feeling inside. It made her happy, and after the year her and Danny had gone through, it was good to be happy again.
Even though she was happy as can be and the past month had been pretty stress free, there was still a little something bothering her. Out of all the presents under the tree, not a single one was for Danny. It made her feel guilty, knowing she hadn't gotten her own husband anything for Christmas. She had been shopping plenty of times, but nothing seemed to stand out. She had been spending the entire month of December thinking about something creative, but every time she thought, her mind just went blank. At one point, she had considered making him a card like she used to do when she was a kid, but she figured only parents enjoyed getting those from their children.
And with tomorrow being Christmas Eve, she knew there wasn't much shopping she could get done. She still had a bunch of presents to wrap, she had to buy the food for Christmas dinner, and she still had to deliver the Christmas cookies to the lab, and to Flack, like she had promised. At this point, there would be no getting Danny a Christmas present.
Lindsay had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Danny struggling to get into the door until she heard a thud and then a bunch of profanities escape his mouth. Lindsay quickly turned around and saw her husband with a bunch of shopping bags in his hands. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him.
"Danny, babe, did you save anything in the toy store for all the other children in the city?" she asked, hurrying over to him so she could take some of the bags.
"Very funny, Montana," he said, reaching down to pick up the one bag he had dropped, "I got a little carried away. But it's Lucy's first Christmas. Can you blame me?"
Lindsay shook her head as she took the bags to the living room and set them next to the couch.
"No, I can't, because I went a little crazy with the shopping also. But between the presents from us, our parents, and everyone at work, she sure is going to be one spoiled little girl this year."
"Yeah," he agreed, taking a seat on the couch, "I can't believe that even Blake got her something. Doesn't he know I don't want him giving my daughter so much attention? And you know what else I can't believe?"
Lindsay rolled her eyes at Danny's Blake comment as she sat down next to him. "What else can't you believe?"
"I can't believe that out of all those bags, not a damn thing is for you. You're a very hard person to shop for."
Lindsay was surprised at Danny's honest statement. It definitely wasn't expected, but at the same time, it came as a relief to know that he, too, was having difficulties shopping.
"So you didn't get me anything?" Lindsay asked.
Danny shook his head, and Lindsay could see the guilt in his eyes.
"No, but I swear to you, I'll buy you something extra special for your birthday. I'll get you anything you want. I promise," he said.
Lindsay smiled, taking his hand in her own.
"Can I tell you something?" When Danny nodded, she continued, "I didn't get you anything, either. I think you might be even harder to shop for than I am."
Danny laughed at her statement. "That's probably true."
"So neither of us got anything for each other. What's that say about us?" Lindsay asked.
"It says we're cheap," Danny answered, laughing when Lindsay smacked him on the arm. "But honestly, when you think about it, don't we already have everything we could ever want?"
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Lindsay asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Well for starters," Danny said, "We've got a beautiful baby girl, and that's enough to make anyone's Christmas special. Seeing how excited she'll be when she opens her presents is a good enough gift for me. And the other thing we have? We've got each other. And let me tell ya, Linds, I don't need any expensive gifts or stuff like that. All I want for Christmas is you and Lucy, and having both of you happy."
Lindsay could feel tears of happiness beginning to form in her eyes. What he had just said was probably the sweetest thing he'd ever said to her. It also summed up exactly how she was feeling.
"I guess we're both getting what we want for Christmas this year then," she said, giving him a huge smile. She let him wipe the tears off her cheek, then she leaned in closer to him and gave him a soft kiss. When she pulled back, she gazed into his eyes and saw nothing but love. And honestly, knowing that the love in his eyes was just for her and Lucy, it was the best Christmas present she could ever ask for.