It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Neal and Sara prepare for a quiet Christmas with their young family but fate intervenes when they're forced to face some of life's unexpected ups and downs. Warning: severe domestic fluff ahead. Part of the 'Milestones' series (5.9 years)
5.9 years
Chapter 1
'It's not fair!' Hope whined as she dragged her feet, head thrown back dramatically
'Hope, that's enough! I get it, believe me! Life isn't always fair' Neal barked back as he trudged along, pushing the grocery cart down the busy milk aisle
He was pissed off at himself for having offered to pick her up at school and make the pit stop instead of picking up the baby at the sitter's. Sara had definitely gotten the sweet end of that deal...she was probably home already, sipping a glass of wine, waiting for them.
Hope had been complaining for the past fifteen minutes as her dad dragged her through the supermarket on a mission to pick up a few last minute items for dinner - something about Olivia going to Florida to visit her cousins for the holidays. It was sweltering hot in the store and Neal was sweating profusely under his warm winter coat. Hope was trying to keep pace with him, whiny and impatient as she lugged her hat and scarf behind her on the dirty floor.
'Hope, please stop dragging your hat and scarf on the floor and put them in the basket' Neal said curtly as he reached for a loaf of bread
'But I'm hoooot' she moaned more like a disgruntled toddler than the mature five year old she claimed to be
'HOPE!' Neal shouted, louder than he'd intended
He smiled apologetically as a nearby woman gave him the evil eye – obviously, she had never had to contend with a tired and hungry five year old in a busy grocery store at dinner time. He took a deep breath in order to regain his composure, finally turning to face his daughter. Despite the fact that he couldn't wait to get the hell out of the store, he crouched down to Hope's eye level and gently grabbed her by the coat lapel.
'I'm sorry sweet pea. I didn't mean to raise my voice' he said as he removed her coat and tucked her mitts, hat and scarf into her coat sleeve
'Better?' he asked as he looked into her tired eyes
She nodded and he grabbed for a tissue from his coat pocket and wiped her runny nose as she continued to stare blankly at him with a look of total misery.
'Look, I know you're hungry and you're tired and you can't wait to get home but it'll just be a few more minutes, okay?' he said, running his hand through her hair to tame the static electricity left behind by her woolen hat
'Do you want to sit in the cart?' he asked with a smile
'Daddy, I'm five years old' she responded in an 'are you kidding?' tone of voice
Neal sighed. 'Well, do you want to hold on to the front of the cart and I'll push you?'
That sounded more like a five-year old thing to do and Hope nodded, her eyes watery.
'Alright' Neal said as he threw her coat into the grocery cart
He reached out to give her a quick hug and Hope threw her arms around her dad's neck, latching on to him and tucking her head between his neck and shoulder as Neal rolled his eyes; so much for being too old to sit in the grocery cart.
There was nothing worse than hitting the grocery store after work with a cranky five year old in tow; he silently cursed his wife who had somehow gotten out of the odious task. He stood with Hope in his arms, grabbed the cart with his other hand and headed for the fruit aisle as his daughter remained curled up against him. He was sweating bullets, exhausted from his week at work and now he had to navigate a heavy cart through a busy grocery store with one hand and forty seven pounds of dead weight hanging from his neck.
He accelerated the pace and made quick work of grabbing the fruits and vegetables they would need to tide them over for the next couple of days and he finally made it to the cash register just as he heard his phone ringing in his coat pocket.
'Damn it' he mumbled, under his breath, immediately followed by an apologetic '...sorry honey' to his daughter - who remained quiet, curled up against his chest.
Considering the fact that he couldn't grow a third arm in the next five seconds, he chose to ignore the call and just carry on and finish the loathsome task and get the hell out of there before he actually melted into a puddle on the floor, Frosty-style.
WCWCWC
Sara Ellis sat behind the wheel, trying to block out the constant wailing coming from the back seat of the car. The child minder had looked like she was at the end of her tether when she'd placed Liam in his mom's arms, telling her that he'd been crying practically non-stop all day. Sara had wished the babysitter a good evening and had strapped her crying son into his car seat before heading home to wait for Neal and Hope.
Liam Theodore Caffrey was a calm baby, generally speaking; at six months of age, he had a sweet disposition and he was easily distracted by either one of his parents (or his big sister, for that matter) whenever he got a little cranky. He'd been sleeping through the night for the past six weeks now; a welcome relief for the young parents. Sara had only been back to work at Sterling Bosch for a couple of weeks and the Caffreys were still learning how to juggle two full time careers and the needs of two busy young children. Luckily, Hope was in school all day and they had a fantastic caregiver for Liam but the days were busy and the evenings short and by the time the young parents got around to feeding their brood, giving them their baths and settling them down for the night, they were pretty well done-in and ready to hit the sack themselves.
Liam continued to howl in the back seat as Sara fiddled with the CD player, looking for that song that always seemed to soothe him whenever he got restless in the car – something about a bouncy little green frog. She kept her eye on the road which was slippery and wet thanks to the flurries that had been coming down pretty steadily all day.
Shutting out the persistent sobs, she thought ahead to the upcoming holidays; one more day, and they could all relax for a couple of weeks and enjoy some family time. It was the first year since she and Neal had been together that they wouldn't be sharing the holidays with the Burkes. Peter and Elizabeth were visiting Peter's parents upstate and were scheduled to leave on Saturday and June had left the previous week to spend the holidays with her daughter out in California. Even Mozzie was leaving town to spend time in Detroit with his old mentor, Mr. Jeffries – if he hadn't already left, that is.
Truth be told, she and Neal were looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas at home with the kids. It was Liam's first and Hope was really into the whole Christmas and Santa thing. They'd been planning to go to the Santa Claus parade on Sunday and cocoon for a few days of quiet relaxation while the kids played with their new toys and she and her husband finally reconnected after a busy few weeks. But before they could relax, she still had a few errands to run including picking up the perfect gift for her perfect husband – and then there was all that gift wrapping to do and ToysRUs had called to say that sing along microphone she'd ordered for Hope had finally come in...
Suddenly a car horn was heard, letting her know the light had turned green and Sara yelled back over Liam's cries 'Whatever, buddy!' as she refrained from giving the guy behind her the finger – too many crazies in New York these days.
Some guy kept singing about a frog and Liam kept wailing; she knew she should have offered to pick up Hope and do the grocery run.
WCWCWC
Hope still hadn't stirred by the time Neal finished paying for the groceries and he looked down at his daughter, surprised to find that she had somehow managed to fall asleep despite the chaos and noise of the busy store. Not having the heart to wake her, he threw her warm coat over her overheated body, tucked her hands inside his warm coat and hurried out to the car, pushing the cart along with one hand. The cold air hit his face as he stepped out, the snow pinching his cheeks - a temporary reprieve from the extreme heat inside the store and he pushed the cart all the way to the end of the parking lot where the family car awaited.
'Hope?' he said softly as he placed her in the back seat of the car
She looked up bleary-eyed, her face red. 'Daddy, I don't feel good' she said as Neal touched her forehead, noticing it was still hot despite the elements
'Okay, baby' he said as he strapped her in and kissed her forehead 'We'll be home in ten minutes'
It was just a few days until Christmas and there was still so much to do. Peter and El wanted to drop off the kids' gifts and were coming over for brunch on Saturday before leaving town and he still hadn't found the perfect gift for Sara – to say nothing of the last minute food preparation which was always his responsibility.
'How are you doing back there?' Neal asked as he turned onto their street
'I think I'm going to throw up' Hope said, meekly
'Hold on honey, we're almost there' Neal said as he accelerated, hoping to avoid a mess
He came up their street and immediately noticed that a whole string of the carefully arranged Christmas lights on the front of their house were burnt out. Great! The street's best decorated house contest, which he enthusiastically participated in every year, was two days away and he was really hoping that this was 'his' year; just add that to his to-do list.
Adding insult to injury, the snow plow had just paid a visit to Meadowbrook Street and there was a lovely snow bank about a foot high blocking the driveway leading to their house. It must have just happened because Neal could see that Sara had managed to park their SUV in the driveway before the snow plow had come by. Neal parked hurriedly in front of the house and threw the car door open hoping that they would make it inside in time; he really didn't want to add 'having the car detailed' to the ever growing list of chores that needed doing before the big day.
Neal jumped out of the car, swung open the back door and was just reaching in to grab Hope when he heard the inevitable sound of retching coming from the back seat. Although she managed to avoid most of the inside of the car, Hope was right on target as far as the front of her clothes and as a bonus, she managed to take out her dad's shoes as she emptied her stomach with a loud groan followed by the inevitable sobbing. Despite the mess, Neal moved in quickly to pick her up in his arms and cradle her against him; throwing up was never a personal choice on anyone's part.
'Oh, honey, come on, let's get you in the house' he said as he awkwardly stepped over the snow bank and made his way up the driveway with Hope in his arms
Even before he opened the door, he could hear his son wailing in the distance and as he stepped into the warm, welcoming house, he heard Sara's voice coming from the kitchen.
'Neal, did you get my text? Did you pick up orange juice?' she called out as she appeared from the back of the house, holding the crying baby. She immediately noticed her husband covered in vomit with their daughter moaning in his arms.
'Oh, no! What happened?' she asked unnecessarily as Neal looked at her with an exasperated look
'Three guesses, Sherlock' he said rather mordantly as she came to their rescue
Sara glared at him for his less than helpful remark and she proceeded to put Liam down on the nearby couch for a moment while she prepared to take their daughter's listless body from Neal's arms. Liam's wails intensified at being left on his own momentarily and Neal proceeded to take off his coat and survey the damage to his beloved Rockports which had been partially sheltered by his overshoes – maybe they wouldn't be a total write-off.
'Sorry' he said sheepishly 'it's been a rough couple of hours'
'Tell me about it' she replied as she glanced over at Liam who was now sobbing uncontrollably
Sara stood there trying to comfort their daughter who continued to moan in her arms, hoping her new silk blouse would survive the unexpected assault.
'What's going on with Liam?' Neal asked as he shrugged out of his coat and gingerly let it drop on the front door mat – it was probably not salvageable
He made his way over to the baby and picked him up, holding him tight against his chest as he stroked his back - usually a winning move where his son was concerned but alas, not in this case. He cradled him in his arms and he began to bounce up and down – another usually good tactic – as the infant continued to cry.
'I don't know' Sara said, concern obvious in her voice 'he's been crying like that since I picked him up at Fran's. She says she thinks he's teething'
The couple exchanged a look of desperation as they stood there with their miserable offspring in their arms.
Neal managed to paste a smile on his face and he leaned in to kiss his wife hello.
'Hi' he said softly although his voice couldn't be heard above the noise in the room.
It was definitely an auspicious beginning to the Christmas season.
TBC