Author: Pirate Turner
For: My beloved Jack and our babies as part of their presents for Solstice/Christmas/Kitsmas
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sydney and Carlos rope in their cowboys.
Warnings: Het, Slash, Unconventional Pairings
Word Count: 1,308
Date Written: 24 December 2010
Disclaimer: Francis Gage, Sydney Cooke, Carlos Sandoval, Trent Malloy, Cordell Walker, James Trivette, C.D. Parker, and Walker: Texas Ranger are & TM their respective, legal owners, none of which are the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Texas Ranger Francis Gage was minding his own business, standing by a wall and quietly sipping his eggnog, when a rope came sailing out of the air and snagged securely around his waist. Gage sputtered, spitting cream, and nearly dropped his mug. He grabbed the rope with one hand while his other steadied his grip on his eggnog and looked down its long length of coil to see the one face in all the world who always made his heart go into double time.
His breath hitched in his throat. His palms sweated. His heart flip flopped in his chest and then surged through his throat. His feet felt as though they had suddenly grown wings who could not wait to carry him straight to the woman who had him tied and was even now beginning to pull him to her. His mind spun, and his entire being raced in delight.
"Sydney!" he cried, grabbing the rope and walking toward her with its lasso still tied tightly around his waist. "Sweetheart," he continued, grinning broadly from ear to ear and wondering how in the world he'd ever gotten to be so lucky as to have one of his most delightful fantasies come true, "you know if you wanted me, all you had to do was ask."
Sydney shrugged as she pulled him the rest of the way to her. The rope made a snapping noise but, much to Gage's relief, did not break. "I'm tired of waiting, Gage. Are you going to put up or shut up?"
Her question shocked him even more than her behavior. Even as Gage tried to find the right answer in his befuddled mind that was currently rushing around in circles between the wonder of what his beloved partner was now doing to him, the confusion over how this could be reality and not just a dream, and his own myriad doubts about what to do with this golden, impossible opportunity, Sydney leaned forward and brushed her lips over his. He tingled, and his doubts were put at ease when he smelled her breath. There was eggnog and the cookies and candies that C.D. had made earlier for the children, but there was also a somewhat foul whuff of something much stronger.
Gage's grin turned triumphant as it filled his glowing face. Sydney was intoxicated, and being so had caused her to lose all of her fears over their love! At long last, this was the chance he had been waiting for for what seemed like his entire life to show her that he truly did love her and could be her man and still her partner and best friend! Her brown eyes sparkled up into his, and he cupped her beautiful face in his tingling hands. He'd waited forever for this one moment, and yet . . .
Yet Sydney was drunk. Should he allow his dearest friend to do something she might not remember? No, he thought, she'd remember. He'd make sure she'd remember, and he'd be right there by her side when she awoke and every second thereafter that she allowed him. He'd never leave her unless she forced him to do so for all he wanted in the whole, wide world was to be with her and love her endlessly.
"Sydney," he whispered her name as he lowered his head. His hands lovingly caressed her enchanting face that had haunted his every dream since he'd first met the love of his life.
"Enough talk," she said and, standing on her tiptoes, kissed him. His mind whirled. His heart went screaming, in ecstasy, through the cosmos, and his soul floated gently back down into her waiting, loving arms. Still he kissed her, not daring to lose even the smallest of chances to show her exactly what she meant to him and just how infinitely much he really did love her alone. He had always loved Sydney. She was the missing part of his soul that he had searched for fruitlessly before she had found him, and she was the only one who could ever complete him and the only one whom he would ever love!
When they parted at last, both of the enamored partners were still trembling in delight from the tips of their heads through to the ends of their boots. Sydney brushed her trembling fingers over Gage's puckered lips, and he kissed her fingertips before taking her hand and drawing it against his heart. There, with her hand pressing to his chest beneath his flannel shirt, he swore solemnly, "I love you, Sydney! I always have and always will! Give me a chance to prove my love to you, and you'll never regret it!"
His flirtatious words were gone. What he spoke now was merely the truth, nothing more or less, and it was exactly what Sydney had been waiting her entire life to hear although never once daring to believe that she actually would hear them from any one, let alone the man she loved with all of her being. However, right now, Syd had even less attention for words than she did the fly that had been buzzing her eggnog an hour ago.
"I'm giving you a chance," she told him dryly with one eyebrow quirked, "so prove it." Her rope was still around him, and she yanked on it to pull him close again.
His arms swept around her waist, and he lifted her up. He started to carry her from the room but paused long enough to call back over his muscular shoulder, "Thank you to whoever spiked the eggnog!" His grin was the most enormous smile any of those gathered at that particular Rangers' Christmas party, which would go down in history as being the most unforgettable Texas Ranger celebration ever, as he twirled his beloved partner out of the celebration and into their own private party for two.
Laughter bubbled throughout the room, but Carlos' smile shone brighter than all the rest. "You did it, didn't you?" his own partner asked with an amused grin that hinted to his pride.
"You betcha!" Carlos exclaimed. At Trent's only partially scolding look, he shrugged and said, "Well, somebody had to get those two to stop pussyfooting it around and get it together!"
Trent inclined his head to his beloved in honorable acknowledgment. "And you were just the man to do it."
"Of course. After all, who knows how to get their loving partner better than I do?" he queried, wrapping his arms around Trent and trying to pull him close.
The blonde man hesitated only long enough to check out their surroundings, and when he realized that they were safe, and the only other people left in the room were Walker, Trivette, and CD, he let Carlos pull him close. Carlos' smile grew even larger as he hugged Trent and slid his body against his in time to the Christmas carols. "Nobody," Trent whispered against his ear.
Carlos' answering smile filled his handsome face in the shadows of the light. "That's right: Nobody knows better than me, and nobody loves you better than I do!" Carlos kissed Trent again and again as he danced him around the floor.
Soon, despite Walker and Trivette dancing in a secluded corner and CD sitting before the fireplace and dreaming of Christmases past, Carlos and Trent were in their own world where every day was lit with a joy and power far brighter and more wonderful than Christmas: the love they shared. They danced and kissed all throughout the night, and they loved each other far pass that year and all the other years to come in their own special paradise where they, and their friends and family, each had their own rightful life partner and danced to the never-ending music and love that only they could hear and share forever more.
The End