I know, I know, the holidays are over. I started this on Christmas Day, actually, but I've been so busy that I'd only managed to finish it now. This is quite literally the longest thing I have ever written. In fact, it's supposed to be longer. The timeline is supposed to be up until New Year's Day. If I have time, I might post the rest of what I had in mind for this story as like a second part. But for now...
All in Good Time
The suitcase lands with an audible thump on top of the rest of the luggage. Fitz scans the pile before nodding to Ward. They shut the door together just in time to find Skye and Jemma making their way down the steps to the cargo hold.
"Car's all packed," Ward announces to the two ladies, whose descent is followed by Coulson and May. "Gas is full. Seems everything's good to go."
"We can't thank you enough," Jemma says, turning from Ward to Coulson.
It was December 22nd and May had just landed the Bus in an airfield outside of Sheffield. Weeks ago, Fitzsimmons had filed for leave to spend the holidays at the Simmons family manor, where Jemma had grown up spending most of her holidays. The request had finally been approved yesterday and immediately Coulson had gotten to work with organizing his agents' travel accommodations.
"It was nothing," Coulson says, a smile on his face as Jemma brings him into a warm embrace. Once she lets go, Fitz shakes his hand and gives him an appreciative smile.
"Are you sure you still don't want to come? There's plenty of room in the family home," Jemma says as she hugs Skye. When she lets go, the hacker shakes her head.
"Nah, someone's gotta make sure the rest of the team actually acknowledges the existence of Christmas here. Thank you though." Knowing Skye's lack of family history, Jemma had offered for her to accompany them and spend the holidays with her family. For a moment Skye had been tempted to accept, but just like she had then, she lets her gaze flit from Simmons to Fitz and knows for sure that some things just shouldn't be tampered with.
The team watches their two scientists pile into the car and wave as they pull out of the cargo door and drive away.
"You two through with unpacking yet?"
Fitzsimmons looks up from one of their just-emptied suitcases to find Jemma's mother, Ellie, standing by the doorframe of their room. She holds up two red, embroidered sweaters and tosses them on Leo's bed. They'd been sharing the same room for years, with two single beds that at some point they'd always push together.
"Be downstairs in five minutes for the family photo," Ellie reminds them, smiling as they both nod in acknowledgement before leaving.
Jemma picks up the two sweaters and hands the larger one to Fitz, giggling once he unfolds the item to reveal a large Rudolph with a great big glittering nose on the front. Hers, thankfully, is much more tame, with a grinning snowman and sequined snow sparkling in the background.
"I refuse to be a part of the photo if I have to wear this," Fitz tells her, shedding his current sweater anyway. He doesn't notice Jemma swallow at the sight of him undressing, even if he is still wearing his white undershirt.
She moves away awkwardly and moves toward the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar, to take off her own sweater. "Nonsense," she calls, "it's the family holiday photo, and you're family. You couldn't escape the humiliation even if you wanted to."
Fitz grins at that, and something warms in his chest when Jemma calls him family. He'd been spending Christmas with the Simmonses since their second year at the Academy. The first year they'd met, she'd gone home and he'd stayed in the dormitory on campus, stuffing his face and watching holiday films on his laptop. He'd managed to hide the fact from Jemma when he'd Skyped with her then, but she found out anyway the next year. She insisted on taking him home then, adamant that he not spend his Christmas alone.
Her family had taken to him immediately, and he'd been coming to her home for the holidays ever since, thinking of the place as his home too. Jemma's parents liked the traditional method of sending out Christmas cards to extended family members. He used to volunteer to take the photo, until three years ago when Jemma had pulled him to her side to pose with the rest of her family.
Jemma steps out of the bathroom and Fitz smiles at her. She's released her hair from the confines of her ponytail and her caramel curls are framing her face softly. There's a glow about her, a sort of joyful radiance that she only gets when they come home to be with her family. It never fails to make him feel lighter too.
They come down to the living room of the large Simmons manor to find the rest of the family already assembled by the fireplace. Jemma moves away from Fitz to take her place next to her sister Kelsey, who seems to be in a bit of an argument with their twelve year-old brother Matt. Her father, Martin, is by the tripod struggling with the digital camera. Fitz approaches him to help, and sets up the camera in no time.
Martin grins at the young Scot and hits him on the back fondly. "Thank you Leo. What would an old man like myself do without you?"
"Alright everyone!" Fitz says, calling for the family to look his way as he turns on the timer. They're all in their poses and he rushes to join them, moving to Jemma's side and looping an arm around her waist. He feels her lean into his embrace and settle her hand on his own where he's holding her. Once the flash goes off, the smiles on both their faces are genuine.
"Oh Leo! Don't you and Jemma look just lovely," Ellie exclaims once she takes the camera off the tripod and checks the photo. And they do look lovely, Fitz mentally agrees, all cozied up together and beaming. They look like a couple, and at this observation, he feels himself blush. He glances to his side to find that Jemma's cheeks are tinged pink as well.
"So, how's the job been, anything you can tell us?"
Later that night, after their Welcome Home dinner, everyone is in the living room, sitting by the fireplace with mugs of hot cocoa in hand. There hadn't been much conversation until now. Jemma and Leo, sitting on the couch next to each other, both look up from their mugs at Martin. Her parents know, of course, about them working at S.H.I.E.L.D. They also know that most of the information on said work is classified, but they're concerned parents nonetheless, who want to know what they're daughter's been up to, however condensed the stories may be.
"Everything's been going well, Dad," Jemma tells him. "Being on this new team means we've been to a lot of new places. Lots of fascinating missions."
Martin nods, while Ellie perks up at the word 'missions'. "Nothing too dangerous I hope."
Jemma tenses visibly and her hand twitches towards Leo instinctively. "Danger's part of the job, Mum. I told you that. But I promise you it's nothing I can't handle."
"I know, love. But still, I worry sometimes. Especially since we can't even know where you've been or what you've been doing."
"Oh, don't fuss too much, Elle," Martin tells his wife, attempting to soothe her. "Jemma's got Leo to protect her anyways."
They've got enough space between them that they aren't touching, but Jemma can still feel Leo stiffen at her father's words. His face shifts ever so slightly from relaxed to sullen, just enough for only Jemma to see it. It's been months since the Chitauri incident, but she knows that watching her jump off the Bus still haunts him. She had almost died, and it changed him, changed them. He's been more openly protective ever since, as if trying to make up for the fact that he wasn't able to save her from that bloody virus, at least that's what she thinks. But really, he's just terrified of coming so close to losing her again.
"That's right," Jemma stutters out, faking a smile. She slowly inches her hand to where her partner's is gripping at the couch cushion. She inconspicuously brushes her fingers against his and waits for them to relax. She pulls away once they do.
Kelsey, having missed her big sister, had taken Jemma to stay in her room for the night, leaving Leo alone to his thoughts. He doesn't mind. It's the longest they've been out of contact since Jemma's joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and he knows they deserve some bonding time. He understands how important family is to his partner, despite his own lack of one.
He was eleven when his mother died. Warm, loving Karen Fitz had been on her way to pick her little Leo up from school when she ran a red light and saw too late the oncoming truck to the driver's side. The truck driver hadn't seen her, and had also been driving a mere five notches higher than the speed limit to make his deadline. Leo had waited by the gate in school for over an hour until his father came to pick him up. He didn't need to be told. His mother was never late, and his father never picked him up from school.
He remembers it clearly, the distant family members giving him pitiful glances, the black suit that was a little too big for him, his mother's coffin being lowered into the ground, clutching his father's arm in a desperate attempt to hold back his tears, failing to do so.
Leo had never been close to his father. Ronald Fitz was a simple man who had simple aspirations. He never learned—never wanted to—how to handle a son who was anything but simple, who was special. He never truly believed that Leo's perpetual fascination with electrical wiring and gadgetry would bring him very far—that his mind didn't make him part of the ones in a million.
Karen did. Karen was the one who bought Leo the textbooks, the sketchpads, who took him to the local junkshop every year for his birthday and let him pick out whatever piece of machinery he wanted to tinker with. She had always encouraged him, she saw his brilliance and saw just how far her son's genius mind could take him, despite the fact that they weren't the most well-off family who could afford a prime education. She was the one who had believed in him.
And the events following her death came the classic story: his father had drifted even further away, toward the bottle, and left Leo more or less to his own devices. Slowly, the only thing the two Fitzes came to share, apart from blood, was resentment. And when Leo had left Scotland to join S.H.I.E.L.D., he didn't say goodbye, he never spoke to Ronald again.
"You busy, Leo?"
He turns from the window to find Matt hovering cautiously by the doorway.
"Nah," he smiles, "come on in."
Matt takes a seat on Jemma's bed, giving the mattress a little bounce as he does. He's holding a sketchpad. "I thought you'd turned in already."
"I was about to, since your sisters've decided to hole in together tonight for some sort of 'no boys allowed' slumber party or something."
"Yeah, you can hear 'em giggling all the way down the bloody hall."
Leo chuckles at that. He sits on his own bed, right across Matt. "Anything you wanna show me?"
When Leo had met Matt on his first Christmas with the Simmonses, the boy had avoided his sister's engineer friend at all costs. At seven years old, Little Matty had been a shy and awkward child, much like how Leo was at that age. It wasn't until Leo's next visit with Jemma that he'd gotten to know her little brother.
Matt was quite the opposite of his eldest sister. While Jemma was a realist, one who was logical and had her head firmly on her shoulders, Matt's head was known to always be in the clouds. He was imaginative; the artist of the family. He was good with a piano and brilliant with a pencil. The quality of Matt's drawings were beyond his years and when Leo learned this, he'd decided to share with the boy a secret even Jemma didn't know.
Matt opens his sketchpad to a page somewhere in the middle. He shows Leo a drawing of the manor house. "I know the proportions are a bit off, but it's only a rough sketch." He flips to the next page to reveal a drawing of the Christmas tree downstairs, "and I've been trying out coloring 'em in. Mum got me a set of pencils for my birthday, the good kind, not the kids' stuff."
Leo leans in to get a better look. He reaches for the pad hesitantly. "May I?"
The boy nods and he gets up to pull out a pencil case from his bag. He comes back with a pencil and takes the sketchpad, flipping it back to the drawing of the manor. "Your proportions are fine, but your point of light here isn't consistent with the rest." He points to a tree and a patch of shrubbery before very lightly shading one side. He only ever marks the working points; he lets Matt execute the changes himself. He flips it back to the Christmas tree. "This is really good. Have ya' ever considered painting? Watercolor, maybe?"
Matt shrugs. "No, but I guess I could give it a go, maybe in the summer." He takes back his sketchpad from Leo and looks up at him. "Have you got anything new?"
Leo nods, grinning. He gets up again to rummage through his bag to retrieve his own sketchpad. It feels nice, he thinks, to have someone look up to him the way Matt does; to have a little brother who he can bond over art with.
It's strange because when he first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Leo thought that it meant he was leaving any chance of having a family behind him for good. It was one of the reasons why he'd first been so drawn to Skye; he could identify with being an orphan, even if he technically wasn't. Being around Skye gave him a sense of relating, but now that he's back here, now that he's home, he realizes that Jemma has given him something much better: siblings, parents, a grandmother, herself—a family.
December 23rd is what the Simmons family likes to call Shopping Day. By 10 AM everyone is piling into two cars to the yearly bazaar in town to shop for each other's presents. Jemma and Leo had already done their Christmas shopping in the many destinations they'd reached with the Bus, so they make their trip to the supermarket for the foodstuffs needed in tomorrow's party.
The next day everyone is abuzz during preparations for the annual Christmas party. The males of the family have to be up by sunrise to haul tents and chairs and tables out to the yard. Sometimes Jemma, being an early riser, likes to help them out, but being at home makes her feel so relaxed and women in the family don't really get up until ten and by then Martin and Leo are setting up the last of the chairs and Matt is already climbing up the ladder to hang the lights. So when she wakes up she usually goes straight to the kitchen, because the idea of cooking for thirty people sometimes makes her mum a bit… jittery.
Every year on Christmas Eve the whole Simmons clan comes to the manor to celebrate. That's six grandparents, five sets of aunts and uncles, and twelve cousins for Jemma. During the day, everyone has their job. The boys set up the yard, Kelsey takes care of music and decorations, Ellie and Grandma Simmons are in charge of food, and Jemma flits back and forth, making sure they have enough hands outside and keeping her mother sane inside.
They finish everything thankfully by five o'clock, with two hours to primp before guests begin to arrive. Leo showers quickly before leaving their room and letting Jemma take her time to get ready. He hangs around Matt's room and comes back an hour later to find Jemma dressed and already tidying up her bed.
Part of Leo knows that he shouldn't be staring, but that part of his mind currently isn't functioning. Jemma is in a red dress, nude wedges, and her hair is down in loose curls. So simple and yet so… perfect. He's vaguely aware that she's finally noticed him, and is looking at him curiously, but he doesn't move. Has her face always been this beautiful?
He's making her uncomfortable. He knows this because the blood begins to rush up her cheeks, but what it does to her face just makes his stomach twist and his chest tighten even more.
"Is there something wrong with my face?" she asks worriedly, fingers inching towards the compact on her bed to check her make-up.
No, he almost blurts out, how could there possibly be anything wrong with your face? "No, you look great."
Her blush deepens and they both fall into a short lapse of silence, before Leo finally gathers his wits and smiles. "I was, uh, thinking I'd give your present early this year."
She raises an eyebrow at that, and he moves to his bag to pull out a small wrapped box from underneath a few folded shirts. He hands it to her, never looking up at her face and watches as her fingers move under the tape and only looks up at her expression once she opens the box.
Leo doesn't normally give jewelry to anyone. It's not his thing. He likes giving practical gifts, things that he knows will be useful, and usually he lets Jemma pick the gifts they give. But a lot has happened in the past year, and he's put a lot of thought into the necklace she's holding now. It's an eight-point star, with a small gem in the middle. Jemma flips the pendant over and runs her thumb over what looks like a button on the back. Leo touches her hand softly, his own thumb resting on hers.
"Go on," he says, "press it."
She presses the button gently and discovers that the center gem is actually a little projector. A holo-photo pops up, one of the whole team on the Bus, and she gives a little gasp. "You made this?"
"Press it again," is all he says.
She presses the button a second time and the photo changes to one of her family, the Christmas photo they'd taken just two days ago. Something dawns on her, and she looks at him. "Is that why you looked like such a zombie yesterday? It must've taken you all night to program this."
Again, he doesn't answer. "One last."
She presses the button a third time and the holo-photo changes again. It's one of them, just them. They're both in their lab gowns, her arms are wrapped around Leo's torso and his arm is around her shoulders, both of them grinning at the camera. She remembers when this was taken; it was on their last day at Sci-Ops, when they'd packed up their lab into cases that were to be transferred onto a plane. The last day before their great adventure.
She presses the button one last time and the pendant shuts off. She looks up at Leo with shimmering eyes, and notices that he's nervously scratching the back of his neck like he always does.
From the day they first came on the Bus, Jemma had known the cost of going on such an adventure. It meant she would always be missing her family, always unsure whether each conversation with them would be their last. Leo had been there, of course, but he was never in the same position as her. Jemma was Leo's family—all he ever needed, with no one to miss. Jemma, however, always had someone to miss, if not her family then her team. And missing people could sometimes really weigh down on her.
Now, she has a piece of everyone, a piece that she could bring with her anywhere, that she didn't have to miss.
Before Leo can even open his mouth to form words, Jemma is squeezing the life out of him. He'd laugh, but she's holding him so tight he's not sure he can breathe. So he wraps his arms around her too and puts as much as he can into the embrace, burying his nose in her hair. They stay like that for a while, neither wanting to let go. Jemma presses her cheek against his and whispers into his ear.
"Thank you, Leo."
She lets go then, and he follows her lead. Suddenly Ellie is calling everyone downstairs because guests will be arriving soon. Jemma eagerly holds the necklace out to Leo. "D'you mind?"
He takes the necklace and waits for her to turn around and hold up her hair. It feels so cheesy, this moment, as if it was right out of some clichéd romantic comedy. He has to remind himself that rom-coms don't apply to best friends. When he clasps the necklace on, his hand lingers there, for just a second, on the nape of her neck. He's not sure but he thinks he felt her shiver.
Jemma moves away to look at herself in the bathroom mirror. She leaves the door open and he takes in the sight of her beaming at her reflection, wearing the necklace. Somehow, looking at her, he realizes that part of him has known, from the day they became Fitzsimmons, that that necklace would be hers.
Punctuality seems to be a Simmons family trait, because by 8 PM everyone's there and the party is in full swing. Leo comes out to the yard carrying two cups of hot cocoa and surveys the area. He finds Jemma chatting with Lizzie, a cousin of hers, and another man who looks unfamiliar. Maybe Skye was right, he thinks, because as if she can feel his gaze, Jemma's eyes flit in his direction and she smiles.
He takes it as an invite to approach and hands her the other cup of hot cocoa, greeting Lizzie with a hello. They stand there for a while, and the other man in their group is introduced as Will, Lizzie's fiancé. Somewhere in the middle of their conversation about Lizzie and Will's recent trip to San Francisco, Leo notices Jemma rubbing at her arms. He does it without thinking, slides his arm around her and pulls her close, making sure her exposed arm is pressed up to his side, against the warmth of his sweater, while his hand rubs the other arm up and down.
"So do you guys plan on getting married soon too?"
It's Will who asks, and this is his first family Christmas party, so he's given a pass. But still, Leo's arm slides off Jemma's and she takes a step away from him, almost automatically. Meanwhile, Lizzie is smirking. "They're not a couple, hun," she tells him. "They've just been friends for a very, very long time."
The awkwardness only heightens from there, so the first chance they get, Leo and Jemma excuse themselves and stand off for a few minutes away from the groups of relatives clumped together. The mishap is common, and it's actually been easier to brush off such incidents when they're alone together.
They're safe for about half an hour until they're with Jemma's Aunt Mel and Grandma Agnes, who has always been quite the forgetful character.
"I'm sorry my boy," Grandma Agnes says mid-conversation. "I don't think I caught your name."
"This is Leo, mum," Aunt Mel tells her. "Remember, he was in the Christmas card Jemma's family sent over."
Grandma Agnes eyes the pair for a few seconds before exclaiming, "Oh yes! How was the wedding? When was it, again? Forgive an old lady for her faulty memory."
Of course, Grandma Agnes is confusing them with another couple's wedding, but before Aunt Mel or Jemma, who is blushing a deep scarlet, can correct the elderly woman, Leo smiles. "'Wasn't long ago. It was great, we kept it small."
Aunt Mel is looking at them curiously. Jemma is looking at him like he's been replaced by an alien. Leo is ignoring them both. Grandma Agnes smiles with him. "Oh how lovely! And good for both of you. I don't understand these other young couples nowadays who need to waste their money on such lavish weddings. Such a waste of money—money that could be used to help start a family. So it's a wise choice, keeping your wedding small; gives you the opportunity to give us great grandchildren while we're still here."
From the corner of his eye, he can see Jemma's expression shift from wide-eyed shock to an almost challenging look. Don't you dare, she's saying. He dares. "We'll get started straightaway then. Wouldn't want to keep you waiting long."
He hears something spill then, and looks down to find what looks like half of Jemma's hot cocoa seeping around in the grass. (Thank god it's grass, Ellie would have thrown a fit if she'd spilled it on the patio floor.)
"Oh, clumsy me!" Jemma says, laughing nervously. "I'm sorry Gran, Aunt Mel. I'd better go and clean myself up."
Leo and Aunt Mel raise an eyebrow at her, with varying degrees of the "nice try" look on their faces. A few drops had spilled onto the hem of Jemma's dress, sure, but it was hardly an alarming situation, nothing that was too visible unless you actually looked close enough. Aunt Mel lets it go though, and lets Jemma walk away toward the patio with Leo in tow.
They make their way to the kitchen where Jemma grabs a napkin to dab at the hem of her dress. When she looks at Leo, her eyes are wide as saucers. "What was that?!"
She can see that he's clearly trying to hold back his laughter and it's infuriating. "What was what?" he answers, barely keeping it in.
He breaks out into a smile, and wonders when it was that frustrated!Jemma started to look so adorable to him. "I was just indulging her, Jem."
"Clearly!"
He puts his arm around her, still grinning. He doesn't know what's come over him, really. "'Promise I won't do it again."
Jemma is once again faced with dilemma that is staying mad at Leo Fitz, because she has never been capable of it. Not ever.
"Fine."
He does it again.
They're with her Aunt Beth, who hasn't been attending the Christmas parties in four years. Normally, Leo is very comfortable around Jemma's relatives, having dealt with them enough times before. But Aunt Beth, of course, is unfamiliar compared to the rest. He barely remembers her, but she seems to remember him.
"How can I forget? You brought him along with you the last time I was here," the middle-aged woman says to Jemma, and then turns to Leo. "And it seems he's become a staple in the family Christmas card ever since." She smiles. "I'm glad. You make such a lovely couple."
They both begin to shade red at this. Jemma's about to correct her, but she's forgotten just how talkative Aunt Beth can be. "And I heard from Tony that you've been engaged for quite some time now. Congratulations! How long has it been?"
Before Jemma even opens her mouth she hears Leo say next to her, "It's been a little over a year."
And she freezes. Any possible reaction to his blatant promise-breaking is delayed by shock. Her Uncle Tony's always been quite the joker. He's been poking fun at her friendship with Leo for years, so it's no surprise that he's been steering his unsuspecting victims in their direction. But Leo.
Like Grandma Agnes, Aunt Beth doesn't notice Jemma's reaction. She's focused on Leo, her brows furrowing in disapproval. "Goodness, why such a long engagement? Surely it's not cold feet, is it?"
Leo shakes his head, smiling. He's avoiding looking at Jemma, lest her reaction make him burst into laughter. "Nah, we've just been terribly busy with work. Haven't had enough time off to plan the wedding, much less have one."
Aunt Beth shakes her head disapprovingly. "That's a bloody shame. They shouldn't be working you into the ground like that."
Into the air, Leo jokes in his head. If Jemma had heard it, she'd have probably rolled her eyes. He shrugs. "We want to keep it small, though. So it shouldn't be that hard. We're hoping maybe by the end of spring next year, or fall at the latest, we'll finally get to it."
He pats himself on the back for that. Jemma loves the autumn season. Aunt Beth claps her hands in delight at the reassurance. "A spring wedding, lovely!"
He changes the topic after that, and they chat for a while. Aunt Beth is such a sprightly woman and he's beginning to enjoy getting to know yet another member of Jemma's family. Somewhere along the way Jemma manages to get a grip on herself and joins in the conversation too.
They talk long enough that he's almost forgotten the blunder he'd caused moments ago. But when Aunt Beth finally excuses herself, Jemma spares no time in forcefully taking Leo's cup from him.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"Checking your cocoa to see if they've spiked it again." She brings the half-empty cup up to her nose and takes a whiff. Nothing. "You must be drunk. It's the only valid explanation."
By "they", she means her cousins. A few of Jemma's younger (by just a few years) male cousins had the habit of sharing their liquor during the party. Sometimes Leo was an active participant, but he's been an unsuspecting victim more than once too. He'd been highly inebriated the last (and only) time he entertained her relatives' misconceptions of their rela—er—friendship.
He rolls his eyes and snatches his already-cold hot cocoa from her. "I'm not drunk, Jemma, even if this was spiked. It's only been my second."
She doesn't look at him. Her eyebrows are scrunched together, the way they usually do when she's confused or in deep concentration. He laughs and slings his arm across her shoulders. "I don't see what the big deal is. So I got a little creative talking to your relatives. You know half your family still thinks we're secretly dating; no matter we do to convince them otherwise."
"And so you've decided to perpetuate it instead?" She asks, her voice getting a little hysterical. She's been blushing way too often in the last few hours, it's kind of exhausting.
Leo just grins and shrugs. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
But Jemma is unamused. And she lets this be known by groaning into the fabric of his sweater as she leans her head on his shoulder. He's not convinced, of course, because she's moving closer to him and not further away.
He's glad she's not asking why, because even he doesn't know what's come over him. A part of him even enjoyed it. Because, truthfully, he likes the idea of a small wedding; he likes the idea of Jemma in white dress surrounded by falling yellow and orange leaves. He likes the idea of a curly-haired little girl (or boy) with Jemma's eyes or nose or ears or mouth. The more he talked about it, the more he could see it, and the more he liked it. Not that he'd admit any of it out loud.
Maybe he is drunk; because that would certainly explain the high he's been feeling. Maybe it's because for the first time in what's felt like an eternity, he can be around her without the fear that any second, one or both of them could be at risk. Maybe it's because ever since they got back, everyone, including her, have been so full of life and joy. Maybe it's because she looks beautiful wearing his mother's necklace (but he won't tell her that yet). Maybe it's because it's Christmas.
Whatever it is, he'll take it, and for once he won't go too far in questioning it. He's happy. Much happier than he's been in a while, and so is Jemma. He rests his head on hers and whispers into her hair, "You've gotta give me some credit, though. I had excellent detail."
She looks up at him and shakes her head. But her eyes are bright and she's chuckling. "A fall wedding does sound like something I'd go for."
He can't hold back his smile.
Christmas morning comes and everyone is just as jubilant as they were the night before. Martin and Ellie wake up bright and early to prepare breakfast and share a little kiss under the mistletoe, before popping in their favorite Christmas CD in the stereo.
Once the music rings through the house, Matt practically jumps from his bed and makes a run for the door. He finds a bedraggled-looking Kelsey standing in the threshold of her own room, groggily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before turning to her little brother to give him a small smile. Together they jog down the staircase and see that their parents are already sitting in front of the tree. They can hear their grandmother's footsteps softly approaching them from behind.
Ellie looks up at them with a bright smile, but after a quick once-over her brows furrow in confusion. "Where are Jemma and Leo?"
The two siblings jog their way back up the stairs to their eldest sister's bedroom, and find her and her best friend still sleeping soundly. Just as they did every year, they had pushed their beds together the night before, and were now tangled together somewhere in the middle. Matt snickers. Kelsey takes a moment to appreciate how peaceful (and adorable) they look before turning to Matt and smirking. "One…" she whispers.
"Two…" he whispers back, both of them edging toward their respective sides (Kelsey on Jemma's and Matt on Leo's).
In unison they say, "Three!"
They pounce and land violently on the bodies of the sleeping scientists, laughing when they hear their sister be the first to acknowledge their shenanigans, groaning loudly as she tries to push Kelsey off of her. Leo has begun to stir as well, but he refuses to open his eyes. That is until Matt actually rolls on top of him and lands right in between him and Jemma. "Wake up, it's Christmas!" the boy exclaims.
Leo throws his pillow over his head and lets it muffle his voice. "Can't it be Christmas later?"
Kelsey, who is now sitting up, snatches the pillow under Jemma's head and smacks Leo with it as hard as she can. "No, because we can't open presents until everyone's downstairs so get your bloody arses out of bed now!"
Matt laughs, and Jemma begrudgingly sits up forcefully taking her pillow back from Kelsey. "Alright, alright. We'll be downstairs in a bit. Just give us five minutes."
"You have two," Matt says, violently bouncing on the bed before getting up to leave with Kelsey.
"How long d'you think we have until they come back?" Leo asks once they're gone.
"I doubt they'll even wait the two minutes they've given us," Jemma answers, "so we might as well."
Leo still refuses to move from where he lays, keeping his eyes stubbornly shut. "But—"
He's hit by her pillow again. "But nothing," Jemma says, trying to push him off the bed. Leo groans, finally conceding. He sits up on the edge of the bed and combs his fingers through his messy curls. On the other end, Jemma is reaching for the necklace he'd given her the night before. She puts it on over her pajama top and smiles at Leo when she sees him standing up. "Merry Christmas."
Leo smiles back at her. Does she always look so radiant fresh out of bed? How is that even possible? "Merry Christmas."
They pad quickly to the living room and find everyone in their respective places. Martin and Ellie are already handing out presents from under the tree.
"Merry Christmas dears," Ellie greets them brightly. She hands them each a present to open, and the next hour consists mainly of a flurry of giftwrapper.
Jemma gets clothes from her parents, as does Leo, and Gran makes them both matching blankets. From her siblings she gets a drawing of the three of them, courtesy of Matt, in frame that Kelsey had picked out. In turn, Jemma and Leo give Kelsey a few rare books, and Matt shoots Leo a knowing grin when he receives from them a set of watercolors, the good kind.
Everyone is in high spirits, and at breakfast Jemma surprises Leo with a prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich… with just a hint of her homemade pesto aioli. He gives her a wide grin and she resists the urge to give him a peck on the cheek (or more) in front of her whole family.
Later when they're back upstairs, Leo sets up his laptop on the bed next to Jemma. As soon as he does, he receives a video call and Skye appears on his screen.
"What up, Fitzsimmons!" Skye says cheerfully from her end, her smile a bit pixelated.
Jemma and Leo wave cheerfully from their end, greeting her together. "Merry Christmas, Skye!"
"How're the others handling their Christmas cheer?" Leo asks jokingly.
"Surprisingly well," the hacker answers with a smirk, which then turns into a wide-eyed grin. "Coulson got May to land the Bus in Paris! And so far I've managed to convince Ward to go do tourist-y stuff with me, seeing as he's 'never really seen it' himself. I'm dragging everyone to have lunch near the Eiffel Tower. It would be a lot easier to chat everyone up if you guys were here, but so far I've taken well to the challenge."
"Speaking of, where is everyone?" Jemma asks, her brows furrowing.
Judging by what they can see behind her, Skye seems to be sitting at the bar. The hacker turns her head away from the camera to glance around. "They should be on their way. I'll call them again, just gimme a sec."
She leaves the frame and a few minutes later, comes back with Ward in tow. They see the screen shake as she angles her laptop to face both her and Ward as she sits him down on a barstool. "God, why do you have to be such a giant," she grumbles, obviously pushing the screen to face upward so they can see Ward's face. It seems that this has forced Skye to stand rather than sit.
"Okay," Skye says, facing Ward who is rolling his eyes. "Now, greet Fitzsimmons." Skye turns to the camera and grins. "He's taken a Christmas vow to be nice to me."
"Merry Christmas, Fitzsimmons," he says monotonously. Jemma greets back for both of them, chuckling as she does.
"So how're you guys doing there?" Ward asks, the tone in his voice a little easier now.
"It's great," she answers, and then looks at Leo, "good to be home."
Soon enough Coulson and May join in to greet their two scientists and they talk with Skye a little more. Jemma shows her the necklace Leo had given her and the two talk animatedly about what's been going on in the Simmons home. Skye watches them together with a little smirk. Something's changed and she can tell.
It's almost lunch when they end the call. Leo shuts his laptop and she helps him fix up as they crawl off the bed.
"You know," Jemma says slowly, "I still haven't given you my present."
She hands him a large package and Leo looks up at her surprised. He had forgotten, really, that she owed him a gift at all.
"I know it's not much," she says awkwardly, watching him tear up the wrapping, "at least not compared to what you gave me."
The first thing he pulls out is a tie; a nice, navy blue silk tie that matches his eyes. He runs his fingers through the fabric, and stops when he feels something cold at the tip: a pin. It's a pin in the shape of a plane. There's a sketchpad too, for his blueprints. She tells him to open the first page and he finds a sketch of Jemma and himself, similar to the photo they'd taken together in Peru. ("Matt said he wanted to give you something as well.")
"I love it, Jem," he tells her honestly, giving her a soft smile. She smiles back at him, and hand in hand they head downstairs for lunch.
Later that night they're both out on patio, side by side, hot cocoa in each hand and a quilt draped over both their shoulders. Ellie watches them from the living room as she clears away the coffee table. She watches the side of her daughter's face light up as she glances over at her best friend to laugh at his joke. She watches her daughter's best friend look back with a tenderness in his eyes that almost looks like adoration.
Her middle child watches with her as she folds blankets and sets them on the sofa. "Sometimes I wonder," Kelsey says, to no one in particular. "If they know each other well enough to finishes each other's sentences, how is it they don't see the ridiculously obvious fact that they're completely besotted with each other?"
Ellie smiles and picks up her tray. "All in good time, love," she says before heading off to the kitchen.
"All in good time."
A big hug to the lovely Siobhan for beta-ing this for me! Remember to favorite (but only if you really do like it, haha) and review!