Title: O Christmas Tree
Author: Rina (Searider Falcon)
Pairing: Niles/C.C. Babcock
Disclaimer: The Nanny and its characters are all the property of Sony Pictures, High School Sweethearts, and Sternin & Fraser's Ink, Inc. I make no profit from writing and sharing this story.
A/N: Written for the 2013 Niles/CC Advent Calendar.
Their first Christmas together as a couple, his wife accused him of being a Yuletide snob. He fussed over their tree and various decor for hours to ensure that each strand of lights sparkled, the ribbons and ornaments were evenly distributed, and not one corner of their new home lacked a little bit of holiday spirit and whimsy. It being the first Christmas tree he could truly consider to be his own, the first one that didn't have to suit someone else's taste, well, he got a little carried away perhaps.
In retrospect, he had to admire C.C.'s restraint in not finding some creative way to turn his various body parts into some sort of macabre collection of ornaments. As it stood, she still threatened to replace the angel that topped the grand tree in their living room with his skull once she became fed up with his constant tweaking and the new additions that sprung up around the house long after the initial festive explosion took over the place.
Their first tree turned out to be the only tree that managed to meet his exacting standards and creative vision, though, as the last couple years found him making some not so aesthetically pleasing adjustments. He hoped to do better this year.
He stepped back to examine his latest work thus far.
"It looks fine, Igor," C.C. teased him as she walked into the room.
Niles scoffed and gestured to the half-finished tree.
She examined the stacked box of ornaments yet to be hung and plucked one from its setting. Dangling it from her index finger, she arched a brow at him. "So, am I actually going to be allowed to help this year?"
"You've helped before..."
"Once! And you barely let me do anything!"
"That had more to do with you being just a couple weeks shy of your due date. I admit I was a little too jittery about sending you into labor."
She snorted in amusement. "Believe me, if that's all it would've taken, I was more than ready at that point. I think the real reason you wouldn't let me near the tree for too long was because you were convinced your daughter was going knock down half the ornaments in utero."
Niles barely suppressed a guilty grin. Indeed, he only allowed her to hang just a few before shooing her back over to the sofa to rest prop up her swollen ankles, and there had been a particularly close call between her belly and a rather delicate ornament that had been in his family for decades. Still, with the end of her pregnancy nearing, he hadn't wanted anything to jeopardize the health of either C.C. or their unborn child, who still had about a month to go before her due date at that time. She only called him a few scathing names when finally relented to sitting down.
"I only wanted to make us to enjoy those last few weeks of uninterrupted sleep, my dear."
"Says the one who didn't spend half that pregnancy having his bladder used as a kickball day and night. You're very lucky my own holiday cheer prevented me from smashing a few of those precious ornaments over your head...which, if you don't stop smirking, is exactly what I may do here in a moment." The sparkle of affection in her eyes belied the harshness of her tone.
The bickering and lack of equal participation aside that year, they both agreed the finished product turned out quite breathtaking.
Less than two weeks later and still slightly shy of her anticipated due date, Natalie made her entrance. The holiday trimmings paled in comparison.
C.C. was quiet for a few moments as she hung a few more ornaments.
"The last couple years, you didn't even wait until I was home."
"In fairness, I had wanted to surprise you the first year. I didn't realize you really wanted to participate that much."
She shrugged and he heaved an inward sigh. He still sometimes forgot that she wanted them to share and create new traditions together, especially at this time of year. Despite their three and a half years of marriage, with almost twenty years of grinchy precedence, it still startled him even now to see her embrace the holiday spirit.
"And last year, the tree wouldn't have gone up until just a few days before Christmas."
"I know. That'll teach me to plan and launch an international publicity tour during the holiday season," she conceded.
From right after Thanksgiving until just a week prior to Christmas, she set foot in the house only a few days here and there and found herself too exhausted to enjoy the brief time she spent with her family before setting out for the next round. He recalled how she'd burst into over-tired tears the night she slipped into the house to find Niles placing the finishing touches to that year's decorations. As she sobbed into his shoulder, she told him she never wanted this to happen again.
"It's just as well, since everything you would've put on it had to be moved anyway." Niles cringed as he recalled the none-too-artful end results of the past couple years. Their ever-curious toddler and her fascination with the glistening lights and pretty ornaments the past couple years forced him to make adjustments. The lowest branches remained almost bare those years and more breakable decorations went to higher branches. He wasn't entirely sure which year was worse, the year where she'd just learned to walk or last year's entrance into the terrible twos, where every utterance of the word "no" was met with defiance.
C.C. graced him with a small smile. "Ha. Here you thought marrying a rich sugar mama meant you could be a lazy bum for the rest of your life…"
"Isn't that the truth! I never counted on her being a bigger slave driver than her mama!" He nudged her with his elbow before winking and leaning in to kiss her cheek.
As C.C. turned around to select another ornament, Niles frowned at the placement of an ornament she'd just hung. He plucked it from its branch and moved it a few inches to the left, though not quickly enough for his wife not to see. He ducked to the other side of the tree to escape her exasperated growl.
They stayed quiet for the next ten minutes as they hung the remaining decorations.
With the last one finally in place, he stepped away from the tree to study their handiwork.
"It looks amazing," She told him as she stretched out on the sofa.
He shook his head as he joined her. "I feel like it's missing something."
The slam of a car door in the driveway caught their attention and they shared knowing glances. Their daughter attended the same preschool as Jonah and Eve, and they took turns with the Sheffields when picking up the kids up each week.
"I'll go answer the door," C.C. said as she stood up.
Niles grinned as he listened to his wife greet their little girl and Max. As he heard her coo over whatever little crafts Natalie made in her class that afternoon, he marveled over what wonderful a mother she turned out to be.
"Ooo, go show Daddy."
Natalie called out hurried farewells to Max and the twins before she all but sprinted into the living room and pounced onto the sofa next to her father.
"Daddy, look what I made today!" She held up a lopsided, glitter-covered star made of Popsicle sticks and construction paper.
His eyes lit up as he accepted the proffered gift.
"Can we hang it on the tree?" The three year old looked up at her parents expectantly.
"Of course!" C.C. smirked up at him as she sat down next to them and hugged Natalie, but the glint in her eye warned him not to hurt her feelings with any sort of rejection, no matter how much the childish creation might clash with his photo shoot-ready display.
He answered her look with an offended one of his own. Of course, he'd never say no.
"You can put that anywhere on the tree you want, sweetheart."
"Anywhere?
"Yep."
She slid off the sofa and approached the tree. "All by myself?"
"All by yourself. Just be very careful not to knock over any of the ornaments. They might break and you could hurt yourself."
Natalie nodded and then faced the tree once more, her brow furrowed as she studied the tree for just the right spot. She reminded him so much of her mama in that moment, a miniature version from her posture right down to the determined way she stuck out her chin.
"Oh, lord. She's worse than you," C.C. whispered while she watched their daughter thoughtfully circle the tree and consider each potential spot.
Niles chuckled as he quietly responded, amused by how her thoughts sort of echoed his own, "Guess we don't need that DNA test to confirm her parentage, eh?"
He gasped at the sharp pinch at his side.
"There!" Natalie declared as she hooked her ornament to a bough, one front and center. She glanced back at her parents for their approval.
"It's perfect, angel. Isn't it, Daddy?"
"Absolutely!"
The child beamed at them.
C.C. settled against him as Natalie scampered off in the direction of her playroom. "You do realize from now until middle school, you'll probably never manage to have another perfect tree again, right?"
He looked over at the tree again, noting how the primary red, green, and yellow of Natalie's handmade star stood out in stark contrast against the burgundy and silver theme he'd chosen for this year.
But...instead of resignation, he only felt an absurd amount of pride in his child's creativity. And perhaps just the tiniest pang of regret that she was growing up on them, so quickly that she was hardly a baby anymore.
He pulled C.C. tighter to him as he rested his cheek atop her head. "On the contrary, I think this just might be the finest tree we've had so far."