A/N: It's just barely still Christmas Eve as I'm starting this, but I know my internet's still acting crazy, and I won't get it back before Christmas morning, so who knows when this will get posted. Until then, though, Merry Christmas, and thanks everyone for giving this story a chance!

Please review on your way out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs.

Chapter 7

Lydia Anderson peaked into Auggie's old bedroom, smiling when she saw Annie there, reading a book from their home library. It had been nice having Annie and Auggie home for the holidays, but it looked like Annie had been winding down to the end of her Christmas spirit. She was definitely still excited about the holiday, but Annie had been away from her home for weeks, which it sounded like she rarely did, and the month of December was a marathon when spent with Ari. They had made ornaments, decorated the yard with Christmas lights, baked cookies, gone to Ari's Christmas program at their church, gone to a few Christmas parties, had several day-long Christmas shopping expeditions, watched countless Christmas movies, and every other Christmas-like activity Ari could come up with to do with Annie and Auggie. Both Auggie and his wife had been great about spending time with Ari, and Lydia didn't blame them if they were running out of energy.

It was December 22, though, and Annie and Auggie were leaving tomorrow evening. That meant Christmas Eve was "tonight."

"Hey, Annie," she called with a smile. "Why don't you come downstairs? There are a few Christmas Eve traditions we'd like to share with you and Auggie before Ari goes to bed yet."

Annie nodded and marked the page in her book, leaving it behind as she turned off the bedside lamp. "I'm coming," she said, following Lydia down to the living room, where Patrick, Auggie, and Ari were already waiting for her.

When she passed in front of Auggie, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, tugging her down next to him. "Hey, babe," he said with a soft smile.

She smiled in return and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Hey, yourself."

Lydia sat down on the floor next to a stack of presents set off to the side. As she picked up the first one, she said, "Annie, we have a tradition in our family that we each get to open one present on Christmas Eve. I've always done a lot of sewing for our family, and each year I make a pair of pajamas for everyone. Just so you know what to expect, since Auggie, Ari, and Paddy know what's coming."

Annie nodded with a polite smile and waited for Lydia to dispense the gifts. The Andersons had involved her in every step of their Christmas activities, but she didn't expect them to spend a lot of time or money on her with gifts. Besides, she was content to simply watch.

Lydia passed out boxes for Patrick, Auggie, and Ari, and when there was one box left, Ari jumped up from her spot on the floor and held her hands out for the box. "Mommy, can I do it?" she asked eagerly, and Lydia nodded with a smile.

"Go ahead, baby."

Ari snatched up the box and ran toward Annie and Auggie. "Here, Annie! It's for you!"

Annie smiled in surprise and thanked Ari, and Lydia explained with a smile, "Auggie helped me figure out what size you would need. You've done everything else with us for this Christmas season; we wanted you to be able to take part in gifts and such, too."

Annie smiled her thanks and started ripping off the Christmas paper at Lydia's nod. When she lifted the box, she discovered a pair of soft, new flannel pajama pants with a striped pattern, alternating shades of violet and white. She grinned up at Lydia automatically as she lifted the pants from the box, admiring them. "Thank you, Lydie."

Lydia's eyes glowed back at her. "You're welcome. After everyone else opens theirs, we can get the proper size elastic and fit it in for you. It's always been easier to do it that way than measure everyone before Christmas, especially since we started this tradition when my boys were constantly growing."

Annie nodded and relaxed back into Auggie's arms. "That's fine. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, dear. Auggie, you're next."

In the next half hour or so, Auggie, Ari, and Patrick opened their gifts and Lydia set to work fitting each pair of pants with the proper size elastic while Annie watched in interest. She'd heard of many Christmas traditions, but never receiving Christmas pajama pants. It seemed kind of weird at first, but as Lydia finished off Annie's pants and she went to their bedroom to change, the idea grew on her. It was a nice taste of Christmas to be able to open one present the night before, and it added to everyone's Christmas spirit to be able to wear the present to bed.

When she returned from their bedroom, she settled back into Auggie's arms as he waited for the elastic to be put into his pants, and Lydia glanced up from her work. "It looks like they fit well," she commented.

Annie glanced down at her pants and smiled. "Yeah. Thanks again, Lydie."

"No problem, dear. You're family now. We're happy to have you take part in our traditions."

Once Lydia finished fitting each pair of pants with elastic, Patrick took Ari to get ready for bed. "You two are welcome to stay up, of course," Lydia said in passing as she stood to return to her bedroom. "Paddy and I will be up for several hours still, wrapping presents."

Auggie stood to his feet, catching her hint, and made his way to his mother, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "Thanks for everything, Mom," he said, and she smiled and nodded in reply. Auggie then reached for Annie's hand and they made their way back up to their bedroom.

As Auggie fell back on their bed, tucking his folded hands beneath his head, Annie peaked out the door before closing it behind her. "Is Christmas Eve always this… boring down here?"

Auggie laughed and patted the bed next to him. "You're just too used to life up… north. You just have to find something to do." He grinned over at her. "We can watch my favorite Christmas movie."

She scowled at him. "I think I've watched a dozen Christmas movies already."

He shook his head drolly. "Yeah, well, none of those is my favorite Christmas movie."

She eyed him warily. "And what's your favorite?"

He grinned. "White Christmas."

"That sounds like an old movie…"

He snorted. "It's not that old. Besides, sometimes older means better."

She sighed dramatically, and Auggie took it as a cue. He hopped off the bed and found the DVD next to the TV that was still in his room. He quickly set up the movie while Annie stared at him. "You know, I never actually said yes," Annie called from her perch against the pillows with a wry grin.

Auggie turned toward her just to roll his eyes. "Please. We both know that heave of a sigh was a yes."

Annie giggled, and, after he finished loading the DVD and made his way back to the bed, she pulled him down on the bed next to her, cuddling into his side as the opening credits began to roll. Auggie listened to the beginning of the movie for a moment, liking the feeling of just relaxing with Annie, holding her in his arms, no worries in sight. After a moment, he turned in her direction slightly, lightly letting his hand brush up and down the soft, smooth skin of her left forearm. "So, almost ready to go back home?"

She smiled a bit wistfully as she thought back on the whirlwind of the last couple weeks she'd spent with Auggie's parents, Auggie, and Ari. It had exceeded all her visions of an American Christmas, but she couldn't believe it was almost over. The idea of going months without seeing Ari again left her with an empty feeling on the inside, and the thought of hardly ever seeing her five nieces and nephews made her sad. True, she didn't know Evie, Graham, Leni, Cole, and Annabel as well as she knew Chloé and Katia, but they would forever be a part of her life now, and she didn't want to forget them. And Lydia and Patrick—they had been wonderful. They had treated her like a second daughter, and she didn't want to have to admit to herself that this was likely the only time she would see them—all of them. Still, she missed her parents, Dani and Michael, and the girls, not to mention all her friends at the North Pole. There had to be a better solution.

She sighed sadly. "Yeah, I guess."

He grinned at her. "Ari still didn't wear you out?"

Annie glanced down at her hand, fidgeting with her nails unnecessarily. "No… well, that's not it. I just… I didn't expect to like your family so much."

Auggie laughed. "I told you they would love you."

She snuggled closer to him. "What if I never see Ari again? Or any of our nieces and nephews? They're my family now, Auggie, too."

He stroked her cheek gently and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I know, babe." He linked his fingers with hers, gently running his thumb along the side of her hand. "You know, I talk to them every week?"

Annie looked up at him hopefully. "All of them?"

"Well, no. I call here every week, and talk to my parents, and Ari, if she's still awake. I talk to my brothers when I can, but it's not quite as often. I'm sure we could arrange for you to be able to talk to Ari and Emma, if you like. I know you got attached to her a week or two ago."

Annie smiled at the thought. Even if she had to return home, she could still remain good friends with the people here. "Really?"

"Yeah. We could probably figure out a way to set up an email address for you. That way you could send messages to them when you have time, too. I have Emma's email address, and my parents'. You could pass messages on to Ari and even Leni or some of the others."

Annie grinned at the prospect. "Really?"

He pressed a light kiss to her lips. "Really." He nodded to the TV screen, where the movie was starting to get under way. "C'mon. Let's watch the movie."

Annie settled back into his arms as she watched the World War II scene that started the movie, but she shot straight back up in his arms when an idea hit her. "Can we come visit again? Like, during the summer or something, when you don't have as many responsibilities at home, and when all the kids are out of school for the year? Or maybe we can come for a late Christmas? And we can bring my parents, Dani, Michael, and the girls? I know they're technically not your family's family, but imagine it, Auggie! The girls would love it. And Dani's always complaining about how her life is so domesticated."

Auggie laughed at her enthusiasm. "Whoa, tiger," he teased, pressing a kiss to her lips for just a moment. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, okay? But yes, we can probably arrange a summer visit. Maybe for the fourth of July, or something, so you can go swimming and see the fireworks."

Annie grinned back at him enthusiastically. "Really?" she squealed, and Auggie laughed at her reaction.

"Yeah, babe, really." He pulled her back down next to him, relaxing as he listened to the familiar words of the movie. Thankfully, Annie relaxed against him, leaving all her visions of visiting his family in her mind. She managed to stay awake about halfway through the movie, but by the time the movie finished, Annie's breathing had evened out to a steady cadence and her body rested against him limply.

Auggie pressed a few buttons on the remote, first turning off the DVD player and then flicking off the TV. As he snuggled farther beneath the covers, rearranging the pillows behind his head, he pulled Annie closer and slowly drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Review, please!

I know Christmas is officially over now, but I hope everyone who celebrated enjoyed their holiday!