A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, it's greatly appreciated! And thank you so much for the prompts, they've given me some ideas! I'll try and include them where I can (although I have sort of already written/included a couple of the prompts!). This is Connie/Grace along with a character I've made up. Hope you like it! :)
~Mini Peacelet~
Wintry Advent
7. Christmas Tree
"Can Izzy come with us to get our Christmas tree? Please Mummy!" Grace was bubbling with zealous exhilaration, peppily bouncing around the room whilst she impatiently waited for her mother to finish getting ready so they could go out.
"Grace, I'm sure Isabelle has far more important things to be doing than accompanying us whilst we buy our tree." Connie stated bluntly as she applied a fresh coat of lipstick to her lips in the mirror, observing her daughter in the reflection.
Isabelle was Grace's current nanny; one that the girl actually liked and had the ability to control the unruly nine year old successfully. The clinical lead had been a little apprehensive when she had hired this babysitter; Isabelle was young and perhaps a touch on the wild side with her charisma. But as the days passed, the brunette was gradually come more fond of the nanny.
Christmas was briskly approaching. The rush to complete the festive season shopping was definitely under way as vast amounts of people packed the towns. Connie hadn't even finished hers, and she considered herself as organised, so she highly doubted that the daft and eccentric babysitter had completed hers either.
"It's okay, I can come if that's what Grace wants. I don't need to be anywhere else or having anything urgent to tend to." Isabelle responded placidly, a smile gracing her features as Grace squealed in excitement and continued to jump around, "Grace, why don't you go find your coat, hat, gloves and scarves?" She suggested and the girl dashed off in search of the garments.
Connie appreciated the nanny's help when she was absent but wasn't as particularly grateful for her presence when she wasn't busy at work or completing work related paperwork. She preferred to capitalise the time she could spend with her daughter and loathed anyone treading on her toes in her position as mother. Yet, it was so pleasant and heart warming to see the infectious grin that was plastered across the nine year olds contours.
"I would have thought you would be rushing off to finish some Christmas shopping or something as soon as I arrived home from my shift this morning." Connie started the conversation, curious as to why the babysitter was content to stay and loiter for the afternoon.
Izzy shrugged futilely, "I've bought all my presents, only had to get a few; Grace, you, and a couple of friends. That's all there is, I have no family." She replied simply as she slipped her own coat on, "Grace is such a sweetheart, it's no problem staying on if that's what she wants."
The brunette nodded in acknowledgement, "Oh...are you going to be alone for Christmas? And you really shouldn't get me anything - it's plenty enough that you can manage my daughter's behaviour, very few can." She inquired cautiously with some compassion laced into her tone, "I'll warn you in advance, though. She is very indecisive when it comes to choosing a Christmas tree."
The nanny chuckled light-heartedly at the second statement before nodding forlornly, "Yeah, I will be. It's no big deal."
A frown succumbed the clinical lead's features, "Why don't you come and spend Christmas with us? Only if you'd like to. No one should be alone at Christmas. We wouldn't mind, to be honest it can be rather quiet with just the two of us here."
"I would love that, thank you for the kind offer." Isabelle smiled gratefully, "That would be really lovely."
Connie returned the smile subtly, "It's no problem." She then diverted her attention to her daughter who had just leapt down the stairs and into the modern living room, "Are you ready, Gracie?"
"I've been waiting for ageeees! Of course I am." She beamed and scampered into the kitchen in search of her fluffy boots.
The trio drifted through the rows of fir trees that had been harvested and stacked with precision, tolerantly awaiting a family to buy them and bundle them home for the festive season. Grace was between the two adults, clutching their hands hyperactively and occasionally giggling as they swung her into the bitter air.
"What about this one?" Connie gestured to one of the pine trees, regretting having agreed earlier to allow her daughter to choose the Christmas tree. She was inspecting each individual tree closely before concluding she didn't want that one after all.
"No." Her reply came sharply as she shook her head and skipped off in search of another tree; she had certainly inherited her mothers cutting attitude at times.
Grace gazed up at her babysitter, rich chocolate orbs that were identical to her mother's wide, "Izzy, which tree do you think we should get?"
Isabelle shrugged, glancing at Connie momentarily as she brushed a lock of her red hair out of her face, "Well, these are all nice. But I usually prefer to go for a tree that no one wants. Like this one for example." She motioned to a tree that was virtually naked, most of the fern green needles had descended to the floor. "Then I like to over decorate it and make it look special. Because just imagine this poor, lonely tree here all alone on Christmas day because no one wanted it due to it's appearance."
The young girl thought fleetingly and then rotated her head to look up at her mother, "Mummy, can we have this one please?" She grinned sweetly.
"Uhh...there are much nicer trees available here then that one." The former heart surgeon didn't desire to upset her daughter but screwed her nose up slightly at the tatty fir tree. "How about something like this?" She proposed and pointed to another Christmas tree.
The nine year old shook her head firmly, "No, I want this one. Then we get to spend even more time decorating it." She wasn't very negotiable - another trait of Connie's. And she adored decking the tree with sparkly baubles, tinsel, and fairy lights. It was one of her favourite parts during the run to Christmas day itself.
"Okay," She exhaled an exasperated sigh and pursed her lips together, "I suppose we can have this one, but don't complain later." She muttered.
"Thank you, Mummy!" Grace beamed and enveloped her arms around the brunette before flashing a mischievous grin at Isabelle who simply laughed spiritedly in return.
They hauled the Christmas tree home and stationed it in it's typical location in the living room and set to work garnishing it in decorations. It was going to take a great deal of effort to make this tree look something special, Connie thought to herself. But Grave was happy, and that was the main thing.
They embellished the tree in a scattering of lights in diverse colours, added several baubles in a variety of colours and shapes, and attached trimmings of twinkling tinsel in bright greens, reds and golds. Connie elevated Grace into the air so she could complete the tree decoration process with the star on the very top.
Isabelle was right, this tree actually looked much better than any of tree she had bought in previous years.
