Chapter 20

Lily fixed herself a cup of tea then. If she knew Jack she knew he would try to be back that night.

She then grabbed his gift from upstairs and the wrapping paper she had bought and began to wrap it up. She stuck a label with Jack's name on it and then set it under the tree. After that she proceeded to wrap up Owen, Tosh, Ianto and Suzie's gifts. By the time she finished wrapping them all up she needed another cup of tea.

It was while she was in the kitchen fixing another cup that the doorbell rang. She set her mug down and went to answer, Jack was on the other side.

"I drove by and saw the lights were still on. It's the only reason why I stopped."

She smiled, "I was staying up for you."

Jack leaned in and kissed her gently before walking in the house.

She smiled as they parted and closed the door behind him.

"That's a nice little pile of gifts you have there," Jack pointed out.

Lily followed him into the living room, "Yep."

He smiled at her and pulled a wrapped up package from his coat pocket and placed it under the tree, "There you are."

She grinned.

Jack sat down on the sofa and she sat beside him, "I'm sorry about having to leave earlier."

"It's alright." She paused a moment, "So how did you like the church service?"

His smile fell a bit, "It was nice."

Lily was silent, "Was something wrong?"

Jack shook his head, "No I've just never been much of a believer. Your faith through the last few weeks has amazed me to be completely honest."

"Oh..." Lily stood up just as the kettle was going off, "I better go get that.

Jack sighed as she walked into the kitchen. He sat there a moment and then decided to get up, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it like that."

She turned to him, "It's alright Jack. I never really pegged you as a believer. I'm glad though that you came to church with me tonight."

Lily stirred her cup gently and began to head towards the doorway. Jack looked up and saw a little green sprig of mistletoe hanging in the doorway. He looked back to Lily, took her cup of tea from her, set it down and kissed her.

Lily was caught a bit off guard by Jack's action but she remembered the mistletoe and began to kiss back. The kiss was much like the previous nights, passionate and a bit wild. She wanted him right then. They parted and when she spoke it was in a soft whisper, "Take me to bed."

Jack nodded, he kissed her briefly and then he picked her up and carried her up the stairs to her room.

XX

When she woke up the next morning Lily was smiling like crazy. She knew she was in Jack's arms and she could remember the previous night's events in detail. And now...it was Christmas morning. The best day of the year. They would wait for the team to arrive to open presents, but she needed to start cooking supper.

Slowly she managed to get out of the bed and go to her wardrobe to find something to wear. She wound up in jeans and a long sleeved shirt. As she was coming out of the bathroom with her red hair pulled high up on top of her head, Jack was stirring. He opened one eye and then the other, slowly he turned to look at Lily.

They smiled at each other.

"I was going to go make some breakfast and begin cooking the Ham." She told him.

Jack nodded, "Alright...do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Not at all."

He sat up and slowly stood up, Lily blushed at the sight of him naked...despite what had occurred the previous night. Jack just smirked and went to the bathroom.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me," she called through the door and then she left the bedroom.

Around four in the afternoon, the doorbell rang it was Tosh and Ianto. They both had wrapped up packages in their hands, "Happy Christmas Lily." They greeted.

She grinned, "Oh you didn't have to get me anything!" Lily began to fuss, taking the gifts and putting them under the tree.

"Of course we did."

The two followed her in and about ten minutes later Owen and a slightly flustered Suzie arrived. Suzie had a gift, Owen was empty handed except for a bottle of champagne and Lily didn't expect anything less.

He went to the fridge and popped it in, For supper."

"Right..." She went to check on the vegetables and mashed potatoes. The Ham was turning a healthy golden brown and within the hour everything was ready.

They sat down at the table in the dining room.

"Before we eat I have crackers." Tosh announced, pulling out a package.

"Oh Tosh...always good for traditions aren't you?" Owen fussed, but he had a small smile.

Tosh blushed and Suzie didn't look very happy.

They opened the package and proceeded to pass the crackers around. Jack sat beside Lily and helped her open the first one. It exploded with a small noise over the sound of Frank Sinatra singing Christmas tunes and Lily just laughed in delight. A small figure of Big Ben came out wrapped in a gold paper crown. Jack took the crown and began to unfold it and then he placed it on top of Lily's red hair.

She just smiled and watched with delight as everyone opened their crackers and placed the crowns on their heads. After much persuasion they managed to get Jack to put his on.

Then they ate dinner.

"This ham is really lovely Lily," Ianto said as he took a bite, "Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"My mum...I made the Ham with her recipe."

"You remember it?" Tosh asked, taking a sip of her champagne.

Lily nodded, "Every year my sister and I would help cook it."

"Well your mother certainly had a knack for good food." Suzie commented, she seemed to be in a bit of a better mood now.

"Thank you very much Suzie."

The women smiled at each other.

After they finished the pudding had to cool off a bit so they all went to the living room to open the gifts.

Everyone opened their gifts except Lily saved Jack's for last. But it just so happened that he saved her's for last.

So Lily took the paper off of her gift gently. She took out the velvet box and inside was a silver necklace, a diamond snowflake was the charm on it. She looked up at Jack with a small smile, "Jack it's beautiful."

He wanted to say something but the whole team was watching so he smiled instead, "I'm glad you like it."

She put the necklace around her neck and then handed Jack his gift. His was also in a gift box, but the box was a bit bigger. Inside was a antique pocket watch.

"My dad used to have one just like it...when I saw it at the store I knew I had to buy it for you."

Jack grinned, "It's from the forties."

She simply smiled.

"That's all of the gifts," Lily said finally, tearing her gaze away from Jack.

"I better head out. My sister had a gift for me that she refused to give me last night," Ianto said, standing up.

Lily stood up and hugged him, "Thank you so much for the coffee maker."

He laughed lightly as he returned the hug, "Your welcome."

Slowly the group left and Lily was alone with Jack. They curled up on the sofa together and fell asleep, totally happy.

Matthew's gift was still under the tree however. Not even touched...forgotten.

XX

A/N-

Okay so I'm a total slacker. Just saying that right now. It's Monday afternoon and I have to start cooking dinner soon.

I've gotten slightly obsessed with Dollhouse so instead of writing this I've been watching that. But hey...I still have two more days to finish this story. I'm going to try and get it done within the next few chapters.

Please review...whoever reviews will go on my Christmas Card List. :D

Much love, Beccs! ^_^