Day 25! I'm a quarter of the way though! It's late in the day but its still up on time! Thank you so much to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter, so glad you're still loving this fic and want it to continue! Have the 5th part of this fic in a fic written and only a few left to write now so I should be able to stick to the 5 days I promised in the beginning, any prompts are welcome! Thank you all so much, hope you enjoy this chapter and MERRY CHRISTMAS! XxX
4. "Come here, let me fix it."
Day 6: scratch card
Iain was gone when she woke up the next morning, yet another week of opposite shifts. He couldn't have been gone long as there was a still warm mug of tea placed on her bedside table, an envelope propped up against it.
Rita sat up in bed, pulling the covers as tight as she could; December was proving to be an ice-cold month. She thumbed the envelope as she drank her tea; Iain had made it perfectly, like always. The creamy paper in her hand and the empty mug returned to its previous position as opened the seal and pulled out a scratch card and another note.
I was going to wake you before I left but you looked to beautiful sleeping so I hope you wake before the tea goes cold! Really cheesy one today Reets, I feel like the luckiest man alive having found you for a partner so let's see if we can win anything! I love you and will always love you (even if you don't win these scratch cards)! See you later XxX
Laughing to herself she took the coin enclosed in the envelope, Iain had thought of everything, and scratched the silver foil away to reveal her symbols.
Day 7: bath salts
24 hours since she had scratched the silver foil away to reveal that she had won £20 she was back in bed, waking again but this time Iain was beside her.
Iain's hand was grazing over her hip, tracing circles where her tip had ridden up on her sleep.
"Morning beautiful," Iain whispered from his position as the big spoon to Rita's little spoon.
"What time are you in today?" Rita mumbles, her breath hitching slightly when Iain's fingertips slowly make their way under the elastic of her pyjama bottoms.
"I have a few hours to fill yet," Iain said as he trailed kisses along her neck.
"Any plans?" Rita mutters.
"Only to give you your advent present." Iain tells her, one hand tracing patterns on Rita's upper thigh, the other hand playing with her hair as she lay there.
"What is it today Mr Dean?" Rita asks, biting her lip as she does so.
"It's in the bathroom, want to come get it with me?" He suggests, his teeth gently biting the skin just below her ear, not enough to leave a mark but definitely enough to tease her.
Rita nodded, in response, and Iain removed his hand from her pyjamas and pulled her in the direction of their bathroom, never quite allowing their lips to touch no matter how hard it was to resist.
Once in the white tiles room Iain handed Rita a large present. Rita made quick work of the wrapping paper; she was becoming rather practised with all her gifts recently.
The paper discarded, she looked at her present before her eyes flicking up to Iain's. A huge jar of bath salts in her favourite scent of jasmine.
"I thought we could test them out," Iain suggested. "I wasn't a bath man before we got together, now I can think of nothing more I want in this moment."
"Nothing more?" Rita asked, stepping closer to him, the bath salts set on the side.
"Well maybe one thing..." Iain muttered, leaning down to finally capture her lips with his.
Day 8: massage oil
Rita gets home at 2 am, her shift running over when two coaches crash with 80 injured and 15 dead at scene. Collapsing back on the bed her eyes close almost immediately and she falls to sleep in an instant, Iain pulling her close to him and dragging the covers over her, only half awake himself.
They wake late the next morning, Iain due in at 3pm, Rita at 4. Iain presses feather light kisses on the back of her shoulder as she stirs. Rita groans, her back, her whole body aching as she moves to face him.
Iain smiles as he remembers what today's advent gift is, what better timing, he thinks reaching below his side of the bed to retrieve the bottle wrapped in paper marked with the number 5. He handed it to Rita and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"Think you'll like today's gift." He whispers.
Rita smiles, "I still can't believe you've done all this for me," she tells him as she tears open the paper, biting her lip as she sees what it is.
"Last years one ran out a couple of weeks ago," Iain explained, his own face dressed with a glinting smile.
Rita handed him the bottle of massage oil, reminded of the secret Santa gift she had swapped for the year before. She groans as she moves to look over at him.
"Come here," Iain says, "let me fix it" he smiles, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Please," She mutters, pressing a kiss to Iain's lips before rolling into her stomach, revealing her bare back to him.
Iain straddled her hips, warmed the oil in his hands before starting to work out the knots in Rita's back, healing the sore spots her job resulted in, standing all day took its toll on everyone's joints. Rita groaned into the pillow as she felt Iain's hands on her back...
Day 9: a sleeping bag
It's another late finish for Rita and she comes home to find a tent taking up the entire of their living room floor.
"Iain?" She calls out, unable to see if her partner is asleep inside the tent or elsewhere in their house.
"I'm in here" she heard a gruff voice reply.
Taking her coat and shoes off she carefully made her way into the tent and lay on the mass of blankets and pillows beside Iain.
"What's this?" Rita asks when she manages to get comfortable.
"Well you said you'd never been camping so I thought I'd get my tent out." Iain told her, his explanation not really enough to make Rita understand.
"Of course." Rita sighed, her tone somewhat sarcastic.
"It's day 9, your present is the sleeping bag you're currently laying on." Iain muttered, he was exhausted, a double shift of nothing but RTCs and major bleeds. Iain sat up suddenly, deciding that he would be more awake this way. "Sorry," he started again. "Rita, do you remember last summer when you said you'd never been camping?" He asked, a boss received in response he continued, "well next summer we are spending an entire weekend in the New Forest, I have a tent and a sleeping bag for myself and for your advent present today I got you your own sleeping bag, it's the opposite of my version so we can zip them together." Iain finished finally.
"You're amazing you know Mr Dean, I've never met anyone quite like you." Rita smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips.
"I'm one of a kind." Iain replied, before she hit him playfully with a cushion and they fell back to the pile of blankets laughing as the fell asleep.
Day 10: photo of them for her office desk
A day later and already halfway through her next shift Rita entered her office. The ED, although busy, was in the capable hands of Charlie and Duffy so Rita was free to catch up with the paperwork that never seemed to end.
She sat down, noticing almost immediately how there was something different with her desk. She adjusted her chair but it wasn't that... moved a few piles of files but again, it wasn't that either... it was only when she noticed the paper attached to the new object did it click.
Rita, another cheesy cliché day today. I think it's time for us to become "desk official". Well that's the term Dixie used when I asked her... I have the same picture on my desk; it's my favourite of us. Happy Christmas my beautiful, beautiful girlfriend, I love you and I'm going to meet you hear after our shifts finish. XxX
Rita couldn't take the smile off her face; she looked down at the photograph in the simple yet elegant black frame. It was her favourite photo of them too. Taken a little over 2 months ago, when they had visited Dixie down in Cornwall for a few days, Rita's hair is windswept and her cheeks flushed pink from the cold air, Iain's normally messy hair is even messier and his smile is as wide as Rita's ever seen, both their eyes as sparkling as they look toward the camera to capture such a perfect moment
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and have a fantastic Christmas! More tomorrow I promise! XxX