Gifts were never unwrapped as quickly as they were that night at Holly's house. As soon as they were done, Blake, Ethan and Jessica sat impatiently on the larger couch, waiting for Roger and Holly to finally break their news to them, surrounded by torn wrapping paper. Ethan strummed his new guitar, switching back and forth between two of his own songs, while Blake tried on her portable DVD player. On the far end of the sofa, Jessica skimmed through the complete works of Jane Austen, which Holly had offered her moments ago.
"What are they doing?" she said after a few minutes, shutting the book and putting it on the coffee table, where it landed with a loud thud.
"Probably rehearsing their big announcement," Blake shrugged, pointing at her mother's room where her parents had momentarily retreated. She was right; they had been discussing one last time about the best way to break their news to their children, and were also indulging in a quick make out session while they were out of sight.
"You don't think she's pregnant, do you?" Ethan asked back on the living room, half-joking.
Blake choked on her mouthful of wine, but Holly and Roger came back in before she could answer.
"The champagne is poured, the gifts are unwrapped; you can't delay any longer!" Jessica cried as soon as they sat on the couch.
"You're right. Holly, if you will allow me?" Roger said, turning to his fiancée.
"Go ahead."
He took her by the hand and turned to the others. "I have asked Holly to marry me, and I'm glad to say that she said yes."
"I knew it! I knew it!" Jessica shouted, jumping from the couch. Ethan rose to shake Roger's hand and to hug her mother while Blake burst into tears. Roger opened his arms and she nestled against him, holding Holly's hand and pulling her in their embrace. They remained like this for a second before breaking apart. Blake sniffed and wiped her tears. "I have been expecting something like this, but this is so much more emotional than I expected. I can't help crying!" she said before welling up again.
"She means we're really happy for you," Ethan added.
Jessica took hold of Holly's left hand and looked up at her future step-mother quizzically. "Where's the ring?" she inquired, always on the lookout for bling.
"There's no ring yet. We wanted to keep it a surprise," Holly explained.
"Have you set a date?"
Holly and Roger glanced at each other before Roger answered. "We had settled on Easter, so it looks like Jessica is the one who will have to come home from Paris. I hope you don't mind, Ethan."
"Unless you get married in Paris! I wouldn't mind making the trip." Blake suggested.
Holly tilted her head on the side, tempted by the idea, but only replied: "We'll see about that."
"So, when did you propose, Dad? Did you get down on one knee?" Jessica inquired.
"It was a little while ago," Roger replied vaguely. "And yes, I got down on one knee, give me some credit," he added, lying through his teeth, to the utmost enjoyment of Holly, who recalled every details of his proposal.
"Do you have your dress? How far are you on the arrangements? I can't believe I won't be there to help you with this!" Jessica fired before sitting back on the couch, looking dejected.
Holly laughed and ran a hand through her step-daughter's fair hair. "It won't be a big wedding, and no, I don't have my dress yet. We can call each other and discuss this wedding whenever you want. And you too, Blake."
Blake shook her head, leaning back against her father. "I leave that to Jess, she's the girlie one. I'd love to help you plan your honeymoon thought. I did a lot of travelling, backpacking of course, but still, I could recommend some places in Asia that are very romantic."
Holly and Roger exchanged a look which didn't go unnoticed by their daughter. "You ARE going on a honeymoon, aren't you?"
Roger raised his hands in the air to quell any more protests from his daughter. "Of course we are. Actually, this is what our second announcement was about. Holly and I have discussed it very thoroughly over the last few weeks, and we have opted for an extended honeymoon."
"Extended as in a whole year," Holly clarified, looking at them, anxious for their reaction.
They all opened their eyes wide, at a loss for words. As usual, Ethan was the first one to bounce back and to start asking questions. "What are you going to do during all this time?"
"Travel, mostly. We realize that a year is a long time away from you guys, especially now that Blake will be moving to Springfield…" Roger began.
"…but we really want to do this." Holly concluded. "Unless for some reason you guys are really against it."
The children looked at each other and smiled. "I think it's a great idea, but you better come by Paris and stay for a couple of weeks!" Jessica said.
"I won't lie and say that I didn't wish you would be here when I move in, but the last thing I want to do is to hold you back. You have to do this!" Blake added.
"Are you kidding? We're not going anywhere until you're settled in and I can see from my own eyes that this Lewis kid is treating you right. We have plenty of time," Roger said, squeezing his daughter's hand.
"And I'll be here, but I guess a little brother doesn't amount to much in your eyes," Ethan said to his sister, pretending to break into tears.
Blake made a face at him. "I'm glad you'll be here, and you know it." She turned to her parents. "What about your jobs?"
"Well, that brings us to our last announcement. I have taken a sabbatical from WSPR. Ross has agreed to it and Gilly will take my position while I'm gone. It will be a great opportunity for her, and we might lose her to a bigger station after that, but I'll be glad if she gets a chance to get ahead."
Blake nodded in approval and turned to her father. He cleared his throat before starting. "The implementation of BlueHorizon in Springfield is almost done, and so is my work here. However, I can't see myself living in New York again, because Holly's life is here, and all of you will be here as well. So, I decided to sell the business. It's done in fact; the contracts were signed a few days ago."
"What?" Blake said, bewildered.
"But Dad, you love your company!" Jessica added, equally puzzled.
"I do, but I love you more," Roger answered simply. "Also, to tell you the truth, I was getting a little too comfortable to my taste. Everything was going so well; there were no challenges anymore! I realized that what I love is the starting up part: getting the winning idea, finding the investors and getting the business off the ground. Now I will get to do that all over again when I get back from our honeymoon."
"What about your employees?" Ethan asked, ever the practical one.
Roger smiled, appreciative of Ethan's concern. "I'm glad you asked, since it was my main concern. None of the people will be laid off for at least a year; it's in the contract. Besides, I doubt that the new owners will need to part with a lot of people; skilled professionals are still relatively hard to find in this field."
"So that's why you couldn't offer Blake a job," Jessica said.
"Exactly, but she can always keep her current job if she wants to; I sold to Apple," Roger replied offhandedly.
Blake gasped. "What? Why didn't you say so sooner?" she said, a little bit angry at her father.
"Because it was much more fun this way, believe me," Roger answered, teasingly ruffling her hair.
"And you let him get away with things like that?" Blake said to Holly, pretending to be disgusted.
"That's his only flaw," Holly replied with a smirk.
"Yes, and you'll have to humour me, because now, I'm filthy rich," Roger added.
"You were rich before," Jessica said, amused.
"Ah, but not filthy. Don't you worry though; Holly is forcing me to donate a whole bunch of my new fortune to Cedars. She's always been the nice one."
There was a lull in the conversation as everyone pondered over the last news and the implications for each of their lives. After a while, Jessica yawned and stretched. "All these good news have exhausted me. I guess I will head back home."
"I'll drive you," Ethan offered.
"Dylan should be here any minute, but I'll just hop in the car and we'll go straight to the Lewises, I guess." Blake added.
"Are you deserting us already?" Roger asked, half-jokingly.
"Simply giving you some privacy," Blake retorted, putting her coat on. "We'll be back tomorrow; you won't get rid of us so easily!"
The fire was slowly dying in the fireplace, and Holly and Roger were sitting on the living room floor, leaning against each other and sipping the rest of the champagne.
"I think we'll have to squeeze in a trip back to Springfield during our honeymoon," Holly said.
"And we'll have to have Ethan and Blake fly to Paris while we're there. That should do the trick," Roger added.
"I hope so. I feel guilty for leaving them so long."
"Don't. Besides, Ed and Maureen will still be here, and more importantly, they're not kids anymore," Roger concluded, rubbing the small of her back.
Holly closed her eyes under his touch. "This was such a nice evening. It's the best Christmas I've had since… ever, I think."
"And it's not over; we haven't exchanged our gifts yet," Roger said, getting up to get his coat.
"Are you offering me your coat? Because you should know that grey is not my color," Holly said.
Roger sat back next to her and only ran his fingers over her eyelids so that she would close them. She obliged him, smiling. She had been hoping for it, expecting it, but still she felt a jolt of surprise when she felt the soft velvety square box against her palm.
"Open your eyes," she heard Roger say softly.
She found Roger on one knee, holding a golden ring, adorned with a fair-sized emerald, which was surrounded by three smaller ones.
"I think green suits you much better," he added, slipping it on her right hand.
"I agree," she said, leaning in for a long kiss.
"I'm the big emerald, and the kids are the three little ones."
"What does that make me?" Holly said, raising an eyebrow.
Roger didn't skip a beat. "You're the gold holding us all together, honey."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You just made that up, didn't you?"
Roger raised his hands in a cocky manner. "You got me; but it was pretty clever, don't you think? Besides, I mean every word of it."
"I bet you do. Your turn now. Close your eyes."
Roger obliged and soon felt a cold, round metallic object in his left hand. He opened his eyes and discovered a gold pocket watch resting in his palm. His initials were exquisitely engraved on the top. "Holly, this is beautiful!"
"I got this when we were in New York last month, before we went to that little Italian restaurant."
"When we danced until the waiters were wiping the floors!"
"Right. Open it," she said, suddenly serious again.
He slowly lifted the lid, expecting to find a portrait of her. Instead, he discovered a holly leaf, chiselled on the inside. "Well, who's clever now?" he murmured, half to himself. He raised his eyes to Holly and grinned. "You beat me at everything, and yet I can't get enough of it. Why is that?"
"Must be love."
"Yeah, must be love," he said, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to him. Their lips met, teasingly at first, until Roger's kiss became more urgent. He reached for the back of her dress and started unzipping it, while she worked on his shirt. He let go of her mouth just long enough to ask if they should head for the bedroom.
"I thought you'd never ask," Holly replied, getting up and leaving her dress on the floor.
They were lying in bed, hours later, and Holly was about to fall asleep when Roger suddenly turned to her.
"You never told me what happened to your engagement to that French engineer, that year after you left for Switzerland."
Holly yawned and turned on her side to face him. "You knew about that?"
"You father had made sure of it."
She scoffed. "I bet. Why on Earth would you think about this now?"
"I don't know. It just popped into my head."
"Not jealous, are you?" Holly replied, a smile playing on her lips.
"Of some French guy? Please!"
"You don't have to be, in any case. The engagement lasted for about two seconds. Paul was clever enough to realize that I was only doing it out of spite, and he let me go."
"That, or he saw you were pregnant and bolted."
"Very funny; I met him after I had Blake."
"Where is he now?"
"No idea, we lost touch immediately after that. I hope he found somebody; he really was a great guy." She nestled against Roger and yawned again. "Sweet dreams, Roger."
He pulled her tight against him and replied," Sweet dreams, Holly."
Across the Atlantic Ocean, the sun was rising on another bitter cold day in Moscow, but Paul Ardant wasn't aware of it. Lying in his windowless prison cell, he hardly knew day from night anymore, the guards made sure of that.
He got out of bed and stared blankly at the opposite wall, then buried his head in his hands, hoping against hope that somebody, anybody, would get him out of that hell hole.
The End! I hope you like this story in my little alternate universe. As you might suspect, I'm not ready to let go of Holly, Roger and all the rest just yet, and am planning a sequel. For those of you who watched in the fall of 1993, you might remember the pocket watch that Holly had offered Roger years earlier. I always loved the part about the engraved holly leaf, and I just had to include it! Let me know what you think!