Emily woke up the next morning with a tingling sensation in her stomach. She couldn't quite place her finger on what type of feeling was rumbling in her stomach. Was it nervousness, was it anticipation or was it something completely different, she quizzed herself as she picked scrambled eggs off the pan and poured herself some orange juice.
"So sweetheart, what are your plans for today?" Pam asked her once they had sat down at the breakfast table. Despite it only being the two of them, Pam still insisted that mealtimes were sacred and that they should always sit down and eat in proper style.
"Just… you know… stuff," Emily said and buried her face into her plate. "I was thinking that maybe I would go and check out the Christmas Village."
"You haven't been there since your father…" Pam trailed off and Emily noticed visible anguish in her expression.
"I know. But I just thought that it might be a tradition that I'd like to take up again."
"Your father would have loved that," Pam said and smiled sincerely. "From the moment that he noticed how much you loved Christmas he would pin the opening date of the Christmas Village on his calendar to make sure that he would have time to take you."
"Mom, he started taking me there when I was three. I doubt that I had any specific opinions on Christmas at that age."
"Let me remind you that you were three when you insisted that the decorative snowman that your dad brought home when he came home from tour would be named Snowy. And you had a very heated argument about the fact that she was definitely a 'snowgirl' and not a 'snowman'."
"How do you even remember those things?"
"Because, afterwards he took you out to see the Christmas Village for the first time and when you guys came back your eyes just shimmered with joy. It was the greatest present that I could have asked for."
Emily smiled into her glass of orange juice but turned around to see that her mother had disappeared into the living room. She noticed that her cell phone was buzzing and pulled it up to find a new message from Paige:
[You said to meet up at 2 o'clock right?]
As Emily typed in her response she observed her mom dashing back into the room, carrying something that she held carefully in her hand, as if it was a fragile glass snowball.
"Here," she said and passed an old polaroid photo to Emily. "Careful with the orange juice dear. I don't have another copy."
Emily pushed her plate away and tilted her head to get a better look. The photograph had been plastered to keep it safe from the elements but had obviously gotten a little yellow from the turn of the time. But still, she could clearly make out the content: it was her, dressed in a large, furry hat, holding a cup that was way too big for her small hands. Her dad was next to her, looking almost as excited and she did and was clasping a secure arm over her tiny frame.
"Why have I never seen this?"
"Well, you had so many great Christmas memories with your father that it's understandable that you never got around to seeing all of them," Pam said and her eyes glistened in the sunlight. "But I kept them all. Every single one of them. Because how could I not? Those photos, those memories, they meant everything to him Emmy."
"Me too mom," Emily said as she brought her mom in for a hug, nuzzling against her as she felt a small tear fall on her shirt lapel, not knowing from which one of it came from, deciding against commenting on it. "Me too."
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Emily showed up a little late for her rendezvous, having gotten delayed by some last minute gift wrapping, which got promptly shoved into her handbag. Paige was already there, standing in the meadow that the trees on the town square cast in the winter light. She was dressed in warm attire, large gloves and a very familiar brown jacket.
"I can't believe you still have that old thing," Emily gestured towards her jacket. "I remember you wearing it to that fair that we…" she let that sentence trail off without Paige objecting to it, not wanting to rip up old wounds.
"It was my granddads," Paige said, doing a small awkward head dip. "He got it when he was a fighter pilot."
"I didn't know your grandfather was in the military," Emily said with a tone of genuine surprise.
"Yup yup. He fought in the Korean war. Was a decorated officer and everything."
"How come you never told me any of this."
"Well, you never asked. And, besides, I don't really talk about my granddad to other people. But shouldn't we get going?"
"Yes, definitely," Emily said and turned to strike up a steady pace with Paige walking beside her.
The marched along the main road of the Christmas Market, observing happy families that lulled between booths, looking at the objects that they displayed with great enthusiasm.
"Just wait until I show you the booth," Emily said as they drew closer. "It's a real hole in the wall kind of place."
As they approached the tiny booth, the two women brushed against one another. Emily felt the comforting aura of Paige's presence next to her and without thinking she linked her arm to hers. The touch felt comfortable, familiar in the sense that she usually felt coming to a place that she associated with being home after a really long trip. But once she realized what she was doing she quickly broke away, awkwardly brushing hair from her face as a way to find something else to do with her hands.
"Sorry," she said and failed to meet the other woman's eye. "Force of habit I guess…"
"Don't sweat it Em," Paige said, stopping in her tracks to face her. "I get it. I really do."
"Anyway, we are here," Emily said and gestured towards the miniscule tent. "Shall we?"
As they entered the tent, Emily heard a familiar voice acknowledging her presence. She nodded amicably and gestured towards the small selection of tables:
"Can you find us a seat? I'll be right back with our beverages."
"No problem. I'm on it," Paige said, blinking as she turned towards the drinking hall.
Emily turned away from Paige and walked towards the serving counter where she was met with the familiar smile of Mister Wayner.
"Miss Fields, it's a pleasure to see you again?"
"You still remember me Mister Wayner?" Emily asked, genuinely shocked.
"Of course I do. How could I forget. It has been how many years now?"
"Too many. But I am back now."
"I see that you have brought new company. I never got around to paying my condolences for your dad. He will be missed around these parts Miss Fields. That is one thing I can say for sure."
"Yeah, he surely will. So, how about two of your Christmas Special Chocolates?"
"Coming right up Miss Fields," Mister Wayner said and turned towards the machines. "So, who is that lovely lady that you have decided to bring along with you today?"
"Her name is Paige McCullers. And yes, she is quite lovely."
"I don't doubt that for a second. So, is that your special someone?"
"No. We're just friends. Why would you think that?"
"I might only be a man Miss Fields, but in my long time of servicing people, I have gotten to know quite a lot about the way people feel depending on their body language."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed."
"And what does my body language tell you?"
"Are we being honest here miss?"
"Very, incredibly honest. I wouldn't expect anything less from you."
"I have been welcoming you here since you were a child Miss. I could see how much your father meant to you by the way that you were around one another when you came here and the fact that he would bring you here every year because you seemed to love it so much. It's a fact which makes me deeply honored. And I also know that you haven't been here since the time of his passing. Which leads me to conclude that you wouldn't bring anyone here unless that person had your entire and utmost trust."
"You're a wise man Mister Wayner," Emily said, not really knowing how to process what the old man had just told her.
"You flatter me too much," Mister Wayner said and placed two cups on the counter. "I am simply an old many that has seen many a things."
"I don't doubt that," Emily said, reaching for her purse. "So, how much do I owe you?"
"This one is one the house Miss Fields," Mister Wayner said and smiled. "Just enjoy your Special Christmas Chocolate with the one that you obviously hold so dear."
"Thank you," Emily said, turning around with the two cups in hand, approaching a smiling Paige that sat in the corner of the tent, before muttering: "I will."
"So, what were you two having such an intense conversation about?" Paige asked while Emily took a seat and disposed of the cups on the table.
"Just, reminiscing you know?" Emily said. "Mister Wayner used to know my father."
"I figured," Paige said, munching on a mix of nuts and cranberries that were placed in a bowl on the table. "So, what do we do now?"
"Now, we play the waiting game," Emily said and pushed Paige's cup towards her. "There is this trick that Mister Wayner has up his sleeve. I don't know how he does it…"
"It must be magic then," Paige said and stuck a new handful into her mouth. "Christmas magic."
Emily giggled and nudged Paige's shoulder playfully while not taking her eyes off her cup. After a few moments a figure started appearing at the surface.
"What is that?" Paige said, leaning over to get a closer look.
"Don't you see? It's Santa!" Emily said excitedly.
"Wait, are you sure…" Paige tilted her head. "Oh, now I see it. He even has his sack of goodies and everything."
"Yeah, there is so much detail, it's incredible. Okay, what did you get?"
"I don't know. Whatever Christmas creature it is it's quite shy," Paige said leaning over her cup, accidentally dropping a cranberry into her drink. It floated to the surface with something else slowly appearing. "Aw man. I'm so sorry, I'm such a clutz!"
"Don't worry. It's no big deal," Emily said looking at Paige's cup. "Oh look, it's reindeer!"
"Not just any reindeer," Paige said with her mouth hanging open as they both noticed the wandering cranberry placed firmly on the nose of the figure that bopped on top of her chocolate.
"It's Rudolph!" the both said in unison before looking at each other, bursting out in a heartfelt laugh.
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The two women wandered around the market, side to side, not saying anything but basking in the pleasure of each other's company in the setting winter sun.
"What are you thinking about?" Emily asked, turning around to face Paige.
"I'm thinking that I'm sort of sorry for having eaten poor little Rudolph with such gusto. That little guy really never stood a chance," Paige said, generating a large chuckle from Emily. "What are you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about why I never asked you more about your grandfather. He seemed to have been someone really special to you. And then I realized that I might have been a little too much caught up in my own stuff at the time that you told me about that."
"Em, you don't have to apologize to me. I know you had a lot of stuff going on and I wasn't telling you that for you to throw me a pity party."
"That's not why I'm admitting this to you Paige. What I'm saying is that I'd love it if you told me a little more about him. If you feel like sharing it is…"
"Yeah, sure," Paige said, stopping in front of bench where they both sat down. She took a few moments collecting herself before speaking again. "Oh man, where do I begin? Alan really was one of a kind, and I'm not just saying that because he was my granddad. He just had this good aura that seemed to influence everybody around him. All he ever wanted was to make people feel happy and good about themselves. When I was a kid I wasn't always so sure about myself but he would always find ways to make me feel better."
"Like how?" Emily asked, already engrossed in Paige's tale and excited to hear more.
"This one time when I was at a summer seminar in field hockey. They had us in mixed gender teams since we were still so young and I got into a fight with this boy. He was pissed that I had scored more goals than him and said that it didn't count since I was only ever so good 'for a girl'. So we started wrestling one another and he ended up biting me."
"He bit you? Really?"
"Yeah. And once we got torn apart and calmed down, my granddad had just arrived and the boy's helicopter dad just started ripping him a new one about how the whole incident was my fault and this was prove that they should have never let the girls play a 'man's sport'."
"What a tool!"
"He totally was. And when we we're leaving he cornered us in the parking lot demanding that my granddad would be taking serious actions because of this incident. And my granddad looks at him all serious and tells him 'I can assure you that I see this matter very seriously and will be taking action immediately. We will be starting by taking my girl to the ER in order to get her a hearty set of rabies shots."
"Oh my gosh," Emily blurted out before bursting into laughter. She took some time to catch her breath again before speaking again. "I wish I could have met him. He sounds like such an awesome guy."
"He was. He really was," Paige said, her facial expression showing a strange mixture of joy and melancholy. "When I started growing up and… coming into my own I wasn't really feeling so good about it... at that time. I had just had this one particularly hellish day at highschool and he had popped in for a visit. I had hidden in the back of the garden but of course he knew that it was my secret spot so he came out there when he didn't see me around the house. I couldn't tell him what was wrong because how could I? I hadn't even admitted it to myself at the time… He could sense that something was wrong and I admitted to him that someone was bullying me, which was true but it was not the entire truth."
"And what did he do?"
"He took off his old jacket and put it over me, telling me how he didn't want me to be miserable and cold. It got me smiling, for the first time in what felt like ages, and I hugged him close while putting the jacket properly. After that he told me something that I'll always remember. 'You're a fighter Paige. Never forget that. Sometimes to win the fight the trick is not to perform a flashy attack but rather just to survive and wait until your opponent burns themselves out. You will survive this Paige, because this too shall pass. And now you have your battle armor to help you to weather this storm. '"
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It was late evening when they finally reached Emily's doorsteps again. They faced each other, standing around awkwardly, not really knowing how to say goodbye.
"I had a great time with you today," Emily said. "Thanks for coming with me. I don't think I would have been able to do this without you."
"I had a pretty good time too," Paige said, giving Emily a heartwarming smirk. "And I could say the same to you because I have never told anyone about these things before."
"I hope I didn't pressure you into doing it."
"No, I wanted to. Maybe I have wanted to for a long time. You just said the magic words so I could finally get around to."
"See. There is nothing that a little Christmas magic can't make happen. Oh, and I almost forgot," Emily reached down into her bag, fishing a large packet out before handing it to Paige. "I got you this a couple of days back. I was going to give it back to you when I came back to California but since you're here and I won't see you tomorrow…"
"Aw Em, you shouldn't have. And I didn't get you anything."
"You gave me today and your wonderful stories. That's more than I could have asked for," Emily said, before leaning in, giving Paige a small peck on the cheek before turning around and dashing up the stairs. "Merry Christmas Paige."
"A very merry Christmas to you too," Paige said to herself after Emily had gotten inside her house. "May all your wishes come true."
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Paige was feeling fatigued once she got back to her hotel room, having just gotten off the phone with her mom. She had promised that she would head up to her uncle's place first thing tomorrow to spend some quality time with the family. She disposed off her stuff on the table, shaking her jacket off her shoulders before carefully placing it in the room's closet. She turned around and took a lingering look at the shimmering present.
"Oh to heck with it," she said to herself before picking it up, tearing the tape off the corners. "It's my gift and I'll open it when I want to."
She shredded the paper off the flat rectangular packet to uncover a familiar picture frame. There was a small note pinned on it.
[I know how much your photo montage meant to you and how upset you must have been when it got broken in the break-in. So when I saw this I couldn't resist getting it for you. I hope you don't mind that I got you an extra one, for making new, amazing memories. And I slipped something a little special in there too. I found it when I was looking around in my old room. I don't really need it because the time that we had there, how could I ever forget?
I hope you have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Yours,
Emily.]
Paige shuffled the two frames in her hands, noticing a small picture that had been inserted in the upper left corner. Two excited teenage girls smiled at her from the image.
"You are absolutely right," Paige thought to herself before saying out loud in the silence of her hotel room. "How could I ever forget?"
"Have you got it?" Emily asked, sitting candidly on the large rock next to the river.
"Just a second," Paige said, fumbling with the position of the camera. "Okay, I think I got it. I can't believe that I asked Aria to lend me this camera and didn't even get around to ask her how to operate it. Okay, ready? We have ten seconds."
Paige ran over to her girlfriend, grabbing her waist and pulling her in for a hug.
"Wait, I'm not ready. It won't look pretty."
"Emily, you always look pretty. Better than that. You are beautiful. Always."
"Oh you…" Emily said, giving a beaming smile as the camera flashed.
"All done," Paige said and ran back to the camera. She turned to hear a thunder rumbling in the distance. "Oh man, it's going to start raining again."
"Well, this time we won't be on a canoe in the middle of the middle of the river," Emily said, walking towards her girlfriend. "I'll tell you what? How about we ditch the camping and sleeping under the stars for just one night? We can drive up to Easton and book a hotel room."
"You'd like that?" Paige asked, disposing of the camera into her rucksack.
"I would," Emily said and placed her arms around the other girl, pulling her into a deep kiss. "In fact, wait until we get there and I'll show you just how much I'd appreciate it."
Paige grinned as she felt a blush creeping into her cheeks, reminiscing about how Emily had indeed shown her full appreciation in the shadowy silence of their hotel room, with the city buzzing far below them. She fished the photograph out of the frame, glancing over it as she cupped the spot on her cheek that Emily had kissed earlier that evening.
"Merry Christmas Em," Paige said, and looked at the girl in the photo that she found, still after all those years, so breathtakingly beautiful, before placing a small kiss on the photograph. "I think my wishes already came true."
Author's Notes: So, I'm sorry if I'm cramming too much Christmas in the story, but I just thought that since it's Emily's favorite holiday and she is one of the central character of the story, it deserved some recognition.
And in case you were wondering about the flashback sounding familiar, I wrote it with some of the scenes in "Shadow Play" in mind. I always always convinced that what happened in that episode wasn't only a figment of Spencer's imagination.
Thanks for reading and make sure to review :).
