"Do you think she'll like it?"
"I think she'll love it, Martin." Douglas answered truthfully to Martin's earnest expression.
He had to admit that Martin had an eye for gifts. He also seemed to be something of a romantic, which surprised Douglas a little; he didn't know the man had it in him.
"Hey chaps!" Arthur burst through the cockpit door in his usual cheery way. "Oh, what's that?" He pointed toward the gift still currently in Martin's hand.
"N-n-nothing." Martin very quickly put the gift in his bag and slid it behind his seat, out of Arthur's line of sight.
"It looked like..."
"Looking forward to Christmas, Arthur?" Douglas quickly jumped in before Arthur could focus his thoughts on the gift Martin had been holding. He knew it wasn't that Martin would mind Arthur knowing what he'd got Kate for Christmas, so much as Arthur's complete inability to keep secrets.
"Oh yes!" Arthur declared with enthusiasm. "Mum says we are definitely not working this year. We're going to have Xmas at home with turkey and presents and silly hats and a huge tree and Herc..."
"And Herc?" Douglas asked with more surprise than he meant to.
"Oh." Arthur went a little quiet. "Mum did say not to share that bit."
"I'll bet she did." Douglas couldn't keep the smirk from his face.
Well, well. Seems somebody is getting serious.
"What about you, Skip?" Arthur looked over at Martin.
"Me? What about me?" Martin looked momentarily confused, like he hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation.
"What are you doing for Christmas?" Arthur clarified for him.
"Oh, right. I'll be at home with Kate." Martin replied with a huge soppy grin.
Douglas couldn't resist the impulse to tease. "I thought you weren't a fan of Christmas?"
The smile dropped from Martin for just a moment. "I-I-I...I wasn't...before..."
"Before what, Skip?"
"B-b-before... " Martin stuttered.
"Before the love of your life appeared?" Douglas finished for him teasingly.
"No...w-w-well...alright...yes." Martin looked completely flustered, much to Douglas' amusement. "Christmas is all about families and loved ones..." Martin continued. "...it's never much fun on your own."
Douglas had no response to that. He got the feeling that Martin might just have revealed a little more than he'd intended with that sentence, but it cut awfully close to Douglas himself at the moment.
"What about you, Douglas?" Suddenly Arthur's cheery attention was focused on him.
"Oh, just a quiet one this year I think. Me, the remote and a half a dozen fine cheeses."
It wasn't a lie. That was precisely how Douglas planned to spend Christmas day, his first proper one without Helena.
"You don't have your daughter?" Martin asked him.
"With her mother this year." Douglas feigned sounding unaffected.
"Oh." Martin looked, god forbid, a little saddened. "So you'll be..."
"Arthur! The microwave is dinging to itself again." Carolyn's stern voice over the intercom stopped Martin from saying anything further.
Arthur made a sheepish face, before shouting "Coming mum!" an making a sharp exit from the cockpit, leaving Martin and Douglas alone again.
Douglas was thankful when instead of finishing his sentence Martin started to check his instruments and write in his log book. Truth was he knew was Martin was going to say and he really didn't need the reminder that he was about to spend his first Christmas, in quite some time, all alone.
During the light of day it was easy for him to tell himself that he really wasn't that bothered. It was just another day after all, nothing particularly special about it, aside from more rubbish than usual on the television. It's not like he was bothered, not really.
But of course there were times in the night, when he awoke to the achingly empty bed beside him, that the thought of spending the whole of Christmas with only himself for company seemed like a nightmare. Though he was loathe to admit it, Douglas liked being around people. He missed Helena...well...no...he didn't miss her exactly, not after what had happened, but he certainly missed having someone. He'd never been on his own for long before, but it wasn't quite so easy now the years were starting to catch up with him. Despite his protestations of his Sky God status, the truth was that the tarnish was certainly starting to show. Oh, doubtless he could probably still do pretty darn well for himself, but that wasn't really enough. It wasn't the same as having...damn it...what Martin, of all people, had right now. He would never ever admit it, but he was downright jealous, even if he was also happy for him.
The worst part of it was the ever present worry that sometime over the festive season he might just buckle. He might just reach for a bottle. And it wouldn't contain apple juice.
"You could come to ours."
Douglas barely realised that Martin had spoken. "Sorry?"
"For C-c-christmas..." Martin stumbled a little, not looking directly at him, instead concentrating on his instruments. "If you wanted to...I mean. Or...or...maybe just for a bit...if you were fed up...you know?"
Douglas, for once in his life, was nearly speechless. "Martin." He began, not entirely sure how to answer, so opting for clarification instead. "Are you inviting me to spend Christmas with you and Kate?"
Martin finally looked at him, a little flustered but entirely serious. "I'm just saying you could."
"It's your first Christmas together." Douglas stated simply, more for his own benefit than Martin's.
"I know, but..." Martin took a deep breath. "I know what it's like to spend Christmas alone and...and...I wouldn't...well... it's what friends do, isn't it?"
Martin's words hit Douglas a lot harder than he expected. Yes, it was exactly what friends did. But had he ever taken a moment to consider Martin in the past few years they had worked together? Had he ever thought about how Martin was spending his festive season? The answer was a shaming no. He'd always just assumed that Martin spent Christmas with his family in some way or another, but he'd never actually asked. Now the image of Martin sitting alone in his attic room with nothing but the TV for company made him feel very guilty. Very guilty indeed.
He opted to change the subject instead. "And what about your good lady? I'm not sure she'd appreciate my playing gooseberry." Neither would he, come to that.
Martin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm sure she'd be more than happy to have you there."
Douglas got the feeling that Martin was trying to convince himself with that statement.
"Martin, I..." Douglas really didn't know what to say, completely taken aback by Martin's rather noble gesture. If he was completely honest with himself, spending Christmas in the company of Martin and Kate sounded a whole lot nicer than the alternative. However, the thought of ruining their romantic Christmas plans was horrendous and worse than that, accepting would be admitting weakness, and that would never do.
"You don't have to decide now." Martin cut him off quickly, as if reading his mind. "I just thought I'd mention it." He took a breath. "And you don't need to worry about disturbing us...or...or getting in the way...because all people really do at Christmas is eat too much and watch telly anyway, so...it's not really...it's not really a problem." He paused again. "You'd...you'd be very welcome if you wanted, that's all."
Douglas opened his mouth to reply, but found nothing ready to say. Instead he had to utter words that rarely seemed to pass his lips, but this time they were entirely meant. "Thank you, Martin."
It was all he could say to the man sitting beside him. The man who drove him crazy on a regular basis with his nit-picking and rule abiding ways, the man who was such a stickler that he wouldn't even fly Gertie with imaginary otters in the cockpit, the man who could muck up most things and normally did.
A man who had, very selflessly, offered to give up the pleasure of spending his first Christmas with a girlfriend for goodness knows how long, so that Douglas wasn't alone.
It was then that Douglas started to realise that sometimes, just sometimes, he wasn't half the man Martin Crieff was.
-oOo-
"I've...uh...I may have...well...I..." He took a deep breath. "I've kinda of invited Douglas to spend Christmas with us."
Martin looked sheepishly at Kate across the pub table, fiddling with the pint glass in front of him nervously.
"Douglas?" Kate looked surprised, but not angry, Martin noted.
"Y...y...yes. I know it's our first Christmas and...and I want it to be special...of course I do...but it's his first since he got divorced and his daughter isn't with him this year, and...well...spending Christmas alone is miserable. Plus...you know he hasn't had a drink in over..."
Martin desperately tried to justify why he might have done something so daft. He had noticed the look on Douglas face earlier, he also knew how dangerous it might be for an ex-alcoholic to be alone during the festive period. He knew he'd done the right thing by Douglas, just wasn't so sure about Kate...
"Martin..." Kate reached across the table to put her hand on his to silence him. "...it's fine."
"You don't mind?"
"Of course not." She took a sip of her drink before continuing. "In fact...it kind of makes things easier..."
"Easier?" Martin was confused what she meant.
"Well..." Kate took a breath. "I might have invited Aggie..." Now it was her who looked sheepish as she indicated towards her friend, who was still busy chatting with the barman and getting their next round. "...Edward dumped her this morning, her parents have suddenly decided they are going skiing this year, and her sister's children have managed to catch chicken pox, which she's never had...I just couldn't let her spend Christmas alone...you know? She's my best friend."
Martin had to suppress a chuckle at Kate's gushing words. She was clearly as nervous about telling him as he'd been about telling her.
"So..." Martin started, trying to look stern. "...let me get this straight. For our first Christmas together...which was going to be cozy, romantic and quiet...we've actually managed to invite both my sarcastic First Office and your acerbic best friend?"
Kate looked at him for a beat before bursting into laugher. Milliseconds later, Martin joined in, uttering "We're going to need a bigger turkey." between giggles, which only served to make Kate laugh harder.
"You two find something funny?" Aggie looked between them as she took her seat again, putting the drinks on the table.
"Nope. No...nothing." Martin tried to stifle his giggles behind his hand.
"Private joke?" Aggie remarked, raising her eyebrow. "I think perhaps I'd rather not know."
Kate took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Any way..." She deflected. "...Martin was just telling me they'll be four of us for Christmas dinner."
Aggie took a sip of her drink, before looking towards Martin. "Ah, yes...about that. She talked me into it..." She gestured towards Kate. "...told her I'd be just fine, but you know what a worry wart she is. Sorry to play gooseberry."
Martin couldn't really protest, after all he'd invited Douglas. Besides, he got on well with Aggie; in so far as she still scared him a little. She was good fun though and her ribbing was entirely good natured, which Martin could handle.
"It's ok. My Firs..." Martin corrected himself. "...friend Douglas is coming too."
"Oh?" Aggie grinned. "Is he single?"
Kate let her head fall onto the table with a thud as Martin began to laugh again.
"What?" Aggie looked perplexed. "What?!"
I know...I'm sorry for the earlier Christmas! Thanks to Catswhiskers.
