Christmas morning brought a flood of phone calls and text messages, as Chris and Melanie took their time getting out of bed. With everyone due to arrive at Nyota's later that afternoon, it gave them enough time to figure out what to bring for dinner. With food still in the cabinets, Chris managed put together a rice dish, using the last of the spices Melanie had left over.
"I wish I could bake something," Melanie said, as she looked at the bag of flour on the shelf. "But I don't have enough eggs and butter."
"Don't worry about baking," he said, placing the dish into the refrigerator. "Nyota has all of that covered."
It was a little after eleven and they weren't due to arrive at Nyota's until after four, which gave them plenty of time to sit around and relax before getting ready. They managed to find a bottle of unopened wine and moved it to the table for later, then went den to watch television.
"I have something for you," Chris said, as they were watching Love Actually. "A present."
Melanie looked away from the screen, "You do?" she asked, as he nodded. "How can you have a present for me? We just got back together?"
He chuckled, "This one I've had for a while."
Grabbing the remote, Chris put the television on silent and shifted against the couch cushions. "Since we're officially engaged as of early this morning," he started, as she moved to lie across his lap. "I know for a fact that I wont be wearing an engagement ring."
Melanie giggled, "Damn," she pouted. "I saw the cutest Hello Kitty ring at Macy's a few weeks ago."
Chris tickled her lightly, "Funny," he shook his head. "As I was saying…I told you I had a ring."
She nodded, "You did."
Chris reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled out a black box, making her gasp. "Now," he twirled the box around in his hand. "I bought this before I brought up getting re-married again and I had planned on proposing to you sometime during the Fourth of July weekend…"
"Chris.." she whispered softly. "I'm sorry."
"But ," he looked at the box. "I figured since you asked me last night, that I could ask you again? Just to be old fashioned… like my age."
Melanie snorted, "Okay," she nodded. "But I don't want to get up. I'm too comfortable to move," she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You don't have to get up," he kissed her. "This position makes it easier for me to have my way with you afterwards."
"You, Mr. Pike, could only make a romantic gesture into a lewd one," she rolled her eyes. "Okay.. so.." she suddenly became nervous.
Chris shifted her on his lap, wrapping one arm around her waist and settling the other on her thighs. "Melanie Rose McCoy," he started, watching as she bit her lip to suppress the grin that wanted to break free. "Would you do me the honor in becoming my wife? Legally that is?"
She smiled brightly at him and nodded, "Yes!" she squealed. "I will!"
With a smile, Chris managed to open the little black box with one hand, exposing the ring inside. Melanie gasped, covering her mouth when she saw it. The platinum band was perched in the box, as three round cut diamonds sparkled in the lighting from the lamp.
"Chris!" she exclaimed, once her hands fell from her mouth. "Oh my god!"
He chuckled, slipping his arm from around her waist to remove the ring from the box. "I figured one diamond just wasn't enough for you," he said, holding the ring between his fingers. "So I said to myself, "why not three?", and saw this ring and I knew it would be perfect for you."
At that point, Melanie's eyes were shining with tears, watching as he took her hand into his, and slowly slid the ring into place on her finger. Once it was in place, Melanie let out a sob and smiled.
"It's beautiful," she said, turning to look at him.
"You sure you like it?" he asked. "We can always pick out a different ring."
Melanie leaned forward and silenced him with a kiss, "No," she said, once she pulled back. "I love it and I love you."
"I love you, too," he said, reaching up to brush a strand of hair away from he face. "Can we celebrate now?"
She snorted, "We can," she nodded. "But we need to leave some time free so that we can get dressed and head over to Ny's for dinner."
Chris nodded, "Don't worry," he said, as he moved her down onto the couch. "We'll have plenty of time to get ready."
….
Sticking to his promise, Chris and Melanie arrived at Nyota's a little after four-fifteen. Jim and Joanna, who ushered them in quickly from the cold, greeted them at the door.
"What are you wearing?" Melanie asked, as Jim kissed her cheek.
"The ugliest sweater I could find," he grinned, giving Chris a one-armed hug. "Everyone was wondering what took you so long."
Melanie took the platter from Chris, "Nyota said four," he pulled his coat off. "Who else are we waiting for?"
"Your brother," Jim shrugged, looking at Melanie. "Said he forgot something in the fridge at home.
Gaila made her way out into the hallway, "You're here!" she squealed, moving towards them. "And together!" she kissed Melanie's cheek.
Melanie smiled, "Of course we arrived together!" she said, as the redhead placed a quick kiss on Chris' cheek. "And you're already drunk."
"I am not!" Gaila cried in mock outrage. "I'm just very, very happy that you're both here and together!"
Joanna tugged on Melanie's jacket, "Come see the food everyone made!" she squealed. "Aunt Nyota made this yummy chicken thingy that you and Uncle Chris need to eat!"
Jim snorted, "Yeah Uncle Chris," he nudged him. "You just have to try it!"
"Well lead the way, Jo," Chris said, holding his free hand out. "Gotta save some before Jim eats them all."
Melanie smiled as Joanna lead Chris towards the kitchen, an onslaught of greetings filling the air as he stepped into the room.
"So," Jim and Gaila turned to look at her. "You're looking very, very happy," Gaila said, winking.
"I am," she nodded, pulling her jacket off. "Very happy."
Gaila smiled until she spotted the sparkle on her finger. "Oh my fucking god."
Jim frowned, "What?" he asked, looking at the redhead. "What happened?"
"You… your.." Gaila stuttered, pointing at Melanie's hand, reaching out to shaking Jim with her hand.
"Jesus Gaila!" Jim moved out of her way, "What the hell?" he looked to where Gaila was pointing. "HOLY SHIT!"
Melanie snorted, "What in the worlds gotten into you two?" she asked.
"You're engaged!" Gaila said, her eyes wide. "Yo-you didn't have that on your finger when I saw you the other day!"
She looked down at the ring on her finger, "Oh, this?" she asked, holding her hand up. "Yeah, we got engaged last night."
Gaila and Jim let out the girliest screeches- girliest on Jim's part- and dragged her down the hall and into the kitchen.
"What the bloody hell are yeh screaming about?" Scotty asked, as they stepped into the kitchen. "Oh, hello Mel!"
"LOOK! LOOK!" Gaila screeched, holding Melanie's hand up for everyone to see.
Melanie blushed and looked over at Chris, who stood against the counter looking smug as all hell.
"Santa was extra good to these two last night," Jim grinned, as Joanna came closer to look.
Joanna looked at the ring and smiled, "YES!" she jumped on the spot. "You owe me five dollars," she said, looking from Jim to Scotty. "Both of you."
"Joanna!" Nyota shook her head. "What did we say about betting?" she asked, despite the smile on her face.
"Not to do it," Joanna answered quickly. "But Aunt Nyyyyy!"
Jim scooped her up into his arms, "Aunt Ny is right," he kissed her cheek. "I'll give you five dollars later."
The group them moved back and forth between Chris and Melanie, hugging and kissing their cheeks, as they congratulated them on the engagement. The girls crowded around Melanie to look at her ring, demanding to know all the details on how he asked and when he did it.
"What's all the commotion?" Leonard's voice boomed through the kitchen. "I leave for ten minutes and everyone's screaming and shouting."
"Daddy!" Joanna squealed, "Aunt Mellie has to show you something!"
Leonard set a bag down on the table and moved over to his sister, "Merry Christmas, sissy," he dropped a kiss on her forehead, before pulling her into a bear hug.
"Merry Christmas, Lenny," she snickered, as he scowled at her.
"What is Joanna yellin' about?" he asked.
Melanie glanced at Chris, who nodded, and looked back at Leonard. "Well," she reached up to brush her hair back with her left hand. "Notice anything different?"
Leonard frowned, "You got your hair done?" he asked, making her sigh. Then he spotted the ring on her finger, "What in god's n- you're gonna take someone's eye out with that!"
She snorted as he took her hand into his, whistling at the size on the diamond on her finger. "Jesus Chris," he looked back at the man. "You sure as hell know to pick 'em."
Chris made his way over to them, "I should start my own business," he smiled.
"Does this mean there's gonna be a planned wedding?" Leonard asked, looking between the two of them.
They nodded, "We're going to plan a wedding for sometime next year, "Chris said. "I told Mel that whatever she wants, she can have."
"Except, Chris wont wear a dress," she pouted.
"I drew the line at that."
Leonard snorted, "Smart man," he nodded. Then he smiled, "Congratulations."
Melanie smiled, "Thank you," she said, hugging him tightly.
At that moment, Nyota clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Everyone into the dining room! Food is ready and I have several hungry man-boys here!"
"Come on," Leonard wrapped his arm around Melanie. "Let's watch these buffoons stuff their faces."
…..
After dinner, the party scattered around the house to relax and let the food settle, before desert. Leonard, Chris and Spock helped Nyota wrap the food up, while Melanie and Gaila curled up on the couch to talk about their upcoming weddings. A half an hour later, Chris and Scotty found them passed out in each other's arms.
"Should we wake 'em?" Scotty whispered, as they slept.
Chris shook his head, "Maybe we shouldn't," he bit his lip. "Then they'll be grumpy."
Jim snuck up behind them with his phone and snapped a picture, snickering as he uploaded it to Facebook. "So precious," he cooed.
"Precious until they rip yer balls off, Kirk," Scotty snorted. "I should wake Gaila, though. She'll be up all night if I let her sleep."
Chris nodded, "Maybe you're right," he sighed. "Jim, could you make some coffee?" he asked.
Jim slauted him, "Sir, yes sir!" he snorted, as Scotty reached out to shaking Gaila's shoulder.
"Gaila? Come on Gaila, yeh need to wake up," he said softly, as she mumbled in her sleep.
"Mel? Time to wake up," Chris said, touching her face lightly.
"Hmmm, noooo," she groaned, bouncing her head a few times on Gaila's chest. "Hmmmm, soft."
Scotty snickered, "Yer wifey better get her mitts off mah lady," he said, shaking his head.
"Mel. Cake," Chris said, a little louder.
Her eyes flew open, "Hmm? Cake?" she asked, blinking a few times. "Gaila! Cake!"
Scotty and Chris were shaking with silent laughter, as the two women scrambled into sitting positions. Then Gaila frowned, "Where's the cake?" she asked, her eyes settling on Scotty.
"No cake?" Melanie nearly pouted. "You lied!"
Chris sighed, "You can have cake and whatever else that's in the kitchen," he promised, pulling her up off the couch. "But first, Jim is making a pot of coffee and you're going to drink a cup so that you can get the cake in your mouth and not on your clothes."
Melanie grumbled as he lead her towards the kitchen, "I want cake now.." she mumbled, as he steered her towards the table. "Ooooh!"
During the time it took for the boys to clean up, Nyota set the endless array of cookies, brownies and other sweet treats on the table in her kitchen.
"Ah!" Leonard swatted her hands. "You can wait just like everyone else."
Melanie pouted and Leonard shook his head, "That look doesn't work for my seven-year old and it's not going to work for you either."
"Five more minutes, Mel," Jim said, as he set a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. "You can wait five minutes."
Chris poured another cup of coffee and called out for Scotty, "Don't pout, Mel,' he scolded. "It's not going anywhere."
She rolled her eyes, "You lured me out of a deep sleep with promises of cake," she whined. "I was comfortable."
"Yeah," he snorted. "Comfortable using Gaila's breasts as pillows."
Jim snickered, "Nice Mel!" he shook his head, as Leonard rolled his eyes.
"Yeh made coffee?" Scotty asked, coming into the kitchen. "Ah! Thank yeh!" he said, taking the cup from Chris.
"Come on," Leonard patted her shoulder lightly. "Take your cup and lets go sit in the livingroom. We're going to exchange gifts and eat."
"Cake?" she asked, pouting.
Leonard sighed, nodding his head. "Yes, yes," he helped her up. "You'll get your cake."
She smiled, "Gaila! Cakeeeee!" she shouted, rushing out into the living room, leaving the boys behind.
"Are you sure she's twenty-eight?" Chris asked, shaking his head.
Leonard snorted, "She's all yours, Chris," he said, patting his back.
…..
I want to wish you all a very, Merry Christmas! I hope Santa was good to all of you and you got what you asked for! :D
