Thank you for the reviews.

Now, are we ready for more... established Rachel and Eddie? Like they've been together for a while... I am sure you get what I mean when you start to read this.

Set during 2009 (and what would have been series 5).

Day Nine
Advent Calendar

The good thing about having the same advent calendar was that neither of them felt like they were missing out if the other person had something different. The bad thing was that Rachel was fairly certain that Eddie was actually eating from both advent calendars.

Word count: 1,257

With Eddie and Rachel being completely and utterly official, it meant that quite a few things had changed from the year before. Like the fact that they now lived together (choosing to live at Rachel's because her house was bigger), and that they were rather public with their relationship (with Rachel introducing Eddie as her boyfriend and deputy whenever anyone visited the school. With boyfriend always first).

It meant that, for the first time for Rachel, Christmas was being done properly. She had given complete and utter control to Eddie to plan for Christmas and she wanted to do everything that he felt like was tradition for him. Which is why, for the first time ever, Rachel had an advent calendar (something that Eddie was still shocked that she had never had, with her having to call up Melissa to get her to tell him that they never had advent calendars as kids).

Eddie had told her that the fairest way for them to do it would be to have the same one, therefore, the other one didn't feel like they were missing out on what the other one had. Rachel was fairly certain that she was going to take over buying the advent calendars next year. Because if they were going to have the same one, then they were going to have something a little better next time.

She hadn't noticed it at first, mainly because she was sure that she must have had her chocolate. There were times when she didn't fancy it first thing in the morning, so sometimes she left it for when she got home and others, she took it to school with her so she could eat it as a cravings buster at around break time.

So there were days where she just assumed that she had actually taken it to work, even if she couldn't remember eating it. It was a busy time of year. She could have forgotten that she had eaten it.

The first time that she was sure that she wasn't making up that she hadn't had her advent chocolate was the day that they overlaid because Eddie had accidentally turned off their alarm. She knew that she hadn't had time to even think about her chocolate. Eddie, amazingly, thought that he had enough time for his, popping it into his mouth as they ran out of the door. So Rachel found it strange that when she reached for her calendar, when they were going to settle on the sofa to relax before going to bed, that the door for that day was open and her chocolate was gone. She let it slide that time.

But when it seemed like it had been a bit of a regular occurrence, Rachel was glad to catch Eddie in the act. Just because she didn't think that she was going mental.

"Excuse me. What do you think you are doing?" She said.

"Having my chocolate." He said as he turned to her.

"I think that one isn't yours."

"Really?"

"Plus, I definitely remember you having yours this morning."

"Did I?" He said as he looked down at the calendar. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, because I made a point of not having my chocolate because I thought this was happening." She said, walking over to him and taking the advent calendar out of his hands.

Rachel watched Eddie as he grabbed the other calendar to inspect it. She knew that he was trying to see if he could still argue it but she was sure that he had realised what he had unknowingly done.

"We aren't having the same next year." Rachel said.

"Not my brightest idea."

She rose up onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "It's a good thing that I love you."

"Is it?" Eddie said as he brought her into his arms.

"Well, I think it is."

Rachel knew that the conversation was going to carry on later. Because she knew that it would hit Eddie again what had happened and he would want to make it up to her.

"This was meant to be the best Christmas yet for you," Eddie said as he leant against the doorframe from the ensuite to the bedroom.

"Eddie, it's fine. I was just making sure that I wasn't going mad."

"No, it isn't fine. We were meant to do things properly."

"And we aren't going to have an argument over a piece of chocolate that is the size of a one pence piece."

"Still."

Rachel shook her head. "Lesson learnt. My boyfriend has a sweet tooth and the memory of a goldfish. We won't be having the same calendars next year."

"Still," Eddie repeated as he returned to the ensuite to finish brushing his teeth.

"It isn't like we have many left anyway. Maybe you could make it up to me by doing some baking this weekend."

"So I've been eating all the chocolate and you've been eating all the mince pies."

"Not my fault that you make the best mince pies in Rochdale."

"Only Rochdale?" Eddie said, sounding hurt as he joined her properly in the bedroom. "My Great Grandmother didn't slave away with the recipe just for you to insult it like that."

"So it isn't even your own recipe." Rachel said as she stood up from her dressing table.

"Right, that's it."

Eddie almost ran over to her to pick her up, over his shoulder. Rachel couldn't stop herself from squealing and as her back hit the mattress, she started laughing as Eddie attacked her ribs. She protested and tried to get him to stop but they had done this too many times for Eddie to know how to keep her in place while he tickled her.

Weirdly, it was one of the more refreshing aspects of their relationship. Eddie was silly and childish at times but it made Rachel feel that way as well. There were times when she didn't feel 39. She probably felt more like she was 19 and in a relationship that she felt like she should have been when she was 19. Not doing what she actually was doing at 19.

She moved her head to the side as Eddie stopped tickling her and went to place a kiss on her lips. Because two could always play at the game that he wanted to play.

"Come on," Eddie said. "I can't constantly be in the dog house."

"Who says you are in the dog house?" Rachel said as she looked back at him.

"Does this mean…"

"What? That you are forgiven?"

"Sort of." He said before he dropped down to kiss her. "I'm sure you said about this time if we wanted to try and have another go."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that."

"How could you forget about it? It was your idea for you to track yourself. As we decided that it was something that we both wanted."

Rachel just allowed Eddie to kiss her again, knowing that it was probably the perfect time to tell him why she had been craving his mince pies more than normal and why she had been feeling so tired. But she wanted to keep it to herself for a little longer. Mainly because she saw it as the perfect Christmas surprise for Eddie. For that, she was definitely counting down the days.