December 24, 2011
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas," Bing Crosby played loudly on the speaker in the diagnostics office, "just like the ones I used to know."
"Such a classic!" Foreman commented while twiddling his thumbs and enjoying the radio, "I remember as a kid playing in my Auntie's living room with my brother and cousins and listening to this on the radio. She'd build up a fire, we'd all bake cookies together. Those were the days!"
"Sounds like a cheery Christmas!" Cameron grinned as she sat back down at the glass table and handed Chase a cup of coffee.
"How about you Cameron? I'm sure you have some fond Christmas memories to warm our cold, dead hearts with," House sarcastically spoke at the end of the table. She rolled her eyes before speaking.
"Every year my whole family comes to my parent's house in Morristown and my mom cooks a huge Christmas Eve dinner. There are always dozens of people and they all sing and eat...it's pretty great!"
"How about you, House? Or did you spend Christmas on Mount Krumpit and plan on how to ruin the holiday for The Who's?" Foreman spoke which elicited a small chuckle from Chase.
"No," House uncharacteristically shared, "we'd go to my Aunt Sarah's and eat a dry turkey and watch my dad knock back a few bourbons before he'd nod off."
"I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams," Bing's voice filled the room with the final few bars of the song when the team realized they hadn't yet pestered Chase about his childhood holidays.
"What about you, Tiny Tim?" House provoked the blonde man.
"Tiny Tim?" He was confused.
"What, you Brits don't read Charles Dicken's novels about orphans and-." House rudely spoke.
"Do you mean Oliver Twist?" Cameron raised an eyebrow.
Chase looked moderately annoyed at the comments and the implication that he was an orphan even though at this point it was true. He had no mum, no dad, no grandparents, or siblings, and only one uncle and one cousin left in his world. The holidays were a difficult time for Chase not only for the fact that he was thousands of miles away from his childhood home, but because he had almost no family. While others rushed home early on the holiday to get ready to go to parties and gatherings, he opted to sit home and fall asleep in front of cheesy Christmas movies.
"I didn't do much for Christmas," he shared very little, "dad worked, mum...did what she could do."
Even House had better Christmases growing up, and he was a miserable person.
"You didn't go to anyone's house?" Cameron seemed overly concerned and sympathetic. She'd been that way recently, asking him a lot about himself and spending odd amounts of time with him, not that he was complaining. He enjoyed any extra time he got to spend with his attractive coworker.
"No, my grandparents came over a few times and the other side of the family lived in the Czech Republic."
It was like he'd dumped a bucket of ice water on each of them. They were quiet as the next song, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" came on the radio.
"Did you ever get snow on Christmas?" Foreman questioned the foreigner hoping that he could get a little bit of holiday cheer out of him.
"Well, no, December here is the beginning of the winter season. In Australia, December is a summer month, so it's usually sunny and ninety degrees on Christmas Day."
"Just another reason you Brits are all backwards," House insulted before standing from his seat, "and on that note, go home, I'll see you all on Monday."
Dismissed early?
It was surprising to see House let them leave during daylight hours, but he'd been slightly unusual lately. Cameron suspected that House and Cuddy had a little something going on, but she kept that to herself. It could be, perhaps, that House had plans for Christmas but of course that would mean that someone would have to be willing to hang out with him for the holiday.
Whatever the case, they were happy to leave early.
As House exited the room, the three team members began putting on their winter outerwear and discussed their plans for the evening.
"I'm going to my parent's house and then probably just back to my apartment," Cameron grinned and glanced over at Chase who concentrated more on fastening the buttons on his coat than her words.
"My parents came to town and are staying in a hotel so I'm taking them out for dinner and then bringing them to Uncle Tommy's house for dessert," Foreman bragged before noticing Chase's body language, "what about you Chase? Do you have plans?"
The young man slung his pageboy bag over his shoulder and avoided the eye contact of his peers.
"Just gonna go home and catch up on some sleep," he said in a snarky, defensive way. He hated when people felt bad for him or judged him for his situation. He had no family, no girlfriend, and the only friends he had were either busy with their own families or traveling.
"Well, have fun I guess..." Foreman spoke while inching out the door, "Merry Christmas!"
After Foreman left, Cameron turned to Chase and offered the biggest grin.
"You have no plans tonight?" She questioned.
"I'll probably watch movies and-."
"You should come with me to my parent's Christmas party!" She smiled and grabbed both of his hands.
"Oh, I don't think-."
"Come on, you said you had nothing to do! Besides, it's about time you had a good Christmas!"
Did she ask him what his plans were simply so he'd admit he had nothing to do? That way it would be insulting for him to turn down her offer? He'd never known Cameron to be that manipulative.
Damn, it was hard for Chase to tell her no, though. If it wasn't the sweet way she asked him or the light smell of her perfume on the cherry red scarf she wore around her neck to avoid the cold, it was the huge crush he'd always had on her that made him consider her offer. She was standing so close to him, her light red-brown loosely curled hair, half pulled back with clips and the other half falling delicately on her petite shoulders and green eyes sparkling with the reflection of Christmas lights.
"I don't know," he tried to resist her, but her hands firmly grasped his palms and before he knew it she was dragging him out the door.
"Great! You'll love this!" She declared much to her coworker's dismay.
...
They drove directly to her parent's house carefully as the first few flurries of a white Christmas fell from the gray skies above. Allison wanted to drive, but Robert insisted they take his care. He'd seen the way she drove and, well, there were a lot of things he loved about Allison, but her driving was not one of them, especially with the threat of a snow storm on the horizon. So they opted for his car and listened to various Christmas tunes along the way.
"So, there's really no snow on Christmas Eve in Australia?" She tried to make conversation without mentioning any of the tragic events of his life.
"No, it's always really warm. It is nice to go surfing on Christmas," he smiled, remembering that one time in University when he surfed through the whole holiday.
"Surfing? On Christmas?" She teased.
"Yeah, it's fun!"
As they neared her parent's house, Allison pressed him harder for information.
"So, you never had a traditional Christmas before?" She was pushing it, that was for sure. But what could he do? Tell her to stop? He was enchanted by her spell, plus he was trapped in a car with her.
"I mean, when I was a little kid there were a few. My grandparents would come over, we'd go to church and then come home for a home cooked dinner and some puddings for dessert. That only happened a few times, but it was nice."
"Puddings?" she asked with a disgusted face, "I hate pudding! It's like chocolate goo."
"You haven't had pudding until you've had my grandmum's! It was the best!"
"I'll take your word for it," she smiled and blushed before pointing to the last house on the block, "it's that one there, with the red door."
Without a word Robert proficiently parked his car and took a deep, long breath. It had been a long time since he'd spent the holidays with anyone, let alone his coworker's family. It felt a little weird, like he was out of place or something. He'd never been an antisocial guy but as he got older he found that social gatherings had become more difficult for him to handle which just made his anxious that he may say something stupid. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrase himself in front of Allison's family.
It wasn't so much that he cared about the holiday as it was he cared for her.
For so long he'd been trapped in this category of "coworker" and "friend" when really he wanted nothing more than to be her partner in life. There was something about her personality that he just felt…comfortable with. It was an ease he'd never felt before and he liked it…he loved it. In his heart he knew that he loved her but until a few months before the holiday he'd never really known if she felt anything back.
Sure it was strange that out of the blue she invited him to her parent's Christmas eve party, but perhaps this was the human connection he'd secretly begged God to give him.
"Is everything okay?" Allison questioned him after he was silent for a moment too long.
"Yeah…yeah everything's fine. It's just…been a long time since I've been anywhere for the holidays. I'm a little…intimidated."
"Don't be," she smiled at him before giving him the slightest peck on the cheek and exiting the car. He could feel his face blush and become engulfed in heat but rather than sit and analyze her actions any further, Robert exited the car and helped his coworker to the front door through the light fallen snow. Allison knocked on the bright red door, it's color cheery and welcoming.
Scanning the street Robert noticed the numerous cars that lined the block and knew the party had to be quite large. Was he ready to hang out with the Cameron's?
"Merry Christmas!" an older man with thinning hair and large glasses answered the front door, presumably Allison's father. He was tall and thin with a thick red sweater, brown pants, and the most genuine and sweet smile; Robert knew where Allison got it from.
"Merry Christmas, dad!" Allison grinned and hugged her dad as tightly as she could.
"I'm so glad to see you, kitten! And who's this?" he questioned as he released her from his embrace. Robert almost laughed at the nickname 'kitten' but he supposed every father was entitled to give his daughter a sweet little term of endearment.
"This is Robert, he and I work together!" Allison was careful with the introduction. If she called him her 'coworker', it would mean that he was a causal aquatience and nothing more. If she said he was her 'date', that would imply something completely different. Instead she opted to not provide a lable and let the young man figure it out himself. "Robert, this is my dad Paul."
"It's nice to meet you," Robert shook Paul's hand as they stepped inside the warm, busy house.
"It's great to meet you! What an accent you have! Are you from Australia?"
Robert couldn't help but beam with delight; it was nice to not be called British for once.
"Yes I am. I'm from Melbourne."
"Melbourne! Why, when I was in the Army we had to train some troops over around Melbourne, and it was beautiful. What a great place to spend three weeks! I've been nagging Liz to go there ever since but she's afraid of the long trip- maybe you can help me convince her!"
Paul was endearing and sweet, everything anyone would want in a father. Robert wasn't used to holidays with family and love and warmth. Without warning a few more people walked over to where they were standing and joined the conversation.
"Robert, this is my brother Chris, sister-in-law Lily, and nephew Elliot. Guys, this is Robert…we work together," Allison introduced once more and Chris got an all-knowing look on his face.
"Oh, so this is the guy you haven't shut up about for the past three years," he spilled the beans and Allison gave him the look of death.
"Chris," Lily slapped him on the arm but he didn't seem to care. Robert simply blushed and shook the man's hand.
"It's nice to meet you," he offered.
"Nice to meet you too."
…
There were cakes, cookies, pies, and all assortments of dinner foods that were so pleantiful and rich they could have supplied an entire army. Allison's mother Liz was quite the cook and as Robert came to understand when talking to the woman, she had a passion for all things food-related. A teacher by trade she'd always loved watching the cooking channel on TV, making new recepies, and challenging herself to creating something more delicious than ever to share with her family and loved ones. She was kind and relatable, caring and sweet. Something about Liz reminded Robert of his own mother when she wasn't drinking and screaming. Liz was shorter, a little pudgy, but had eyes that told a thousand stories. Her generosity was something to be admired and envied.
Paul was a jokester, that was for sure. He could tell a story that would captivate the entire room and with one punch line make everyone laugh and cry with delight. Paul loved his wife and was as helpful as a husband should strive to be, asking her frequently if she needed help and grabbed more beer from the garage. He was quick to compliment and most of all loved hearing about those around him. A lot of the night Paul spent around Robert simply to hear who the young man was.
Then there was Chris: the brother. Robert didn't have any siblings and had always envisioned them to be fun- like a built in best friend. Christ may have been the family member Robert was the most afraid to meet because he truly didn't know what to make of the man, and at first it was very clear that he was fiercely protective of his little sister. Like a lion assessing another animal to see if it's a preditor, Chris took special interests in Robert and probed for as much information as possible. He asked about his interests and life, if he was looking to move back to Australia or stay around forever. Within an hour, Chris found himself liking Robert more and more, the ease of their budding friendship more natural than either would have expected. They had many common interests and both seemed to have very dry senses of humor.
And finally, there was Allison. Robert had been tentative about coming to her family's holiday party without an intivation or any kind of solid, defined relationship, but he was happy she forced his hand. As he stared at her from across the room, he found himself dreaming of her form in the stunning emerald green dress that fit her curves just right: little cap sleeves and a sweet a line that ended just above her knees with gold pumps to add a little festiveness. Her face was the most beautiful work of art he'd ever seen. She wore little make up, she didn't need it: her eyes were green like freshly grown grass and her skin pale white with small light freckles that danced across the brigde of her delicate nose.
Damn, she was something else.
"It looks like the snow is getting heavy," she snapped him out of his fantasies of her, "we should probably get going."
"Yeah…yeah we should."
...
They'd driven for hours and hours, but the time just flew by as they laughed and remeniced on the car ride back. Snow was coming down in sheets and Robert could feel the resistance of his tires on the poorly paved roads, but as long as he was with Allison nothing mattered.
She like him, he could tell.
And he liked her.
It felt very high school at first, the idea of liking someone and them liking you back, but as the night progressed he realized just how their relationship was blossoming into something more than just pleasantries. He'd had feelings for her for a while, he just hadn't allowed himself to get involved in fear that she didn't reciprocate.
But she did.
As they neared her apartment Robert skidded into a spot…or a snowbank, he couldn't really tell, and they laughed hysterically about it. There was no way his car would get out of that spot until morning, but neither said anything about it. Robert simply opened his car door and came around to Allison's side, something she hadn't quite expected.
"What are you doing?" She smiled as he opened the door and grabbed her hand.
"Well you didn't think I was going to let you freeze to death and ruin your shoes in this snow, did you?"
Allison giggled and laughed as Robert picked her up on his back and stomped through the calf-deep snow. It had been a long, long time since he'd had this much fun on Christmas Eve, and never did he imagine he'd been spending it with the girl he'd been pining over for so long. He could feel the warmth of her thighs on his back and felt the all too familiar feeling of being turned on by her physique and knew that if he didn't drop her off in her apartment and leave soon, he'd probably do something wrong. Because of that, he quickly made his way up to her apartment door and dropped her feet to the ground.
"I had fun tonight," he started as she fumbled with the keys in the door. She could sense that he was inching his way away from her, but she had other plans.
"I did too!" She smiled as she turned the key and opened the door to her apartment, grabbing him by the tie and pulling him gently into her home while giggling to herself. He couldn't believe how meticulously decorated her place was: everything was perfectly positioned to create the most beautiful display he'd ever seen. His mum, bless her soul, was never one for decorating and after his grandparents died so did the tradition of putting up a tree.
"Wow," he accidentally spoke out loud while Allison closed the door behind him.
"Hey Robert," her voice sounded strange and innocent. He turned around to see her staring at him, coat already discarded.
"Yeah?" He questioned.
"I lied to you tonight."
"You did?" His sassy sense of humor was emerging as he moved closer to her. They stood so close that their bodies almost touched each other, their eyes so fixated on the other's that it was impossible to break their stare.
"Yeah...I told you I wanted you to come with me because you'd never had a good Christmas but...well...I wanted you to come with me because I like you."
His mouth hung open a crack. Could it be...? The girl of his dreams was confessing her feelings for him? A night that had been cursed for so long was actually turning out to be decent?
"I like you too," he responded, mesmerized by her words. God she was beautiful, and when he felt her hand suddenly touch his arm, he almost exploded with intense excitement.
"I think you should kiss me," Allison nearly whispered, snapping Robert out of his daze.
"I think I should..." he responded before placing his hands on her waist and lowering his lips onto hers. The contact made goosebumps rise on his flesh and his heart beat quicken.
For years he'd had lonely, disappointing Christmases, but this one had shaped up to be the best yet.
