Sometimes things don't work out quite as you had planned them. Sometimes the one person that you had never thought of would end up being your saviour, your soul mate. Someone that you'd known for years, depended on, trusted your life to. One smile from him and your knees go weak, the touch of his hand on your body makes you tremble.
"You didn't have to get her anything Faith."
"She invited me for dinner Bos, I'm not going to show up empty handed! Do you think she'll like it?"
"It's soft and warm, I'm sure she'll love it."
"You don't think she has enough scarves already?"
Bosco had said that he'd wait for her, not that she planned on making him wait long. She just needed to hear that he was serious. She didn't want a fling, she wasn't looking for a night of great sex. What she wanted was a relationship, a loving, caring, adult relationship. Deep in her heart she had always figured that Bosco was more than capable of that. He just needed to find the right woman.
"Can I borrow some wrapping paper? I want to wrap up the fudge."
"Yeah sure, there's some in the hall closet. Help yourself."
"Thanks Faith, saves me from having to buy some."
"You really are cheap when it comes to Christmas, aren't you?"
She had it all worked out in her mind. Dinner at his mom's place and then when they returned to her apartment, or his, she would tell him that she was ready. Some might argue that this all came about too soon after separating from her husband. Was she sure that she's ready to move on? She'd asked herself that question numerous times throughout the past few days and every time she'd concluded that while she loved Fred, she wasn't in love with him.
"Got any ribbon?"
"Just a second, let me check. I might have used it all wrapping the kids' presents."
"How much ribbon did you put on them? Gobs and gobs of it? Can you even see the paper through all the ribbon?"
"They love ribbon!"
It wasn't going to be easy, making it work. But they owed it to themselves to at least give it a shot. She felt a tingle of excitement when she thought of them together, laughing over coffee, holding hands skating, snuggling on the couch. The path of life mapped out in her mind was changing and she was finally ready to accept that.
______________
Faith grabbed the neatly wrapped present for Rose off the counter in the kitchen. "Come on Bos, I'm ready to go!"
"Give me a minute! You can't rush these things!" Bosco yelled back from the bathroom.
"I'm sure your hair looks fine!"
Bosco appeared and walked down the hall. "It's sticking up all funny." he said and ran a hand over his head.
"Just adds personality. Come on, we told your mom that we'd be there at 4:30 and it's already 4:00. With all the people trying to go places, the subway will be crowded, we'll never make it in time."
Bosco put on his jacket and made sure that he had the gift for his mom. "Alright, let's go." he said and walked out the door. Faith locked up and then followed Bosco down the hallway.
They walked the short distance to the train station and pushed their way through the crowds. "Times like this," Bosco muttered, "I wish I could pull my badge and gun and just run through the crowd."
"Get used to it." Faith replied. "With no car you're going to be doing this more often."
"Don't remind me. I plan on replacing my car as soon as the insurance goes through."
They had to wait two trains before they could even squeeze on and then it was a while until they reached the stop that they wanted. Their fellow passengers were smiling and chatting amongst themselves. It seemed that everyone was in the spirit of Christmas.
"Look at it this way," Faith said as the train lurched to a stop. "At least by taking transit we can have a lot to drink and not have to worry about driving."
Bosco stood up and guided Faith off the train. "You've got a point there." he said as they stepped onto the platform. "I'm sure Ma will have plenty of wine and spirits in the house."
It was a chilly night, threatening snow, so Bosco and Faith walked quickly to Rose Boscorelli's apartment building. Bosco got them buzzed in, quicker this time as she was actually expecting visitors, and they went up to the apartment.
Rose greeted them both cheerfully at the door and then she frowned. "You're late," she said and made a point of tapping her watch. "I was beginning to get worried."
"Bosco had to make sure that his hair was perfect." Faith said with a grin.
"Faith couldn't decide what to wear." Bosco replied at the same time.
Rose looked back and forth at the two of them and just shook her head. "Come in, take off your jackets. Dinner will be ready in just under an hour. If you're hungry, there's some nuts and chocolate on the coffee table!"
"Smells wonderful." Faith breathed in deeply and smiled at Rose.
Rose returned the smile and then bustled off into the kitchen. Bosco took Faith's jacket and hung it up on a hook next to his own. "I have to warn you," Bosco said in a hushed tone, "She always makes way too much and tries to get you to eat until you wanna puke. You're going to be taking home leftovers."
"I guess that probably went over well with some of your girlfriends." Faith replied and tucked Rose's gift under her arm while she untied her boots.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bosco asked, sounding confused.
"Making them eat. I swear most of your girlfriends were anorexic."
Bosco frowned. "Well, okay, so there was a few that weren't really big eaters..."
"Can I get either of you something to drink?" Rose called from the kitchen. "A glass of wine? Sherry? Eggnog?"
With a quick glance in Bosco's direction, Faith replied, "Eggnog sounds great."
"I'll have the same Ma." Bosco called out and led Faith over to the couch. They sat down together and Bosco picked up a nut and the nutcrackers. He stuffed the nut between the prongs and gave it a squeeze. The nut flew out and landed halfway across the living room.
When Rose entered the room with a glass in each hand, Bosco said, "The place really looks great this year Ma. Did you do it all yourself?"
Rose handed one of the glasses to her son, "I had one of my friends, you remember Shelley right? The interior designer? She came by and gave me some pointers."
Bosco nodded, even though he couldn't remember for the life of him who Shelley was. Rose handed the other glass to Faith. "I didn't know how much brandy you wanted in it, so I just gave you a small amount."
"That's fine." Faith replied and took a small sip. "It's perfect."
"Make yourselves at home, I have to attend to my stuffing!" Rose exclaimed and hurried back into the kitchen.
Bosco leaned closer to Faith. "I think she's been hitting the sherry." he murmured into her ear, making her laugh.
"Feel free to put on some music!" Rose yelled and then cursed loudly as something glass shattered in the kitchen.
"You okay in there?" Bosco yelled back.
"Just fine! I broke a glass, that's all."
Faith stood up and went over to a cd tower. She scanned through the titles before wrinkling her nose slightly. "Not sure I agree with your mom's taste in music Bosco."
Bosco nodded in agreement. "I don't think anyone agrees. Maybe we should stick with silence for now."
It was almost an hour until dinner was ready and then Bosco, Faith and Rose sat down around the small table. Rose said grace and then they all dug in. Faith lifted a forkful of turkey to her mouth and ate it slowly, making small yummy noises. "This is great," she said after she'd swallowed. "How did you get to stay so tender?"
Rose smiled slightly. "Family secret." she replied.
"Come on Ma, you can tell Faith." Bosco looked at his mom. "It's not really a secret."
Rose laughed and sipped at her glass of wine. "Alright, but you have to promise that you won't tell a soul."
Faith nodded. "Okay, I promise."
"I buy a fresh turkey, not one of those frozen ones, and I soak it in brine for a day before I cook it."
Faith raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? Brine, as in salt water?"
Rose nodded. "Exactly. But it has to be a fresh turkey."
"Hmm, I'll have to try that the next time I'm cooking turkey." Faith mused.
It took them quite a while to get through dinner but once they were done, no one had any room left for dessert. Faith suspected that Bosco actually did, but he wasn't saying so. The three of them sipped at their wine and chatted for a while.
"Oh Ma, before I forget," Bosco said. "I have to give you your present."
Rose shook her head. "Maurice, you didn't have to get me anything."
"You would have been complaining if I hadn't." Bosco replied and got up from the table. "It's with my jacket, I'll just go and grab it."
Faith also stood up, "Excuse me." she said, glancing at Rose.
Faith followed Bosco over to the jacket hooks and grabbed her own gift for Rose. Bosco headed back to the table and handed the small wrapped gift and the envelope with the gift certificate in it to her. Rose neatly unwrapped the present and smiled happily. "You know exactly what I like Maurice."
"I had a little help from Faith." Bosco replied, not wanting to take all the credit.
Rose then slit open the envelope and pulled out the gift certificate. "Bloomingdales!" she exclaimed. "Oh Maurice, this is too much."
"Don't say that Ma." Bosco said, trying not to blush. Rose stood up and hugged her son.
Faith, who had been watching the gift exchange from a distance, stepped forward and handed her own package to Rose. "Before you say anything, I just wanted to get you something to say thank you for having me for dinner."
Rose touched Faith's arm and looked at her gratefully. "That's so sweet and thoughtful of you."
Rose unwrapped the scarf and then held it up to her face. "Oh, it's so soft!" she exclaimed and put it around her neck. "Thank you Faith, it's gorgeous and will go perfectly with my jacket."
Faith smiled, "You're welcome."
Rose ran her hand over the scarf and said, "Anyone ready for dessert yet?"
Bosco patted a hand on his stomach. "Nothing's changed in the last few minutes, filled up on too much turkey and stuffing Ma, no room for dessert!" Faith nodded in agreement.
Rose frowned and then looked at the table. "There's plenty of food leftover, Faith would you like to take some home with you? It must be terrible to try cooking for one after being used to having a family around."
"That would be great." Faith enthused. "Let me help you clear the table." She picked a bowl that still had some stuffing left in it and took it into the kitchen. Rose followed her with the platter of turkey in hand. Bosco, seeing that all the work was being done, decided to take a seat on the couch.
"How are you getting along?" Rose asked Faith as they stood in the kitchen. "Being alone always takes a lot of adjusting."
"Really good actually," Faith replied. "Bosco's been a great help. We've been going out a lot, to movies and shopping."
Rose smiled, "He's a good boy."
"You raised him well." Faith said. "Where's your aluminum foil?"
"In the drawer to your left. Faith, it's probably not my place to say anything, but has Maurice ever said anything to you, about wanting a relationship?"
Faith grinned slightly, Rose was certainly quite direct when she wanted to be. "We've talked about it." she replied, not really wanting to get into the details.
Rose tossed a few forks and knives into the dishwasher. "Say no more, it's really none of business. I just want Maurice to be happy. I liked the one he was with a few years ago, Nicole, but I guess that didn't work out."
Faith shook her head. "You could say that."
"Shame, she was nice." Rose said and then pushed her hair back from her face. "But like I said, I just want him to be happy."
Faith and Rose finished cleaning up the kitchen and Faith had her foil wrapped leftovers ready to take home. Bosco stood up from the couch and yawned. Rose looked over at her son. "Maybe you and Faith should get going." she said and looked at a clock. "It's already 9:00 and it will be 10:00 before you get home."
Bosco nodded. "I hate to eat and run but I am feeling pretty tired."
"Thanks again for dinner Rose, it was excellent. I think I can safely say that was the best Christmas dinner that I've had in years!" Faith said.
"Thank you for coming Faith, it's nice to have another face around the table."
Bosco hugged his mom. "I'll see you soon Ma."
Faith reached for her jacket and put it on. Bosco did the same and Rose said, "Take care, both of you. Have a safe trip home."
"We will." Bosco said and opened the door. Faith stepped out and Bosco waved to his mom before stepped out as well and shutting the door. "Thank god that's over and done with." Bosco muttered as they headed for the elevator. "I love my Ma and all, but Christmas dinner is always painful. What was she saying to you in the kitchen?"
The elevator dinged and then opened. "Oh nothing." Faith replied as they stepped inside. "She just wanted to make sure that I was really okay, being by myself and all."
"What did you say?" Bosco asked and the elevator deposited them in the lobby.
"I said I was fine and that you were being a big help."
Bosco pulled open the door and as Faith stepped outside, Bosco put his hand on the small of her back and followed her out. "Great, I can't believe it's snowing again. It wasn't snowing earlier."
"But it was cold enough to." Faith replied, "Come on, walk faster. It's freezing!"
"If I ever get my hands on the jag-off that torched my car..." Bosco muttered. "He is seriously gonna wish he had never laid his eyes on it!"
______________
"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Bosco asked as he followed Faith up the stairs in her apartment building. "I don't feel like getting back on the train."
"Sure, you can crash on the couch." Faith replied and pulled her keys from her pocket. "Or in Charlie's bed, whichever one you prefer."
Faith unlocked the door and flicked on the lights. She yawned as she hung her jacket up. Bosco yawned as well. "Dammit Faith, stop yawning! You're making me yawn!"
"Mmm, sorry." Faith said. "I'm so tired though, why am I so tired?"
"You ate too much." Bosco replied. "That always makes me sleepy."
Faith glanced at the clock, "Only one hour and 45 minutes until Christmas is officially over."
Bosco nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened his eyes he said, "Well, before Christmas is officially over, I should give you something."
Faith frowned. "I Thought I told you not to get me anything."
"Since when do I ever listen to what you say?" Bosco asked in a teasing tone of voice. He dug around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small white envelope and handed it to Faith. "Merry Christmas."
Faith tore off the corner and then slit the rest of it open with her finger. She pulled out two pieces of paper and looked at them. "Bus tickets..." Faith said, her voice trailed off.
Bosco smiled at Faith. "I thought we could take a trip. You could visit Charlie and Em and I could check out the sights in Syracuse."
Faith looked down at the tickets in her hand. "Thank you Bos," she whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't get anything for you."
"Hey, don't worry about it."
Faith set the tickets down on a counter and moved to the living room. Bosco followed, like a dog following his master. When Faith sat down on the couch, Bosco sat down on the couch.
"Bos, can we talk about what you said at the theatre the other night?"
Bosco cleared his throat and looked down at his lap, as though is pants were suddenly extremely interesting. "Sure. I guess." he mumbled, barely moving his lips.
"Might help if you were looking at me."
Bosco looked up and at Faith, but he couldn't quite look her directly in the eye. His eyes flitted somewhere around her neck level. "What exactly did you want to talk about?"
"I need to know if you're serious." Faith replied, and nervously played with her fingers. Bending them and twining them together.
Now Bosco looked her in the eye, his gaze meeting hers. Very intense. He nodded, never breaking eye contact. "Of course I was, wouldn't have said it if I wasn't."
"I'm not entirely sure if this is a wise move, but I've been doing a lot of thinking since you said all that stuff, and well...I'm afraid that if I make you wait too long, I'll lose you."
"No," Bosco said, shaking his head. "You won't. Look Faith, if you're seriously not ready, I will wait."
"Fred's gone Bos." Faith said softly. "I could tell the last time I talked to him. He isn't going to come home. I think I'm ready to move on with my life."
"You sure? 'Cause I mean, once you've had Bosco, there's no goin' back."
Faith laughed, "I'm sure there isn't Bos."
Bosco smiled, an all too often rare sight. He then reached out and touched Faith's arm. "We'll take it slow." he said and then grinned, "That's probably the first time I've ever said that!"
Faith nodded. "I wouldn't doubt it."
Bosco sniffed a bit and looked around, almost nervously. His gaze eventually shifted back to Faith. She smiled at him, softly, a closed mouth smile. Bosco decided to throw caution to the wind and leaned closer and gently kissed her. Faith returned the kiss and then pulled away. Not abruptly, but slowly.
"That was nice." Faith said softly.
Bosco nodded. "Yup."
"We should do it again sometime."
"Yup."
They moved together again and kissed, this time deeper, longer. Outside the snow had stopped and the clouds began to clear. The soft light of the moon shone into the dimly lit apartment and illuminated the singing Santa that sat on the floor next to the couch.
"You didn't have to get her anything Faith."
"She invited me for dinner Bos, I'm not going to show up empty handed! Do you think she'll like it?"
"It's soft and warm, I'm sure she'll love it."
"You don't think she has enough scarves already?"
Bosco had said that he'd wait for her, not that she planned on making him wait long. She just needed to hear that he was serious. She didn't want a fling, she wasn't looking for a night of great sex. What she wanted was a relationship, a loving, caring, adult relationship. Deep in her heart she had always figured that Bosco was more than capable of that. He just needed to find the right woman.
"Can I borrow some wrapping paper? I want to wrap up the fudge."
"Yeah sure, there's some in the hall closet. Help yourself."
"Thanks Faith, saves me from having to buy some."
"You really are cheap when it comes to Christmas, aren't you?"
She had it all worked out in her mind. Dinner at his mom's place and then when they returned to her apartment, or his, she would tell him that she was ready. Some might argue that this all came about too soon after separating from her husband. Was she sure that she's ready to move on? She'd asked herself that question numerous times throughout the past few days and every time she'd concluded that while she loved Fred, she wasn't in love with him.
"Got any ribbon?"
"Just a second, let me check. I might have used it all wrapping the kids' presents."
"How much ribbon did you put on them? Gobs and gobs of it? Can you even see the paper through all the ribbon?"
"They love ribbon!"
It wasn't going to be easy, making it work. But they owed it to themselves to at least give it a shot. She felt a tingle of excitement when she thought of them together, laughing over coffee, holding hands skating, snuggling on the couch. The path of life mapped out in her mind was changing and she was finally ready to accept that.
______________
Faith grabbed the neatly wrapped present for Rose off the counter in the kitchen. "Come on Bos, I'm ready to go!"
"Give me a minute! You can't rush these things!" Bosco yelled back from the bathroom.
"I'm sure your hair looks fine!"
Bosco appeared and walked down the hall. "It's sticking up all funny." he said and ran a hand over his head.
"Just adds personality. Come on, we told your mom that we'd be there at 4:30 and it's already 4:00. With all the people trying to go places, the subway will be crowded, we'll never make it in time."
Bosco put on his jacket and made sure that he had the gift for his mom. "Alright, let's go." he said and walked out the door. Faith locked up and then followed Bosco down the hallway.
They walked the short distance to the train station and pushed their way through the crowds. "Times like this," Bosco muttered, "I wish I could pull my badge and gun and just run through the crowd."
"Get used to it." Faith replied. "With no car you're going to be doing this more often."
"Don't remind me. I plan on replacing my car as soon as the insurance goes through."
They had to wait two trains before they could even squeeze on and then it was a while until they reached the stop that they wanted. Their fellow passengers were smiling and chatting amongst themselves. It seemed that everyone was in the spirit of Christmas.
"Look at it this way," Faith said as the train lurched to a stop. "At least by taking transit we can have a lot to drink and not have to worry about driving."
Bosco stood up and guided Faith off the train. "You've got a point there." he said as they stepped onto the platform. "I'm sure Ma will have plenty of wine and spirits in the house."
It was a chilly night, threatening snow, so Bosco and Faith walked quickly to Rose Boscorelli's apartment building. Bosco got them buzzed in, quicker this time as she was actually expecting visitors, and they went up to the apartment.
Rose greeted them both cheerfully at the door and then she frowned. "You're late," she said and made a point of tapping her watch. "I was beginning to get worried."
"Bosco had to make sure that his hair was perfect." Faith said with a grin.
"Faith couldn't decide what to wear." Bosco replied at the same time.
Rose looked back and forth at the two of them and just shook her head. "Come in, take off your jackets. Dinner will be ready in just under an hour. If you're hungry, there's some nuts and chocolate on the coffee table!"
"Smells wonderful." Faith breathed in deeply and smiled at Rose.
Rose returned the smile and then bustled off into the kitchen. Bosco took Faith's jacket and hung it up on a hook next to his own. "I have to warn you," Bosco said in a hushed tone, "She always makes way too much and tries to get you to eat until you wanna puke. You're going to be taking home leftovers."
"I guess that probably went over well with some of your girlfriends." Faith replied and tucked Rose's gift under her arm while she untied her boots.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bosco asked, sounding confused.
"Making them eat. I swear most of your girlfriends were anorexic."
Bosco frowned. "Well, okay, so there was a few that weren't really big eaters..."
"Can I get either of you something to drink?" Rose called from the kitchen. "A glass of wine? Sherry? Eggnog?"
With a quick glance in Bosco's direction, Faith replied, "Eggnog sounds great."
"I'll have the same Ma." Bosco called out and led Faith over to the couch. They sat down together and Bosco picked up a nut and the nutcrackers. He stuffed the nut between the prongs and gave it a squeeze. The nut flew out and landed halfway across the living room.
When Rose entered the room with a glass in each hand, Bosco said, "The place really looks great this year Ma. Did you do it all yourself?"
Rose handed one of the glasses to her son, "I had one of my friends, you remember Shelley right? The interior designer? She came by and gave me some pointers."
Bosco nodded, even though he couldn't remember for the life of him who Shelley was. Rose handed the other glass to Faith. "I didn't know how much brandy you wanted in it, so I just gave you a small amount."
"That's fine." Faith replied and took a small sip. "It's perfect."
"Make yourselves at home, I have to attend to my stuffing!" Rose exclaimed and hurried back into the kitchen.
Bosco leaned closer to Faith. "I think she's been hitting the sherry." he murmured into her ear, making her laugh.
"Feel free to put on some music!" Rose yelled and then cursed loudly as something glass shattered in the kitchen.
"You okay in there?" Bosco yelled back.
"Just fine! I broke a glass, that's all."
Faith stood up and went over to a cd tower. She scanned through the titles before wrinkling her nose slightly. "Not sure I agree with your mom's taste in music Bosco."
Bosco nodded in agreement. "I don't think anyone agrees. Maybe we should stick with silence for now."
It was almost an hour until dinner was ready and then Bosco, Faith and Rose sat down around the small table. Rose said grace and then they all dug in. Faith lifted a forkful of turkey to her mouth and ate it slowly, making small yummy noises. "This is great," she said after she'd swallowed. "How did you get to stay so tender?"
Rose smiled slightly. "Family secret." she replied.
"Come on Ma, you can tell Faith." Bosco looked at his mom. "It's not really a secret."
Rose laughed and sipped at her glass of wine. "Alright, but you have to promise that you won't tell a soul."
Faith nodded. "Okay, I promise."
"I buy a fresh turkey, not one of those frozen ones, and I soak it in brine for a day before I cook it."
Faith raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? Brine, as in salt water?"
Rose nodded. "Exactly. But it has to be a fresh turkey."
"Hmm, I'll have to try that the next time I'm cooking turkey." Faith mused.
It took them quite a while to get through dinner but once they were done, no one had any room left for dessert. Faith suspected that Bosco actually did, but he wasn't saying so. The three of them sipped at their wine and chatted for a while.
"Oh Ma, before I forget," Bosco said. "I have to give you your present."
Rose shook her head. "Maurice, you didn't have to get me anything."
"You would have been complaining if I hadn't." Bosco replied and got up from the table. "It's with my jacket, I'll just go and grab it."
Faith also stood up, "Excuse me." she said, glancing at Rose.
Faith followed Bosco over to the jacket hooks and grabbed her own gift for Rose. Bosco headed back to the table and handed the small wrapped gift and the envelope with the gift certificate in it to her. Rose neatly unwrapped the present and smiled happily. "You know exactly what I like Maurice."
"I had a little help from Faith." Bosco replied, not wanting to take all the credit.
Rose then slit open the envelope and pulled out the gift certificate. "Bloomingdales!" she exclaimed. "Oh Maurice, this is too much."
"Don't say that Ma." Bosco said, trying not to blush. Rose stood up and hugged her son.
Faith, who had been watching the gift exchange from a distance, stepped forward and handed her own package to Rose. "Before you say anything, I just wanted to get you something to say thank you for having me for dinner."
Rose touched Faith's arm and looked at her gratefully. "That's so sweet and thoughtful of you."
Rose unwrapped the scarf and then held it up to her face. "Oh, it's so soft!" she exclaimed and put it around her neck. "Thank you Faith, it's gorgeous and will go perfectly with my jacket."
Faith smiled, "You're welcome."
Rose ran her hand over the scarf and said, "Anyone ready for dessert yet?"
Bosco patted a hand on his stomach. "Nothing's changed in the last few minutes, filled up on too much turkey and stuffing Ma, no room for dessert!" Faith nodded in agreement.
Rose frowned and then looked at the table. "There's plenty of food leftover, Faith would you like to take some home with you? It must be terrible to try cooking for one after being used to having a family around."
"That would be great." Faith enthused. "Let me help you clear the table." She picked a bowl that still had some stuffing left in it and took it into the kitchen. Rose followed her with the platter of turkey in hand. Bosco, seeing that all the work was being done, decided to take a seat on the couch.
"How are you getting along?" Rose asked Faith as they stood in the kitchen. "Being alone always takes a lot of adjusting."
"Really good actually," Faith replied. "Bosco's been a great help. We've been going out a lot, to movies and shopping."
Rose smiled, "He's a good boy."
"You raised him well." Faith said. "Where's your aluminum foil?"
"In the drawer to your left. Faith, it's probably not my place to say anything, but has Maurice ever said anything to you, about wanting a relationship?"
Faith grinned slightly, Rose was certainly quite direct when she wanted to be. "We've talked about it." she replied, not really wanting to get into the details.
Rose tossed a few forks and knives into the dishwasher. "Say no more, it's really none of business. I just want Maurice to be happy. I liked the one he was with a few years ago, Nicole, but I guess that didn't work out."
Faith shook her head. "You could say that."
"Shame, she was nice." Rose said and then pushed her hair back from her face. "But like I said, I just want him to be happy."
Faith and Rose finished cleaning up the kitchen and Faith had her foil wrapped leftovers ready to take home. Bosco stood up from the couch and yawned. Rose looked over at her son. "Maybe you and Faith should get going." she said and looked at a clock. "It's already 9:00 and it will be 10:00 before you get home."
Bosco nodded. "I hate to eat and run but I am feeling pretty tired."
"Thanks again for dinner Rose, it was excellent. I think I can safely say that was the best Christmas dinner that I've had in years!" Faith said.
"Thank you for coming Faith, it's nice to have another face around the table."
Bosco hugged his mom. "I'll see you soon Ma."
Faith reached for her jacket and put it on. Bosco did the same and Rose said, "Take care, both of you. Have a safe trip home."
"We will." Bosco said and opened the door. Faith stepped out and Bosco waved to his mom before stepped out as well and shutting the door. "Thank god that's over and done with." Bosco muttered as they headed for the elevator. "I love my Ma and all, but Christmas dinner is always painful. What was she saying to you in the kitchen?"
The elevator dinged and then opened. "Oh nothing." Faith replied as they stepped inside. "She just wanted to make sure that I was really okay, being by myself and all."
"What did you say?" Bosco asked and the elevator deposited them in the lobby.
"I said I was fine and that you were being a big help."
Bosco pulled open the door and as Faith stepped outside, Bosco put his hand on the small of her back and followed her out. "Great, I can't believe it's snowing again. It wasn't snowing earlier."
"But it was cold enough to." Faith replied, "Come on, walk faster. It's freezing!"
"If I ever get my hands on the jag-off that torched my car..." Bosco muttered. "He is seriously gonna wish he had never laid his eyes on it!"
______________
"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Bosco asked as he followed Faith up the stairs in her apartment building. "I don't feel like getting back on the train."
"Sure, you can crash on the couch." Faith replied and pulled her keys from her pocket. "Or in Charlie's bed, whichever one you prefer."
Faith unlocked the door and flicked on the lights. She yawned as she hung her jacket up. Bosco yawned as well. "Dammit Faith, stop yawning! You're making me yawn!"
"Mmm, sorry." Faith said. "I'm so tired though, why am I so tired?"
"You ate too much." Bosco replied. "That always makes me sleepy."
Faith glanced at the clock, "Only one hour and 45 minutes until Christmas is officially over."
Bosco nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened his eyes he said, "Well, before Christmas is officially over, I should give you something."
Faith frowned. "I Thought I told you not to get me anything."
"Since when do I ever listen to what you say?" Bosco asked in a teasing tone of voice. He dug around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small white envelope and handed it to Faith. "Merry Christmas."
Faith tore off the corner and then slit the rest of it open with her finger. She pulled out two pieces of paper and looked at them. "Bus tickets..." Faith said, her voice trailed off.
Bosco smiled at Faith. "I thought we could take a trip. You could visit Charlie and Em and I could check out the sights in Syracuse."
Faith looked down at the tickets in her hand. "Thank you Bos," she whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't get anything for you."
"Hey, don't worry about it."
Faith set the tickets down on a counter and moved to the living room. Bosco followed, like a dog following his master. When Faith sat down on the couch, Bosco sat down on the couch.
"Bos, can we talk about what you said at the theatre the other night?"
Bosco cleared his throat and looked down at his lap, as though is pants were suddenly extremely interesting. "Sure. I guess." he mumbled, barely moving his lips.
"Might help if you were looking at me."
Bosco looked up and at Faith, but he couldn't quite look her directly in the eye. His eyes flitted somewhere around her neck level. "What exactly did you want to talk about?"
"I need to know if you're serious." Faith replied, and nervously played with her fingers. Bending them and twining them together.
Now Bosco looked her in the eye, his gaze meeting hers. Very intense. He nodded, never breaking eye contact. "Of course I was, wouldn't have said it if I wasn't."
"I'm not entirely sure if this is a wise move, but I've been doing a lot of thinking since you said all that stuff, and well...I'm afraid that if I make you wait too long, I'll lose you."
"No," Bosco said, shaking his head. "You won't. Look Faith, if you're seriously not ready, I will wait."
"Fred's gone Bos." Faith said softly. "I could tell the last time I talked to him. He isn't going to come home. I think I'm ready to move on with my life."
"You sure? 'Cause I mean, once you've had Bosco, there's no goin' back."
Faith laughed, "I'm sure there isn't Bos."
Bosco smiled, an all too often rare sight. He then reached out and touched Faith's arm. "We'll take it slow." he said and then grinned, "That's probably the first time I've ever said that!"
Faith nodded. "I wouldn't doubt it."
Bosco sniffed a bit and looked around, almost nervously. His gaze eventually shifted back to Faith. She smiled at him, softly, a closed mouth smile. Bosco decided to throw caution to the wind and leaned closer and gently kissed her. Faith returned the kiss and then pulled away. Not abruptly, but slowly.
"That was nice." Faith said softly.
Bosco nodded. "Yup."
"We should do it again sometime."
"Yup."
They moved together again and kissed, this time deeper, longer. Outside the snow had stopped and the clouds began to clear. The soft light of the moon shone into the dimly lit apartment and illuminated the singing Santa that sat on the floor next to the couch.