Though they weren't particularly late, Nick and Maura were among the last to arrive. At first Maura cast quick looks around the room to see who was where, but her eyes were immediately drawn to the beautifully lit, perfectly decorated tree that stood near one corner of the dance floor. It had to be eight feet tall, with a Della Robbia Father Christmas on top. It twinkled with crystal and gold, silver and jewels, decorations that looked to her as if they'd been saved from some Renaissance masque. She ran to Janette and hugged her, to the latter's awkward surprise. "Oh Janette, it's wonderful!" Maura had mentioned rather wistfully once or twice how she'd never really had the chance to enjoy much festivity about Christmas, that she'd never really considered it a religious holiday but maybe a chance to be forget a grim existence for a day or two. She'd always loved the bright trees in the homes of others and knowing she'd have none of her own always made her a bit sad and envious.
Janette collected herself with her usual dignified-tolerant smile, and pointed over Maura's shoulder at Nick. "Merci beaucoup, cherie, but this 'wonderful' is Nicolas' doing."
"I helped decorate it," Vachon added with very un-vampire like pride. At once Maura turned to find Nick standing some distance away talking with Schanke and Myra. She rushed to his side and took his arm.
"Is it true," she interrupted their conversation, "you really did all that? Where did you get all that posh stuff?"
Nick shrugged, "Just some knickknacks I've collected in my travels..." But his smile betrayed a bit of uncertainty. "It was my first attempt in a long time, really, I've had to get some coaching."
Myra touched Maura's hand. "When Don told me Nick was driving him crazy for decorating advice, I called him at work and told him just make it look like it's the only gift you'll ever give her, and you can't go wrong."
Maura turned and examined the tree again, wondering if she could ever tear herself away. It was perfect, it was exactly what would have filled that vague aching spot inside every Christmas of her life. She felt her eyes start to water and tried to blink it away before turning back to Nick and the Schankes. Nick leaned close, missing nothing as always, and whispered "You're not gonna go all deep and gooey on me, are you?" She couldn't answer, regarding him with a damp and wide-eyed stare. "Joyeux Noël, ma doucette," he told her with that loving smile that always touched her soul.
"I so love you to bits, Nicolas de Brabant," and she kissed him thoroughly, right in front of everyone. When she finally released him Nick told Myra appreciatively, "When you're right, you're right."
"So, who's this de Brabant guy?" Schanke asked. "Do a little 'role playing' in your private time?"
Maura slapped his arm. "You're a pig, Schanke. Just an old family name left behind with the centuries."
Vamp took the stage, and Derek announced he wanted to "set the tone for a dark, romantic party". The band slid into an original instrumental, bass-heavy, slow, and smooth. To avoid more questions from Schanke (and, frankly, because he loved touching her silk velvet dress), Nick scooped Maura around the waist, whirled them around and asked her, "Dance, lady?" She felt the same rush she always did when he turned on his noir charm. "I thought you'd never ask."
"But you just got here," Schanke tried to correct her, and his wife nudged him hard in the ribs. "Sometimes, Donnie, I swear you are denser than dense."
On the way to the dance floor Maura pulled Nick to a stop. "Wait a minute. I got a surprise for you."
"This could be a limited offer, don't pass it up," he warned, clearly not meaning a word of it.
"No, really, it'll only take a minute. Or two." She motioned to Derek, who she knew had planned the instrumental as an intro to let Maura know they were ready for the song she had written with him. She'd always had a gift for words, and together with Derek's gift for music they had crafted a song for her to perform as a Christmas present to Nick. Maura hoped it managed to capture the essence of her life since meeting Nick. When they'd finished it and done a pre-arrangement run through with just Maura singing and Derek accompanying on piano, he'd told her "Shit, Luna, I'd take a stake if the last thing I could hear was some woman singing that to me."
Derek gave her a hand up to the stage as Nick looked on, bemused. Schanke and Myra drifted up to join him, the ever-inquisitive partner asking "What's up, Knight? She gonna sing Deck the Halls or something?" Nick just shrugged.
"Dunno, she said it was a surprise for me." Then Derek cued the lights to focus on Maura, and she never took her eyes from Nick until the last note faded. She watched anxiously for his response; she knew her talent for words was far superior to her voice but Derek had insisted she sing it herself. "Come on, Luna, I can't sing it to him! I mean, I'm a vampire and all, but I'm no weirdo!"
The expression on Nick's face was curious, equal parts of surprise, delight, and an affectionate gratitude she was sure he'd seen in her before but, neither one could define. The applause was scattered and polite; many of the partiers paid little attention. Nick's face was all Maura saw as she said with a somewhat hesitant smile, "Joyeux Noël, chauve-sourix." He lit up. "Bats," he said under his breath, and she mouthed the same to him, silently.
"I'd say your tree's been trumped," an impressed Schanke announced, punctuating with a manly punch to Nick's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'd say so..." Nick responded a little vaguely, still staring at center stage where Derek had just gotten a thank-you hug from Maura and was helping her down to the dance floor again. She was immediately swept into Nick's embrace, so strong it lifted her right off the floor.
"I've never been given such a present," he whispered in her ear. She felt a bit awkward after their earlier heated kiss.
"And you don't have to dust it," she laughed, adding, "put me down, will you, everybody's staring." He did as she asked.
"And so they should." He ran a hand fondly through her hair, and leaned close to kiss her cheek. "Merci beaucoup, doucette."
"Okay, okay, I've had about enough of this secret code stuff," Schanke interjected. "You should at least be polite enough to keep it at home."
Still laughing, Maura took Schanke's arm. "It's just French, honest. 'Chauve-sourix' means 'bats'."
"Another old family name?" he inquired of his partner with raised eyebrows.
"Just an inside joke," he was assured.
Across the room, Natalie had taken in the whole scene and was fighting her own emotions.
Now Maura took Nick by the hand and said, "Okay, slick, now we dance."
"'Slick'?" Nick echoed. "I'm not sure I like that."
"Tough," she hauled him out on the floor.
"Don't you love it when they're masterful?" Schanke called to him as Myra dragged him out to dance as well. The band was playing a bluesy number, and Maura melted into Nick as he wove them between the other dancers.
"I wasn't sure you'd like it," she confessed in his ear, "I know how you hate being the center of attention."
He turned his head to look at her in amazement. "How could I hate anything you gave me?"
"Except a hard time," she snickered and held tight as he whirled and dipped her forward against him, in a "take that" move. When he righted them again, Maura settled her head on his shoulder, forehead against his neck.
"I so love you to bits," she murmured, "I just wanted everyone else to know, too. I hoped you wouldn't mind."
"I can handle it," and he hugged her closer.
A hand lightly tapped Maura's shoulder as they approached a corner of the dance floor near the bar. "I'd like to cut in, but I forgot my crowbar." Natalie.
Shit. Maura was very comfortable where she was, wrapped up with Nick and letting him move them to the music. The fact that she could "wrap up" with him anytime didn't cheer her. But it was Christmas, and Natalie and Nick were best friends even if Natalie would sell her soul (literally) to have more. Being honest with herself, Maura knew Natalie would never try to persuade Nick away so long as she knew he was happy. But still. Shit. Maura wasn't proud of it, but knew she wasn't above being selfish even at Christmas. She arranged what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face and unwound herself from Nick to face Natalie.
"Go ahead, I shouldn't hog him all night like this anyway. I rag on him to socialize, and look what happens." Nick cast a meaningful look to her, but she brightened her smile. "I haven't gossiped with Janette yet, and there are so many people here to observe and discuss. Catch up with me later."
She figured she looked a little grumpy when she joined Janette, who was sipping her usual rare vintage of blood wine at her usual table.
"How very gracious you are, cherie, in the holiday spirit?"
"Pfeh." Maura reached for the bottle without thinking, but Janette stopped her hand.
"Oh my, are we feeling a bit"
"Jealous? Hell no, we both know I have nothing to worry about."
Janette considered this as she watched Nick and Natalie dancing, their conversation more intimate than their posture. "Perhaps... annoyed, then."
Maura waved one of the special events waiters, who had quite literally flown in from France, to the table. "Un bouteille de Cristal, s'il vous plait." The attractive young vampire – the only kind Janette would employ for such an event – seemed to evaporate from in front of her and reappeared momentarily with the bottle. He uncorked it with a flourish and poured a flute for Maura, making it hover for a moment in midair before placing it in her hand rather than on the table.
"Merci beaucoup, c'est tout," Maura told him, and he was gone again. Turning to Janette she observed "You always hire for talent for these parties, don't you?"
"Yes, well," Janette looked rather displeased, "he had better learn to curb his little parlor tricks or he will have the Enforcers down on our heads."
"Not to mention a roomful of new believers." She slugged down the full flute, then poured herself another. Janette smirked in distaste.
"Please, cherie, that is Cristal, not that dreadful Jacques Daniels you favor." Janette considered bourbon déclassé.
"Sorry." She sipped the next glass a bit more genteelly.
"You have a talent for music, cherie."
"Thanks Janette, but Derek wrote it, not me."
"The words came from you, did they not? And what is a love song without words?"
Maura smiled to herself. "Yeah, I always did have the gift. Or so I've been told."
Janette's smile grew companionable as she leaned over to confide, "Well you certainly talked your way into Raven, and into Nicolas' heart."
"Don't tell him that. He doesn't think he has one."
Janette dismissed the comment with an elegant wave. "I think we both know the truth of that." She clinked her wine glass against Maura's flute. "Joyeux Noël, cherie. And I think that this will be a good New Year."
Maura sat back in mock surprise. "Why Janette! Indulging in a Christian holiday tradition?" She looked around rapidly, as if for spies, before adding sotto voce, "What would the Enforcers say?"
Janette snorted, which really shocked Maura. "What is it you're fond of saying, the Enforcers 'peuvent embrasser ma derrière."
Maura burst out laughing, and found herself unable to stop. Janette could drop the grand vampire dame persona completely at the most unexpected moments. "Oh Janette," she gasped, hand on her employer's arm, "it's true, everything does sound better in French!" The humor struck Janette as well, and she joined in Maura's laughter.
Natalie kissed Nick and wished him a Merry Christmas, a gesture and sentiment he returned.
"First time in a century I've really had one," he admitted. Though he was looking her in the eye, she knew where his mind was.
"That was some song."
Nick's smile struck Natalie as almost private. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it."
"Nick, you seem happy." It had the feel of a concession to something Natalie hadn't wanted to admit to herself, but she saw something in Nick tonight that had never before been apparent.
"Happy? I'm not sure I know what that is, Nat." They were dancing slowly among couples clinging closely together; Natalie was as aware of the "casual" space between them as Nick was aware of its necessity.
"Content, then. At peace, maybe. Nick, really, if that's what this change in your life has brought you, you need to know it makes me happy to see it."
"Peace," he mused, "not sure I know that either, but I'm willing to learn." They'd drifted to a stop in a shadowed corner.
"I wish I could have," Natalie began, having promised herself she wouldn't, but a couple of drinks and the emotion of the holiday overcame her discretion.
"Don't," he chided gently, and regarded her with an understanding expression that was almost painful for her to see because she felt it was so close to pity. "Yours is my most precious friendship, I couldn't live without it, or you, or us. You know I care about you."
Natalie's gaze slid to the corner where Maura's continuing laughter triggered a palpable reaction in Nick, as always. "You just care for her more." Her voice was sad, not bitter. Nick turned her to face him with two fingers against her chin.
"No, not more. Differently. We're two of a kind, Maura and me, neither fish nor fowl. We understood one another almost from the moment we met, and that fills a space in me I never really knew existed until she took its place. That doesn't change anything between you and me."
"You love her very much, don't you?" More acknowledgment than inquiry.
That smile again. "I think you knew that even before I did."
"I only want you to be who you should be, who you want to be," for some reason Natalie felt the need to explain.
"She believes I already am."
"But do you? That's what's important. You've always told me you wanted something more than what you had, even if you learned to let the past be past, you wanted something more human. So you could share the lives and feelings of the people you care about, who care about you."
They'd stopped dancing and were standing separately now. Nick touched Natalie's shoulder lightly.
"I think I'm learning that there might be a middle ground for me. Maybe I can exist in two worlds, with everyone I care about, without judging anyone. And without judging myself." He seemed to be choosing his words carefully as he went, to express something that had only just occurred to him.
"She's convinced you of all that."
"No, not like that. But I think I've been able to convince myself for the first time, since knowing her. Oh Nat," he gestured for emphasis, "you've helped me master the darkest parts of myself, you and Maura still help me realize it doesn't always have to be dark even at night. Maybe the reason you haven't 'cured' me is that there's nothing to cure. Maybe the protein drinks and garlic pills and sun lamps are just a denial of what I can't change, and shouldn't. Maybe I'm meant to cope with who I am the best I can, the way anyone else does. Maybe that's how I'm meant to be 'mortal'."
Natalie knew there was no use pursuing it. He was in love with Maura and was making an existence for himself that was more like a real life than perhaps he'd ever known. He didn't have to tell her. He also didn't have to tell her that for all of his decisive words, enough doubt remained to hold him back, as his doubts about being mortal held him back from giving up his bottles. But what he'd said about loving Maura was true; she had known it before he did. She knew him that well. She took a resolute breath, and looked him in the eye. "Maybe you're right. But even if you aren't I'm glad things are working out for you. I always thought you deserved to have someone at home who loves you that much." Even if it can't be me, she added silently. He gave her a warm hug and kiss.
"Merry Christmas, Nat. It wouldn't be right without you." Releasing her, his eyes followed Maura's renewed laughter. "C'mon, let's see what all the hysterics are about." When she hung back on his hand for half a second, his gently pained look back at her said "Don't." So she didn't. Instead she trailed Nick as he strolled to the corner where Maura and Janette were recovering their decorum. They arrived at the table just in time to hear Maura intone with a raised glass, "Á les Enforceurs." Nick fell back a step in shock.
"What?"
Janette was in a fine mood, and waved Nick away. "Relax, Nicolas, we are being festive. And being festive means dismissing anything that might dull our good cheer." Well into her fourth glass of champagne, Maura nodded enthusiastically, her hair flying around her head, wisps coming loose from their silver barrettes.
"Yeah, Nick, chill, will ya?" It was a phrase often used by the younger Raven employees. "This is a party."
Janette announced with mock disapproval, "Your amour vrai has been communing with the Cristal, Nicolas. I fear she will be unfit to drive."
"As if he'd let anyone drive that machine cold sober," Natalie was unable to control herself.
"Come on, let's dance off some of that expensive buzz," Nick invited. Maura took his outstretched hand and swept to his side, a bit unsteadily.
"Don't worry," he assured her, "I'll lead." She answered with a "pffflllt" in his ear which he tried to brush away as he led her out to join the other dancers.
