Erin had been surprised at how well Elise had done during the Christmas Eve service. It felt odd to be in a different church for something so intimate, but the warm reception that they had received helped to soothe her heart immensely. And even though they had gone to an early service, she still had had to fight to keep her eyes open, cuddling in close to David as she listened to the message presented and tried to sing along with the songs. His arm around her shoulders had helped to keep her propped up, and it had been so easy to snuggle in close to him as the familiar, warm, feeling of Christmas joy wended its way through her body.
And then, it was time to go, and they stood, making small talk with the others who came up to them. She knew that it was the polite thing to do, but in reality, all she wanted to do was get home and curl up on the sofa to watch a holiday movie with her fiancé. David finally seemed to get the hint, as he made his apologies to the woman he was currently talking to, sliding his arm around Erin's waist and guiding her from sanctuary and out to their car, easily settling Elise into her carseat while Erin slipped into the passenger seat and buckled her belt before curling up as best she could and closing her eyes, giving in to the need for sleep as David drove towards home.
"Wake up, stellina," he murmured some time later, and she sat up and stretched as best she could in the cramped car. "I didn't want to wake you, my sweet sleeping beauty. But there's a package on the front porch, and I know that I didn't order anything, and Helen dropped off her gifts yesterday before heading home for the holiday."
"That's right, she went to Nova Scotia to be with her wife's family this year. Did you bring the package inside?"
"No, I just got Elise down in the crib before coming back out to check on you. And before you protest, I have the monitor in my hand, so I can head right back upstairs in case she starts to cry. But I think that she is down for the night, since she's been a great sleeper." Erin nodded as she slowly climbed out of the car, cracking her back as soon as she was standing before taking hold of David's hand and following him into the house. The first thing he did was head to the front door, unlocking it and picking up the thin rectangular package that was resting against the wall.
"Whose name is on it?"
David looked it over to find the tag, and frowned a little when he finally found it. "There isn't a sender, but it says that it's for Elise. And it's far too light to be something bad." She nodded as he closed the door and brought them into the living room. "Do you want me to open it?"
"No, I think that I will," she replied as she tugged the present into her lap after taking a seat on the sofa. A part of her wanted to just rip off the paper, but there was something so lovely about it that she decided to take her time and slide her thumbnail beneath each piece of tape and slicing it open before peeling the paper away from the box and then cutting the four pieces of tape that sealed the box and pulling the lid off. Erin felt her breath stolen away when she saw what was resting beneath the tissue paper. "This is gorgeous." Her voice was so quiet as she lifted the lace festooned christening gown out of the box, pocketing the piece of paper that fell out of the folds of fabric as she spread the dress out over her legs. "Are you certain that it isn't a gift from one of your sisters?"
"That is clearly a family heirloom, and that looks nothing like ours does. I was going to send for that later, when we had finally settled on a christening date, but it looks like we won't need to do so now. But I wonder who sent it?"
Erin had her suspicions, but couldn't say anything until she had looked at the note that had been included to see if she was right. "Well, whoever it was, this is a wonderful gift. Why don't you bring it up to the nursery while I choose something for us to watch? I just don't feel like moving, now that I'm comfortable here." She gave him a little smile, watching him nod a little as he rose to his feet before taking the christening gown from her hands and leaving the room.
Once he was gone, she unfolded the piece of paper, looking at the bottom to see if the note was signed, a disappointed sigh slipping from her lips when she saw that it wasn't. I hope that you enjoy using this christening gown for Elise. Our little one is too large to fit into it, so I'm hoping that her smallness will mean that she'll fit into it. And I know that you'll want to return it, and maybe if we have another child, I'll ask for it back, but I don't think that my husband will notice that it's gone. Have a merry Christmas.
From the words written, Erin thought that it was most likely Haley who had given them this gift, but she would never know for certain. Folding the paper once more, Erin slipped it into her purse before picking up the remote and searching for something to watch with him, finally settling on White Christmas. It was one of her favorite Christmas movies, and she hoped that David would humor her if he didn't care for it. Pulling down the blanket from the back of the sofa, she wrapped herself up in it as she settled in to watch and wait for him.
"Oh, good, you've picked my favorite Christmas movie," he said as he came back into the living room. After sitting down next to her, David pulled her close to his side, and she brought her head to rest on his chest. "Are you going to fall asleep on me?"
"Maybe for a little bit. I'll need to rest, after all, if we want to celebrate our first Christmas together the proper way. It has been six weeks since Elise was born, after all."
"Oh, I haven't forgotten that, Erin." He dropped a kiss to the top of her head, his hand slipping down to cup her breast. "I cannot wait to worship your body, since it feels like I haven't properly been able to do that."
She nodded a little as she snuggled closer to him. "That will be nice, darling, but the commercials are over now, so we should concentrate on the film." A low chuckle was his only response, but then she felt his hand slide lower down her body until he had reached the hem of her sweater, and Erin shifted a little, allowing him to shift it so that he could slip his hand upwards beneath the fabric, spreading his hand out on her stomach, his thumb rubbing back and forth as they settled in, relaxing her into a little sleep as she listened to the familiar words of the movie.