A/N: Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I've been in a bit of a writer's block of late, but this fic came unbidden into my head and so I had to write it. Also to note, I haven't listened to Santa Baby in years, but somehow, that's the song that inspired this...huh, anyways, enjoy!
It was a jolly, jolly Christmas Eve in the Quinzel household, the tiny apartment decked to the halls with as many lights and ornaments and tinsel garlands as could be fit into the 500 sq ft abode and around the tiny, plastic Christmas tree that had taken up residence in the center of the living room.
Unfortunately for Ivy, the little green thing was hardly the only one being wrapped in far too much Christmas cheer that night.
"Remind me again why I'm the one dressing up as Santa?" Ivy tightened the drawstring that held up her ridiculously large red pants. She was sure she looked like an absolute buffoon in the large costume suit Harley had snatched from the corner drug store, but – perhaps thankfully for all involved – there were no mirrors around to confirm her theory.
"Because, Ive," Harley removed the pin from her mouth and tucked it neatly into the hat she'd been sewing up. "Lucy asked me ta sit up with her and wait for Santa, and ya know I can't say no to that little pouty face of hers. Besides, you'd make a much better Santa Claus than me."
"I find that hard to believe," Ivy mumbled under her breath.
Because of all the avaricious, moneygrubbing, soul-sucking holidays that existed, Christmas was by far her least favorite. Perhaps with immense coaxing and repeated viewings of 'It's a Wonderful Life', she could have been persuaded to overlook the annoyingly exuberant gift exchanges and the incredibly cheesy holiday songs, but the sheer societal impact caused by the imbalances of this materialistic holiday, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of pine trees that cried out to her in the weeks leading up to it, had long since hardened her to the whole ordeal.
And yet, she found herself dressing up as the very patron of exploitative greed and corruptive capitalism, only because she didn't - or rather couldn't say no to Harley, who enjoyed the holiday far too much that one could be forgiven for forgetting the woman was at all Jewish.
"There." The said enjoyer of aforementioned accursed holiday held up the modified cap to her, a wide grin on her face. "It should fit now, Ive."
Ivy reluctantly took the cap and put it on, sliding the straps of the fake beard behind her ears and repressing the urge to scratch at her chin. "Well?"
Harley giggled, "A beard really suits ya, babe! Maybe ya should wear one all the time!"
"Ha ha…" Ivy adjusted the setup with a grumble, "Just tell me what you want me to say to her."
She instantly regretted her tone as the smile faded from Harley's eyes. "Ive… if it really bugs you, ya don't hafta do it. I could always tell Lucy Santa's invisible or something."
The plant goddess sighed. She should have known better than to be so blatantly obvious about her discomfort, especially when this was all Harley had asked of her. She drew closer to caress her lover's cheek, "I'm sorry, Harls…I know this means a lot to you."
Harley shrugged shyly, "It's just that Lucy doesn't ask for much, ya know." She let out a wayward laugh, "Awfully complacent kid, that one - don't know where she got that from, cause that sure as heck ain't me - but she did wanna meet Santa this year and I really wanna be a good mom and make that happen for her. That's all."
Ivy did know. She had watched Harley try and be present for her daughter after years of staying away to to protect her from dangerous repercussions of their criminal lifestyle. She'd seen Harley struggle to reconnect with her baby girl, to fight just to hear the word 'mama' from her baby, just once.
Ivy knew it all. And so, she smiled softly. "I'll do it, Harl. For you, and for her."
"Yeah?" The twinkle came back into Harley's baby blues. Her pale hands found Ivy's. "For me?"
"For you." Ivy closed the gap, capturing Harley's lips in a soft kiss that had them pressing close to each other, enjoying the warmth that enveloped them both on this cold, snowy December night.
Harley pulled back with a giggle, "Beard tickles."
Ivy smirked, "You said you liked it."
"Hmm," Harley pondered the development, "Maybe it'll grow on me…" She sniggered, "Get it?"
Despite it all, Ivy couldn't help but giggle along with her as she pulled Harley into another kiss, wrapping her hands around her waist and stroking her hips with her elegant fingers. Lost as they were in each other, they failed to hear the soft tiny steps that entered the living room until -
"Santa's here already?"
They jumped apart to find little Lucy Quinzel, who stood in the doorway, clutching her blanket in her tiny fists with a curious look on her face. "Hi Santa, why are you kissing Mama?"
"I-I…" A flustered Ivy stood mouth agape, her jaw flapping open and closed. "W-Well…you see, Lucy, um- actually, hehe, um, well…"
"Santa was giving me my Christmas present, Luce." Harley bent down to lock eyes with her little girl. "It was a gift from Ivy."
"Really?" Lucy looked to 'Santa' for confirmation. A relieved Ivy thanked the powers that be for Harley's quick wit as she nodded, "It was a special gift. Just for your mother."
"Oh." Lucy was quick to accept the response, but before Ivy could relax – "Why are ya all green, Santa?" She smiled a toothy grin, "Didja splash paint all over yerself too?"
Ivy laughed at the reminder of a fingerpainting experiment gone wrong. "No, little one, I didn't paint myself."
"Santa is magical, Luce." Harley replied with a quick glance Ivy's way, "He can be any color he wants. That's what makes him so special."
"Like a rainbow?"
Harley chuckled, "Sure kid, he can be a rainbow."
"Oh." Lucy looked to Santa with new admiration, "I like it! Green's my favorite color!"
Harley winked at Ivy, a gleam in her baby blues. "It's my favorite too."
A burst of emotion washed over Ivy, making her feel all sorts of fuzzy and warm and just a little bit like she might want to cry because the ease with which Harley, and now Lucy, had accepted her unique appearance was something she couldn't entirely take for granted and -
Tiny hands tugged on Ivy's suit. "Santa, Santa! Didja like my cookies and milk?"
"Milk and cookies?" Ivy looked to Harley for explanation.
The jester blinked owlishly for a few seconds before jumping up with a yelp. "Yikes! I'm sorry, Luce, I forgot all about the cookies."
"Mama!"
"I know, baby. I'll get them for Santa now, but why don't you go ahead and ask 'im for yer present, kay?" Harley gave Ivy a knowing nod and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Ivy alone with the five-year-old.
Ivy took a deep breath. She'd spent enough time with the kid to be comfortable around her, but something about Luce made her more nervous than usual, probably because she was Harley's baby girl.
It's more than that, you know it is.
In any case, she found her heart beating just a little faster as she lowered herself to meet Lucy's soft smile.
"So, what would you like for Christmas, dear one?"
Her bright blue eyes became wide with excitement, "You'll give me whatever I want?"
Anything that isn't outright impossible and/or destructive to the environment. "I'll give you anything you ask for, peanut. Would you like toys? Or maybe a new paint set?"
To her surprise, the child became suddenly shy, twisting her blanket in her tiny hands, "Well…actually, I don't really wan' any of that."
Ivy was taken aback, "You don't?"
Lucy shook her head, "No…Mama gets me lots of toys. She takes real good care of me."
Ivy beamed with pride for Harley. "Then that means your mama deserves a treat for being so good."
Lucy nodded, "That's why I want to give Mama a gift for Christmas."
"Oh," Ivy could feel her heart swell with warmth, "I think that's a wonderful idea. What would you like me to give your mama?"
Lucy nibbled on the corner of the blanket, her eyes falling to the floor, "Well…actually, Mama really, really likes Ivy, and I like her too because she always gets me flowers and she plays with me and brushes my hair and makes Mama laugh, and I really, really want Ivy to stay here forever."
She looked up with hopeful eyes, "Can you tell Ivy to stay with us forever and be my new mommy?"
A hard lump settled in her throat, rendering her utterly speechless. Unwittingly, the little angel had managed to ask for the one thing Ivy had hoped to ask her love this Christmas but knowing that Lucy wanted her to be a part of their family gave her a courage unlike any other.
She felt another tug on her suit, "So can you?"
Ivy could only nod, her hands caressing the little girl's rosy cheeks, "I think she would very much like to be a part of your family, little one."
The girl's beam rivaled the sun, "Thanks Santa!" She launched herself into the woman's arms with an adorable giggle.
But perhaps the greater surprise to Ivy was the way in which she returned the hug with equal fervor, pulling the girl close to her heart as she fought to hold back tears.
A family of my very own…
"Luce."
They drew apart, Ivy blinking hard to focus on an uncharacteristically solemn Harley. "It's time to go to bed, sweetheart. Santa's gotta go and visit all the other children, remember?"
"Yeah," Lucy pulled away with a smile, "Thanks Santa! I gotta go to sleep now. Say hi to all the reindeerses and elveses for me!" She skipped off to bed, leaving the once formidable, notoriously poisonous super villainess a vulnerable, teary mess.
Harley drew closer, a strange timidity in her steps. "Did-did you mean what you told her?"
She wanted to say yes, enthusiastically, emphatically. But somehow, Ivy found her voice unwilling to obey. Fear gripped her heart with a vengeance at the unexpected turn of events.
She had hoped to do this on her own time, to bring the topic if and only if Harley felt comfortable talking about it. After all the struggles she'd gone through over the years, it was the least Ivy could offer in return. But now?
Ivy's gaze fell to the floor. "Harl-"
"Didja?"
If it weren't for the way Harley's voice cracked, perhaps Ivy would never have summoned the courage to do what she did next. But somehow, someway, it felt like encouragement. She took a deep breath and walked over to the Christmas tree, picking up the small box she'd hidden at the base and turning around to face the now astonished jester.
She sheepishly cleared her throat, "I…I was going to wait to give this to you, but-" Ivy opened the box, showing off the diamond-encrusted ring to a wide-eyed Harley.
"Ya really did mean it, huh?"
"Every word." Ivy managed a small chuckle, "If I had known Lucy was on board with this, I would have proposed a lot earlier."
Harley giggled along with her, "She's loved ya from day one, Ive. Ya never had to worry about that."
But she had. She'd spent so long worrying about whether she could ever be a part of this adorable little family with the woman she loved and the girl she'd come to consider her own daughter that now, it felt too good to be true.
Almost like some sort of Christmas miracle.
"I-I guess I wasn't sure how I fit into your family…or if you'd even want to make any kind of commitments-"
"Always." Harley locked eyes with Ivy. "I know I haven't had the best luck in relationships, Ive…but you were always different that way. If you had any idea the number of times I've thought about the three of us as a family…." She chuckled softly, "Pammy, I think I've always wanted to spend forever with you."
Her heart thumped louder in her chest. She still couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So you'll marry me?"
Harley smirked, "Is that what you want for Christmas?"
Ivy wiped at her eyes with an incredulous, light-hearted laugh at the sheer irony of it all. "As crazy as it sounds, yeah…yeah, this is what I want for Christmas. The only thing I want, actually."
"Good." Harley stepped right in front of her, holding Ivy's hands in her own. "Cause I want you for Christmas too. Only you. Nothing else."
Ivy looked into shining baby blues and found her breath escaping her entirely at the love that waited for her there. "I-I think Santa can arrange that."
"Perfect," Harley's gaze grew darker, hungrier. "And if I wanted to unwrap my Christmas present early? Would that be okay with Santa?"
Ivy swallowed the lump in her throat, "Yeah…" She licked her lips, "Yeah, I think it would be."
What followed was a series of events best left private and a very emotional engagement, but it wasn't until the newly formed family sat down to open the rest of their gifts the next morning that Ivy admitted Christmas wasn't really all that bad, after all.
Not when you had a family of your own to spend it with.