A/N: Sorry this chapter is months delayed, but aren't you glad it's back in time for Christmas?! I will finish my Darling by Christmas :)


Rey stepped lightly up the front steps to Ben's home, eager to begin decorating the trees they'd chosen the night before. The morning sun was trying valiantly to break through the gathering clouds but without much luck. Snow today, she thought to herself, better keep an eye on it.

She let herself in this morning, Ben having given her an extra key so she could start while he was in an early meeting with his foundation's donors this morning. Inside the foyer, the scent of fresh pine wafted up to greet her. She inhaled the earthy scent deeply and grinned. She had been looking forward to this. Taking off the chunky white cardigan she was wearing and laying it across the back of the couch in the living room, Rey rolled up her metaphorical sleeves. Two boxes of ornaments had been delivered to the house, and the third should be on its way.

She pulled Spotify up on her phone and opened the first box. Inside she was delighted to see strands of popcorn and cranberries (wooden of course), vintage hand-painted ornaments, gemstone-covered faux fruit, and several strands of lights that looked like dripping wax candles. Christmas Past was first.

Deciding that the lights would be the trickiest to put on, she would string them before adding the ornaments. She grabbed a footstool, left for her in the hallway, and carefully began clipping the lights into place. Once that was done, she wrapped the tree with the popcorn garland in a carefree manner to give it more of a family-decorated look versus the pristine style her boss preferred. Lastly, the ornaments went on, scattered carefully in the way her Mum had taught her.

"Every ornament is a point on a diamond. Scatter your diamonds around the tree and it'll look as lovely as you, Kitten," Rey could hear her now. Her mum always felt nearest at this time of year, and Rey embraced the happiness and sorrow together. Grief is the price of love, and Mum was worth it, she thought, pausing in her work to wipe away a few tears.

Two hours later, Rey was just beginning on the second tree, Christmas Present, when she heard keys jangling in the lock. Ben was back! She stifled a surge of excitement and assumed a demure mask of professionalism. If she also straightened the skirt of her cherry red dress, who was there to tattle on her?


Ben smiled as he opened his door to see a Norman Rockwell come to life. Rey had her back turned to him, and was standing on tiptoe to add another tiny gift bag ornament to one of the Christmas trees. She'd obviously been a busy elf this morning, one tree was already gaily decorated, and he took a moment to observe her. If he also admired her shapely calves while she reached above her head to add another ornament…there was no one to see his temporary lapse.

He cleared his throat as he closed the door and approached, not wanting to startle her off the stool.

"Good morning, Rey. The tree looks magnificent," he complimented, cheerfully.

Rey turned, blushing lightly at his praise. "Thanks, Ben!"

"Is this Christmas Present?" he asked with a nod at the tree she was working on.

"How could you tell? Did the gift bags give it away?" she teased.

He reached over and gently withdrew the ornament in her hand. "No…just naturally gifted, I guess," he smirked, "Where does this one go?"

Rey stepped down off the stool and spotted an empty branch, now just out of her reach. "Right there," she said, pointing. "Would you like to help finish? There's plenty to do, and Past's tree still needs a bow for the top. I could give you that tying lesson you needed," she offered with a wink.

"I can't think of anything I'd like more," he replied; faintly alarmed to find that he meant it, he wasn't being simply polite. "Just give me a moment, please." He stepped into the dining room to toss his suit jacket across a chair and leave his keys and phone on the table. Ben took a deep breath trying to calm the flutter he felt inside. He felt like a heel. He had a girlfriend, he had a ring, he had a- …flutter?!

Leaning his forehead against the wall he took another breath, wishing his Nana was alive. She would have wrapped as much of him as she could reach in her embrace, and listened without interruption; he, her sole focus. Knowing he was expected, Ben shoved all his confusion down deeply. A problem for a different day. Right now, he was looking forward to assisting Rey. As he hurried away he didn't notice a text message pop up on his phone.

Baz: Hey, Sweetie! My work is almost done here. I should be back in town tomorrow night. Can't wait to see you. ?

"How can I help?" he asked, rejoining Rey.

Time flew by as they worked on finishing the second tree. After that was done, Rey had given him the promised tying lesson. He had been all thumbs with the ribbon, but she'd never lost her patience, a feat he was sure Bazine wasn't capable of. Ben had to laugh at the poor excuses he'd passed off as bows. Pathetic, flat, or downright tangled knot, she'd praise his efforts and then twist and primp the ribbon until it obeyed her. To his astonishment, they'd made enough good bows to decorate the pine garlands that they'd looped down the banister later that afternoon. Each swoop held in place by a perfect red velvet bow. It was homey, yet elegant; he loved it.

After bows, came the old-fashioned Victorian kissing ball to hang from the chandelier in the dining room. Sitting at the table, Ben watched Rey take heavy wire and create a spherical cage that she then wrapped in pine, balsam, and holly. Next, she adeptly added clove-studded oranges, velvet ribbon, and mistletoe. Rey kept conversation flowing as she worked. Telling him how, in Victorian times, a gentleman was permitted to kiss a lady standing under the ball, and then retrieve a berry. Once the berries were gone, so were the kisses. She blushed prettily during his history lesson, he noted.

"These days, we only hang the mistletoe, but I thought it would be nice to create the traditional bough including the balsam and holly. Did you know that holly represents domestic happiness, and mistletoe is for ardent affection," she chatted on, oblivious to Ben's rapt attention, and tying the last ribbon to her creation.

That finished, she held out the kissing ball for him to admire and stilled; had anyone ever looked at her with such intensity? His eyes…a girl could drown in those depths, she thought. Not wanting to read too much into his quietness, she held the bough out to him. "Hang it for me, please?" she asked.

Ben carefully took the kissing ball from her and attached it, as directed, to the chandelier. He climbed back down the ladder and surveyed their work. His house had come alive under her careful ministrations. From the three trees in the foyer to the greenery down the stairs, and even the lamppost in the living room, it all exuded charm and grace from a bygone era. It actually felt like a home again. Nana would have loved it, every bough and bow. She'd always said a house with love was a home for all who entered it. He glanced down at Rey. There was a softness shining in her eyes as she looked back at him, pride in her work clearly written across her face.

She has freckles…no, stop that line of thought Ben! He looked away guiltily, his eyes drawn again to the chandelier, but that turned out to be a mistake too. Mistletoe for kisses… he glanced back down at Rey. "Maybe we better test it out? Do you think," he asked a bit hoarsely.

Rey was speechless. Was this the moment he'd recognize her from the elevator? Nerves getting the best of her, all she could achieve was to nod her acquiescence. Ben reached up and took two berries from the mistletoe, handing her one, before bending down to kiss— her cheek.

A featherlight touch of lips against her cheek. She smells like cookies, he thought. He wasn't sure how long they stood closely, simply staring into each other's eyes before her phone rang, rending the tension and causing her to startle at the sound. She looked around for her phone, momentarily discombobulated, and answered. The children at the youth center weren't quite finished with the ornaments for the Christmas Future tree, so they would be delivered tomorrow instead of this evening. Rey thanked the Director for letting her know and hung up, turning to face Ben.

"Looks like our work is done here for now," Rey said. "The ornaments for the third tree aren't ready yet, so I'll need to come by and decorate that tree tomorrow instead. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, yes- of course," he said, shifting away from her, putting proper distance between them again. "Thanks again, for all your hard work today. This old house is just glowing. My Nana would have loved every inch of it."

"I'm so glad you like the design," she said, biting her lip, smiling softly.

Ben sighed, looking down at the floor contemplating something for a moment before speaking. "Honestly, I'm surprised that Bazine came up with all of this. I know she prefers everything shiny and modern, doesn't have much love for…" he cleared his throat, "- anyway, uh, she couldn't have chosen anything that was more meaningful to me. Maybe I don't give her enough credit. She may not be outwardly effusive, but no one who didn't care could create this for me," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I was starting to think…we don't often see eye to eye, you know?"

Rey's heart sunk past her feet. He thought that witch had, that it meant…

"Ben, there's something I should tell-..."

"I have a surprise for you!" they spoke at the same time.

Rey cocked her head, taken aback, "For me?" she asked curiously as he disappeared around the corner and down the hallway. She heard the whirr of a can opener and spoons clunking before he returned, carrying two bowls of brown- stuff.

"Here," he said, a large grin on his face.

Rey politely took the proffered bowl with a thank you.

"What is it, exactly?" she asked, gently prodding the mass with her spoon.

A mild disappointment crossed Ben's face and she felt a twinge of guilt. He looked like a scolded puppy.

"It's figgy pudding. At the tree lot, you said you'd never tried it before, so I thought we could try it together? It seemed- a…Christmas-y?" he replied, with a wave of his bowl.

Rey melted a little inside, he'd remembered something so trivial that she'd told him.

"Somehow I imagined it a bit less solid?" she said, scrunching her nose. "Let's do this." She took a scoop on her spoon and they both took a bite.

Rey knew she was making faces, but couldn't help it. She'd expected a Christmas classic to be a bit more- well, not this. It was thick, almost cake-like, and tasted of cheap brandy and sultanas. It was, to her growing dismay, beginning to stick to the roof of her mouth the longer she chewed it. She didn't want to be rude, he'd been so thoughtful, but she really, really wanted a glass of water to wash this pudding down. There was nothing pudding-like about this dish. With effort she swallowed the mouthful, hiding a grimace. Looking up she caught a similar emotion on Ben's face and burst out laughing.

"Your face!" she chortled, "You didn't like it either, did you?"

Ben cleared his throat but told the truth. "That was revolting. I have no idea what all the fuss has been about? Why would you write a song for this glop?" he asked. "Care for a glass of water?"

"Oh gosh, please!"

Ben gathered their dishes and took them back to the kitchen, quickly returning with glasses of water. Rey chugged hers as politely as she could manage. When she finished, she thanked him and went to gather her things to head home. Ben followed her meaning to show her out like a polite host but found himself inviting her to dinner instead, to make up for the awful figgy pudding. As he grabbed his jacket, Ben wondered what gremlin had possessed him to do that. It was just a kindness, business-related. He cared for Bazine. What could go wrong?


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A/N: Did you love it?! I did :) This story is such a delight to write. Let me know what you think in the comments; they are fuel to me. I hope to have chapter nine ready by next week, but my beta is a busy bee so don't hold your breath (just in case).