Author note:
I know I'm late for Christmas. But better late than never, right? I hope you like this short, fluffy Christmas chapter. Thanks for still reading and commenting on my story. I truly appreciate it and wish everyone a wonderful New Year!
CH 121-Two Hearts
Clay sat down on the couch next to Brock and opened the beer Jason handed him. The team was gathering in their room to discuss the new kit they were testing out. They would recap their findings and pass them up the chain of command. The whole team was there, save Bravo 3. Jason was starting to lose patience and sent Vic to see what the holdup was. Before Lopez made it to the door, Sonny finally sauntered into the team room.
"What the hell, Sonny? I said ten minutes."
"Well, Jace…sorry it took me so long. I was checking my drawers for wood shavings. Didn't want a splinter in my ass."
"What?! You're going to have my boot in your ass if you don't sit down so we can get down to business."
"Whoa there. Who knew Blondie Claus here was going to turn this place into Santa's workshop? I got sawdust in my beard and up my nose."
"Hey man, this whole thing is your fault."
"Mine?"
"Yea. You're the one that gave me the idea."
Clay remembered back to their Op in South America when he first mentioned his predicament to the team.
This mission was going on and on. Intel was slow and there was a lot of hurry up and wait. The team had too much spare time. Most of it Clay spent with his knife and a piece of wood in his hands. After seeing his Gramp's work last Christmas, Clay had taken back up the hobby.
One a particularly quiet night, the team was around the firepit discussing plans for the upcoming holiday. Ray was telling them all about Naima's frantic search for the doll Jameelah requested from Santa. Jason noticed Clay was being especially quiet.
"So, Kid, what're you getting Em this year?"
"Uh…I'm not getting her anything."
"Huh?"
"What I mean is that Emma wanted us to make our gifts for each other this year."
"And ya agreed to thet," Sonny responded.
"I guess I did."
"You guess?"
"In my defense she asked me in the middle of a close Niners game. And well, I sorta forgot about it until a couple weeks ago. She mentioned something about it. And…and I've got nothing. I t's only about a month until Christmas and I have no idea what to do."
"Yer definitely up shit creek."
"I will be if I can't figure something out."
"Can't ya write her some sorta flowery poem or somethin'?"
"I'm no good at that kinda stuff. I don't want to disappoint her, Son."
"Thet is a pickle."
Clay went back to shaping the small stick in his hand into a dolphin. Sonny motioned to his knife.
"Yer gettin' pretty good at thet."
"I guess."
"Why don't ya carve somethin' for Emma?"
"What?"
"Ya know, whittle her something."
"That's not a half bad idea."
"A'course it ain't. I'm glad you finally realized I'm the brains of this outfit and yer just a pretty face."
Clay slapped his friend on the back and started to think of what he could possibly carve for Emma.
Even with that reminder Sonny still protested.
"Listen, I can't work on it at home, Em would find out. Besides, I'm almost done. All I have to do is carve an inscription and stain it."
"Good. Mebbe I'll stop sneezing up a whole oak tree every time I'm in here."
Jason settled them down and they got their report filed.
Back in their cage room, Clay pulled out his creation. He was trying to think of the perfect sentiment to finish it off. Sonny swiped it from his hands and gave it the once-over. The six-inch-high treble-clef was smooth as silk. Clay depicted the signature curves and delicate twirls perfectly. The only departure was the curling loop at the bottom which ended in a heart. All this sat atop a stylized, round base.
"This is lookin' really good Tinkerbell."
"Thanks man."
"Ya be sure to tell Princess this was my idea."
Clay huffed out a laugh.
A week later, the statue was complete. The inscription was carved, and he stained it a beautiful, deep mahogany. He even added a layer of lacquer for the shine he desired. He wrapped carefully in tissue paper and placed it in a festive gift bag which he tucked under their tree.
Next to her gift, was a large box labeled for Clay. Emma finally finished her gift for him. Once she had all the pieces knitted and sewn together, she needed to block it for shape. Again, she reached out to her grandmother for help. Linda suggested that she use one of Clay's current shirts as a guide.
As she lined the sweater up with a sweatshirt, she knew fit him well, she had many misgivings. She knew that any generic pattern was going to be hard to alter to fit Clay's form. His broad shoulders and chest, as well as his muscular arms, paired with his abs and trim waist were not the typical measurements. When comparing to his shirt, it looked like the shoulders and chest would work, but that the torso might be a bit large. As a finishing touch, she stitched a heart with her their initials and the year inside the waistband. Well, shrugging her shoulders, she placed the finished garment in a box and wrapped it up. She'd done the best she could. Hopefully, Clay would appreciate the effort.
Both of them breathed a little easier having their gifts for one another under the tree. Now they moved on to finishing their shopping and wrapping for the rest of their family and friends.
On the day before Christmas Eve, Emma was in the kitchen making her final gift. In addition to knitting Clay's gift, she decided to bake Koda some homemade peanut butter flavored treats. She'd even purchased a specific, dog-bone shaped cookie cutter much to Clay's amusement.
"You know he's gonna eat these no matter what they look like, right?"
"I know. But it's Christmas for him too. They should be special."
He wrapped her up in a hug, kissing the top of her head and held her. She always wanted to do the most she could for all those she cared about. It was another reminder to him of why he loved her.
Soon the counter was covered with cooling, bone-shaped cookies. Koda sniffed the air and walked around and around the kitchen. Thankfully, he was well trained and never tried to stand up or grab anything off the cooling racks. Still, Emma shooed him into the other room with Clay not wanting him to see his surprise. Clay chuckled and played along, offering to take the pup on a walk until she could clear up kitchen and get the treats boxed up and put away.
When the two returned there was no trace of the holiday baking. However, a large box tied up with a red ribbon sat on the counter.
"Do you want me to put that under the tree?"
"Maybe we should leave it for now. I know he's a good dog, but the temptation might be too much."
"Good point. We don't want him peaking at his present before Christmas, do we," he teased.
Emma punched him lightly on his arm in response.
"No. Christmas gifts should be a surprise."
Again, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
"I hope you'll be surprised with your gift."
"I'm sure I will be."
He dropped a sweet kiss on her lips and released her.
The next night was Christmas Eve and Emma was busy all day. Mike had a final game before the holiday so he and her grandma would be in town late. So, she and Clay volunteered to have their family celebration at their place. She cleaned and prepped the food for tomorrow in addition to cooking their own traditional Christmas Eve meal of lasagna. Clay helped out as much as he could. But that mostly consisted of keeping Koda out from underfoot and staying out of her way himself. Even though they were both at home, he felt like he hardly saw her all day. She went to take a shower as their meal baked in the oven. Clay took the opportunity to set the table for her, smoothing the red tablecloth over the top and setting a white poinsettia in the center. He placed the plates and cutlery and opened the bottle of Pinot Noir he purchased for their meal. Emma was surprised and pleased when she reemerged, thanking Clay with a kiss and a grateful smile. She pulled the pan from the oven and dished up their meal.
"Em, honey, this is delicious."
"Thanks. I was afraid it wouldn't turn out. I felt like I rushed it."
"It's amazing," he answered, reaching for her free hand. "Do you have much more to do? Can you rest now?"
His brow was wrinkled with concern, and he brushed his thumb gently across the back of her hand.
"I think I'm good. I'll need to get up early to get the turkey in tomorrow…but I think everything else is set."
"How about you tell me what to do and I can take care of the turkey?"
"It's really not that big of a deal."
"I know. But I hate to see you wearing yourself out. I want you to be able to relax and enjoy the holiday."
He could see her hesitating,
"Please, Baby. Let me help you."
She couldn't resist his sweet entreaty.
"That sounds great. Thank you, Clay."
He smiled at his victory and dove back into his plate.
After their meal, Clay poured them each another glass of wine and they retired to the sofa. He turned on some music and turned the lights out so only the glow from the tree illuminated the room. He figured that a few moments of silence before they opened their presents to each other would help Emma relax. He reached his arm around her and cuddled her close. She leaned her head on his chest.
He finished the last of his wine and was going to suggest they open their gifts. But, when he went to set down his glass, he noticed that Emma had fallen asleep. He was just getting ready to pick her up to take her to bed when she awoke.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to doze off."
He squeezed her and kissed the crown of her head.
"It's fine, Babe. I'm sorry I woke you."
Emma shook her head to negate his statement.
"Why don't we go on to bed?"
"But…what about our gifts?"
"We can do that tomorrow along with everyone else."
"I'd rather open ours tonight, just the two of us."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh huh, please."
"Whatever you want, Honey."
Clay kissed her cheek and moved to get their presents from under the tree. He sat them both at Emma's feet and was going to sit.
"Can you get Koda's too?"
"Sure," he smiled.
Once he had the box of treats, he called Koda over. The dog gave the box a good sniff and wagged his tail excitedly.
"Here you go, boy."
Emma opened the box and held out one of the "cookies" to him. He took it gently from her hand and then chomped it down. He was soon back looking for more.
"Okay, just one more since it's Christmas."
She give him one more and then handed the box to Clay to put back in the kitchen. Clay returned to his place beside her and took a seat.
"You go first," she said, handing him the box.
"Let's open them at the same time."
She agreed took the gift bag from his hand. He started to rip off the paper and she reached into the bag, pulling out the contents wrapped, carefully in tissue. Clay opened the box and lifted out the sweater as revealed the sculpture.
"Clay…this is beautiful. /Em, wow! I love this."
They both looked at their gift carefully, wondering at the care and time put into each one. Clay watched Emma turning the carving over and over in her hands while he went over each stitch and seam of his new sweater.
"I didn't know you could knit."
"Is it really okay? I haven't picked up needles in years. Grandma gave me lots of help."
"This must have taken you hours, Em."
He marveled that she somehow made time for this along with her classes, and student teaching, and everything else she had to do.
"No more time than this must have taken you. I-I can't believe you did this. It's gorgeous."
"You really like it?"
"It's perfect. I can't believe you made this. And I love the quote."
Her finger traced the inscription on the base.
~If music be the food of love, play on~ W.S.
"I'm going to take this into school and put it on my desk."
Clay was lifting up the sweater, pulling it on when he saw her stitching. At the same time turned the statue around and saw what was carved in the heart.
-C & E 2021-
The looked at each other, incredulous. Somehow, they both had expressed the exact thought, captured inside a heart. Their eyes held and then they leaned into a kiss. It was a small thing, only a detail really. But it reminded them that together, or apart, they were two hearts that shared one love.
*The quote is William Shakespeare from "Twelfth Night".
