Opening up his eyes, Barry was met with the pitch blackness of his bedroom. He craned his head to view his alarm clock, frowning as he noted that it was only 2 o'clock in the morning.
Slowly, his eyes started adjusting to the darkness. He could make out the dresser drawers across the room, the pictures hung expertly along the walls, and that the door to the master bathroom was slightly ajar. Nothing seemed out of place from when he went to sleep a few hours prior, nothing to indicate why he might have woken up.
Shrugging, he closed his eyes, trying to fall back asleep. However, his body did not want to comply; it felt oddly rested for the time. With a frustrated sigh, the speedster turned to his side, hoping the change in position would help him go back to sleep.
"Barry?" he then heard being whispered in the air, making him immediately open his eyes and peer into the space in front of him. "Are you up?" the voice spoke again.
Propping himself up on his elbow, Barry looked over at his companion in the bed. "Sorry if I woke you."
"You didn't," she assured him, and he could faintly make out the outline of her wavy locks and the slope of her adorable nose. "I had been up for a few minutes now, and I can't seem to be able to get back to sleep."
Barry chuckled as his free hand extended to caress Caitlin's bare arm. "Same."
"Quite the pair as always, aren't we?"
"Yes, we are," he answered affectionately.
"I wonder if we both heard something in our sleep."
The speedster shrugged, lips teetering as he thought of what he was going to say next. "Like hearing a certain...clatter…?"
She snorted, and his heart flipped. "Are you referencing the Twas The Night Before Christmas poem?"
"It is the night before Christmas," he pointed out.
"Then shouldn't you be springing from your bed to see what's the matter?"
Barry shook his head. "It's just Santa, right?" he justified as he scooted himself closer to Caitlin, wrapping his arms securely around her frame. "Then I'd rather just cuddle up with you."
He could feel her smile against his neck, making him smile too as he kissed the top of her head tenderly.
"'Just Santa' to you," Caitlin then said, tilting her head back to look at him, "But when I was little, I used to get so afraid of staying up too late, because I thought Santa would know and he'd skip over my house and I wouldn't get any gifts."
Barry chuckled as he envisioned a small, little Caitlin tucked in her bed, fretting over the time and worrying about presents. "I was always the opposite," he humorously shared. "I'd try to stay up so I could catch Santa in the act."
"Of course you did," she commented amusingly.
"Hey now, as an aspiring scientist, I wanted to observe the logistics and mechanics of how he operated," he defended his younger self's motives.
"And how did that work out for you?"
"Uh...well…" he started rather meekly, "I may, or may not, have found my mom kissing Santa Claus on the living room couch one year…"
Without fail, Caitlin bursted into giggles, and his heart did that flippity flip thing again. It always did that when she laughed, especially when she was laughing because of something he said. It reinforced that she was happy - with him - at least in that small moment of time.
"When did you learn the truth?"
"That damned Lexi LaRoche," she admitted with a frustrated sigh. "Her parents told her and she had to ruin it for everyone else in class…"
His hold on her tightened, as if his support now would make up for something that happened years before. "I hated those kids."
She hummed. "I think I was more upset that the bullies weren't getting coal like I had hoped they were every year," she amusingly admitted, causing Barry to chuckle.
"My dad used to buy me these coal looking pieces of candy and give them to me for Christmas every year. But the first time he gave it to me though, I was so scandalized, like 'what did I do that was so bad?'" he shared with a chuckle. "But every year after, I kinda looked forward to it. It was like our inside joke."
Caitlin smiled, watching him tenderly before her eyes drifted a little out of focus. "For a couple years on Christmas Eve, my dad would take me to the local ice-rink while my mother - unbeknownst to me at the time - was wrapping presents. It would be mobbed to the point that we'd only manage to skate a little. But I always loved going, especially when we'd give up skating and just drink some hot chocolate, watching the skaters go by, talking about the most random stuff for a few hours...It was my favorite tradition while it lasted..."
"We could go to the rink some time, if you'd like," Barry suggested, before quickly adding, "Not - not that I'm trying to steal that away from your dad or replace him or anything."
She shook her head, a small laugh slipping past her lips. "I know you wouldn't want to do that," she assured him, her fingertips subconsciously roaming over his chest, just over his heart. "But that does sound nice," she informed him. "How about we go sometime next week?"
"It's a date," he told her. "And that way, it'll be a remnant of the memories with your dad, but still something slightly different."
"Yeah," she confirmed, beaming at the idea. "So…" she then started, looking up at him adoringly, "what was your favorite Christmas tradition as a kid?"
"Hmm," he pondered, before memories of years before surfaced to his mind. "Probably helping my mom bake every Christmas Eve," he answered. "My dad usually worked that day, so it would just be us. She'd crank the Christmas music up high and we'd sing and dance as we made brownies and so so many different kinds of cookies and pies and other goodies…I really loved every moment of it..."
Caitlin's hand reached up to caress his face. "Is that why you like baking so much?"
He leaned into her touch. "Yeah…" he let out breathlessly. "But when I was living with Joe, it didn't feel right...so for the longest time I didn't...but then I asked you to help with Thanksgiving dinner a couple years ago and…"
"We had to call the time of death on a pie," she jokingly interjected, causing him to laugh at the memory.
"I was a little rusty, sure," he defended himself, smirking, "but it was like that magic was back...it felt right again…"
Her lips quivered, her eyes growing shiny. "I didn't do anything special…"
He shook his head, watching her with the utmost love. "You being you was what was special," he told her before kissing her wrist. "Do you remember that first Team Flash Christmas party at Joe's?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I was so surprised to see you guys there, but so happy you were. You made that Christmas a million times better by just being there."
She bit down on her lower lip before confessing, "I'm glad, because I was nervous you wouldn't have wanted us there."
Barry shook his head. "I've always liked having you around."
"Oh really?" she playfully countered, raising her brow at him. "Because I recall a certain speedster trying to avoid me like the plague once upon a time…"
"That was not long after we met and I just didn't want you lecturing me."
"I was worried about you," she stressed.
He tightened his hold. "I know," he told her affectionately before kissing her temple. "And thankfully, I realized that soon enough too. But I meant it, Cait. I always liked having you around."
"Well I sure hope you do, especially now," she commented, looking between them humorously at their very intimate position.
"Oh, especially now," he guaranteed her as he jovially nuzzled her neck, causing her to giggle, his heart proceeding to flip. "Gahhh, I hate the years I wasted to get here."
She shook her head, her hand a calming presence on his face, rubbing soothing circles along his cheek bone. "I think it's important that we happened the way we did - that way there are no second guesses or what if's - just us..."
He nodded, trying to swallow down that guilt. "I can't wait until we create our own Christmas traditions," he told her, scared but hopeful that she could read between the lines and understand what he was saying. That he wanted to share many Christmases with her - a whole life's worth, actually - but he also didn't want to go too fast considering this development between them was still so fresh and new.
She smiled. "We already have," she told him before leaning up to press a tender kiss to his lips.
"Mmm, you want to wake up at 2am on Christmas every year just to talk about old memories?"
She wrinkled her nose, and God, even in the dark where he could barely see her, she was still adorably radiant. "Maybe we could find a more reasonable time," she amended. "Maybe...before bed?"
Barry chuckled before his eyes turned soft as he regarded the woman in his arms. "Sounds good to me, but just know that I'd wake up at 2am any day just to talk to you."
Her lips spread into a watery smile. "Me too. Always."
He smiled. "So...are you tired yet?"
She pouted. "Nope, not an ounce..."
"Tell me then...what was your favorite Christmas gift as a kid?"
A/N: Hello everyone! 2020 has been...a year...so I thought I'd try to finish it off with this series once again. I'll try to finish it up by the end of the year. If you have any ideas/suggestions, definitely let me know! Otherwise: REVIEW with your thoughts about this story! I'd love to hear from you! :D
