Erin smiled as she pulled the blanket a little higher up on her lap. It had been too long since she had truly celebrated Christmas. Too many years in Witness Protection, away from her children, had not encouraged her to decorate or look forward to a holiday that was full of joy and family. And even when she had finally been able to return to her previous life two years ago, she had had to spend too much time relearning the things that had changed when she hadn't been there. There were new people in her children's lives, a grandbaby to get to know, and she had had to do that without the support of David, who had understandably moved on with his life. He couldn't have been expected to pine after her for as long as she had needed to be away, after all. She just wished that she hadn't gotten lost in the system, that because she had been so quiet and kept to herself, they had just…overlooked her. Until she had thought to ask her handler what the status of her case was, and then the ball had really started rolling, and she was home and gifted with quite a generous benefits package as a result.

The one person who had picked up right where they had left off in New York had been Alex, but a part of Erin wondered if that ease had been the result of James leaving Alex the year before that. So they had both been in a bit of a lonely space when she had returned to Quantico. Not that Alex had been there, she had returned to Boston when Harvard had come calling. But she had been Erin's first visitor when she had returned to life, and from there, a tender friendship had blossomed out of the ashes of their former lives.

"….attention. Erin!"

Shaking her head, Erin looked up into Alex's bemused face and gave her a small shrug. "Sorry, I was just thinking about how we got here in two years. Sometimes, it's difficult for me to believe that we've managed to create this peaceful perfection in so short a time."

"Yes, well, we were both open to starting over, and that led to this. Now, either lift your feet or sit up so that I have room on the sofa, too." Erin shook her head as she took the mug of hot chocolate from Alex's hands. "I'll just have to sit on them, then," she muttered as she began to sit, only for Erin to lift her legs, allowing Alex to sit before she laid her legs on her lap.

"I think that we're going to have to prepare for another grandchild next year."

"What makes you say that?" Alex asked as she ran her hand up and down Erin's legs.

"Tabitha was practically glowing at church on Sunday. I know that she and Maggie have been trying to find the right time to get pregnant, and I guess that this was the year. I think that this will be one of the best presents I've ever gotten. Well, besides the gift of you being in my life, that is," she teased, knowing that Alex hated it when she was a soppy sentimentalist.

"Ugh, the hot chocolate is sweet enough as it is, I don't need you adding any syrup to it." Erin chuckled as she made herself a little more comfortable on the sofa, allowing her head to flop back against the back as she stared at the lit tree. "What did you get me for Christmas?"

"You won't find out until we open gifts tomorrow night with the children. Though I suppose that we could always head upstairs and you could unwrap me as your sweetest Christmas present?" Alex squeezed her calf sharply, causing Erin to giggle a little as she sipped at her hot chocolate. "Besides, you won't tell me what I'm getting for Christmas, so why should I say anything early?"

"I suppose that you have a point there, Erin." She listened as Alex let out a long breath. "I wish that you were a little loose lipped, though."

"Ah, where is the fun in that, darling? And I think that you will really like this Christmas present that I managed to source for you. But, in order to get your mind off that particular concern, why don't you tell me about your worst Christmas present that you've ever received?"

Alex nodded as she took a long drink of her cocoa. "There were a few doozies over the years. My first boyfriend thought that it would be funny to buy me a gag when he thought that I was talking too much. I threw him out before Danny broke his nose."

"He gave that to you in front of your family?" Alex nodded "What an idiot!"

"Most definitely. Though Danny made certain to tell him that he was now my ex-boyfriend when he heard him gossiping about me in the locker room when we got back from Christmas break. I wasn't there to stop my big brother, and thing were said that made him keep his mouth shut."

Erin nodded. "I wish that I could have met your brother. He sounds like he was an amazing guy."

"Danny was. I wish that he hadn't been killed in the line of duty, but that's the risk that we take, working with the public like we do. At least I've only been shot once, even though I was almost drowned."

"What? You never told me that!"

"It's a story for another time. Right now you asked me about worst Christmas gifts, and I still haven't answered that for you."

"There's a worse Christmas gift than a gag?"

Alex nodded as she blushed a little. "I suppose that that was really the gift that kept on giving, even until now. I still don't use my words like you'd like me to. James somewhat understood my reticence to speak, even if my family never truly got the reason why."

"Because when someone you love tells you something, even as a joke, you can take it to heart and it will affect you for far longer than you ever thought possible." Their eyes met, and Erin tried to smile at Alex, knowing that she had revealed something to her partner than she hadn't mentioned before. "That is another story for another time as well. And we will talk about it, I promise. But now you're telling me about your worst Christmas gifts. And God knows that we both need a smile right now."

Alex gave her a small nod as she ran her hand up and down Erin's leg a few times before squeezing her knee tenderly. "All right, so, the worst Christmas present I ever received, even worse than the gag, was the after we graduated from the Academy. Mom knew about us, about how we couldn't be free enough to have this relationship back then, and she understood why I married James. I loved him, just not in the way that I loved you. Anyway, she told her sister about us and to be kind to me and James, to not mention my previous relationship with you, since it was still a sore point with me."

"Let me guess, your aunt said something?" Erin asked before finishing off her hot chocolate and setting the mug aside. Alex shook her head, and Erin frowned a little as she adjusted how she was sitting, curving the other way so that she could rest her head on her partner's chest, knowing that she would soon be feeling her fingers running through her hair. "Then what happened?"

"Something even more embarrassing. My aunt Dana decided that the best way to express her relief over my marrying the right sort of person was to do it with a gift. So in front of all our relatives on Christmas Eve, she gives me a rather small box. I wasn't feeling the best already, though James and I would learn why a few weeks later about that, so I frowned at her as I opened the gift. Inside was a needlepoint picture of James and myself, and when I held it up, she had the gall to say that it was a good thing that I had married him, since there was no way on God's green Earth that she would have spent that much energy on a family portrait of two…lesbians."

"That's not what she said."

"No, but I don't care to repeat the slur that she used. James and I left shortly after that, and Mom "accidentally" burnt the needlepoint in the fireplace that evening."

Erin nodded as she snuggled in even closer to Alex's side, rubbing her cheek against the soft swell of her breasts. "I'm glad that your mother did that, because that's awful. I know that there are bigoted people in the world, who don't understand that love is complicated, but one day, we won't have to worry about those attitudes. Maybe. Though it can feel hard to be a lesbian, even now."

Alex dropped a kiss to the top of Erin's head, and she let out a contented breath as she slid her hand up Alex's chest to spread out between her breasts. "You don't consider yourself bisexual?"

"I suppose that I am, since I loved my time with David and Alan, but that's the label that feels right to me. I know, you and your linguistical need for precision of language, I get it. But I have to find the best way to describe me, and since I've come back to you, I don't foresee me having another partner." She broke off her words, certain that she had revealed too much. They had quite easily said that they loved each other, but there were still some things that they danced around.

"I've always thought of this as forever, too, Erin. Which is probably why I bought you a special gift this year. But we're not opening presents until the day itself, when your children are here, so you'll just have to wait a few more days."

"That's not fair!"

"Has life ever been fair?" Alex teased as she leaned down to kiss Erin once more. She lifted her face so that Alex would kiss her lips rather than her hair. A small groan left her lips when Alex deepened the kiss, pressing her back against the arm of the sofa as they continued to kiss. She welcomed Alex's hand on her breast as she gave herself over to the pleasure her partner was giving her, one leg curling around the crook of Alex's knees in order to bring her closer to her. "I suppose, if you were to kiss me again, I might relent."

"You just want me to kiss you again," she responded, quirking an eyebrow upwards as she tried not to breathe heavily. Alex chuckled as she nodded, and Erin drew in a deep breath before gasping as Alex's hand slipped beneath the fabric of her blouse to palm her breast, her thumb lightly rubbing against her nipple, using the lace of her bra to stiffen it into a taut bud that ached to feel her mouth there instead. "One more kiss, I get to open my mystery present, and then you get to unwrap me and finish this," she said breathily, and Alex laughed with pleasure as she nodded. Erin smirked a little before pulling Alex's head down so that she could hungrily kiss her, making certain to nip at her lower lip when she ended the kiss and gently pushed her away. "Present. Now."

"God, if you weren't so fucking desirable when you're giving commands, I would not let you get away with that," Alex said as she leaned in to kiss her once more, a quick one before she slipped off the sofa and padded over to the tree. Erin couldn't help but stare at her as she crouched down to pick up a small, long, rectangle of a present. "I don't know how you feel about rings, since you never wear any around me. So I went with this."

Alex handed over the package, before taking a seat next to Erin once more, watching her intently as she opened it carefully. Erin knew that her partner hated when she took her time, but she didn't want to rush this. Slowly, she peeled the paper off the box, revealing the familiar green blue color of Tiffany and Co. "Alex…"

"I know, but I think that you'll like this, even if it was obscenely expensive."

She chuckled nervously as she opened the box, revealing a pearl and silver chain link bracelet with a small lock charm hanging off one of the links. "This will lock my heart to your heart, Lexie."

"I knew you'd understand without me having to explain. That's why I love you so much." Alex tucked a piece of hair behind Erin's ear before leaning in to kiss her gently. "Let me put this on you?" Erin nodded, watching as her partner picked up the bracelet and closed it around her wrist, the cool metal feeling right on her skin.

"Now I'll wear a constant reminder of you. But if you want me to wear your ring, I would." Alex gave her a small nod before tugging Erin to her feet. "Now we're going to finish what you started?"

"I think that that would be the best thing, don't you?"

"Um, I think that that will be first, and then, once that's done, I'll show you just how appreciative I am of my gift." Alex nodded as she took hold of Erin's hand, guiding her up to their room. "I just wish that we cold laze around in bed tomorrow, but you need to help me in the kitchen with baking and cooking everything that we can get done ahead of time."

"I thought that I was going to have time to work on my next book," she started to whine, and Erin rolled her eyes a little as she tightened her grip on Alex's hand. "No?"

"No. You'll have all of Boxing Day to work on your book, darling. I just need extra hands tomorrow and on Christmas. But I'll be certain to reward you handsomely Christmas evening, once the children have gone home. I'm not above a little bit of bribery."

Alex chuckled as she turned back to look at Erin, the smirk on her lips begging to be kissed off her face. "That is what I am counting on, actually."

"And you know I never back down from a challenge, especially the one I hear in your voice right now. Too bad that will have to wait until after the holiday for me to fulfill that. But anticipation can just serve to stoke a fire all the better. Especially after tonight." Alex nodded as they finished climbing the stairs, and then Erin was being pulled over to their bedroom, tripping lightly behind Alex as they entered the bedroom. Somehow, she managed to kick the door closed before Alex pulled her into a tight hug, almost attacking her lips in a torrid, hungry, kiss as she maneuvered Erin over to the bed, roughly pushing her down before kneeling on the floor in front of her. "Lexie," she whined.

"I know, and I am so happy that you've decided to wear button up shirts."

"Why?"

"Because it allows me to draw out the unwrapping of you. You like to take forever to pull the paper of gifts, I just think that it's fair I reciprocate with you in the same manner." Erin frowned a little as Alex reached out and slowly gripped the top button on her blouse, pushing it through the hole with a delicate motion that seemed to take forever. By the look on her partner's face, Erin knew that she couldn't protest how she was being stripped. A knowing smirk flitted across Alex's face as she leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the hollow of Erin's throat, letting her tongue dart out to lap at that sensitive spot before she pulled back and started on the second button. By the time Alex finished with her blouse, Erin felt like she was going to go mad from wanting, and she was certain that Alex knew as much, as there was a brief pause before Alex pushed the garment from her shoulders, letting it pool around her hips on the bed. "You're flushed, darling. Would you like me to do something about that?"

Erin nodded as she thrust her chest out towards Alex, trying to get her to focus her attention on her breasts. There was a low chuckle that rumbled from Alex's lips as she shook her head and slipped her hands down to the waistband of Erin's skirt and slowly slid the zipper down her ass before pinching her hip a little. She knew what that meant, and she lifted her hips upwards so that Alex could pull it down her legs. "I wore your favorite garter set today, just for you," she panted out as she lifted one hand to caress her chest, the metal of her bracelet causing her to shiver as it brushed against the swell of her breast.

"I love how you look in black lace," Alex said as she ran her hands up Erin's legs before gently spreading them apart so that she could fit herself between them. "But it seems that you forgot to wear the matching panties. That certain tonight would end in sex?"

Erin nodded as she reached out and stroked Alex's hair. "I had a good feeling that it would, yes. Seeing as how I still cannot get enough of you, even after two years together. Maybe, when we've had twenty years, I might feel my desire dim a little, but maybe not. Probably not. Please, you've claimed me with jewelry, now claim me with love."

"Yes, Erin," she responded as she gently pressed Erin backwards, getting to her feet and hurriedly pulling off her clothes before joining Erin on the bed, pressing a flurry of kisses against her skin as she unclipped Erin's bra and pulled it off her body. "Merry Christmas, my darling."

"Merry Christmas," she breathed out before giving herself over to the pleasure that Alex doled out for her, knowing that she was home where she was supposed to be when she was in Alex's arms.