December 2008

"What about these?" Sara asked holding up a gaudy length of metallic garland. Alanna—or Ally, as she preferred to be called—smiled, taking it from Sara's hand with barely half a glance before tossing it into the cart.

"So, what're you getting Hap for Christmas?" the brunette asked as she perused the overflowing holiday décor aisle. At Ally's behest they were picking up some last-minute stuff for the SAMTAC Christmas Party, as if it didn't already look like Who-ville threw up all over the clubhouse.

Despite trailing behind the brunette, Sara shrugged before adding, "We don't really get each other gifts for holidays."

"What? Why not? – Do you think we need more plates?"

"No, the three hundred you've already got should do the trick," Sara teased playfully. Ally shrugged and tossed the pack of fifty into the cart, mumbling about how they'd get used eventually. "And, I don't know why we don't give each other gifts. Last Christmas, we were still keeping things casual and he was in Tacoma, so we didn't really do anything…"

"I remember," Ally mused, elaborating when she saw Sara's surprised face, "He was obviously catching feelings; he kept throwing himself into work and was keeping himself busy, wasn't really into the girls hanging around. We all noticed he was off, but Koz kept playing it down."

"I wasn't much better off," Sara admitted before returning to their original topic, "We've never done gifts for any occasion. I've never really come up with anything he really would want; he's not very materialistic. In fact, he'd probably prefer I got rid of stuff as a gift… I'll probably just buy some lingerie and call it a day."

"A classic," Ally nodded in understanding, "Lee doesn't usually want much either. I usually get him something small, and he gets me something gold, and then we have sex." As if on cue, a cheerful holiday jingle surrounded them and the chestnut-haired beauty rifled through her bag to find her phone, smiling at the screen before flipping it open.

"Hello, my love…I'm at the store with Sara… Getting more decorations for the party… don't 'Alanna' me, it's my party… I don't care if it's your money, it's all necessary… I'll make it up to you." Ally rolled her eyes to Sara, who could hear the older man shouting through the phone even though it wasn't on speaker. "Sorry honey, what's that? … you're breaking up… I'm going into a tunnel… love you byeeeeeee."

With a smug grin, her phone snapped shut.

"Is he mad?" Sara asked delicately. Although she appreciated the woman's approach, Sara wasn't in a position to be associated with something that upset the president. The other woman shrugged, clearly unaffected by the yelling directed at her moments before.

"We've been together for fifteen years; he knows better than to tell me I can't buy Christmas decorations," she stated as if it were obvious.

"Fifteen years? Wow," Sara mused, pushing up the sleeves of her sweater. Happy kept trying to teach her the important art of 'layering' but she was struggling and often finding herself shivering outside and sweating indoors.

"Seems like yesterday, except I was younger and hotter," Ally contemplated with faux wistfulness and Sara giggled, although she mentally scoffed at the woman's self-analysis. Ally was, by all standards, still very hot.

"How'd you guys meet?"

"The classic biker-meets-stripper story. A tale as old as time," she joked, "I hear you ran a brothel. Ever dance?"

"No," Sara firmly responded shaking her head, "My father would never have let that happen."

"Well, I didn't have any parents to give a damn; I grew up in the foster system and ran away at seventeen. Lied about my age and got a job dancing; I was nineteen when I met Lee. He used to come into the bar I danced at all the time. I think the club was offering protection or something and he used to come pick up the money, I don't know, I can't remember the specifics now."

"Damn. How'd you end up married?"

"He asked, I said yes." Ally winked, moving the cart toward the checkout counter, "Actually, he proposed after like six months of us dating, but I said no. We dated on and off for a while. He has two ex-wives with kids before me, so things were complicated. Eventually he realized he didn't want to lose me, and I realized I didn't want to lose him; so, when he asked again after five years, I said yes and that was it."

The conversation stopped as Ally spoke with the cashier politely and paid with her credit card.

Oooooo

"What's the damage?" Happy asked from his spot at the bar as Sara followed Ally into the SAMTAC clubhouse an hour later with bags in tow.

"She paid," Sara shrugged nodded towards Ally before sticking out her tongue at Hap. The corner of his mouth curled up in amusement. It was nice to see her playful again.

"Lee's gonna be pissed," Happy teased, sipping a beer and resting his elbows back against the bartop.

"He'll get over it," Ally assured, dragging a barstool over to where she wanted to hang something.

"You don't have to ride along with him when he's being a dick," Happy snorted before dropping a light kiss on Sara's lips once she was within reach. They watched as Ally nimbly climbed onto the stool, in stilettos, and stood to hang something.

"Christ, you're gonna fall and bust your ass," Lorca criticized as he walked into the room.

"Fuck off, I'm a former-stripper. There's very little I can't do in heels," she shot back, flipping the bird. She had told Sara that she was now an esthetician, but she could see how comfortable she was balancing in heels. Guess some skills were never lost.

"Tape?" Ally prompted, reaching her hand down blindly and wiggling her fingers.

"That's you," Happy mumbled, nudging Sara with a smug expression.

"No, it's not, she's supposed to be wrapping the vases with candy canes," Ally chastised without looking.

"Christ, she's got good hearing," Happy muttered, and Sara snickered handing the tape to Hap before dumping out the boxes of candy canes. Ally snapped her fingers twice impatiently as Happy tossed the tape at some girl hanging off Bowie.

"Aw, come on…" Bowie whined as the bleach-blonde immediately moved to help the matriarch.

"Trust me, you'll appreciate this," Ally assured, accepting the tape strip handed to her happily. After a few moments she gracefully slid off the stool and gestured proudly up at the mistletoe hanging from the archway, "You're welcome, boys," she giggled. Bowie mumbled something under his breath about not needing mistletoe to get laid but was silenced by a stern glare.

"The fuck's going on out here?" Lee grumbled emerging from the chapel, flanked by Donut and a few others.

"Just spreading some holiday cheer," Ally exhaled, softening her stern expression with a dreamy sigh.

"You better be spreading your holiday cheer for me later tonight before I see the credit card bill this month," Lee griped.

"My husband, the Grinch," Ally declared affectionately as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, planting a kiss on his lips.

"She rope you into this bullshit too?" Lee asked gruffly as Sara struggled to arrange the candy canes decoratively in the simple round vases. Happy elbowed her sharply in the ribs and her head snapped up, realizing that the President was talking to her.

"Oh, uhh… I don't mind," she answered impartially, "Although… I wouldn't say I have the same gift for décor…" she sighed, looking at the disorganized sight before her.

"Here, I'll show you," Ally stated, nudging Sara out of the way.

"Alanna, leave her be. You're so goddamn controlling this time of year," Lee grumbled, sipping his beer.

"You didn't mind how controlling I was last night," his wife shot back with a knowing smirk. Lee snorted into his beer as she moved to wrap around his middle and rested her head against his shoulder, looking up at him with big eyes, "You know how much Christmas means to me; I grew up without any stability, and no real Christmases with tradition… this is my family, and my traditions…"

Happy snickered; she was laying it on thick.

"For fuck's sake, woman…" Lee sighed, gesturing to her to continue decorating. Lee'd been unable to deny her anything since he'd met her years before.

"Surprised you didn't see that coming," Happy chuckled to Lee, watching as Sara struggled to tie a bow out of green ribbon. His amused expression immediately soured when Ally planted a Santa hat on him. He scowled at his friend, but she just beamed, walking around and handing out various Christmas hats to anyone she could wrangle long enough.

"Wow, she really gets into this," Sara observed before glancing back at her ugly creation. Fuck. It had seemed so easy when Alanna had explained it. She'd never known she couldn't tie bows for shit until now.

"She lives for holidays. It's the only time of the year she's this peppy. Usually she's as much of a bitch as any other Old Lady," Happy stated and Sara shot him a warning look, "What? You are. Doesn't mean I don't think it's hot."

"Ally, I need help, this is so awful," Sara whined, finally admitting defeat. The woman happily sashayed over with the grace of a dancer and took over. Sara used the opportunity to mix a rum and coke, and hand a few beers over the bar, before leaning back into Happy's side. She still wasn't comfortable mingling freely with the guys in SAMTAC, but she was becoming more confident when alongside Hap or Ally.

"Lee talked to me," she whispered conspiratorially up to Happy, trying not to smile too widely, a little embarrassed how happy she was about this development. Happy only nodded once, looking down at her with a prideful, panty-dropping grin.

"Sara, will you go check on the kitchen and make sure that the plates and everything are all set up and ready for later?" Ally asked distantly, her attention now focused on the two prospects standing on chairs draping garland and looking to her for approval. "No, that's not right. It needs to come down more on the left…"

"Duty calls," Sara sighed, squeezing Hap's hand before removing it from her shoulders. She grabbed the bag with the extra plates and carried it with her into the kitchen where a few girls looked busy. The blonde who gave Ally tape earlier noticed Sara's presence first.

"Is that more plates?" she asked politely, pointing at the bag.

"It is. I told her there were plenty already but…" Sara simply shrugged. The girl laughed, and it sounded genuine.

"Sounds about right. We've all just accepted this is how she gets this time of year," she held out her hand and Sara passed her the bag, "I'm Clara by the way—and no, please don't make a Nutcracker joke… I've heard them all already," she said with an amused eyeroll.

"I'm Sara. What can I do to help?"

"Would you mind helping me chop up some fixings for the burgers?" Clara asked kindly, although she seemed a little unsure.

"Isn't that a little beneath her?" a woman sneered from the back of the kitchen.

"Rachelle, weren't you supposed to put out new linens for the dorms?" Clara snapped with an eyeroll. With a huff, the redhead stomped past them.

"Don't mind her; she's pissed because she thought she was going to be Happy's Old Lady someday," Clara mused as the door closed.

"Oh…" Sara didn't know what to do with that information.

"Oh shit, sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Clara back-peddled nervously, her brown eyes wide.

"It's fine," Sara assured, grabbing a cutting board and a knife, "I actually don't know anything about his club life here before me, so it's good information to know."

"If it makes you feel better, no one else thought she'd be his Old Lady. I know she brought up dating him a few times, but she always said he would brush it off or gave some vague answer. I think she just kind of convinced herself if she waited long enough, he'd realize he was in love with her or something..." Clara admitted, passing Sara tomatoes to slice.

"Yea, he's pretty good at being vague," Sara agreed bashfully.

"Not to pry, but… how'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Get him to commit. I've only been around for two or three years, but most of us never thought he would settle down. I've been with Bowie almost monogamously for a few months, but he still doesn't want to label it. I don't know if he's jerking me around or if he genuinely just isn't ready to commit," Clara sighed, blushing, and kept her gazed focused on the onion she was dicing. Here she was spilling her guts to a girl she just met.

"I wish I knew," Sara admitted, "We just had a connection from the first time we met, but neither of us really wanted it to turn into anything. I'd just gotten out of a long-term relationship, so I wasn't looking to start something serious. Of course, he just wanted to fuck around like all the Sons," she joked with an eye roll. Clara nodded, taking in the advice with a furrowed brow.

"Just remember than none of these guys are worth de-valuing yourself. If you feel like you're having to give up too much of yourself or if you're having to bend over backward just to keep him interested… it's probably not worth it," Sara advised before scoffing, "Although I think most of these guys know exactly how to keep girls on the line without promising them anything and there's not much we can do about it."

"You're nicer than I thought you'd be," Clara acknowledged, and Sara giggled.

"Why's that?"

"Because Rachelle and a few of the other girls were talking about you when you'd first moved up and they were saying that you thought you were 'too good' for us and that's why you weren't coming around."

"No… No, I don't think I'm better than anyone. I had just lost my best friend right before I moved up and I needed some time to grieve," Sara whispered, sobered by the thought of Donna.

"I should have known they were making shit up," Clara groaned, "I'm sorry. I'll make sure the other girls know the truth."

Sara shrugged, "They'll believe whatever they want, regardless of the truth. I'm just grateful you're a decent person so I'll have someone to talk to at parties when Ally is busy."

Oooo

"Clara seems nice," Sara stated loudly from the bathroom where she was getting ready. All of her make-up and hair stuff overflowed the counter spilling into the bowl of the sink.

"Yea, she's a good girl," Happy concurred noncommittally from the bedroom as he slipped his belt through the loops of his jeans.

"Is Bowie serious about her?" she inquired casually. Happy snorted.

"You talk to one sweetbutt and now you're doing recon for her?" he teased.

"I am just wondering…" she replied innocently but smiled knowingly at her own reflection.

"You're a bad liar."

"She's just not sure if he's actually into her or if he's just jerking her around; I told her not to waste her time but I also don't want to discourage her if he's actually invested."

"I haven't talked to him about it, but I think he's into her," Happy offered before adding, "but don't get involved in their business."

"Fine…" Sara sighed before changing topics, "We aren't doing gifts, right?"

"I dunno. What do you want to do?" he answered, appearing in the doorway behind her. He cringed at the powders and residue and loose strands of hair in the sink punctuated by an awful plastically clacking noise as she riffled through the mess. Fuck, why were women so goddamn messy?

"I don't care either way," she answered with ambivalence, "I was just gonna buy some lingerie." She caught his Cheshire grin in the mirror, mess suddenly forgotten

"That works," he stated, his voice husky as his curious gaze swept her figure.

"I'm not wearing it right now," she countered with an eye roll and turned back to her reflection. She was almost done. Her smoky eye had taken longer than she'd anticipated; she was out of practice and ended up having to redo one entire side twice to get it just right.

"Maybe I should check…" he suggested, biting his lower lip and hooking a finger under the hem of her tight red dress. She smacked his hand away playfully and sent him her best matronly disapproval in the mirror.

"Didn't you ever hear you shouldn't look for your presents?"

"Guess I'm on the naughty list…" he joked with a playful waggle of his eyebrows.

"Don't distract me, I need to finish getting ready or we will be late."

"I won't. Just a quick look under the hood," he promised, moving until his body shadowed hers like a perfect silhouette. The slide of his confident fingers was painfully slow as they moved across the soft material, catching the hem again and sliding the dress up. His dark, lustful gaze shifted from her hemline to her reflection and her breath hitched. With locked eyes, inch by slow inch, the fabric crept up her thighs. Her throat went dry as she quivered in anticipation. How did he still have this effect on her? Her attempt the swallow the growing lump in her throat was audible as white lace peeked out from between her legs. She'd hoped to keep them as a little surprise for him to find later, but he'd never been much for doing what he was told. Not by her anyway.

"Those for me?" His voice was deliciously deep in her ear; charcoal eyes trained on her in the mirror. She gave an ambiguous shrug of her shoulders, but she was betrayed by the shiver vibrating down her spine. Strong hands released her dress to slide up her belly to cup her breasts, his fingers flexing around the soft, pliable flesh.

"Your tits look good," he approved with his usual gruff candor as she wiggled her hemline back down her thighs.

"Glad you approve," she teased, hoping humor would ease the sexual tension between them enough to make it to the party on time. He was steadfast in his desire, and always seemed to want her right before they were about to walk out the door. Refusing to cool off, one of his hands slid down her back to slip back under her dress. Sliding over her most sensitive parts, his finger traced the lace of her thong.

"Lean forward," he urged, pressing his forearm across her back to bend her over the counter.

"Hap, we don't have time," she whined half-heartedly, her brain fogging enough she was starting to lose focus on the party. She wasn't strong enough to resist the heady mix of her own desire and the physical pressure against her shoulder blades. She caught her weight on her elbows as he kicked her feet apart.

"Fuck the party; we can be late," he growled, dropped to his knees behind her.

Oooo