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Ryan was taking a break from his testing when the door once again opened. He was about to tell Calleigh or Natalia that he was still working but he was surprised when he saw it was Horatio who had come into the lab.
"Hey H, is there something I can do for you?"
"There is Mr. Wolfe. Have you completed the tests you were running?"
Ryan wanted to say he wasn't, but in fact he had been done for the last 10 minutes and he knew he couldn't lie to his boss, "Yes, they are finished".
"That's good to hear Mr. Wolfe. What are you planning on doing next?"
"I was going to work on another case that I started on the other day". He didn't know if Horatio would buy this excuse or not. He really didn't have much else to do right at the moment, but he knew if given enough time he could find all kinds of things.
Horatio walked closer to Ryan and looked at a few things he had been working on, "Well, I think these can wait. I would like you to join me in the break room. You must be hungry and there is plenty of food left".
Ryan tugged at the collar on his lab coat. He had never expected Horatio to come in and ask him to join in the party so he had nothing rehearsed. "Well, I really should get these done before I leave work?"
"The tests can wait until later. I expect to see you in the break room in the next 10 minutes".
This was not what Ryan wanted to hear. Horatio had not stated he was an order, but by the tone in his voice it may as well of been. He looked around the lab and tried to find some excuse as to why he couldn't make it so he decided he would just go and make an appearance. It wasn't like it was a real Christmas party they were having anyway so what could be the harm.
He cleaned up his area and removed his lab coat. As he stood at the wall where he would hang his coat up he hesitated. A minute later he finally hung up his coat and went to join the others.
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When Horatio arrived back at the party he found that he had not been missed and was grateful he didn't have to explain his disappearance to Calleigh. He grabbed a cookie and sat down on the couch to wait.
The music was playing "Frosty the Snowman" when Calleigh came through the door with the other Santa's. They each had a red hat on their head and a bag slung over their backs.
Calleigh looked around the room and was glad to see that no one had left, but she was also disappointed to see that Ryan had not shown up yet. She was really hoping to have found him here when she got back. She looked over at Natalia and could tell she was thinking the same thing. But this was Christmas and they were not about the let one person spoil their fun. They would go and get Ryan later if they had to.
As the four Santa's made their way to the table in the center of the room, the others in the room joined them. Calleigh once again took the lead and announced "Well it wouldn't be Christmas without a few presents to open". She pulled out a gift from her bag to pass it out but of course the first gift she pulled out was for Ryan. She stared at it briefly and was just about to put it in the bag when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw it was Ryan. A large smile formed on her face.
Ryan walked into the room and saw everyone by the main table, but he didn't have a clue as to why they were all standing there. He heard music playing on the radio and saw that there was indeed food on the table and lights strung up all around the place. It certainly looked like a Christmas party; which made it hard for him to walk any further into the room. He wanted to bolt out the door but he saw that Calleigh was walking toward him.
"Ryan, I'm so glad you decided to join us. Please come in and have some punch". She took him by the arm and led him to the table, where she proceeded to pour him a large glass. She hoped that her special ingredient would be just want Ryan needed to take the edge off of being here.
Ryan took the glass and took a few sips. "It's good, thanks Calleigh".
"Great, now you're just in time for presents so I want you to go and sit down with everyone at the table".
Ryan took another sip; a rather large sip. He had heard about Calleigh's punch before and he hoped her special ingredient was in it. It would be just the ticket for him to make it through the night.
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Calleigh walked over to her bag and proceeded to hand out the first present. "Ok, let's see what we have here. It looks like we have a present for Eric". She handed it to him while the rest looked on.
Eric looked at the oddly wrapped gift and said "Thanks Calleigh, should I open it?"
"Of course you should open it".
Eric tore the paper off the gift and grinned at what he saw. It had to be one of the ugliest sweaters he had seen in a long time.
Calleigh wanted to start laughing, but she managed to keep it to just a smile as she said, "Well, hold it up so we can all see it".
Eric hesitated but did as he was told. When he held up the sweater everyone started laughing.
Frank was laughing the hardest when he said, "Well that looks perfect for you Eric; I think you should wear that for the rest of the evening".
Eric glared at Frank but when the rest of the bunch all chimed in that they agreed with Frank he decided to play along and put it on.
As everyone was laughing at Eric, Horatio stole a glance at Ryan and was pleased to see that he was smiling.
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As the gifts were passed out there was a lot of laughter erupting from everyone one as they opened their gifts. When it came to Calleigh handing out one to Ryan the laughter died away as they all watched his reaction. They knew he didn't really enjoy this holiday so they didn't know how he would l feel.
Calleigh held the box out to Ryan, "I hope you didn't think we had forgotten about you".
Ryan took the box from Calleigh, "thanks Calleigh, do you think I can open it later?"
Calleigh knew this was not easy for him but she really wanted him to have a good time, "It's not much Ryan, this is all just for fun. I think it would be ok if you open it".
Ryan closed his eyes briefly as he held on to the box. He knew this wasn't a serious party, but it was still a Christmas party. He opened his eyes again and saw that everyone was watching him; waiting for him to do something. As he sat there memories started to pop into this head and he just couldn't deal with it. He put the gift on the table, "I'm sorry Calleigh, I just can't do this right now". He pushed his chair back and got up; making his way to the door. He needed to get some air; all this Christmas stuff was starting to get to him.
Everyone in the room watched him go and Alexx was just about to go after him when she was stopped by Calleigh, "I'll go and talk to him Alexx, why don't you go back to the party".
Alexx looked at Calleigh for a moment before saying, "Ok Calleigh, but take care of my baby boy".
"You know I will". She left the party and went to find Ryan.
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Author's note: Well, this is coming out of my head at a rather good pace, so I shouldn't have a hard time getting it done before Christmas. I may even have another chapter done before the day is through; that of course depends on my own Christmas. I have some more shopping to do so I can't guarantee anything.