A/N: I have finished writing this story! The last chapter will be posted later today so look for it! I just wanted to say what a joy it was to write this story and to be so well liked by so many. I really appreciate all your reviews. I don't have a lot of time so I'll cut to the chase. This was my favorite chapter to write, by the way.

I don't own Wizards of Waverly Place.

Chapter Nine:

Alex watched the dark sky as she took a cab to Waverly Place. The sky had been threatening snow all afternoon but nothing had happened yet. It would be magical to have a white Christmas this year.

The cabbie pulled up to the corner of the block and helped her unload the trunk. She had presents for her whole family as well as enough clothes for the next couple of days. Today was Christmas Eve Day and she was going home.

"Mom, I'm here!" she called out, pushing open the Waverly Sub Station doors. The shop was deserted except for Max at the counter, flipping through a science magazine. It had hurt to lose the competition to him but she was glad to see that magic had improved his brains somehow.

:Hey, where's Mom and Dad?"

"Upstairs. Mom's cooking and Dad's helping Justin with decorating."

"Which means he's passed out on the couch watching basketball."

"Yup."

"I'm going up, help me with my stuff?" Alex asked. Max hurried over and helped his sister bring everything up to their parents house.

"I'm here!" Alex called as they ascended into the cozy loft. It had barely changed over the years, the same bright, colorful furniture and decorations still burst from everywhere The same old, orange couch still held the unconscious form of their father, with a big afghan tucked over his snoring body. It was nice to see that some things didn't change.

Theresa Russo was at the stove, cooking something up something delicioso. (Alex had eventually learned Spanish, to her Mother's delight).

Justin was stringing a garland across the far wall, above the balcony doors.

"Don't fall," she called dryly as she set her bags down.

"Alex!" he looked way too happy to see her. She ignored the expression on his face and tried to concentrate on making this as normal a Christmas as possible.

"Mija!" her mother hurried over, giving her daughter a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so happy you're here now."

"What's for dinner?"

"We're having Christmas Enchiladas," Theresa grinned broadly. "It's from..."

"An old recipe from Grandma," Alex finished, knowing her mother.

"Yup, and now that you're here, we can decorate the tree."

"Sounds like fun, Mom," Alex said without any sarcasm. She had truly missed the closeness of her family in the last few crazy months.

Theresa put her enchiladas to the side and woke up Jerry and the family came together to decorate the tree. Max used his wand to levitate the silver star up to the top, placing it neatly in place.

"It looks beautiful guys," Theresa hugged Alex again (who was the closest to her mother at the moment).

"Ready to watch Its a Wonderful Life?" Jerry asked. The three siblings groaned. The movie was a Christmas Eve tradition and happened to be Jerry's favorite Christmas movie so they had to endure it year after year.

The house was filled with the scent of pine mingled with the spicy scent of the food as it cooked and a hint of cinnamon as they settled down to watch the movie. Somehow Alex ended up on the couch next to Justin who draped his arm loosely behind her and sat close.

Alex had to admit to herself that it felt good to have Justin's body next to her, so close but not quite touching hers. He wasn't forcing himself on her.

She felt her eyelids droop during the movie, a combination of the warmth of the house, the good smells and her own tiredness after work. She eventually settled into Justin's side, snuggling closer to him and letting herself drift off a bit.

Eventually he nudged her awake and she sat up sleepily, stretching and yawning.

"Food's ready!" Theresa called from the kitchen. The table had already been set and so they all sat down to eat. Jerry put on some Christmas music as they ate.

The tree was decorated, food had been eaten, movie had been watched and the only thing left for them to do on Christmas Eve was to open presents from their outside family. That tradition had started after the children had grown and left home, they got together to open the presents from Uncles and Aunts and the Grandparents.

Alex got a new sweater from Theresa's mom and a gift card to American Eagle from Granddad Russo. From Aunt Megan and Uncle Ernesto she got a pretty necklace that she suspected Aunt Megan picked out.

Justin got a new watch from Uncle Ernesto and Aunt Megan, a gift card to Best Buy from Grandad Russo and a a tie and tie pin set from Grandma.

When Max opened his gift card, it was to Barnes and Noble; he got a set of cufflinks from their Uncle and Aunt and a new belt and tie set from their Grandmother.

The presents opened, Justin began to clean up the wrapping paper mess and Alex decided to help out.

"Are you doing alright?" Justin asked as they cleaned up. Theresa was clearing up in the kitchen and Jerry and Max were down in the lair.

"Yeah," Alex glanced over at their mother who had a pair of headphones in and was listening to more Christmas music while she cleaned. "Look, I know you want an answer but I can't give you one right now. Let's just enjoy Christmas, alright?"

"Fine," Justin shrugged and stuffed some ribbon into the trash bag. "But I can't wait forever, Alex."

"I know," Alex tried to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry. You're just asking me to change my whole life, basically. What would everyone say? What would Harper say?" She wiped the tears away. "I just can't decide something like this right now."

"Alright, alright," Justin said. He couldn't stand to see Alex crying. "Don't cry, please." They finished cleaning up and joined Max and their father in the lair. The four spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing and reminiscing about their days as Wizards.

It was almost eleven by the time Alex, Justin and Max headed upstairs to go to sleep. Max was still living with his parents and they kept Alex and Justin's rooms as guest bedrooms for when their grown children decided to stay over.

All three of them headed separately to bed, with Alex staying up a little longer to enjoy a quick cup of her mother's Mexican Hot Chocolate.

"Hey Mom," Alex sat on the bar stool at the kitchen counter, sipping her cup of hot chocolate.

"Hey mija. How's everything going?"

"Good," Alex shrugged. "I guess. There's this guy who likes me at work. He wants to go out with me after Christmas."

"That's great," Theresa smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"The problem is, I don't know if I want to," Alex wrapped her hands around the mug and stared glumly at the counter. "There's this other guy I might like."

"Oh?" Theresa raised on eyebrow. "Two boys? Well, my advice is to go for the one that makes you happy."

"Yeah, yeah," Alex rolled her eyes, knowing her mom was going to say something like that.

"And of course, you want to be with someone who's more different from you," Theresa added. Alex looked up at her mom. This was new.

"Differences make a relationship more exciting and you should have things in common but it doesn't hurt to disagree every now and then either."

"Hmm," Alex thought about that for a moment. Grady was very fun-loving like her. Justin was more a workaholic. And she definitely disagreed with Justin. Wait...was she actually even for a moment considering him? She shook her head and glanced at her mom.

"I don't know. This guy, the second guy, he's great and all but people might not like us being together."

"Well honey, you have to do what's right for you, only you. You know I'd love you and be proud of you no matter who you dated. Unless he was an ex-con. He's not, is he?" She peered at Alex who laughed and shook her head.

"Nothing like that," she said. "But thanks for the advice anyway."

"Anytime, mija," Theresa said. "Now go, go to bed so Father Christmas can come!" She urged her daughter towards the staircase that led to the bedrooms. Alex left her empty mug on the counter and headed for bed.

She laid down and closed her eyes, drifting off to thoughts of their kiss playing over and over in her head.

The next morning she woke up to light streaming in through the curtains. The large, four-poster bed was very comfortable and she stretched and rolled over to see Max standing in the doorway.

"Look outside!" he said with child-like excitement. Alex slipped out from between the covers and padded over to the window. The entire block was blanketed with a white frosting. It was still snowing and she grinned and pushed the window open.

"It's a white Christmas!" she exclaimed to Max. Together they headed downstairs and into the living room. Theresa was already up and making Christmas breakfast. They would be having enormous cinnamon rolls with thick, gooey buttercream icing. Another Christmas tradition.

"Coffee?" Theresa asked. Alex nodded and her mom poured her a cup of dark, strong coffee with two creams like Alex liked.

Max started sorting the enormous pile under the tree into his, Alex and Justin's like he did every year. It was easier to open when they weren't reaching all over each other. Justin came down the stairs, sleep-tousled and looking extremely fit in his striped pj bottoms and no shirt. Alex blushed and crossed her legs on the couch, trying not to look.

Justin glanced over to see that Alex was wearing a short nightgown and shorts and not much else. He tried not to think about the fact that she was braless and failed. Ah well, he was going to have his revenge. That's why he came down shirtless.

"Ready for presents?" Alex asked. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and nodded.

"Is Dad up yet?" Max looked up from his task and Justin nodded.

"He'll be down soon." Justin joined Alex on the couch with a cup of coffee as well and they waited for Jerry to come down with the camera. They took lots of pictures every Christmas and it was both endearing and annoying to wait for everyone to be snapped with every present.

Eventually, the pile grew smaller and smaller, each Russo surrounded by their unwrapped gifts of clothing, shoes, winter accessories and other odds and ends. Justin got a new iPad, Max got a new laptop and Alex got two tickets to see her favorite band in late January at Madison Square Garden. Front row center tickets nonetheless. Alex was impressed.

Eventually, the only things left were their presents to each other. She got her parents a five day cruise to Alaska, which Theresa had been hinting at wanting for ages. Justin got them the airplane tickets and Max gave them a sizable Visa gift card to get what they would need for the trip.

Alex handed Max his gift and watched with excitement as he opened his gift to find a plane ticket for Europe.

"Now you can do some traveling before you start working," Alex smiled. She and Justin had planned Max's gift together and Justin gave Max traveling money.

Finally, it was Alex's turn to give her gift to Justin. She watched carefully as he pulled off the wrapping to reveal a plain cardboard box. With a curious expression, he opened the box.

Inside was a plain wooden box with a flap lid that he lifted up.

"Oh my god," he breathed. "Alex...do you know what this is?" he lifted out the exquisite set of crystal figurines and the wood and marble board. It was an extremely one-of-a-kind gift.

"This is the Captain Jim Bob Sherwood Moon-Rock and Crystal Chess Set," Justin said. He held each piece lovingly, looking through them all before placing them carefully back in the box. "They only made like, five of these in the world! How...how did you find it?"

"Santa doesn't reveal his sources," Alex shrugged. "And anyway, I heard you mooning over it for like, five years now. I figured I should end your suffering."

"Alex I..." Justin was speechless. He felt a lump rise in his throat and he tried not to let his family see the tears forming in his eyes. The chess set was so rare and hard to find that people paid millions to own one. He had no idea how Alex had managed to track one down. "Thanks," he said finally, brushing away the tears quickly. Max handed Alex her present from Justin and he looked away, trying not to be too excited.

Alex eyed the small box, wondering what was inside. It was too small to be an iPod and too large to be like, a necklace or something. She opened the lid to find a smaller box nestled inside. It was velvet and very tiny. There wasn't much it could be other than...but surely he wouldn't have. Not in front of the family...

She pulled it out and slowly opened it up and gasped. Inside the box was a ring. It was platinum banded with a diamond set in the middle, surrounded by two sapphires. Her heart leapt into her throat and she couldn't take her eyes off it.

In less than two seconds she realized exactly what this ring symbolized. This ring was Justin's way of asking her to choose him. She glanced up to see her brother carefully not looking at her directly.

"Justin what is that?" Theresa asked with confusion.

"I just wanted to say thank you to Alex," Justin shrugged. "She's been helping me with a work problem that's been really hard to figure out. She's been absolutely great to me and I wanted to show her how much I appreciate her."

Alex touched the ring, stroking the cool metal and diamond surfaces. She wanted to try it on so much but she knew that if she did, she would never want to take it off. Slowly, she closed the lid and looked at her brother.

"Thank you but I don't know if I can accept this," she said.

"Nonsense," Jerry said. "Your brother is trying to do something nice for you, you should take it."

Alex clutched the ring box tightly, trying to figure out what to do. It was all just so confusing. She didn't know what to do and this was making her decision all the more difficult. Justin jumped up and started cleaning the wrapping paper. Eventually the family scattered like usual to enjoy their gifts.

They came together for dinner before Alex and Justin left to head back to their own apartments. Alex bundled up her bags of 'loot' and packed up her stuff. Lastly, she held the tiny velvet box, trying to decide if she was going to pack it or not.

Nothing made sense anymore. She wasn't supposed to feel this way about Justin. Cranky, no-nonsense, boring, workaholic Justin wasn't supposed to be wildly romantic and spontaneous like this! She didn't want to fall for him. She wanted them to remain brother and sister, fight like cats and dogs and always be slightly at odds.

But deep down she knew that a part of her didn't want that anymore. Hadn't for a long time. Part of her knew that she wanted to give Justin all the love he deserved and to be loved right back by him. She felt like she was torn between a rock and a hard place.

"Alex, your cab is here!" Theresa called from downstairs. Alex took a deep breath and finally made a decision.

Justin returned to his room to get his stuff. Alex had left a few minutes ago and his cab had arrived to bring him back to his place. He stopped in the doorway, feeling his heart shatter into a million tiny pieces. There, sitting on top of his luggage was the ring box.

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