A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! And a very happy birthday to Eve! Well this is it: the home stretch. Only today and tomorrow. Then we're done. Let's not think about that yet. I've got a very happy Christmas story for you today. This one is a combination of two prompts, one from Masalaoflife on Tumblr(Flynn surprises Eve) and one from rebecina1 on tumblr, which I cannot say yet. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Chapter 24: Christmas Eve with You

It was Christmas Eve, and the annex glowed with bright reds and greens. The center table was cleaned off and set for dinner, chairs placed all around it.

Jake brought out the chicken he'd prepared in the kitchen. Cassandra trailed behind, holding the potatoes and vegetables. She leaned over Jake as they both placed their dishes on the table. They shared a quick kiss.

"This is going to be the best Christmas ever" Cassandra said.

"Why's that darlin'?" Jake asked.

"Because" she reached down and grabbed his hand. "I get to call you mine"

Flynn and Eve came walking through the door, stripping off their coats and smiling.

"Merry Christmas Eve!" Flynn exclaimed.

"Merry Christmas!" Jake and Cassandra replied.

"And happy birthday Colonel!" Cassandra added.

"Thanks Red" Eve said. She smiled, breathing in the aromas around her. "Everything smells wonderful"

"Who's up for a Christmas cocktail?" Ezekiel asked, entering the room with multiple bottles.

"I'll take you up on that offer" Eve said.

The Librarians moved around, ready to settle in for the dinner to celebrate two special days. They were all filled with the joy of Christmas, and the fact that they were all together.

Late that night, Christmas was approaching. The party was over, the cake was finished, and everyone was heading home. Ezekiel walked into the annex just as Cassandra and Jake were walking out the back door, hand in hand.

"Merry Christmas mates!" he called.

"Merry Christmas!" They replied, stopping to turn around and say goodnight.

"What are you doing for Christmas tomorrow?"

"Well we're waking up early to go to church before we come back here for Christmas morning." Jake said "Then we're heading to my sister's place for dinner"

"Wow Stone" The thief teased. "Bringing Cassandra home to meet the family already. How long have you two been dating? A week?"

"Well I didn't want Jake to have to go home alone, and my parents haven't asked me to Christmas dinner in 5 years." Cassandra said. "Besides, we've only been dating a week, but it's different. It was set into motion long before that" She smiled up at Jake and leaned her head on his shoulder before they kissed

"Oh god I'm sorry I asked! Not the sappiness again" Despite how he joked, Ezekiel had to admit that lately, watching all the shared tenderness around the Library did not bother him as much.

"What about you?" Cassandra asked, laughing.

"Oh, well Melody can't really get home to Australia to see her family, and I don't have somewhere to go, so we were just gonna have some dinner together at her apartment and watch some movies."

"And you've only been together a day" Jake joked, imitating Ezekiel's previous tone.

"Touché"

The whole group laughed before heading out the door, ready to retire to their warm beds, and let visions of sugarplums dance in their heads.

Eve sat curled up on the couch of her and Flynn's apartment. Flynn came in with two cups of coffee and handed her one, placing his on the table.

"It's just you and me now" he said, sitting down next to her and placing his arm around her. "We can just sit here and do nothing, if that's what you want"

"Trust me, that's the kind of Christmas Eve I have craved for my entire life" Eve said.

"Well then that's what we'll do" Flynn said. He turned on the TV and switched to a channel that was broadcasting the Yule Log. Their apartment didn't have a fireplace, and it was too warm in New York to light it anyway, so he wanted the illusion.

"Oh!" he said, as if suddenly remembering something. "I almost forgot. We haven't had my favorite Christmas Eve tradition!"

"Please don't tell me it's opening just one present" Eve groaned.

"No" Flynn mumbled. He looked at the floor, seemingly disappointed.

"Oh it was that wasn't it?" Eve asked. "I'm sorry Flynn I didn't mean to upset you. I've just never seen the point of that. "

"Oh come on" Flynn begged. "It's fun! My mom and I used to do it every year!" He needed her to agree to this. Everything he had planned tonight revolved around this one idea. He'd thought it was rather creative, and he wanted to see it through.

"First of all" Eve argued. "We agreed not to go too crazy on presents, so if you bought enough things to let me open one of them tonight, I'm going to kill you. Second of all, I always had my birthday gifts on Christmas Eve, so I don't like opening actual Christmas presents until Christmas"

"Then think of this as a birthday gift!" Flynn chimed. He liked that idea. It worked just as well.

"Fine" Eve sighed. She began to get up off the couch to grab a box from underneath their little tree.

"No!" Flynn exclaimed. "I already put one aside that I want you to open" He sprang from the couch and ran to their bedroom.

Eve fell back on the couch and laughed, not sure what to think. She'd learned to just go with the flow with Flynn. She sipped her coffee while she waited for him. Just then, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, and saw it was her mother. She was probably calling to wish her a happy birthday.

"Hi mom" she said, answering the phone. "Merry Christmas"

"Merry Christmas dear!" Gloria Baird answered. "And Happy Birthday darling"

"Thanks Mom. What's up?"

"Well I don't know if you're stationed anywhere this Christmas, but if you're home, your father and I were wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner tomorrow. It's been too long sweetheart. We'd love to have you"

Eve was speechless for a moment. She hadn't been home for Christmas in a long time. She'd barely spoken to her parents since she joined the Library. They didn't even know she'd transferred from NATO. If she went tomorrow, she'd have to tell then, among other things. It would be messy. But she did miss them.

As she was thinking, Flynn came running into the room, carrying a small gift bag.

"Mom I've gotta call you back" Eve said. "Alright. Bye"

Flynn practically jumped onto the couch, and placed the bag in Eve's lap.

"Happy Birthday!" he said.

"Alright" she agreed. "Let's get away with this"

Eve looked down into the bag and pulled away all the tissue paper, looking for the gift. Whatever it was, it was small, and well-hidden too. She was so focused on the task that she didn't notice Flynn move off the couch and sit on the coffee table to face her.

"Flynn where the hell did you put this…" she began.

She fell silent as she finally found the gift in the bag, a tiny wrapped box. Her hand trembled as she removed the ribbon and ripped away the wrapping paper. If this was what she thought it was, she wasn't sure if she was terrified, or excited, or a little bit of both.

She could barely bring herself to open the box. When she finally did, she began to hyperventilate, all of her speculations confirmed. Propped up in the box was a diamond ring, glistening in the Christmas lights.

Eve felt tears coming to her eyes, not sure what kind they were, and looked up. Flynn was looking right at her, holding a straight face.

"Look I know this is nuts" he said. "Because we've only known each other for about a year, and we've only been officially dating for about six months, and for about half of that we were fighting, and we've had problems, but I just…" he knelt down on the floor in between them, and grabbed her hand with both of his.

"I just love you so much, and even if it's not right away, even if it's not for a while, I just want to know that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be there for you just as much as you are for me. I want to be more than just Librarian and Guardian; I want to be man and wife, I…"

"Flynn!" Eve shouted, cutting him off. He looked up at her tear filled eyes, having broken contact during his speech. She smiled at him and began to cry. She knew now though why she was crying.

"I want all of that too" she said. "I think I want it more than I knew. But I can't answer you yet."

"What?" Flynn started to panic. Eve laughed.

"Because you haven't asked me" Flynn chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief. Eve handed him the ring box, and he held it out to her, regaining his composure.

"Eve Baird" he said. "Guardian, Will you take me, Flynn Carsen, your Librarian, to be your fiancée?"

"Yes" Eve proclaimed.

He smiled widely and slipped the ring onto her finger, and she flew from her seat to kiss him. He climbed back onto his spot on the couch to cuddle next to her again. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, even more so than usual.

"Flynn this is gorgeous" she said, admiring the ring. She turned from it quickly though, beginning to admire her fiancée. "I love you. Merry Christmas"

"I love you too Eve. This was all that I dreamt for this Christmas"

Eve leaned her head onto his shoulder and listened to the Christmas song playing on the television in front of them.

Through the good times and bad, happy and sad, I'm still holding on I know what I have

And all that I want is Christmas Eve with You

A/N: So yeah, rebecina1's prompt was Flynn proposing to Eve. I was watching Food Network with my parents one morning, and this lady talked about opening one present on Christmas Eve, and this idea just came to me. Anyway, I hope you all have a very blessed Christmas Eve, enjoy your families, and get everything you've wished for. Bye for now, and I'll see you sometime tomorrow!