Well, it's Christmas Eve, and here is your promised chapter. We're skipping ahead to this same night in the story; the issues mentioned at the end of the last chapter will probably come up later, but for now it will be all about fluff. I hope you all enjoy, and have a happy holiday!!
Oh, and if anything doesn't seem to mesh quite right, please do mention it and I'll fix it. I wrote this back around September/October, and read it over again a few weeks ago, but I haven't had time in the past few days to give it another run through.
The car rounded the final corner, and Booth's eyes went wide as he stared openmouthed at the home they'd reached.
"Wow," he sputtered.
Bones seemed a little too amazed to speak.
The entire building was decked with lights, and all the plants outside were covered with them as well. The gate was adorned with the sparkling orbs in a non-conservative way too, and it nearly blinded him as he stopped the car in front of them, wondering if they would have to buzz the house to be let in, or if someone was watching and would just let them through. His question was answered for him as the sparkling gates slid open. They drove up the decorated driveway, coming to a stop near the pathway that led directly to the porch. The windows were all emitting a golden light through partially closed curtains, and he could see lit-up trees in more than one room, most of them small and decorative. Each one appeared to have a theme, he noted as he saw that one was lit green, another red, and one on the second floor white.
One would think, with all of this and the clear effort that had gone into it, that there was going to be a full-house of guests arriving tonight.
"This is going to be the smallest Christmas party I've ever been to, in the largest house I've ever been to." Booth commented, shaking his head in amusement as she stepped out of the car, he shut the door behind her, and they started on their way up the path to the large mansion.
"I've been in larger houses," she said. "Hodgins' is moderately large, but there are certainly bigger ones. In Newport, Rhode Island, there's one called The Breakers that has seventy rooms." She glanced at the building they were walking towards. "I highly doubt there are seventy rooms in there."
"Yeah, well I've never been to Newport," he said, laughing slightly at how literally she still took his comments, even now. Or perhaps she just really hadn't been thinking and had commented on impulse on it. Either way, it was still rather adorable. Not that he'd ever tell her in those exact words. She still hated being referred to as anything other than Bones by him, except for the occasional Temperance, and descriptions like 'baby' or 'adorable' fit in that category... but he wouldn't have it any other way, if he was honest with himself. "Who'd you get for the gift swap, anyways?" he asked, eyeing the present she was caring with curiosity.
"I told you that I wasn't going to say," she repeated for the fifth time that night. "You'll find out pretty soon anyways, so there's really no need to keep badgering me. I haven't even asked you once what yours is or who it's for."
"Hey, I'm allowed to be curious," he defended himself as he tapped the button for the doorbell.
Almost instantly the door was thrown open, and a beaming Angela in a green and red outfit and dangly candy cane earrings stood before them. "Merry Christmas!" she shouted cheerfully, and ushered them in.
The house was massive, no matter how small it might be compared to whatever mansions Bones had seen before. Not to mention everything in sight was decked out for the holiday, giving the sense that they'd just stepped into the Christmas department at a large mall store rather than a place where people lived.
"Wow, Ange, did you do all this?" he asked, staring around with raised eyebrows at the garlands that adorned every railing and hung around the edges of every doorway. A large wreath had been hanging on the outside of the door, and now that they were in the building he saw that a smaller one hung on this side as well, decked with miniature Christmas ornaments and glowing with lights. Those, too, were weaved in between all the garlands, a fact that became immensely obvious when Ange flicked a switch and the room suddenly became much brighter.
"Yeah," she answered his question, "I had Hodgins help, but he wasn't very creative so I sent him off to take care of the food." She suddenly stepped closer to the both of them and hissed, "Stay away from the second punch bowl, the one that's slightly fuller than the other one."
Booth's eyes widened further, not sure if he really wanted to know why, but Bones laughed and shook her head in amusement.
"So, are we the first ones here?" she asked.
"Yup, you are. Oh! I'll take those!" she added, and the gifts were pulled from their grasps, put on top of one another, and then carried towards a doorway leading to a room on the left side. The two of them followed along after her, and found themselves in a high ceilinged room with lights dangling from the rafters two stories up. It was darker in here, with the only lights being from above and a few lamps that were emitting a golden hew through their mistletoe and bells decorated shades. A giant tree was the final source of the glow, standing cozily in one corner and completely covered in what appeared to be almost entirely homemade ornaments. He chuckled as he noticed that several of them were shaped like bugs.
Ange set down the presents neatly under the tree, where there were already several more, probably the ones from Angela and Hodgins to whoever they'd each picked from the Secret Santa hat that Ange had passed around. There were cards, too, he realized, all stuck in between the branches of the tree. As he peered a bit closer he was able to read 'Sweets' off of the one closest to him.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Ange said, still grinning widely. Her gaze flicked over to a large widescreen television set that hung on the wall, and was playing what Booth immediately recognized as The Year Without a Santa Claus. "Hodgins left it on," she said with a sigh, and flicked it off with the remote, which she replaced on the mantle of the fireplace, which Booth hadn't even noticed in comparison to the giant Christmas tree.
Stockings were hanging along its length, each of them marked with a name. He was beginning to wonder just how many gifts Ange and Hodgins had gotten everyone, as he picked out his own name in the middle and found Brennan right next to it.
"I knew that show," Bones was saying, a thoughtful and far-off look in her eyes. "I can remember watching it around Christmas..." She was clearly struggling to find the name of it, he could see it in her expression.
"The Year Without a Santa Claus?" he provided.
"Yes!" she said, eyes sparkling with sudden excitement, "Yes, that was it! I used to love it; Russ and I would stay up late and watch it right after..." she paused, eyes staring off to the side as she bit her lip, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," she recalled, a wider grin now spreading across his face. He couldn't keep the grin off of his own, either, seeing her this happy about the holiday. Maybe it wouldn't be so difficult to get her to enjoy this after all; maybe he could give this holiday back the spirit it had had for her before her parents had gone missing. It was going fairly well so far, he thought. And he hadn't even heard hardly a word from her about how ridiculous gift giving was, like he had that first year they'd worked together. Not that he'd given her much of a chance to give him her opinion, though.
Ange was clearly just as pleased with how her friend was seemingly relaxed and enjoying this, and she was quick to steer them off to the kitchen to get some food.
"I'm sure Sweets and Cam will be here soon, and Nigel, but we'll just get started beforehand anyways. Could you two give me a hand setting out the snacks?"
"No problem," Booth said, cheekily snatching a handful of red and green festive M&M's and popping them in his mouth before picking up the bowl they'd been in and carrying it back to the room with the tree. Bones put down a bowl full of chips next to it on the coffee table, and Angela added a dish that was split into sections of separate dippings for them on the other side.
She turned and opened a cabinet as she motioned for them to go get more of the food.
"Oh, I just know I'm going to eat too much here tonight," Booth said with a sigh as he looked at the steaming apple pie that was sitting on top of the oven. Bones laughed, holding a bowl filled with an assortment of chocolate candies. She popped a nonpareil into her mouth and chewed it before tossing another in as well.
"You might be right about that for the both of us," she said, eyeing the rest of the chocolates. "These things are amazing..."
"Yeah, well look at these," he added, picking up a crystal bowl filled to almost overflowing with what appeared to be roasted chestnuts. "Ange really did go all out with the holiday spirit."
"Hey, don't give her all the credit, man," Hodgins said indignantly, "I did do some of this, you know. I'm the one who made the quiche, for one, and that pie that you were eyeing a second ago."
"I didn't know you baked," Booth commented teasingly, to which he received a glare.
"Watch it, or you won't be getting any."
Before Booth could respond with some other witty comment, blaring music sounded from the other room, making them all jump and sending a small cascade of nuts onto the floor. Hodgins rolled his eyes and grabbed a broom from the closet as the music became instantly recognizable to all of them, even Bones, for he saw a wide smile spread across her face, and her head began to bob up and down to the beat.
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop,
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop,
Rockin' around the Christmas tree
Let the Christmas spirit ring,
Later we'll have some Pumpkin Pie
And we'll do some caroling.
Ange danced into the room cheerfully, her earrings bouncing up and down, and grabbed Hodgins away from where he'd been mixing another dip. He immediately twirled her around, and they laughed and danced around the kitchen to the beat.
Grinning widely, Booth turned to the woman next to him and raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Bones," he said, offering her his hand.
She threw back her head and laughed, seizing his outstretched limb and pulling him over and out of the other two's way as they swung around, barely avoiding banging into utilities and counter-edges.
You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear
Voices singing "let's be jolly
Deck the halls with boughs of holly,"
Rockin' around the Christmas tree,
Have a happy holiday
Everyone dancin' merrily,
In the new old-fashioned way.
As the music roared through the kitchen and the rest of the house between the next chorus, the sound of a doorbell ringing could be faintly heard. Ange hopped away from Hodgins, still bouncing slightly up and down, and motioned towards the door before rushing off energetically to let whoever it was in.
Hodgins chuckled, shaking his head as he went back to the counter and took the spoon back up. Bones broke away and halted the dancing entirely, but the laughter shining in her eyes showed him that she'd really enjoyed it.
They all looked up as the sound of a door shutting reverberated through the house just as another chorus line started. Angela led a nervous looking Sweets into the kitchen, and promptly filled him a cup of punch... from the second bowl, Booth noticed.
As he greeted them, obviously feeling a bit out of place in a non-work setting surrounded by his usual coworkers, they each quickly got themselves punch as well... from the other bowl, and started up with some small talk. But Ange wouldn't have any of that, instead pulling them all towards the living room again, save for Hodgins, and flipping through the buttons on her radio before cranking up the volume. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree had only just ended, and she clearly was assuming that they needed a new tune in the background.
A moment later Home for the Holidays rang out of the apparently surround sound speakers, and they all chuckled as Ange swept Sweets off of the armchair he'd settled into and danced him around in the open space in front of the tree.
The doorbell rang only a moment later, and seeing that Ange was rather occupied with a self-conscious Sweets who looked like he'd rather be observing than being the center of attention, Booth got up and went to answer it himself.
Cam stood on the doorstep, wearing a green shirt with three peppermint candies across the front and a darker green skirt. She scowled at him, looking his outfit up and down. "Ange said that we had to dress up 'or else.' What's that supposed to be?"
He laughed and held the door open for her. "This happens to be all I had available," he said, gesturing to his white t-shirt and jeans combo. He pulled up his pant leg slightly, revealing his Santa and elf covered red and green socks, "But I did wear these. Do they count?"
She rolled her eyes and pushed past him, sniffing the air appreciatively. "Mm... is that hot chocolate I smell?"
"Probably; Ange has had Hodgins slaving away in the kitchen all day, I think."
Another car appeared behind Cam's, the lights blinking out before the door opened. He pointed her towards the living room, where the music had switched to a cheerful rendition of It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and then held the door open as Nigel came up the stairs, looking even more out of place then Sweets.
Booth clapped him on the back and shut the door behind him before leading the way to the others. Ange collected the gifts from the newcomers and added them to the pile, but Booth barely noticed. He was too busy staring in amused amazement at what had apparently transpired since he'd left only a moment ago. Somehow or other, Bones was now dancing with Sweets, and Cam was almost dying of laughter in a nearby chair. A satisfied Angela stood off to the side, and Booth caught her eye and saw her pulling a camera off of a nearby shelf. She put a finger to her lips, her eyes warning him not to say a word. He wouldn't have tried to stop her for the world though, as he watched her quietly snap a few shots without the flash, so as not to alert them, and then tuck it back where it had been originally. He hoped the lighting was good enough in here, because those pictures would be incredible to show her later if they came out.
He picked up his cup of punch and hers from where they'd set them down, and sipped at his own as he held out the other cup to her when the song came to an end. She looked slightly embarrassed, but he gave her a quick kiss and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly, grinning down at her.
She blushed slightly, and turned her attention to her drink. Sweets, meanwhile, was actually looking a bit more confident with the party, and sat talking to Nigel and Cam while Ange went off to the kitchen. Everyone had arrived, so assumably the party would 'really' start now. At least, that's what he'd guess going off of how well he knew Angela.
A moment later, as predicted, Hodgins came in behind his wife, and was sent to sit next to him and Bones while Ange stayed standing to address them all. The music died out in the background, and she hit the stop button to keep another track from beginning.
"Okay, so I'd like to thank you all for coming, and so would Jack," they all laughed as Hodgins raised a hand in acknowledgment. "We've got plenty of snacks around, but there's more in the kitchen and some dessert for later," she gave Booth a meaningful look, "Plus we've got some hot cocoa which we can go get now if you'd like... and whether you want to start with games or opening gifts, it's all fine with me."
"Games?" Cam asked with a raised eyebrow. So, at least he wasn't the only one that had missed that memo.
Ange smiled devilishly. "Yes, games. I've got it all planned out. Oh, and these are not optional," she added, and pulled out a stack of red and white fuzzy things. As soon as she pulled one on Booth realized what it was, and half-groaned.
For that, he had the next one tossed right at him, and caught it in surprise.
"Put it on," Ange ordered sternly, and then passed out the rest of them.
Nigel looked outrageous in the Santa hat, as did Sweets, but it was all in good amusement, and with all of them wearing them it didn't really matter so much. Although, he had to say that Bones looked gorgeous in hers. He'd have to remember to make sure Ange got a picture of him and her together with them on, so he'd be able to look back on this again.
They all fetched steaming mugs of cocoa overflowing with whipped cream and sat back down in their seats. Booth stirred his with his candy cane, while Bones pulled hers out of the mug and licked the cream off of it.
"Let's start simple," Ange said, clasping her hands together.
"How worried should we be?" Booth muttered to Hodgins.
"Very," he replied.
"I figured we'd get started with a variation on truth or dare. So... Bren, sweetie, let's start with you."
"What?" she said, sounding slightly alarmed.
"Relax, the idea is to tell the group an interesting fact that the rest of us don't know already. About yourself," she added quickly, glancing towards Nigel. "Doesn't have to be huge, just something to get us all in the sharing and friendly mood."
Bones hesitated, biting her lip and looking at the floor. Booth suddenly wondered if this was such a good idea, but then she suddenly looked up with determination, and a bit of amusement, in her eyes. "Got one," she said. Ange grinned eagerly, and Booth eyed her with apprehension. There was a bit too much of a mischievous glimmer in her expression, and when she glanced at him quickly before beginning it only aided in that feeling. "Well, two Christmases ago..."
Sweets, who had perked up with great interest when this so-called 'game' was mentioned, suddenly opened his mouth as his eyes widened. He knew what this was just as much as Booth did, but the rest of the people in the room had no clue.
"I wanted to give my father Christmas even though he was in prison, and so I asked Caroline to make some arrangements so he and Russ could come to a trailer and have Amy and her kids join them to celebrate. But..." she glanced at him again, "Caroline doesn't give favors for nothing, and so she asked me to do something in return. Which... I think I sort of understand now, after what everyone's been telling me since Booth and I finally got together." Booth flicked his eyes to Angela, smirking as he saw how she was hanging onto every word eagerly, and then he turned his attention back to Bones again. "So, Booth comes to my office with news on the case, and I'm hanging mistletoe from my ceiling, and he has no clue why."
"Oh my god," Ange muttered, her smile continuously widening as the story went on.
"So Caroline shows up, and tells us she's got the trailer deal all set up for me, and meanwhile Booth looks like he wants to be anywhere but there, and he keeps looking at the mistletoe like it's going to bite him." Cam and Hodgins both laughed, while a slightly lost Nigel, who hadn't been around for the case and who hadn't seen much of Caroline, tried to follow what was being said. Bones was grinning by now, too, clearly enjoying this. And he would have thought that this would be something to embarrass her... while instead it actually seemed to be doing so to him far more efficiently. "So she told me, before, all these specifications, and made it very clear that it had to be on the lips for at least eight seconds. And, instead, it goes on for about twelve, and Booth ends up with my gum, in his mouth."
Ange looked like she might faint, but instead shouted, "How come you never told me about that!?" at a ridiculous voice level.
"Because you'd react like this," Bones said, still smiling widely. "And we weren't dating then. The last thing I needed was to give you more ammo to use on me on your 'list of reasons why Booth and Brennan should go out.'"
Ange was shaking her head in disbelief, and Cam hadn't stopped laughing yet. Hodgins chuckled and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Scared of mistletoe, man?" he joked.
"Okay, Sweets' turn!" Ange called, and the room quieted down again as they all turned their attention to the suddenly panicked psychologist.
"Um... okay, I don't really have a story," he said nervously.
"Fine, fine," Ange waved him off, "Just anything, really."
He coughed slightly, "Okay, those two already know this..." he gestured towards him and Bones, "But the rest of you don't. I, um... actually used to coach salespeople in psychology to make money when I was younger."
They all smiled good-naturedly at him, but Hodgins spoke up, "Not cool," he said, shaking his head.
"Jack," Ange said, giving him a hard look. He settled back in his seat.
"I don't like car salesmen," he muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, we know," Booth said, punching him in the shoulder just a bit harder than how he'd been hit only a moment ago.
"Why don't you go next," Ange cut in, raising an eyebrow at her husband.
"Right. Okay... last year, I was studying the eating habits of spiders and their effects on the activities of marsh flies... and when I came back from lunch break I realized I'd left the top of the cage open and... well, some of them were missing."
Cam suddenly bolted upright, "I spent two weeks killing spiders in my office, Hodgins!" she exclaimed.
He winced while the rest of them laughed. "Yeah... sorry about that."
"Nigel?" Ange called on the youngest member of the group.
"What? I... um..." he stammered, "...uh, well... when I was in college, this one girl asked me out... and on the first date, I was so nervous I started telling her facts, since she'd said she thought it was... cute... how I did that... and I ended up telling her about how alligator-skin purses are actually made, since I saw she had one... and I never saw her again after that."
There was silence, and Sweets gave the younger man a reassuring clap on the back. Booth was relieved he wasn't the only one who'd held in their laughter. It wasn't exactly the most amusing story, and the kid looked self-conscious enough as it was. Plus, Bones liked him and the rest of the team did too, and he didn't want anyone to upset her.
"I'll go," Ange volunteered herself quickly. "Only Hodgins knows this one."
"Oh god," Hodgins muttered, clearly concerned it was going to be something incredibly revealing.
"Relax, nothing like that," she said, "This is actually something from when I was younger. When I was fifteen, my dad moved us to this area, and I wanted a fresh start. So I changed my name, and he actually said he approved of the whole thing. Though, he was always rather easy-going about what I wanted. Except when it came to moving," she added bitterly. She glanced at Bones as she said it, and they exchanged sad looks.
"So what was your name before?" Sweets asked curiously.
"Rose," she said, grimacing. "Ugh, I like Angela much better."
"You never told me that," Bones said softly.
Ange winced. "I know, sweetie... I'm sorry. I just didn't want it to matter, you know? As far as I was concerned I was Angela, and Rose didn't exist. That was when I started focusing more on art, too... before that I was actually the quiet kid who just doodled, if any of you can believe that. When we moved near here I took up painting for the first time."
"Seriously?" Booth asked. That was nearly an impossible image to conjure up... a quiet and shy Angela, sitting at the back of a classroom twirling a pencil across a paper in no distinct pattern.
Bones, thank god, seemed to have accepted the truth of Angela's words, because she was nodding and smiling in gentle understanding. Ange beamed back at her in relief, and then spun and pointed to Cam, who groaned.
"Fine, alright, I'll go," she muttered when they all stared expectantly at her. "Um... well, this one's embarrassing on my part, and I think most of you probably suspected it or knew it already, but I'll just tell it anyways. When I first came to the Jeffersonian, I actually was foolish enough to ask Booth what he'd do if I fired Dr. Brennan, thinking he'd really take my side."
Angela and Hodgins stared at her in surprise, probably more so for the fact she was choosing to tell this particular piece when it was from the time when they'd all pretty much hated her. Bones' eyebrows were raised as well.
"And so imagine my surprise when he tells me that he's with her no matter what, and basically that if I got rid of the center of the Jeffersonian, everyone else would just quit and I'd have... well, no circus to run." She looked around their little group apprehensively, "It's not particularly amusing, or incredibly embarrassing... but I thought of it, and I figured it might be important that you all know what an ass I think I was, looking back."
They all managed to laugh a bit at the end of her statement, and Hodgins was nodding his head in an exaggerated manner. "You hated spam," he remembered, and immediately the light-hearted manner of the evening returned.
"I just remember you walking in while Zach and Hodgins were burning the fake body, and the look on your face," Brennan added in, and the smile and spark of amusement in her eyes surprised him, and probably everyone else, too.
What an odd group they were, Booth thought, with their mismatched talents all working together, all forming an inseparable family.
"Booth's last," Ange said, and immediately he felt that thought vanish like a character going up in a puff of smoke from one of Parker's cartoons. Crap, he should have been thinking of good ideas while the others were sharing.
He pondered for a second, searching through his mind for a reasonable story to share. It would be something about Bones, he decided, since she'd chosen to use one of him. Then he smiled widely, remembering one particular event.
"Okay, so I suppose you remember Kenton?" he started. He felt Bones stiffen beside him, and he put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring look. Both Hodgins and Angela nodded, but the other three were staring at him curiously. He sighed, then explained quickly, "We had two cases at once, and someone was attempting to kill Bones while we worked on them," he explained, his grip around her shoulders tightening as he pulled her closer against him... something that didn't go unnoticed by Angela, who's eyes flashed happily. "Anyways, that's not what this is about, it was just... during those cases. I brought her to her apartment, and it was the first time I'd ever been there. But so, I tell her that I'm going to stay there with her and make sure she's safe, and she's immediately all defensive." He smiled softly down at her next to him and rubbed his hand up and down her arm warmly. "And then I find out she has no tv, so I go through her music collection, and what do I find but a Foreigner CD, right in plain sight like she'd just played it recently."
She rolled her eyes, but the rest of them seemed quite interested in where this was going.
"So I plug it in, and Hot Blooded starts to play. There I am, making an idiot out of myself with an air guitar, singing along with the music and expecting her to just be a killjoy and turn it off... and instead she throws up her leg in this kick and jumps in and starts singing and dancing with me."
By now all eyes were staring with shock at Bones, who was quite intently studying the pattern of the cloth on the couch they were seated on.
"Then of course her phone rings, and its her boyfriend," he scowled slightly at that, and left the story there.
"A bit jealous?" she asked, surprising him.
"Yes," he admitted with a grin, "I didn't like him, anyways. And turned out I was right, wasn't I?"
"One story," she warned him seriously, "You told one story already."
He grinned, "I know, Bones, and I wasn't going to tell that one anyways." She nodded, and he kissed her softly. She smiled back at him when he pulled away a few inches, and he knew he was forgiven for sharing that particular event.
"I... cannot see you doing that. Booth, yes, but you..." Cam said in disbelief, shaking her head.
Ange, recovering from her apparent excitement over the two of them kissing in front of her, quickly followed up with, "Neither can I, especially back then. You worked your magic fast, Booth," she added appreciatively.
"I'm still amazed, too, you know, and I was there," Booth added.
"I'd have liked to have seen that," Sweets muttered, and the rest of them immediately seconded that.
"Moving on, now?" Bones said, raising an eyebrow at Angela to tell her to get things rolling on to a new topic.
"Oh, right! Sorry... how about we do gifts now?"
The general consensus was for it, and Ange quickly reached under the tree and pulled out a thin, flat box, which Booth immediately recognized as the one he'd brought with him.
Ange read the tag and passed it to Nigel. "It's from Booth," she said.
"Hey! What exactly happened to the 'secret' part?" he asked indignantly.
She shrugged, "I know everyone's handwriting," she explained. "Besides... it's more fun if it gets spoiled, and it always does."
He rolled his eyes, and tossed another handful of M&Ms into his mouth, crunching them all at once.
"Wow... thank you," Nigel said in surprise, holding up the two hockey tickets.
Booth shrugged, "I figured you could take a date... you know, get out of the lab, enjoy some sports."
Nigel nodded, and attention was brought back to Ange as she rustled through the stack beneath the tree, muttering to herself.
"Ah, here's one from Nigel... to Hodgins!" she passed her husband the shoebox-sized parcel, and he shook it interestedly before pulling off the paper and opening it.
"Oh, totally cool, man," he said, eyes widening excitedly as he pulled out a jar, in which was a large bug of some sort. Ange immediately cringed away, and gave Nigel a slightly unfriendly look.
"You're keeping that at work, whatever it is," she said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
"Sure..." he murmured, obviously barely hearing her as he held it up to his eyes and stared through the slightly dirty glass. "Dude, where did you get this?"
Nigel coughed uncomfortably and looked away, and Ange haphazardly grabbed another gift and shoved it at Cam without reading the tag.
"From you, I'm going to assume," the coroner commented, her eyes running over the smooth cursive on the tag and then nodding, clearly able to recognize it without confirmation from the artist. She undid the fancy ribbon and then pulled two things from the box.
"For your office," Ange said simply.
"Wow," Cam said, her eyes widening as she looked back and forth between the small and yet incredibly detailed painting of a flower and the rather expensive looking stationary set, complete with what looked like pens in just about every color.
"You're old paper was boring," Ange said unabashedly.
"Yeah... thanks," Cam said sincerely, her eyebrows still up at her hairline. "This is... this is great."
Ange beamed, and then promptly scooped up another gift without looking at the tag and handed it off to Sweets, who glanced at Hodgins. The entomologist sighed and nodded, and the gift was torn open.
It was a large box of candy, and Sweets turned to him with a confused expression.
"They're sweets," Hodgins said in explanation. The room filled with laughter quickly, Sweets grinning in amusement as he opened the package and pulled out a rather intricately made little truffle. "And don't think those were cheap or I skimped on the gift. Those were the best damn chocolates I could find."
"You are going to share a few, aren't you?" Cam asked, raising an eyebrow as she leaned over the box and appraised the different chocolates with interest.
He offered her one, which she readily accepted. The box was then closed and put to the side, and the rest of them returned to the chips and candies available on the coffee table. Bones drank the last of her hot chocolate and set it down next to Booth's already empty mug. But he noticed that she hung on to the candy cane, sucking on the end of it like small kid with a lollipop. He couldn't help but smile at her, and it took him a moment to realize that Ange had been saying his name.
She was smirking as she held out a box to him. "Something a little more interesting than Christmas presents, is it, Booth?" she asked.
He snatched the box from her and gave her a mock hurt look, to which she responded with an even sweeter smile. His eyes strayed quickly to Bones as his hands pulled apart the wrapping. She was staring back at him, her hat slightly lopsided on her head from the way she'd been leaning up against him. He chuckled and pulled the box out of its paper before setting it on his lap, tossing the paper aside, and reaching over to straighten it for her, his hand sliding down the side of her face afterwards.
"It's a good thing we're all so glad you two are together at last, or we'd be reacting the way we did when Hodgins or Ange did that at work everyday," Cam said jokingly.
He smiled slightly at that, but didn't turn away from her until a moment later, when he slowly focused back on the gift. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, that she glanced slightly embarrassedly at the rest of the people in the room before her attention focused on what he was opening.
"What is it?" she asked curiously as he pulled it out.
"A watch," he said, eyeing it with interest. He looked around the group and then his eyes found Cam. "Seriously?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered, laughing, "You aren't easy to shop for, you know. I very nearly bought you some new crazy socks and a tie, but then I figured you had enough of those, and you probably wouldn't want that sort of thing for Christmas from me anyways. So I went for practical."
"It's nice," he commented, "Very nice. Thanks."
She nodded, looking uncomfortable at how she appeared to have been the only one to get someone a non-personal gift. Booth could hardly blame her, though; how on earth would she be expected to get him something personal that wouldn't be weird given the fact that they'd dated before? He smiled at her and set the box back down on the table.
"I'll figure out how to program it later," he said, "Or I'll give it to my genius to do it for me."
"Since when am I 'your genius'?" Bones asked indignantly from next to him. He laughed and she shoved his shoulder with mock anger, poking him in the ribs a second later and making him jump away with a slight yelp of surprise.
"Oh, here's one for me!" Ange said, interrupting before anyone could comment or tease Booth for the latest occurrence, as she held up a box and shook it. She grinned as she checked the handwriting, and then ripped it open without telling the rest of them who it was from, although at this point the number of people that could have gotten her name out of the hat was dwindling.
His eyes flicked to Bones once more, something they did constantly and with quite a bit of frequency tonight especially it seemed, and he saw her expression and read it instantly. He chuckled and nudged her, "That's yours," he said, realizing it.
"I'd have thought you'd have realized that already, from how often you kept trying to snatch it from me to figure out what I got." Her tone had an edge to it he couldn't quite identify, and he realized that her eyes hadn't moved even slightly from Ange's face from the moment she'd picked up the present. Whatever it was, clearly she was concerned about what the reaction would be. He immediately turned his full attention to the little box Ange was opening.
"Oh, wow..." Ange murmured softly.
"What? What is it?" Hodgins questioned, straining to see from his seat.
She held it up, eyes sparkling with emotion. It was a photograph, in an intricate silver frame that appeared to be made from the stems of small metal flowers and leaves all twined together. What immediately caught his attention, though, was more so the picture itself.
"You still had this?" she asked Bones, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Of course," she said, "I have the whole strip, actually... but that was the best one, so I had it enlarged. I usually... don't look through my old things... but I found the box in the closet a while back, so I knew it was in there... and I thought you might appreciate it."
"I do," Ange whispered. By now, everyone was craning forward to get a better glimpse of it, and so the artist passed it straight over to Booth, who immediately sat back and stared at it with Bones right beside him, smiling wistfully.
"Wow..." he murmured.
"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "It was a long time ago."
It was a picture of two teenage girls, one skinny and pale, the other vibrant with her hair in a high ponytail. And yet... there was so much energy in the picture that he just wanted to hug Angela for it. He knew she was the cause, the reason that Bones looked so... happy in the picture, in the midst of all she was going through. Ange had given her that, the moment to laugh in a photo booth just like every other kid their age did on probably a regular basis, probably making faces... suddenly he wished he could see the other pictures that they'd gotten that day.
He could see, too, why she'd picked this particular picture, even though he hadn't seen the other ones. It was such a symbol of what their friendship must have been to her... he knew he couldn't even begin to imagine what their connection must have been like way back then, and how it must have made Bones feel. The urge to hug Ange was getting stronger.
Unwillingly he passed the frame over to Hodgins, who'd been looking at it from the side at not a very good angle while Booth had been staring at it. He gently pressed his fingers over it, rubbing them over the laughing face of his beautiful Bones seventeen years or so ago before he relinquished it. And then he pulled her up against him warmly again, and pressed his face into her hair, kissing the top of her head softly.
"I love you," he whispered softly.
She smiled softly back at him, and responded with a soft kiss to his cheek, which was as good as a repeat of the phrase aimed back at him. He could see it shining in her eyes, too.
Ange appeared to still be a little lost for words, and as the picture made its way down to a fascinated Sweets, and then an awed Cam and an amazed Nigel, she picked up the largest gift and passed it silently to Bones, her eyes filled with emotion.
She read the tag silently, her eyes immediately flicking up to Sweets before going back down as she ripped off the paper. It was rather large, and it rattled whenever it was moved. Booth glanced at Sweets, too, wondering what on earth he'd gotten her.
"Clue?" she asked, frowning.
"Clue!" Booth said, catching sight of the familiar box still half covered in torn paper. He swept the rest of the wrapping away. "Oh, awesome!" he laughed, and then grinned wider as he looked under it, at a second box, "And Sorry! Oh, Sweets, you are a genius."
The comment startled and then immensely pleased the psychologist, who grinned in amazement. "Thank you," Brennan said, but her tone conveyed more confusion than actual sincerity. Booth sighed.
"Bones, it's a board game. You've played board games before, haven't you?"
"Scrabble," she said with a nod.
"It's a murder mystery game, absolutely nothing like Scrabble. I'll teach you how to play. And Sorry... well Parker loves that game. Shuffling the cards over and over gets a little tedious, but it's worth it." He turned his attention back to Sweets, "What made you think to buy games, of all things?" he asked.
"I'm a psychologist," he said, shrugging, "I thought it might be best to go for something that might stimulate lost concepts and make for better connections..."
"Sure," Booth said, waving him off. "It was still a great idea though."
"Why don't we play that after this?" Ange suggested eagerly, eyeing the game the same way Booth had, clearly willing to relive her childhood again with the familiar board and pieces. Hodgins looked interested, too, and Cam looked amused, but also willing.
"Looks like we finished with the gift exchange," Booth commented, nodding towards where the bottom of the tree was now completely cleared out of gifts.
"Yup, now we have these," Ange said, plucking a card off the tree, reading the name, and then going over to the fireplace to collect a stocking with the same name on it. Booth leaned forward and recognized it as Nigel. She passed the two items to him, and then headed back to collect the items for each person down the line, until Bones, as the one on the far end, had hers as well. "These are just our gifts to you guys for coming, for being great friends... whatever you want to call it. Just open them, and don't complain. It's not like our money was really doing anything, anyways."
"Nope, just benefiting the Jeffersonian," Hodgins said with a grin. He and Ange watched as the rest of them opened their cards and started to read. Booth's featured a sleeping kitten with a sparkling red glitter Santa hat on its head. He had no doubt that Ange had picked it out herself, and judging from the puppy on the front of Bones' card, she'd done everyone's.
Booth, MERRY CHRISTMAS! His card started in brilliant, large green letters, followed by several hearts and a line of x's and o's. He chuckled and read the standard Christmas greetings and well wishes that it was filled with before he got back to where Ange's handwriting picked up for the factory-made typing. Have a wonderful Christmas, G-man, and make full use of any mistletoe you come across! (PS-when are you going to ask her????)
Trust Ange to end a cheerful card like that, he thought with a short laugh. He glanced over at her, and she gave him a sheepish look in return. But, he was in the Christmas mood, so he figured he might as well tell her...
Soon, he mouthed, and her eyes flew wide open as her grin immediately engulfed her face.
Hodgins gave her a weird look, having not seen what Booth said and most likely not even knowing what Ange had written in the card, but everyone else was either still reading or peering into the stocking, so none of them noticed the exchange.
He turned his own attention back to the stocking, and realized that it must be from Hodgins, and the card more specifically from Ange. They'd gotten everyone separate gifts. From next to him, Bones laughed as she pulled a package from her stocking. Booth already had his out, and was making a face at it.
'Chocolate covered bugs!' his read in large block letters. From the looks of it, they were real, too. "Ugh," he muttered.
Bones seemed unfazed, and in fact opened the box and held up a chocolate chunk. Grinning at him, she popped it in her mouth, chewed it, and swallowed. "Not bad," she commented to Hodgins. "Thanks."
"No problem," he answered, laughing too.
Booth set his down without opening it. She could have his if she wanted them, although he'd prefer if she didn't.
Cam was looking disturbed, and Sweets and Nigel both had reactions similar to Booth's. They all put their gifts aside as well, and then avoided the chocolates that were on the coffee table, although Booth was still willing to trust the safety of the M&M's.
"Well, I want some pie," Booth said, getting to his feet. "Just so long as Hodgins didn't add any extra ingredients."
"Relax, just apples, flour... etcetera. I wanted to, but Ange caught me before I could dump the extra box of those into it."
"Can we see proof that the extra box is sealed?" Sweets asked hesitantly.
They all laughed, and made their way to the kitchen. Everyone got a slice of pie, minus Bones, who helped herself to the quiche.
A few minutes later the music had been flipped back on and another round of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree rang out while they set up the Clue board.
"There are seven of us," Sweets pointed out with a frown, holding up the six pieces.
"I'll team up with Bones," Booth offered, "Since she doesn't know how to play."
"Cool. I call Mustard," Hodgins said, snatching the little yellow piece.
"Scarlet!" Ange called out.
Nigel took Green, Booth encouraged Bones to grab Peacock, and Cam and Sweets were left to argue over White and Plum. A satisfied Cam ended up with Plum, while a rather shamefaced Sweets was forced to take Mrs. White as his character.
"I'm confused, why does it matter? Aren't they all colors?" Bones asked, in the way only she could.
"We all have childhood favorites, you know, the character you always were. I was a Mustard, personally."
She still seemed confused as to the importance of this, but didn't question it again, and turned with interest back to the others as the cards were separated, the answer ones picked and put safely in their designated spots, and then all of them shuffled together and passed out.
"Here, check off what we have," Booth instructed her, handing her the little pencil and pushing their card at her as he sorted the cards into their categories.
She caught on very quickly, and was soon not giving Booth a chance as she took charge of the question asking whenever their turn came around. He sat back and watched her, smiling at how her face lit up with excitement when she crossed off Green as a suspect and had it narrowed down to the murderer, which was Scarlet.
"Looks like you don't need to look at the bones to solve a murder, huh, Bones?" he teased.
"Well, a fictional murder," she corrected, then added thoughtfully, "It's like what you do, going around and asking questions to get answers. Although, in real life it would certainly not be so easy. The murderer would lie, rather than providing the cards that incriminated him upon being asked."
He laughed and then grabbed her empty punch glass and refilled it from the punch bowl, both of which were now in the same room on some sort of dessert cart along with all the other food, which made getting what they wanted much easier instead of having to travel to the kitchen every time. Ange got up too, and headed over to get more for herself, which prompted a break for all of them. Cards were set down and cups refilled as a bowl of popcorn was passed around.
"Wrong bowl!" Hodgins suddenly shouted, stopping Ange's hand as she was lifting her newly refilled cup up to her mouth.
The sound of Sweets choking in surprise on the punch he'd just gotten from this 'wrong bowl' was the only sound in the room.
Ange's cup immediately was shoved onto the table and she looked at it in alarm.
"Um... exactly what's... wrong with it?" Sweets asked hesitantly, eyeing the punch he'd been drinking most of the night suspiciously.
"Well, I guess we might as well explain now, huh?" Hodgins asked her.
She grinned, "Well, we were going to anyways..."
"Okay, everyone, we have an announcement!" he called, although he already had everyone's attention.
"Oh!" Booth gasped before they'd even had a chance to explain. He glanced between the clearly spiked punch and Angela with suddenly wide eyes.
She grinned back. "I think Booth figured it out on his own."
"Seriously?" he asked. The rest of them were looking impatient, and Bones was frowning, clearly annoyed that she couldn't understand the situation when Booth already had.
She nodded. "I'm pregnant," she informed the room, which was suddenly filled with first shocked silence, and then roaring with congratulations and cheering.
Sweets congratulated them, but then was quick to ask exactly what was in the punch.
"Pure alcohol," Hodgins said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"That would explain why I'm starting to feel weird..." Sweets muttered.
Bones stepped forward and engulfed her friend in a tight hug. "Congratulations," Booth heard her murmur sincerely, her eyes shining with happiness for her.
"So, this is the first of the million?" Cam asked lightheartedly.
"We'll see," Ange provided for an answer, and Hodgins laughed.
"We already came to an agreement on this... we'll stop when we both decide to. Hopefully before we have too many to handle."
"How long have you known?" Sweets piped up curiously.
"Well, you aren't supposed to tell anyone before twelve weeks," Ange said, "But that falls in just a couple of days, so we were pretty sure it was safe to tell you all. Besides, we wanted it to be a Christmas surprise."
"That's one heck of a surprise," Sweets said, to which they all nodded in complete agreement.
"Well, this makes Clue look awfully insignificant and boring, doesn't it?" Booth joked.
"Oh, right!" Ange said, apparently remembering the game which they'd all abandoned. "I was doing really well, too," she added, and led the way back to their seats.
"This was by far the best Christmas party I've ever been to," Booth informed everyone as they pulled on their jackets. Outside, it had started snowing again, adding even more white fluff to the ground which had already been coated by it.
"Thanks," Ange told him warmly, "We did our best. This should become an annual tradition, don't you think?" she added, glancing over her shoulder at Hodgins.
"I'd do this again," Cam said, chuckling as a tired-looking Sweets supported himself against her shoulder. "Although preferably without the spiking of the drinks again. I'm just glad I didn't have very much of it."
"This was the best Christmas I've ever had," a soft voice murmured from next to him, and he looked down and met her crystal blue eyes, the joy he saw there edged just slightly by sorrow and clear memories from Christmases of the past.
"I'm glad," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her softly. "And you're going to enjoy tomorrow morning," he added. "I promise." Then he turned back to Angela and Hodgins, "I want copies of those pictures," he said with a lopsided grin. Ange had gotten her camera out again shortly after Sweets had astounded them all by winning the game, and they'd all passed it around, getting goofy pictures of one another and just generally fooling around like teenagers. Booth was dying to see how some of the ones of Bones would come out.
"I'll make sure to have extras made," she promised, "And everyone will get a copy of the group shot in front of the tree. I think we should all have that as a reminder of our first Christmas celebration outside of work together."
"Definitely," Hodgins agreed. "So, we'll see you all in a couple days, I guess."
"Back at work," Cam agreed with a sigh. Then her gaze swung over to him and Bones, "You," she said, poking a finger at him, "Don't you dare let her go back to that lab until Monday, got it?"
He laughed, "I won't be letting her out of my sight," he promised. Bones made a face, but didn't seem too bothered by the arrangements. He beamed to think that she would actually rather stay at home with him then go to work. Her only irritation was probably that she was being forced to stay home even if she did want to go and look at skeletons on Christmas.
"Congratulations again!" Cam called, "And Merry Christmas!" she added before she separated herself from Sweets as she went down the front porch steps, her gifts in a bag. The psychologist fell against Nigel, who looked alarmed by this.
The rest of them bid their farewells too, repeating their congratulations for the couple as well, and followed her. Nigel was left to give Sweets a ride home.
Booth opened her door for her, and then went around and climbed into the driver's side.
"We'll just go pick up Parker from Rebecca's, and head back to the apartment for the night. We're gunna need all the sleep we can get; last time Park woke me up at six to go open presents."
"Rebecca really let you have him two years in a row?"
"It wasn't easy, believe me," he answered, shaking his head. "But Parker was so excited about the idea, I don't think she could argue."
"Well, I expect a child his age would be excited regardless, since it's Christmas and he's getting to see his father."
Booth chuckled, "No, Bones, he's excited about getting spend Christmas with you. He begged me to help him find you a gift, and this is all he's been talking about every time I've spoken with him since Rebecca agreed to it."
He didn't miss the pleased look that crossed her face, and the way her eyes brightened even more. "I'll make sure to thank him, then," she said softly. "And... I'm pretty sure he'll like what I got him for a gift."
Booth looked at her in surprise, "What? I didn't know you got him something, Bones."
She smiled teasingly at him, "That's because I'm better at keeping secrets than you are."
"I don't suppose you'll tell me what you got him?"
"You suppose right."
He laughed, and muttered complainingly under his breath, getting her to laugh out loud along with him. They reached Rebecca's place, and the door opened almost immediately. Booth stepped out of the vehicle as Parker hurtled through the snow towards him.
"Dad!" he launched himself into Booth's arms, and he grinned down at his son.
"Merry Christmas, pal," he greeted him.
"Bones!" Parker shouted as he released his grip on his father and waved excitedly at her. She waved back from inside the car.
Rebecca appeared in the doorway, and Booth told him to get himself buckled in before he headed up the walkway to collect Parker's things from her.
She passed him the duffel bag and was, surprisingly, smiling. "Make sure he has a good Christmas," she told him. Apparently the Christmas spirit hadn't been washed out of her by the fact Parker was leaving. Mark appeared in the doorway behind her and nodded to Booth in greeting. He nodded back curtly.
"I will. I'll drop him back here Sunday?"
"Good. I'll see you then. And Merry Christmas."
"To you, too. Thank you, really. This means a lot to me, and Bones."
Rebecca's eyes flashed with something he couldn't recognize for a split second, but then returned to normal. She waved him farewell, and then stepped back inside with Mark.
Booth made his way back down the walkway and climbed back into the car. He found Bones chatting with Parker, who was filling her in on the gifts he'd gotten from his mother, Mark, and his grandparents.
"Can we listen to Christmas music?" he asked eagerly as they pulled away and turned to head back towards the apartment.
Booth grinned and flicked on the radio, which was in the middle of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Bones shocked him by knowing all of the words, and adding in the extra lines that weren't included in this version.
"I still remember all of it," she said, her face glowing with pride as it ended.
"Why, did you forget last year?" Parker asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"No, Parker, I didn't," she said, smiling gently as she leaned around to look at him. "I just haven't actually celebrated Christmas in a long time."
He watched his son's eyes widen in the rearview mirror.
"Why wouldn't you celebrate Christmas?" he asked, obviously shocked at the idea.
She glanced at Booth, and then answered hesitantly, "Not everyone celebrates Christmas, Parker. But... mostly I didn't have anyone to celebrate with."
If it was possible, his eyes got wider at that.
"What about your parents?"
Oh, they were not entering safe ground here. Not at all. He tensed, not sure how she was going to go about answering that.
"I celebrated with my dad two years ago," she said calmly, "You remember bringing us a tree, don't you?"
"Yeah!" he said, his face breaking into an instant grin as he recalled that memory.
She nodded, and Booth saw her smiling kindly at the boy. He hoped his son was done questioning her about it. He wasn't, though. Not quite yet.
"But now you're going to celebrate it with us!" Parker added.
She laughed, and Booth chuckled slightly too. "Yes, Parker, I'm going to celebrate it with you."
"Have you gotten any presents yet?" the topic changed quickly as Parker's interest went to different things.
"Yes, I have, actually," she answered, and told him about the board games and the chocolate covered bugs.
She kept the conversation going for the whole ride, and Booth couldn't keep the smile of his face at how easily she interacted with his kid. And she claimed she wasn't good around children... nonsense. Every time she was with Parker she proved herself more and more wrong about that.
They arrived back home, and Booth parked the car and helped Parker carry his things up the stairs. Bones got the front door for them, and then led the way to the elevator rather than taking the time to do the stairs. They were all pretty tired, and laden down with bags and items.
"I did some decorating earlier," Booth muttered to her as they stepped into the apartment.
"What do you mean?" she asked, looking around as she set down her things on couch and took off her jacket.
He bent down to plug in the Christmas tree, and when it came on the rest of the room lit up with dully glowing bulbs as well, giving the living room a far more homey and cheerful look to it.
"Awesome!" Parker exclaimed.
He hadn't gone all out, or done nearly as much as Angela and Hodgins had, but the border of lights along the edges of the ceiling made a pretty nice difference.
"Time for bed, Park," Booth said, "It's already later than you're supposed to be up, and you wouldn't want Santa to skip over us because you're awake, now would you?"
"No way!" Parker answered, shaking his head furiously before he scampered up the hall to the guest bedroom.
"Get changed and brush your teeth, and then I'll come tuck you in!" he called. A muffled, 'I will' reached their ears through the door, and then he turned back to her. "I'm really glad you had a good time tonight, Bones," he told her sincerely.
"Thanks. I... I usually don't even like Christmas... but this... well it brought back a lot of memories from when I used to love it. That meant a lot," she added more softly.
"I know it did," he answered, and then glanced upwards and, grabbing her arm, pulled her a few feet to the side.
"Wha-?"
"Mistletoe," he explained, pointing upwards and raising his eyebrows. Then, without giving her a chance to object, he pressed his lips firmly to hers, and she responded warmly, pressing herself up against him.
"Eww..." Parker's voice interrupted them, and he pulled away from her and glanced embarrassedly at his son.
He pointed upwards as way of explanation, and Parker's eyes spotted the mistletoe. "Cindy had some of that at school," he said, wrinkling his nose. "She was chasing all the guys around trying to kiss them under it. She said that you have to kiss under mistletoe."
Booth laughed, "That's right, kiddo. It has magical properties. Now let's get you all tucked in. And let's not go for earlier than last year, okay? Bones and I need our sleep."
"I won't," Parker promised, but he was clearly disappointed. "Goodnight, Bones!" he added, his mood returning quickly to excited before he headed back up the hall with his father behind him.
With Parker all taken care of, although he probably wouldn't fall asleep for a little while, not with Christmas the following morning on his mind, he headed back to the main room and found Bones already busy arranging gifts under the tree. He knelt down next to her and helped get the rest of them out of the large bags they'd been tucked inside of, shaking all the ones with his name on them that were from her.
"Jeez, Bones, how many did you get me?" he asked as he pulled out what must have been at least the sixth one.
"Does it matter?" she asked, "And I see you got me quite a few, too."
Trust her to pick up on that instead of answering. He shook his head and pulled the smaller bag closer to him and started stuffing their stockings with them. He tucked a large candy cane into Parker's so it hung out over the edge, and then collected together the empty bags and put them off to the side to be used to put the wrapping paper into the following morning.
"Come on," he said, grabbing her arm and helping her to her feet. "Let's go get some sleep."
She nodded, yawning suddenly as if to emphasize the point, and they made their way into the bedroom and changed quickly into more suitable sleeping clothes.
He pulled her close to him under the covers, and she snuggled her head against his shoulder, shifting her position to get more comfortable beside him.
She fell asleep quickly, and he felt his own lids getting heavy as well. Very soon, he drifted off, his arms wrapped securely around the woman he loved.
Want to give me a gift in exchange for this wonderfully fluffy chapter? Feedback would be lovely, and it doesn't even have to be wrapped or anything!
Oh, and if you would like another holiday BB tale to read, I will now shamelessly advertise my story Footsteps in the Snow, because I think it should get some holiday attention since I wrote it in the spring/summer and it is based all around Christmas.
That said, I again wish you all a happy and safe holiday season!!
(PS- I don't promise there will be a Christmas morning chapter tomorrow, but you can expect one sometime soon.)