Decorating

Sophie stared at her Christmas tree, pursing her lips and frowning slightly. It sat bare – no lights, no ornaments, no pretty ribbons or meticulously wrapped presents. Not that it needed all of that. She had, after all, just set it up and there were several weeks to go until Christmas. There was just one thing stopping her from trimming the tree. And that something was Aster.

She knew Christmas was his least favorite holiday. Not that North helped any in that arena. Next to Jack's antics, the spirit filled season was low on Asters list of things to like. She had every intention of changing that. She just had to figure out how. Making him appreciate a romantic winter scene from the indoors was one thing. Getting the thick headed Guardian to appreciate an entire holiday? That might have been next to impossible.

"Next to," Sophie muttered with a grin. She always liked the possibility of next to. With determination guiding her steps, she snagged her scarf and coat from the back of the couch and started for the door.

Three hours and four stores later, Sophie headed back home feeling a sense of accomplishment and pure elation. She'd heard of dumb luck but had never stumbled into it herself. Not until today. And she wouldn't call it a stumble either. More like a headlong, tripping rush into a hole-in-the-wall craft store that had exactly what she needed. Plain, egg shaped glass drops that could easily be painted and turned into ornaments, silk white Easter lilies edged in gold glitter and the pièce de résistance, a set of 24 crystal bunny window decorations. Again, things easily turned into ornaments. A girl couldn't ask for more.

She rushed home and set to work immediately; starting with painstakingly painting each egg and hoping that although she was painting them red, gold and silver that Aster would see past the festive colors and appreciate how thoughtful she'd been.

"I'll be the only woman on the face of this earth with an Easter Christmas Tree," she muttered, refilling her coffee and looking over her handy work with approval. The eggs glittered under the overhead light. They'd look spectacular once they were hanging on the branches of her tree. Which still remained quite unlit.

After taking a moment to relax and drain the contents of her mug, she went back to work - stringing lights, cleverly tucking the Easter lilies within the branches, and hanging her little crystal bunnies. With that done, she stepped back and critically looked over the tree. It was near perfect. Once the eggs were placed and the silver and gold ribbon she'd bought strung around the tree and collected at the top in a bow, it would be, hands down, one of the most beautiful tree's she had ever made.

With a satisfied nod, she started for the table. By now the ornaments would be dry. She would just have to add some string and-.

"Son of a-," she yelped when a hole opened in the floor right in front of her. She caught herself just in time and looked down, glaring at a smirking Aster. "Your timing needs improvement."

"You're right. Should have been a second earlier. That would have worked out in my favor."

He started out of the hole and she quickly knelt, putting a hand on his shoulder and stopping him. "Give me an hour and come back, okay?"

His look turned skeptical but he relented with a shrug. "One hour?"

"Yup, just one." Leaning down, she placed a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Think you can wait that long?"

"I think I'll manage," he muttered, though he was already leaning up, searching for something more than an innocent peck. She laughed, moving her hand to the top of his head and pushing down playfully.

"Go on," she commanded softly. "I'll see you in a bit."

Once he was gone she rushed to finish the task of decorating her tree. She would have it done in under an hour. There were just a few more things she needed to put together to make sure that there would be no chance Aster would go into another Christmas acting like a Grinch. A little something extra to seal the deal.

Exactly an hour later down to the very minute, she heard the rush of earth and smiled, plucking a mint melt-away from the bowl she'd placed on the coffee table between two glasses of chilled red wine. The sun was sinking below the horizon, dusk taking over the sky and a fire was going in the festive garland covered hearth to ward off the chill.

Sophie turned to smile at Aster. He started to return the smile when he caught site of the tree behind her and grimaced instead. "Oh, right…that time of year, hm?"

"Oh, come on," she coed, going to him and taking one if his large paws between her hands. "Before you get all grinchy, go look at the tree."

"Soph-."

"Just look," she insisted, pulling him over.

He sighed and followed her, looking like there were several other things he'd rather be doing. And then he went still. His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head ever-so-slightly to the side.

"Are these-."

"Eggs. I lucked out and found all of this at some tiny little craft store. Spent the morning painting the eggs." She tucked her hair behind her ear, feeling slightly self-conscious. She wanted to please him. She realized there was a level of ridiculousness to it. But deep down, this wasn't just about swaying his judgment on Christmas. It was about making him happy. "What do you think?"

He looked down at her with an endearingly confused look on his face. "Soph, you did all of this…for me?"

"Well, yes," she said quietly. "Christmas is such a joyful time of year and…I don't want the person I love to be unhappy when everyone else isn't. And…I want you to love this time of year as much as I do."

"Soph…decoratin' the tree that way…that's amazing. But it's not-."

She pulled him down, silencing him with a kiss that he slowly melted into, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. All of that was short lived though when he got a taste of her. He immediately tensed.

She pulled back, smiling slowly, ignoring the anxiety welling within her at an alarming rate. "I know that a tree isn't going to be enough to get you on board with the whole holiday thing," she whispered. Reaching down, she plucked a mint melt away from the dish and held it up between him. "I've got other plans to make this a time of year you always remember and look forward to."

"Sophie, are you-."

She silenced him again, this time by popping the candy in his mouth. His eyes went wide and very slowly, he started chewing.

"Let's not play that whole first time 'are you sure' game. We're both adults. And we've been together more than long enough" She toyed with his fur, trying to act coy. Inside she was a wreck. Because this would be their first time. And regardless of how they would be avoiding the conversational back-and-forth uncertainty, it didn't change the fact that she was impossibly nervous.

Aster closed his eyes, sighed softly, and when he opened them again the fire blazing in their depths stole her breath away. She watched him carefully as she reached down, stealing another candy and chasing it with a sip of wine. The chilled liquid blended decadently with the chocolate. The second she set the glass aside, she was hauled into his arms and he was kissing her deeply, possessively, chasing away all doubt and leaving nothing in its place but blind, reckless passion. She was helpless to do anything more than cling to him and kiss him back, her body trembling and her blood rushing loudly in her ears.

"I love you, Sophie," he muttered against her lips, easily lifting her in his arms and starting for the bedroom.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

The fact that she'd accomplished what she set out to achieve no longer mattered. They would both have a reason to look forward to this time of year now and no amount of egg and bunny decorated trees would change that.

Much, much later, Sophie lay snuggled against Aster, watching the fire crackle merrily away. Aside from the glow of the flames, the only other light in the room came from the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. The glasses of wine sat half empty, the liquid having long lost its chill.

They'd moved to the couch after spending countless hours discovering every intimate detail there was to know about one another and now lay under a blanket. His fur against her bare skin felt like silk, soft and warm. She sighed, beyond sated, and tucked her head under Aster's chin. His deep chuckle rumbled in her ear and she smiled.

"Happy holidays, Aster," she murmured.

"I'd say." He reached for the dish of melt aways, grabbing one of the last two and holding it in front of her. All she could do was stare at it, thoroughly impressed with his insatiability and wondering if she'd ever be able to keep up.

"Aster, are you sure-?"

"Let's not play that whole first time 'are you sure' game," he said, his voice deep and intoxicating.

As she opened her mouth for the tempting treat, all she could think of was how she couldn't agree more.