"Sophie, is your phone ringing?" Hardison asks when they walk into the cabin.
"I don't think so," she says, reaching into her coat pocket to check. "Nope."
"I could have sworn I heard a ring," he says a bit more pointedly this time. "Must be the radio or something."
"I didn't hear anything," Parker says obliviously.
"I have to finish wrapping presents. Parker, will you help me?" Sophie gets his signal and effortlessly invents a ploy to distract her. "I need you to do the bows for me. Mine always turn out wonky."
"Sure. No problem."
Hardison waits until both ladies are out of sight before frantically sprinting in the opposite direction.
"Do you need any help?" Nate asks, finally catching up with him in the kitchen.
"No-yes…uh…I don't think so," Hardison stammers. "Just sleep in tomorrow," he says, pulling himself together.
"That doesn't look like a ring box," Nate points out, nodding toward the item in the younger man's hands.
"It's the last domino," he clarifies. "Or, the first domino…I can't do metaphors right now!" He puts the item in place then surveys the room for anything that might give him away. "Remember to sleep in. Tell Sophie, too!"
With that he takes off again, leaving a very curious Nate in his wake.
The next morning, Hardison's hands are shaking as he queues up a Christmas mix on his ipod. When Eartha Kitt comes purring out of the speakers he takes a breath and turns toward Parker.
Unaware of his agenda or the nervousness it's causing him, she moves around the kitchen humming along. She's too excited that it's finally Christmas Eve to be bothered by anything else.
"What happened to all the other cereal?" Parker asks, holding up the one and only box in the pantry. It appears to be a generic brand of fruit loops boasting of a toy surprise.
"They expired yesterday," Hardison says, trying to keep his voice even. "Nate threw them out."
"That's weird. We just bought those." She doesn't get hung up on this oddity, but puts the box on the counter. "Do you want some too?"
"Sure." Hardison wipes his sweating palms on his pants when she turns to grab two bowls out of the cupboard. He has the strong urge to take the box and run, but fights it. Instead, he takes the milk from the fridge and two spoons from the drawer and heads toward the table.
In a routine that has been well practiced at their apartment, she pours the cereal and he, the milk. Hardison pretends to be surprised when an object concealed by shiny green plastic plops into the second bowl.
"What's that?" he asks, starting to reach for it.
"My toy surprise!" Parker says, snatching it up. "Hands off!"
It looks professionally packaged, just like every other cheap toy in every other cereal box. She still has no idea that this one is special. She settles in and takes a huge bite before tearing the package open.
"I can't believe Nate's not up yet," she comments idly.
"The music probably scared him away," Hardison replies quickly, having more and more trouble sounding calm. He holds his breath as the contents spill onto the table. There is a long moment of silence as 'Santa Baby' ends and Bing Crosby starts singing about how 'the more you give and Christmastime the more you get.'
Parker picks up the hard plastic cylinder to inspect it more closely. It's larger than a film canister, but smaller than a soda can, and when shaken something can be heard clattering around inside. The outside, except for the top and bottom, is covered with tiny sliding tiles. Whatever picture it is supposed to be depicting is too jumbled to recognize, but is seems to have a Christmas theme.
Hardison cringes while Parker tries every which way to pry it open. Realizing it impossible, she grabs the directions that fell out when the package was ripped. She takes another bite of cereal, skimming over the small print. She finds out that before she can collect her mystery prize, she'll have to unscramble the puzzle. No other way to unlock the cylinder.
On the other side of the directions is a black and white image of what the puzzle should look like. It's Santa Claus tip-toeing past a Christmas tree toward the fireplace as a little girl peeks around the corner.
Parker sets to the task with the same determination she puts toward any other lock or safe. For a moment, Hardison forgets what is at stake and enjoys watching her work. His memory lapse is short lived. After five minutes he's climbing the walls. Again.
He had planned it all. The cereal box, the sliding puzzle, even a speech. (Which, as Nate predicted, he could not remember.) He estimated she would take twenty to thirty minutes to solve it and his mind had played through almost every possible outcome.
What he did not think of was what he would be doing during that time. So far, he was sweating and reminding himself to breathe. He takes an occasional bite for show, not trusting himself to speak. Even if he could come up with something casual to say, there was no telling at what pitch his voice would come out. Most likely a pubescent squeak.
At minute twenty seven,(yes, he's been counting) she slides the very last tile into place. There is a faint click and this time when she pulls, the lid opens easily.
"Ooooh," Parker says dropping the ring into her palm. "Hey, look at my-…huh." She stops abruptly, changing her tone and examining her prize more closely. "I think this is real," she mumbles in shock and confusion.
"It is. I'm sure of it."
"How do you know?" she asks slowly with furrowed brows. Hardison swallows hard and meets her quizzical stare. He doesn't speak right away. Instead, he purposefully pushes himself out of his chair and kneels before Parker, their eyes locked all the while.
"I put it there."
Her mouth starts to move, but no sound comes out.
"It's uh…a blue diamond," Hardison begins to ramble nervously, "Like the Hope Diamond, -but smaller…and not cursed." Not one syllable of his heartfelt, chick-flick worthy proposal is coming back to him. "I had it custom made. At the bottom of the band is your favorite knot and the-"
"Why did you have ring made for me?"
"Because I want you to marry me, Parker," he replies hopefully. "And, you deserve a ring that's worthy of you."
"You want to marry me?" Parker whispers in disbelief. He nods with a hesitant smile. "But you could have somebody better, somebody normal."
"I don't want somebody normal and there's no one better."
"There's probably lots of girls that wouldn't mess up your card tricks," she says, making Hardison glad that he didn't propose on a jumbotron or hire a mariachi band. "I bet there are girls whose feet aren't always freezing when they get into bed…girls who wouldn't steal your wallet…or sneak up on-"
"Parker!" he interrupts then continues less harshly. "I'm sure those girls exist, but I don't want them. I love you." He pauses to take a steadying breath. "All those stupid clichés that Sophie goes on about: kismet and soul mates,... a pearl among oysters…" Sophie scoffs from her hiding place on the stairs, but a warning look from Nate reminds her to keep quiet. "You're it. You're the one for me, Parker. The only one…You always will be. I don't care if you pick my pocket everyday for a hundred years."
"We'll be dead by then."
"So, I'll be an easy mark!" Hardison breaks into a smile, but continues more seriously. "I want to be the one thing you can always count on. The thing you know for sure will be there, on your side, no matter what. You deserve that."
For emphasis, he gently takes her hand, the one that isn't holding the ring, and brings her palm to his heart. "I want to be that for you, if you'll let me…Will you marry me?" He has run out of words, and now must wait.
Parker bites her lip as the seconds stretch out between them. She wants to run.
It's almost a knee jerk reaction. Anytime she has been scared or confused, flight was always her first choice. The pounding of his heart and the raw honesty in his eyes stop her. She knows that if that look was on her face, Hardison would never walk away. She owes him the same courtesy.
It isn't that she wants to say no or break up. She wants to say yes. She's wanted to say yes from the very first moment she realized what he was asking. Unfortunately, that fact terrifies her. Hence the urge to bolt.
Hardison desperately wishes he could read her mind. He can't decide if she looks unsure or confused, but both options concern him. Just when he thinks his heart is going to explode, Parker swallows hard and shakes herself out of her racing thoughts.
"So, it goes on my left hand?" she asks casually, catching him completely off guard.
"Only if it's a yes," he says once he has recovered. "If it's a no, it goes to the bottom of the lake."
"But the lake is frozen."
"I'll have to use Eliot's giant ice drill thingy…"
"No, you won't," Parker says coyly.
"No?"
"Nope."
"Does that mean-"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes."
"Yes!" Hardison shouts, rocketing up and pulling Parker with him. He pauses long enough for her to slip the ring on the appointed finger then picks her up and starts jumping around. She starts to cry and laugh simultaneously which makes their kiss very sloppy and a little salty. Hardison finally places her back on her feet and carefully wipes the tears off her cheeks.
"Are you sure?" he asks, still cupping her face in his hands.
"I'm so sure, it scares the hell out of me."
"Me, too."
"That was the sweetest thing I've ever seen!" Sophie blurts out, unable to contain herself any longer. She quickly swipes at her eyes and rushes over to them, hugs and kisses all around.
"I missed the beginning, but the end wasn't bad," Eliot comments. "I give it a seven."
"It was iffy at the start," Nate says, his hand wavering back and worth. "But, he turned it around."
"Like a champ," Hardison gloats. Eliot ignores his arrogance and envelopes Parker in a warm hug.
"You sure you want to settle for this guy?" he jokes.
"Absolutely!"
"Are you sure it's real?" Kasey asks Parker skeptically.
"Trust me. I know diamonds." The two are frosting cookies in the dining room because the kitchen is overflowing with people.
"It doesn't look real. It's blue."
"It's a blue diamond," Parker explains. "They're rare."
"Are there pink diamonds?"
"Yeah, they're rare, too."
"Well, when I get married I want a pink diamond," Kasey announces.
"I have a pink diamond, but it's a necklace, not a ring."
"Did Alec give you that one too?" she asks with wide eyes.
"No, I stole-"
"Bought!" Sophie interrupts, having walked in just in time. "She worked really hard and bought it for herself." She gives Parker a look as she transfers more cookies from the sheet in her hand to the cooling rack on the table.
"Yep, I bought it to reward myself for…remembering to floss everyday," she fumbles with the lie.
"I hate flossing," Kasey groans and goes back to frosting.
Sophie starts whispering to Parker that she better not be putting any other bad ideas into the little girl's head, but the thief isn't listening. She stands and walks to the kitchen doorway. After leaning her head into the room for a moment, she turns back to Sophie with an odd look.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you smell something burning?"
"This is the day of my engagement, and instead of letting me spend some quality time with my lady, I'm freezing my butt off with you guys."
"I've been stuck in a houseful of women all week," Eliot reminds him. "And, it's not that cold."
"If it's cold enough for a pickup truck to drive on water, it's too cold," Hardison grumbles through the scarf bundled around his face.
"It's not so bad," Nate shrugs taking a swig from his flask.
"I hope you know I'm not going to touch a dead fish," he stipulates sternly.
"They're still alive when you take the hook out," Eliot says, enjoying Hardison's disgust. "Oh yeah, they flop around a lot longer than you'd expect."
"That is nasty."
"But it will be delicious," Nate points out.
"I've got a great recipe for this lemon buerre blanc," Eliot brags. "Hardison, I think you have a bite." The hacker isn't paying attention, he's consumed with something on his phone. "I'm going to throw that thing in the lake if you don't put it away!"
"I have a trip set up in the county dispatchers office," he explains. "I get a warning if anything goes down with Evan James or the shelter."
"What's going on?" Nate asks in concern.
"We gotta go."
"What's happening at the shelter?" Eliot demands.
"I don't know, but the Fire Department is on the way."
the job is far from over. more on the way. i had a really hard time deciding how the proposal should go down, but i hope you all liked it.