so I know its April and way past christmas but I couldn't resist writing this chapter so I hope you guys love it. Also thank you so much to those who have sent me pms or who has favourited/followed/ reviewed my story. so please keep it up because I love hear from you
chapter 14: dust to dust
When Mia got back to Portland she had the unfortunate pleasure of telling both Nick and Monroe what had happened on her to the council including Alexander trying to kiss her, at first Monroe wanted to go to Venice to beat him up with Nick as back up while Nick wanted to hear every single detail including if she wanted him to kiss her then he focused on the fact she had slapped him as a form of response. For a while things were little tense between them since he was still convinced that the council might be following her after she had blackmailed them and that she might have some unresolved feelings for Alexander despite her protests, however he eventually realised that she was not the type of person to cheat on him. Soon they began to get better as it came into December which was her favourite month of the year more since she would be closer to Monroe this year plus it was her first christmas with Nick. He realised that the love of christmas must be something that runs in their family, he often joked with her by saying that she was like a kid in a candy store as her eyes lit up whenever she saw anything remotely related to christmas. This only got worse when her two week holiday break started since she had all day to do christmas related things, she had promised Monroe that she would help him put up all of his decorations as a surprise for Rosalee. Mia decided to wear jeans, a green christmas jumper with gingerbread men, a black tank top and brown knee high boots. She wore her hair in a fishtail braid on one side while her bangs were loose around her face, her light eye makeup and her lips gloss was pink. Since it was beginning to get colder Mia wore a brown coat that matched her brown bag, a matching green hat and fingerless glove set with a plaid green scarf. Mia carefully followed Monroe's instruction such enter through the back door and to park her car a block away from his house in case Rosalee spotted her, which meant she was left outside waiting till Rosalee had left before she was allowed into the house.
"She didn't see you did she?… Wait where did you park?" he said suddenly panicking that they were going to found out before he had chance to do this for Rosalee, he knew that his sister was the perfect person to help him since she wanted to him to be happy but she also loved anything to do with christmas so it was more fun than work for her.
" No she didn't and I parked all the way down the street which is in the opposite direction of the spice shop so she won't see it" she said trying to calm him down as she took of her hat and gloves before putting them into her bag that lay on the chair along with her coat, Monroe checked the time before grabbing a hold of her hand.
" Ok com on, we don't have a lot of time and you know how much stuff we need to put up. Its usually a two day job but then again theres always just me doing it" he said as they walked up the stairs to the attic where he kept all of his decorations that was spreading out into 42 boxes, some of it were things from their childhood like the homemade decorations that he just loved.
" I don't think it will takes us that long, anyways are you sure that this isn't something that you and Rosalee should be doing together? Although I get the whole surprise thing and more than happy to help" she said not wanting him to think she was complaining, it was just something that was playing on her mind since she felt like she taking something away from Rosalee
" We can create memories like that next year or the year after, she'll only ever seen this first time once so I want her to see it all set up to get the full wow factor of it" he said grabbing boxes as she did the same, she couldn't help but smile when she heard her brother talk about the future. She loved that he had finally found the girl for him.
" Wait she hasn't seen anything of this yet? about last year?" she asked as they set their boxes down in the living before heading back upstairs to get some more as well going into one of the cupboards near his work station where he had slowly stashing some of the decorations to make the work go faster and easier for them
" she was away looking after her aunt which meant she missed it plus we weren't properly together until she came back" he said as grabbing the last of the boxes while she began to sort her way through, Mia couldn't resist the urge to stop at certain decorations since some meant more to her and Monroe than others
" you know letting her see all of this when its all up and pretty is probably good idea because when its like this its kind of daunting" she said laughing, this reminded her of when they were little as they used to help their parents decorate the house and the garden
"yeah that's putting it mildly, so how's your first christmas experience going with Nick?" he asked remembering that not only was it his proper christmas with Rosalee but it was also Nick and Mia's first christmas together and Mia's christmas in Portland
" so far so good, I mean about a week ago we decorated the house together and he even let me put some lights outside like along the roof but he did make me promise to keep the decorate to a mild degree" she said laughing as she remembered how he warned her to not go board like she was used to or like Monroe's house, he had said that it was times like this when he was reminded that they were related
" yeah I know he told me that if he was ever in doubt that you were my sister then your love for christmas totally confirmed it" he said laughing as he began to the train set while she began to gather the things for the tree so that she could get started on the tree that he had cleverly hidden till now
" well I'm trying so hard to not scare with my crazy obsession of christmas, hey that reminds me what are you getting Rosalee for christmas?" she asked knowing that she had a shopping trip with Rosalee the next day so that she could the last of the little bits she still had to get
" I went with her favourite perfume and I found this really rare book about different wesen species and their background in it, I mean I know it seems really dorky but its actually really interesting. Do you think she like it?" he asked suddenly worried that Rosalee wasn't going to like the present he had gotten her, he also had small little things for her but the perfume and book was her main presents from him
" true its very dorky but so are you two, she is going to love it Roe honestly" she said giving him a reassuring smile as she began to hang some of the decorations on the tree in the same way her mother had taught her when she was little, her mother had also decorated the inside while her dad and Monroe decorated the outside
"what did you get Nick?" he asked knowing that Nick was stressing out about what to get her so he figured that this was the prefect chance to find out if she was doing the same
"I decided to get him this collection of children's books written by Margery Williams which includes the Velveteen Rabbit, there's a long and heart felt story to go with it" she said knowing that he was going to love it, as soon as he had told her the story about his childhood that involved the stories she knew exactly she was going to do
" that sounds sweets…. hey do you remember making this with mom?" he said holding out a decoration that she had made with their mom when she was three, she had covered the snowflake ornament in glitter since she was going through her love of shiny things
"Oh god I didn't know you had that one, I'd love to say my arts and crafts skills improved when I got older but we both know thats not true" she said laughing as she got up from her spot at the tree to walk into the kitchen to make them some peppermint tea
"not true, you're really good at drawing and painting and whatnot. I mean I still have the painting you made for my birthday last year hanging up in my office" he said knowing that lots of people who went in there often complimented it and asked where he had gotten which meant he could brag about how talented his little sister was
" thats more of a hobby than a talent….. do you remember that christmas where mom and dad decided to make a game out of giving us our presents by making it a treasure hunt?" she said moving away from that subject since it made her a little embarrassed, she reentered the living room with two cups of peppermint tea decorated with candy cane hanging off the mug like how they were used to
"yeah I hated those clues on the map, I remember at one point that you threw your map on the floor and sat in huff till dad lifted you and helped you find them" he said as she gave him a mocking pouty face, she knew even then that her dad never could resist her sad pouty face where her mother knew when she was acting and not
" I like that we go overboard with christmas as a family, is mom and dad mad that we're staying here for christmas this year?" she asked taking a sip of her tea before steadying the ladders so that she could do the top part of the tree since she couldn't reach that high without them
" well they were a little but then I kinda mention how hard it would be to go home and that this way they could go to great uncle Wilhelm's for christmas" he said as he began to look through another box of decorations for more things to hang up on the walls, he knew that she was worried about offending them
" did you mention anything about Nick or Rosalee?" she asked knowing he would understand that she wanted to keep their relationships hidden from their parents until they had to tell them, they both knew that the longer they knew nothing about them the better it was for everyone
" no I said that I had tons of last minute clock repairs and that you had taken on some babysitting jobs, I made our excuse" he told making sure that their reasons were believable so that their parents would buy them, Mia then went to put on christmas songs so that they could sing along to them
Later in the afternoon they had finally finished so Mia decided to make herself scarce for when Rosalee came home. On her way home she decided to stop into a supermarket on the way home to get some baking supplies so she could bake some christmas cookies and cupcakes. When Nick finally come home later that night he realised that he could smell something sweet as he opened the door, he followed the sweet scent into the kitchen where Mia was dancing along to the christmas music that was playing as she began to add green food colouring into a bowl of icing. He noticed that there cake tins on the counter near him filled with gingerbread men and christmas cookies that still needed to decorated with inning, he quickly stole one before she could notice. Mia had taken off her christmas jumper which meant that she was now wearing her black tank top that was covered slightly in flour, she also had flour and other baking ingredients including icing on her face. Mia was still enthusiastically stirring the mixture in the bowl as Nick out down his cookie and began to wrap his around her waist with her back pressed against his chest.
"I should have figured that only time you would bake would be at christmas time, you are so Monroe's sister!"he said making them both laugh as he began to kiss her neck slightly distracting her from the task at hand, she grabs the piping bag and begins to fill it with the finished green icing
"ha ha, when I got home I just had urge to bake and plus its not christmas till you have some of my famous christmas tree cupcakes. I figured you could some to the guys in the prescient like Hank and Wu, I tend to bake way to much" she said gesturing to the large amount of things she had already made, he knew there was no way they were going to eat them themselves and that was when he noticed one of the cake tins had Rosalee's and Monroe's names on it.
"you realise if you do that then they're going to fall in love with you and I don't think I'm ready to share you yet" he said giving her a cheeky smile as he took the now empty bowl from her so that he could use his finger to lick what was left of the icing, he sneakily put some icing on his finger to cover the end of her nose with it
" like I would let you share me…. how was work? Did you get any interesting cases?" she asked as she began to put the icing on the cupcakes as he headed to the coffee machine so that he could put a fresh pot of coffee on, although he had a feeling that Mia might already be on a sugar high
"kinda yeah, I mean its defiantly a weird one…. this morning me and Hank were called to a crime scene to then find out that our victim wasn't actually dead and then at the hospital he told us that Santa attacked him and kidnapped his friend" he said causing her to give him an amused look as she grabbed the white and red decorative balls to sprinkle onto her cupcake and finally finished it with a star on top
" seriously? That takes a whole new meaning to Santa punishing the naughty kids, here you can be the first one try my cupcakes….so a guy dressed like Santa is kidnapping kids?" she asked thinking that it turned something that brought happiness and brightness to some people's lives into something dark and grim as she handed him the finished cupcake before returning to the others
"oh wow! This is so good! and yeah this guy is taking the whole Santa thing a little far if you ask me, I mean he's left two lumps of coal at both crime scenes" he said eating his cupcake, although he didn't miss the the reaction that that piece information caused Mia to have. She stopped what she was doing and turned to face looking ever so slightly scared as she began to think things through
" wait coal? no it couldn't be….I mean it kinda sounds like… but there's no way it could be because that is one myth is just a myth… never mind me, I'm talking crazy" she after talking to herself at first, he wondered what she was thinking but decided not to press her on it since it seemed like whatever it was scared like nothing ever had before
" ok…. anyways it turns out that Bud is friends with the father of one of the kids that were kidnapped which actually helped a little since he was able to convince him that I was there to help and not to cut his head off" he said watching as she put the finishing touches on the rest of the cupcakes before placing them into a cake tins so that she could place then into the fridge to keep them cool
" wow that must be hard on him and his friend, I couldn't image what he must be going through. Although it must bring Bud some comfort to know that you and Hank are on the case" she said stopping what she was doing so that she could go to him and wrap her arms around him to give him a hug since she knew that cases like this had to be hard, especially at this time of year
" yeah they both seemed so worried, I just to find this guy before he does anything to these kids…..Anyways how was you day with Monroe?" he asked wanting to talk about happier things as he took her hand and began to lead her towards the couch in the living room, he figured she could take a break from baking to wind down with him
" it was good actually, we managed to get all of the decoration up and it looks amazing so hopefully Rosalee loves it as much as I do… Look at it!" she said very excited as she grabbed her phone out of her pocket to show him the pictures she had taken of Monroe's house once they had finished putting everything up
" wow that is something, I'm glad you listened to me when I suggested we calm it down with the amount of things we put up" he said running his hand throw her hair as she lay her head on his lap, he could patches of white in her hair where she had somehow managed to get flour
"well relationships are all about compromises right? plus it was nice to talk to Monroe about our memories and stuff, did you know that my parents once caught me sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night one christmas eve?" she said making him laugh as he imagined a much younger Mia in her christmas eve pajamas trying to be as quiet as can be
"were you trying to catch Santa? wait how old were you?" he asked wondering why she would be sneaking down, although he knew how she was caught since she had habit of thinking she was being quiet when in fact she was super loud as she heavily tiptoed and tended to walk into things
"no I wish it was something that cute, every year my mom would make cookies with us to leave Santa with a glass of milk and honey. So when I was four I decided to go downstair and eat them, they caught me midway through eating one of Rudolf's legs" she said as they both began to laugh as the image filled with their head of her being caught eating a cookie with a flashlight as if she was being interrogated like one of those cop movies
" aww thats so cute, hey I have an idea… why don't you go and grab one of your photo albums of you growing up and I'll down the same then we can swap them?" he said really wanting to see what she looked like when she was little, although he had seen photos of her at Monroe's house since he had pictures of them all over the place
"ok but you can't judge me on my hair decisions" she said firmly before running to the bedroom where she kept all of things like that, she suddenly so happy neither of them had anything to hide like her being wesen or him being a Grimm or even her past with the council
The next day Mia and Nick had both woke up both the alarm so they decided to talk and kiss till the alarm went off signalling that they had to get up so Nick quickly got dressed and then went downstairs to put a pot of coffee on while Mia got dressed for her day with Rosalee. Mia decided to wear a lilac embroidered tank top, black floral print shorts, black tights, grey knee high socks and black boots. She twisted the front sections of her hair before holding them in place at the back of head with a floral clasp, she wore dark smokey eye make up which brought out the colour of her brown eyes and a very light pink lip gloss. She grabbed her lilac striped scarf and her black bag that held all of essentials for the day like her purse and phone before heading downstairs. She headed into the kitchen where she poured herself a cup of coffee while Nick went outside to grab the mail from the mailbox. Mia then decided to head into the living to watch the news to catch up on recent event before she went to meet Rosalee, she was taking a sip of coffee when all of a suddenly Nick and Hank appeared on the tv. The footage showed them chasing a man dressed like Santa before Nick tackled him to the ground and began to punch him.
" Nick! I think you need to come in here and see this!" she said called on him as he reentered the house pausing in the hallway as he began to read the mail, when he walked into the living room he realised it must be the footage from the night before when they arrest the food vendor
" oh yeah I kinda forgot to mention that part last night didn't I?" he asked as he listened to the report talk about brutality of the police force and whether or not they were abusing their power, he hated to see the reaction of the children around him in the footage. Even worse he hated the thought that one day his child might be find it online and see it
"how can you forget about arresting Santa? I always knew you were a christmas hating grinch" she said trying not to laugh as she mocked him on his latest arrest, he knew that he had all of this to look forward to when he got to work because he knew that more than a few people would something to say
" he was more than just a Santa, he was Schakal and he ran from us like he was guilty…. do you mind getting that for me?" he said gesturing to the door that someone had just knocked on, he hated to think of the possibility that might be reporters or some unhappy parents waiting to give him a piece of their mind
" sure…. Oh hey Bud I heard about your friend's son, I hope he's doing ok with everything and please don't hesitate to let me know if theres anything I can do to help" she said as she opened the door further so that he could step inside as Nick began to walk towards the door to see what was going on
" oh hi Mia I mean good morning and Merry Christmas, Nick did you find Quinn yet? I heard about the arrest you made last night, you know the Santa that you were beating up. Is that the guy?" he said without so much as taking a pause, Mia had to stop herself from laughing as Bud reminded her of the infamous Eisbiber behaviour where they were scared and a little nervous all the time
"we don't know yet" he said not wanting to give away the few details of the case they had actually, he knew that this kind of situation was hard for the friends and family to deal with which is why he was doing his best to solve it
" didn't you find anything ?" Bud asked thinking that maybe he could shed some light on the situation since it was possible he might know something that Nick or Mia didn't, especially if it involved Quinn
"all we found were two lumps of coals, I'm sorry Bud but I got to get to work and don't worry I'll let you know if I find anything" he said as he walked over to where Mia was to grab his coat as well as to give her a kiss goodbye and whisper in her ear that he loved her before leaving the house
" two lumps of coal? did he say two lumps of coal?" he asked Mia who knew exactly what he was thinking as it was same thing that had popped into her head when she heard the same piece of information but she instead walked into the kitchen to grab the cake tin labelled for Bud and his wife
" yeah he did and I know what you're thinking but thats impossible, he's just myth you know a story we tell our kids to scare them…..Here I baked these for you and your family, Merry Christmas Bud" she said handing him the cake tin in hopes to temporarily distract him from thinking any more about the two lumps of coal that was left at the crime scene
" aw thank you Mia, I'm sure they are going to love these and Merry Christmas" he said surprising her with a hug as he pulled him closer to him before leaving to head back to Quinn's house to comfort his father some more
After Mia grabbed her things to head to the mall where her and Rosalee had agreed to meet so that they could do some last minute shopping for christmas things such as stocking presents or anything that really caught their eye, Mia still had to get her parents something from both her and Monroe since they weren't going home. Once they had finished at the mall they headed to the spice shop where Rosalee made them a pot of tea to drink they discuss everything that happened the night before. Mia already knew that Monroe and spent the night taking everything down due to Rosalee's dislike of christmas since he had called her that morning as she drove to meet her. It put her between a hard place and a rock since she could understand both point of views, she knew that sometimes life could put a damper on celebrations like these but she also knew that sometimes you had to take the small moments to live and make the most of it.
" I feel horrible, its our first official christmas together and I ruined it" Rosalee said as she poured Mia and her some tea into their cups then began to play with the tea bag to let it brew a little, she kept seeing the look on his face as she told him she hated christmas in her head as it kept playing in a loop
" you didn't ruin it" Mia said trying to comfort her since she knew it could be hard to fake that kinda happiness when there was a genuine reason why she hated the holiday
"I ruined and you should have seen the look on his face, I mean out all the people Monroe could be with and he chose the one person that hates christmas. Everything out there is so red and green and I just feel so blue, I just want this to be over. You know Monroe loves this holiday, he's so cute and I just don't know what to do. I know you're his sister and I didn't really want to drag you into this but I didn't know who else to talk about this with" she said having a slight right, she suddenly felt bad that she was complaining about this to his sister
" its fine I'm kinda already dragged into since I helped set it all up" she said placing her tea cup down as she turned to Rosalee with a slightly guilty look on her face, she was suddenly so glad that her and Nick had talked about these things before she did any of her usual christmas things
" he asked you for help?" she asked wondering why it had occurred to her before that Mia would have somehow been involved, she knew that Monroe loved having her around and took any opportunity for them to spend time together
" yeah did you see how many christmas decorations there were? that is a big job, I mean there were 42 boxes filled to brim. I don't want to get in middle of things because it is between you two but have you tried coming up with some kind of compromise? like making a tradition that means something to both of you?" she suggested wanting to see them both happy since she knew this was difficult situation for both of them,
" you mean I should bury the past?" Rosalee asked thinking that after all these years maybe it was time to move past their deaths and celebrate the holiday she often dreaded in order to make Monroe happy
"no I'm not saying that, you know me and Nick had this talk at the beginning of December about what were we used in terms of christmas. In the end I agreed to calm it down slightly and he agreed to do some of my traditions, we were brought polar opposite experiences in terms of christmas" she told her remembering the stories he had told her about the christmases he had spent with his parents before they had died compared to the ones he spent with his Aunt Marie
"I don't know, its been so long since I celebrated it and the only thing I really remember is beer and cigars"she said with the faint traces of a smile as a memory suddenly popped into her head from when she was little back when her aunt and uncle were alive
" wait beer and cigars?" Mia asked wondering how that fitted into christmas, she could tell that whatever it was had a happy memory attached to it based on Rosalee's reaction
"my aunt used to leave Santa beer and cigars rather than cookies and milk but I'm afraid thats not much of a tradition…. can I ask you something? why do you and Monroe love christmas so much?" she said smiling since she knew that they both seemed to come alive when it was christmas time and to someone who fell out of love with the holiday it seemed interesting
" well when we were little it was mostly because our family made a big deal out of it and then when I left to join the council it was kinda the only time we saw each other. So we tried to cram a year's worth of bonding into a week, we got excited because we knew we would see each other and get to spend time together" she said knowing it was nothing special but it showed Rosalee once again how much Monroe loved his sister, it was something she admired about him
" I have an idea and I think I might need you help if you're willing but first I need to find a way to get Monroe out of the house" she asked as she realised that she wanted her future kids to get excited about christmas they way they did, rather than to be doom and gloom about the holiday like she was
" I can get Nick to get him to help with his latest case rather than me if you want" she said thinking that she had a pretty good guess at they were going to do as she took her phone out and began to text Nick to ask Monroe for help with the kidnapping case so that she and Rosalee could have the house to themselves
Nick then texted Mia that they had left the house to find the Krampus who had taken the teenagers, after texting him back to be careful her and Rosalee snuck into the house. Mia and Rosalee began to get all the boxes out of the attic where Monroe had put them the night before, they then began to hang the decorations up like her and Monroe had done the day before. While they worked Rosalee asked Mia to tell her the stories that went with certain decorations such as the one eyed reindeer that had Monroe's name on it although it had been misspelled by a six year old Monroe. It lead to Rosalee opening up to some of the best christmases she had had with her aunt and uncle before they had died. When they had eventually finished it was late in the night so Mia promised to drive home safely in night while Rosalee headed into the kitchen to get the finishing touches ready as she placed a cigar on a plate and poured a bottle of beer into a glass before putting them on the coffee table. Mia decided to lay on the couch with a blanket covering her till Nick came home since she knew that he was going after something that even scared her, before she fell asleep she left his present on the table so that he would notice it when he came in. It was early in the morning when Nick finally got home after leading a very weird interrogation and updating one of the Grimm books with Hank, he suddenly felt so bad when he spotted Mia sleeping peacefully on the couch and he instantly she had been waiting up for her. As he took off his jacket and shoes she began to stir
"is this you just getting in from last night? how did it go?" she asked wrapping the blanket around her as she sat up realising that he was finally home, once he was sorted he made his way towards then gestured for her to snuggle into him as he placed her legs on top of his
"yeah I'm sorry me and Hank decided to head to the trailer to enter some information that we had learned about the Krampus last night. Thankfully we managed to save all 21 of the children and teens that had been taken, how was your night?" he asked watching as she began to close her eyes again, he could tell that she was exhausted or at least had been when she got in last night since she still had yesterday's clothes on
" it was good, me and Rosalee managed to put all the decorations back up before it got too late so I'm hoping it all stays up this time because I'm not doing it a third time" she said giving a small laugh as she snuggled closer to him as she breathed in his familiar scent that all seemed to comfort her
" hey what's this?" he said picking up the present with him name on it that was laying on the table, he wondered briefly if she has meant to leave there or had forgotten to put it away before he got home
"its one of your presents from me, I know we agreed to exchange presents on christmas eve and christmas day but I couldn't wait to see your face when you opened it so I figured I'd give it to you now if you want" she said knowing that this was the one present she was most excited about, she was suddenly wide awake in the hopes that he might open it
" fine but if I'm going to do that then you get to open one of yours " he said getting up from the couch to get something out of the cabinet nearest them where he had hidden her present, he decided to pick the present that he knew she would love
" ok on the count of three… one, two, three…oh wow Nick this is…wow " she said as they began to open their present as they sat facing each other on the couch, as she opened the present she saw a small jewellery box as soon as she opened she fell in love with the necklace inside. It was vintage styled necklace that held a picture of a white wolf sitting on the moon as it howled up to the stars around it
" do you like it? I mean I was a little worried about the whole wolf thing but the minute I saw it I thought of you, if you-" he began to say before she stopped him rambling on as she crashed her lip against his to show how much she loved it
" I love it, seriously! now come on open yours" she said as he gently placed her necklace around her neck being careful not to catch any of her hair in the clasp, she then turned around to urge him to finish unwrap his present
" Oh my god, Margery Williams books and the Velveteen Rabbit…" he said as he flicked through the familiar books that held so much happiness and memories that it was almost overwhelming for him
" yeah I remembered that story you told me a couple of weeks ago about how your mom and dad used to read those books every night before the accident and then you know how you lost them so I figured…" she said trailing of the end since she wasn't sure how to explain her thought process that she had went through when deciding to get them for him
" but that was months ago, I love you like so much I mean you're the best" he said pulling her into passion filled kiss that expressed everything he felt for her in that moment, he knew this was begin of many christmas together that they had to come
" I love you too" she said as she began to intensify their kiss, suddenly glad that he had loved her gift as much as she thought he would