Christmas morning dawns bright and a little chilly. Tonya grimaces and wrinkles her nose, shifting around and rolling towards the main source of heat near her. Something strong and certain curls around her and she sighs, nuzzling deeper into the solid line of warmth, exhaling softly. Reality creeps in little by little despite how comfortable she is, and she hums, listening to the soft sounds of breathing next to her.
Her eyes slowly flutter open and she watches Donno inhale and exhale evenly, still deeply asleep despite her stirring. She smiles, examines his expression with soft eyes, and presses more into him. It's their second Christmas together, and the fact that they've made it this far leaves her in awe as she presses her face in closer and feels his chest rise and fall with each breath.
It had been a worrisome, long year spent with him mostly recovered from the gunshot wound that had nearly killed him just for the surgical site to become infected months later. But now they're here, and he's doing good, and she enjoys moments like this, when the apartment is quiet and she can just digest how far they've come. They live together now, for one thing, and whatever uncertainties there had been regarding their feelings for each other had been resolved a long time ago. To her relief, and his.
She's still laying there, listening to him, when she hears something else- the soft click of cupboards opening and closing, faint footsteps wandering the kitchen below. She sighs, knowing what this means, and slowly sits up, examining his peacefully sleeping face for a few moments before leaning down and kissing him. "Donno," she whispers against his lips. "Honey, wake up."
He groans and shakes his head, arms wrapping snugly around her and pulling her closer to him. "No," he mumbles, Tonya huffing out a laugh against his jaw.
"Please?" she attempts.
"This is all that I want for Christmas," he says, suddenly opening one eye to stare at her. "Sleep. Right here. With you like this." He hugs her tighter and she blows out a laugh, leaning into him.
"That's all?" she asks, hovering only inches away from his lips. "Nothing else?"
"Well, maybe one thing else," he grumbles, and she laughs, kissing him.
"I wish I could give you that, but unfortunately if we don't get moving, we're going to have company in here soon and I doubt either of us really want that."
Donno tenses, then exhales, both eyes opening this time as he stares at Tonya. "Ren," he mumbles.
"Ren," Tonya agrees, leaning in to kiss him once more. "I promise we'll do whatever you want to do for New Years. But right now..."
"Yep," he sighs, reluctantly letting go of her. "I'm movin'. I'm movin'."
Tonya giggles and gets up too. "It's Christmas morning," she says, rounding the bed and hugging him. "We don't have to get dressed. Rumpled is in."
He shrugs, staring at her. "If you're sure."
"I am." Kissing him again, she eases away and grips his hand. "C'mon."
They walk together downstairs to the kitchen, finding Ren sitting at the bar with a plate of eggs and sausage in front of her, hashbrowns sizzling in the pan behind her.
"About time you two lovebirds join me," she says, quirking an eyebrow at them. "Long night?"
Donno's face reddens but he ignores her, shifting past her to get to the coffee. "Where's the-"
Before he can ask, a mug is pressed into his hand and Ren pushes him back out towards one of the stools. "Don't even bother," she says. "I'm cooking for you both this morning. Sit down, relax. I've got everything under control."
She does, Donno and Tonya both know this. The only one as efficient in a kitchen as Donno is her, since they'd spent so much time cooking together whenever having some downtime from her family and whatever drama was brewing with the business. So Donno sits next to Tonya and they wait patiently for their meal, Tanya smiling as she leans against him and hums, enjoying the lazy camaraderie of the holiday.
Ren finishes the rest of breakfast pretty quickly, setting plates in front of Donno and Tonya before joining them. "So," she says with a smile. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Gifts," Tonya says immediately, at the same time Donno says, "Monopoly."
Ren points from one to the other, nodding vehemently. "Yes!" she says with a laugh, chewing thoughtfully on some hashbrowns. "I love monopoly, too bad I could never play it without my brother acting like he was about to murder someone." Her smile looks a little forced, weary. "Guess I won't have to worry about that here today, huh?"
"We'll keep the knives away," Tonya teases, lightly patting Donno on the arm as he makes a face at her.
Ren observes them for a few moments before humming. "You two are good together," she says, surprising both of them. "I wasn't sure Donno would ever find someone. Which was fine, he was a good friend to have around. But then you came around and his priorities shifted. I didn't really understand it at first, but I think... I get it now." She looks between them for a few moments, then smiles, more sincerely than before. "I'm happy as long as you're happy, Donno."
Donno swallows down some juice and frowns at her. "Are you happy, Ren?"
She mulls this over for a few moments, looking up at him after a few minutes. "Yeah," she says. "I'm getting there." She smiles at him, and he nods.
"If you ever need anything," he says.
"I know where to find you," she says, reaching over and resting her hand on his. "Don't worry, I'm doing fine."
"Good," he says quietly.
They finish eating relatively quickly and head back upstairs to collect gifts from hiding spots before reuniting in the living room.
"I generally hate couples gifts," Ren begins as she hands over a relatively large box to Donno. "But I saw this, and thought you two would appreciate it."
Donno and Tonya exchange glances before working together to open it. As soon as Donno gets a glimpse of what's inside, he drops his head back and laughs, Tonya shortly following suit. "I'm surprised you didn't get us a set of sticks," Donno says with a smirk, pulling out a knife set and placing it on the table, examining it closely.
"Next year," Ren says with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Here," Tonya says, handing over a thin box to Ren.
Ren hums, rattles it playfully a couple of times before opening it. There's a card inside which she reads out loud with a dazed look on her face. "IOU, one free real estate consultation whenever you decide to come home." She looks up, her eyes looking misty, and quickly stands, motioning to Tonya, who joins her with some nervousness. It eases away, however, when Ren hugs her tightly. "Thank you," she murmurs. "I may take you up on that some day."
"I hope you do," Tonya says, smiling at her as she settles back in next to Donno. "And you," she says to him, amused as he blinks at her. "Here is yours."
He opens it carefully, then looks up at her.
"One of my clients raved about this," she says, reaching into the box and tugging out a razor kit. "Says it's the easiest razor he'd ever used. I thought perhaps it would help you." After Donno's recovery, he had decided to make some changes- cutting his hair a bit shorter again, and trimming his beard down significantly. It had made his face softer, somehow, or maybe that was just life now, she's not sure, but either way, keeping his beard tamed had been more of a struggle than he'd expected. And thus the gift. "I hope it helps," she says softly.
"I'm sure it will," he says, running his fingers over the box. "Thank you." He leans in and kisses her quickly, before handing over her gift. "This is yours."
She smiles at him. "Thank you." When she opens it up, she finds a book inside, curiosity almost overwhelming her as she carefully pulls it out to look over. She opens it and flicks through the pages, her lips parting as she stares down at it. "Donno," she breathes out.
He shifts and clears his throat, eyes darting around the way they do when he's uncomfortable or nervous. "Uh," he says. "Yeah. Those are my grandmother's recipes. What of them I could remember, anyway." He scratches at his forehead anxiously then exhales. "I wanted you to have them."
Tonya's chest aches a little as she brushes her fingers over the carefully written pages, thinking again about how he had almost died twice in the last sixteen months, and now... Now he's passed this on to her, so he's not the only carrier of these memories, what little good remains of his turbulent childhood. "I'll treasure them," she promises, carefully setting the book aside and hugging him tightly. "Thank you."
He nods, hugging her back, exhaling softly as she pulls away and kisses him, cradling his face in her hands like she had that horrible night all of those months ago.
"I love you," Tonya murmurs to him, tracing her fingers over his jaw.
"Love you too," he says, hands resting on her waist as he holds her close.
Ren gives them a few moments before clearing her throat awkwardly. "So, how about that Monopoly?"
Tonya chuckles and pulls away. "Yes, time for me to wipe the floor with both of you," she says cheerfully, scooping down to pick the knife set up. "I'll get rid of these, you find the game, Donno."
"Yes, ma'am," he says, slowly getting up and wandering off to the closet.
Ren watches them go and smiles, shaking her head as she settles back to wait. All in all, it's been the best Christmas she's had in a long time.
