Short chapter today, 'cos I'm working on stuff and my hayfever is killing me :(
To Riordanlover16- No, no, you didn't jinx it! XD If (and when) there will be violence, no-one is safe :3
To valdeznation- NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo I am not Antoinette, just Toni! My name is not short for anything, I am just Toni cos I am cool like that ;) Is that a good vomit or a bad vomit? :P
"I don't think I'll ever eat again," Leo groaned. Louisa snickered and he rolled his head towards her, pouting at her lack of sympathy. "Gonna explode," he muttered.
"Ssh!" Estelle put a finger to her lips. "It's present time!" She was standing guard by the tree, rocking on the soles of her feet while waiting for everyone else to join them. She was watching Leo expectantly, her eyes so much like her mother's and riddled with all the lights of the Christmas tree. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Aren't you helping?"
"With what?"
"Handing out the presents."
"Do you want me to help?"
"You're an elf, aren't you? Isn't it your job?" Leo glanced at Louisa, saw she was biting her lip to hide a smile.
"You, young madam," he said to Estelle, "are a fearsome boss." She beamed at him, standing tall. Leo flailed his hands. "You'll have to help me you though, I've eaten too much." She latched onto his hands, giving it her all. He groaned and huffed and strained, making a show of being stuck in his seat. Estelle tugged and pulled, feet digging into the carpet as she leaned her weight back.
"Up!" she commanded. Leo suddenly sprung free, staggering madly in circles, arms pinwheeling.
"Whoa, whoa!" he said, overbalancing this way and that dramatically. Estelle squealed and crashed into him.
"Mind the tree, mind the tree!"
Leo held his arms out, half-crouching to steady himself. Estelle eyed him warily and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Look at that," he grinned. "You little trooper, you." He ruffled her hair and she laughed.
The others finally sat, wedging themselves on the couches. Percy sat on the floor so Annabeth could have the seat. Louisa was perched on the arm behind him, knees drawn up, Bradley snoozing in her arms. Tobias was jumping on the cushions next to his mother, stilling when Nana Sally sat next to him.
Leo sat cross-legged on the floor, the tree's branches bristling on his arm. Estelle hopped from foot to foot, hands opening and closing in silent demand for the first present, scrabbling it around to find the label.
"This is for… Percy! From me!"
And so it went. Leo would pull a present at random from beneath the tree, Estelle would read the label aloud and then deliver it. All the gifts from her were handmade obscurities of pipe cleaners and coloured card and feathers PVA glued on, smothered in glitter. Pictures, she insisted they were. "Masterpieces!" she flourished her hand, clearly proud of her work.
"Indeed!" Leo agreed. "I shall put this in my office!" Estelle squinted at him.
"Elves don't have offices."
"Some of us do," Leo amended. "Some of us design the toys the factory elves make."
"Oh. Mm. I didn't think of that. What toys do you design, can I see? Please can I see? Oooh, can I help?"
"Maaaaaaaayyybe," Leo said mysteriously. He passed her another present and she brightened.
Wrapping paper soon littered the floor, an ocean of festivity discarded to reveal untold numbers of socks and chocolates and bubble bath gift sets, the typical Christmas Day accoutrements. Then there were the not so typical— the army of toys for the kids, the teetering pile of books for Annabeth and Sally, the new brush set for Louisa for Storm, the strange little box from Harvey to Jessica.
"Ah," Harvey said, suddenly pink-faced. Jessica, transfixed and wide-eyed, went still.
"That's not a bean dip recipe."
"It's not," Harvey agreed. Estelle gently placed the box in his outstretched hand. "Thank you." Jessica's hands twitched, clamping onto her knees.
"Lizzie's going to kill you," she told him. Harvey smiled sheepishly.
"I was going to do it yesterday, but I… lost my nerve with… with everyone there." He rose only to get on one knee before her. The strange little box popped open. Everyone was holding their breath. "Jessica," he said, eyes only for her, "you've been in my heart from the day we met. You are a daunting dauntless woman and I… I am so unbelievably lucky to have found you." He held the box a little higher. "Will you marry me?"
Jessica stared at him a moment more, calculating, deciphering. The others dangled from tenterhooks but none so much as Harvey himself.
After what felt like an age worthy of building a civilisation, she stuck out her left hand.
"Took you long enough."
Harvey laughed, head spinning as he slipped the ring on her finger at long last. A silver band etched with their initials, topped with a sapphire scalloped in silver. Simple, elegant, overdue. Jessica hugged him, pulled him close, kissing his hair as he buried his face in her shoulder, arms cocooning her. He was still laughing, his anxiety evaporating as glee swept in.
Lizzie was there in under an hour, summoned by a sly text from Louisa. They heard her key in the lock, the door kicked open and crashing into the wall. Her foster parents, Neil and Erin, scrambled in after her. While they spewed congratulations, their charge spewed protests and strange noises in place of swears.
"HOW DARE YOU?" she raged, grabbing Harvey by the shirt and shaking him. "WITHOUT ME? WITHOUT ME?! Oooh, you've got some NERVE!"
"Lizzie, darling," Neil pulled on her arm. "Let the man be."
"I WILL NOT!"
"I'm sorry," Harvey said, hands raised in innocence. "I chickened out yesterday, but today felt… right."
"Without me! Bah." She pushed him away, folding her arms crossly. "I call maid of honour. Where's my folder?"
"Still in the car, love," Erin said. "We brought the presents instead, why don't we do the presents?"
"But— but— wedding!"
"You can wedding later."
"I want to wedding now! At least show me the bloody ring, where is it? Oooh, sparkly!"
"I know!" Jessica beamed. "No, don't touch it, it's mine!"
Leo sidled over to Louisa, standing to one side while everyone else celebrated. Bradley lay with his head over her heart, eyelids drooping as sleep called him.
"You told her."
"I did. I had to." She shrugged a shoulder. Leo smiled. Lizzie had appointed herself the chief wedding planner of the family many years ago, something she still prided herself on now. Her folder may have been in the car, but she did not need it to call upon its pages. She had produced a tape measure from somewhere, the same one she had equipped against Leo just yesterday.
"What's she doing?" he asked as she danced around Harvey, demanding he hold still.
"Measurin'. She's got to get the suit right."
"Suit," Leo repeated. Louisa nodded, stroking Bradley's hair. The infant finally drifted off. Leo followed her to put the baby down in a travel cot in Sally's room, relishing the quieter air in here. "Did you know he was going to do that?"
"He asked for our permission. Mine 'n' Lizzie's. We weren't allowed ta tell anyone though. Mom's too good at gettin' secrets out of people."
"Except bean dip recipes."
"Yeah, Mam's a tough nut to crack." She tucked Bradley in, listening to his little breathy snores.
Leo fidgeted his hands.
"That was nice," he said. "His asking permission." Louisa nodded.
"We've already told him ta get a move on, but he wanted ta ask anyway. Old-fashioned, I guess."
"It's sweet," Leo said, hunching his shoulders. She nodded, looking askance at him. Leo made himself smile. "Are you going to be a bridesmaid? Will you have to wear a dress? Have you ever worn a dress?" He scrunched his face, though the image eluded him.
Louisa smiled grimly.
"Worn togas, but that's as far as it goes. If Lizzie gets her way though…" She grimaced, rubbing at her jaw.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T WANT YELLOW?"
"We should probably get back out there," Louisa sighed. She checked Bradley was still asleep while Leo pulled the baby monitor set from his toolbelt, keeping his side in hand. She ushered him out, closing the door behind her while shushing her sister.
"Don't shush me!" Lizzie shushed her back. "They don't want yellow!"
"I told you they wouldn't want yellow."
"It's a good colour! Half of my plans have got yellow! Yellow flowers, yellow bridesmaid dresses, yellow ties—"
"What are we, canaries?" Jessica shook her head. She caught Harvey's eye. He grimaced. "We don't want yellow."
"What do you want then?" Lizzie exasperated. "I've got plans for yellow, pink, blue, purple and green, all in various shades."
"Green?"
"That really nice dark green, that fancy fancy green. You know the one. I don't know what it's called, but it's that really nice dark green."
"How about we get Christmas out the way first," Harvey suggested, "and then we'll sit down and plan properly. If you want to," he added to Jessica.
"With cake," she decided. "Lots of cake." Harvey smiled.
"Cake works."
This is just a filler bit really, needed to sort things out in my head O.o Yay, Jarvey! Hessica! I don't actually have a name for them!