Ellie was seated on the kitchen floor of John and Alexandra's house, her sewing machine on the kitchen table, while she meticulously stuck pins in the white costume she was making. "Hold still, please, I don't want to accidentally poke you, sweetie." She gently admonished the four-year-old who was starting to get wiggly after standing still for so long.
"Sorry, Miss Ellie," Alexandra did her best to stay as still as her little body would allow.
"It's okay, I just need to get your costume done," Ellie responded placing the last pins, "Your play is in a couple days, and we can't have you looking like a half-shorn sheep. Alright, let's go get you out of this so I can do the last of the sewing."
"Okay," Alex nodded and began to head to her bedroom as Ellie followed, "Are Mister Chuck and Miss Sarah going to come to my concert?"
"Yep, I'm picking them up from the airport tomorrow afternoon," Ellie smiled, kneeling down to help Alex out of the costume so that she didn't get accidentally stuck by a pin. "One whole day before your Christmas concert, more than enough time to come and cheer on the cutest little sheep in the manger. Step out."
Alex did as she was told, placing her hands on Ellie's shoulders to keep her balance as she stepped out of the costume. Once she was free of the costume, which had been made to fit over her clothes, she went to play with some of her toys while Ellie went to finish the costume.
Ellie was sewing in the zipper when she heard the garage door opening and John's Crown Vic rumble in and stop. John entered a few moments later, carrying a couple of grocery bags, setting them on the counter and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Thanks for picking Alex up from school today," John rumbled in her ear.
"You're welcome," Ellie smiled up at him, "Gave me time to finish her costume." Flipping the garment right side out, revealing the woolly side of the garment.
"Are you sure we have enough time to go to the concert before heading to your clinic's holiday party?" John, who had gone back to his original task, checked for what had to be the tenth time since he'd found out the church's kid's ministry Christmas concert was the same night as Ellie's company party.
"Yes," Ellie nodded, "The concert is in the afternoon and the party isn't until that evening. On that note, Doctor Clark wanted to know if he and his wife Arlene can come, and Beth heard him ask and wanted to know if she and Al can come, too."
John chuckled and shook his head, "So that makes me, you, mom, Chuck and Sarah, and four folks from your clinic, am I missing anyone?"
"You're forgetting the partridge in the pear tree," Ellie teased, standing and walking over to where John stood, unpacking the contents of the grocery bags, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It'll be nice to spend some non-work time with them before my fellowship starts in a couple weeks."
"I somehow doubt you'll lose contact with them when you start trekking down to San Diego on the regular." John countered, turning in her arms to face her.
"You might be right," She sighed, leaning her cheek against his warm chest.
"Have I told you lately how proud I am of you that you got into that fellowship," John asked, "I looked into it, it's extremely competitive. Not that I had any doubt you could do it."
"No, but I appreciate it," She looked up at him.
He brushed a piece of hair that had fallen free of her messy bun behind her ear and trailed his finger down her jaw, angling it just enough so that he could lean down a press a kiss to her lips. They heard a giggle a few moments later and looked over to see Alexandra watching them and giggling.
"I think we've been caught," Ellie murmured.
John grunted with a small shrug, "It's good for her to see what healthy affection looks like." He pressed one more, quick, kiss to her lips and stepped out of her embrace to start making dinner while Ellie picked up from where he'd left of putting groceries away.
"Hey Sweetie, your costume is done," Ellie got the girl's attention and pointed to where the costume lay on the table, "Could you please take it into your room and put it with your shirt and leggings?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Alexandra nodded going to grab the costume and do as she'd been asked to do.
"Nice distraction," John teased her as soon as Alex was out of earshot, pulling Ellie to him and kissing her again.
Ellie stepped back and gave him a playful swat, "You're going to burn the sausage if you keep distracting yourself while cooking."
"Worth it," John chuckled.
"Behave yourself, Marine," Ellie playfully huffed.
"What if I'm aimin' to misbehave?" John challenged.
"Keep it in your pants until we put Alex to bed," Ellie countered.
"Are you planning to stay the night?" John asked.
"I can't, I got work tomorrow." She gave him an apologetic look. "But I can stick around for a little bit after Alex goes down."
"I can work with that," John gave her a knowing smirk, earning a blush from his girlfriend.
Ellie rolled her eyes at John's teasing and began to pack up her sewing machine to take out to her car so that it wasn't taking up space on the dining room table while they were trying to eat. Before she knew it John was calling them all to the table for supper.
"Miss Ellie?" Alex spoke up between bites of her supper.
"Yes, Sweetie?" Ellie answered.
"Can I go with you to pick up Mister Chuck and Miss Sarah?" She asked shyly.
Ellie shot a look at John, "Their flight lands at 3pm."
"So, you'd be leaving around two or two-fifteen?" John asked, getting a nod from Ellie. He thought on it for a moment, "I'm okay with it, by the time you pick them up, and get them settled at their hotel, I should be off duty. We can meet up for pizza in town once I'm off?"
"That could work," Ellie confirmed before turning to Alex, "Okay, but only if you are good for your teachers tomorrow."
"Yes, Ma'am," Alex nodded eagerly. "They're staying for Christmas, right?"
"Yep," Ellie nodded, "They will be here about a week, which means they'll be here for Christmas."
"Yay!" Alex cheered.
"No yelling at the table," John lightly reprimanded, "Eat your dinner."
"Yes, Sir," Alex responded, stabbing a piece of sausage and chewing.
The rest of the evening passed without incident, Alexandra on her best behavior so she could go with Ellie the next day. She bathed, brushed her teeth, and went to bed with no fuss, even reminded Ellie to get her daddy so that they could say prayers before bed. She kissed them both and turned over to try to sleep.
Ellie and John still gave her an hour to make sure she was asleep, knowing that excitement could keep the best of sleepers from falling asleep. Luckily, once Alex was down, she stayed down. They checked on her as they passed her room, and she was well into the land of nod.
John and Ellie spent some time misbehaving, and enjoying every minute, before Ellie reluctantly slid out of John's bed and got dressed to go home. John, likewise, pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before shoving his feet into a pair of shoes to walk her out to her car.
"I wish you didn't have to leave," He pulled her into her arms.
"Me too," Ellie sighed, leaning against his strong chest, "But I probably stay more often than I should, I don't want you getting in trouble because it looks like I moved in. You know the rules."
John grunted in acknowledgement, "Maybe I should look into off-base housing."
"You don't have to," Ellie shook her head, "This house is in close proximity to your office, as well as Alexandra's school. Not to mention you have easy access to the commissary and exchange from here. You shouldn't have to upend your life just for me."
"Wouldn't be doin' it just for you." He objected, "I'd be doing for all of us. Alexandra needs you, hell I need you. The place don't feel right without you there."
"Well short of a drastic change, this is how things have to be," She sighed, lifting up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. "I love you."
"I love you too," John husked, reluctantly releasing her from his arms so that she could get in her car. As he watched her drive away, he made a silent commitment to have a talk with Chuck that weekend.
"Can we get flowers for Miss Sarah?" Alexandra asked as she scrambled into the car seat Ellie had long since bought to transport the girl rather than having to play musical cars between her own, John's, and Helen's cars.
"Sure," Ellie agreed as she buckled Alex into the car seat, "I know that gardenias are her favorite flower, so we can stop at a flower shop and see if we can't get a bouquet with some gardenias in it."
The ladies set off toward San Diego, stopping, as Ellie had promised, at a flower shop to pick up a bouquet of flowers for her sister-in-law before continuing on to the airport. They found a spot in the short term parking garage and made their way into the airport. Ellie quickly reminded Alexandra to stay with her, at all times, since the airport was a very busy place, and it was easy for little girls to get lost if they weren't paying attention.
A quick check of the arrival boards showed that Chuck and Sarah's plane was on time and should be arriving shortly which meant they hadn't been waiting long when they exited the secured area.
"Hey Elle," Chuck wrapped his sister in a tight hug.
"Hey little brother," Ellie smiled before turning to embrace Sarah, "Hey girl."
"Hi Ellie," Sarah returned her hug.
"Where's John?" Chuck looked around, "I assume he's here somewhere if short stuff is with ya."
"Still on duty," Ellie shrugged, "Alexandra asked if she could come with me to pick you up."
"We got flowers for Miss Sarah," Alex announced proudly, holding the bouquet up so that Sarah could accept them.
"Thank you," Sarah crouched down to kiss the girl on her cheek and give her a hug, "I love them, and thank you for getting me gardenias, they're my favorite."
"I know, Miss Ellie told me," Alex grinned.
Sarah rose back to her feet and hugged Ellie again, "Thank you Ellie for remembering."
"You're welcome, Sarah," Ellie smiled, "Now let's go get your bags so we can hit the road."
Ellie claimed Alexandra's hand in her own once more and followed Chuck and Sarah down to baggage claim. Luckily their bags were some of the first to come out, so they were able to leave the airport fairly quickly. The hotel they were staying at was not too far from Ellie's apartment or the base. It didn't take them long to check in and find their room, where they hung out until getting the call from John that he was off duty. They gave him another 20 minutes to change and get off base before heading to the pizza place for dinner.
The next morning, Ellie swung by John's house, Sarah in tow, to collect Alexandra for a girl's morning out. The plan was to have breakfast then go get their nails done for the Christmas party the adults would be attending that night. Ellie had suggested that, with John's permission, Alex join them as the nail salon they were going to had stations sized specifically for children so that they could be pampered along with their parents. Seeing nothing wrong with it, he agreed, and made sure to have Alexandra up and dressed in time to be picked up by two of her favorite people. The ladies had been gone nearly a half hour when John called a number on his phone, "Yeah, they're gone, I'll meet you at your hotel in ten, wear comfortable shoes."
Almost exactly ten minutes later, John was pulling up to the hotel and a young man slid into the passenger seat of the Crown Vic. The young man handed John a plain black coffee as John pulled away and drove toward a park on the edge of town which boasted decent hiking trails through the wooded area. Finding a parking space, the men sat and finished their coffees before disposing of the cups and heading toward the trail that had become one of John's favorites. As they set out, he handed the younger man a bottle of water.
The younger man had an idea that there was more to the hike than simply getting some guys time and exercise while the ladies did their thing. He chose to walk quietly along with John, waiting for the older man to unburden himself. Roughly a half hour later, they reached a ridge overlooking the forest they had just hiked through. John took a seat on a fallen log and the younger man followed suit. They sat a while taking in the view and sipping their water before the silence was broken.
"I reckon you are wondering why I dragged you out here," John grunted.
"I have a feeling it is for more than this view. Although, I should warn you that if your plan is to push me off this overlook, you'll have to deal with the full wrath of my sister," Chuck smirked, not moving his gaze from the view before him.
"Noted," John grunted, "Wasn't figuring on doin' that, you're not all that annoying." He heard Chuck snicker beside him before he continued, "I do want to talk to you about your sister…"
The men spoke a while longer before heading back down the trail to the car. After dropping Chuck back off at the hotel, John headed home for a quick shower and to pack up his daughter's overnight bag. Since Alexandra's concert and Ellie's office party was that afternoon and evening, his mother had offered to take the girl overnight so that John and Ellie could enjoy themselves that evening, child free.
The sounds of conversations echoed off the walls of the church as families and friends milled about, socializing and finding seats as they waited for the Christmas concert to begin. Thanks to their mutual height, it didn't take long for John to locate Chuck, who was standing alongside his girlfriend as they spoke amicably with Helen and two older couples.
"Hey John," Chuck greeted him, "Where's Ellie?"
"Still getting the kid ready," John explained, "She'll be here shortly." He then turned to the older couples, "Doctor Clark, I assume this is your wife?"
"You assume correctly," The doctor confirmed, a fond smile on his face as he looked toward his wife of nearly 40 years, "This is Arlene. Arlene, meet John Casey, Ellie's boyfriend and the father of one of my patients."
"It's nice to meet you," Arlene shook John's hand, "Thank you for letting us come."
"You're welcome, Ma'am." John nodded before turning to the other couple, "Admiral Calavicci."
"Captain Casey," The naval officer responded, "It's nice to meet you, I've heard great things."
John looked little confused, "Thank you, Sir."
Noticing Captain Casey's confusion, he gave the younger officer a kind smile, "There are only so many flag and senior officers. I've heard of you from McGillis and Beckman, among others." If the admiral noticed the glimmer of recognition of Beckman's name in Chuck and Sarah's eyes, he ignored it. "Not to mention Beth has mentioned you a time or two when talking about your Ellie."
John nodded his understanding before greeting Beth Calavicci. The group found some seats and chatted amongst themselves until Ellie joined them, exchanging hugs with Beth and the Clarks, and greeting the admiral warmly, thanking them for coming to the concert.
A short time later, the director of the children's ministry for their congregation stepped up on the dais, signaling with a few gestures for everyone to take their seats. She thanked the families, extended and otherwise, for coming out that afternoon then continued on about how hard the children ranging in grade from pre-k through 2nd grade, had worked on the concert. "The children will be out in a moment, you are welcome to video tape and take pictures of your kiddos. However, we are filming and do have some student volunteers from the high school ministry taking pictures, if you would prefer to simply enjoy. Please join us after the concert in the social hall for refreshments. Merry Christmas."
The families gave a brief applause as the director stepped down and had the teachers begin to guide the students up to the stage. On one side of the stage were two older children dressed up as Mary and Joseph kneeling by a manger where a swaddled doll lay. Some of the other older children were dressed up as angels and stood on risers toward the back of the stage. The younger kids, mostly pre-k and kindergarten students, were dressed as sheep and were over on the other side of the stage along with other children dressed as shepherds. Ellie was quick to locate and point out Alexandra to the group, looking adorable in her sheep costume, complete with a drawn-on black nose.
A few of the older kids stood toward the front of the stage where a microphone had been set up. In between songs, the kids who stood before the microphone recited the story of the first Christmas. The entire program was less than an hour long in deference to the attention span of the young cast. The audience, naturally, applauded when the recital was over, and the children took their bows before being guided back to their respective classrooms to be collected by their families to head over to the reception.
"Daddy did you see me?" Alexandra asked, jumping into his arms.
"I did, Kid," John smiled at her, "You were the best little sheep in the herd."
"You did so good, Doodlebug," Ellie praised, leaning in to kiss the girl's cheek and get a hug. "Now, let's go and meet up with Chuck and Sarah before Chuck eats all the cookies."
Alexandra giggled and nodded her head excitedly as they made their way over to the social hall. After partaking of cookies and juice, the Clarks and Calaviccis took their leave to head over to the office's Christmas party. Not too long after, Ellie took Alexandra to the ladies' room to clean off her make up and change back into her normal clothes so her nanna could take her home for the night.
The hotel that the party was being held at wasn't too far from the base, but John figured it would be nice to not have to worry about driving home after and had booked a room for the night. Parking the car, he assisted Ellie out of her seat before collecting their overnight bags and heading into the lobby to check in and get directions to the banquet hall where the party was. The line was, thankfully, short and it didn't take long before they were heading up to their room. Ellie took a few minutes to freshen up and touch up her make-up and soon they were on their way down to the party.
The banquet hall was tastefully decorated with a Christmas tree in the corner, candle centerpieces on the tables, and strings of fairy lights tastefully laid around where the serving dishes for dinner would eventually be. There was a DJ tucked into another corner playing holiday music at a low volume to allow the attendees to be able to hear each other as they mingled. Since there were no assigned seats, John and Ellie found a couple seats at a nearby table. Much to John's amusement, Ellie draped her wrap over the backs of the chairs to show they had been claimed.
John wrapped his arm around her slender waist and whispered in her ear, "Have I mentioned how lovely you look tonight, Doc?" He made a point of taking her in from her elegantly curled hair to the ruby drop earrings and matching necklace she wore which matched her dress. The dress itself was stunning on her, it was a sleeveless number with a sweetheart neckline, dark blue with a shimmering black lace overlay. The bodice hugged her just the right way to show off her curves before skirt flared out in gentle waves down to her knees. She had opted to wear a pair of black pumps that boosted her height a few inches and showed off her naked legs to perfection.
Ellie blushed a little at his praise, "Not yet, but thank you, you don't look half bad yourself." She turned a bit to straighten his tie, which was a shade of blue that matched his eyes and paired well with the classic black suit he wore with a crisp white shirt and shoes that had been buffed to a mirror shine. They hadn't intended to match that evening, it had been a happy accident that had been realized when she stepped into the living room that afternoon where John and Alexandra were waiting to head to the girl's concert.
John leaned down slightly and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. They were interrupted a moment later by the sound of someone nearby clearing their throat. The pair looked over to see an amused Calvin Clark whose wife was on his arm. "I think you missed the mistletoe," He teased, nodding to a door frame that clearly had a sprig of the plant hanging over it.
"Shut up, this" Ellie gestured towards John and herself, "Is your doing, so you have no right to complain."
"Trust me, this is his not-so-subtle way of patting himself on the back," Arlene rolled her eyes when Calvin gave her a look of mock offense.
"We really just came over to let you know they'll be bringing the food out soon, and the bar is open if you want to get a drink." Calvin informed them, "We'll talk more later, but enjoy your night."
Ellie and John thanked him before heading over to the open bar where they ordered a glass of red wine for Ellie and a scotch for John. They mingled a bit here and there as Ellie greeted her coworkers. John was surprised to recognize a couple people from the base, apparently Ellie wasn't the only one in the office involved with a service member stationed at Pendleton.
John was surprised how much he enjoyed the night out. Not too long after they'd gotten their drinks, the announcement was made to find their seats for the dinner service. Much to John's enjoyment, the dinner was prime rib with potatoes and asparagus, with a salad starter. Dessert was a choice of triple berry, pumpkin, or pecan pies, of course he had other plans for dessert, once he got Ellie back to the room they'd rented at the hotel for the night. Until he could enact his plan, he chose a slice of plain pumpkin pie while Ellie got her favorite, pecan pie.
As the evening wore on, there was dancing. While he could hold his own on the dance floor, John wasn't much for dancing, but would take any excuse to hold Ellie close that he could take. Every so often, someone's name would be drawn to choose an item from the tables on the side of the room laden with a variety of gifts ranging from gift cards for local restaurants, to small home appliances. They'd gone back to dancing for a bit when he caught Ellie yawning for the umpteenth time that night and decided to call it a night.
After making the rounds bidding goodnight to her coworkers, and some of his who had come as plus ones to the event, John led Ellie up to their room. The door had barely closed before John had Ellie back in his arms and guiding her to the bed as they shed each other of their clothes. They took their time making love into the early hours of the morning before falling into a deep and sated sleep, wrapped up in each other's arms.