Christmas morning

[1stmacleod]

Connor sleeps sprawled, one foot hanging out from under the covers, recovering from a late-night indulgence of spiked eggnog. It's tradition.
The bedroom door creaks open, a quiet sound of protest that would normally wake him, but it goes unregarded. A figure lingers in the doorway cautiously, assessing him, and then creeps slowly into the room to stop a few feet away. There's another pause, another quiet moment of thought, and then the gentle tugging on Connor's arm begins.
"Dad? Dad?"
He groans, and tries to shake off the touch without opening his eyes.
"Dad? It's Christmas dad! Pleeeease?"
One grey eye opens, and blearily regards the boy. Dark-haired and dusky tan from the sun, John stands by the bed with his best pleading look. He grasps his father's arm again gently, but doesn't pull. The clock reads barely past six A.M.
"I could make you coffee!"
Connor pictures John on a stool at the kitchen counter, spilling coffee beans on the floor and trying to work the grinder. He groans again. "No. Just... half an hour more?"
John says nothing, sinking down to sit beside the bed. He watches his father with a sorrowful gaze, waiting. Connor can feel it through closed eyelids.
"...Has it been half an hour yet dad?"
Connor collects himself with a sound halfway between a groan and a chuckle, rubbing his eyes. Who can be annoyed at a child for being impatient on Christmas morning? He shakes his head a little, bemused, and looks to the side of the bed again.

John isn't there.

This isn't the house in Marrakesh, it's Kairos' home in the mountains in France, and there are no children here to badger him awake, or lead him grumbling in his bathrobe out to the tree, or tear the paper impatiently off boxes of toys.

The clock still reads barely past six A.M. and it's Christmas morning, but the house is quiet, and Connor is alone in his room. He stares blankly at the place beside his bed where John would be, until it's almost half an hour, a real half hour that even the ghost of John won't let him sleep in.

He gets up, after that, because there's no way he can sleep. Regina doesn't mind an early morning walk, and then he makes tea, instead of coffee, because he can do it without letting the kettle whistle or any other noises that might wake Kairos. Then he sits in the living room, looking at Christmas, and seeing other trees and other mornings. When he hears Kairos stirring he's quick to make coffee, and seeing her makes him smile. He's got a girlfriend who loves him, and he's gradually relaxing into a more idyllic life than he ever thought he could have again. Connor is deeply grateful, but he has moments of wistfulness all through the morning and the rest of the day.
Some part of him worries about just how damn much scotch people have given him for Christmas, and part of him worries even more that he'll be drinking a lot of it, tonight.

Comments

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

These sweaters don't even have holes in the elbows! He'll wear them anyway. He blushes a little over her explanation, though. "I've... only helped out around there a little... oh god. Really?" He holds one up, but it doesn't hide enough to keep her from seeing his ears are a little pink. "Are you sure they didn't just feel sorry for me? I know I need to get new clothes. Duncan ragged me about it, too."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She shrugs. "Well, to be perfectly honest I tend to wax poetic around you. They wouldn't make fun of you, hon. They know it's hard out there." She will, however, encourage him to make a donation to the way.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He's probably made a donation already, since he was doing a lot of that around Christmas. The mun just didn't think of it.

"I wasn't worried about them poking fun, it's just... hard to imagine a gaggle of girls being so excited over me they send me sweaters. Through my girlfriend." He refolds the top sweater, trying to get his embarrassment under control. "Or maybe I just don't get out enough?" That's probably part of it. That, and the way he tends to look all brooding and paranoid anyplace he isn't familiar with. He's been at the Way enough to drop that, at least.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She chuckles. "Well. They're girls compared to you, darlin'. They're a gaggle of old ladies."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"...Oh." He pauses to consider that for just a moment, but Heather was an old woman when she died, and he would have stayed with Brenda and then Alex until they were old women. He's probably ready to stay with Kairos that long, barring tragic accident.

"I guess that's why they figured you wouldn't feel threatened by their... interest?" Those old ladies would probably love to see him now, though, sitting rumpled on the couch with his pajama shirt hanging open unbuttoned and their gifts in his lap.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She shrugs. "Monogamy has not been an issue in the past. If you so desire to get to know Mrs. Crumplebottom .. personally in the near future, I will not get mad," she teases.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Heheheh. I might send her a thank you note." He scoots closer though, and puts an arm around her, and leans closer to nuzzle her.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure she'd like that, cranky old lady she is. Maybe some of your delicious cookies." She likes the nuzzling.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I took some, last week, but not for anybody specific. I can make more..." He cuddles for a minute more, then squeezes her and gets up again. "There's something here from April..." Connor brings that one over with a 'I know what this is' kind of smile, and puts it in Kairos' lap. It's flat and rectangular, like a painting. Which it is. Connor's going to be surprised anyway because he doesn't know they're both in it.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Oh? I feel horrible! I haven't gotten a chance to deliver my Christmas presents yet.." She rips into it carefully, just in case it's fragile.

"Oh, Connor. Look!" Sniffle.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"You have more to do than me..." Connor's been keeping busier than usual, the last few weeks, but he's still got no schedule to hold to. He watches her unwrap it, and there's the portrait, Connor and Kairos both close together.

Connor blinks and stares a little. "It's... I asked her... I didn't know she was putting me in it. I didn't pose or clean up or anything..."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. I own a couple of businesses. I could take an hour off." She sticks her tongue out at him.

She strokes a finger along the line of the painted Connor. "And hey, look. She managed to catch you not looking grumpy, sugar."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"You're making me feel lazy." He looks a little sheepish and sticks his tongue right back out at her. "I'm not that grumpy. Not all the time."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Don't be silly. You're not lazy at all. But you're cute when I tease you about being grumpy."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor rolls his eyes, but he's had people calling him grumpy for centuries, and he takes it well. It's true, after all.

"You've still got more presents, you know."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She grins. "So do you. Why don't you open the big one next?"

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He gets up and looks over the packages. "Do you want the big one next, or the little one?" The large package that's for him, he pulls over by the couch, as instructed.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Your choice, handsome! Whatever you'd like!"

Inside that package is a large-breed dog kennel filled with large-breed puppy food and blankets and toys. "I realize dogs like having a den. So when I buy that puppy for you, he or she will immediately have a place to call home."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Well... I can't put the big one in your lap." He's not kidding, either, because it's a big square flat box bigger than the one that held April's painting. He's had to tape together wrapping paper just to get it covered. Instead he picks up a little box with a ribbon that's hanging on the tree. It's about the right size to be a jewelry box, in fact, which is exactly what it is. The jewelry box is velvet, a little old, and the ring inside is much older.

He hands her the box to unwrap, then starts working on the paper on his own oversized gift... and then gapes a little, and blushes. "You're buying me a puppy?" She's rewarded with that rare, open smile that makes him look like a teenager. Connor's a dog person at heart, and he thinks Regina's sweet, but she's small, and she's not his. Clearly this is the best present he's ever been given.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

Kai'd caught on to that, and had thought a dog would be perfect. "Any kind you want. There's actually.. a stipulation. Before I met you, I'd wanted to buy a house house, to get away from some memories.." she shakes her head. "No matter. I was thinking of something with a yard. For Regina and your puppy. Do you think you could wait till then?"

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"...And space for a forge? Of course I can wait." If there's anything Connor has a wealth of, it's time. He grins at the dog accessories again. It just may be a good year, coming up. He's past due for that.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"You'll need to go with me, then, to look for the appropriate space."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I'd... like to go pick it out... together." He smiles, just a little anxious, still waiting on her to open the box with the antique pearl ring. It's not that kind of ring, because he moves slower than he used to on commitment, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been putting thought in that direction.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"That would be nice." She smiles, absently opening the little box.

And then she does, and she blinks. "Oh, Connor.."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"It's an antique. Well... it's younger than I am, but..." He looks bashful, fidgeting. "I wasn't sure about giving you jewelry, because it's what you make..."