In Any Reindeer Games

 

"So, where is everybody?"

Sam smiled as John looked around the apartment curiously. He had obviously been expecting a crowd like at Thanksgiving. "It’s just us Waters’ today," she said. "I did invite my dad, but…" She gestured at the empty living room. "Coop was called back to Washington yesterday and Angel is in Raleigh with Alex. They’re spending a couple of days with his family."

"Meeting the parents on a major holiday?" His eyebrows arched in surprise. "Sounds pretty serious. She really likes this guy, doesn’t she?"

"I think so." She tried to gauge his reaction. It looked like relief. His expression faded into something else as she watched. She could guess what he would ask next.

"So," he began uncertainly. "If it’s just Waters’ today… what am I doing here?"

"What would you be doing if you weren’t here?" she asked in return. It was almost a rhetorical question. They both knew what he would be doing.

"I do have traditions, you know." His smile was unconvincing. "Up at the crack of noon. Watch the Macy’s parade. Go back to bed."

"The Macy’s parade is at Thanksgiving, John," she said quietly.

He shrugged. "They all sort of blur together. Christmas must be the one where I get up at noon. Can’t find anything on television. Go back to bed."

"I think it's time you started considering some new traditions."

"John!" Chloe burst into the room with an energy reserved solely for children on Christmas morning. "You’re here! Merry Christmas!" She gave him an enthusiastic hug. A large bag beside the sofa caught her attention and she looked back at him hopefully. "Is that for me?"

"Chloe!" her mother scolded.

John laughed. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, it is." He lifted a big, square box out of the bag and handed it to her. She took it with both hands and her eyes grew wide.

"It’s heavy," she said in awe. "Can I open it now? At nods from both of the adults she set the box on the floor and began to unwrap it.

"My own skates! My own ice-skates!" She looked up at John and smiled brilliantly. "Can we go skating?"

"Not today, Chlo. They’re closed. Maybe sometime next week… if that’s okay with your mom?"

Sam stared at him in surprise. She knew exactly how much those particular skates cost. She had actually considered buying Chloe a pair, but with all the other things she had already bought they just weren’t in the budget this year. Sometimes John completely amazed her. She realized that they were both looking at her expectantly.

"Next week. Sure. We can go next week and try them out."

"Thanks, Mom." Chloe turned quickly back to John and hugged him again. "Thank you very, very, very much for my skates."

"You’re very, very, very welcome," he replied with a grin.

"Can I try them on?"

"Not in here, sweetheart," Sam told her. "The blades will ruin this floor. Go over on the rug, please."

"John," Sam said softly as Chloe moved onto the carpet, "those are hockey skates."

He looked at her in frank astonishment. "You can actually tell? Who are you and what have you done with Samantha Waters?"

She tried to ignore his warped humor. "I thought about getting her a pair of skates this year, so I did a little shopping around. The sporting goods salesman was very informative." She frowned at him. "Those are expensive skates, John."

His shrug was nonchalant. "Who else am I going to spend my money on? Besides, look at her. She loves them."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?" he asked.

Sam sighed. She wasn't sure what her point was. She looked at him quickly as a sudden suspicion dawned. "You are *not* talking my daughter into playing hockey."

"I'm not talking her into anything, Sam. She likes to skate. Those are good, sturdy skates." He couldn't keep the mischievous spark out of his eyes, though. "But you know, there are a couple of rec teams around for kids her age. If she was ever interested..."

"John Grant, if you... "she began threateningly.

"It works better if you put ‘Patrick’ in the middle of it," he interrupted. "Or ‘Philip’. Whichever comes to mind first. That’s what my mother did."

She frowned at him in exasperation. "Original versus official?"

"Yeah. She changed it to Philip in Nebraska along with the rest." He grinned. "But she never could remember it till she was halfway through. She was always yelling at some poor kid named John Patrick O'Damn Philip Grant. Neighbors probably thought we were both crazy. She'd be screaming this huge name and I'd be on the floor rolling..."

She could imagine he had been a handful as a child. If he had been as stubborn and headstrong then as he was now... Before she could redirect the conversation back on topic Chloe interrupted.

"They fit!"

"They'd better. I got the same size you wear at the rink."

*******

Chloe did a happy little dance on the rug in her new skates. She had been begging her mom for a pair for months but she had said they were too expensive this year. It would have been rude to ask John, but somehow he had known. John was the coolest, she thought happily. Now she wouldn't have to rent those ugly brown skates like those kids who didn't know what they were doing. She could walk right in and put on her own skates like the kids who were really good.

She looked over at where John sat on the sofa with her mom. He looked happy. She was glad he had come today. And not just because he brought her the skates. She had a present for him, too.

"Not on the hardwood, Chloe."

"Oops." She sat back down on the carpet to unlace the skates then went to the Christmas tree in her socks. Her present for John was half-buried under all the stuff her mom and Angel had gotten her. As she finally located the box she saw another package farther under the tree. It was big and flat. She pulled it out and looked at the label carefully. It was for John, too. It was from her mom. She carried both presents over to the sofa.

"What’s all this?" John asked as she gave him the packages.

"It’s for you. They both are." She smiled broadly. He looked really surprised. Almost like he really wasn’t expecting anything at all, she thought. But that’s silly. Everybody gets presents for Christmas. Even grown-ups.

John stared at the presents a little longer then set down the one from her mom. As he started to unwrap Chloe’s gift she hovered in front of him, hoping he would like it. He pulled the Disney mug out of the box and smiled.

"I know you don’t drink coffee," Chloe said quickly, "but you can put tea in it, too. Or hot chocolate."

"It’s great!" he said, looking at the cartoon design. "Robin Hood."

"Because that was the only movie I know you really liked when we were sick." She leaned closer and added softly "Thank you for watching all the rest of them with me, too."

"No problem. Thank you very, very, very much."

"You’re very, very, very welcome. Now open the other one."

She was curious. She didn’t know what was in it either. Her mom looked a little nervous. Probably hoping he’ll like her present, too, she decided. He sure was being slow about opening it. At last all the paper was off of it. It was a picture frame. He was looking at the back of it but Chloe could see the front. It was a photo her mom had taken at the Braves’ game last summer.

Uncle Bailey had invited her mom’s whole office to go to a baseball game. Uncle Bailey and Grace and Morgan were there and so was George, but she had sat with John. He had binoculars. He said Uncle Bailey had bought "nose-bleed-seats" and they would need them. She wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but he was funny anyway. Mom had brought her camera. John’s present was one of the pictures she had taken.

******

He flipped the frame over and stared at the picture. It was a photo Sam had taken last summer. She had developed it in black and white and it was startlingly elegant in the silver frame. Especially considering the subject, he thought. It was a close-up shot of him with Chloe at a baseball game. Seeing the photo, he remembered clearly what had been going on. Chloe had been sitting with him until Bailey had decided to go for nachos and taken her along. He had thought they were both still gone until his baseball cap suddenly disappeared. When he turned around she had been wearing it and a grin. He had teasingly threatened to take her cotton candy in retaliation but she had wrapped her arms around his neck and apologized sweetly. And kept his cap. Even though they were just kidding around he knew that he would always be able to forgive her for anything.

It was this moment that Sam’s camera had captured. He was stunned to see how plainly his affection for the child showed in his face. Chloe’s expression was almost identical. He had no idea how Sam had succeeded in freezing that perfect instant. He looked up at her anxious face and smiled. What could she possibly be worried about, he wondered? She had to have known he would love it.

"It’s… it’s…" He shook his head. There weren’t any words for what it was. Perfect, maybe? Wonderful? Absolutely amazing? "Thank you," he managed to choke out. He knew his gift for her wouldn’t even come close.

He leaned the picture against the coffee table and reached into the bag again. The box seemed terribly small in his hand. He’d had an awfully hard time trying to come up with a good present and now that it was time to give it to her he still wasn’t sure about it. He wanted her to like it. He just wasn’t ready for her to understand it yet.

*********

John handed her a small box. He let go of it rather reluctantly, as if he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to give it to her. She smiled, understanding his hesitation. She had been apprehensive about giving him her gift as well, but he had seemed pleased with it. She had been relieved to see his appreciative expression. Now it looked like he was having the same worries that she felt, but she knew, whatever was in the box, she would love it.

"Hurry up," Chloe demanded. She had moved to sit in John’s lap for a better view of Sam’s present. John rested his chin on the top of her head.

"But it’s such nice paper."

Both Chloe and John snorted. Sam decided it would be best to ignore them. It was her present, after all. She carefully broke the tape and tried to slide the box free of the paper. The paper had been taped to the box. The box, when she finally got to it, had been sealed with another piece of tape. She wondered if John had wrapped it himself. He had always seemed to her to be the type who would ask the salesperson to do it for him. And she had little doubt that if the salesperson was female the service was, more often than not, complimentary. Still, this wrapping and what little she had seen of Chloe’s before it had been ripped open had seemed slightly less than professional. It looked as if he had actually taken the time to attempt wrapping them himself.

At last the cardboard lid opened to reveal a delicate rose carved in the top of a wooden box. She stared at it for a moment. Her first thought was of Jack. She was immediately angry with herself. John had given her a beautiful gift and her first impression was of instinctive fear. She pushed her fear away. John had bought this to please her, not terrify her. She could feel him watching her anxiously, probably wondering if she was thinking of him or of Jack. As she continued to look at the carving she was reminded of how beautiful she had always thought roses were. She realized then that John was giving her more than a box. He was giving her a reason to love roses again. She lifted the entire box out and set it on the coffee table. It’s oval shape fit gracefully in the curves of her hand. She knew John had spent enough time in the firehouse to know that the softly burnished wood of the box exactly matched the wood of her bedroom furniture. It’s a music box, she realized as she lifted the hinged lid. The tune sounded familiar but she couldn’t place it.

"It’s beautiful," she said. "I already know the perfect place to put it."

John’s smile was slightly relieved but she could still see tension in his face. What was this song, she wondered? The cardboard package was completely blank, offering no hint. She tried to unobtrusively turn the music box over to see if the name was printed on the bottom. The identifying label had been peeled off. She listened carefully to the tune. As much care as he had put into duplicating the wood tone, she knew he had put equal effort into selecting the song. She just wished she knew what it was. That had to be the part he was acting so edgy about.

"You’re not going to tell me what the song is, are you?"

He shook his head and grinned. She wasn’t surprised to see most of his remaining tension drain away. He didn’t want her to know, was glad she hadn’t been able to guess. She shook her head in an unconsciously similar motion. He was a baffling man, she decided. He was trying to say something without actually saying anything and it aggravated her that she couldn’t figure out what it was. Sam knew it would drive her crazy until she learned what the song was. And what he was trying to say with it.

********

"No way," John said. "There is no way you’re going to be able to balance that."

"Watch me," Sam replied as she placed the wooden cone carefully on her stack.

"That’s not fair." Chloe frowned. "It’s my game. John, tell her she can’t win every time."

"Come on, Sam. Give us a break here. Sneeze on it or something."

Sam looked up at them and grinned. All three of them were lying on the floor playing one of Chloe’s numerous new games. John’s hints had been none too subtle that he absolutely would not play Candy Land but he had readily agreed to a building game that Angel had gotten for Chloe. By his expression Sam could guess that he was regretting his earlier comments. Chloe lay close beside him, leaning against his shoulder. Despite her words she looked cheerful. She was obviously enjoying all the attention from two of her favorite adults. As Sam looked at them she felt an unfamiliar emotion rise within her. It took her a moment to identify it. Contentment, she realized. I’m content.

So, of course, she thought, now the elevator buzzes. How typical.

"I’ll get it!" Chloe said as she started to get up.

"Stay and play," Sam told her daughter. "It’s your turn. I’ll get it." She walked to the monitor sitting on the desk and scanned the elevator. The image on the screen startled her.

"Dad," she said as the door opened. "I’m glad you could make it." Behind her she could hear John and Chloe scrambling to their feet.

*******