[EM RP] So here it is...Merry Christmas...

[idontreallyspar]

The box was under the tree Rachel had made him get, wrapped up fairly simply in red and green paper with a silver bow. It was small, too...tiny. Beside it was the real gift...a longer, though equally small box wrapped in much the same fashion.

One box had Rachel's Christmas gift...the other *didnt'* have Rachel's Christmas gift.

But that was the gag...and the point. The smaller box was *meant* to hold the gold cigar band engagement ring that was currently tucked in his pocket. He couldn't keep his hands off it as he waited for her to show up, slipping his hand inside every so often to make sure it hadn't morphed into something else while he waited.

He'd been sure for a while now that he was going to propose, but the few casual hints he'd dropped had told him enough: Rachel wasn't ready, or interested. Not yet, anyway...but he was sick of waiting, and he figured that maybe this little compromise he had in mind...well, it might go off okay. And what better time to lay it down than Christmas, right?

With Rachel's family out of the picture this year, all it had taken was the briefest mention from him that he wasn't big on the holidays for her to sweep in and declare that they were going to do up Christmas and New Year's right...he didn't know what New Year's would bring, but according to Rachel, Christmas would mean a tree (which she'd dragged him out to buy), a viewing of at least one Christmas movie (which he was praying *wouldn't* be IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE or something), and presents...which he was fine with.

So, he decided to get a little bit romantic and a whole lot sappy. The longer box held Rachel's real Christmas gift...the one she could open and keep and gush over. It had taken some advice from Dixon, but the teardrop opal pendant with silver chain still seemed kind of austere. Still, after conferring with Dixon and even happening across Marshall's wife Carrie at the office, he'd gotten a resounding amount of approval on all sides.

The ring box was empty...and he was just praying he wouldn't scare Rachel off when he explained why.

So the lights on the tree were on, the presents were under the tree, and he'd put together a bottle of wine and made sure the kitchen was stocked in case they felt like eating.

All that was left to do now was wait for her to show up.

Comments

[my_strappyshoes]

It was a bit of a whirlwind display from Tom that Rachel rarely saw. He usually kept a lot of everything tucked away within him, keeping his emotions to the limited smiles and fits of laughter that she managed to pull from him from time to time. This though was something so out of the ordinary she almost wanted to ask him something personal to make sure it was really him.

When she was back on her feet and he kissed her though she had all her proof right there. When he took her hand and slipped the band on she laughed to hear about his late night dry run. "Lucky for you I have these huge hands then," Rachel teased before getting pulled in for another kiss.

Standing there in his arms she felt different, even if it was just a small bit, because she was now engaged... she had a new label to her as well. She was no longer the girlfriend... she was Tom's fiancé. Rachel pulled from their kiss letting her head rest onto his chest exhaling softly in his embrace, "You are getting very lucky tonight."

[idontspar.livejournal.com]

Tom wrapped her in his arms as she leaned into him, letting one hand drift up to run through her hair as he buried his face against the top of her head, just breathing her in.

At her wisecrack, he couldn't resist grinning. "No," he corrected with a small smirk, "I'm getting very well-laid tonight...which, I might add, is not a bad thing." He paused, drawing back to stare down at her, reaching for her left hand and pressing a kiss to her ring finger, just above the gold band with a small smile.

"I got lucky the second you said yes."

[my_strappyshoes]

Smirking at Tom as he made with the charming routine she laughed softly, "Well I stand corrected then." Drawing up her shoulders she shrugged in his embrace, pulling herself in tighter against his arms. It was more for comfort than contact, but the contact was nice as well. Rachel had gotten so wrapped up in the whole proposal and acceptance and now the loving embrace of the man she loved that she had completely forgotten that there were actual gifts still to be given. She had one for him, and apparently there was a second gift that was not an empty box.

Rachel just didn't really want to do anything else except be in Tom's arms at that moment though. "Can we postpone the rest of Christmas until the morning... make it my first Christmas morning with the man I'm going to marry?" She buried her face against his chest, her hand pressed against him as well. Rachel kept looking at the ring, knowing how much it had meant to Tom's mother and sighed again feeling his hand rubbing against her back lightly. "I just kind of want this to stay just like this for now."

[idontspar.livejournal.com]

He could feel the shift of her in his arms even though he wasn't looking directly at her...he could feel the brush of her thumb against his shirt and the tilt of her head enough to know she was staring at the ring. The notion made him irrationally happy...that she really and truly liked the ring.

And her request was a welcome one as he smiled, kissing the top of her head and drawing back enough to look down at her. "Can we sit down first?" he quipped, earning himself a laugh before he got serious. "Yeah, I'm game for holding off...how 'bout we compromise and curl up with one of those stupid Christmas movies you wanted to watch?" he offered, his smile growing as he waited for the playful swat or biting remark he was sure that he'd earned for daring to call her precious Christmas classics 'stupid'.