Brody: Christmas Eve

Hello, friends!  I know you're all waiting patiently for more on Lauren and Alex.  I'm working on the next one but it's not ready to go today.  So here is a short mini-bonus Brody post!  I'll have the next Lauren post up tomorrow, and a Kinsley post either on Thursday or this coming weekend sometime.
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I trusted I would wake up before Liv's alarm, and I did.  I almost always did.  I shifted carefully and snuck out of bed, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt off the floor so I wouldn't have to open drawers and risk waking Liv.  Eddie (luckily) stayed quiet, padding gracefully out of the room after me.  I was surprised he even came with me, usually he stays put wherever Liv is.

It was Christmas Eve morning, and we were flying out to Wisconsin a bit later to spend the holiday with Liv's family.  We'd both been so busy lately, though, that we'd hardly had any time together.  She was busy getting ready for her transition at work, and I was busy getting things moved and starting to make some changes to the way my company was structured.  Throw my weekend away and Alex's accident on top of everything, and it had been a really wild month.  We were both exhausted, and I'm not sure Liv was even looking forward to going home today.

So that's why I'd waited until she fell asleep and reset her alarm for an hour earlier.  She already had it set earlier than it needed to be, probably so she could micromanage me and make sure I had my shit together.  Our travel styles don't mesh at all.  I'm so sick of the inside of DIA that I prefer to spend as little time there as possible, but that makes Liv crabby.  We manage, somehow.  This morning she'd be pleasantly surprised because I was actually all packed already.

Anyway, I'd set her alarm a bit earlier and hoped I'd still wake up earlier than that.  I did, of course.  Once I was downstairs, I turned on the fireplace and headed into the kitchen.  I let Eddie out and put some food in his bowl for when he came back in, then turned my attention to breakfast.

I went all out.  Omelets, french toast, sausage, fruit, and even freshly squeezed orange juice.  Why not?  I turned the Keurig on when I heard Liv stirring upstairs, and I had a cup of coffee ready when she came clomping down the stairs.  For being so small, she sure makes a lot of noise when she walks around this house.

"Did you change my alarm?" she grumbled, coming into the kitchen.  She looked ridiculously cute with her hair still messy and the sleepy, irritated look on her face.

I grinned at her, which made her narrow her eyes more.  She was definitely not a morning person.  "I sure did," I answered.  I handed her the cup of coffee I'd made and said, "Here.  Go sit.  I'm making breakfast."  She took it silently, let Eddie in, then turned towards the living room.  Eddie looked seriously torn between his breakfast and Liv, but decided to wolf down his food before trotting out to join her.

By the time I was done with breakfast, Liv had woken up a little.  She was curled up on the couch under a blanket with Eddie (yes, Eddie was under the blanket too...spoiled as hell).  "Seriously?" I asked, looking at Eddie.  He blinked up at me, then laid his head on Liv's arm, not breaking eye contact with me.  That dog's heart belonged to her.

"What?" Liv asked with mock innocence, trying to keep the smirk off her face.  I just shook my head and chuckled, setting down plates on the coffee table.  "Did you reset my alarm so you could make breakfast?"

"Yes," I replied, turning to go back into the kitchen for the rest of the food.  "I wanted to spend a little time with you before we had to go to the airport.  We've hardly gotten to see each other lately, and this weekend will be crazy."  We were flying out today and back on Sunday, and I knew it would be a busy weekend.  "Then it's back to work right away."

"It's true," she agreed.  She yawned, then said, "I'm not even mad that you made me get up early."  I laughed and sat down next to her.  "Merry Christmas," she said, smiling.

I leaned forward and kissed her.  "Merry Christmas, Liv."  We ate our breakfast and caught up on each other's lives.  I wasn't kidding when I said we'd barely seen each other.  Liv started to take the dishes out to the kitchen when we were done, but I stopped her.  "I've got it.  You just enjoy your coffee and your spoiled dog."  Eddie opened one eye and looked at me disdainfully.  "Seriously," I muttered, chuckling.  She didn't protest, and I gathered our dishes.  Then I grabbed her Christmas gift (part of it, anyway) off the counter and went back into the living room.

I sat back down and smiled as I handed her the envelope.  "What's this?" she asked curiously.

"Part of your Christmas gift," I replied.  "Open it."  She grinned and slid her finger under the flap of the envelope, loosening the glue.  She pulled out the card and opened it, taking out the travel vouchers I'd stuck inside.  "It's been so crazy lately that I thought we could use a vacation together," I said.  "I know things will be nuts for you in your new position, and you won't be able to take any time off for awhile.  And neither will I.  Things should be better for me by the end of March, so over your school's spring break, we can go wherever you want."

She looked up at me and started laughing.  "What?" I asked, confused.

"Hold on," she said.  She shifted Eddie, who grumbled in irritation.  When she stood and headed upstairs, he jumped down off the couch and bounded up the stairs after her.  I just shook my head.  Eddie liked me just fine, but when given the choice, he always chose Liv.  I was grateful for that, since it really did help me worry less about her when I was gone.  I knew he'd take good care of her.

After a minute, Liv reappeared, coming back down the stairs.  Eddie walked behind her at her pace, looking comical as he tried to keep himself from succumbing to his forward momentum and knocking them both down the stairs.  Liv grinned at me and handed me an envelope.  Then she turned to Eddie and commanded him to "go lay down" while pointing at his bed.  He cocked his head and seemed to consider this, then begrudgingly went over to his bed next to the fireplace and curled up.

"Part of your gift," she said to me, motioning to the envelope that was now in my hand.  I tugged her down into my lap and she curled up against my chest while I opened the envelope.  I flipped open the card and read what she had written, then I started laughing too.  Inside the card she had written a promise for a long weekend trip anywhere I wanted to go, once both our schedules allowed.

I set the card to the side and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her temple.  "I guess we both want the same thing for Christmas, huh?" I asked.

"I guess so," she replied, and I knew she was smiling.  She wiggled loose from my grip and shifted so she could kiss me.  After a long kiss, she said, "Well, thank you.  Now we have a couple things to look forward to."

"You're welcome, and thank you," I said in response.  I kissed her again, and we enjoyed our last 15 minutes before we had to start getting ready to leave for the airport just snuggled up on the couch together.