vegas | H.S.

b o n u s c h a p t e r # 3

[Christmas With The Styles]

Wreath covered wrapping paper and traps of unused tape surrounded the King and Queen of England on Christmas Eve. They refused to allow someone other than themselves to pick and wrap the gifts for their children, regardless of their terribly busy schedule. Diana was tempted to force the two stressed, exasperated parents to take a break and give her permission to purchase everything, but they struck down the decision immediately. The vision was to avoid growing their children up thinking they do not have time for them on important, significant events in their life. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years. Vegas and Harry were always apart of the festivities, even if they were working up to their necks the night before.

The children were snoring and snuggled in their bedrooms, anticipating the next morning and enjoying the feeling. Harry made sure they were in a deep slumber before they began wrapping and placing name tags onto each gift. The pile was growing larger than Harry standing, and as he stood beside his wife, he was impressed by how fast she worked. Vegas rejected his help on the gift wrapping, claiming that his skills were not adequate, but she allowed him to write labels with his terrible cursive.

"One last gift, and we can go to sleep for a little while," Vegas sighed heavily, snatching off a piece of tape. "I must look like a zombie."

"Baby girl, we both do. I think I forgot how to spell Oliver's name even after writing it so many times," Harry replied, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up.

"Please double check this time. Make sure there are no more gifts." Harry mistakenly miscounted the number of gifts they bought and proclaimed they would be done an hour ago. There were three bags left over that he stored in the closet to hide from Ryan and Riley's sneaky, detective work. Vegas was incredibly irritated, but she let up once he began begging for forgiveness (a common habit after his last debacle). This time, there could no longer be any leftovers.

"I made sure. There's nothing left for the kids."

He plopped down beside his wife, staring at how she busily folded and creased the thin paper to the box shape. Her slightly pink lip was curled up in concentration, the thick rimmed glasses sliding down her nose and causing a disruption from how her hands worked. His fingers stretched out subconsciously, tugging off the glasses from her face and leaning his tired body forward. The warmth on her skin matched her rich chocolate complexion as his fingertips brush to her cheek to cup her jaw. Vegas perked in surprise, wanting to ask what was going on, when she could see his face closing in.

"W-what..."

"A little break...that's all..." Harry hummed against her parted lips that were plump, and as he kissed them, he was instantly in love with her once more. His chest flickered like a hummingbird in spring, fluttering in summersaults and loops.

Vegas was caught off guard by his romantic gesture, but she was not unhappy by his forwardness. Her body melted into his touch smoothly, cozy and warm against his hold around her body. Her hand clutched the fabric of his pajama top, relaxing when his palm held hers with his thumb to run over her knuckles. She withdrew from the longest kiss they've had in a few days, and blinked with surprise.

"I've missed that...and you..." Harry murmured, his thumbprint brushing across her cheekbones. He glanced past her figure to check the once blurred clock in the corner. It was ten minutes past midnight, marking the commencement of Christmas and its events. He dug his hand under the couch beside them, pulling a long velvet box. "I know I've messed up big time, and working hard to gain all of your trust back. I wanted to give you something to show more of my love, and effort. Merry Christmas, baby."