A Year Of Celebrations

Christmas

By Haack94

I let the dress glide off of me and watched as the dark fabric pooled around my feet. I smiled as part of it glistened as the light caught it from the open bathroom door. I carefully picked it up and laid it across the bed, knowing that once I shut the bathroom door Gabe would be in here to hang it back up and seal it in the garment bag. I pulled the clip earring off my ears and unclasped the matching pearl necklace and laid them on the dresser. I had lost my shoes the minute we were in the limo on the way back home.

Gently, I pulled pin after pin from my hair and laid them all in a neat pile by the jewelry. Shaking my head, my hair fell around my shoulders and I let out a relaxed breath. It felt so good to not have the pins in my hair any more. Next came the stockings, I carefully took them off so that I did not tear them.

I smiled, proud I didn't put a run in them once I was able to gently pry them off of myself. One of the last things I did was pull the black lace that was in an elegant bow at the back of my head. I used one hand to hold the mask as I pulled the lace and let the mask free from my face. I gently flipped it around and looked at the intricate design. It was subdued but yet vibrant. The mask itself was black slowly faded to grey towards the edges. There were small swirls of color around the edges; pink, green, dark blue, light blue, orange, purple, red and silver. Small touches of glitter touch the edges and gems are laid in patterns around the swirls.

Walking towards the bedside table I light the box it came in and gently put it in, I know Gabe will still fuss over it but I love this mask and want to keep it. I enter the bathroom and slip into the warm bath and relax.

My feet hurt and my legs felt like jelly but I could not have had a better Christmas night. We went to a ball, a real ball, and danced. My dress was a slim navy blue dress that was strapless with about an inch of fabric that ran around the back with a seamless clasp while the rest of the back of the dress dipped low in a wave of chiffon. The bottom of the dress was darker than the top and gems covered the dress to make it look like a starry night. North had said he went with Gabe to pick out the dress, it was one of the many gifts they gave me today.

No holiday was ever simple with the guys but I would not have it any other way. We had started the morning in pajamas sitting around the living room with mugs of coffee and hot chocolate as we started to open gifts. Even Mr. Blackbourne had pajamas on, a set of silky grey with his initials embroidered on the shirt pocket.

We all went a bit overboard on the gift front, Victor got everyone some new gadgets and tablets. North made gifts for everyone. He made a night stand, a table, an armoire and different trinkets that they all loved. Kota got books, books on things we were all interested in but he said he wanted to give more than just a gift, he wanted to give knowledge. We all got new products from Gabe. The list goes on and on and I think it might take me until next Christmas to use everything I got.

We spent our lunch at the homeless shelter handing out food and gifts to the children. A lot of Academy members were there, Dr. Roberts had been convinced to play Santa. I was dressed up as an elf and surprisingly someone put North in an elf costume too. He had so many questions on why he was so big that every time the kids asked him he said he ate all his vegetables and lot of the kids ran to get extra vegetables to eat.

Once we finished lunch I was whisked off to the salon where I got my nails and makeup done, Gabe did my hair much to the Salon's dismay. I didn't even know we were going to a ball until he had me go into one of the changing rooms to find my dress, mask, shoes and jewelry.

Once inside my dress I had stepped out to find them all in tuxes and a limo waiting outside the Salon. We went to an upscale restaurant and had a private room for dining and then went and danced the night away in a ballroom. Everyone in attendance had on masks and just as elegant dresses and tuxes. The entire night was straight out of a fairytale.

I slide further into the warm water and let the bubbles tickle my chin before I went under. I washed up quickly and after drying off I found warm pajamas sitting on the bed. I pulled them on with some fuzzy socks.

When I walked to the living room I saw all the guys sitting around quietly watching a movie by the candlelight.

"Merry Christmas everyone," I said quietly, and I took in the wonderful scene in front of me.