Joyeux Noël

The Early Christmas Present

"I only wish we had stayed in Lain for Christmas," Julien said as he pulled his scarf from around his neck and hung it on the peg.

"We were invited this year by Pierre and Amélie, non?" Daphne hung her own beside his.

Julien's fingers trailed down the soft weave of the fabric "Yes," he said on the edge of a sigh. He turned to Daphne when he felt her hand on the arm of his coat, and he offered a small smile.

"Do you not want to go?"

"I'm not sure. It will be so different." He watched the corners of her lips turn in a frown and her eyes shifted with that same something that he'd seen so many times before she she had brought him forward. "It's alright." He pressed his smile just a wider. "There was a lot you might have liked, is all. The Christmas tree was the biggest thing I had ever seen in my childhood."

"It must have been amazing. I'm sure the tree this year will be just as large. I've only ever had trees I could fit on a table." Julien's brows raised. "The box I pulled out last night is all the decorations that I have."

"You said that Christmas is your favorite holiday."

She crinkled her nose. "I know. But my mother always kept the café open on Christmas, so we both worked."

Julien nodded and set his hands on her shoulders. "I'll be back by the time dinner is ready."

"What?" she asked as he leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. "But-- where--?" Whatever her objections were, Julien ignored them as he tied his scarf back in place and slipped out the door.

He had seen them a week or so before, eye catching on their glimmer from the shop window. He had assumed Daphne's love for the holidays meant that she had her own set. But now they could be packed up in their exquisite box of dark wood, contrasted with the silver bow that mirrored what lay inside.

When he returned home as promised, that treasure tucked beneath his arm, she raised an eyebrow as she came around from the kitchen. "Julien, there are still almost three weeks until Christmas. What is that?"

"It's an early Christmas present." He hung his scarf up once more and stepped closer to press a light kiss to her cheek. He indicated their small table and set the box there, unable to keep the proud grin from his face. The light of Daphne's own smile was a dead giveaway as her fingers trailed over the edge of the box. "You can open it now."

She clapped her hands together and tipped up on her toes to peck a kiss over his lips. She pulled the bow apart with careful fingers, pushing the silk out of the way before she lifted the lid. "Oh, Julien," she sighed. She pulled out the first bulb of gossamer blue glass. Silver shimmered as it laced across the inside of the sphere. "They're beautiful. But we don't even have a tree." She turned to him as she replaced the ball.

His smile only grew and he pressed another kiss to her brow. "We can get one, non? We have a few weeks before we have to go to Lain. You'll have the best Christmas of your life while we're there, but there's no reason we can't have our own here, mm? And you won't even have to work."

"Yes!" She threw her arms around his neck, lifting on her toes to pepper kisses over him again. "We'll get a tree tomorrow. For now, you're late for dinner."