Our Life Together

• Chapter Fifty •

*Stef's Point of View*

After what seemed like a short night, I woke up and saw Lena was already awake. I rolled over to face her, and smiled. "Morning, baby." I said. "Merry Christmas."

Lena looked at me and smiled. "Merry Christmas." She said. I leaned over and kissed her. She laid her head on my chest, and I wrapped an arm around her. I rubbed her upper-arm with my thumb, and sighed contently.

"My parents will be here in a couple hours, so we should probably get things ready." She said, after a while.

We both got up, and walked down the stairs. I walked into the kitchen, and started the coffee pot, as Lena prepped the snack tray. My mother walked into the kitchen a little later, and smiled at us. "Merry Christmas." She said, as she sat down at the counter.

"Merry Christmas, Ma." I said, smiling at her. "Dana and Stewart are planning on arriving around ten, just so you know." I said to her.

My mother nodded, and looked at me. "Your father called this morning, and he wanted me to tell you Merry Christmas for him." She said.

"As much as I appreciate him wanting you to do that, can we not talk about Dad today?" I asked, knowing my mother would understand.

"Of course." She said, half-smiling. "What time were we thinking for lunch?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Probably sometime around one." Lena said, putting plastic wrap over the tray. "So then we'll have some time to talk and catch up."

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A couple hours later, we heard the doorbell ring. I got up, and walked over. I opened the door, and saw Dana and Stewart standing on the porch. "Merry Christmas!" Dana exclaimed, as she walked in, giving Lena and I each a hug.

Stewart followed, and did the same. "Merry Christmas, to you as well." Lena said, smiling at her parents.

Once we had gotten everything in place, we all sat in the living room. Lena and I sat on our couch, and each of our parents sat in one of the small chairs we had. "How has the force been, Stef?" Stewart asked.

"It's been interesting." I replied. "My partner and I have been put on a couple cases, but they've since been closed. It's mostly just been desk work recently."

Stewart nodded, acknowledging my response. He looked at Lena. "Your mother mentioned that you said you were looking into getting a part-time job. How's the search been going?"

Lena sighed, and looked at him. "It's been going." She said. "I have a few that I've looked into, but I've decided not to apply for anything until after New Years."

Stewart half-smiled, and nodded. We talked about a few other things, and eventually Dana and Sharon went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. Stewart got up, and followed them.

I looked at Lena, and placed my hand on her knee. I knew she didn't really want to talk about her searching for a job. "You could tell them that you don't really want to talk about it." I suggested.

Lena looked at me. "They're just trying to make small talk. Really, it's fine. I just don't want to go too deep into it." She said, raising her eyebrows.

I half-smiled, and wrapped an arm around her. "You know, I got to thinking." I said. "Maybe we should see if my mother would watch Penny tomorrow night so we could go out to dinner."

"That would be nice." Lena said, smiling. "We haven't been able to do that in a while."

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*Lena's Point of View*

A while later, Sharon and my mother came out of the kitchen to let us know lunch was ready. We walked in, and sat around the table. As we ate, we talked about a few other things. "Have you guys done anything interesting lately, Dana?" Stef asked.

"We went on a small trip last week." My mother replied. "We went up to LA, and spent the weekend there."

"Got to see some interesting things." My dad added. "Walk of Fame and Griffin Observatory."

"That's what Lena and I did when we went up to LA a while ago." Stef said, smiling slightly. "The view from the observatory was absolutely beautiful."

I laughed slightly, and smiled. That was a real Stef thing to say. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "So, Sharon, have you done anything interesting lately?" I asked.

"Um, not really. I mostly just hang around my house and do some housekeeping." She replied, looking over at me.

After an afternoon of playing card games and spending time together, my parents started to get their things together. "Thanks so much for having us over today." My mother said, giving Stef and I each a hug.

"Thanks for coming over. It was a lot of fun being able to spend time together." I said, hugging my dad.

My parents headed out, and I closed the door behind them. Sharon had gone upstairs into the guest room, and Stef and I walked into the living room. I grabbed a small box I had set by our small tree, and sat on the couch next to Stef.

"I got you a little something." I said, handing her the box.

She smiled as she opened it, and let out a small gasp when she saw what it was. "Oh, Lena. They're gorgeous." She said as she admired the silver earrings. "Thank you." She said as she grabbed a small box she had set on the coffee table, and handed it to me. "I got you something, as well." She said, chuckling slightly.

I smiled at her, then opened the box. "Oh, Stef." I said, looking at the gold bracelet laying in the box. "It's beautiful." I leaned over, and kissed her "Thank you." I said, smiling at her once again.

We soon made our way up to our room, and laid in the bed. I laid my head on Stef's chest, and she wrapped an arm around me. "I love you." I said.

"I love you too, baby." She replied, placing a kiss on my forehead.