Happy Merry Everything (Charlie Barber)

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Day by day, snow continued falling over the city, leaving the world outside your window dusted in thick layers of white. Nestled beneath the tree were presents ever growing in their number. Boxes of varying shapes and size in their ornate wrapping adorned the vintage tree skirt you so lovingly purchased the month before, and each day leading up to the year's most magical holiday made you value the ones in your life all the more.

In all of your time spent staring at the tree, your newest favorite pastime was catching Charlie in the act of giving. Every now and then a gift would catch your eye, appearing from out of thin air. All the while, Charlie would sit like a cat relishing cream, smirking and turning the pages of a book or continuing something on his laptop pertaining to his work. You chided him once in affection, only to be told not every gift was for you. He was still grinning when he mentioned that bit too. The collection of gifts coming from you were making appearances as well. You and Charlie decided early on that no one would shake any gift or touch any box that wasn't their own unless moving one out of the way to make room for another. Amusing as it was precious, it was a tradition you looked forward to honoring in the future.

At times, the melancholy ache in your heart tried to make a grand return. The invisible bandages left by Charlie's inaction were all but gone now after having come to terms with everything else. "Not right now" wasn't "no" forever. You did well to remind yourself of that. Regardless of his reasoning, illogical or sound, Charlie would be ready when he was ready and you would be there, waiting by his side with an answer. Life with Charlie in it far outweighed any semblance of a world without him. Marriage would come and even if it didn't, there was no spoken rule that said you couldn't enjoy a life without rings. If it worked for Goldie and Kurt, it could work for you. You loved each other, wholly and deeply, and that's all that mattered.

In order to stay present and out of your head, you turned to cooking. A new cookie recipe here, a comforting soup there, each day brought something new. To say Charlie was thrilled would be an understatement. He could be found without fail nosing around the kitchen, tastebuds at the ready in hopes you would offer a lick or a bite. He was so enthusiastic, in fact, a playful swat on the hand had prevented him from burning himself on cookies fresh from the oven more than once. He didn't pout for long, though. How could he with a plate of confections and glass of cold milk right in front of him?

Adding to the list of delights, old and new, you got to work baking up a batch of gingerbread. Everything was all planned out: You would bake cookie sheet after cookie sheet of gingerbread pieces, all waiting to be assembled into the perfect little village to decorate the living room. Charlie's sticky fingers only managed to grab a piece of roofing before it clicked that he was noshing on the top of someone's house. "I am so sorry," he chewed, his mouth half full of cookie. "I didn't realize." You glanced over your shoulder, shooting him a smile before turning your attention back to the oven to retrieve another tray of building materials. "No harm done," you reassured him. "While you're in here, would you tell me which icing you prefer? I tested two different recipes this morning and I can't tell which one tastes better."

You removed the festive themed oven mitts from your hands to grab two spoons from one of the drawers, gesturing with your head to the bowls and their contents as you did. Charlie approached them, peering inside. "Wow. You've been busy." A breathy laugh escaped you. "Just a little," you shrugged, nonchalant, passing him the teaspoon. "Tis the season." You dipped your teaspoon into the same bowl as him and took a taste.

"This is the one I think will pipe better." Charlie hesitated before tasting the icing himself. "What do you think?" "I like it." "Try the other one?" You watched as he used the handle to swipe up a bit of icing from the second bowl and brought it to his lips. "Well?"