Coffee Beans

Christmas Eve Eve Eve

The coffee shop had never looked so sparkly. That seemed like a bizarre way to describe it, but Ellie couldn't think of any other word; soft, glowing fairy lights were hung around the walls, leaving shimmering patterns all over the room and its tables. A few bells were hung above the door, making the chime when a customer entered just a tiny bit more festive. The tables were covered with red gingham cloths, huddles of candles in their centre. Of course, the candles were electric; the shop was family friendly after all. Children and flames didn't mix well.

With Robin's help, Ellie had made cushions for the seats, matching the cloths but she'd added a green trim. It was important to stay with the traditional colours of Christmas, of course. To top off the decorative additions for the winter season, there was a ceiling-high Christmas tree in the corner of the shop, ladened with shiny baubles and golden tinsel. On top of the tree was a scrappy-looking pipe-cleaner fairy that Ellie had made in primary school. As ridiculous as it looked, Robin had insisted on the fairy being the star attraction of the tree after finding out the brunette's mother had put it on their tree before she'd passed away.

"Are we going or not?"

Ellie turned around and smiled at Robin. "Well I suppose we'd better; there won't be any cake without us there."

The blonde laughed and linked her arm with the brunette. "The shop will be fine without us so don't worry too much ok? It's time to party!"

The women laughed and closed up the shop, heading down the street to the local park. The weather forecast had been right for once and the skies were clear, only a chilly wind could damage the fun planned for the evening. As they reached the end of the street, a faint glow could be seen a few meters away.

"I hope Jason hasn't gone too overboard," Ellie mumbled, biting her lip.

"Jason seems like overboard but somehow he manages to pull everything off. No matter how many candles he's lit, the park won't go up in flames."

"Why are you always right?"

Robin laughed and squeezed Ellie's arm. "Because that's how our marriage seems to work; you worry, I point out everything's going to be fine and then everything does."

The brunette rolled her eyes and sighed. Unfortunately, Robin was right. Again.

Sure enough, nearly every tree in the park had a lantern hanging from it, candles lit inside. There were even smaller lanterns littered across the grass, lighting a path to a collection of park benches in the centre of the park.

"Kate must have organised most of this," Ellie said, taking it all in. "Jason isn't creative enough to have thought of all this himself."

Robin tutted. "Don't be so mean; your brother has wonderful design ideas. I mean, do you remember the waistcoats at his wedding?"

"Maybe you should remind Mark of them if we bump into him," Ellie sniggered, Robin joining in.

"Auntie Ellie!"

The brunette looked around but found that her nephew was already holding tight to her leg. "Alfie? I didn't even see you there! You're getting very good at hiding aren't you?" She picked the little boy up and adjusted his coat, Robin helping to re-pop the poppers.

"Do mummy and daddy know where you are?"

The little boy's cheeks were already a shade of pink from the cold weather, but a sheepish grin told Ellie all she needed to know.

"Right then, let's go find them, shall we?"

Following the trail of lanterns and the sound of steak-related conversation, it wasn't long until they'd found Jason and Kate. Various people from the community were surrounding them, chatting away with steaming mugs of mulled wine soon to be paired with the mince pies Ellie had made with Robin's help.

"Go on over to mummy, ok? And make sure you're a good boy this evening," Ellie said, putting her little nephew down. She watched as he ran to Kate with open arms, the look of worry on her face fading instantly.

"He's turning out just like Jason, you know," the brunette said, waving to Kate.

"Is that so?" Robin said, a grin working its way onto her face. "What were you like as a teeny little Ellie then?"

"Oh we're not going there, you don't want to know. It's really boring, I promise."

Ellie protests were falling on deaf ears as the blonde weaved her arms around Ellie's waist, pulling the brunette close.

"Were you always this adorable?"

"No, of course, I wasn't, I-" The brunette's words were drowned out by Robin's lips on hers, their bodies melting into one another to savour the warmth.

"Your ear is twitching again," Robin muttered.

"I knew I'd bump into you two," a voice said behind them. As the figure stepped into the light, Mark was revealed in a spooky way, not really in keeping with the season at all.

"You looked so creepy like that," Robin said, unable to hide a smirk.

Mark rolled his eyes and hugged them both before handing over a mug of mulled wine. "This will warm you up, not that we'll need it soon with global warming."

"I hope my Dad isn't boring you with his theories?"

"No, not at all. He presents them pretty well now that he knows how to use PowerPoint."

While Ellie dipped her head in embarrassment, Robin and Mark laughed until tears started to fall down their cheeks.

"Oh bless," the blonde said, wiping her eyes with the back of her coat sleeve. "Your Dad is almost as adorable as you are, Ellie."

A/N: OK so I know I said I'd leave these two alone but gah they're so adorable! And I know it's October and therefore Halloween so I say to you - just listen to the 'Polar Express' soundtrack or 'A Pentatonix Christmas' and you'll feel right at home with this chapter XD

I can't wait for the next one - it's half written so it won't be too long until the next update! I wonder what will happen..............?!?!? Leave a comment below with your guess? Maybe? I don't know - enjoy folks! :)