The interview

Chapter 24

Daniel woke up to the feeling of fingers running over his hair in all of his favourite spots and sighed through his nose, smiling slightly, "Hmmm."
"Ohh the weather outside is frightful," Lucy sung softly, coaxing him to open his eyes slowly. She grinned and continued, "But the fiiiire is sooo delightful,"
He smiled wider and opened both eyes blinking harshly and reaching up to touch her braid. She kissed his fingers, "Since we've no place to goooo, let it snow, let it snow, let it snooow."
"Feeling festive huh?" He chuckled softly, pulling her down for a kiss. Lucy rubbed her nose against his smiling, "Kinda hard not to when its a white Christmas."
"What?" Daniel jolted slightly, eyes wide.
"It's snowing."
At that, he leapt up and raced to a window, ripped the curtains aside. She was right, and it was really coming down. He grinned, "Holy shit. Haven't had a white Christmas since I was 7."
Lucy smiled from the bed, "Right? Pretty huh?"
Daniel nodded and turned away from the window, climbing back into bed with her, curling up and resting his head on her lap, "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas baby. I love you."
He smiled up at her, "I love you too."
"I'm glad you're smiling again."
"Me too." He sighed, sitting up and kissing her forehead, "I'm hungry."
She smiled and took his hand, pulling him from the warm sheets and tossing a hoody to him, "Good, come be my taste tester."
Daniel staggered after her, kicking the quilt from around his ankles. They walked down the stairs and Lucy lead him past the large Christmas tree, presents scattered underneath it, towards the kitchen. He saw a few cooling trays laid out across the counter with star, tree, and ball-ball shaped cookies and a giant chocolate cake half decorated with green and red frosting. He let out a low whistle, "Jesus Luce, how long have you been up?"
"Since 5." She smiled guiltily, "I wanted to help your mom make sure everything was prepared. I even put the giant hunk of beef she bought in the oven. Seasoned and everything."
Daniel smiled lopsidedly at her, "You're real wife material you know that?"
She blushed brightly and turned away, "Just shut up and try a cookie please." She mumbled, practically stuffing one the Christmas tree shaped ones into his mouth. He hummed softly as he chewed, "Mmmm." He nodded, giving her double thumbs up, "Good shit."
"Really?"
He nodded, "Definitely... can I just grab another one real quick?"
Lucy rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away, "No you can't, they need to be decorated for later. Besides, your breakfast is over there." She jutted her thumb over her shoulder before setting to work. Daniel turned and noticed a big steaming plate of toasted bacon sandwiches, "I love you so much."
Lucy sniggered softly, "Dig in."
Daniel did as he was told, sitting on the other side of the kitchen island so he could admire her baking skills.

It wasn't until 12 when the rest of the family showed up, decked out in gifts and festive gear. Olivia had joined Lucy in the kitchen after kicking Daniel out, claiming it as their zone. He looked around at all his younger cousins crowding around the tree, looking over all the presents with evident excitement, Jax sniffed around at all the boxes curiously. Daniel smiled slightly and turned as a hand came down on his shoulder, "Hey Dad."
Carter smiled, "How you feelin?"
"Ok. Better, actually." Daniel nodded, turning back to their rowdy family, "I start training again next week so..."
"Glad to hear it. When's the semis?"
"February. Then the big one's some time in the middle of May, date might change though."
Things between them had been a bit awkward since Daniel's drunken tantrum, he had a pretty strong feeling Carter was still beyond pissed and was only relaxing a little since it was the holidays.
"You and Lucy good?"
There it was. Daniel smiled a little tightly back at his father, "Doing great."
"How long you two been together now?"
"2 months. Almost 3 I think."
Carter let out a whistle, "Damn... feels longer."
"Yeah, lot's happened." Daniel sighed, dodging his two youngest cousins, Brianna and Grant as they played a serious looking game of tag. They turned when one of Daniel's aunts called him over.
"Catch ya in a few." Daniel waved over his shoulder, darting for his aunt, grateful to get away from the awkwardness. His Aunt and Carter's sister, Robin grinned and gave him a tight hug, "Hey there future champ!"
"Hey Auntie." He laughed, squeezing her just as tightly, "Thanks for coming."
"Wasn't gonna miss Christmas." She smiled before her eyes softened slightly, "How you doing?"
"Better. Therapy's been good, haven't touched a drop since that night and Lucy's been keeping an eye on me. I'm starting training again soon too."
"He taps back in!" Robin whopped and ruffled his hair, "You had me worried for a while there."
"Sorry." He laughed softly, feeling a little ashamed.
Robin eyes darted to the kitchen then back to her nephew, "So... how is Lucy?" She smirked slightly, as if she knew something he didn't.
"She's fine... why are you looking at me like that?" Daniel frowned slightly, "You look like a maniac."
"Hey." Robin frowned, swatting his shoulder softly before smirking again, "Just fine?"
"Yes, why? And please for the love of God stop smiling like that."
Robin rolled her eyes, her grin only growing, "I'm just saying she looks very well. Almost, glowing." She stressed the last word with a bigger smile. Daniel rose an eyebrow, eyes narrowed in confusion as he slowly shook his head, "Glowing? Wha-"
Suddenly, Olivia's sister Elisa butted into the conversation, handing Robin a glass of white wine, "She's asking if Lucy's pregnant."
Robin turned to pout at her sister-in-law while Daniel seemed to choke on his own breath. They turned back to him, not noticing the red hot flush covering every centimetre of his body, "We're all wondering really." Elisa continued as if it were the most casual conversation anyone could have, "She's just got that look y'know?"
"Right? I thought I was the only one that noticed." Robin grinned, looking back at her still as a statue nephew, "Danny?"
He opened his mouth to speak but only a weak little out of character squeak came out instead. Elisa and Robin rose eyebrows in confusion, "Are you ok?"
"She's not!" He yelped, trying to convince himself more than them as he glanced not so subtly to her from the doorway, she didn't look different at all! Right? He gulped and turned back to his aunts, "Besides, we've only been together a couple of months. And we're careful." His voice was wavering slightly, his brain screaming, 'Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.'
Robin shared looks with Elisa before holding her hands up, "Ok, ok. We're just saying."
Daniel swallowed heavily and jumped when another voice called him. He whirled around to see Lucy peeking around the kitchen counter, "Can you give me a hand?"
He nodded shakily and offered a small, crooked smile to his aunts before practically stumbling away.
Lucy gave him an alarmed look as he joined her side, helping her lift the turkey from the oven with a heave, "Baby?"
"Baby?! What?!" He jumped and cleared his throat, "Sorry." He lowered his eyes from her worried ones, "Sorry."
Lucy lifted his chin softly, "Are you ok? You look like you're gonna throw up."
"Fine. Perfectly fine." He wheezed, trying not to hyperventilate. Lucy cupped his face, "Sweetie if this is too much for you, you can go lay down for a while? I'll fix you some coco?" She tapped his cheek softly with her finger, "Danny?"
He was staring at her intently, searching her face for any sign of change, he frowned inwardly, 'She looks no different. What did they mean? Maybe they were trying to screw with me?' He nodded to himself, "No, no I'm fine. Just, I don't know, I..." He chewed his lip and glanced down at her belly subtly, no sign whatsoever, "Just got a little..."
"Overwhelmed?" She offered. Daniel took the help and nodded, "Yeah. Y'know, it being our first Christmas without him an' all..." He could hear his southern accent breaking through again. Lucy smiled sadly,"I know babe. It's my first Christmas without mom too. But hey." She kissed the tip of his nose, "We're in this together yeah?"
He smiled gratefully to her, "Yeah."
Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled into his shoulder, "I love you."
He squeezed her tightly, "Love you more." He murmured back, burying his nose in her hair.

***

Lucy sat back in her seat as she watched Daniel play Santa, handing different gifts around to the family. It had long past dinner time, the dirty plates piled high as the dishwasher worked as fast as it could on the third load. She looked out at the pitch black sky, still throwing snow down relentlessly and sighed softly barely hearing her name. Olivia shook her shoulder softly, "Sweetheart?"
Lucy blinked and turned to smile at her, "Sorry."
Daniel passed her a small red wrapped box, kissing her forehead, "For you."
She smiled sweetly up at him before he gestured excitedly for her to open it. She sniggered softly under her breath as he watched her closely. Tearing the shiny paper away she lifted the lid of the pink box inside and sucked in a sharp breath. It was a charm bracelet. Her eyes had zeroed in on one charm in particular and she felt her eyes burning as her head snapped up to look at Daniel. He smiled guiltily, "I know a guy. Talented welding artist. I asked him to recreate the keychain into a charm for that."
Lucy ran her fingers over her father's flag faced lion, sniffing softly. She then breathed a small laugh and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him back. He steadied himself rather ungracefully, earning a round of laughs from his relatives before Lucy lifted her head, smiling apologetically, "Sorry."
He grinned, settling her on his lap and lifting the bracelet from the box, "Come 'ere." He fasted the bracelet around her right wrist and kissed her hand, "I'm glad you like it."
"I adore it." She smiled back, her eyes sparkling with fresh tears. Just as he buried his nose into her hair, the dishwasher beeped from the kitchen and she went to stand, "My turn." She sighed.
Daniel shot to his feet too, "I'll help." He followed after her, not missing the looks from Robin and Elisa as they not so subtly pointed to Lucy's stomach. He blushed bright red again, deciding to ignore them and followed Lucy to the washer, beginning to unload the now clean dishes as she reloaded another pile of dirty ones. He hummed a laugh, "Aunt Robin and Elisa said something really weird today."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. Said something about you glowing then asked me if you were pregnant. Crazy right?" He laughed softly. A plate shattering on the floor made him jump out of his skin and look up from the cupboards, "Luce?!"
She swallowed heavily, her hands shaking, "Sorry! I don't know why I did that."
"Is everything ok over there?" Olivia called from the living, standing. Daniel gestured for her to stay sat down, "Yeah no everything's fine Mom, slippery plates y'know." He chuckled nervously then turned back to Lucy with wide eyes, "Lu...?"
She chewed her lip so hard it started to bleed as she fiddled with her new bracelet, avoiding his eyes. Daniel rested his hands on her shoulders, "Luce... please tell me you freaked out for a perfectly, none related reason to the topic..." His voice was getting higher with panic. She slowly met his eyes and took a shaky breath, her words crashing against his ears like she had screamed them instead of the tiny, wavering whisper she had used, "I'm late."

A/N: ffffffffuuuuuuuck. Welp....... next time? Yeah next time. Byeeeeeeeee