Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (JoeMazzello!JohnDeacon fanfic)

ninety

Towards the end of 1976, in early December, Queen's fifth studio album, A Day at the Races was released to the world and like it's predecessor, it shot straight up the charts to number one and because it was so close to the holidays, the band wouldn't be jetting off on their world tour until the fifteenth of January but given that it was now Christmas eve, that wasn't very long at all.

There are just a couple more hours until midnight and John and Roxy were still downstairs in the living room wrapping presents. She'll admit it, she may have gone a little overboard with presents for Arthur but she had to do it; this was his first Christmas and she wanted it to be absolutely perfect.

John step through the back door into the kitchen carrying some wood for the fire, stomping his feet as quietly as he can to rid his boot of the snow.

"It's really coming down out there, now," he calls as he kicks the boots off before moving through to the living room, smiling at the sight before him. She's surrounded by paper and sellotape, with a truly awful Christmas jumper on and some PJ bottoms that belong to him.

The house was decorated to the nines; the big tree that they couldn't have last year was proudly stood in the corner, John's angel ornament hanging in the same place it was last year, right in the middle. The outside, that was just as bright; there was lights on their bushes down by the gate and the house, well, they'd put icicle lights up so they were hanging from the roof and believe him when he says that he almost died putting them up.

He quickly tosses the logs onto the fire, placing the guard back up before he's sitting down beside Roxanne, reaching for one of the presents they'd gotten for Rebecca.

"Remember and put that out before you come to bed," she murmurs, placing a neatly wrapped present in her pile. Wait, was that for Freddie or Brian? She couldn't remember.

He nods, "I will. Don't want Santa burning his bottom, do we?"

"Exactly," she grins, "Did you say it was snowing again?"

He nods again.

"It's definitely going to be a white Christmas then."

"It is. It's a shame that no one can make it down though."

By that, he means their mum's. Lillian and Cathy were supposed to arrive on the last train last night but, due to the worsening weather, Roxy's mum had only made it to Leister so the two women were going to spend the day together instead of being alone.

So this year, it was just going to be the three of them.

"It'll be fine," John assures her, hand on hers before he gets up to go to their ever-growing record collection, "Some music will lighten the mood, won't it?" He winces as his knees crack when he bends down (twenty-five going on fifty-five, that's what Roxanne always jokes) and he starts going through them.

Roxanne moves on to writing tag, pausing briefly when she thinks she hears Arthur stirring through the baby monitor.

"Love, do we even own a Christmas rec-oh, here's one. Hope you don't mind some Bing Crosby?"

"Of course not," she grins as he gently sets the record into the player and it's not long before it crackles to life and John quickly turns it down.

He takes his spot on the floor again, back resting against the couch and he watches Roxy, in her perfect cursive, write out a tag for Freddie's gift.

"You're staring," she notes without looking up.

A smile tugs at his lip, "I know. Can't help it. You just look so lovely like this."