J ulie didn't know what to think when she pulled up to the apartment. Even though it was seven fifteen in the morning a couple of days after Christmas, there were new Christmas lights strung along the balcony of their apartment and down the railing of the stairway. She slowed as she realized there was even a simple wreath on her door. She had decorated the inside of the apartment, but she hadn’t done any of this .
She opened the door carefully, wondering if she needed to be on the lookout for elves. Nope, no elves, just a bangin' hot former Navy SEAL sitting on the couch in his skivvies, scrubbing his face with his hands like he’d just woken up. Twelve hours of a thankless shift, sore back, and aching feet just faded away in a heartbeat .
"Hello," she said softly. "This is a nice surprise ."
Gabe smiled, hopped up from the couch and crossed the room to her. Julie dropped her things to the floor and leaned up to meet his kiss. Rather than one of the little pecks he'd been giving her recently, he gave her a bone-melting, lingering kiss .
"Now that's how it's supposed to be done," she smiled .
Gabe grinned at her, his dark eyes heavy-lidded with sleep. "Welcome home," he rumbled .
Julie blinked, wondering what had brought on the change. Damn, was this all because of Duncan's little admonishment to be more engaged ?
Gabe turned and tugged her to the couch. "Have a seat. I know you have to be tired ."
She was, but not so much that she wouldn't sit with him. "I'm surprised to see you up," she admitted .
"Well, I was excited," he told her, grinning sheepishly .
Uh oh ...
"Why are you excited ?"
He held up his hands. "It's our first Christmas together, and I realized that in the rush of moving out here and getting settled, we kind of lost sight of us . I need to get my head on straight and focus on what’s really important ."
Her eyes turned misty and she leaned forward to give him a short kiss. "I admit I've been a little distracted, too. The new job at the VA has taken some getting used to. And going from a regular office hours kind of nursing job to nights and swing shift with no seniority is hard. Christmas was a just blip on my radar ."
"Yeah, I'm in the same boat. And I have to be honest, I feel some heavy duty guilt for leaving the Teams ."
She cocked her head. "Why? You were injured. There wasn't anything you could do about that ."
He shrugged and rubbed a hand over his bristled jaw. "I know that in my head, but in my heart I worry that someone is going to get hurt because I'm not there. I was damn good at my job ."
She smiled at him, nodding. "I know. Butter was always full of stories about you. Remember ?"
His smiled turned sad as he remembered his lost friend, but he nodded. "Yeah, I remember. I think we had just as many stories about him, though. We were a really good team ."
Leaning close, she rubbed his back, wishing that he could let go of his worries. "I love that you're talking to me like this. You have a tendency to clam up and disappear. If I don't watch you sometimes, you just walk away ."
Wincing, he leaned into her shoulder. "I'm sorry I do that. Sometimes I just get wrapped up in my head and I don't think about anything else. Or something makes me feel panicky. I talked to Duncan today and he gave me some ideas about getting on track and staying focused. But I want you to know that you are my priority. I love you. I really, really do. I can't imagine where I would be without you ."
The tears were back. "I love you, too, Gabe, and whatever you need us to do to keep straight, we'll do ."
He gave her a rueful smile. "I have a feeling that if we’ve made it through this year we'll make it through anything ."
Julie laughed, knowing he was exactly right .
"So," he said, smacking his knees with his hands and pushing up from the couch to walk over to the little Christmas tree. "To that end, I got you some things. I know we had talked about waiting till this weekend, but I don't think I can wait. I want to see your face when you open these ."
Julie laughed as he drew a laundry basket full of hand-wrapped gifts out from behind the tree. There was one big box, then several other oddly shaped— and even more oddly wrapped— packages. In spite of herself, excitement surged through her. Hopping up, she ran to the bedroom to get the purple canvas Thirty-One bag full of his presents. She tore off her dirty scrubs and pulled on a long sleep shirt, then headed back out to the living room .
Though she was tired, sharing this experience with him was much more important than sleep. And the fact that Gabe had initiated their celebration had her heart soaring .
As they alternated opening gifts, she felt that connection strengthening, reaffirming itself between them. Gabe's lean face expressed joy and humble pride as he opened his last gift, a shadow box for the Silver Star he had received 'for valor during intense urban fighting' he’d been part of in Ramadi. That's what the presidential letter said, anyway. Gabe hadn't told her what he had done because it was still classified, but she'd seen footage on the news. It had been a devastating series of conflicts, and she was amazed he'd come home at all .
"I thought that since you were retired now,” she said softly, “you wouldn't mind displaying it. If I'm wrong, we can put it in the closet until you're ready ."
He shook his head, eyes unfocused and lost to memories. Deliberately, she reached out to rest her hand on his thigh, and he jerked, his gaze finding hers. He blinked a couple of times, his focus sharpening. "I would… I do want to display it. Thank you, Julie ."
Gathering her in his arms, he wrapped himself tightly around her, sharing strength. Julie knew that he needed this more than she did, so she settled in, not moving until he did. "I love you, babe," he told her finally. "I will cherish it. Never doubt it. It was hard fought but deserved. Several of us on the Team got the same award at the same time ."
Julie knew he wouldn't say anything more about it, but she reveled in the fact that he had turned to her for comfort, rather than away .
A few seconds later he prodded her off his lap and pushed the big box to her. "Maybe not as emotional, but I hope you enjoy it ."
Julie tugged at the misaligned paper, loving that he'd taken the time to wrap everything himself. Even the silver snowflake paper was new. When she revealed the picture on the box, she gasped. Then she ripped the paper away in a frenzy. "This had better not be a box you found on the street to use for my gift ."
Gabe laughed, leaning back against the front of the couch. "It's not, I promise. Is that a good machine ?"
Julie turned to him incredulously. "Hell, yes . I've been looking at these for a while but I couldn't justify spending the money on it. I'm not good enough to use it yet ."
"Well," he told her smiling, "now you have motivation to get better ."
Julie fell into his arms again. "I can't believe you knew I wanted this ."
"Well," he admitted, "I kind of didn't. I mean, I had a vague idea. But I have a new girlfriend that works at Jo-Ann’s, and she apparently knew your type very well, though she's never met you. Her name is Kate and she's amazing ."
Laughing, Julie tugged him down for a kiss. "Am I going to have to fight her for you ?"
"I don't know," Gabe told her, frowning. "I mean, she's every bit of sixty, sixty-five maybe, but she looks like a scrapper. Maybe you should just protect me from here ."
He sprawled across the floor, tugging her down over top of him. "Think you have one more Christmas present for me? Maybe ?"
Grinning, she leaned down to press her lips to his. "Oh, yes, as a matter of fact I do ."