So this isn't my best work, I will admit, but it was just a small idea that came to me. I had to post it as a one-shot this year, so I hope you all enjoy it anyway.
Lily had no idea what to get Iain as a Christmas present.
They were married and had been for two years, so they usually did presents for each other anyway, but he was also her Secret Santa this year and for once in her life she had no idea what to buy.
It was 1:30pm and she was currently sat in the staffroom at work, scrolling through Amazon on her phone. If she didn't know what to get, Amazon usually had a whole section of things.
"Hey Lily," Alicia greeted, skipping into the staffroom with a massive grin on her face. "Are you all ready for Christmas then?"
"Just about," Lily sighed and forced a smile. "I'm just trying to work out what to get my Secret Santa. What did you buy?"
"Easy." Alicia shrugged and took a seat on the sofa beside her. "You can't go wrong with chocolate."
Lily had to admit that what Alicia said was true. Chocolate was always a good present, but Iain was her husband so surely she needed to get something a bit nicer, right? She couldn't tell Alicia that though, seeing as it was Secret Santa. The clue was in the name.
"Everyone gets chocolate," Lily said, as she continued to scroll through Amazon. "I wanted to get something different."
"What's wrong with chocolate? Couple of dairy milks and I'd be well happy," Alicia laughed. "You'll think of something. That bracelet you got me last year was gorgeous."
"And yet you never wear it," Lily said jokingly and gave her a wink. "Thanks for your help. I'll keep looking."
Lily loved her job but that day was different. She couldn't wait until she finished her shift, but she was feeling under the weather anyway. Her head hurt and she felt sick. Lily had learnt from years of experience though that she had a pretty good gag reflex, so whenever she felt sick, she never actually was.
As she strolled the corridors, after discharging her third patient of the day, she examined the various decorations and the little Christmas tree that stood on the reception desk. She hated Christmas, she always had done, and she was surprised that Connie had allowed the decorations to stay up. Once upon a time, she would have chucked them all in the bin.
Lily woke up the next day to see that Iain had disappeared from the bed.
She yawned and sat upright, groaning as the sickness returned to her stomach. She felt dizzy. Sighing heavily to herself, she picked up her mobile and checked the time on it. 6:30am. She had work in a couple of hours. She was about to climb out of bed when she heard Iain's voice and the door to the bedroom creaked open. Iain walked in, singing Christmas songs at the top of his voice, whilst carrying a breakfast tray.
"What are you doing?" She laughed at her husband. "It's not Christmas yet, Iain."
"It's never too early for Christmas songs," he said, placing the tray across her lap. "Breakfast is served, my lady."
"It looks delicious, thank you," Lily whispered, and tucked some strands of messy hair behind her ears. "I'm not feeling that great though."
"Why not?" He frowned and sat at the end of the bed. "Come on, my cooking isn't that bad."
"It's not that," Lily laughed again. "I wasn't feeling well yesterday either."
"Okay." He nodded. "Well, do you think that you should be going into work today? If you're not well..."
"I have to," Lily said. "There's so much illness going round that we're extremely short staffed in the ED. It's Christmas in a few days, so I can have a break then, alright?"
"I guess." He shrugged. "But I don't really want you to be ill for Christmas. That won't be much fun for you, will it?"
"I'm sure I'll be on top form by then," Lily yawned.
Iain nodded and gently caressed the side of her face. He gave her a loving smile and planted a kiss on her forehead, wishing that he was able to stay at home with her so that they could just cuddle in bed and watch Christmas movies. That was his idea of heaven.
"Will you be okay by yourself?" He asked.
"I'm a big girl, Iain," Lily said. "I can take care of myself."
Iain wanted to feel reassured by that, but he still didn't want to leave her by herself. He sighed loudly, as if he wanted to Lily to tell him to stay at home, and left to go and take a quick shower. Lily grimaced at the sight of the food and weakly removed the tray from her lap.
She felt awful and she still needed to get Iain a Secret Santa present.
She needed to take a trip to the shops.
"Merry Christmas Eve!" Iain cheered loudly, as he and Lily stood in the living room and pulled a cracker with each other. "Okay, here's a joke for you!" He said, pulling the joke and a plastic paperclip out of the cracker. "Why does Santa have three gardens?"
Lily rolled her eyes and answered, "Because he likes to Ho Ho Ho."
Iain's smile faded and his arms dropped loosely at his side. "Now, why do you have to go and ruin it?" He asked jokingly.
"Iain, they're the same rubbish jokes every single year," Lily chuckled.
"Still, you could have let me have the punch line," he said and pulled her in for a tight squeeze, before pressing his lips against hers. "I love you Mrs Dean. Are you feeling better?"
"A little bit," Lily whispered, although she still wasn't completely right. "I told you I'd be fine for Christmas."
"You did," Iain said. "I'm really excited for tomorrow. Just us, some nice presents, Christmas music, and the biggest Christmas dinner that you could dream of. We could even go for a little walk in the park if you're up for it."
"I like the sound of all that," Lily whispered. "I never liked Christmas, Iain. Since being with you though, it's grown on me. You've changed me and made me a better person, so thank you for that."
"You don't need to thank me," Iain said and tapped her on the nose. "You were just lucky enough to marry someone who's incredibly immature."
"Was I?" Lily laughed. "I'm going to let you open one of your Christmas presents now."
"What?" Iain frowned. "Why? It's Christmas Day tomorrow."
"I just want you too," Lily said and crouched down by the tree to pick up one of Iain's presents.
It was wrapped in snowflake paper, and the shape of it was long and thin. She handed it over to him and he sat down on the sofa with a puzzled look on his face. She sat down beside him and he began to tear away the paper. It was a long box, the sort of box that would hold a necklace or a Harry Potter wand. To be fair, he would have loved a Harry Potter wand.
"Merry Christmas from your Secret Santa," Lily whispered, small tears shining her eyes.
"You're my Secret Santa?" He asked, and she nodded.
He opened up the box and what met his eyes completely stunned him. Small tears formed and rolled down his cheeks, and he could barely utter a word. He allowed the box to fall to the floor, as he took out the pregnancy test. There, before his eyes, was a tiny, pink, plus sign.
"Y...You're not, are you?" He asked, finally managing to get his words out.
"I am," she whispered. "Merry Christmas Iain."
"Lily!" He yelled and flung his arms around her neck, kissing her all over with a face of complete joy and happiness. "I can't believe it," he sobbed into her shoulder.
"Are you happy?" She asked him.
"Happy?" He sobbed and wiped away a few of his tears. "It's the best present ever."
So it was quite short and not my best, but I just had to write it. Let me know what you think.
Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you have a good one xx
