And Then There Was You (Chris Evans AU)

December Christmas Day Part 3

  Third person POV

  At around 5 o'clock Chris and Daphne decided to head back to the west side of the county. Daphne noticed Chris's eyes were getting heavier as time went on at Scott's so she offered to drive home and let him grab a few winks.
  As they're loading up the car to leave Daphne asks if he's sure he wants to continue the day or call it a night. "It's really okay if you just want to go relax at the house," she says. "We can finish our Christmas tomorrow."
  Chris shakes his head as he loads Dodger in the back. "No ma'am. We are going to have 'our' Christmas tonight. I'll be fine, I promise," he assures her.
  Not even five minutes into the thirty five minute drive and Chris is asleep with his head resting on the window. Daphne laughs ever so softly as not to wake her Prince Charming. She's starting to feel the effects of the early day as well and turns on the radio. It was left kind of loud but Chris didn't stir. However, Dodger did and woke up with a bark. This stirred Chris.
"I'm up! I'm up!" He says as he startles awake.
"Babe, it's okay. The radio just scared Dodge. Go back to sleep," Daphne tells him while caressing his shoulder.
"Nah, I'm good now. I'm not sure my body knows what to do with more than a few minutes of sleep at a time after this week," he says sitting up straight.
Daphne thinks of a way to kill time on the drive back. "Tell me about your craziest call this week."
Chris thinks for a minute. "Have you ever seen National Lampoons Christmas Vacation?"
"Of course! It's a Christmas classic."
"Remember when the tree went up in flames? Well, we actually had a call like that. From two different houses. And unlike the movie we actually did have injuries. As we were headed to the hospital after the second one like it Hayden actually asked if we were in a remake of the movie. Ya know kind of like Candid Camera. Luckily the burns were minor," he tells her.
  The conversation continued the rest of the ride home. Chris filled Daphne in on some more wacky calls from the week. He never told her who the patients were but she's pretty sure that she has a good idea of a couple. Having lived in the town since she was 13 she's gotten to know a lot of people and their personalities.
  "How do you feel about going out tonight and looking at Christmas lights," Chris suggests.
  "Ooh that sounds fun! I just need to stop and get gas then," she tells him.
  "No, that's okay. We can take the truck. We can unload your car and I'll drop Dodge off and get him fed. Then we can head out?"
  "Okay, sure," Daphne says as she turns onto her road.

Chris POV
 
  Finally. I think this is going to finally happen. Thankfully she's fine with taking the truck since I need it for part of our evening.
  "Oh! We haven't done our Christmas gifts to each other," Daphne says.
  "We'll bring them with us.  What do you say?" I ask.
She nods and says "okay."
I hop out of the car once she's put it in park. I transfer Dodger from the car to the truck. Quickly I help Daphne move the gifts into her house. With a quick kiss on the cheek I head back to the truck.
  "Hey!" She calls after me. "Can I change?"
  I nod and smile. "If you want to, yes. Be comfy. See you in a few."

As soon as I unload the truck I quickly feed Dodger. I locate all of the items I had previously put in the truck last week and repack them. I run to place the stuff in the bed of the truck keeping them covered so Daphne doesn't get any ideas. I shoot Hayden a quick text telling him to go ahead with what we talked about last night.
I know Dodger has ran around enough today so I take him just out back to our small patch of grass for him to do his business. I try not to let my excitement rush him.

In the short drive back to Daphne's I find myself mimicking her breathing exercises she was doing on the way to meet my family. Desperately, I want to keep myself calm as not to give away any hints to the night.
This time when I pull in she's not waiting for me on the steps. Checking the knob I see she left it unlocked. Rolling my eyes I decide to let it slide for now. Although it would certainly take my mind off of other things.
"Babe?" I ask as I walk in. I hear rustling in the kitchen so I head that way.
"Almost ready!" She calls to me before I reach her.
I find her leaning down into a cabinet looking for something. I notice she's changed into leggings and a baggy sweater. "Take your time. I'm enjoying the view just fine," I tell her as I lean back on the counter.
She laughs at me, realizing her sweater had been pulled up and I was getting a great view of her backside. She pulls it back down. "I knew I should've kept my mouth shut," I say as she stands back up and adjusts her sweater more.
  She just shakes her head at me while slightly grinning. "Hot chocolate? We can take it with us," she says. "Sounds good," I say. "Do you have anything that needs to go in the truck?" She points to the couple of gift bags on the table by the door. "Just those."  I go over and grab them as she continues to fix the drinks. "I'll go put them in the truck," I tell her. They're small enough to go in the cab so I just place them on the seat.
  My phone alerts me of a message from Hayden. I read it and respond quickly. He's telling me he's got the generator running and sends me a photo showing me of the set up. I type back a thanks. I look up at the sound of Daphne approaching me. "Ready?" I ask taking the cup she offers me.
"Almost," she says. She pulls me to her and kisses me deeply. "I've wanted to do that all day." I just stare at her. She gives me one last peck and jumps up into the truck. "Now I'm ready," she says. I fall back to reality and move to close her door.
  "Which neighborhoods have the best displays," I ask while turning the key.
  She thinks for a moment. "The neighborhood by the school is pretty good. Oh! But there's a really cool display at a house out River Road," she tells me.
  "Okay, cool." I'm thankful she mentioned the one out River Road because otherwise I'd have to figure out a way to tell her I already knew about that one as it's an imperative stop tonight.
  We drive slowly through the neighborhood closest to the school. I learn that she prefers colored lights outside but enjoys white lights on her own Christmas tree. She gets a kick out of it when I tell her about the palm trees we use to decorate outside the station in Miami.
  It takes us about twenty minutes to go through the neighborhood. "So, River Road?" I ask as I'm coming back to the entrance. She nods and gives me a mhmm. "You know where that is, right?"
  "I do. We've had several calls out that way since I moved here," I tell her. "In fact, we had gone out that way under the impression that we were needed. We weren't, but on our way back a guy flagged us down. Hayden and I helped him get his cows back onto his land."
  "Seriously?" Daphne laughs. "Bet that was a first for you, huh?"
  "It was in fact," I laugh. "There are several things I've done since moving here that are 'firsts' for me."
"Oh really," she says with a look on her face. "Tell me more."
  I've got to be careful here with my answer because some of them haven't come to fruition yet. "Let's see.  The cows were one. Umm, tried liver and onions. Not a fan. Had my first tomato and Mayo sandwich. It was okay, but I'd much prefer to add bacon and lettuce."
  "You forgot one," she tells me as I pull up to the house she specified. I look over at her wondering what she means. "You took a girlfriend to your family's Christmas get together." 
  "That I did," I tell her while nodding my head.