It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Chapter 1

The sunlight streamed into Toby's room, pale in comparison to the dark curtains, but waking Happy nonetheless. She groaned, a soft noise in the back of her throat, but kept her eyes closed. Her legs were tangled with Toby's, his arm was around her waist and her head was buried in the curve of his neck. She breathed in deeply, head swimming with the spicy scent.

She couldn't remember ever feeling this comfortable with another person in her life, not like she felt close to Toby. She was constantly building walls around herself and keeping her shield up, even when she was alone. She had never felt this content just being.

She shifted even closer to Toby and raised her head so that it rested a few millimeters from his, then opened her eyes to his bright green ones staring straight back at her. His gaze roamed over her face and he smiled, causing a warmth to seep through Happy's chest. His fingers found their way to her hair and he tangled his hand up in it. He shifted closer to her, until their noses were touching. "Merry Christmas," he whispered before leaning in to press a soft kiss to her lips. God, she could spend forever kissing Toby, losing herself in his touch. But she remembered promising Paige that they'd attend the Christmas lunch. With a sigh, she leaned away from Toby and reminded him of their promise. He groaned but pulled away, and fell out of bed.

Getting up he said, "Well then. How about I make you some breakfast before we leave. You like omelets, right?"

**

Happy and Toby walked into the garage, hand-in-hand, Happy giggling and Toby watching her laugh. After pressing a kiss to her knuckles, Toby walked off to his desk. Happy watched him go and sighed to herself. After trying (and failing desperately) to make her an omelet, Toby had given up and they had gone to the local diner for a small breakfast. For once, they hadn't bickered about anything and the day was turning out to be perfect.

Her view of Toby was interrupted when Paige stepped into her line of sight with a smile and a raised eyebrow. Of course she would notice the two of them coming in together, she wasn't blind.

"So?" She said expectantly. "Are you two... you know... together?"

She hadn't really discussed it with Toby yet, but she knew he would be ecstatic if the cyclone knew about their recent development. If anyone wanted to keep it a secret, it would be her. But she couldn't help but feel obligated to tell Paige. She was her closest girl friend (and her only one) and it wasn't like she was ashamed of their relationship. Paige deserved to know. Happy nodded and said, "We haven't been together for long, but yeah. We are together. No one else knows yet."

Paige squealed and clasped Happy's hands in her own. "Happy! I'm so happy for you two. It took you long enough. Plus, if you're looking to keep it a secret, no one would pick up on it. I mean, have you met Walt?" Paige laughed before squealing again. "This is really big, Happy."

Happy couldn't help but smile. If Paige approved of the relationship, she was sure the rest of the cyclone wouldn't have a problem with it. "Thanks. I want to tell everyone else but I haven't spoken to Toby about it yet."

"I'm sure he'll be super excited to tell everyone."

Ralph walked up to them and tugged on his mother's skirt. "Mom, the trifle is done. Would you please check that I have the correct concentration of fruits to cream and sponge cake?"

Paige beamed down at her son and ruffled his hair. "Sure, Ralph. We'll talk later, Happy?"

Happy nodded and watched them walk off to the kitchen. She thought of her father, and how he was spending Christmas with his new family in Alaska. He had recently remarried and she was glad that he was taking care of himself. She thought of how she would like to have children one day, and wasn't surprised when she pictured Toby as the father. She knew he would make a great dad, and maybe sometime in the future, he would.