Chapter Text
Nick loved his job. He loved his pupils and his TA, he loved the satisfaction and pride he felt seeing his children learn and grow as the year went on. He even loved the headteacher and the team he worked with. He was lucky, he knew, to have secured a teaching role in such a positive workplace.
That didn’t stop him from counting down to 3pm with just as much excitement as the 8 year olds in his class. He almost cheered along with them when the minute hand hit 12, and he wasn’t sure he had ever dismissed a class as fast as he had today.
Once all 27 children had been collected (thank you Jason’s mum for actually turning up on time today, a true Christmas miracle), Nick carefully swiped all the cards and gifts that he had been given into a large bag for life, scooped up his works bag, shouted a Merry Christmas to Helen, his TA, as she came back in the room after popping to the loo, and practically ran down the corridor towards the main entrance.
“No running in the corridors!”
Nick turned with a grin on his face as he carried on jogging backwards towards his goal, “Merry Christmas, Rachel! Have a good one!”
His fellow Year 4 teacher stuck her head out from her classroom and let out a squeal of excitement, “Oh Nick! Have the best Christmas ever…I’m so excited for you! No news?”
Nick let himself jog on the spot for 3.5 seconds, “No, nothing yet…I’m off though, in case! Will let you know!”
He was nearly at the double doors that would take him into the main foyer, so he turned back around to fob his way out.
“Text me! I better be the first to know!”
He waved his hand above his head, laughing lightly to himself.
“Bye Rach!”
He dodged other well meaning colleagues with ease, only getting caught by Janet in the office for a second before he smiled his best smile at her and insisted he really did need to go, and then he was out into the car park, in his car, and driving home.
Once on the main road he pressed the quick dial button on his dash and waited for Charlie to answer. The phone rang and rang as Nick’s heartbeat got faster and faster.
“Come on, Char…Pick up…Oh god…oh god…”
“Hey, Love.”
“Any news?!”
Charlie laughed, “Hi love of my life, my darling, my sweethe-”
“Sorry! Hello mon amour-”
Charlie giggled, “Nick!”
“Any news my Mon petit chou?”
“Nick!”
“Char, please…” Nick whined.
“Nick, if there was any news don’t you think I would have called?”
Nick deflated a little in his seat, “Yeah, sorry… I’m just…”
Charlie sighed, “I know, love me too. But… look just get home safe. I’ll put the kettle on, hmmm?”
Nick nodded, “Yeah, sounds good. Thanks darling.”
“I’ve nearly finished for today anyway. I’ll see you in a few.”
“See you in a minute. Love you!”
“Love you too, you impatient lump.”
“Hey!” Nick went to protest that it was only 4 nights ago that Charlie had laid in his arms almost crying, vibrating with nerves and impatience. But Charlie had already hung up.
Nick sighed and concentrated on getting home safely, he’d been feeling on edge for almost a month now, but now that school was finished, with Christmas only 5 short days away, the dam seemed to have burst on his emotions and all he wanted was to be at home, curled up on the sofa with his husband and Daisy, the dog.
Better yet, he wanted that phone call.
But he could be patient. He would have to be. There was nothing to do except wait.
He opened the front door less than 15 minutes later to find Charlie stood in the hall, wearing a smirk on his face and not much else.
“Merry Christmas,” his husband grinned.
Nick’s jaw dropped, as did the two bags he was carrying. He quickly kicked the door shut behind him and closed the small gap between them with 2 short strides. He placed both hands on Charlie’s bum and squeezed tight as a groan escaped his lips.
Charlie gasped and giggled, “Nick! Cold!”
Nick ignored him and nuzzled his head straight into his favourite spot in the entire world; under his husband’s curls right behind his ear. He hummed and inhaled deeply.
“No kiss?” Charlie teased.
Nick growled and gently scraped his teeth down Charlie’s neck to his collarbone, where he quickly nipped and sucked until he felt the other man respond. Charlie moaned and pushed his hips forward.
“Did you want that tea then, dear?” he asked teasingly.
Nick laughed, “You’re evil.”
“You love m-Nick!”
Charlie wrapped his legs around Nick as he lifted him up and started towards the stairs, “I do… now hold on.” He groaned as he placed a foot on the bottom stair, “I swear-”
“I remember when you could pick me up and carry me around as if it was nothing, you getting old Mr Nelson?” Charlie nipped at his earlobe.
“Shut it, you. I’m not old!”
“Mmmmhmmm…”
Nick growled again and practically threw Charlie over his shoulder. He brought his hand down on his husband’s bare bum with a satisfying slap.
Charlie giggled and Nick’s heart gave a familiar little flip at the sound, he grinned thinking about how the small sound could still do that to him nearly 9 years on.
He would never admit it, but his muscles strained as he carried his husband up the last few steps and into their bedroom. He deliberately ignored the corner near the window, keeping his eyes focused on the bed as he all but threw Charlie down onto the soft mattress.
Charlie grinned back up at him, spreading his legs wide and wiggling his hips as he scooted up on to his elbows.
“One of us is distinctly overdressed here, Bi boy.”
Nick raised an eyebrow and slowly started stripping, loving how Charlie’s body tensed and jumped with every item of clothing he removed.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Char.”
Charlie fluttered his eyelashes innocently, “I don’t know what you mean.” He grinned.
“Mmmm, whatever you say. Now, how do you want me.”
Charlie’s grin widened, taking over his whole face, 2 perfect dimples deeply ingrained in his beautiful features.
“Hands and knees, there’s a good boy. Time for me to take care of you, don’t you think?”
Nick groaned as he quickly threw his shirt to the floor and stepped out of his boxers.
Charlie smirked, “Eager?” He raised an eyebrow and bit his bottom lip.
“Char, that thing leaves nothing to the imagination, so don’t make out I’m the only one…excited.”
Charlie knelt up on the mattress and patted in front of him before shrugging, “Maybe, now…kneel please.”
Nick’s knees went to jelly and he was glad he had the mattress in front of him to collapse on to. He quickly crawled up to position himself exactly as Charlie requested, the only problem with that was that he was now facing the corner and his heart started thumping for a completely different reason than what his husband was about to do to him.
He didn’t need to worry for long, because a second later a soft pressure was being placed across the back of his head, and the next second satin slid over his eyes until he could see nothing but darkness.
“Colour?” Charlie’s voice was low and husky, and his breath tickled Nick’s ear.
His cock jumped and hardened almost uncomfortably.
“Gr-green.” He stuttered.
“Good.”
///
The husbands were laid under the Christmas tree a few hours later, wrapped in blankets and each other’s arms, staring up at the ceiling.
“Are we aiming for every room in the house tonight?” Nick asked, pressing a kiss into Charlie’s shoulder.
Charlie hummed sleepily, “Might be the last chance for a while. Call it an early Christmas gift.”
“I know what you’re doing, you know.”
Charlie hummed again, “Do you?”
“Yes, you’re trying to distract me.”
“Is it working?”
Nick chuckled and moved his head down to listen to Charlie’s steady heartbeat, “A little,” he whispered.
“Good.” Charlie sighed, “There’s worse ways we could distract ourselves, right?”
Nick smiled, “Definitely. God, I love you.”
“Love you too, love,” Charlie yawned, “Sleepy…”
“PJs, pizza, Daisy snuggles and Arthur Christmas?”
Charlie ran his hand up from where it had been resting on Nick’s side to his hair, he gently played with the long hairs on top for a moment before pressing his finger tips in to start massaging Nick’s scalp. He sighed contentedly.
“You know me so well.”
Charlie went upstairs to bring down their matching Fair Isle print onesies (a gift from Nick 2 Christmases ago that Charlie had groaned about at the time, but they were very soft and snuggly), and Nick threw a pizza into the oven. Then, once fresh tea had been made (no alcohol this Christmas) and the pizza was ready, the two curled up on their sofa with Daisy laying across Charlie’s feet, and started their favourite Christmas movie.
They crawled into bed just before 10pm.
“God, when did we get so old?”
“Hey, I’m 27! Fuck off am I old. You might be nearly 30, but I’m practice-”
“You were falling asleep on the sofa!”
“You woke me up 5 times last night, getting me to check my phone!”
“It was 3 times!”
Nick kept the light off, desperately trying to keep his attention on his husband and nothing else in the room.
“You OK?” Charlie whispered into Nick’s chest after a few moments of silence.
“Yeah, I think so. You?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Nick sighed, “I just…the longer it goes on, the more time I have to worry I suppose?”
Charlie didn’t speak straight away, but he could feel him playing with the cord of Nick’s sleep shorts (he ran too hot to sleep in a onesie. Plus Charlie liked to be able to run his hands against Nick’s chest while they cuddled, and who was Nick to deny him that?).
“It’ll all be OK, I talked with Sam today and everything is fine. This is completely normal, we always knew that this was a possibility…”
“Yeah, yeah you’re right. I suppose I just assumed that by our anniversary we’d have-”
“Nick, love, our wedding anniversary was only yesterday,” he laughed softly, “this isn’t even late really…”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Nick took a deep breath, “God, if you’d told me on our wedding day that 4 years later we’d be spending our anniversary eating the world’s hottest curry with Sam, Immy and the twins-”
Charlie laughed, “To be fair, Rosie and Louis ate a korma, and you only had a Dhansak!”
“Yes, but I tasted the vindaloo, and fuck me-”
“I just did. And for that I’m very glad you only tasted it.”
“Char!”
Charlie laughed, “Come on love, let’s try and get some sleep.”
Nick nodded and yawned, “OK. Phone on loud?”
Charlie sighed, “My phone is on loud. Promise.”
“You’ve checked?”
“Nick…”
“OK, OK, sorry!”
“Night, love.”
“Night mon amour, love you.”
“Love you.”
Charlie appeared to fall asleep quickly, his steady breathing comforting to Nick in the darkness, but it took Nick longer to finally let his mind stop wandering and sleep take him.
///
The first Saturday of the Christmas holidays passed slowly. Charlie still had a few odds and ends to tie up with work, so he sat at the old kitchen table and typed away rapidly as Nick cooked them pancakes for breakfast and then moved onto baking cookies…and mince pies… and pecan tarts… and gingerbread people.
“Nick, love, we’re never going to get through all this?!” Charlie looked up from his laptop just before lunch and finally took in the full extent of his husband’s stress baking.
Nick waved his hand absently as he iced each gingerbread person completely uniquely, “S’fine, we’ll deliver some to mum, your parents, Tori and Michael, and Immy and Sam obviously. The kids will love the gingerbread and I’m sure even Harvey won’t turn down a cookie!”
Charlie rolled his eyes fondly as he shut his laptop and stood to join Nick at the small kitchen island, he wrapped his arms behind his husband from behind and sighed into his back, “That’s it, I’m done. No more work, everything is handed over to Rick, and I don’t want to see another email for a month!”
Nick spun in his arms and placed a kiss to Charlie’s cheek, “Any messages?”
Charlie smiled and shook his head affectionately, “Nick….”
“Right, yeah, sorry. Your phone’s still on loud?”
“It’s been on loud 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for a month now, love. Come on, should we get out the house for a few hours? Take Daise for a walk, we can grab something from the café in the park and eat by the pond? It’s sunny enough I might not freeze…”
Nick laughed at the thought of Charlie not being cold, and dropped a chaste kiss to his lips, “Sure, might be good to get out for a while. Honestly, I’m going a bit crazy just waiting…”
Charlie chuckled, “Could never have guessed.” He winked.
They quickly cleared away the kitchen, grabbed Daisy’s lead and headed out towards the ‘Big Park’, it was almost half an hour away on foot, but it had a small café, and a large field that Daisy could run free in.
Nick and Charlie spent most of the afternoon out of the house, returning several hours later with a tired Daisy dragging her feet on the way back just as the sunset. They drank tea and warmed up on the sofa as they watched cheesy Christmas reruns. Nick only checked his own phone twice (and asked Charlie to check his five times).
“I can’t, Char… this is killing me. I need to know-”
“Right, up. Kitchen, we’re making dinner.”
Nick groaned but allowed himself to be dragged out of his seat by his much smaller husband.
Charlie groaned, “You great oaf, help a guy out!” he laughed as Nick finally made it to his feet and dramatically fell into Charlie’s arms.
They stumbled into the kitchen, arms wrapped around each other, sharing kisses as they went.
“I don’t understand how you’re so calm, Char.” Nick whined into his neck as he draped himself behind his husband who was stirring their dinner on the hob.
He heard Charlie take a deep breath before he whispered, “I’m not, not really. You know that. Monday I was a wreck…”
“Yeah, but since then… you’re my rock, Charles Nelson-Spring.”
His husband turned in his arms and rested his head on Nick’s chest, “The longer it…The more what ifs cross my mind. It’s… it’s not… I’m having to just… I need to not think about it. Then I feel guilty for not thinking about it. Because this is the biggest thing, the most exciting thing, Nick! I’m a mess. But…” Charlie sighed and nuzzled deeper into Nick, “I’ve got to… we’ve got to stay patient, yeah? And positive. Because this is normal and there’s absolutely no reason for us to be worried. OK?”
Nick swallowed thickly, “Yeah.”
“And us nervously pacing isn’t going to change anything, is it?”
He shook his head, “No, I guess not.”
Charlie turned his head up and smiled up at Nick, his dimples appeared and his eyes glittering with mischief, “And…I know the perfect way to distract us while we wait…”
“Yeah?” Nick swallowed with a different emotion this time.
Charlie nodded and then turned slowly in Nick’s arms, “Yeah…” he pulled Nick’s hands down until they were resting on his thighs, and then wriggled back, pressing his bum into Nick’s crotch, “Remember when we christened the kitchen?”
Nick gulped, “Yeah…”
God, brain Nelson. Say something other than yeah you great idiot.
“Fancy recreating it…”
Nick groaned and dove forward, burying his face in Charlie’s curls and making fast work of turning Charlie into a puddle by licking and nipping and sucking over his pulse point, “God, yeah…”
///
Nick slept fitfully that night, waking up several times to check his phone…and then to reach across his sleeping husband to check his phone. When he woke just before 6:30am he was surprised to discover Charlie’s side of the bed empty. His heart leapt and he jumped up in such a hurry that he tangled himself in the sheets and almost landed on his arse on the floor. He managed to right himself just in time, and then stumbled towards the open bedroom door like a newborn baby deer.
“Charlie?!” He shouted the second he was on the landing, “Charlie? Where are you? Have they called, is everything OK? Char?!”
He rushed down the stairs taking them two at a time and skidded into the kitchen. It was empty.
“Charlie?!” He called again as he turned back around and headed into the lounge, “Char, love, where are you?”
Nick’s heart had been pounding since he had woken all of a minute ago, to the extremely unusual sight of an empty bed (Charlie was many, many, wonderful things, but an early riser, a morning person, he most certainly was not. By the time Nick left the house at 7:30am every day, Charlie might have groaned at him, one eye squinting at the tea Nick placed on his bedside table, but he certainly was never out of bed, let alone out of the house.), but the fact that Charlie didn’t appear to be in the house at all made Nick’s heart thunder a hundred miles an hour.
He ran back into the kitchen and span to face the small whiteboard that hung just above the light switch. It was purchased with the intention they would use it to write when they were running low on things like bread, butter and tea bags (after a truly disastrous morning almost 5 years ago that Nick liked to joke nearly ended them), but in reality, it was mainly used by Nick to scribble messages to Charlie on. Messages that Charlie would roll his eyes at, but then he would just so happen to kiss Nick a little harder, a little longer, when he came in from work.
‘Gone for a run’
Was written across the board in Charlie’s unmistakable messy scrawl.
Nick looked out of the window; it was pitch black outside.
“Alexa, what’s the weather today?”
A blue light lit up the corner of the kitchen.
“Right now it is minus 1 degree, today you can expect intermittent clouds, with a high of 5 degrees and a low of minus 2 degrees.”
“Shit…” Nick ran back upstairs at record speed, quickly pulling on a pair of jogging bottoms and grabbing a hoodie from the chair at the end of the bed. He pounded down the stairs again and grabbed his trainers, not even bothering to put socks on as he pulled them on.
He flung open the front door and stumbled as far as the end of their drive when he saw Charlie, wearing his reflective running gear, head torch and band around his middle shining bright, jogging towards him at a steady pace. Nick stopped and bent over, he had only taken 10 steps, if that, but his heart was pounding too fast still and he needed to take a moment to catch his breath.
“Nick?”
Nick straightened up and came face to beautiful face with Charlie, who was looking at him in confusion, “Nick, what on earth-”
“Where did you?!” Nick huffed out, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around his (sweaty) husband, “I was worried!”
Charlie’s arms wrapped around Nick’s waist hesitantly, “I left a note…”
“Char, it’s literally freezing out here, and it’s barely 6am!”
“Nick, I’ve run in colder-”
“At 6 is the morning, Charlie?! Really?!”
Charlie pulled out of his arms and looked at him with a frown, “Come on, love. Let’s get inside. As you said, it’s freezing out here.”
“Have you heard-”
Charlie sighed deeply and grabbed Nick’s hand, dragging him back towards the (open) front door. He raised an eyebrow to Nick, who flushed.
“I was worried…” he repeated.
Charlie shook his head, “No, I’ve not heard anything since we called them yesterday evening. Everything is OK. I just fancied a run.”
Nick allowed himself to be deposited in a kitchen chair, and gratefully accepted the steaming cup of tea that Charlie handed him a few minutes later. His heart was still beating too fast. It was now Sunday. Last Sunday had seemed like a strange day, but experiencing another Sunday dawn and nothing had changed… a tightness pulled in Nick’s chest.
Charlie sat down opposite him and reached across to take his hand in his, “What’s up, love?”
Nick frowned, “I told you, I was worried.”
“I’ve been for runs in the dark before.”
Nick snorted, “Yeah, at night. I’ve never known you go for a run before 8am, and even that’s a rare occurrence!”
Charlie flushed then and looked down at their joint hands, “Yeah, OK. Fair enough.” He sighed, “I couldn’t sleep. And just lying in bed with…” he waved his hands around vaguely, “staring at me…I needed to get out. Sorry. But I did leave you a note. I didn’t expect you to freak out.”
Nick swallowed and he felt tears stinging his eyes, “I was worried you’d had news… bad news.”
Charlie frantically shook his head, “God, no! Nick, no…god, we need to stop thinking like this. This is so normal. Come on, love. How much research have you done on this over the last few months?”
Nick chuckled, warmth blooming across his cheeks, “Um, well. A bit…”
Charlie snorted, “A bit? Nick…” he raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, a lot!” he huffed as he crossed his free arm over his chest.
Charlie grinned for a second, then his face went serious, “And what percentage of-”
“61%. For subsequent, up to 81% for first time-”
“Right, so this is more than just OK, it’s actually completely normal.”
Nick sighed, “Yeah, but a week, Char…”
Charlie smiled, “Come on, drink up. Then we’re showering and going out delivering.”
“Showering? Together?”
Charlie grinned.
Nick nearly burnt his mouth in his haste to finish his tea.
///
Charlie was a wreck.
He was trying to keep calm, he was utilising every single technique he had mastered over more than a decade, but with Nick a jittering ball of nervous energy next to him, it was proving hard. The last week had dragged, but at least Nick had had work to distract him, and although working from home did present some difficulties, it at least allowed Charlie to focus all his attention on his laptop and not have to fend off well meaning questions from his colleagues.
They spent their Sunday afternoon driving between various friends and family, delivering gifts and home baked Christmas treats. They didn’t stay long at Sam and Imogen’s, but the twins, 4 year old Rosie and Louis, and little Harvey, who was fast approaching 3, jumped on Nick and Charlie the moment they were through the door, grabbing at the baked goods and demanding hugs and tickles. Charlie had hoped seeing the family would help calm him, but if anything, it made him worse. Luckily for him, Nick seemed to feel the same way, and they very quickly made their excuses, exchanged a hundred hugs, and departed to Tori and Michael’s.
Tori greeted them with a snort as they presented her with a large box of mixed cookies, pies and tarts.
“Stress baking much then, Nick?”
“Hey, how do you know I didn’t make these?” Charlie protested.
“Because they actually look good, Charles?” she replied with a roll of her eyes, before stalking off to the kitchen to fetch drinks.
They exchanged gifts, unsure if they would get to see each other again before Christmas, and after a little mindless chat about Michael’s new pet, Bob the Gecko, Charlie and Nick left to move on to the next house.
At his parents, his mum fussed over Nick, exclaiming that his school overworked him and worrying he wasn’t getting enough protein (Charlie snorted) for at least 10 minutes before making a comment about Charlie needing a haircut. Olly was back home from uni and in the end, Charlie sat in the dining room to catch up with his younger brother, while Nick sent him pleading looks from the lounge where he was being talked at by his mum.
Finally, the pair extracted themselves from Jane and headed to Sarah’s.
Nick rang the doorbell and then used their key to unlock the door. They both kicked their shoes off by the stairs as Henry came slowly down the hall towards them.
“Boys!” Sarah appeared in the hall with a wide smile and her arms open. Charlie relaxed into one of Sarah’s hugs. “Any news?”
Nick groaned, “Mum! If there was news, don’t you think we’d have told you?”
Charlie snorted and gently swatted Nick’s bicep, “You’re one to talk.” He turned to Sarah, “No, nothing yet. Nick’s been stress baking.”
They settled on the sofa with cups of tea. Nick and Sarah ate the mince pies while Charlie picked at a gingerbread man, and Henry sat on the floor looking up at him with begging eyes.
Charlie usually found the house and Sarah’s company relaxing, but even the fairy lights softly illuminating the room couldn’t calm him and he ended up putting a headless gingerbread man on the side table 10 minutes later. Nick and Sarah were both nervously wittering on about something (but not the thing) that Charlie had tuned out of ages ago, but that didn’t stop Nick from noticing Charlie’s uneaten snack and reaching across the sofa to gently rub his thigh.
Charlie sighed and tried to relax.
He had finally grasped the basics of the conversation between mother and son and was laughing to himself as he listened to them bicker about some TV show, when his phone rang, loudly.
Charlie jumped and all eyes in the room, including Henry’s, turned to him. Charlie stared back, frozen.
“Charlie!” Nick cried at him, “Answer it!”
His brain finally came back online, and he quickly fumbled in his pocket, grabbing his phone and bringing it in front of his face with an urgency he didn’t know was possible, his heart pounding hard.
His stomach dropped when he saw it was his mum. For some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt tears sting his eyes.
“It’s mum…” He mumbled.
Nick visibly deflated next to him, and Sarah flopped back into the arm chair.
“Oh,” Nick whispered.
“Hi?” Charlie answered the phone, they had left there less than an hour ago and it wasn’t as if he and his mum regularly called each other for the sake of it, not like Nick and Sarah who would catch up midweek to share random news with each other.
“Charlie, you left your new scarf here! It’s on the dining room table, don’t you like it? Is it not your style? I did ask Tori to help me choose it, and I know it’s only a scarf, but it actually wasn’t cheap and obviously we thought we’d just do little gifts this year after buying you the-”
Charlie swallowed thickly, “Mum, it’s great. I love it and it’s just my style. I’m sorry…” a tightness wrapped around his heart and Nick scooted closer to him on the sofa and wrapped an arm around him. Charlie nestled into his husband’s side and let his unique Nick scent wash over him. He inhaled deeply, “sorry, just my mind is probably a bit all over the place and I forgot. I didn’t mean to…”
“Oh,” Jane said quietly, “yes, I can understand that, dear. How are you doing? We didn’t really get a chance to talk earlier.”
Charlie had to bite back asking whose fault that was.
“I’m fine mum, all good.”
“Hmmm,” his mum hummed disbelievingly. “I thought you’d be more excited if I’m honest, but you both seemed more…preoccupied than happy…”
Charlie bristle, “We’re both very happy, actually. Right, have to go, they’re ringing me if…when, so I need the phone free. OK, bye.”
“Oh, well, call me-” He heard Jane start to say, but Charlie hung up.
“OK, love?” Nick whispered.
Charlie nodded, “Yeah, fine.” He smiled tightly up at Nick. “I just left my Christmas present behind and apparently that was… yeah.”
He straightened up out of Nick’s embrace and dropped his head back on the sofa.
“I think you two need to head home, have a little brandy and an early night, dears.”
Nick snorted, “Brandy, mum? How old do you think we are?”
Sarah laughed, “You’ve always been an old soul. Fine, a beer then.”
“We’re not drinking at the moment, you know… in case.”
Sarah nodded, “I understand. Well, an early night then. You both look exhausted, and if this is how you look before I dread to think how bad you’ll be once-”
“Thanks for the reassurance, mum!” Nick rolled his eyes.
Charlie smiled gratefully at his mother in law and then turned to Nick, “She’s right though. I do think we could do with an early night…”
Nick grinned at him, “Yeah?”
Charlie rolled his eyes, “In case tonight is the night, idiot.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s get you home.” Nick stood and took hold of both of Charlie’s hands in his to pull him up.
“Thanks for the gifts, Sarah. You’ve spoilt us!”
Sarah tsked, “Nonsense, just a few little things. Save them for Christmas morning, and remember if…if nothing has… if you want to, you’re welcome here for Christmas dinner if you would like. Just see how it goes?”
Charlie nodded and after several long hugs and reassurances, they made it to the car and drove the short distance home.
///
“You OK?” Nick asked him a little while later, it was pitch black outside and the only light in the room came from the Christmas tree lights. Charlie loved their mismatched Christmas tree, covered in ornaments that they’d collected on their travels over the years and their yearly photo baubles. Daisy was curled up in one corner of their small sofa and the two men were wrapped up together in a thick crochet blanket that Sarah had gifted them for their first wedding anniversary; a temperature blanket she had made, 365 lines in different colours, a record of their first year of married life, immortalised in wool.
They had decided to forgo the telly after they had needed to rewind the film several times to try and follow the plot, so they were sat listening to Nick’s Christmas playlist, cuddled up in silence. It was relaxing and grounding after a busy, and frankly emotional, day.
“Mmmm, yeah. You?” Charlie fiddled with Nick’s jumper that rested under his hand, “How you feeling?”
Nick shrugged, “Pathetic, to be honest.” He chuckled, “Impatient, like a child at Christmas waiting for Christmas Eve…”
Charlie groaned, “Oh, god. I hope we’re not waiting until Christmas Eve…” he chewed his bottom lip nervously.
“It’s nearly Christmas Eve Eve, Char… it’s not looking that unlikely.”
Charlie turned his head up to look at his husband and affectionately shoved him, “Christmas Eve Eve, god, you’re such a child! I’m starting to think I was wrong, you’re not old, maybe you’re actually too immature to be doing this!”
Nick grinned down at him, but then his face went serious, “We’re exactly the ages we are meant to be, Char.”
Charlie swallowed and nodded, quickly turning his head back into Nick’s firm chest, not wanting to dwell on the meaning behind Nick’s words that clenched at his heart.
They stayed like that for a little while, until the song on Alexa changed, and Mariah Carrey’s All I want for Christmas started playing.
Charlie smiled, remembering when that song had started playing 5 years ago in this very room and he had gotten on one knee… and then Nick had run out the room. He laughed.
“What you laughing at?” Nick teased, lightly tickling his sides.
Charlie squirmed, “Get off, you oaf.” He sighed, “I was thinking about the time I tried to propose and my husband ruined it.”
“Hey!” Nick bounced his knees up and down to jostle Charlie who was was lying across him, “I didn’t ruin it, it was romantic, even Tao agreed!”
Charlie snorted, “Pretty sure he was mocking you, dear.”
Nick grinned down at him and ran a finger along his jawline softly before he bent down and placed his lips over Charlie’s. It wasn’t a hard kiss, it wasn’t a passionate kiss, their lips stayed pressed together unmoving for several long seconds, it shouldn’t have been anything special, but Charlie’s heart soared, even all these years later, at the simple joy of Nick being his.
“I wouldn’t change it,” he whispered against Nick’s lips.
“Hmmm?” Nick trailed little kisses from Charlie’s lips, down his jaw to his neck.
Charlie drew in a shaky breath, “Our proposal, everything… this, I wouldn’t change anything.”
Nick’s mouth stopped its gentle movement on Charlie’s neck, “Nothing?”
Charlie swallowed, “Nothing.”
“Not even… not even last Christmas?”
He inhaled shakily, “No, well… I wish we hadn’t… but it led us here, so…”
He felt Nick’s breath, warm and fast on his neck, “Yeah.”
Neither moved for a moment, and then Nick was standing, Charlie still in his arms, “Come on, dance with me.”
Charlie giggled, “Nick!”
“I’m serious!” Nick set Charlie down and wrapped his arms around his waist as he started swaying back and forth.
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do?
Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
Charlie burst out laughing but wrapped his arms around Nick’s neck and allowed his husband to sway and bounce them around the room, completely out of rhythm with the song.
“Nick, I’m not sure this is a song really meant for dancing…”
“Course it is, we’re dancing, aren’t we?” He grinned as he attempted to spin Charlie under his arm and the two of them stumbled, barely managing to stay upright. The song finished and they stayed wrapped in each other’s arms, barely swaying back and forth as the next song started.
“This year though… it’s not quite true.” Charlie whispered.
“No, not this year.” Nick whispered back, somehow knowing exactly what Charlie meant, “Still time though, love.”
“Yeah.”
///
Yesterday Nick had been an anxious mess. The first day of the Christmas holidays had hit him in a way he hadn’t expected. He was still feeling on edge today, but it seemed to be Charlie’s turn to get inside his head. The later the day got, the quieter and more jittering his husband got. He’d been with Charlie long enough by now to know when to let him quietly process things in his own time, and when to step in.
Nick could not dance, he had no rhythm, but luckily for him Charlie had never seemed to mind, even all those years ago when they had first met in Queen’s and all Nick had been able to do was hold on to Charlie and rock back and forth, Charlie hadn’t minded.
Hadn’t minded at all .
He grinned to himself and wrapped his arms tighter around Charlie’s lithe frame, drawing their bodies tight together. Charlie giggled and Nick took that as an invitation to slowly, teasingly, trail his hands down from his back to gently cup his husband’s pert arse. He squeezed and Charlie’s giggle turned into a moan.
Nick grinned into Charlie’s neck and slowly sucked on the soft flesh, rewarded when Charlie started making beautiful noises into his chest.
“Nick…” Charlie sighed, he threaded his fingers into the short hairs on Nick’s neck and tugged him closer as he wriggled his hips against him.
Nick hummed and sucked harder.
He squeezed Charlie through his jeans harder.
He pushed his hips to meet Charlie’s, harder.
///
Nick mused that most of their friend’s assumed they owned so many blankets in their sitting room because Charlie ran cold. And while they were right that Charlie did get cold a lot, that wasn’t the real reason they had blankets stashed over so many surfaces and tucked away in their small sitting room.
They had moved the cushions onto the floor and were snuggled up in a bundle of blankets, their naked bodies wrapped together to share heat, because that was how they always slept best.
Charlie was dozing on his chest, and Nick himself knew he had also been asleep on and off. He had no idea what the time was, but he was sure it was nearly Christmas Eve Eve by now. His heart leapt just thinking about it, even though he hadn’t felt the giddy excitement of Christmas eve since he was a teenager.
He could just make out Daisy asleep on the bare sofa, the twinkling tree lights illuminating her every few seconds.
Nick sighed and tried to fall back asleep. They had decided to sleep downstairs tonight, figuring if you couldn’t have a Christmas tree den sleepover when you were adults in your own home, when could you.
Neither mentioned that sleeping upstairs with everything staring back at them from the corner of the bedroom felt like too much at the moment.
Nick breathed in Charlie’s shampoo and closed his eyes, willing sleep to take over again.
He didn’t know how long he laid still, just breathing in Charlie and trying not to let his mind wander, when a sharp buzz echoed through the room, followed a second later by an extremely loud and annoying ringtone. Nick shot up, sending Charlie flying.
“Char!” his heart had never, ever raced so fast, he was sure of it. He almost felt dizzy and his body vibrated in… fear and excitement and anticipation and nerves and joy and… fuck.
He felt himself start to tear up.
His husband, usually the sleepiest person he knew, was awake in a millisecond and leaning across to grab at his ringing phone.
“It’s Sam.”
Nick felt sick.
“Answer it!” he started, but Charlie had already swiped the call and was nodding.
“OK. OK. Now? Yes… OK. And she’s OK? OK. Yep, sure. OK. Tell her…” Charlie swallowed, “Yeah, thanks, Sam.”
He hung up and turned to Nick with tears in his eyes. He swallowed again and smiled, “OK…OK, let’s go.”
Nick’s own tears started to fall, “Now?”
Charlie laughed, “Yes, Nick. Now! Come on!”
He jumped up, naked as the day he was born and did a little dance, “ Nick!” He laughed and Nick jumped to his feet, a wide grin now spread across his face even as he swiped at his cheeks.
“She’s OK?” he had to ask before he could let the excitement overtake him.
Charlie nodded rapidly, “Sam says she’s fine. Says if Harvey is anything to go by though-”
Nick gripped his husband by the hips and dragged him in for a messy kiss.
“I know, I know… Oh my god, Charlie. It’s happening!”
Charlie shoved at his chest and started quickly stepping into his discarded clothes, “Yes, right now! So get dressed you dork, hurry up!”
Nick stumbled into his boxers and trousers, “Have we got-”
“In my car,” Charlie pulled Nick’s hoodie over his head.
“Hey, that’s mine!”
Charlie flashed him a wicked grin, “What’s yours is mine, if I remember your wedding speech, dear?” he raised an eyebrow.
Nick rolled his eyes, “I’ll just run up and grab another then, should I?”
Charlie grinned, “I would, it’s nearly midnight and apparently Sam is having to defrost the car before they ca-”
Nick’s heart pounded, “They’re still at home?!”
Charlie laughed, “Yeah, Immy says-”
But Nick was already legging it out into the hall to take the stairs 2 at a time and grab himself another hoodie.
“Have we definitely got-” he shouted down the stairs as he battled to get the new hoodie over his head before he tripped down the stairs.
“Yes! Nick it’s in the car!”
Nick hmphed, “You don’t even know what I was going to ask…” he moaned.
“I’m going to start defrosting the car, hurry up, love!”
“What about the-”
“In the car!”
“And the-”
“Nick! Everything has been in the car, ready for a month. And we’ve already double, triple checked it all… multiple times. Now grab the hamper from the fridge and get in the car!” Charlie shouted through the open front door.
“Ha!” Nick shouted back, triumphant, “So not everything is in the car, is it?!”
“Shut up, hurry up!”
“I would have been quicker, but I had to go get a new hoodie,” he mumbled under his breath as he rushed into the kitchen to grab the hamper.
“Daisy?” He asked as he locked the door behind him and slid into the passenger seat of Charlie’s car.
“Hmmm?” Charlie turned to him, fingers drumming on the steering wheel.
Nick smiled softly, “Daisy, should I shut her in the kitchen?”
“Oh,” Charlie’s eyes dropped to the car’s clock: 23:31. “No, she’ll be OK until morning. And if… we can always ring your mum, yeah?”
Nick nodded, “Yeah.” He turned back to look out of the windscreen and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
He turned back to Charlie who was still nervously drumming his fingers.
“Char?” he asked hesitantly.
Charlie’s head snapped towards him, “Oh, yeah…sorry.” He put the car into gear. And then back out again.
His husband turned to him, “Umm, can you drive? Please. Sorry I don-”
Nick’s hands were shaking but he smiled and nodded, “No S word.”
///
The drive took no time at all, the streets were empty and although it was frosty the roads weren’t icy. Nick was relieved, he tried to give the road his full attention, but he couldn’t help glancing across to Charlie every so often. He was checking his phone obsessively, his knee jiggling against the glove box. Nick reached out to squeeze it, and then spent most of the drive with his hand wrapped in his husband’s, resting over Charlie’s knee.
They stood outside the large doors and took a deep breath, “Ready?” Charlie turned to him, a weak smile on his face.
Nick nodded, his heart rate hadn’t calmed at all since Charlie’s phone had rung less than 45 minutes ago and his hand wouldn’t stop shaking. But he was ready, so very ready.
He bent down and kissed Charlie, slow and soft.
“Ready.”
Charlie beamed back at him, and, hands joined, they walked through the sliding doors.
///
Charlie didn’t know what he had expected; shouting, rushing people, commotion and stress maybe?
But it was quiet, peaceful even. There was a low hum in the background of people walking up and down the corridors, low voices and the occasional machine beeping, but otherwise it was calm.
He paced back and forth across the short room. Nick caught his hand as he walked past him again and gave it a squeeze.
“Charlie, mate, you’re making me tired. Chill!”
Charlie turned to Sam who was grinning at him as if this was all perfectly normal.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Sam. Are you tired?” Imogen rolled her eyes, and then a second later she groaned and leant her elbows on the large ball in the corner of the room.
Sam rushed over to her and offered her the mouthpiece which she grabbed at, breathing through it deeply.
“Are you sure she’s OK?” Nick whispered to Sam.
Imogen’s head snapped up and she glared at him, “I’m right here, Nicholas!” she groaned again and used the ball to rock back and forth on her knees.
Charlie felt tears sting his eyes and he walked back over to Nick and grabbed at his hand.
“Im…” he asked when she had finally stopped groaning. She raised her head to look at him; she looked exhausted but still beautiful and she was smiling.
“Stop panicking, Charlie. I’m fine. It’s all good.”
Charlie hummed, unconvinced.
“Why don’t you two go and get me a drink?” Imogen asked them an undetermined amount of time, and many, many quiet groans later.
Next to him Nick shook his head, “What if we miss-”
“You won’t, now kindly go and get me that drink,” she gritted her teeth. “You’re making me anxious.”
Charlie’s heart thudded and guilt washed over him, “Sorry, sorry…umm…drink?”
“Something cold, with sugar. Coke or…just anything. Pl-pl-pleeeas-'' she gasped and leant back over the ball, letting out such a deep sound that it made Charlie jump. It was nothing like any noise she had made so far, it almost vibrated through the room, a long growl that almost sounded animalistic.
“Nick, go get the midwife please.” Sam had been calm and joking all night, but he now jumped up and placed a hand firmly on Imogen’s back. “Now!”
Charlie whipped round to see Nick staring at Imogen, frozen. He grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the door.
///
Nick thought he had been shaking before, but that was nothing to now. He couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down his face even if he had wanted to. He never thought the sound of crying could bring such joy, and his heart burst as more tears fell. Charlie sniffed and nestled deeper into his chest beside him.
The tall lady with a stern looking face spun to look at the 3 men with a wide smile, “So, who’s cutting the cord?”
Nick clapped Sam on the back, “The godfather.” He grinned as tears fell freely. He grinned back at Sam who swallowed and nodded before taking a step forward.
A few seconds later the lady turned back around, this time with a tiny bundle draped in a blue and white blanket.
“I believe you would like to find out the sex together?” For such a stern looking woman, her voice was now incredibly soft.
Charlie turned and took a tiny step forward as he nodded. Nick stepped beside him and wrapped his arm around his back. Charlie held his shaking arms out and carefully took the now quiet bundle.
He heard Charlie’s breath hitch and felt him shake with tears as his own vision blurred. He brought his hand that wasn’t tightly gripping his husband’s waist up and gently pushed back the edge of the blanket. His breath hitched.
“She looks just like her Papi,” Nick choked out, staring down at the dark thick curls already starting to fluff up on the baby’s head.
Charlie shook and laughed wetly as he cradled the baby closer to his chest, “Do we even know if she is a she, daddy?”
Nick laughed and felt himself flush a little, he gently scooped the bundle from his husband’s arms and held the baby out from his chest, “Shall we find out?”
Charlie grinned back up at him and swiped at his face before gently lifting the blanket just a tiny bit. He sobbed and Nick’s chest tightened, “Yeah…yeah, we have a daughter.” He cried and laughed before wrapping his arms around Nick and placing a kiss to the dark hair peeking out from the blanket.
All too soon their little girl was being gently lifted from their arms to be weighed and checked over, and they awkwardly stood back, already feeling the loss of the baby in their arms.
Arms wrapped around each other they walked over to Imogen who was now laying on her back, looking sleepy and almost drunk.
“Congratulations!” she smiled widely. Nick burst into tears again and wrapped his arms tightly around his oldest friend.
///
Charlie drove them home from the hospital. Nick sat in the back with the tiny, precious, miracle of a child and tried not to cry. Again.
“I can’t believe it.” Charlie whispered as they turned into their road. The rest of the drive had been in silence as each father had processed the last 12 hours.
Nick beamed and swiped his cheeks, again. “Do you know what day it is?”
Charlie laughed, “Yes dear, I do know our daughter’s date of birth.”
Nick shook his head, “No, not the 23rd. Obviously it’s the 23 rd! No, it’s Christmas Eve Eve.”
He watched Charlie roll his eyes in the rearview mirror, “Not a thing, Nick.”
“Yes, yes it is.” He insisted. “And I was thinking…how about we name her after it?”
Charlie pulled on to their drive and turned the engine off. He turned in his seat and rolled his eyes at Nick, but he was smiling.
“Can we at least have a proper cuppa before you start giving me riddles about our daughter’s name?”
Nick grinned, “Yeah, come on papi, let’s get inside.”
“Your mum said she’ll keep Daisy for a few more hours. I think her taking her back to keep Henry company was really just an excuse to be the first one to meet this little one.” Charlie unclipped the car seat and carefully lifted the sleeping infant, car seat and all, out of the car.
Nick snorted, “Of course. We always knew that would be the case though, didn’t we?”
Charlie grinned.
“When are you calling your parents?” Nick asked as he carried two cups of tea into the sitting room. Charlie had thrown the cushions back on the sofa and was already cuddling their daughter.
Charlie patted the sofa next to him, “Come here,” he smiled up at him.
Once Nick had safely placed the hot tea far away from them, he gently sat next to his husband and daughter. He sighed as Charlie kicked his legs over Nick’s thighs and snuggled in close, resting his head on his shoulder.
“I’ll tell them this evening. And the gang. I’m surprised the group chat is as quiet as it is, I was expecting at least 20 more Darcy texts. But I just…can we enjoy this peace for a few hours? Please?”
Nick laughed softly and wrapped one arm around Charlie’s back, his other hand reached out to gently take one tiny, pink fist between his fingers, “I don’t think we’ll have much peace once she finds her lungs. She’s so tiny…” he whispered.
“She’s perfect.” Charlie sighed.
“Just like you,” Nick dropped a kiss to his husband’s curls.
///
Spring Family Chat Group
19:43 Charlie : [Photo]
Evelyn Imogen Nelson-Spring
7lb 1oz born at 03:43am this morning.
Eve or Evie for short. Evelyn
means ‘ wished for’
And she was very much wished for.
19:44 Tori: Beautiful
19:44 Tori: Congrats dads x
19:44 Tori: Can’t believe I’m an aunt….
19:44 Olly: OMG OMG OMG OMG
WHEN CAN I COME MEET HER!!!!!
19:47 Mum: She’s beautiful
19:47 Mum: Can we please come and see
her? Call me, you didn’t pick up!!!
19:47 Mum: Is she OK?
19:55 Dad: Congratulations both,
We can’t wait to come and meet her
when you’re ready for visitors. What a
wonderful Christmas gift, and a beautiful
name for a beautiful girl. We’re so happy
for both of you.
Nowt so Queer as Folx
19:44 Charlie : [Photo]
Evelyn Imogen Nelson-Spring
7lb 1oz born at 03:43am this morning.
Eve or Evie for short. Evelyn
means ‘ wished for’ And she was very
much wished for. You can all come and
meet her in a day or two
19:44 Charlie : I’M A PAPI!!!!!
19:45 Elle: CHARLIE!!!!
19:45 Darcy: 🎉🎉🎉🎉
19:45 Tara: Congrats!!! OMG
Amazing news
19:45 Elle: She’s beautiful!!!!
19:45 Tara: I LOVE her name!
19:46 Darcy: BABY SQUISHES!
19:46 Tao: Elle squealed so loudly I
dropped the bowl of popcorn
19:46 Tao: Seriously, congratulations
happy for you
19:46 Tao: Can we come Boxing Day???
19:46 Tao: I get first cuddle right?
19:46 Tao: I’m literally your oldest friend…
19:46 Tara: Uncle Tao already besotted
19:47 Tao: Just HAPPY for my friends!!!
19:47 Darcy: Friends plural??? You
actually like Nick???
19:47 Isaac: She’s beautiful, congratulations!
19:48 Tao: Piss off Darce
19:48 Nick: Language in front of my daughter
please 😉
19:49 Tao: REALLY???
19:49 Tara: Protective daddy 💖
Flat Lads ( )
19:43 Nick : [Photo]
Evelyn Imogen Nelson-Spring
7lb 1oz born at 03:43am this morning.
Eve or Evie for short. Evelyn
means ‘ wished for’
19:44 Christian: OMG!
19:44 Christian: Eve born on Christmas
Eve Eve! Congratulations guys!
19:48 Otis: congratulations! She’s beautiful
19:48 Sai: Congrats!
19:49 Otis: Soph says we loads of baby
girls clothes you can have? No more
for us!
19:50 Nick : That’s what I said Christian!
19:50 Nick : Charlie says it’s not a thing
19:51 Charlie : It’s not!
The Smiths
19:53 Nick : [Photo]
Evelyn Imogen Nelson-Spring
Eve or Evie for short. Evelyn
means ‘ wished for’
19:53 Nick : Love you Immy
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
19:53 Charlie : [Photo]
Thank you both so much
💖💖💖
Are you OK????
19:57 Im : [Photo]
ACTUAL CHAMPAGNE!
19:58 Im : [Photo]
And Pâté and stinky cheese
god you two 💕💕💕
19:58 Im : It was my honour
love you two so much. Give my goddaughter
a kiss from her cousins, they can’t wait
to meet her ❤️
19:58 Sam : Beautiful name
enjoy the sleep tonight, she’ll probably
still be tired and will lull you into
thinking newborns sleep 😉
19:58 Sam : Merry Christmas.
you deserve this x
///
“Char, char… you awake?”
“Hmmm…” the mattress shifted as his husband rolled over to face him.
“It’s Christmas…” Nick whispered, a wide grin on his face.
Charlie groaned, “Nick, it was Christmas when Evie woke us at 4am…and midnight… and 1am.”
Nick laughed, “Yeah, but now it’s actually Christmas!”
Charlie rolled over and scooted to press his back to Nick’s front, “Sod off and go back to sleep, daddy.”
Nick heard the grin in Charlie’s voice, he dropped a quick kiss to his neck, “You don’t want me to get up and make us tea then? And Evie a bottle?”
Charlie chuckled, “Well, I didn’t say that… tea in bed is sort of a requirement isn’t it?”
Nick squeezed his husband and quickly got out of bed. He paused for a long minute to stare at the little girl (finally) sleeping at the end of their bed in her small cot (they had quickly dragged it from the far side of the bedroom to as close to their bed as they could manage the first night), before he raced downstairs to make tea.
He returned a few minutes later with Daisy at his heel, a fresh bottle of milk in his dressing gown pocket and two mugs of tea in his hands. He pushed open the bedroom door and was greeted with the sight of his husband sat against the headboard, looking tired but possibly the happiest he had ever seen him, Evie’s dark curls just visible as he cradled the little girl in his arms.
“Here he is,” Charlie smiled at Nick, “Daddy’s here, and he has your bottle, isn’t he a good daddy?”
Nick’s heart burst and warmth washed over him.
He still remembered walking back to his closed bedroom door almost 9 years ago, two mugs in hand and his heart pounding for a different reason. If anyone had told him then where he would be now…
“I love you, Charlie,” he placed his tea on the bedside table and dropped a quick kiss to his husband’s curls. “And I love you too, Evelyn Nelson-Spring, our much wished for little Christmas miracle.’ he whispered as he placed a lingering kiss to his daughter’s dark curls.
“We love you too.” Charlie smiled back up at him.
///
THE END
