Nickel

Having had no idea that Ryan was in the apartment, both men jump. Eli whirls around with the knife held up in front of him, and Leo hides behind Eli's larger frame, peeking around his shoulder.

Realizing it was only Ryan, both men's expressions turn from surprise to sheepishness. "Uh..." Eli give her a silly grin. "I thought maybe I misunderstood your directions?" Sighing dramatically, he lowers the knife. "Oh, alright. Leo, can you wait five minutes?"

"I don't know." Leo moves to lean heavily on the counter, feigning starvation. "I can... I can try."

Starting to laugh, Eli points to the hallway. "Get going, Speedy. Five minutes and we're digging into this thing." Watching Ryan leave, his eyes linger where she'd stood for a moment. Something seemed just a little... out of place. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but... hmm. He tries to shrug it off for now. Maybe her meeting with the little convict hadn't gone as well as planned.

True to his word, by the time Ryan returns, Eli has the pie cut and on plates waiting. Heading to the living room, their little celebration continues with dessert, followed by gift-giving. It was a fun time with lots of laughs mixed in with a few sweet moments with some of the more sentimental gifts.

As the evening draws on though and it starts to get late, Leo is reminded he has to work the next day, so he bids Eli and Ryan goodnight, giving Ryan a quick kiss and is out the door. The apartment seemed quiet after he'd gone, even though the television was still on and Eli was busy cleaning up leftover food and wrapping paper from the living room.

Eli balls up some more paper and throws it into the trash bag, wandering around and cleaning up best he could before sacking out for the night. He'd had a good time tonight... best Christmas in years. Spending it with his sister had been a treat and he hoped she'd enjoyed it too, distracted enough not to have to think about their dad or brother not being with them.

Taking some dishes to the kitchen, Eli pauses on his way back to the living room, cocking his head at Ryan. Something was on her mind. He could tell. Maybe it wasn't much, but there was a slight cloud in her eye, one that was either just a passing shadow or a sign of a storm to come. Which, he couldn't tell.

"Nickel for your thoughts." It was something their dad used to say, always willing to pay more than a penny to hear what his kids were thinking. Eli wanders closer to Ryan, sitting down on the armrest of the couch and waiting to see if whatever it was was something she would talk about or not.


Scott sighs a deep sigh of contentment and closes his eyes, just sitting with Hope for the longest time. The peace and quiet was soothing.

Domino finds the spot Hope had made and curls up with them both, a full tummy and ready for a nap. The three lights continue to glow and the silence seemed to wrap its blanket around them.

After a time had passed, Scott shifts a little, reaching behind him to the end table and retrieving a slender little gift wrapped in silver and blue paper. Still sitting behind Hope, he slides it over her shoulder for her to take. He had a few other little things for her, but this was the one he hoped she found special. It had taken him an hour of looking before he'd settled on the delicate silver chain with a silver heart pendant, a sparkling diamond decorating the inner point. It was dainty, but if one looked closely enough, they could see that on the rim of the open heart was an engraving: S & H.

"I'm not good at carving trees," Scott explains softly. He'd chosen a heart instead.