[Fanfiction] First Day on a Brand New Planet {Lost}
TITLE: First Day on a Brand New Planet
SERIES: Family Portrait - Part 13/25
FANDOM: Lost
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTER: Juliet Carlson/Jack Shephard (mentions Richard/Rachel)
GENRE: het, romance
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 2,733
SUMMARY: Jack and Juliet wanted to spend Christmas with Rachel and Richard in Seattle, but they only make it to Portland, Oregon ... Written for prompt "Snowed In" for schmoop_bingo and prompt #003 "Snow" for 100_tales.
WARNING: English still isn't my native language (although I wish) and the story is not beta'd. General spoiler for season 6. I hope there is snow in Portland - google said there is.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I just borrow them from time to time to have some fun with them.
NOTE: This is a series of oneshots that can stand alone. But they work better as a multipart-story. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Bonus.
~*~*~*~*
"Jack, you have to see this! Jack!" Juliet's voice woke Jack with a start. He sat up, bumping his head as he did, and looked around confused by the unfamiliar looking things he could make out in the dim light of the room.
This was definitely not his room - and it wasn't Juliet's bedroom (now their bedroom) either. It was much cooler here, there was no carpet on the floor and the walls weren't painted in white as they were at home, but made of wood with strange looking pictures and deer heads pinned on every walls in now logical order.
Jack rubbed his face, still halfway asleep, trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. Finally, the deer heads gave him the last clue needed, and relieved by the enlightenment he sank back on his pillow, ready for another round of sleep.
Everything was fine. He was where he was supposed to be and there was nothing disturbing about this room in particular or the new surroundings in general.
He had just closed his eyes again as Juliet came running into the room, pulling at the sheets. Jack grabbed the corner of the fabric, trying to pull it back up to prevent himself from freezing to death, but, this time, Juliet was stronger.
"Jack, come on ... you need to see this," she said, sounding like an excited child. "Hurry."
"Jeez, Juliet," Jack groaned. "I'm freezing."
"Take this." Juliet threw a jumper at him, but Jack, still too tired to function properly, missed it and it landed on top of a deer head right above him; the one that was responsible for the bump on his head as Jack slowly realized. He grabbed the jumper, pulled it over his head and reluctantly climbed out of the bed. As his bare feet touched the cold wooden floor, he cringed, but was too stubborn to show it. Instead, he walked over to Juliet to meet her at the door.
"What is it, Jules?" He asked, his voice thick with sleep. "Did you find another spider I need to kill for you?" Remembering the huge monster spider in the bathtub the other night, Jack rolled his eyes, but as he recalled how Juliet had begged him 'to make it go away' and what she had offered him in exchange, made him smile; a small part inside of him almost wished that another spider was responsible for all this excitement.
Unfortunately, there was no spider waiting to be killed (or rescued) by him, but what Juliet had to show him instead, pushed every thought of spiders or cold feet or warm sheets and a hot blonde next to him in bed, away; well, not quite, since there was nothing in the world that could be good enough for Jack to be traded in for Juliet next to him in their warm and comfy bed, but the snow outside the cabin's window came pretty close.
"You were wrong," Juliet announced, pointing at what last night had been a green lawn or trees with a few brown and red colored leaves. Overnight, every sign of color had vanished and was replaced by a white that was so bride Jack had to cover his eyes. He didn't even have to ask Juliet what he'd been wrong about last night. She had told him the sky looked like it would start snowing soon, but he'd played it down, explaining her that a girl who'd spend all her life in Florida couldn't know how a sky looked like shortly before a snowfall. Of course, she had been right, and part of him had known that there would be some snow coming out of these dark clouds, but he had been just too happy to have finally found this cabin to drive all the way back to Portland again to find a room in a hotel - besides, he liked the cabin and the view they had over Forrest Park, and being out of the city was a change they both much needed.
They were supposed to spend two days in this cabin on Mount Hood, before driving further north to spend Christmas with Rachel and Richard, but there had to be a miracle to happen before they could make it back to the city. The whole valley was covered in snow and more was falling down as they spoke. There was no way they would make it back in time. Truth was, there wasn't even a car they could've used to drive back; their rental car was nothing more than a white hill near the porch where Jack had parked the car last night.
They were stuck here; snowed it.
It was a nightmare ... but only for him, as it looked like. Jack turned his head to apologize to Juliet for bringing her up here instead of listening to her warning and the ones the guy at the airport had given him, but as he saw the glance in Juliet's eyes and the smile she gave him, so full of excitement, he closed his mouth again and instead of apologizing he pulled her in an embrace.
"Looks like we have to stay here for a while longer," he said, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Juliet snuggled up against his chest and the head of her body worked better than any heater or fireplace could ever warmed him. Soon, Jack had forgotten how freezing cold it was in the cabin since the fire in the fireplace had gone out.
"Is it such a bad thing?" Juliet asked and Jack gave her an astonished look.
"No, it's ... but Rachel and Richard are expecting us, aren't they?" he said. "And you've been looking forward to seeing them and spending Christmas with them for weeks now."
"I have," Juliet said. "I mean, I miss Rachel and I wanted to see her, but the real thing I've been looking forward to was spending Christmas with you, Jack. It's our first Christmas together and ... I don't really care where we spend it, as long as we can spend it together." She gave him a smile and then snuggled back against him.
She was right. It was their first real Christmas together and he had been looking forward to it ever since they'd decided that this year would be all about them. They wouldn't consider what their parents their family wanted. This year they wouldn't spend Christmas apart from each other - he with is parents in California, Juliet with her family in Florida. This year they would be together and they wouldn't feel bad about it, no matter how much their parents tried to talk them out of it, complaining that the holidays were for the family and that it wouldn't be a real Christmas if the children weren't with them.
It hadn't been easy - especially for Juliet -, but in the end they had done what they wanted, not what their parents wanted them to do, and it had felt so good to take a taxi to LAX and fly to Portland, to get a rental car and drive off into unknown territory. For the first time, Jack had felt really mature and free, and he knew it was important for his parents, too - especially for his mom - to accept that their son had grown up and that he needed to live his own life. Maybe their parents would've been more understanding if they'd know that he and Juliet would soon get married to start their own family, but they had agreed on not telling anyone about their plans until they had figured out how, where and when they wanted to get married, without having their mothers doing all the planning for them and driving them insane. This was their wedding, their engagement and they wanted to do it on their own terms - another reason for their parents to freak out, but with that they would deal when they got there.
It would've made the whole thing a lot easier to just tell their families what was going on, but easy wasn't something they both preferred to live by ...
In the end they'd won, and their plan was to spend Christmas together with Juliet's sister, and between all this drama they'd left behind and a nice Christmas dinner in Seattle, they had taken Richard up on the offer to spend a few days in this cabin that belonged to Mittelos. Initially, Rachel and Richard had planned on joining them up here, but Richard's work schedule had thwarted their plans. So it was the two of them in the middle of nowhere in a cabin they'd share with a couple of deer heads. Not the best situation they could find themselves in, but it could've been worth. They had enough food to last for months, Richard and Rachel knew where they were, they would guess what might have happened, and they both weren't needed back at work until next year. There wasn't really much they had to worry about that could happen to them. The cabin was warm and there was enough firewood in the barn. Unless, nature decided to let it snow until may, they were good. And even if not, there wasn't much they could do about it anyway, was there?
Juliet must have read his mind, because when she spoke again it was as if she was trying to make him feel better.
"We will be okay, Jack," she said. "This is ... maybe the snow will be gone again by tomorrow."
"Yeah, maybe," Jack mumbled, even though he wasn't so sure about it. It needed some time - and warmer temperature - to melt this amount of snow, and from what he could see through the windows this wasn't going to happen soon. But at least, it had stopped snowing for now. It was still freezing cold, though, and they needed to get the fire started again or do something else to get warmer.
"Do you want to go back to bed?" Jack asked hopefully, but Juliet just looked at him, obviously shocked by his question.
"There is no way we will go back to bed now, Jack," she said. "There is ... there is this Winter Wonderland outside. I'm not going to miss that by spending the day in bed."
"Not even if I would be in that bed, too?" Jack asked, smiling mischievously at her, but all he got in return was one of Juliet's famous glances and a gentle punch against his ribs.
"Jack Shephard," she said, "Get your mind out of the bedroom and get dressed instead. I want to go for a walk."
"And what about breakfast?" Jack asked. "I'm starving."
"Well, that's something we could talk about," Juliet replied. "But then you have to shower alone while I make some breakfast."
Jack thought about the alternatives and after a moment he nodded. A shower with Juliet was something he'd started to enjoy, but he was hungry and knew that he needed something to fill his stomach in order to be able to keep up with Juliet. She was acting like a Duracell Bunny on Red Bull again, and as much as he loved her positive way of thinking and how much she enjoyed every second of her life, sometimes it was hard for him to keep up with her.
"See you in five," he said, giving her a quick kiss, before heading for the bathroom.
A few hours later, Jack had his wish after all; not in form of a real shower, but a shared bathtub they both hoped would help to warm them.
They'd spend all afternoon outside, exploring the valley, enjoying the snow and the silence surrounding them. They had built a snowman together (Juliet had even named him John Locke - after the famous British philosopher) and Jack had taught Juliet how to make snow angles. She had been excited like a small child, since it was the first time she saw real snow, and even though Jack had spend a few skying vacations with this parents, he couldn't recall ever having so much fun as he had today. It was almost as if Juliet was the missing piece making everything in his life perfect, and even those things that had been right before, turned out to be even better when she was part of it. She turned everything ordinary into something extraordinary; truth was, with her there was no such thing as ordinary at all.
"I still think that was a polar bear I saw behind that tree," Juliet said, interrupting his thought. Her voice sounded sleepy from exhaustion. "I swear, it would've eaten you, if I hadn't warned you."
"I'm sure it would've," Jack said, laughing. "But it was still just a deer. There are no polar bears in Oregon. Unless someone turned a magic wheel and put Oregon nearer to the North Pole."
"It could've happened while we were sleeping last night," Juliet said. "That what explain all the snow …," she added and Jack watched nervously as her hand dunked in the water. For a moment he hold his breath, expecting her to do something that would turn their relaxing bath into yet another new exciting experience, but as her hand appeared again, a piece of soap in it, he almost let out a frustrated sigh.
Juliet turned her head to look at him and when she smiled Jack had - again - the feeling that she was reading him like an open book. It scared him a bit that she knew him so well, but on the other hand it felt so right and good - just one more piece that made living with Juliet so perfect, so right.
"Do you want me to wash your back?" he offered and as Juliet handed him the soap and bended forward to make him space, he carefully washed the cold from her skin, leaving trails of kisses on her shoulder, her neck, and as he reached the sensitive spot right below her ear, Juliet let out a soft moan and sank back against him.
"I love you, Jack" she whispered, closing her eyes. "Thank you for bringing me here. It's perfect" Wrapping his arms around her, Jack rested his head on her shoulder, smiling and caught up in the moment.
"You're very welcome," he replied. "But it was Rachel's idea. Remember?" he asked, and after a short second he added, "I'm sorry that you can't see her on Christmas. It's ..."
"It's okay, Jack," Juliet interrupted him. "I am where I want to be. Christmas is just a day. There will be other days we can spend with Rachel, with Richard or with our families. This Christmas, I want to be with you. Only with you." She turned her head to look at him and Jack leaned forward to kiss her to show her that being here with her was all he ever wanted for Christmas.
Suddenly remembering something, he blindly reached for his jeans on the chair next to the bathtub, without breaking the kiss. He found the the small box in the left pocket he was carrying around with him for weeks now, still waiting for the perfect moment - for now.
Nervous, but also anxious about her reaction, he broke the kiss, opened his eyes and smiled at Juliet as he gave her the box.
"What's that?" Juliet asked, surprised. Her voice was shaking a bit and Jack knew she had a pretty good idea about what was in that box, so he decided there was no necessity to keep it a secret.
"It's something you should have had since October," he said, opening the box carefully trying not to drop it in the water.
Juliet gasped at the sight of the small diamond ring.
"Jack it's ... it's so beautiful," she said, her voice now shaking even more.
"It's my grandmother's wedding ring," he explained, smiling at Juliet's reaction. He took the ring and put it on Juliet's outstretched finger. "I had to resize it first. That's why ... that's why you had to wait so long."
"It's perfect, Jack," Juliet said with tears in her eyes as she watched the gold ring. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck and Jack pulled her closer to kiss her, passionately but tenderly.
Now, Christmas was perfect - for both of them.
- tbc -
SERIES: Family Portrait - Part 13/25
FANDOM: Lost
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTER: Juliet Carlson/Jack Shephard (mentions Richard/Rachel)
GENRE: het, romance
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 2,733
SUMMARY: Jack and Juliet wanted to spend Christmas with Rachel and Richard in Seattle, but they only make it to Portland, Oregon ... Written for prompt "Snowed In" for schmoop_bingo and prompt #003 "Snow" for 100_tales.
WARNING: English still isn't my native language (although I wish) and the story is not beta'd. General spoiler for season 6. I hope there is snow in Portland - google said there is.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I just borrow them from time to time to have some fun with them.
NOTE: This is a series of oneshots that can stand alone. But they work better as a multipart-story. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Bonus.
~*~*~*~*
"Jack, you have to see this! Jack!" Juliet's voice woke Jack with a start. He sat up, bumping his head as he did, and looked around confused by the unfamiliar looking things he could make out in the dim light of the room.
This was definitely not his room - and it wasn't Juliet's bedroom (now their bedroom) either. It was much cooler here, there was no carpet on the floor and the walls weren't painted in white as they were at home, but made of wood with strange looking pictures and deer heads pinned on every walls in now logical order.
Jack rubbed his face, still halfway asleep, trying to figure out where he was and what was going on. Finally, the deer heads gave him the last clue needed, and relieved by the enlightenment he sank back on his pillow, ready for another round of sleep.
Everything was fine. He was where he was supposed to be and there was nothing disturbing about this room in particular or the new surroundings in general.
He had just closed his eyes again as Juliet came running into the room, pulling at the sheets. Jack grabbed the corner of the fabric, trying to pull it back up to prevent himself from freezing to death, but, this time, Juliet was stronger.
"Jack, come on ... you need to see this," she said, sounding like an excited child. "Hurry."
"Jeez, Juliet," Jack groaned. "I'm freezing."
"Take this." Juliet threw a jumper at him, but Jack, still too tired to function properly, missed it and it landed on top of a deer head right above him; the one that was responsible for the bump on his head as Jack slowly realized. He grabbed the jumper, pulled it over his head and reluctantly climbed out of the bed. As his bare feet touched the cold wooden floor, he cringed, but was too stubborn to show it. Instead, he walked over to Juliet to meet her at the door.
"What is it, Jules?" He asked, his voice thick with sleep. "Did you find another spider I need to kill for you?" Remembering the huge monster spider in the bathtub the other night, Jack rolled his eyes, but as he recalled how Juliet had begged him 'to make it go away' and what she had offered him in exchange, made him smile; a small part inside of him almost wished that another spider was responsible for all this excitement.
Unfortunately, there was no spider waiting to be killed (or rescued) by him, but what Juliet had to show him instead, pushed every thought of spiders or cold feet or warm sheets and a hot blonde next to him in bed, away; well, not quite, since there was nothing in the world that could be good enough for Jack to be traded in for Juliet next to him in their warm and comfy bed, but the snow outside the cabin's window came pretty close.
"You were wrong," Juliet announced, pointing at what last night had been a green lawn or trees with a few brown and red colored leaves. Overnight, every sign of color had vanished and was replaced by a white that was so bride Jack had to cover his eyes. He didn't even have to ask Juliet what he'd been wrong about last night. She had told him the sky looked like it would start snowing soon, but he'd played it down, explaining her that a girl who'd spend all her life in Florida couldn't know how a sky looked like shortly before a snowfall. Of course, she had been right, and part of him had known that there would be some snow coming out of these dark clouds, but he had been just too happy to have finally found this cabin to drive all the way back to Portland again to find a room in a hotel - besides, he liked the cabin and the view they had over Forrest Park, and being out of the city was a change they both much needed.
They were supposed to spend two days in this cabin on Mount Hood, before driving further north to spend Christmas with Rachel and Richard, but there had to be a miracle to happen before they could make it back to the city. The whole valley was covered in snow and more was falling down as they spoke. There was no way they would make it back in time. Truth was, there wasn't even a car they could've used to drive back; their rental car was nothing more than a white hill near the porch where Jack had parked the car last night.
They were stuck here; snowed it.
It was a nightmare ... but only for him, as it looked like. Jack turned his head to apologize to Juliet for bringing her up here instead of listening to her warning and the ones the guy at the airport had given him, but as he saw the glance in Juliet's eyes and the smile she gave him, so full of excitement, he closed his mouth again and instead of apologizing he pulled her in an embrace.
"Looks like we have to stay here for a while longer," he said, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Juliet snuggled up against his chest and the head of her body worked better than any heater or fireplace could ever warmed him. Soon, Jack had forgotten how freezing cold it was in the cabin since the fire in the fireplace had gone out.
"Is it such a bad thing?" Juliet asked and Jack gave her an astonished look.
"No, it's ... but Rachel and Richard are expecting us, aren't they?" he said. "And you've been looking forward to seeing them and spending Christmas with them for weeks now."
"I have," Juliet said. "I mean, I miss Rachel and I wanted to see her, but the real thing I've been looking forward to was spending Christmas with you, Jack. It's our first Christmas together and ... I don't really care where we spend it, as long as we can spend it together." She gave him a smile and then snuggled back against him.
She was right. It was their first real Christmas together and he had been looking forward to it ever since they'd decided that this year would be all about them. They wouldn't consider what their parents their family wanted. This year they wouldn't spend Christmas apart from each other - he with is parents in California, Juliet with her family in Florida. This year they would be together and they wouldn't feel bad about it, no matter how much their parents tried to talk them out of it, complaining that the holidays were for the family and that it wouldn't be a real Christmas if the children weren't with them.
It hadn't been easy - especially for Juliet -, but in the end they had done what they wanted, not what their parents wanted them to do, and it had felt so good to take a taxi to LAX and fly to Portland, to get a rental car and drive off into unknown territory. For the first time, Jack had felt really mature and free, and he knew it was important for his parents, too - especially for his mom - to accept that their son had grown up and that he needed to live his own life. Maybe their parents would've been more understanding if they'd know that he and Juliet would soon get married to start their own family, but they had agreed on not telling anyone about their plans until they had figured out how, where and when they wanted to get married, without having their mothers doing all the planning for them and driving them insane. This was their wedding, their engagement and they wanted to do it on their own terms - another reason for their parents to freak out, but with that they would deal when they got there.
It would've made the whole thing a lot easier to just tell their families what was going on, but easy wasn't something they both preferred to live by ...
In the end they'd won, and their plan was to spend Christmas together with Juliet's sister, and between all this drama they'd left behind and a nice Christmas dinner in Seattle, they had taken Richard up on the offer to spend a few days in this cabin that belonged to Mittelos. Initially, Rachel and Richard had planned on joining them up here, but Richard's work schedule had thwarted their plans. So it was the two of them in the middle of nowhere in a cabin they'd share with a couple of deer heads. Not the best situation they could find themselves in, but it could've been worth. They had enough food to last for months, Richard and Rachel knew where they were, they would guess what might have happened, and they both weren't needed back at work until next year. There wasn't really much they had to worry about that could happen to them. The cabin was warm and there was enough firewood in the barn. Unless, nature decided to let it snow until may, they were good. And even if not, there wasn't much they could do about it anyway, was there?
Juliet must have read his mind, because when she spoke again it was as if she was trying to make him feel better.
"We will be okay, Jack," she said. "This is ... maybe the snow will be gone again by tomorrow."
"Yeah, maybe," Jack mumbled, even though he wasn't so sure about it. It needed some time - and warmer temperature - to melt this amount of snow, and from what he could see through the windows this wasn't going to happen soon. But at least, it had stopped snowing for now. It was still freezing cold, though, and they needed to get the fire started again or do something else to get warmer.
"Do you want to go back to bed?" Jack asked hopefully, but Juliet just looked at him, obviously shocked by his question.
"There is no way we will go back to bed now, Jack," she said. "There is ... there is this Winter Wonderland outside. I'm not going to miss that by spending the day in bed."
"Not even if I would be in that bed, too?" Jack asked, smiling mischievously at her, but all he got in return was one of Juliet's famous glances and a gentle punch against his ribs.
"Jack Shephard," she said, "Get your mind out of the bedroom and get dressed instead. I want to go for a walk."
"And what about breakfast?" Jack asked. "I'm starving."
"Well, that's something we could talk about," Juliet replied. "But then you have to shower alone while I make some breakfast."
Jack thought about the alternatives and after a moment he nodded. A shower with Juliet was something he'd started to enjoy, but he was hungry and knew that he needed something to fill his stomach in order to be able to keep up with Juliet. She was acting like a Duracell Bunny on Red Bull again, and as much as he loved her positive way of thinking and how much she enjoyed every second of her life, sometimes it was hard for him to keep up with her.
"See you in five," he said, giving her a quick kiss, before heading for the bathroom.
A few hours later, Jack had his wish after all; not in form of a real shower, but a shared bathtub they both hoped would help to warm them.
They'd spend all afternoon outside, exploring the valley, enjoying the snow and the silence surrounding them. They had built a snowman together (Juliet had even named him John Locke - after the famous British philosopher) and Jack had taught Juliet how to make snow angles. She had been excited like a small child, since it was the first time she saw real snow, and even though Jack had spend a few skying vacations with this parents, he couldn't recall ever having so much fun as he had today. It was almost as if Juliet was the missing piece making everything in his life perfect, and even those things that had been right before, turned out to be even better when she was part of it. She turned everything ordinary into something extraordinary; truth was, with her there was no such thing as ordinary at all.
"I still think that was a polar bear I saw behind that tree," Juliet said, interrupting his thought. Her voice sounded sleepy from exhaustion. "I swear, it would've eaten you, if I hadn't warned you."
"I'm sure it would've," Jack said, laughing. "But it was still just a deer. There are no polar bears in Oregon. Unless someone turned a magic wheel and put Oregon nearer to the North Pole."
"It could've happened while we were sleeping last night," Juliet said. "That what explain all the snow …," she added and Jack watched nervously as her hand dunked in the water. For a moment he hold his breath, expecting her to do something that would turn their relaxing bath into yet another new exciting experience, but as her hand appeared again, a piece of soap in it, he almost let out a frustrated sigh.
Juliet turned her head to look at him and when she smiled Jack had - again - the feeling that she was reading him like an open book. It scared him a bit that she knew him so well, but on the other hand it felt so right and good - just one more piece that made living with Juliet so perfect, so right.
"Do you want me to wash your back?" he offered and as Juliet handed him the soap and bended forward to make him space, he carefully washed the cold from her skin, leaving trails of kisses on her shoulder, her neck, and as he reached the sensitive spot right below her ear, Juliet let out a soft moan and sank back against him.
"I love you, Jack" she whispered, closing her eyes. "Thank you for bringing me here. It's perfect" Wrapping his arms around her, Jack rested his head on her shoulder, smiling and caught up in the moment.
"You're very welcome," he replied. "But it was Rachel's idea. Remember?" he asked, and after a short second he added, "I'm sorry that you can't see her on Christmas. It's ..."
"It's okay, Jack," Juliet interrupted him. "I am where I want to be. Christmas is just a day. There will be other days we can spend with Rachel, with Richard or with our families. This Christmas, I want to be with you. Only with you." She turned her head to look at him and Jack leaned forward to kiss her to show her that being here with her was all he ever wanted for Christmas.
Suddenly remembering something, he blindly reached for his jeans on the chair next to the bathtub, without breaking the kiss. He found the the small box in the left pocket he was carrying around with him for weeks now, still waiting for the perfect moment - for now.
Nervous, but also anxious about her reaction, he broke the kiss, opened his eyes and smiled at Juliet as he gave her the box.
"What's that?" Juliet asked, surprised. Her voice was shaking a bit and Jack knew she had a pretty good idea about what was in that box, so he decided there was no necessity to keep it a secret.
"It's something you should have had since October," he said, opening the box carefully trying not to drop it in the water.
Juliet gasped at the sight of the small diamond ring.
"Jack it's ... it's so beautiful," she said, her voice now shaking even more.
"It's my grandmother's wedding ring," he explained, smiling at Juliet's reaction. He took the ring and put it on Juliet's outstretched finger. "I had to resize it first. That's why ... that's why you had to wait so long."
"It's perfect, Jack," Juliet said with tears in her eyes as she watched the gold ring. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck and Jack pulled her closer to kiss her, passionately but tenderly.
Now, Christmas was perfect - for both of them.
- tbc -