Fiction: Christmas Wishes
Title: Christmas Wishes
Rating: Light R
Type: One shot, Promise Universe, longing
Word Count: 1295
Timeline: Three years before "Promise" starts
Summary: Ashlee and Coop think about each other on Christmas Eve
Author's Notes: This is to help me get back into the "Promise" mind set. It's a short one shot and probably sucks, but I wanted to write something from that universe. Please forgive all mistakes.
Feedback: Please and thank you
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Lights are strung from one end of her apartment to the other. Glittering and blinking colors across the floor. The small Christmas tree was leaning in the corner. It was modestly decorated with small red and silver globes and some other mismatched ordainments. Brightly wrapped presents were piled underneath the foliage of the freshly cut tree. She placed the final gift with the rest, angling it just right. Ashlee sighed, standing back to look at her work. Brandon was tucked into a soft blanket on the couch. His small face turned on the pillow, his sweet pink lips parted in a small “o”. She ran a finger over the apple of his exposed cheek. He sighed and moved closer to her hand. This would be his first Christmas with a dad and Steven wasn’t even here to spend it with them.
The hospital called him in earlier because the hospital was so under staffed and a huge crash just happened. She told him it was fine, but a part of her was upset by the turn of events. Brandon finally had a man to call dad on Christmas and he wouldn’t be there. Ashlee knew there was nothing that could be done. She married a doctor and he had a responsibility. She knew that, but it didn’t make it any easier for her to deal with.
She moved away from Brandon and walked over to the bookshelf in the corner. Running her fingertips along the spines of some of the books, she looked for the one she wanted. She didn’t have to look that hard. In fact she probably could have found it blindfolded, but she pretended it wasn’t that easy to make herself seem less pathetic. She pulled the book down from the shelf and sat on the couch next to her sleeping son.
Ashlee opened the book to the first page and ran her fingertips against the smudged words. “This book is dedicated to the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world. She’s the reason this book was published. It was her ability to see the good in me and my work that made everything possible. She worked hard, editing my work and encouraging me. I love her with all that I am. Thank you, my angel for always being there; for loving me and for never giving up on me. I’m so lucky to have you in my life.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and she blinked rapidly to stop them from falling. She’s read the words over a hundred times and each time she got overwhelmed by the emotion that he wrote. And by the emotion she still felt for him. Ashlee turned to look at her son, rolling her tongue against her bottom lip. Henry Cooper Bradshaw is, was and will always be her true love. And without realizing it, he gave her the most perfect angel in the world. She had a piece of him.
She had a wonderful son and Coop had a large chunk of her heart. She got up from the couch and walked to the window that overlooked the streets of her block. A light dusting of white was starting to fall on the ground. Ashlee leaned her head against the pane of glass and gently blew hot breath on to it. A fog settled on the clear pane. She took her finger and wrote HCB + AW 4ever in a heart then used her sleeve to wipe it away. She rolled her head back and forth, making her forehead cold.
Ashlee looked up at the night sky. Closing her eyes she sighed. The clock behind her chimed, midnight had arrived. She opened her eyes back up and sought out the moon. “Merry Christmas and happy birthday, Coop,” she whispered then walked back to her son on the couch.
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Coop took a seat on the floor next to the fireplace. The embers burned hot and he naturally leaned into it. The party guests were leaving, Rachael was seeing them all out. He snuck into his study to get away from all the fake people that she liked to hang out with. He held his hand up, letting the heat from the fire hit his palm.
The night had been a long one and he wanted nothing more than to sleep the remaining part of the it away, but he knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Christmas and his birthday used to fill him with such joy, but now it felt like just another day. Coop didn’t know when that shift happened but it did. Actually that wasn’t true at all. He could clearly remember the last time he enjoyed his birthday. It was when he had last been with Ashlee.
The night was etched so firmly into his brain he could close his eyes and be back there. And if he was being absolutely honest he would admit that he thought about those days more than once a week. She left him, but he still hasn’t gotten over her. In the middle of the night, he reached out for her. But she’s not beside him. Someone else is. Someone that didn’t feel quite right in his arms, she was too thin and too short. Rachael was a very nice and lovely woman, she just wasn’t Ashlee.
Coop got up from the ground and headed over to his desk. He opened his top drawer and pulled out the worn picture that was in there. It was the last Christmas they shared together. She had her mitten hands pressed into his cheeks and had a giant smile on her face. They had no idea anyone was taking the picture. They were too wrapped up in each other. White flakes of snow were stuck to her jacket from where they had made snow angels.
Her blond hair was tucked underneath a brightly colored knitted cap. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her close to his body. Even now, three years later, he can feel the way she felt that day pressed against him. That night they spent hours making love. She sang him, “Happy birthday”, while holding just one chocolate cupcake. Ashlee took some of the icing off, after he blew out the single candle, and ran that finger along his chest. She used her tongue to clean up the streak of red then she did it again with the green colored icing.
He took the cupcake from her and traced her erect nipple with some icing on his finger. After all the icing was gone, they fed each other pieces of the cake until there was nothing left. He never wanted the day or night to end. It was one of the most perfect birthday’s he had ever had. She was his gift and he had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her. As much as he still wanted her. Coop traced her flushed cheek in the picture with his fingertip. He swallowed hard, putting the photo back in the drawer. He stood up and walked over to his large window. The lights of Paris were twinkling in front of him. The most romantic city in the world never seemed that romantic to him.
It was just another place where Ashlee wasn’t there. It was just another spot on the map to help him get over the one woman he didn’t think he ever would. Coop looked down at the watch on his wrist and sighed. It was just after midnight. It was officially his birthday and Christmas day. He tilted his head toward the sky and whispered, “Merry Christmas, Ashlee.” He turned from the window and stared at the fire again. “I hope you’re happy where ever you are.”
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The End