Day Twelve: All I Want for Christmas is You

Just like most mornings, Liam was awake first.

Kathryn's face was pressed into her pillow, apparently, she wasn't a morning person even on Christmas. He laid there a few minutes and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he was comfortable and the bed was warm. As far as Christmas mornings went this was the most carefree one he could remember. The clock on the wall let him know that it was just after eight. On a normal year at this time, he'd be at church pretending that he and his family weren't terrible people. Eleanor would probably already be under the influence and his mum would be concerned about their image. He didn't miss that.

And today was different. Today it was just him and Kathryn and that was more than enough.

He rolled over to check his phone and smiled at the texts that had flooded his screen. When he read them he laughed a little too loud.

Robby surprised Willow with a dog...kill me.

She named it Holly and it's kept Jasper and me awake. Maybe we should get banished from the palace too. The thing looks like a bloody rat.

There's not enough weed in the world to get me through this church service. I'm surprised the whole family didn't burst into flames the moment we walked in.

Merry Christmas btw... love you!

So, he missed Eleanor. But he didn't have time to dwell on it because Kathryn stirred next to him.

"What's so funny?" Her voice was thick with sleep and she pulled the blankets around her shoulders.

"Sorry, it's just Len. Apparently, the King got Willow a dog."

"Oh god." She opened her eyes and gave him a tired smile. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

She sat up and blearily looked around the flat. "It's finally here."

"It is." He brushed his lips over her forehead. "Tea?"

"Yes, please."

Liam fixed the tea while Kathryn freshened up and plugged in all the Christmas lights. He had found the Santa hat that Kathryn had worn on their date with Jasper and Eleanor. She laughed as soon as she saw him.

"Look at you. A month ago I thought I'd never get you to pick out a tree, let alone wear a hat."

He passed off a mug to her and shrugged. "What can I say? It's growing on me."

They settled around the Christmas tree and she turned on their playlist of holiday music. The lights in the flat were still off and it was early enough that the Christmas lights filled the room with a warm glow. They were opening gifts before they went to Kathryn's father's later that day. The pile was small but neither of them cared too much. Liam's family never gave gifts and Kathryn knew he would agonize over what to get her. And according to the group chat that they were all in, Eleanor was going to be gifting her and the baby with enough gifts for two Christmases. So they settled on only giving two gifts each. She watched with excitement as Liam took his presents. He shook the first box and squinted at it.

"Just open it." She pressed. "You're never going to guess."

When he tore off the paper, she could see that he was pleased. It was a box set of classic horror movies, he had wanted it back in October but it had been sold out everywhere. Being a Prince couldn't even get him the collection.

"I figured you were such a good sport about Christmas that you deserved a little Halloween."

"So, does this mean no more Love Actually or Home Alone marathons?"

She considered this for a moment and compromised with a deep sigh. "Give me until tonight, at least. But after midnight we can watch whichever one you want."

"It's been so long since we watched anything without snow or jingle bells." He hugged the box close and grinned. "So, so long."

Kathryn opened her gift and the corner of her mouth curved up into a smile . It was a bottle of perfume, the same one she had worn before she had gotten pregnant. Early on the smell had made her so ill that she had thrown it out. She had complained for weeks after her morning sickness had passed about getting rid of it.

"That was months ago that I said I needed to replace this. You remembered?"

Liam was still holding the movies tight. "It's your favorite and you're not sick anymore."

She reached under the tree and grabbed his final gift. Liam did the same and groaned as they switched small packages.

"Next year you have to teach me how to wrap gifts better."

His gift to her was held in place with a lot of tape and a bow hid that the paper was slightly crinkled. Hers was tucked in at the corners and the gift wrap was smooth. She leaned over to rub his arm.

"It's the thought that counts. But maybe, I'll show you a thing or two."

"Speaking of thoughts, I may have asked Angie to help with this one."

"Funny, I asked Eleanor."

The coincidence made them both smile. "What would we do without meddling sisters?"

"Should we open them together?"

On the count of three, they both began to peel back the shiny wrapping paper. Liam managed to get his opened first while Kathryn struggled with all the tape. His eyes were soft and he was a bit emotional. It was a watch, the same style as his dad's. When he turned it over the engraving made him reach out to squeeze Kathryn's hand.

You're all I've ever wanted and all I'll ever need. I love you.

"Thank you." He stammered a bit and shook his head. "It's, wow, it's perfect. My dad had this exact watch."

She wore a knowing expression and helped him fasten it on his wrist. "Len told me and then I found that quote and it was perfect."

"Open yours."

With a final tear, she got the rest of paper off. It was a small box and when she opened it she shook her head. It was a pair of small, circular earrings, the outside was silver and encrusted with diamonds. In the center were two stones. One was an emerald and the other was a sapphire.

"They're beautiful."

"Angie said something sentimental would be the best way to go. I figured everyone is going to be so focused on the baby and everything that I should focus on you. They're our birthstones." He leaned forward and took her hand. "And I thought since yours is blue you could wear them to the wedding. Something blue or whatever."

She kissed him gently. "I will, thank you."

Once they cleaned up the wrapping paper, Liam had made breakfast. Normally he went with something easy like toast or oatmeal, but not today.

"It's Christmas and the baby wanted a Full English." Kathryn insisted as she picked at her food "You can't say no for either of those reasons."

He reached over and pressed his hand to her stomach. "Listen, you have to stop craving things that are a hassle to make or go get."

When the baby gave a hard kick Kathryn shook her head. "Don't threaten her, you'll make her want something even more elaborate."

"She's going to have to learn to cook then." He said as he cleared the plates. "Maybe she is going to be a handful."

"Of course she is."

The television had been on for background noise but when fanfare sounded and the picture changed, Liam's stomach was in a knot.

"We now bring you the King's Christmas Broadcast."

Robert's face was on screen and he sat at his desk. Behind him was a picture from his wedding, one of the whole family and most shocking of all, the Christmas card photo they had taken.

"Good morning and Merry Christmas." He began. "Here in the palace I am grateful to be celebrating my second Christmas back home and my first Christmas as your King."

"Liam, we don't have to watch this."

He waved her off and stared at the screen, he could see his photo peeking out from behind his shoulder. It made him uneasy and he wondered if Helena had put it there to distract from the fact that he and Kathryn hadn't been with them this morning.

"This year has been particularly kind to my family just as I hope it has been to yours. This is year saw the opening of a legacy exhibit, created by my mother that honored my father and all his achievements. My sister started a charity to spread a little more cheer each and every day. It saw my dear uncle beating his fight with cancer. It saw my wedding to the woman I love." He paused for just a moment and the smile he wore was tight and forced. "It saw my brother announcing his engagement and the news that there will be a new member of our family next year."

The way the word brother was spit out of his mouth made Liam frown. Kathryn watched as he shook his head and muted the TV. She placed a loving hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"This." She searched for the right words. "If I hadn't insisted we stayed at the tree lighting, Robert wouldn't have uninvited you. You should be spending time with your family. It's Christmas."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Liam waved her off and turned from the screen. "He's an ass, he would have done it anyway."

"But you don't know that. You should be with your family."

"I am though. I'm with you and with her, you're my family. Do you think I would have picked out a tree, baked cookies and hung all the mistletoe if it weren't for you?" His held her arms and his face was full of fondness. "I did all those things because I love you and wanted to start new traditions with our family. With you."

This tugged at Kathryn's heart and she let out a shaky breath. "Really? You didn't want to spend the day with them?"

"I don't care about a stuffy dinner or bickering with family. All I care about is us and how we spend the day. All I want for Christmas is to spend the day with my fiancee, watch the same Christmas movies we've seen all month and enjoy my first holiday with the person I care about the most." He promised as his arms went around her waist. "All I want for Christmas is you."

Her hormones won out because she swallowed hard and felt overwhelmed. "Oh, that's such a relief to hear." And then she chuckled as an afterthought. "And very Hallmark to be coming from the guy who claims to hate Christmas."

He thought of the past month. He thought of the tree, the lights and every moment they had spent together. "I can confidently say this is the best Christmas I've ever had. And it's all thanks to you, Kates."

He reached up and held his face as he kissed her. His smile matched hers as he pulled back, he let his forehead rest against hers.

"It's the best one I've had too. Merry Christmas, Liam."

"Merry Christmas, Kathryn."

AN: Merry Christmas, Loyals I hoped you enjoyed this mini series. It went off the rails in the end but long story short, I miss Kiam and we deserved a fifth season. Watch this space for more Kiam throughout the new year, Thank you!