Title: Shake the Glitter Off: Christmas Interlude

Summary: There's nothing like a few holiday parties to test the resolve of a new couple.

Notes: Holiday inspired humor, fluff, and romance to make up for all the angst and to help segue into the sequel, which is tentatively titled Change of Seasons; not sure when I'll start posting it.

A mighty big thank you to everyone who's been reading this, whether you ever reviewed it or not! :-D

I'll greet you 'neath the mistletoe

Kiss you once and then some more

And wish you a Merry Christmas, Baby

The week leading up to Christmas brings a schedule full of holiday parties to Drake and Mindy's calendars. Prior to their official "In a Relationship" status, they had respectively RSVP'd to parties at Spin City Records, Mindy's lab, and their families' parties; now that they are together, these four are the ones that they decide to attend together as a couple. If they're going to make a go of being a couple, then there's no time like the present and this holiday season to go public with their relationship.

Mindy has to set aside four different holiday appropriate outfits for these parties. She wants each one to have a Christmassy feel to it, so she sticks with shades of evergreen, red, gold, and black when pulling clothes from her closet and drawers. Drake is no help at all, more intent on getting her out of her clothes than getting her into more clothes. She's not complaining (much) until he pulls her onto his lap and asks her what she'd like for Christmas, nuzzling her neck. One of them has to have some restraint, no matter how much time they're trying to make up for. It takes almost five hours and two post-coital showers until Mindy has successfully put together an outfit for each party after finally kicking Drake out of her apartment the third time he decided to try to help her out of her clothes.

The party thrown at the lab Mindy works at is the first and most lackluster. They spend a whopping hour there.

Most of Mindy's coworkers who have ever had more than a few conversations with her seem completely baffled by her coupling with Drake after just a couple of minutes because he's a musician and he seems a little flighty and she is a scientist and grounded. She's a thinker and he's a—whatever he is. She's worn a top that compliments her growing stomach, which would be noticeable even if she weren't wearing a maternity top. Her blouse is sparkling and golden, offset by her black skirt, a small green and red Christmas pin on her blouse. It's like her ensemble is meant to say, "Merry Christmas, I'm pregnant, in case you didn't know."

They go by her apartment for her to change into a berry colored blouse that does not pronounce her pregnancy as much for her parent's party, pulling the headband from her hair and tossing it onto her dresser. She drags a brush over her hair before pulling her hair into a respectable low ponytail and running back outside and into Drake's car.

Her father, the successful businessman that he is, has rented out space at a hotel, per the norm. She reminds Drake to grab his jacket from the backseat as they're getting out of the car. He's screwed on first and second (and third and fourth) impressions with her parents but as long as they know he's making the effort—oh, who is she kidding, it won't make a damn bit of difference to them anyway and they both know it. Well, it might make a difference that Drake still hasn't taken off running for the hills.

Her parents prefer not to address Drake directly, even when he's standing right in front of them and it's so incredibly awkward. Mindy informed her parents that she and Drake were together, which, while it seemed to appease them about a tenth of a degree ("Well, at least he's willing to claim responsibility for his mistake for the time being. Hasn't that young man ever heard of doing the right thing? What sort of family teaches that illegitimacy is okay? The statistics alone—blah, blah, blah.")

Mindy drags Drake behind one of the numerous gigantic festively decorated trees, tucked between the tree and the wall, providing them with the most privacy possible, "I'm sorry."

He shrugs, "It's not like it's your fault that your parents are jerks. No offense. Shit. I probably shouldn't say things about your family, should I?"

"Well, all things considered, I love them; they are my family—no, no, just, yeah, no. Don't say anything about them. I have plenty of other ammunition to use against you whenever we fight, don't give me any more leverage, okay, sweetie?"

"'Sweetie?'"

"Unless you're okay with an insult as a term of endearment, you're going to have to accept that for the time being."

He wrinkles his nose, "What kind of insult?"

There are a few hateful words swimming around her head. Mood swings, hormones. "How about we just stick with 'sweetie' and other generic pet names for a while?"

"No 'Cupcake' or 'Pudding Cup' or any other dessert or snack related names, okay?"

"Drake...I would never call you anything that Josh and I ever called each other."

"Yeah, I'm just really not a fan of the pet names, especially not the saccharine ones." His face brightens, "Unless you call me Stud Muffin."

She furrows her brow and shakes her head, "I'll get back to you on that one. Let's get back to the party, shall we?"

They suffer through the next couple of hours, counting down the minutes until Mindy can sneak out without looking like a bad daughter. There's an uncomfortable amount of confusion to be cleared up with extended family members and long-time family friends because as far as they all knew, Mindy was dating a decent young man named Josh and they were heading down the road toward marriage—who is this Drake person and why has Mindy gained so much weight around her midsection? Drake has to admit that the look on people's faces when he tells them that he and Mindy just began dating after the several years she spent dating his brother, yes she is pregnant with his child, and no, they are not married nor do they have plans to get hitched anytime soon is a great source of amusement for him despite the fact that Mindy looks about ready to throttle him with every passing second.

By the time that the party starts winding down enough that he parents are willing to excuse her absence (what they wouldn't have given for Drake's complete absence or early departure), Mindy would kill for a drink or three. It's not a thought that the baby appreciates because it starts bouncing, like it's using her bladder and kidney as a trampoline and she just went to the bathroom. The kid hasn't even been born yet and already it's taking too much after its father.

At the same time, the baby is taking after her, freezing whenever Drake's hands land anywhere on her stomach. Serves him right. She's not sure why it serves it him right but it does and she reminds herself of this every time he slides beneath the sheets on her bed and falls asleep, his arm hanging over her side, his hand splayed across her abdomen.

A couple of days later they drive down to Los Angeles for the party at the Spin City offices. The empress-waist spaghetti-strap evergreen bubble dress that Mindy wears, accented with a golden sash knotted just below her bust, drawing the fabric of the dress tighter, as if to emphasize the swell of her belly, and a black bolero jacket.

While Mindy's off en route to the restroom, again, Drake finds himself being accosted by an enthusiastic fan who just happens to be a new hire at the record company. Blonde hair, hazel eyes, full pink lips, C-cup, natural. If he weren't a reformed man. Dammit.

"—and you're my celebrity freebie. My husband would totally understand. I'm just putting that out there."

"You're married?"

"Yeah, almost one year, whoo!" she giggles, wiggling the fingers on her left hand and yep, matching engagement ring and wedding band set. "Anyway, he really would be okay with it. I'm just kidding—unless you're interested, in which case…." She trails off at the cool look she's receiving from Mindy who has just appeared.

Mindy steps into place next to Drake, wordlessly looping her arm through his. He looks so relieved and lets out a breath, "Oh, Julia—"

"Gillian—with a 'G,'" the girl corrects.

Whatever. "—I'd like you to meet Mindy, my girlfriend. I'm not really in a place right now where I can let someone cash in on me being their celebrity freebie. But thanks!"

The blonde's eyes widen as Mindy deliberately rubs her baby bump with her left hand while extending her right hand, "Hi." If looks could kill, the girl would have been dead before Mindy spoke. Julia-Gillian scampers off and Mindy says to Drake, "She seemed nice."

Times like this he doesn't know if he should be afraid of her or turned on. Normally, he's a little of both. "How do people not burst into flames when you look at them like that?"

"I've spent years wondering the same thing. Alas, of the many skills and abilities I have, pyrokinesis is not one of them."

"Well, just don't practice those looks on me."

She gives him a look he's just beginning to learn the meaning of before she rises on her tiptoes and whispers into his ear, "Oh, Drake, there are so many other things I'd rather practice on you."

Did she just—he blinks. "Do you want to get out of here? Because I am ready to go whenever you are. Whenever you're ready. Right now even."

She gives him a teasing smile, "Not just yet. I think we should mingle a little more."

She is evil. In an extremely hot way. One of these days, he's going to turn the tables on her again. When she least expects it. He applauds himself that he can coax her into the backseat of his car in a dark corner of the underground parking deck because it's really not fair that she has so much power over him. What kind of guy would he be to deny the mother of his unborn child anything? The worst thing about the backseat is that it doesn't lend well to cuddling (and as it turns out, Drake really likes to cuddle). It's much more wham, bam, thank you, ma'am—which, surprisingly, Mindy doesn't seem to mind at all. That night when they return to her apartment, they're both tired from their romp in the garage and the drive back and it doesn't take long for either of them to fall asleep.

The following night, the eve of Christmas Eve, is the party at the Parker-Nichols house. Black dress, green and gold accents.

It's possible that they imagine—but that they do is unlikely—the seconds of stillness and silence when they walk into the living room, holding hands and looking every bit the happy couple.

Awkward. So much awkwardness.

After several minutes of mingling as a unit, Mindy excuses herself and finds Josh hiding in the kitchen. "Hey."

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

"Me? Oh, I'm just dandy! I mean, just because I had a problem with the thought of you and Drake having hooked up does not mean that I am the least bit bothered to see the two of you all over each other. Yeah, I am just thrilled for you two crazy kids!"

Mindy crosses her arms and leans back against the counter. "Wow, you really do not know how passive aggression works, do you, Josh?"

"Oh no, I get it—not caring! Not passive, definitely aggressive. I don't know if you caught all the bitterness—"

"Josh, a man on Pluto with no arms could have caught your big ol' ball of bitterness. I just wanted to know how you're dealing with all of this. I want us to be able to be friends again one day."

"Well, after the knife wounds heal, I fall out of love with you, and build up some scar tissue, maybe we can be friends then, I'll let you know." He leaves the kitchen without giving her a chance to respond.

A short while later, there's a wonderfully awkward moment when Helen realizes that Mindy's pregnant and tries to piece together why Mindy's now with Drake instead of Josh, not that she can blame her, until it dawns on her that, oh, it's Drake's baby but they just started dating and she and Josh haven't been broken up that long and…oh. Oh.

Helen could not disguise her shock if she tried, "Not judging. Well, congratulations and happy holidays. By the way, Mindy, as much as I like you, if you hurt Drake, I'll break your little scrawny ass. After you give birth, that it."

Megan flits about the party, casting smug looks in Drake and Mindy's direction. Internally, she's singing 'I was right, I was right' to the tune of "Jingle Bells." She stops beside Josh who is grumbling by the weather inappropriate bowl of wassail. Megan nudges him with her elbow, "Suck it up, Josh. Get into the Christmas spirit already, would you? Forget about everything for the next few days and pretend like it's not eating you up inside seeing them together. You might as well get used to it."

"I don't want to," he whines.

She pats him on the shoulder. "Poor sweet, stupid Josh; it's too bad that this isn't about what you want. And I don't think they're going to be breaking up anytime soon. Look at them, they're happy," Megan says, gesturing towards Drake and Mindy, his arm around her waist as they look at the tree, him pointing out the ornaments he made growing up. "Come on, Josh, 'tis the season; peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, and all that other selfless holiday crap. Go make nice with your ex and her new honey slash our brother slash her baby's daddy."

"What if I don't want to make nice?"

She narrows her eyes, "I know where you sleep. Don't ever forget that."

Josh reluctantly approaches the couple. He clears his throat and they turn around, "Hey guys."

Drake starts to drop his arm from around Mindy but then he remembers that she is with him now, a fact that Josh will have to get used to sooner or later. "Hey, Josh."

"How…how's it going? I haven't seen you around the house much the last few days. You get your own place and forget to tell anybody?"

Drake scratches his head, "I've been spending a lot of time at Mindy's."

"Yeah, but nights—" Josh stops, suddenly looking horrified. He sputters, "Wow, that was fast. I mean, I didn't know you two were that serious. How—you—good for you." He looks around the room, panicked and feeling like he's going to be sick, wanting to run, but he spots Megan glaring at him. He clears his throat, "Ahem. In the spirit of the season and under threat of who knows what kind of harm from Megan, I am willing to let bygones be bygones for the next couple of days."

"That's very big of you, Josh," Mindy says in a tone that neither Drake nor Josh can distinguish as sincere or sarcastic.

No one gives a wounded puppy look better than Josh does; it is a look he's perfected over the years.

Drake forces a chuckle, trying to help lighten the moment "Oh, you know, one day we're all going to look back at this time in our lives and we are going to laugh."

"I doubt that, but good try. B+ for effort," Mindy says, patting his arm. "Josh?"

"Yeah?"

She steps forward and kisses him on the cheek, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Josh says softly, enveloping her in a hug. He looks over her shoulder at Drake, still looking heartbroken. He lets go of Mindy, even though he hates having to, and gives Drake a brief man hug. "Merry Christmas, Drake."

"Merry Christmas, Josh." Drake and Mindy watch Josh walk away. When he's out of earshot, Drake says, "That wasn't so bad."

Mindy rolls her eyes. "Please, Josh would have preferred to have every single one of his teeth pulled with no anesthesia than to have had that conversation with us."

"Eh. Better than nothing?" he shrugs. He glances around the room quickly then grabs her hand and tugs her several so that they're standing under the archway of the dining area.

"Drake, what are you—" he firmly presses his lips to hers.

He pulls away, grinning, pointing up at the ceiling, "Mistletoe."

They're among the last to leave the party. Josh has already retired upstairs for the night and Megan is carrying the serving plates from the table back into the kitchen as Audrey and Walter bid a good night and Merry Christmas to the last of their guests.

They drive back to her apartment, listening to Christmas music on the radio, singing along.

They cuddle on the sofa, Mindy's back against Drake's chest, his arms wrapped around her, one hand on top of the other on her stomach. They're watching a cheesy sentimental Christmas movie about two people pretending to be a couple for the benefit of one of their families and the two inevitably fall madly in love over the course of a week. During a commercial break, Drake randomly asks, "Do you ever wonder what it's going to be like after the baby's here? Like next Christmas?"

"Well, next Christmas, I suppose we'll be formally living together—"

"And we'll have a real tree," Drake grumbles, eyeing the small three foot tall tabletop tree Mindy has sitting on her dinette table.

"And we'll have a real tree," she assures him before continuing. "And I don't know. We'll get the obligatory baby's first Christmas ornaments. A few cute outfits; maybe take a family portrait for Christmas cards."

"We'll take the baby to see Santa."

"Yes."

"And we'll have mistletoe."

"And stockings hanging over the fireplace that we never use."