Chapter Text
-Alex-
“Merry Christmas, baby.”
Mac’s eyelids fluttered open as she gently kissed his cheek, one hand trailing up his chest as she curled herself against his arm. A smile curved his lips and he turned his head toward her, blinking slowly. Alex hummed as she pressed their foreheads together, and he drew her into his arms to brush a kiss against her lips. It was freezing in the bedroom, but she was toasty warm under the blankets with him.
“Merry Christmas,” he murmured back. “Did you sleep okay?”
She nodded, smiling warmly. “Did you? It didn’t seem like you were having a bad dream last night.”
“Nope, didn’t have a bad dream.”
It was the first time in a long, long time that he hadn’t had one, and she was glad for him. Maybe now, he was finally starting to feel better. Less depressed. Though, she was still going to be keeping a close eye on him, just in case. Sometimes he would seem fine all week, and then she would find him silently crying into a glass of whiskey on the roof. So, it was usually best to stay on the lookout, in case anything bad might happen. She gave him another warm, loving kiss as she slipped a hand beneath his thick shirt and felt her way across his belly.
“You want your first present here, or would you rather go downstairs and see what’s under the tree?” she purred, teasing her fingers along the waistband of his pajama pants. “I think you’ll really like this one.”
“I think so, too,” he said, smiling down at her. Mac started to sit up, but she pushed him back against the pillows as she slipped his pants down and positioned herself to hover over his hips. “Ah, it’s cold…”
Alex pulled the blanket up to her head and leaned into him, warming his cock with her kisses and hot breath. A quiet moan let her know that he was obviously enjoying it, and she grew confident enough to move lower and flick the tip of her tongue against the head. Despite the chilly temperature, he sprung up almost instantly, curving into her mouth as she giggled. He was always so quick to get going, but at least he was getting used to dragging their time out into a slow, sensual dance that she absolutely loved.
The tip of his cock slid over her warm, wet tongue as she arched her back and gripped his hardening shaft in both hands. His fingers twisted in her hair and he murmured something incoherent under his breath as her head bobbed and her hands curled and twisted around him. She probably wasn’t as fast as she could have been, and she definitely wasn’t able to take too much of his length into her mouth, though she was no longer quite so clumsy with the movements of her tongue as it playfully swirled around his tip. He smirked as her eyes snapped up to meet his, and she dared to dip lower and run her tongue up the underside of his shaft. The groan he gave made her smile as she lowered her gaze and kissed the tip.
“Who the hell taught you all that?” he sighed, rolling his head against the pillow. “Piper?”
She laughed in the back of her throat as she sucked him a little harder, then flicked her tongue again. “Why d’you think it was Piper? There are books out there, you know.”
“Where is this… book that you speak of?” Mac watched curiously as she straightened up and pushed her own pajama pants, and then her panties, out of the way. His eyes grew wide as she dipped her fingers between her thighs and came away with a bit of glistening wetness.
“Dresser, bottom drawer,” she breathed. Then she flipped her long curls over one shoulder and scooted closer. “I thought we could try something new, if you want. Eat me out while I keep up the blowjob. I’ll be on top.”
His jaw dropped as he thought about it for a moment. “You’re gonna sit on my face? Hell yeah…”
A couple pillows were shoved under his hips, propping him up just enough for her to position herself on top of him. With her cunt pressed against his lips, Alex leaned across his body and brought the tip of his wet cock into her mouth again. She moaned around him as his tongue slipped between her folds and sparked thousands of tiny explosions along her nerves, bringing blood rushing to her hips. His hands squeezed her hips as he alternated almost perfectly between gentle sucking and lapping, never venturing into anything that would cause her pain. He was good at remembering exactly what she enjoyed, like gentle rubbing against her hips and lower back. When his fingertips traced lightly against her lower belly, she suddenly cried out and felt her whole body begin to tremble with pleasure.
While one hand pressed into the bed and held her up, she moved her other hand to rub along his thigh, then over his hip and up to his stomach. A muffled moan came from behind her as she traced her fingers along his dark hair, swirling a fingertip around his belly button as she kissed away another drop of precum. There was only so much more teasing and sucking she could do before he came, so she relaxed a little and enjoyed his tongue lapping at her throbbing pussy. A little flick against her clit made her thighs tense up and jerk away, but his hold on her was tight as he kissed her and swiftly returned to gentle movements of his tongue. She pressed her lips to his tip again, accepting his silent apology.
Soon, Mac patted her thigh and gave a shaking gasp as she lifted her hips to let him catch his breath. Alex smiled as he licked her up from around his lips with a moan, his eyes rolling upwards. She turned herself around and straddled his hips, then leaned in to nibble at his neck. A tiny, red mark bloomed above his collarbone as he growled and squeezed her ass.
“Don’t give me one of those! I should be giving them to you,” he whined, breathing heavily as he scowled at her.
“No one’s going to see it, you goof.” She bit her lip when he rolled his hips up, his cock rubbing hard against her dripping cunt. “Slow down, we’ll get there in a second.”
He groaned impatiently as she lowered herself and pressed a kiss to his lips, tasting what lingered of herself on his tongue. Sweet, almost like fruit. No wonder he enjoyed eating her out so much. She hummed as she moved to nip at his ear, their flushed cheeks rubbing together.
“Alex… please, I can’t wait…”
Their foreheads touched as she stared into his eyes, and he moaned again in the back of his throat. Well, she would have loved to keep going, but maybe she could drag this out just a little longer. Her fingertips dipped between her folds before she drew them up along the underside of his cock, making him shudder, and she eased him inside of her with a few light bounces. Once she found a good, even rhythm, Alex arched her back to show off her delicate, curvy body, much to his delight, and he gripped her thighs as he bucked into her. A tiny spasm inside her hips made his eyes roll back and she let out a breathless giggle.
A hand pressed firmly against his hip to steady her as she carefully alternated her rhythm, responding quickly to his huffs and the way his hands moved across her body. Her free hand brushed against the hair of his chest, then trailed down to the soft curve of his lower belly as fiery sparks filled her head with immeasurable pleasure. She tossed her head back as he grasped her hips tight, her name just barely passing his lips before he hastily thrust his cock into her again.
It was rare that she actually looked at him in bed and didn’t just close her eyes or stare at something else, but the panting, flushed look of sheer desperation on his face made her desperate to give him what he so badly wanted. Really, she almost felt bad that she had made him wait so long, teasing him for ten or twenty minutes too long. Mac cried out as she picked up her pace to make it up to him and he bit his lip hard as a shaky moan slipped out. The color in his cheeks darkened for a second, and then his fingers raked against her ass as familiar heat spread through her hips.
Alex lowered her body onto his and brought their lips together, cupping his cheeks in her hands as she hummed into his mouth. His fingers still traced along her sides and down her hips, and she nibbled his lower lip when he squeezed her thighs.
“You seemed more comfortable this time,” he murmured, shaking the blanket out to cover them up again. It was incredibly soft on her skin and she smiled as she nestled against him, nodding her head. “Good. I’m glad it’s getting easier for you.”
“Well, thank you for being patient with me,” she said. It had taken months for her to ease up around him and she finally felt like she was getting some of her old life back, life before Nate. A sigh puffed against his neck as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Of course, babe.”
“You want me to bring breakfast up first, or would you rather go downstairs and open presents?”
Mac considered it for a moment, though she had thought it was going to be an easy decision for him. “Hm, I really want to know what you got me, but I’m starving, too. Let’s do breakfast first,” he answered, nodding.
The two of them huddled up close as they scurried off to take a warm shower together, but the pattering of their footsteps on the landing woke Dogmeat, who came upstairs to see what was going on. Alex giggled as he whined and tried to push his way into the bathroom, clearly wanting to join in. She just locked the door before hopping into the shower, shivering weakly next to Mac until steam billowed up from behind the curtain. Then, once they were nice and clean again, they got dressed in thick, warm pajamas and headed downstairs for a good breakfast of eggs, sausage, and leftover cookies.
All the lights on the tree blinked happily as Mac flopped down on the couch, chuckling softly as Dogmeat tried to join in where the cats were curled up in a big, furry ball on the floor. Alex hummed to herself as she picked up the plate of sugar cookies and took them with her to the couch. She held a blue, star-shaped cookie in front of his lips when he turned back to her, and he hummed as he took a bite.
“Do you want me to get the presents out?” he asked, tipping his head towards the tree. A couple packages wrapped in scraps of old fabric were piled beneath it.
“Yeah, please. My back’s hurting now.” She nodded, picking up another cookie of her own.
“Aw, sorry… Did you take your meds yet?” Mac was already going to get the presents as he gave her a little frown.
“Mhmm, I did. Just waiting for them to start working,” she mumbled, smiling as he set their presents on the couch and divided them up. It was obvious which ones belonged to who, on account of their wildly different present-wrapping skills. She pointed to neatly wrapped rectangle as he sat down on the couch again. “Open this one first.”
The green wrapping fell to the floor almost as quickly as his jaw did, and Alex wasn’t sure how much bigger his eyes were physically capable of getting as he stared at the picture frame in his hands. A massive smile lit her face as she watched him take in the cover of a very special edition of Grognak, with him posing right beside his favorite hero. Then he threw his arms around her and hugged her as tightly as he could, nearly crushing her if he wasn’t careful.
“You drew this? I mean, I knew you could draw, of course, but this… It looks exactly like a real comic!” he exclaimed, beaming at her.
She patted his knee as he went back to staring at it, as if it would disappear into thin air at any moment. “Yes, and I’m glad you like it,” she said with a giggle.
“Open yours now. The pink one, save the other one for last.”
He gingerly placed the frame onto the coffee table as she pulled a present into her lap. It was loosely wrapped in pink polka dots and duct tape, as opposed to ribbons, and she had to bite back another laugh. Well, at least he had tried. Under the fabric was a bobby pin box that had recently been painted gold and he popped it open in her hands to reveal a delicate, golden necklace. A single, shining ruby in the shape of a giant heart dangled from the bottom as he held it up, and Alex instantly clapped a hand over her mouth as the tears began to well.
“Back when we passed through that old Fallon’s awhile back, you pointed this necklace out on one of the posters. Remember? Said you’d always wanted one, but you’d never told anybody,” Mac whispered, gently clasping it around her neck. “There were none left, not even in the backrooms. Soon as I saw this one, I bought it. Almost had to fight the next guy for it, too.”
“You remembered that from February? We weren’t even dating then!” She brushed some of her tears away, glancing down at the gorgeous stone that was nearly as wide as her thumbprint. It was definitely something she had wanted for as long as she could remember, but she never dared to tell Nate. When she’d seen the poster in the jewelry store and came up empty-handed, she’d thought it was a lost cause.
He shrugged, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. “Told you I’d loved you for a while, didn’t I?”
“Gosh, you’re gonna make me start crying! Open your next one,” she cried, placing a long box into his lap. Inside, he thumbed through the dozens of holotapes and pulled out two to look at their fronts. She giggled at his confused expression. “They’re music albums. And there’s a holotape player in there, too.”
“No way!” His grin came right back as he dug the player out of the bottom of the box and popped in a tape. Notes best heard from a jukebox and enjoyed alongside a vanilla milkshake floated out of the pair of headphones she’d found to go along with the whole thing, and his eyes sparkled as he listened to a song he’d probably never heard before. “This is awesome! Where’d you find all these?”
“I’ve been picking them up here and there,” she said with a shrug.
The holotape player clicked as he stopped the tape and set it down beside the picture frame. Then he picked up the last gift, another small box wrapped in painted newspaper. Mac bit his lip as he held it in his fingers for a moment and sheepishly held it out for her. She carefully took it from him and watched out of the corner of her eye as he clasped his hands tight. A gasp caught in his throat as she tore the wrapping away, and she glanced up to make sure everything was okay. It wasn’t all that common for him to act so shy, and after the necklace, she couldn’t imagine what he could be giving her that would make him nervous.
“Open it,” he mumbled, nodding once. His eyes didn’t look away from her hands as she moved the lid to the side and pulled out a tiny scroll of paper. Tears flooded her eyes as she unrolled the handwritten note and read the words once, twice, three times.
Will you marry me?
“Oh…” Beneath the scroll was a coil of snow white lace, and her fingers shook as she pulled the long, sweeping veil from the box. “Oh my god… You- you really want to marry me?” she whispered, her voice trembling.
Mac nodded and reached up with a handkerchief to dry her tears before they fell on the veil. “I know I’m not even close to being perfect, and you deserve someone far better than me, but I really do love you, Alex. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you, if you’ll let me. If not… I understand…”
She cupped his face in her hands as he lowered his gaze, turning it up to her as fresh tears poured down her cheeks. “Why would you think that I wouldn’t want to be with you? Of course, I want to marry you!”
That was all he needed to hear before he wrapped his arms around her again and buried his face in her neck, crying a few happy tears as she held him close and thought about the two of them. If she went back a little more than a year, to that night in Goodneighbor where she’d gone against most of her better judgement and hired him for almost all the caps in her pocket, and told her-freshly-unfrozen-self that this man was going to end up becoming her husband, well… It honestly might have scared her into keeping her money. Getting married and being happy hadn’t been on her mind in years, not even counting the two centuries she sat frozen, and it still hadn’t crossed her mind until the very second she read his note. It just hadn’t entirely occurred to her that she could move on and make a new life, that she didn’t have to continue changing the meanings of her old one to fit her new reality. And that was scary to think about, but she was infinitely grateful to have him, RJ MacCready, to help her along, and not anyone else.
Companionship – his companionship – was truly the best gift she could ever have received, and never even knew to ask for.