Agatha Harkness wasn’t a particularly big fan of the holidays. She’d never really had a reason to be. Christmas Eve at home with Evanora Harkness (and a bottle or two of eggnog) as a child didn’t produce the positive “core memory” making experience one might have hoped for. The overwhelming ambush of holiday cheer, decorations, and capitalistic propaganda were irritating at best and unbearable at worst. No, she didn’t have a reason to like the holidays. Until she met Rio Vidal.
As much “black cat” vibes and energy Rio gave off, she became a golden retriever around the holidays. The lights, decorations, corny traditions, music, she loved it all. Bouncing around from foster home to foster home as a kid was anything but stable, but the holidays were one of her only constants. With the exception of a few, her foster families typically tried to make an effort during Christmas (or Hannukah, and even Diwali once). They’d put up a tree or make a special dinner. Plus, the agency often made sure all the kids had a present or two, even if it was just an essential.
Agatha had definitely warmed to the holiday over the course of their relationship, and accepted its celebration as a condition of their marriage contract years down the line, though she didn’t always make it easy. Even she had to admit though, it was absolutely adorable how excited Rio got when she made plans for them to build gingerbread houses or marked the best route for their holiday light walk. She was so good at grand gestures and making the entire season seem magical. But this year, it was Agatha’s turn.
They’d been trying to get pregnant for nearly a year now with no luck. They’d remained hopeful throughout the first few months, but Agatha would be lying if she said her hope hadn’t been waning the longer and longer time passed by with no good news. Turns out, it was true what people said. Sometimes when you stop trying so hard, that’s when it happens. While she was checking their schedule to see when they could try and get together with Jen, Alice, and Lilia for a Christmas dinner, the date stood out to her. Her period was late. There may have been a few other small signs she’d been ignoring for fear of false hope, but the date justified her finally taking a test again.
Ironically enough, two pink lines showed up on Christmas Eve. Agatha was happy almost to the point of bursting (which was a rare sight), but thankfully for her she was a closeted theater kid and wasn’t going to let a good opportunity pass her by. She quickly hid all the evidence and went about her day as usual, maintaining an air of nonchalance throughout the day when she was around Rio.
Christmas morning, however, is when she put her plan into action. She’d created a (fake) Christmas morning disaster that only Rio could solve. She’d forgotten milk (it was hiding in the back of the fridge), they’d ran out of syrup (no they hadn’t), and she’d burned the last of the bacon (that part was actually true). They’d been doing the same Christmas morning tradition for as long as they’d lived together and it was imperative (especially to Rio) that they maintained that tradition. Said missing ingredients were all incredibly important staples in their recurring Christmas menu. It was the perfect excuse to send Rio off hunting for the missing ingredients halfway across town where one of the few stores open on Christmas day was located.
Agatha almost felt guilty, but she needed time to put the finishing touches on her surprise. She used the hidden milk to finish the few items that required it, pulled the syrup from the back of the cabinet, and cooked some sausage instead of bacon to finish off the last of the food before she got to work.
Agatha went out to the garage fridge and fetched several bouquets of flowers and brought them into the kitchen. Rio had set quite the standard beginning early on in their relationship. She began bringing Agatha flowers anytime they’d go out on a date. It started as singles, a rose or a daisy. The deeper they got into it the more flowers Rio would give her. It wasn’t just the bouquets, but the time and care Rio put into them. Each flower had meaning, and she’d take the time to explain the meaning of each one in whatever arrangement she offered her. Even still, nearly ten years later, Rio hadn’t ever stopped bringing her flowers.
Agatha was going to beat her to it this time. She’d acquired the flowers the previous afternoon, thankful the local florist was still open on Christmas Eve. As easy as it would’ve been to get the florist to handle the arrangement, she wanted to craft it with her own hands. Rio always had for her, and this was something she wanted to try and do on her own to make it even more special. She just hoped it wouldn’t look like she just stuffed them all together.
She had hoped to have the bouquet finished the night before, but Rio had insisted they watch yet another Christmas movie and they promptly passed out in each other's arms on the couch before she could make an excuse to sneak away. Thankfully, though, this quest for milk and syrup and bacon would keep her away just long enough for Agatha to finish her work.
She laid all the bouquets out on the kitchen counter and grabbed a vase from one of the cupboards. She spent the better part of yesterday researching associated meanings of different flowers that would be appropriate for the message she was trying to convey. White roses. Plum blossoms. Pink Tulips. Star of Bethlehem. Pink apple blossoms. Baby's Breath. And she had to throw a few purple and green flowers in the mix as well, symbolizing their favorite colors. Pink and white weren’t their usual color scheme but hopefully the additions of the purple bellflowers and green zinnias might throw her off the scent just enough to let her game go on a little longer.
She obsessed over the arrangement for what she could’ve sworn was an hour. It had to be perfect. She readjusted, added more before taking some away. Thankfully something told her to check the time, and she was able to make her final decision and tie a big green bow around the middle of the vase. She ran the bouquet to the living room and made it back to the kitchen just as she heard a car door shut.
Rio had planned to spend the morning cozy in her pajamas sipping hot cocoa from her favorite mug and helping Agatha make their breakfast feast with the sound of their fireplace crackling in the distance. That sound was instead replaced by grumbling husbands and screaming/coughing children being drug to the store at the last possible minute to pick up necessities that couldn’t wait until the next day. Rio had almost suggested they simplify their menu to avoid the trek but Agatha was uncharacteristically adamant they follow tradition to a T, and she wasn’t going to be the one to dampen any sign of the Christmas spirit possessing her wife.
When she was finally able to break free from the hellscape and make it back home, she had to bury the wall of exhaustion that had seemed to hit her by the time she exited the store. She made her way inside quickly and beelined it for the kitchen.
“I think I deserve some kind of medal. I almost had to fight some old man for the last pack of bacon. Thankfully, they had some on the end cap.” Rio said with a dramatic sigh as she plopped the groceries down on the counter. She began to look at what Agatha was working on in the pan, frowning when she noticed she was flipping a pancake. A pancake which required milk.
Before Rio could investigate too much, Agatha turned quickly on her heels. “You’re a saint, darling. Could you do me one more favor before getting too comfy?” Agatha batted her eyes and smiled innocently.
“Not even a kiss first? For your brave soldier?” Rio pouted, inching closer to Agatha and staring at her lips. “I saved Christmas, after all.”
Agatha chuckled at that, making a point to back away as she stepped forward. “Oh, did you Rudolph? Well, I’ll make it up to you after you do one more thing for me. I have something for you on the coffee table.”
Rio furrowed her brows and looked at Agatha curiously. “I thought we said no gifts until tonight?”
“Just go get it for me! Please?”
Rio was still wary, but ultimately complied as she strode off to the living room. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but a bouquet of flowers definitely hadn’t crossed her mind. She quirked a brow as she picked it up. In all their relationship, she couldn’t remember a time when she was on the receiving end of a floral arrangement. She examined them more closely as she walked back to the kitchen. “These are beautiful!”
Agatha had been nervously pacing in front of the stove since the moment Rio left the room. She only stopped when Rio came back into her line of sight. “Yeah? You like them?”
“They’re great. You added our flowers.” Rio smiled as she turned the vase around in her hands and inspected them closer.
“Of course. The rest I just thought were pretty,” she fibbed. She wanted Rio to come to the conclusion on her own.
“Do you know what they mean?”
“The roses, yes,” she could recall many of her own bouquets possessing them. “Tell me about them anyways.”
Rio got very serious all of a sudden as she decided where she should start. She gently plucked a white flower with six petals and held it up. “Star of Bethlehem. Purity, innocence, and Christmas. Fitting.” At least the last part. She wasn’t sure either of them fit the bill for the first two attributes. She repeated the same action with a fluffy pink flower. “Plum blossoms. Hope and the ability to thrive.”
Agatha nodded along, biting her lip to hide a smile that threatened to betray her plan. It didn’t help that seeing Rio nerd out over botany was one of the most adorable things she’d ever witnessed. Thank god she was as knowledgeable as she was or this whole scheme would’ve been for naught.
“White roses are for love. And new beginnings. And these,” Rio tongued her cheek as she lifted the pink tulips, “also mean love. As well as hope and rebirth.”
Rio was getting warmer and it was harder for Agatha to maintain her composure. She simply cleared her throat to try and regain it. “What about those?” She pointed to the pink flowers with the longer green stems.
Rio furrowed her brow for a moment as she tried to recall them. It took her a moment longer than usual (a long, agonizing moment that nearly caused Agatha to panic before-) “Ah! Pink apple blossoms. Rebirth, fertility, and fruitfulness.” She was proud of herself.
Agatha wasn’t able to hold back her smile any longer, though she tried to keep it as small as she could. “Oh really? Interesting. Any more?”
Rio quirked a brow at her. As much as Agatha appreciated her flowers in the past, she hadn’t ever seemed to be this intrigued by them. She was happy to indulge one of her hyper fixations, however. “Last one. Baby’s breath: Everlasting love and good fortune....”
The sum of all the descriptions of the flowers suddenly hit her. That, coupled with Agatha’s sudden interest in plants and the grin now pulling at the corners of her mouth were enough to begin to kick her brain into gear. “Wait, you picked these at random?”
“Maybe I had a little bit of inspiration...” She let her words trail off as she searched Rio’s eyes for something, anything that told her she was picking up what she was putting down.
After another moment or two, Rio’s eyes widened with sudden clarity. “Wait...really?”
Agatha nodded quickly, tears forming in the corner of her eyes as she kept them on Rio, “Really.”
Before Rio knew it, she’d sat the vase down on the counter and crossed the kitchen before Agatha even realized she’d done it. She gently picked Agatha up by her sides and spun her one time in the air as she leaned up to press a tender (but no less passionate) kiss to her lips.
Agatha grinned as her hands moved up to cup both of her cheeks as she returned the kiss, only moving down to rest on her neck when she was back down on the ground again.
Rio very reluctantly pulled away as she moved to rest her forehead against her wife's. “When did you find out?”
“Yesterday. It took everything in me not to tell you but I wanted it to be special. I figured this was better than a nasty pee-stick in a box.”
“Oh, I don’t care if it’s gross. I wanna see the pee-stick" Rio grinned as she brushed some of Agatha’s stray locks behind her ear.
Agatha chuckled, “Well, there’s about ten in my nightstand drawer. Have at it.”
Rio gently pulled away as she raised her eyebrow again. “Didn’t believe it the first nine times?”
“I just,” Agatha paused, playing with the long sleeve of her shirt as her smile faltered momentarily, “I wanted to be sure. Before I got your hopes up.”
“Hey, look at me,” she gently cupped Agatha’s chin in her hand and lifted it so blue eyes met brown again. “We can be happy about this. We can be happy about this cause there’s no reason not to be, right now. Maybe not ever.”
Agatha smiled reluctantly as she leaned into Rio’s hand. “It’s still so early. It’s the size of a pea.”
“But it’s our pea. And I’m sure it’s the most adorable pea that ever existed.” She pulled Agatha in for a tight hug, nuzzling her neck. “There’s no reason not to be excited. We’re having a baby!”
Agatha couldn’t help but wrap her own arms around Rio tightly and giggle. It sounded so nice when she said it. “Yeah, we are.”
They stayed that way for a while, the silence only being broken when Rio sighed dramatically. “Totally not fair, y’know.”
“What is?” Agatha pulled back and looked at her curiously.
“How could my gift to you ever top that? I never stood a chance. You played dirty.” Rio smirked and brushed another stray lock from her face. “Just wait until next year. Noelle or Angel and I are gonna one up you, then.”
Agatha scoffed and thumped her on the arm with on finger. “We are not giving the baby a Christmas name.”
Rio smirked and rubbed at the spot on her arm. “We’ll see about that.”