Author: mediasavant
Title: Oh Holy Night
Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: Toby/CJ
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: They belong to Sorkin and NBC. No credit taken nor ownership implied.



"Fall on your knees...oh, hear the angel voices!" the innocent voice on the radio rose and crested. "Oh niiiiiiight diviiiiine, oh, night..."

Snow fell softly outside the window. It wasn't terribly cold, just crisp and perfect for Chistmas eve. The fire in the hearth crackled and leapt, heat spilling out into the room as the tiny light on the tree twinkled among the shimmering ornaments. The whole place smelled of bay and cinnamon, pine and peppermint. CJ lay on the sofa, head back and eyes closed as she listened to the carols. She held the glass of wine lightly in her hand, singing along softly, wondering when he'd come home.

This house was new for both of them. She had a hard time feeling sorry for Andie. Even with the babies, she was the one who had said no. Toby had come to her then, locked the office door and sat quietly like he tended to do and she sat at her desk, finishing the press work. It was easy to let him just sit. It always had been.

But that night there was something different. She looked up more than once and finally laid her pen down.

"Did you ask Andie?"
"Yeah."
"What did she say?"
"...she said no."
"No?"
"No."

She thought for a moment she couldn't breathe, but then she did what she always did. She went over to the couch and laid her hand on his.

"So...what now?"
"I don't know, CJ. I don't know why I always have to figure this out. Didn't I have the plan already? Buy a house, marry Andie. Raise Huck and Molly and live like something ever after?" he asked, his voice rising in pitch and volume. "I had the plan and it's not going to come together and I'm tired. I'm tired, CJ, ok? I don't want to live there alone, Andie doesn't want it, and you've never even..."

He cut himself off and looked up at her, dark brown eyes hard and cold and...frightened.

"I've never what, Toby?" she asked.
"Never acted like you were serious."
"I haven't?"
"Well, have you?"
"I thought I had."
"Did I miss this?"
"You're sexy, but you can be so stupid, Toby," she said, smiling as she leaned in. "See if you miss this."

Her hands moved around him and she kissed him tenderly. He'd have to be completely out of touch to not see, finally, after all this time, that the reason she didn't go out, the reason she busted her ass for him wasn't because they were friends, wasn't because he was her boss.

Oh, he got it all right.

So now it was Christmas, and everything was a compromise. Work and home, Christmas and Hannukah, Andie and the twins and this new thing that he and CJ were building in this new house.

She sat there, listening to carols and drinking wine, her legs stretched out as she waited. She wore one of his shirts, the white one with the light blue pinstripes. She'd taken that tie she'd gotten him right after they'd won the election and tied it loosely.

The sound of the door opening and closing broke her reverie and she looked back over her shoulder. "I'm in here," she called. "How'd it go with Will?"

"You know," he said, that tired note to his voice that told her a heavy sigh was coming.

And the breath came, but it wasn't a sigh. He stood in the entryway and saw her, all legs and neck and hair cascading over the...

"Is that my shirt?"
"It is."
"You took all your clothes to the cleaners?"
"Yes, Toby. That's exactly what I did."

He laughed and ducked his head, fingers moving habitually to the back of his neck.

"Come have some wine with me."
"Yeah. Okay," he agreed, moving in.

"Fall on your knees...oh, hear the angel voices!" the song played again and Toby stopped at the edge of the sofa and for once in his life, did what he was told without a fight. On his knees before her, his hands touched her legs lightly and he looked up at her. Warm fingers pulled her thighs apart and he moved between them, palms moving higher and inside. She watched him impassively and smiled.

"That's not your wine."
"I know."
"What do you think you're doing there?"

He sighed softly and looked up at her, his hands moving higher, up over her hips and settling at her waist as he leaned in and rested against her chest. Her fingers found the soft curls at the nape of his neck, a quarter inch too long since he was overdue for a trim. Oh, the sacrifices of working in the White House.

"I think...I think I'm just...yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Okay," she said softly, sipping her wine and laying her head back once again as Ave Maria began to play. The snow continued to fall slowly outside the window and the fire crackled in the hearth. Tiny lights sparkled on the tree and she let one leg wrap around him as she held him close.