Treasure

Author: Suzanne Moore

E-mail: suzanne.moore8@verizon.net
 
Summary: A Holidaze Challenge fic, using the phrases ornate flask,
full moon, and riot.

Date posted: December 13, 2003

Author's Notes: I tip my cowgirl hat once again to Deb and Linda
Wilson, my expert beta-readers and sublime suggestion-makers. Thanks
also to Bar for all the fiction-writing conversations. You really
make me think.

~*~

The laughter and music from the Christmas party filtered down the
hall of Fallin and Fallin and interrupted Nick Fallin once again. He
sighed and gathered the files from his desk. Reading the documents
would be quicker at home where it was quiet. Lulu would not be home
until later in the evening; she'd gone Christmas shopping with Kate.
If he could finish just reviewing the papers this evening, Nick would
be able to file the necessary motions first thing in the morning.

As he stood and pulled on his overcoat, Jake walked by his office
wearing a Santa hat. "So," his partner grinned, "are you finally
going to join us?"

Nick lifted his shoulders in the slightest shrug and shook his
head. "No," he said quietly, finally looking at Jake. He could deal
with a lot: LSP, Lulu's pregnancy, Shannon. But Christmas stirred up
a lot of old feelings that were uninvited and very unwelcome to Nick
Fallin. He wanted to get as far away from the Christmas party as he
could.

He'd just about made it to the elevator when a hand tapped his
shoulder. "Son, you aren't leaving?" Burton Fallin asked in a stern,
hushed voice. "After all, you are a partner in this firm. You`ve got
responsibilities - "

Nick cut off the lecture he was about to receive. "No, I can't
stay." His ocean-colored eyes hinted of the discomfort he felt, but
the elder Fallin was too pre-occupied with his job as party host to
notice.

Burton hid his disappointment well and ran his hand down the back of
his head. "Well, I'm glad I caught you before you left. I've got
something for you in my office. Come with me." He motioned for his
son to follow him into the inner sanctum.

Nick cringed. He hated gift-giving, and felt especially awkward when
his father gave him presents.

But the cringe was for nothing, because Burton Fallin was not giving
his son a Christmas present. Instead, he pointed to a brown lidded
box, filthy with dust. "This got left behind when I sent all the
others to your house. I found it when I got my Christmas decorations
out of the attic."

Nick winced inwardly. It had hurt when Burton wanted to completely
clear his house of Nick's past. And it had been painful when those
boxes had been delivered. Nick hadn't opened any of them, despite
Burton's urgings. What Burton considered fond memories of his son's
youth were actually painful ones for the handsome young lawyer.
Instead, Nick had stacked the boxes neatly in one corner of his own
attic, squirreling them away for some time in the future when it
wouldn't hurt to relive his past.

"Thank you," Nick said tightly, his impassive face concealing his
true feelings. He picked up the box, grateful that this one had
handles, and made his way to the elevator. He silently wondered where
the nearest trash bin was located in the parking lot.

~*~

He didn't throw the old brown box away. Nick lugged it into his
kitchen, placed it on the counter, and eyed it suspiciously.
Whatever the contents were, they would certainly cause him pain.

His sense of stress and confusion was already intense. Lulu had
announced she was pregnant and then turned down his proposal. She'd
given him quite a scare before deciding to keep the baby. She wanted
them to buy a new house, yet did not want to marry. Nick couldn't
actually figure out what Lulu wanted or needed. And Suzanne Pell's
bid for his attention seemed to be the latest icing on a very
confusing Christmas cake. Of all the holidays, Christmas was the
absolute worst for Nick. And this box did not help his stress level
one bit.

He finally lifted the lid and took a tentative look inside. A rubber
ball, now dry and cracked with age; a shoebox diorama featuring hand-
drawn dinosaurs; a school report on Pennsylvania`s history. . . all
typical possessions of youth. But when he removed the diorama for a
closer look, his eyes locked on an object nestled in the bottom of
the box.

Nick sucked in a sharp breath. Could it be? After all these years?
*It's my treasure box!*

As he picked up the old cigar box, his mind danced with very old
memories that he usually kept locked away. He gently ran a trembling
finger across the lid. The fancy gold letters read 'Full Moon Cigars -
A Blend of Imported and Domestic Tobaccos' and surrounded a lively
picture in a riot of tropical colors. The focal point was a multi-
colored silhouette of a cigar-smoking businessman standing in front
of a full yellow moon. A green palm tree completed the décor on top
of the box.

He slowly opened the lid and stared at the box's contents. Everything
was still there! Marbles, a length of green string, a tiny metal
airplane. . . the things in this box were his special boyhood
treasures. A fragile and yellowed newspaper clipping showed a picture
of his young and happy-looking parents at a symphony fund raiser. An
old-fashioned ink pen that Burton had thrown away had found its way
from the trash can into Nick's possession.

Then he saw the most precious thing in the box. It was a tiny, ornate
flask that at one time had been filled with perfume. Nick had saved
his allowance and bought it for his mother for Christmas. She'd made
a very big deal over the gift, telling her son that he was
thoughtful, and charming, and handsome. Then she'd told Nick that he
would grow up and treat women better than his father did. Anne had
kept that silver flask on her dressing table even after it was empty;
she told him she cherished it simply because he had given it to her.
When she died, Nick had slipped into her bedroom and took it. He kept
it in his treasure box just as he'd kept fond memories of his mother
in his heart.

He held the flask in the palm of his hand, and gazed at it with soft
eyes. "Merry Christmas, Mother," he whispered.

As he tucked the flask back into the treasure box, the corners of
Nick's mouth lifted in a small smile. He felt like he'd found a
little bit of himself that had been missing - until now. The flask
was a slim thread connecting him with his mother, an unbreakable
bond. It reminded him of a time when he was treasured - simply for
being himself.

He returned all the items to the storage box. It would join the
others in the attic, but the knowledge that his treasure box was
there gave Nick a flicker of warmth and comfort. No matter the
outcome of his bumpy relationship with Lulu, Nick now had a child on
the way. He knew he was ready to be a father. He would love, protect,
and treasure that baby to the ends of the earth, just as his mother
had cherished him.


~Fin~