A/N: The events that happen in this chapter happen in the future from where the current chapters are. MEANING that these events will happen eventually, and the chapters will be rearranged to make this happen when the chapters line up. The things that happen inside this chapter will carry over to the rest of the story, as well as events that have not quite occurred, yet. Other than that enjoy the chapter and enjoy your holiday season. While I celebrate Christmas and hate political correctness, enjoy whatever it is that you do with your families this time of year. Look, I even changed the text green here to be festive :)
BIG NOTE HERE: There is ONE suggestive scene that fits the "sex" tag that I added to the story at the beginning. It is rated PG-13 at the most, just a heads up.
Special Chapter: Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose
I’ve been standing at this jewelry counter at a department store in the mall for the last hour just thinking of a present for Spitfire. I’m sort of thinking along the lines of either a watch, a nice watch mind you, or a gold necklace. Damn, decisions decisions. I mean the necklace she could wear every day, but then it would attract attention while she’s at work possibly making her a mugging target. HOWEVER it would look nice on fancy dates. On the other hand the watch could be used all year round and has one of those solar cells that recharges the battery constantly so it always runs.
I look around me and I see all the holiday shoppers running around getting their last minute gifts for both friends and family alike. It’s only two days to Christmas Eve and people are still shopping, but why am I surprised, I am too. Yeah I waited until the last minute and I know it’s not smart but I’ve been busy with working at the bar and taking Spitfire to physical therapy.
Yep, that’s right, physical therapy. She’s up and about and doesn’t have a cast on either leg anymore. Which, by the way, is a good thing. I mean being forced to be in a wheelchair for the last two months sucks ass. I built a ramp for both the garage and front door out of plywood so she could go and at least exercise her arms and get some fresh air.
But it’s Christmas now, in fact it’s her first Christmas as well as our first one together so I really want to make this gift special. I mean yeah I could get her a book, or music, but for some reason jewelry just seems right. It’s just what seems to be what couples get each other. The manager saw my conflicted looks and came over.
“Sir, is there something I can help you with?” she asked.
“Actually yes,” I replied standing up. “I’m looking for a present for my wife, it’s our first Christmas together.”
“Ooh, a newlywed Christmas!” she said excitedly. “I know just the thing!” she said grabbing my wrist and dragged me along. “You know you’re the second person to visit this week shopping for their newlywed spouse.”
“Really?” I deadpanned, not really interested. “Tell me more.” She dragged me to the other side where the diamond jewelry was.
“Ok,” she said putting her index finger to her chin. “If I remember right she was a pretty girl, she had a funny limp though. Anyway, I helped her pick out this really cute Christmas themed lingerie set. All I can say is that her hubby is going love that present, if you know what I mean,” she said winking while nudging me in the ribs with her elbow.
“Right, good for them,” I said rolling my eyes. “What did you want to show me?”
“Oh right,” she said before stepping behind the counter. “Here I have a 24k gold plated watch. It’s really nice and shiny. Who doesn’t like something shiny?”
“How much?” I ask pondering. And when I say pondering I mean rubbing my chin’s hair stubble. She told me the price, “Damn. That much?” I asked. She nodded with a bubbly smile plastered on her face. “I’ll need a moment, if you don’t mind that is.”
“Sure, take all the time you need!” she said before turning to help another customer. I looked at the watch, it sure is shiny. And it looked nice too. But that price is definitely nothing to scoff at either. I pull out a quarter from my pocket.
“Heads I buy it, tails I look for something else,” I say just loud enough for only a person standing right next to me could hear. I flip the coin and catch it in my right hand and set it on my left arm. I slowly lifted my hand up and opened my eyes to look at the coin: heads. “Miss?” I said loud enough to get her attention. She turned around and came back, the same smile still plastered on her face, “I’ll take it.”
“Wonderful! Let me ring you up.” She rand me up and then she wrapped it in a nice box before putting it in a gift bag. I left the store a few hundred dollars poorer, but had a nice present so that’s an upside. As I walk towards the exit I see a music store with a poster for the Rat Pack. I remember this one time where my parents took me to this restaurant up in Wisconsin while visiting my grandparents (mom’s side of the family), and it was themed around Dean Martin. What was the name of the restaurant called again? Oh right, “That’s Amore.” Which oddly enough is the name of one of his songs.
Which reminds me of something Spitfire said a few months ago, that she really liked the post-WWII music, mainly stuff by Sonatra, Martin, and the other guys like that. I walked inside and bought a CD box set, hopefully she’ll like it. Now it’s time to head home and start packing.
***
Briggs Residence, December 23, 2020
“Andrew,” Spitfire called. “Why do we have to go all the way to Boulder again?” she asked as she lugged her luggage over to the car trunk.
“Because,” I started pulling her bag into the trunk, “my grandparents invited my parents, my sister, and I to come out for Christmas this year.”
“And we’re driving because…” she trailed off.
“Because it’s a waste of money to fly such a short distance,” I replied.
“Hey I could fly there with my wings and then meet you there-”
“Unless you want to be flying in subzero weather I’d advise against it. Plus it’s only a good seven or eight hour drive. Nothing too bad. If you want you can drive a bit until we hit the colder weather,” I said with a smile. Might as well let the speed demon have the wheel while the road isn’t icy.
“Well now that you put it that way,” she leaned closer to me. “Sure,” she said before kissing me quickly.
“Now that we have that settled, do you have everything?”
Spitfire started looking inside the trunk to see if she had all her bags. “I think so,” she replied. I started to close the trunk, “Wait, hold on I need to check something.” She went to open a bag but paused, “Turn around please.” I rolled my eyes and turned around. I heard a zipper unzip and Spitfire say, “Ok I’ve got it.” She zipped the bag back up, “You can turn around now.”
“All good then?”
“All good,” she said with a smile. I closed the trunk and then I went back inside the house turning off any lights still on as well as hitting the switches on the surge protectors, turning off any plugged in electronics. I then made sure that the back and front doors were locked and all the windows were closed before heading back into the garage and locking the garage door. Spitfire was already in the driver’s seat, well I did promise her after all.
I stepped inside the car, “Alright I’m good to go, everything’s locked up tight.” She backed out of the garage and I pushed the garage door button on the remote and I watched as the door closed. I went to the car’s console and turned on the GPS, I set it for my grandparents’ house.
“At the next intersection, turn right, then go straight,” the fake female voice modeled after a British lady said. What? I’m a sucker for ladies with accents. Spitfire popped the Evo into drive and started following the directions. I am definitely glad she knows stick.
***
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Utah
“Hey careful!” I yelled as Spitfire zipped around another car that was going too slow. “I want to get there, but I want to get there alive.”
“Sorry, but they were going ten under the speed limit,” Spitfire replied, her eyes still on the road. Well at least that lesson stuck with her ever since I gave her that refresher course before she started working at the casino.
As we drove along I watched the cacti eventually stop and normal trees starting to show up. My ears must’ve popped a few times, meaning we went up a few thousand feet. We stopped for a few times picking up a cup of coffee, or two. We stopped once to eat at a Taco Bell. What can I say? I’m a sucker for spiced beef and cheese in a soft shell tortilla.
Eventually snow starts popping up little by little in patches by the road, this is a good time as any for me to take over driving. I may not have a whole lot of experience driving in snow, but when I lived back in Arizona we went up to Flagstaff a few times in the winter to visit an old friend. The road was icy and I learned my lesson that day: don’t try to go fast on icy roads, also the salt used to deice the roads is annoying to clean.
“Hey Spits, pull off at the next rest stop and we’ll switch,” I say rubbing my eyes from a small nap.
“Ok,” she replied simply. Another twenty minutes passed until we came upon a rest area. We took care of “business” and grabbed a drink from the machines. After that we got back in, me this time and we took off yet again. We have a few more hours of driving until we hit the Rockies. At least the playlist on the radio is good.
***
Rocky Mountain Range, 7pm
This must’ve been the fourteenth turn on this twisting road alone. Jesus this is getting annoying. It doesn’t help that we have to slow down from the already slow 30mph to less than 20mph. The ice on the road is not helping at all, and the snow falling isn’t helping either. I mean come on, the visibility is maybe sixty yards at best. As we turn corners I see cabins that are lit up and not lit at all, meaning some people are living in and others people aren’t even home in. I mean I know that people aren’t turning in yet, it’s only 7pm.
“So how much longer?” Spitfire asked for the fifth time. Well it wasn’t annoying like a kid asking ‘are we there yet?’ consistently, but an adult asking for an update. But I’m feeling her pain, I’m starting to regret not flying now. My ass probably won’t let me feel the end of this for the next few days, both while at my grandparents’ and on the way home.
“If we’re lucky only two more hours at this speed,” I replied. I looked over and saw Spitfire’s annoyed facial expression. “Hey I don’t like it any more than you do, but it’s the road condi-.” As I attempted to finish that sentence I felt the car start to slide off the road as the tires attempted to find traction, but found none.
“HOLY SHI-!” Spitfire yelled my exact thought as we slid off the road and into a small ditch on the side of the road. As we jolted to a stop hitting a tree trunk. We both let out an “Oof” as our seat restraints kept us in place. Speaking of which mine knocked the air out of me for a second.
Once I was able to take a breath I turned towards Spitfire and asked, “You alright?”
“Yeah,” she replied as she looked up. “Umm would you mind moving your hand?”
I looked over and saw that my hand, which flung out subliminally to brace her, had ended up groping one of her breasts. “Oops, sorry,” I said with a slight blush forming on my face as I removed my hand. I saw that she also had a slight blush in her cheeks as well.
“What happened?”
“The tires lost traction,” I replied. “Hold on, I’m going to see if I can put this in reverse and get us out of this ditch.” I throw the gear into reverse and step on the gas. The tires squeal and snow gets kicked up behind the tires, but the car doesn’t move. “Well shit.”
“Now what?” Spitfire asked slouching in her chair.
I checked my phone, no signal, “Well, I guess we could start walking and see if we could get some help from a cabin around here,” I answer. I reach down and pull the lever that unlocks the trunk. “Grab your bag, we’ll take it with us.” We head back and grab our bags, luckily we only had three. Two that were our clothes bags and one that was for presents for family.
Grabbing the bags out I closed the trunk and locked the car up. We start walking along the road, looking for a driveway for a cabin. Each pace we took was frigidly cold. In a pure moment of 20/20 hindsight we only packed sweatshirts, but nothing heavy. I know, it was a stupid move on my part. Spitfire still had her bomber jacket, but even still I could see her shivering.
We approached the first driveway and walked up it. It was a few hundred yards. Damn this must be really annoying to shovel or plow.
***
Meanwhile…
“Phrasing!”
***
As we approached the door, I saw that the cabin was dark. I knocked on the door, hoping that the owners were home and just sleeping. I rang the doorbell a few times and five minutes later still no one came to the door. I then started looking for a spare key placed in one of those false rocks. There were none. Then I looked for what’s known in the spy trade as a “slick,” a small cutout hole that is used to hide things from others.
I looked above the doorframe and found nothing. Then I checked inside the mailbox and found a small magnetic key box. I took out the key and unlocked the door. “Milady,” I said opening the door for Spitfire. She quickly hopped inside, I went inside two just a moment later, closing the door behind me.
“Ok, so we don’t want to do too much damage on these guys, so try to keep our meddling down to a minimum,” Spitfire said.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I commented. As we went further inside, using my phone’s LED light as a flashlight, I found a switch in the kitchen and turned it on. Then we went down into the hallway towards the bedrooms. I opened door after door trying to find the master bedroom. Ever since the first night Spitfire got back from the hospital she started asking me to sleep in the same bed as her. I talked to her therapist about it, apparently I’m her "safe-zone," so that’s been going on. We haven’t tried anything. She’s held on to me as she’s slept, but nothing other than that.
“Found the master bedroom,” I said down the hall. Spitfire came a moment later carrying her bag. “Go ahead and get ready for bed, once we can we’re going to take off.”
“Ok, what are you going to do?” Spitfire asked.
“I’m going to find a landline and see if I can call a tow truck to come out and get the car, and us of course,” I replied. Spitfire went inside the bedroom and I went to the kitchen, since that’s where phones usually show up in a house, or cabin in this case.
I found the phone on the counter right next to the microwave, not where I would have personally put it but whatever. I picked up the phone and listened for the dialing tone. I opened my wallet and found my insurance card, which had a 800 number for a towing service nationwide. I called it and listened for the tone.
“AAA towing, how can I help you?” the male voice asked.
“Yes, my name is Andrew Briggs, account number 8675309, and I need a tow. My car’s stuck in a ditch,” I replied.
“And where are you?”
“About ten miles south of Boulder, about a quarter mile south of,” and I give the address of the cabin.
“Alright sir, do you need to be towed immediately?”
“Preferably soon, my wife and I are taking refuge in the house in which the address is associated with. If you could send a truck tomorrow morning when the roads are a little cleaner and less hazardous, that would be fantastic.”
“Alright then, sir. We will have a truck out there as soon as we can,” he said before hanging up. Well at least that’s one thing taken care of.
I place the phone back on its receiver and head back to the master bedroom. I enter the bedroom and open my bag and take out my sleepwear of a pair of sleep pants, I usually just wear whatever shirt I wore that day. I look over and see Spitfire’s bag had been opened, so she must be changing. I look over to the bathroom and see below the door that the light is on, she must be taking care of a few things.
“Well I have a truck coming tomorrow,” I said loud enough to get through the door.
“Ok,” Spitfire replied through the door.
It felt as though the heat was off, “It’s cold isn’t it?” I said getting myself settled in the bed.
“Well I have an idea how to beat the cold,” she said opening the door. In the doorway stood Spitfire in red lingerie with fake white fur lining them and a Santa hat on her head, her wings splayed out slightly. “You could open your Christmas gift a little early,” she said with a lustful look in her eye. She would put one of those Victoria's Secret 'Angels' in their fashion show to shame.
“Umm, wow,” I said dumbfounded. When I recovered from the visual shock, mainly because she had never done this before now. “Are you sure about this?” I asked as she started walked towards the bed all sexy-like.
She pushed me on my back and crawled on top of me and kissed me deeply. She pulled away and said, “Yes I do. I really want this.” She kissed me again, her tongue darting into my mouth and attempting to twist around mine. She took off my shirt, which was a little difficult considering I was the one whose back is on the bed. I in return reached behind her and unclasped her bra causing it to fall away.
She pressed closer to me, causing her warm breasts to squish against my chest. She reached down below underneath my sleep pants and… yeah let’s keep this PG-13. FADE TO BLACK!
***
Thirty minutes later
“Wow,” we both said underneath the sheets and comforter, naked and sweaty. Spitfire was wrapped around me and I had my arm around her waist caressing her obliques. Her lingerie thrown away from the bed, and her Santa hat now on my head. Her wings were relaxed, one had been draped across me, the other was just sitting on the bed.
“That was-,” I started.
“Fun,” Spitfire finished.
“I was going to go with fantastic, but that works too.” I turn to her and give her a little kiss on the lips again. “I guess we finally consummated our marriage.”
“I guess so,” she replied. “Wanna go again?” she asked a minute later with an impish grin.
“I thought you’d never ask,” I replied with my own devilish grin.
***
The sunlight peeked through the blinds in the bedroom. As I looked at us I saw that the sheets were wrapped around us, as our “activities” the previous night took the sheets and unmade them from the bed. Spitfire’s form was wrapped around me and me around her. It was great.
“Hey,” I said as she woke up.
“Hey,” she echoed. “How’d you sleep?”
“Good. You?”
“I’m a little sore, but none worse for wear. Last night was wonderful,” she said while tracing small circles on my chest with her index finger.
“It certainly was. Who knew the owners had ‘that’ stuff hidden in the drawers?”
“It certainly would have made Quagmire proud,” Spitfire commented. “We should probably shower before heading out,” she said getting out of the bed, not even making an attempt to cover herself. Hey I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it. She stopped at the doorway to the bathroom and looked back at me, “Waiting for an invitation to join me?” Oh I think Christmas just got a little better for me.
***
One shower later
We got dried off and dressed. Best. Shower. Ever. That's all I'm going to say about it. I do wonder what’s got Spits in this mood though. She’s never been like this before. I guess I’ll talk to her about it later. I placed everything back in the bathroom where we found it, minus some shampoo and bodywash. We remade the bed and left it as it was before our nighttime shenanigans. We packed up our bags and left the cabin as if no one were even there. Spitfire started walking down the driveway and I locked the door again before leaving the key where I found it. I joined her at the end of the driveway.
We walked down to where the car was, at least now the roads were cleared and deiced, and the sun is out so that’s a bonus. I looked at my watch and saw it was only 9am. We sat on the side of the road, thanks to some chairs that I had stashed in my trunk for going to a sporting event or something. You know, those folding lawn chairs. I had packed a cooler that I forgot to bring with us to the cabin, but on the bright side, everything inside is cold now, so there’s that.
“Pretzel?” I said offering the bag to Spitfire.
“Why thank you, lover,” she said taking a pretzel. Eventually a tow truck showed up and took us, and the car, into town. Finally we got a cell signal a good mile or two from town, it’s about freaking time. He took us to the repair shop in town and I called a cab. A good half hour later of traversing city roads and we arrived at my grandparents’ house. We got out, and of course paid the fare. We walked up to the front door and I rang the doorbell.
“One second!” my mom’s voice said. She opened the door. “Oh Andrew, Sam, I thought you were going to be here last night. What happened?” she said giving us both a hug, mostly out of concern for our safety.
“Well the car slid off the side of the road, we had to spend the night in an empty cabin,” I answered. She gave me the stinkeye, “Well it was either that or freezing in the car,” I shrugged.
“Well come inside, you must be freezing,” she said ferrying us inside. She closed the door, “Emily got here last night and little Jenny has been looking forward to seeing her favorite uncle.”
“I’m her only uncle,” I deadpan as I put my bag down.
“Well you know what I mean,” she turned to Spitfire. “Sam it’s nice to see you up and about, the physical therapy went well then?”
“Is still going well, yes. I’s just so nice to be up and about again instead of being in a wheelchair or on crutches,” Spitfire replied. We walked into the kitchen and I was assaulted by the little “terror” that is Jenny. And she has… pink hair?
“Uncle Andy!” she said as she grabbed onto my leg and hung on. Spitfire and my mom chuckled at my niece’s reaction to seeing her ‘favorite uncle.’
“Hey there squirt, how are you?” I ask my still clinging niece.
“I didn’t sleep at all last night, I was waiting to see you and my new auntie,” she let go and started looking around the room. Her eyes locked onto Spitfire, “Is that her?”
“Yes Jenny, that’s your aunt Sam.”
She stopped and looked at Spitfire for a good minute, “I can see why you married her, she’s pretty.” Oh kids say the darndest things, but it’s not false by any means.
She ran over to Spitfire and gave her a hug, “Hi aunty Sam, can I call you aunty Sam, aunty Sam?” Oh kids and their enthusiasm.
“Sure you can,” Spitfire replied returning Jenny’s hug.
“YAY!” she cried out, running back into the living room; presumably to get my sister.
“Hey Andrew, can I have a word with you for a second?” Spitfire asked. I nodded and my mom went back into the kitchen.
“So what did you want to talk about?” I ask.
Spitfire kept her voice low, “Andrew, I don’t know what it is, but your niece, well my niece now, looks familiar but I can’t place my finger on it.”
“Well you did see that picture from Disneyland my sister sent to me.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s something else and I just can’t put my finger on why she looks so familiar,” she said rubbing her temples.
“Well you’ll figure it out eventually,” I say putting my arm around her. “Why don’t we meet the rest of my family?” She nodded and I led her into the living room. Inside was my father, grandfather, and sister.
“-and she’s really pretty looking. There she is!” Jenny said pointing to us, or well more specifically Spitfire. Emily walked over to us and looked really close at Spitfire, examining her from head to toe. After a good five minutes of just staring her down Emily finally stepped back.
“Jenny’s right, she is pretty. I approve,” Emily finally said. “Hi Sam, I’m Emily,” she said shaking Spitfire’s hand before pulling her into a hug. Yes my family’s one of those ‘touchy-feely’ types, one type that I’m pretty reserved about.
“AKA my overprotective sister,” I add in.
“Hey, I resemble that remark. And hello to you too Andrew. I can’t help it, I am your older sister after all. It’s sort of my job.”
“Last time I checked it was the brother’s job, regardless of who’s older, to be the overprotective one, and a good question from an uncle/overprotective brother is why is Jenny’s hair pink?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh she’s just been obsessed with this anime series lately where the main heroine has pink hair. Some magical girl anime or something,” she said with a shrug.
‘Anime?’ Spitfire mouthed.
‘I’ll explain later,’ I mouthed back. It dawns on me that I never really explained that media type to Spits, mainly because I don’t watch it as much as I used to back in my teen and earlier twenties. “Please don’t tell me it’s the one with that cat creature that grants wishes but they end up being twisted in the end,” I said mentally cringing.
“Oh no not THAT one, that would scar her that’s for sure. No think along the lines of Sailor Moon.” Well that was one moment of relief. “So how are things?” she asks me as both Spitfire and I sit down on the loveseat. “Well other than getting married of course.”
I told my sister my late doings, which haven’t been much all things considering. I mean I can’t say that I work for a secretive government organization now can I? All everyone knows about one clandestine thing I took place in was taking down that killer, but that’s about it. They all know about how Spitfire aka ‘Sam’ has been going through physical therapy for the last two months.
The next few hours went by quickly. My grandfather talked to Spitfire about us and herself in general. You know the drill: what do you do for a living? How did you two meet? Etc. My dad chatted with us too. Eventually my mom came in and told us it was time for lunch. We then chatted with her and my grandma, who was delighted to see that I managed to find a woman to love. At first I sort of took it as an insult but then brushed it off.
After lunch we watched TV, Spits sitting next to me, until around 9pm when we sent Jenny off to bed. After she had been in bed for about an hour, we started placing the presents under the tree.
“So why are we doing this again?” Spitfire asked me.
“Well Jenny believes that if she’s good she’ll get presents from Santa tomorrow morning,” I reply placing a present from both me and Spits under the tree.
“Why not just do it just because you want to give her a present?”
“Think of it as a behavioral mechanism that uses positive reinforcement to produce positive attitudes using ‘presents from Santa’ as a reward mechanism.” She took that as a satisfactory answer and left it at that. We finished up and met the rest of the family in the kitchen. We all had a glass of wine.
“To family and new family members,” my grandpa toasted. Everyone *clinked* their glasses together. Did you know that it’s bad luck to drink before the ringing stops? After almost everyone had a good half of a glass one thing started bugging me.
“Hey Emily, where’s Eric?” I said downing the rest of my drink and pouring another.
“Oh yeah, he had a last minute business trip yesterday over in Bangkok,” she said not drinking a single drop of her drink at all.
“Well his boss must be an ass to not to let him off to spend Christmas with you and Jenny,” Spitfire said taking a drink.
“Hey Emily I just noticed something, you haven’t had a single sip yet, what’s going on?” my mom asked.
She sat silent for a moment, we by proxy were also silent. “I wanted to wait to tell everyone this but… I’m pregnant,” she said putting her glass down. The room was deathly silent until…
“Oh my God!” my mom exclaimed out excitedly while hugging Emily. “How far along are you?” she asked as she released her.
“About two weeks now.”
“Congrats sis,” I said raising a glass. “To the new kid!” I toasted and everyone, minus Emily, clinked glasses.
“Please don’t tell Jenny, I want this to be a surprise for her,” Emily pleaded. We all agreed, we might as well let her say it after all.
The rest of the night went pretty uneventfully, other than asking if Eric knew yet, which was a ‘no’ answer. We watched some more TV before calling it a night. Spitfire and I went towards our assigned bedroom, Emily to the one Jenny was sleeping in, my parents to theirs, and my grandparents’ to theirs. Spitfire and I got ready for bed, you know the drill. Brushing teeth, swapping over to sleeping attire, etc.
“So how’d you enjoy meeting the family?” I asked as I finished changing, sliding myself under the covers of the bed.
“It was interesting, but I enjoyed it. I especially like little Jenny, cute little thing,” Spitfire replied as she finished changing. She had a pink sleep button-up shirt with long sleeves and pants on, nothing like she had on the previous night. Makes sense though, we don’t want to be trying anything while a youngster is in the house, or my parents. She slid into bed under the covers, “What’s up with your sister being so protective?” she asked as she slid closer to me, turning her back towards me but sliding against me, like spoons.
I wrapped my arm around just above her hips, “Well she saw me though a rough time back in high school with a girl I asked out. She totally humiliated me in front of her friends. News spread through the school and I was branded as a loser and dweeb,” I replied. The events had been years ago, but the emotional scarring was still there. “I got teased every day until the end of the year. It got so bad that I requested that my parents had me switch schools, after that it got better. Every time I asked out a girl Emily would look into her and would either give me her approval or disapproval of that girl.”
“She must really love you to do all that for you.”
“Yeah, borderline psychopathic; but hey, she’s saved me a lot of heartbreak over the years.”
“Well I guess that makes sense,” she said rolling over so her face faced me. “I love you,” she said before kissing me and I kissed her back. “Goodnight,” she said flipping back over and positioned herself as she did before.
“I love you too, ‘nite,” I echoed before surrendering to sleep.
***
“Mom! Mom! Santa came!” Jenny said as she ran out of her room, jumping on Emily’s bed. My door slammed open and Jenny started jumping on my bed. “Auntie Sam! Uncle Andy! Santa came!” she yelled as she kept jumping on the bed. She jumped off the bed, running into my parents’ room and then finally my grandparents’.
“What’s going on?” Spits said groggily.
I chuckled and I gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Wake up babe, it’s Christmas Day.”
She slowly rose up and looked at the alarm clock. “6am? Why would anyone wake up at 6am on a holiday?” she said before landing on her back. "Even back home on Hearth's Warming the Wonderbolts have the day off."
I got out of bed, “Well if we don’t get up now she’ll just come back and keep jumping until we wake up,” I say walking over to her side and giving her another kiss.
“Get me coffee and I’ll love you long time,” she said with a groggy smile on her face.
“Of course my queen,” I said kissing her again. “Your Christmas wish is my command,” I finish saying as I feign a fake British accent.
“Careful, you’ll make the Princess jealous with that kind of talk,” she called to me as I left the bedroom.
***
Later…
Jenny was bouncing off the walls just waiting to open her presents. We have a tradition in my household, which is to distribute all the presents to the recipients and then let them open them as fast or as slow as they wanted. It’s the duty of the master of the house, in this case my grandfather, to distribute the gifts. Once they had we had a countdown. When the count reached zero, Jenny just ripped into her pile of presents; she was done in the matter of minutes whereas the rest of us were really taking our time.
My first present had been from my mom, it was a shirt that said “Pi Hard.” Oh mental_floss, I enjoy your witty science related shirts and other media. Spits first gift had been a pink woolen scarf that was hand-made by my grandma, she’s a knitter. The second package I opened had been a blue woolen scarf, identical to the one that Spits had received. Actually everyone received a scarf, she must have been busy the last few weeks to get that all done. Spits also loved the Rat Pack box set I got her, we’d probably listen to it later.
I got a lot of gift certificates to restaurants and fast food places, and gas. You can never go wrong with gas gift cards. Jenny was already playing with her new toys, some of which I helped open. Hey, I’m a nice uncle; hence me being her favorite. Ok yeah I’m her only uncle, but you get the point. I finally got to my last gift and Spits was on hers too. I already knew what hers was, it was the watch I picked out. Mine though was a box shaped present. She opened hers and was taken back with how shiny it was, that jewelry girl was right. Ladies do like shiny things.
“Andrew, it’s so… pretty,” Spits said taking it out and put it on. She looked at it from many different angles just looking at how the light caught the metal.
“I thought you’d like something to keep track of time with other than your phone, this caught my eye and I thought of you,” I replied. Ok so it was a half-truth, the associate had to lend me a hand. And sort of cheesy in the line department.
“I love it,” she said giving me a huge kiss, Jenny let out a ‘eww.’ Ah little kids, got to scar them some time or another. “Open yours, it’s from me,” she said holding up the boxy package. I opened it slowly and found a gun case. I gave Spits a puzzling look, but she told me, “Keep going.” I opened the case and what I saw surprised me.
“No way,” I said as I picked up the nickel-like gun. “An MP412 REX,” I said as I opened the breech, exposing the six round cylinder. “How did you get this?” I asked as I closed it and rotated the cylinder.
“I talked to one of your old Army buddies and he got me it,” she replied with a smile. By that she probably means that she talked to someone in the armory at Area 51 for it.
“I love it,” I said giving her a kiss.
“I’m glad you like it,” she smiled back as I pulled away. “You did say that you liked the classic look of old Western-style guns.” That got a smile out of my grandpa, an avid John Wayne fan.
“You can’t beat the classics,” I said placing the revolver back in the case. You also can’t beat being together with family. Grandparents that spoil you, parents that like to berate you though they love you, a sister who is way too overly protective, a niece who I swear has been getting caffeine, and a wife who I love more than anything.
“Come everyone, it’s time for the family photo,” my mother said. We all gathered in front of the tree, our favored presents in hand. Mine was the revolver, I’m a gun nut with a taste for the classics. Spits was her new watch, she was wearing it proudly. Mom had a new frying pan. Dad had a ‘world’s best dad’ jersey-style shirt. Grandpa had a coffee mug. Grandma had nice looking gold necklace from my grandpa as well as a hand-made ornament from Jenny. Jenny had, oddly enough, a Spitfire stuffed animal. My mom set up the tripod and set the timer and took her place in the group.
“Alright everyone, say ‘cheese!’” mom said to us all. We said ‘cheese’ and a second later the picture was taken.
I gave Spits a kiss, “Best first Christmas ever?”
“Best first Christmas ever,” she echoed before kissing me back.
Perfect outro music? Listen here.
