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1034 Words
"So...did I succeed?" I asked as we all blew on our hot chocolate.
"I'm a believer in Christmas miracles," Rob said sarcastically. "I'm officially done with anti-Christmas." That sounded more serious. "But really, we should still all get together on Christmas Eve. But we should do this stuff instead."
Matt smiled. "I'd be down for that. This is a much better tradition."'
James pulled me into his side. "Count me in too. Christmas Eve only comes around once a year. We might as well celebrate it in style."
I felt like my smile couldn't get any bigger.
"And you guys should come over tomorrow whenever you can," James said. "Mason's already coming."
One big happy family. It felt like my heart definitely grew. There was no Grinch in me whatsoever. And as I looked around at all of them, I was pretty sure I didn't see one Grinch.
"We should probably get going though," James said. "It's getting pretty late. It'll be Christmas before we know it."
We said our goodbyes and walked hand in hand back toward our apartment. The snow was picking up, making our shoes leave a trail in the snow.
"This is magical, isn't it?" I said.
"It really is." He looked up. "I can't remember the last time it snowed on Christmas Eve or Christmas."
"I only remember it happening once. My family always went to midnight mass. And one time, we walked out afterwards, and snow started to fall. It felt like the clouds had been holding their breath and only released it once we were ready to see it. It was magical. Just like this."
"We could make a service. If you want to." He stopped me outside our apartment.
I shook my head. James wasn't religious. And I had stopped going to church every Sunday once I started college. "Actually, I want to give you something. If you'll open one of your presents early." I raised both my eyebrows, hoping he could tell how excited I was.
He got a boyish grin on his face. "I'm not going to complain about that."
The way he said it made it seem like he was expecting s*x. I shouldn't have looked so overwhelmingly excited, but I couldn't help myself. I pulled him onto the elevator. I just hoped he reacted differently toward the book than Mason had reacted to ice skating. Please don't be upset by this.
We walked into our apartment and I turned on the Christmas music. I scanned through the songs until I found Let it Snow. I grabbed the book from under the tree and turned around.
He wasn't even looking at the present. He was just looking at me.
"Do you know how loved I feel when you look at me like that?" I asked as I stepped toward him.
"Like you're the most loved human being on this planet?" He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Because you are."
His words were making me tear up. But I didn't want to cry. I never wanted to stop smiling. "I love you just as much." My words weren't eloquent, but I meant them. I thrust the present into his arms. "Open it." It was the first Christmas present I had ever given him. It felt momentous. I bit the inside of my lip as he tore the paper off.
A smile broke over his face. "This was the exact edition my dad used to read us." He untied the bow on the front of the book and opened it up. "How did you know?"
"Rob told me it was a pop-up book. And that it was blue. I found this really cute used bookstore and the woman that owned it said this book had just come in today."
He ran his finger along the little paper wheel that spun the sugarplums on the page. He laughed and looked up at me. "Penny, this is amazing. I can't believe you found it."
"Do you want me to read it to you?"
He laughed. "No, you've got to experience it for yourself. I'll read it to you." He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the couch. He balanced the book on his knee and put his arm around my back.
As the snow fell outside and as the lights twinkled on our tree, he read to me. We only paused to play with the interactive pop-ups. And even though it was a story for parents to read to their kids, it didn't feel that way with us. Him reading it to me just made me feel loved. Like he wanted to share one of his happiest memories with me. It made me feel so close to him.
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!" James said in a very deep voice.
I smiled up at him. "You really liked it?"
He kissed my temple. "I loved it. This was the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me."
I put my hand on his chest and felt the thudding of his heart beating. "We should probably get to bed so that Santa can come."
He laughed.
When I didn't say anything, he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Wait, are you serious? Penny we need to have a serious conversation. Santa isn't..."
I put my finger against his lips. "Don't say it, James. Don't say it until you wake up tomorrow and know for sure." I grabbed one of my notebooks off the coffee table and handed it to him. "Write down what you want from him and I'll get the milk and cookies."
"Baby, this is..."
"Awesome? Fantastic? The best thing ever?" I came back out carrying a plate of cookies and a glass of milk and set them down on the coffee table.
He laughed. "I was going to say ridiculous." But he ripped out the sheet of paper he had written on from the notebook and put it down next to the cookies and milk.
I grabbed the stockings I had stashed under the tree and hung mine up on the mantel of the fireplace. "Hang up your stocking too." I held it out to him.
- Writer
