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1046 Words
"Race you!" Rob yelled.
I picked up my pace and quickly realized I didn't know how to stop. I did the best I could to slow down before colliding straight into James.
He laughed as we tumbled onto the ice.
"Ow. I think you're trying to break my back," he groaned.
I smiled and placed a soft kiss against his lips. "No, I like you in one piece, thank you very much."
A smile spread across his face. Pure Christmas joy.
"What?" I asked. I wanted to know what caused that smile. Because I wanted to see it over and over again.
"Penny, it's snowing."
Just as he said the words, I saw a snowflake land on his forehead. I looked up at the sky. Flurries were falling slowly. It felt like a Christmas miracle. Snow! It's really snowing!
"If it wasn't freezing, I could stay in this moment forever," James said.
I smiled down at him. "And why's that?"
"You. That smile on your face."
I swallowed hard. "I guess we need to get you some hot chocolate to warm you up." I lifted my finger and tapped the tip of his nose. "Boop." As soon as I did it, I was completely mortified. God, did I just do that? I just booped James Hunter on the nose. Who boops James Hunter on the nose?
"Did you just boop me on the nose?" he said with a laugh.
"Um, no. I think you imagined that."
He tickled my side as I tried to climb off of him and I slipped on the ice, landing beside him. "Fine. I booped your nose. I confess." I couldn't help but laugh.
"That was the cutest thing ever."
I didn't even mind him describing me as cute tonight. It was Christmas Eve. And Christmas Eve was always perfect. Besides, I didn't just boop James Hunter's nose. I booped my fiancé's nose. It was good that we were learning all the weird things we did.
***
"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.
- Writer
