Forever For You 🌷

25th December 2015

As the song on her Christmas playlist faded into another, Izzy took a sip from the glass of champagne she'd been drinking, let the bubbles fizzle on her tongue, then began icing the snowflake and star shaped gingerbread cookies she'd baked earlier that morning, allowing herself a moment to focus on the detail of the task as a welcome distraction from the potential stress of the day.

Even though they'd been living together since the beginning of the year, it was the first Christmas in their own house, the first of what she hoped would be many they were hosting and despite Alex's reassurance she couldn't help but worry about the importance of it, about how everything would turn out, cooking for both her family and Alex's, making sure everyone was having fun, that the drinks were continually flowing. She was torn between wanting to relax in the joy of the day, of being with the people she loved the most and knew there was no pressure from anyone but herself, but also couldn't separate the festive glow from the constant alarms ringing, the reminders of the next task, the time slipping away.

Despite her every worry, the dinner prep was well under way, the vegetables had been peeled and chopped, the turkey was ready for the oven, the deserts were mostly put together and the whole kitchen smelt deliciously of the rich aromas which brought her back to the joy of Christmas as a child, the most recent scent the ginger and cinnamon sweetness of the cookies which she was icing.

"Izzeh, honeh?"

Alex's voice from the corridor broke her from her daydream, from her moment of quiet. "Yes?" she called back, lifting her head just as he appeared in the kitchen doorframe.

He was dressed in a pristine white dress shirt, a couple of buttons undone, sleeves rolled to show off the veins in his forearms which still made her feel dizzy after all this time. He'd tucked the shirt into a pair of almost too tight dark trousers and secured them with a belt. His skin was glowing, his hair was long and in need of a trim but he'd styled it perfectly, slicked it back and away from his face but it still held a little curl. His jaw was defined, lips pouty and his dark eyes shone as he looked back at her from across their kitchen.

"Is this alrehyt? Do I look alrehyt?" he mumbled, fiddling with the golden chain around his neck.

Izzy shook her head in disbelief at him, couldn't believe he was even doubting how incredible he looked and took a moment longer to just admire him, his enviable bone structure and natural glow before responding. "You look incredibly gorgeous, Alex."

"Fank yeh," he rasped, a pleased smile stretching into his lips.

"Hang on, I'm almost done." Izzy broke away from his gaze to focus on tracing a final few lines with her piping bag.

Alex rested his head against the wall and watched her nimble fingers working to delicately finish the last of her cookies, noticed the shimmery red polish she was wearing on her nails. Her hair had been woven into an elaborate braid, golden clips with miniature roses twisted in and he admired the soft ringlet curls which had sprung all over her head, had always adored how nothing could contain the natural frizz, loved wrapping her curls around his fingers over and over, only for the shape to never change. Her lips were painted with a red, the shade of which matched her nails, her eyelids were a little sparkly and her cheeks were as glowy as ever, perfect, pink, a contrast to the natural golden sheen of her skin. He wondered how she still looked so delicate and soft even after hours of hard work in the kitchen and sighed audibly.

"Done!" she chimed proudly as she placed the final cookie on the tray for the icing to set. She lifted her gaze back to him and caught him watching her, the chocolatey warmth in his eyes and the slight lick of his lips at the cookies making her stomach flip. "What have you been up to, baby?"