A Very Reckless Christmas

Maya

"Wake up, my love, it's Christmas."

Nick wrapped his arms around me in an attempt to wake me up, but I wasn't budging.

"What time is it?" I moaned my voice muffled by our pillows.

"It's eight o'clock."

"Too early," I grunted. The two of us stayed up until three o'clock in the morning watching Christmas movies. It started at one and quickly spiraled to six, they just played one after the other.

"I need more sleep."

He rested his head on my shoulder. "Don't you want to see what Santa left you under the tree?"

"Will the presents disappear if I sleep for another hour?" How is he not equally exhausted? Ugh, I shouldn't even be surprised, he's an early riser.

"I don't know they might."

I rolled over so we were face to face. I cracked my tired eyes open to see him smiling down at me. I hate how he can look so great in the morning, while I just look worn and tired. "You're not going to go away, are you?"

"Nope," he replied, kissing my forehead. Standing from the bed, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his red flannel pajama pants, they were a Christmas gift from Maggie. She got us matching pairs, but I was more of a pantsless sleeper. "Get up, brush your teeth, and meet me in the living room."

Sitting up, I stretched my arms high over my head. "You're so bossy."

He ignored my comment, clapping his hands together. "Chop! Chop! We've got presents to open!"

Per Nick's instructions, I dragged my butt out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I shouldn't be so grumpy, this was the first Christmas where I had anything to look forward to. Nick and I decided to go all out with Christmas decorations, all the way down to peppermint-scented hand soap. Opening the top, I inhaled the cool scent in an attempt to wake myself up.

"Ah," I sighed. That's good stuff. Before Nick, I was sure that I would never decorate for Christmas. Unlike him I'd spent eighteen years without a Christmas tree, or even a stocking, so why start now? He convinced me to get a tree, but once we had the tree, we had to have ornaments, and then we needed garland, and with garland came lights. And just like that, we were living in Santa's workshop. And I loved it.

As I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I heard the cheerful sounds of Christmas music playing from the living room. Mariah Carey never ceases to get me in the Christmas spirit.

Nick sounded a little busy, so I snuck back into our room and slipped on something a little more festive than an old band t-shirt. I slipped on a red sweater and leggings. Looking under the bed, I searched for his gift that I had hidden there.

He was a box shaker, and I wanted the gift I got him to be a surprise. It wasn't anything special, it was just a shirt. But it was a custom shirt, with his name on it. I hope he likes it.

We're going on a road trip to New York tomorrow, which was already a big dent in our conjoined monthly budgets. But I know Nick, and how much he loves to buy me gifts, so I fully expect him to have gone overboard.

With his gift in hand, I made my way into the living room. "Nick, I'm coming in!"

"Wait!" he said stopping me in the hallway. "I'm not ready yet."

He woke me up early, and he's not ready yet.

Not even the Christmas music could drown out the sound of Nick begging Charlie to do something. Our multi-colored lights reflected off the wall in a swirl of colors. "Please, stay still for me. Don't you want her to see how handsome you look?" He cursed, and oddly enough the sound of jingle bells followed.

Worried, I asked, "Nick, is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine!" Rocking back and forth on my tiptoes, I waited for him to give me the okay to come in.

"Okay, baby, you can come in now."

As I stepped into our living, I stopped in my tracks. Nick Ainsworth most definitely went overboard on Christmas.