The Clinch

Chapter Thirty Four

Chapter Thirty Four

Waking to find my husband leaning over me whilst braced on his forearms and gently littering my face with kisses is exactly the way that I want to be woken on Christmas morning.

With a sleepy smile, I give a little stretch and curl my arms up around his neck. "Morning." I murmur against his mouth as he teeths my lips and slips his tongue masterfully between them and stroking his against mine in a rough caress.

Before I can fall into the ministrations of his touch, Gabriel withdraws and gives a warm chuckle. "Merry Christmas my love. Now get up already, I've been sitting here for hours just waiting for you to wake up; it's Christmas day for crying out loud!" He pushes away from me and hops from the bed, revealing his large body already kitted out in his festive pyjama suit. The white and red of the jersey with the reinder pattern has me laughing as he grabs me by the ankle and tugs me across the bed towards him.

I giggle as he tickles my instep and furiously try to get away.

From behind his back, he pulls the sweatshirt version of his outfit and brandishes before him with a cheesy grin. "C'mon babe, it's Christmas, which means tacky Christmas outfit time!"

With a roll of my eyes, I snatch the jumper off of him and bring it down over my head before giving him a slow rotation. "Happy now? How do I look?"

"Festive." Gabriel beams at me and gives my butt a swat as I walk past him in the doorway and trail off towards Coby's bedroom. I gasp and spin on him briefly, pulling the jumper down over my butt in indignation before skipping out of his reach.

In his cot, Coby is patiently sat up in his pile of soft toys, amusing himself with just staring at everything and anything as he waits for some attention. I smile to see that Gabriel's already gotten him dressed in his stripey Christmas onesie with an elf's hat on his head. "What has daddy done to you, my sweet little victim of Christmas spirit?"

Coby gurgles as his eyes meet mine, his tiny hands unfurling and clenching as he sees me approaching and gestures for me to pick him up, which I do so without hesitation and settle him on my hip.

"Don't be such a grinch" Gabriel sticks his tongue out at me "he looks adorable."

And later that evening, after unwrapping gifts together and taking many pictures to document the landmile of Coby's first Christmas, my family are all about wrapping my baby up in more funky Christmas costumes. It seems that nearly every relative I have thought it would be a good idea to get Coby a Christmas outfit.

So far he's been a Christmas Pudding, a reinder, a santa, a Christmas tree and a snowman. As funny as we're all finding it now, I know that Coby will not appreciate it in the slightest when he grows older and looks back at the photo albums.

For Christmas this year, Gabriel gifted me with a new set of ceramic paints in over fifty different coloursm along with a gorgeous silk black dress with an open back that has a pendant strap made of thin stone slices cut in beautiful pattern that fall straight down my spine. It's an absolutely amazing dress and I can't fathom when I'll ever get the need to wear it; but the twinkle in Gabriel's eyes said that it would be in use very soon.

In return, I got him a set of boxing glove pillow cases for the bed that will make our morning pillow fights much more fun. As well as a sky diving experience day for four and a set of boxing gloves with a skeleton hand printed on the x-ray style material.

All in all it was a very successful Christmas.

After making our gluttonous way through my mother's Christmas roast and eating well more than our stomach's could handle, Gabriel and I are curled up on a bean bag chair in the family room watching as Kaleb makes a fool of himself trying to act out his charade.

The room erupts into laughter as Kaleb runs on the spot, looking thoroughly distgruntled that we're not getting it before he moves onto the second word and starts pointing at his crotch. We all made a pact earlier to not guess correctly when Kaleb's turn comes, and it's hilarious as he acts out 'The Running Man' time and time again.

He's sweating buckets in his Christmas jumper and he rolls his eyes and concedes. "Did you seriously not get it? It was the running man for crying out loud; how did you not get it?"

I chuckle and burrow my face further into Gabriel's chest whilst the room combusts into a symphony of drunken giggles and snorts. I've consumed a few too many snowballs and my body is thrumming with a warm glow. "I know this is going to sound cheesy, but all I really wanted for Christmas was you."

He scoffs before regaining composure and sending me a wink. "What do you say we make this a not so silent-night?"

Turning on him with an incredulous giggle, I whack him in the arm whilst Reagan moans in agony behind us and digs his toe into Gabriel's ear. "Dude! She's still my sister; so limit your Christmas pick up lines, please!"

Gabriel swats Reagan away irritabbly whilst chuckling to himself. "No way. I've got tons more to cycle through." He turns back to me and flutters his lashes playfully. "Whoa! Shouldn't you get back on the top of the Christmas tree before someone notices you're missing?"

Next to Reagan, my cousin Davey leans in and inserts another cheesy Christmas based chat up line. "I think you're a real cracker, and Christmas is the time for pulling crackers..."

The room starts relaying more cringe worthy Christmas puns until we're all bent over in laughter with more than enough festive one liners under our belts than we'll ever know what to do with. And I've got to say, this has been one of the best Christmas', period. And this feeling of extreme happiness has been a long time coming.

I lean forward and press my mouth to Gabriel's whilst whispering "Yule do."