His Golden Cuffs: Christmas (3 page)

She giggled imagining Leo trying to make garlands
.
That could be a nice memory for them to make for each other
.
She stroked the gift she’d decided to give him, although technically, it was the big one
.
She wanted it to be just the two of them, tonight
.
Making memories for the rest of their life
.

Anya pulled the drape off the small real tree she'd asked the building manager to have dropped off earlier that day and tucked it into the corner by the fireplace
.
She wanted the fresh scent and for them to have a private tree trimming
.

The bells at the door jingled and she popped up off the ground and ran to Leo as he came through the door
.
He swept her into his arms and kissed her until she forgot anything but his mouth on hers
.
When he finally released her, he said, "It's all your fault I get carried away
.
That's what you get for putting all this mistletoe all over the place
.
How am I going to get anything done?" Leo leaned down and nipped Anya's nose
.
"You are always so beautiful
.
I'm the luckiest man ever
.
"

"And I'm the luckiest woman ever, to have you
.
Come on!" Anya grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into the living room
.
The coffee table had bowls of cranberries and popcorn, just waiting to be turned into garlands
.
She'd spent all morning cutting paper for chains
.
Earlier in the week, she picked up ornament hangers, a few boxes of simple ball ornaments and some strands of lights
.

Leo looked around the room with wide eyes and said, "Wow, Anya, what is going on?"

"Dinner is ready whenever we want
.
But I thought
...
well, I thought I could introduce you to some of my family’s traditions
.
" Anya held her breath
.
Leo could still get very stiff about surprises
.
She wanted him to be excited to decorate with her or at least enjoy the idea of it
.

Leo frowned slightly and said, "You really didn't like the designer tree, did you? I should have thought about that
.
"

"It's very pretty, Leo
.
But we didn't do it together
.
And that's what Christmas is to me
.
Being together
.
Do you want to eat first? Effie left the table set and let's not ruin her London broil
.
"

"London broil?"

"Another tradition I'm sharing with you
.
We made my family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner
.
"

Leo let Anya take his hand and lead him into the kitchen
.
A warm, fuzzy contentedness stole over Leo
.
He was content to watch Anya flit happily around the kitchen and boss him around
.
They carried everything into the dining room and Leo was surprised to see how warm and inviting Anya had made it
.
Festoons of evergreen garland were wrapped around the room
.
The lights were low and intimate and they settled next to each other at the table
.

Leo seized Anya's hand and said, "Thank you
.
No one has ever given me a family Christmas
.
This is really nice and I love that you are sharing things that are special to you with me
.
And Effie clearly out did herself, because I'm ready to devour my own arm
.
It smells so good in here
.
Tell me everything about what all this means to you
.
Where everything came from and what about it makes you so happy
.
"

She poured him a piping hot drink from a carafe on the table
.
"In lieu of wine, we're having my mother's secret hot cider recipe
.
"

Anya went item by item, scooping each one onto his plate and sharing family stories
.
By the end, when she scooped a massive slice of butterscotch pie on his plate, Leo was groaning and holding his belly
.

"Oh Anya, I don't know if I can eat this
.
You've stuffed me so ridiculously full
.
And why not pumpkin pie? I guess I always think of that being the traditional pie of the season
.
"

"I'm not sure when it became the holiday dessert of choice for us, but it's so rich and creamy, you'll understand why it knocked pumpkin down a notch
.
"

Leo took a small nibble and sat up straight
.
He waved his fork at Anya and said, "I demand we have this pie every week! No! Every day!"

She put her hand up and put on the sternest face she could
.
"This is a special occasion pie, buster, and don't you forget it! If you had it every day it wouldn't be as perfect as it is right this second
.
"

He sighed noisily and grinned at her
.
"Fine, I suppose you're right
.
I'm just not used to not getting exactly what I want when I want it
.
"

"Well, welcome to being an adult
.
Sometimes, we don't get exactly what we want
.
And sometimes we get what we deserve
.
"

Leo caught Anya's hand in his, suddenly somber and said, "I don't believe for a minute that I deserve you, but you are everything I could have ever wanted
.
" He dropped a kiss in the center of her palm and she enjoyed the shiver of desire that raced through her body
.

Before he could continue up her arm, she snatched her arm away and said, "No getting distracted! We have a tree to decorate
.
"

He sighed and stood up, offering her his arm as he escorted her into the living room
.
She guided him to the overstuffed chair and pushed him into it
.

"There, the one piece of furniture in this room that is actively comfortable enough to be called 'comfy'
.
"

Leo looked around the room before he said, "The furniture isn't that bad, and I told you we could redo everything
.
" The added decorations helped, but he realized there just was no way to really soften the room
.

Anya waved her hand, dismissing him and put the bowl of cranberries in his lap
.
"Doesn't matter, you are going to make cranberry garland
.
"

She grabbed the thread she'd already measured out, threaded it on a needle, doubled it up and tied it off
.
She waved the large darning needing in front of him and said, "This shiny object is called a neeeeeedle
.
People use it to sew
.
"

He lifted and eyebrow and said, "Give me that, or it's not Rudolph's nose that will be bright red tonight
.
"

"Promises, promises
.
" She grinned at him, but also handed him the needle and thread
.

His eyes flashed for a moment, and she felt her stomach drop
.
She enjoyed the playfulness they were finally able to have together
.

"Do you have any particular way you'd like this to end up?"

Anya pulled the popcorn bowl over to him and said, "I like it alternating, but feel free to mix it up
.
"

"How about I try three corn to one berry?"

"I think it will be beautiful
.
And thanks for being a good sport about this
.
I know it's not what you are used to
.
"

"You know, you're right, I'm not used to sitting with family making happy memories
.
What are you going to make?"

Anya flushed and was filled with delight
.
They were a family
.
She said, "I'm making paper chains
.
Didn't you ever do them in school?"

"Nope, never
.
" He watched her create the paper rings and link them to each other
.
He found it easy to string the cranberries and popcorn and let his attention focus on his wife
.
She got a little line above her left eye when she was focusing
.
Leo realized that for the first time in his life, he felt happy and included on Christmas
.

The time slipped by so quickly, he didn't realize he'd finished his garland
.
He set it to the side, picked up his mug of cider and just enjoyed watching Anya finish her chain
.

"There, we're all done with that
.
Now, to the tree!"

Leo walked over to the tree and realized he had to tell Anya the truth
.
"So you know, I've literally never decorated a tree
.
When I say I never did the holiday, I really meant, at all, ever
.
"

Anya reached out and squeezed his hand
.
"Are you okay with all of this? I'm so excited to share it, but if you aren't feeling it, we can stop
.
"

"No, it turns out, this is really fun
.
And seeing you so happy?" He pulled her hand up to his heart
.
"Much like the Grinch, it made my heart grow three sizes bigger
.
" She smiled up at him and Leo realized he had already gotten the thing he'd most wished for
.
Anya was literally beaming with happiness
.
He said, "So, what is step one?"

"First, we put the lights on!" She handed him one end of the lights and stepped back, letting him take the lead on the placement
.

Leo stepped back and she flicked the lights on
.
He murmured, "There is something so incredibly magical about the lights
.
We could stop right here and it would still be absolutely beautiful
.
"

"I like to do the garlands next
.
Let's do yours
.
" They wrapped the tree together, first his berry concoction, then her paper chains
.
Anya handed Leo a sparkling package and said, "Round one of tinsel! Just drape it on everything
.
" Anya reached into the bag and took a pinch of the tinsel and started draping it on the tree
.

Leo was hesitant until she said, "You literally cannot mess this up
.
Any of this
.
" She gestured at the tree
.
"It's about the process
.
We're gonna keep putting stuff on the tree until we run out of it!"

While he was bending down to get a lower branch, she draped some over his head
.
"Oh my, you are going to be a hunky silver fox
.
" He laughed with her
.

She opened a box of ornaments and set them on the coffee table
.
"So, here is how this works
.
I bought ornament hangers
.
" She shook a box of wire hangers at him
.

Leo tilted his head in confusion and said, 'Wait, why do you have to buy hangers? Don't they come ready to hang?"

"Only sometimes
.
These guys do not
.
So, you just put it through the loop on the ornament, smush it closed then hang it on the tree
.
Easy peasy
.
" Anya demonstrated with a flourish, placing the first ornament on the tree
.

"This just seems more complicated than necessary
.
"

Anya tossed Leo an ornament and said, "Shaddup and decorate!"

"Yes ma'am
.
"

They both laughed and filled the tree with so many ornaments that Leo was more than a little scared it was going to topple over
.
But there was a method to Anya's madness and once they'd gotten through everything, he had to admit it was stunning in its own way
.
It wasn't a perfect vision an interior designer had cooked up to impress business men
.
It was something they'd created together
.