ooooooooooo
As they both began to relax into one another, the soft sounds of a saxophone drifted over the sound system. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” filled the air. As it played, Melanie began to hum along and sing the words quietly, almost whispering. She absentmindedly twirled her fingers in his hair as she thought about what the lyrics really meant at this moment in her life. Her troubles were going away. She was happy, and based on the last few moments that had passed, she would have golden days in the future. Austin had made this a perfect Christmas Eve.
As they continued to sway to the soulful music, she raised her head to look into his eyes. “I love you,” she whispered. “More than anything. You’ve made this Christmas perfect.”
“I love you too,” he answered and pecked her on nose. He smiled when he noticed her checking out the ring again.
“It really is beautiful, Austin,” she sighed. “So much more than I ever could have imagined.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he chuckled.
He leaned in to offer another kiss. This one was different from earlier though. This one was soft and slow. It conveyed no need to rush; they had time on their hands.
ooooooooo
They both knew that tonight symbolized an entire future together. No longer would sadness or heartbreak control their lives. Tonight love and comfort would surround them and carry them into a future together.
Chapter 20
Christmas Morning 2012
After staying up most of the night talking and enjoying each other’s company, Austin had convinced Melanie to go sleep in his bed. If she hadn’t been so tired, she probably would have fought him on it. She had climbed into the soft sheets in the wee hours of the morning as Austin made himself comfortable again on the couch. She yearned of the day when she would feel him pressed up against her, skin-to-skin, making love.
ooooooooo
After she was in the privacy of his room, Melanie had changed into a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. This was not her normal sleep attire for the wintertime. She had packed heavy fleece pjs, but wanted to feel close to him. With the bare minimum covering her, she felt as if she was already snuggled next to him. The sheets were still as soft as she remembered, and as she sunk deeper into the warmth, she breathed in his scent and fell into a deep sleep dreaming of the day he would join her.
In the dark, she felt two strong arms wrap around her and pull her close to a muscled chest. The smooth skin of his arms flexed and he tugged her tight against him.
“Oh Austin,” she whispered.
“I know baby,” he moaned. “I want you so bad.”
His hand trailed down her belly, grazing over her thigh searching for its destination. She turned her head, looking over her shoulder, and sealing her lips to his as she rocked her hips back against him.
“Mmmmmm,” she groaned as she attempted to turn in his arms.
Sensing her desire, he loosened his grip on her as she turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. She trailed a hand lower and squeezed his backside as he groaned in pleasure. As his tongue plunged into her eager mouth, his nimble fingers began to pleasure her. Her hips rocked, gentle at first and then with more force as he picked up speed. Soon his thumb began to press on the throbbing bud as she panted in pleasure. The hand that she had placed on his butt began to move and make it’s way around to the front of him. Her fingers wrapped around his cock and squeezed gently. He broke the kiss and threw his head back as a groan erupted from his throat.
“I…I can’t wait Melanie. You’re killing me here. I want you so bad,” he ground out as he moved to roll atop her.
“Austin, make love to me,” she gasped as she wrapped her legs around his waist using her heels to push him towards her.
She felt him push himself into her, and she gasped in pleasure. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he slowly began to move…
“What’s that?” she asked as “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” began to play in the background.
Melanie began to rouse from her sleep. She glanced around in a haze; her body was still flushed with desire from her dream. Her hand was strategically placed at the apex of her thighs. She yanked it away as if she was burnt by the contact. She saw her bag sitting by the beside table and could hear whistling coming from the out in the direction of the kitchen. She shifted in the bed as embarrassment washed over her face. Had she really just dreamed that? She silently wondered if the gasping that she was now doing to control her breathing was any indication of what she must have been doing in her sleep. It’s just been too long, that has to be it, she told herself. The dreams had been more persistent lately. Once she and Austin were married, they could be together and the dreams would stop, right?
ooooo
Austin awoke early… He knew the girls would not sleep in this morning. They were already early risers and the added excitement of Christmas morning was going to get them up even earlier. He’d put on a pair of flannel pants and a t-shirt before he went to bed the night before, and he shivered slightly as he sat up on the couch. He moved over next to the fireplace to turn the gas back on and get a fire going. There was a chill in the air, and he hoped to warm the place up before Melanie awoke. He glanced to the side as he squatted in front of the hearth. There was the silver paper from last night’s gift giving. He picked it up and smiled to himself. She’d said yes. He couldn’t be happier right now. Well he could if she would have let him accompany her to bed last night, but he’d wait. That’s what she wanted. It was going to kill him, but it would definitely be worth it.
Once he had the fire going, he moved into the kitchen to brew some coffee and begin preparing breakfast. As he opened the fridge, he began pulling out the fixings and started whistling. Christmas tunes were pouring from him as he pulled pots and pans out to make a big spread. He had the makings for French toast sitting on the counter, and sausage over by the stove. He pulled out a cutting board and began forming sausage patties with his hands. Nibble fingers pressed to meat into small disks as he placed them in the waiting pan. He had his back to the rest of the house, and failed to notice that Melanie had gotten up and was making her way toward him. He continued whistling and set the frying pan on the stove. Melanie rounded the corner and crept up behind him. She reached around his middle from the back and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. She giggled as he jumped slightly at the contact.
“Morning,” she yawned. “Got any coffee?”
“Mornin’,” he looked over his shoulder, “I like waking up like this.”
He turned slightly in her arms, but held his out to the side. “I can’t hug ya right now. I’ve got sausage meat all over my hands. Give me a minute to finish this, and I’ll give you a proper good morning,” he stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “Help yourself,” he pointed to the coffee pot to his right.
She giggled and stepped back away from him. She moved to the right, fixed a cup of coffee for herself, and headed back into the family room. She walked over to where she had left one of her over night bags and began digging through it. She wanted to find her robe. Her current sleep attire left little to the imagination, and the chill in the air along with her previous arousal was still slightly evident. She felt she needed to cover herself before Austin noticed. Before she could stand back up completely, she felt Austin come up behind her.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
She shivered slightly as his breath tickled her ear. “Looking for my robe.”
“I like what you have on right now,” he grazed his finger across her bare shoulder and leaned in to kiss it, and just like that her nipples stood at attention again.
She blushed as she glanced over her shoulder to look up into his eyes and saw nothing but adoration. She knew what he was thinking and she had to admit, she was thinking about it too. She turned in his arms and placed a kiss to his lips. As she began to pull away, he reached up and gripped the back of her neck pulling her back to him. He deepened the ki
ss and pressed his body into hers letting her feel that he was just as turned on as she was. She moaned lightly and pulled back. He touched his forehead to hers and trailed his fingers down her cheek.
“I don’t wanna wait to marry you. I wanna set a date today. We’ll go where ever you want, but I don’t want a long engagement,” he was breathless from their kiss.
“I don’t want to wait either Austin. All I care about is being your wife. I don’t need a fancy wedding. I already had one of those. We can talk about this later, when the girls are up,” she sighed and leaned into him.
Just then Katie and Hannah came rushing into the room. They plopped down on the floor and looked up patiently waiting to open their gifts.
“Whatever you’re cooking in there,” Hannah pointed into the kitchen, “it’s smoking.”
Austin glanced back at the kitchen door and saw the smoke coming out. With a yelp, he dashed back in hoping he could save the sausages before they were burnt beyond repair.
After Austin retreated into the kitchen, Melanie continued to rummage for her robe. When she found it, she slid it on and tied it around her waist. She moved over and sat down on the couch to watch the girls dig through the gifts.
“Hey Dad,” Hannah called. “Can we start?”
Katie was bouncing on her knees with excitement and smiling from ear to ear.
“Sure!” he yelled back. “I’ll be in there in a minute.”
Katie moved over beside the box that she and Melanie had brought and began pulling wrapped gifts out.
“Here,” she handed Hannah a green and red box. “This is from me.”
Hannah took the box and tore into it. When she got it opened. there was a small wooden jewelry box. It had a hand carved flower on the top.
“Thanks,” Hannah smiled.
“You’re welcome,” Katie returned. “Open it up.”
Hannah lifted the lid and squealed when she saw what was inside. There was a small half of a gold heart. It was strung on a small gold chain. Hannah lifted it to get a better view and her smile got even bigger, if that were possible.
“I have one, too,” Katie grinned. She pulled her necklace out of her collar. “See, when you put them together they make a heart,” she held it up. “We’ll be best friends forever.”
Hannah threw her arms around Katie’s neck. “I love it. Thanks. Here, your turn.”
Katie took the box from Hannah’s hand and tore into it. When she got it open, she found a Barnes and Noble gift card at the bottom. She smiled and looked up at Hannah. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I know how much you like to read. I thought this way, you could pick out whatever book you wanted,” she grinned.
Austin walked into the room as they were picking up the wrapping paper. He watched the girls tearing through the paper and smiled. They were laughing and bursting with “thank you’s” and “you’re welcomes”. Melanie was sitting on the couch smiling at them with a dazed look on her face. He moved over and sat down next to her. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her to him.
“Having a good morning?” he kissed her cheek.
“Very much so,” she smiled. “Merry Christmas. Here,” she handed him a box. “You haven’t opened yours from me yet.”
Austin smiled at her as he ran his hand along the side of the box.
“Go ahead,” Melanie coaxed.
Austin began to tear the paper off the box. When he finished opening it, he found a vintage Ted Williams jersey. He ran his fingers along the soft fabric and smiled, “Wow, thank you. Where did you find this? I’ve been looking for one for awhile.”
“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Hannah mentioned a few times in last couple of months that you might have gotten on Ebay in the late hours of the night searching for this,” she giggled. “Let’s just say that my brother-in-law owed me a favor. He has connections.”
“Oh really?” he smirked. “I’ll have to thank him then, and I’ll give you a proper thank you later,” he murmured. “Should we tell them now?” he glanced at her.
“Sure,” she smiled.
“Girls,” Austin tried to get their attention. “Come over here for a minute.” He motioned to the couch. “We have something we want to tell you.”
Once the girls had come over and made themselves comfortable, he looked down at their expectant faces, “Last night I asked your mom,” he looked at Katie “to marry me and she said yes.” He laughed like a schoolboy and pulled Melanie closer to him.
“Really?” Hannah squealed and launched herself at him.
“Really,” he laughed.
Katie scurried over to Melanie and grabbed her hand to look at the ring that she just now noticed. “Oh Mom, it’s beautiful!”
“So, are you two okay with this?” Melanie asked.
“We’re better than ok,” Katie laughed.
“We’ve been waiting for this for the past month!” Hannah giggled.
“You have, have you?” Austin shouldered into Hannah.
“So when’s the wedding?” Katie blurted out.
“We haven’t discussed that yet,” Melanie glanced at Austin.
“Where are we gonna live?” Hannah asked. “Are you guys going to move in here?”
“Well, your place is bigger than mine,” Austin shrugged at Melanie. “I figured we’d move in with you, if that’s okay.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Melanie laughed.
Just then Katie looked up at Austin. “Can I call you Dad?” she asked.
Tears welled in Melanie’s eyes as she watched a smile appear on Austin’s face. “There’s nothing I’d like better,” he chuckled.
Katie rose up on her knees and slid over in front of him. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, “Thank you... Dad,” she began to sob.
When she looked up at Austin’s questioning face she clarified, “For making us a real family.”
He nodded and rubbed her back. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
Melanie couldn’t hold back any longer. The tears that had welled in her eyes were now falling freely down her cheeks. Hannah observed this and rose to move beside her. She hugged her sideways and looked up at her face, “I love you too, Mom.”
Melanie caught the reference and looked down at Hannah. She tightened her grip and kissed the top of her head. Austin broke the silence by pointing at the kitchen. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but there’s a wonderful breakfast in there that’s just waiting for us to eat it. I’m starving,” he laughed.
The rest of them soon joined in on the laughter and rose to move into the dining room.
“This was the best Christmas ever,” Hannah mused.
“Yep, the first year I got everything I asked for,” Katie nodded.
“What exactly did you ask for?” Melanie wrinkled her forehead.
“A dad,” Katie shrugged. She skipped into the kitchen and plopped down on a chair. “Let’s eat!”
After breakfast, the family made their way back into the living room. Hannah and Katie cleaned up the mess from the presents and then went back to Hannah’s room to watch TV and brain storm a gift idea for Patrick.
Melanie and Austin settled on the couch together to discuss their impending nuptials.
“I don’t care where we do this,” Austin looked into her eyes. “We’ll go where ever you want to.”
“I don‘t really want anything big. Just family and maybe a few friends,” she shrugged. “I don’t have much vacation time right now anyway. We’d have to do this near a weekend if we wanted any time away. How do you feel about a destination wedding? Somewhere warm and tropical,” she glanced past him at the snow falling outside.
“Okay, are you sure? You don’t even want something small in a church? You could have more people if we kept in local,” he picked up her hand and kissed it.
“That’s not important to me,” she shook her head. “I just want to marry you...on a beach in the warm sand, then spe
nd the rest of the time in bed,” she grinned coquettishly up at him as she slowly drug her fingernails up his thigh.
“Okay… a beach wedding it is then, but you gotta stop that,” he kissed her and pointed at her hand. “How does Aruba sound?” he tilted his head to the side.
“It sounds wonderful,” she began teasing him with her nails again.
He reached down and pinned her hand to his thigh in an iron grip. “What day do you want to have the ceremony on?” he ground out and gave her a warning glare.
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