Just a one-shot(seriously). I don't do good writing one-shots but wanted to do a short, happy story.
New Year's Kiss
Mike didn't care about the parties or festivities that any of his friends were doing on New Year's Eve. Christmas had been a dismal holiday for him. It just reinforced how lonely he was. He had settled back in St. Louis and was now the Secretary of the Navy. Tom and Sasha had retired and had purchased a sailboat. They were currently sailing in the Caribbean. Mike had thought about retiring but if he did; he would have nothing.
So, he bought a house that he had completely remodeled himself. It had taken him two years and there were a lot of empty rooms. He had read design magazines; or looked at the pictures and decorated the rooms like Christine and his girls would like. He built all the bedframes and dressers himself, along with bookshelves, cabinets and numerous other things. He didn't have people at his house, but his friends all said that it was a showplace. He just wished he had a family to fill the rooms.
So, Mike ordered himself a pizza and cracked open a six-pack of beer. He had a fire built in the fireplace and a movie on his big TV. It was as good of a night as he could hope for. He would fall asleep in his chair and at some point, through the night, would stumble to his bedroom. He would wake up the next morning and clean the living room up of the pizza box and beer bottles. That was what his life consisted of. Jeter had made a remark that he thought Mike might be slipping into alcoholism, but no one cared enough to intervene.
If the truth were known, Mike was an alcoholic, but he wouldn't admit to having a problem. He was a walking nightmare for any therapist. PTSD, depression over losing his family and a lot of his crew, anger, alcoholism, some obsessive tendencies concerning his remodeling projects and several other issues.
Sometime around ten, Mike passed out, more out of habit then anything else. He had only drunk one of the beers, so he was far from drunk. He had gotten up and put the pizza in the fridge and stoked the fire before falling asleep. As always, he dreamed of waking up next to Christine in a comfortable bed. Of the kids jumping into the middle like they did every Saturday and Sunday morning when he was home.
He woke up to the doorbell ringing. Mike looked at the clock and seen that it was five minutes until midnight. He wondered if it was one of the guys needing a place to stay after drinking all night. It was odd that anyone would drop in so late. Mike was not exactly anyone's favorite person. He grumbled that he would be at the door in a moment and walked to the front door. Normally he didn't use it, preferring the garage entrance.
"Just hold your damn horses for one minute!" Mike yelled when the doorbell rang again. Mike finally got to the door and jerked it open. He was shocked to see the woman on the other side.
"Geez, aren't we just a bit grumpy. You'd think after this long, you'd be happier to see me." Christine said with a laugh.
"I…did I drink more then one beer? I must be hallucinating…" Mike stammered.
"You aren't. I'm cold and the kids are even colder." Christine said as she pointed at a car. Mike could see two figures in it. His girls. Kaitlyn and Hannah.
"I…how?" Mike stammered. Christine indicated for the girls to come up on the porch and looked back at him.
"Short story was that we got holed up. I didn't want to surface until we didn't have a choice. The girls were getting restless and so I poked my head up and looked you up. You've been a busy guy. Now, I know I should have surfaced earlier but I was scared…after losing Lucas…I couldn't stand to lose one of the girls. I didn't know what was going on out here." Christine admitted. Both girls were walking up the pathway carefully due to ice on the ground and Mike was watching them.
"It's okay. I was just shocked." Mike said as he stepped away to help his daughters up the porch stairs. They were much older and more mature. Kaitlyn would be turning twenty on Valentine's Day and Hannah was now fourteen. It didn't even seem possible. He had an arm around both and they finally got up the stairs. "Come on in. I hope you like the house. I looked at magazines and tried to make it like how I thought you would like it." Mike told them as he pushed the three of them into the house. He heard Christine's gasp and saw Hannah and Kaitlyn's smiles.
"Oh, Mike; its perfect. And you looked at design magazines?" Christine teased.
"I did. Girls…there is a pizza in the fridge if you're hungry?" Mike asked, figuring Christine and the girls had been on the road all evening. He pointed towards the kitchen and the girls ran towards it, leaving Mike and Christine alone. The living area was open concept, but they couldn't see the girls from where they were.
"Listen, I understand if you're angry, but the roads are getting treacherous and I figured you would at least want to see the girls and…" Christine continued talking but Mike heard the clock chiming, indicating it was midnight. He remembered the New Year's Eves that he had spent with Christine before. They had always kissed right at midnight. So, he pulled Christine close and gave her a kiss on the lips. At first, he was careful because he didn't know how accepting she would be but when she put her arms around him; he knew it was okay.
He didn't know how long they stood in the entryway and kissed. It didn't matter. All that mattered was the woman in his arms and the two girls raiding his fridge. Finally, Christine pulled away to catch her breath. They were standing as close as possible together and Mike could barely keep his hands off her.
"Hey, Dad; can we drink this milk?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Absolutely. Anything you want." Mike told her, and Kaitlyn disappeared into the kitchen again.
"They will eat you out of house and home." Christine remarked.
"Girls do that?" Mike teased.
"Those girls do. I will say, I've missed those kisses at midnight on New Year's Eve." Christine commented.
"I have too. And it won't be your last kiss tonight. I do have two other girls that I need to give hugs and kisses too though. Can you wait?" Mike asked.
"Oh, I think I can handle that if its our girls." Christine teased.
"Absolutely; I get to kiss the three prettiest girls in the world." Mike said as he led Christine into the kitchen. The girls were sitting at the island, eating pizza and drinking chocolate milk. It was a weird concoction, but his kids had always liked weird food mixtures. While he was hugging the two girls, Christine heated herself up a piece of pizza.
It was a lot better ending to the night then Mike had planned. He had a lot of unanswered questions and he knew that Christine would supply the answers in time. He just cared that they were back home.