Tara sighed as she glanced out her bedroom window and saw tiny snow flakes falling. Watching the snow fall had always been a favorite past time of hers because it got her in the holiday spirit. Today was different though. She wasn't in the holiday spirit at all which was unusual for her considering Christmas Eve was a mere three days away.
Her redheaded girlfriend was off in Chicago for a business trip until December 23rd and she couldn't allow herself to get excited for the holidays if Willow wasn't around. All Tara wanted to do was curl up on the couch with her girlfriend, a huge mug of hot chocolate, and all of their favorite Christmas movies. The fact that she couldn't do that bummed her out a little more than she would admit. The blonde would never complain to Willow about it. She was well aware of the fact that her girlfriend wasn't happy about the distance between them either.
Tara practically jumped out of her skin when she heard a knock at the door. She wasn't expecting anyone today. She peeked out the window quickly to see a UPS man standing there before rushing to open the door.
"I have a delivery for a Tara Maclay," the man said, holding a small box in his hands.
"That's me," Tara said with a smile, signing off for the package. "Have a nice day."
"You too," the man said cordially before hurrying back to his mail truck.
Tara hurried to the kitchen and grabbed a pair of scissors to open the box, very curious to know what was inside. She hadn't done any online shopping lately nor was she expecting to receive anything from friends or family.
Once she got the box open there were hundreds of styrofoam peanuts she had to dig through in order to get to the actual contents of the box. The first thing she saw was her name scribbled on an envelope in what she immediately recognized as Willow's handwriting.
It read:
Tara,
I hope you know that I miss you more than words can express. I think about you every waking moment and I see visions of you in my dreams. I know being separated has been really difficult for you at this time of year so I'm sending you a little pre-Christmas gift for you putting up with me and my work. I love you and I promise that no matter what, I'll be home for Christmas.
Love,
Willow
Tara was smiling like a giddy schoolgirl by the time she finished reading the note. She searched through the packing peanuts again and eventually found her gift. She gasped when she saw it. It was absolutely perfect.
She delicately pulled it out of the box and just gazed at it, mesmerized. It was the most gorgeous snow globe she had ever seen in her life. There was a tall Christmas tree inside with eight tiny reindeer prancing around it. Not too far from the reindeer there was Santa who appeared to be getting his sleigh ready for a long night of delivering gifts all over the world. The blonde noticed there was a button at the base of the snow globe so she pressed it curiously. Suddenly music began to play. After only a few moments, Tara realized that it was playing "I'll Be Home for Christmas." She gave the globe a quick shake, grinning from ear to ear as the "snow" began to fall in the tiny perfect world in front of her.
She couldn't believe how perfect her girlfriend was. Even states away, she was thinking of her and sending her romantic gifts. It had definitely done the trick in cheering Tara up. Nothing could replace what it felt like to be safe in Willow's arms, but the cute gift definitely had her feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
The morning of the 23rd, Tara made sure to wake up extra early so she would be able to make the apartment look absolutely perfect for Willow's return. The place was spotless by noon. Blankets were placed on the couch for an all-night cuddle session, there was a tall stack of Christmas DVDs that Tara had hand-selected sitting next to the television, and the cupboard was stocked with the ingredients for her special hot chocolate that Willow loved so much.
Around 2 in the afternoon, Tara heard her cell phone ring, a smile playing across her lips when she saw Willow's name pop up on the screen. She couldn't have been more excited to be reunited with her girlfriend even if she tried.
"Hi sweetie," the blonde answered warmly. "Have I mentioned how much I love you lately?"
"Tare-bear, hi!" Willow replied excitedly, loving the sound of her girlfriend's voice on the other end of the phone. "You only tell me every time we talk, but I don't mind. I assume you got my gift."
"I did. Willow, it's absolutely perfect. I owe you a million kisses when you get home. Speaking of which, are you getting ready to come back home and see your long lost girlfriend?" She teased playfully.
A beat of silence passed between them.
"About that…" Willow said hesitantly. "I'm at the airport right now, but there's a really bad blizzard here. They don't think they're going to be sending any flights out for the rest of the evening. I'm really sorry, baby. You know how badly I want to see you."
Tara felt her heart sink all the way down to her stomach. For the first time in her life she hated the snow. She hadn't felt this let down in a long time.
"It's okay, Will. I know you can't control the weather."
"Don't be sad, baby. I can hear the disappointment in your voice. I don't want you to be upset."
"I can't help it. What if we don't get to spend Christmas together?"
"Just keep looking at that snow globe so you're reminded of how sweet and romantic I can," Willow said in a small voice, worried that Tara was mad. "In the meantime I'll do everything in my power to get there. I promise. I love you, baby. I'll call you if I find out anything new."
"I love you too," Tara said softly before hanging up the phone.
The blonde grabbed the pint of peppermint ice cream from the freezer and plopped down on the couch, not even bothering to dish the ice cream out. If she couldn't spend her holiday with her girlfriend then she fully intended to sulk on the couch and eat the entire half-gallon of ice cream while watching bad reality television.
Meanwhile, Willow was sitting in the airport making frantic calls to her business partners who had also been on this trip. Most of them told her that they were miserably sitting in an airport terminal just like her, waiting for flights to go out.
"I'm actually braving the storm and attempting to drive home," Buffy, one of her partners, told her.
"You are? Would it be at all possible for me to tag along with you? It's really important for me to get home."
She was praying to every god that existed that this woman would have heart and take pity on her. She just had to get home to Tara. She didn't want her girlfriend to be sulking through Christmas.
"Sure, come at your own risk though. It might get a little… dangerous depending on what the roads are like."
"I'm there regardless of the circumstances," Willow said without giving it a second thought. "When can you pick me up from the airport?"
"Give me 20 minutes," Buffy replied.
No more than 20 minutes later Willow was buckling up her seatbelt for the 6 hour drive, eager to get home. She had thought about calling Tara to let her know about this new development, but in the end she decided it would be more fun to surprise her girlfriend. Willow absolutely loved surprises as long as she wasn't the one being surprised.
"You seem really excited to get home," Buffy said, observing how Willow's legs kept bouncing up and down.
Willow tried to hide the smile she always got on her face when she was thinking about Tara and nodded.
"Yeah, I really wanna get home to Tara, my girlfriend," she admitted. "She was pretty bummed when I told her flights weren't going out so now I'm trying to surprise her by still showing up. She wasn't so happy about the idea of us not spending Christmas together."
"Aww, that's adorable!" Buffy said, swerving off the road a bit as she got distracted. "My boyfriend, Angel, wasn't happy to hear about the blizzard either so here I am driving through it. He can get so broody sometimes."
"I'm sure he just wants to spend some quality time with his girlfriend," Willow assured her coworker.
Approximately 6 hours and several panic attacks later, Willow found herself in front of the apartment she shared with Tara in Cleveland. Buffy wasn't exactly the best driver and they had basically slid all over the road the entire way home, but it had gotten the job done. Willow couldn't and wouldn't complain. Without Buffy she would still be stranded in Chicago, but now she was merely yards away from her gorgeous girlfriend.
"I can't thank you enough, Buffy. I really owe you one," Willow gushed with a warm smile on her face.
"No problem. Consider it a Christmas gift from me to you. Ill see you at work after the holiday."
Willow waved good-bye as the car sped off and then rushed up to the apartment. She gently put her key in the lock and turned it as quietly as she could, hoping to sneak up on Tara. A goofy grin formed on the redhead's face when she saw the beautiful blonde napping on the couch with some sort of awful television show on. There was something wonderful about watching the person you were in love with sleep.
Willow sat down next to her girlfriend's sleeping form and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to her lips.
Tara's eyes slowly fluttered open, a confused expression on her face.
"Willow?" She asked sleepily, wondering how on earth her girlfriend was sitting next to her right now.
"Forget what I look like after only a week?" She teased with a sly grin.
Tara rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up a little bit before a huge smile played across her lips. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around the redhead, holding her close.
"Mmm, I've missed you so much. Almost forgot how good it feels to be near you," she murmured as she took in Willow's scent and her warmth.
She pulled back for a moment, gazing into the emerald eyes she always managed to get so lost in.
"Now tell me how you got here, Ms. Rosenberg. What happened to this blizzard? And why didn't you call me to tell me you were on your way home?"
Willow giggled nervously. She had been a tiny bit worried that Tara would get mad at her for surprising her rather than keeping her informed about what was going on.
"Well, there was a blizzard and the flights weren't going out so I made some phone calls," she began. "One of my business partners, Buffy, she drove to Chicago instead of flying and she decided to brave the storm and try to get home. So I went along for the ride. I just wanted to surprise you, baby."
Tara's eyes widened, unable to believe that Willow, the world's biggest worrier, had gotten in a car with someone and driven hours and hours in a bad storm.
"What were you thinking? That sounds incredibly dangerous! What if you had gotten into an accident?" Tara asked, feeling as though she was worrying enough for the both of them.
Willow shrugged and leaned her forehead against Tara's, smiling an innocent smile at her.
"I don't know, I guess I was thinking that I had a pretty girl to get home to. I had to do everything possible to get back here to you. I did promise you I'd be home for Christmas, remember?"
Tara gently bit down on her lip to hide the smile she felt forming on her lips. She knew she couldn't stay mad at Willow for trying to keep a promise to her. It just reminded her that she really did have the world's best girlfriend.
"You're lucky that you're so cute," she replied, still feigning a slight amount of anger.
Out of the corner of her eye Tara managed to catch a glimpse of the clock on the wall as it struck midnight. It was officially December 24th. Christmas Eve. Here she was ringing in the start of her favorite holiday with the love of her life and the best thing that had ever happened to her.
"I love you, sweetie," the blonde whispered, nuzzling her nose against the redhead's neck. She let out a happy sigh when she felt Willow's small yet very strong arms around her.
"I love you too, Tare-bear. Merry Christmas."