I.

Ricky woke up slowly and looked around the dark room. It was Christmas morning, but still very early as the sky outside the bedroom window was still as dark as when they'd gone to bed. He sat up and looked at his wife as she slept quietly beside him. He felt as though he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again if he tried, but neither did he want to disturb Lucy.

He rose from bed and glanced at the small alarm clock nearby, noting that it was indeed very early, only a bit past four o'clock.

Ricky crept over to the small bedroom that was next to theirs and looked over the side of the crib. Little Ricky would be a year old in just under a month and this was his first Christmas. Ricky knew that he was still a little young to truly understand that it was a special day, but as his father, he felt excited to show him the tree and the presents that he and Lucy had happily placed for him underneath it.

He couldn't help feeling a twinge of disappointment that the baby was still sleeping and he chuckled softly at the irony that on any other day of the year, this would be a welcome sight. He'd wake up soon enough, Ricky reasoned as he went silently out of the room.

Ricky continued moving through his bedroom and out to the hall, closing the door softly behind him. He went to the living room, where the tree was lit with strings of multicolored lights and sparkled with glass ornaments and silver tinsel. He smiled, remembering how he and Lucy had decorated it with the Mertzes only a few hours before. They had decorated a tree together for several years already, but knowing that it would be the first that little Ricky would ever see gave a new joy to the activity. Normally meticulous in making sure that the tree was evenly decorated, Lucy had cast that aside this year, now more concerned that her curious and rambunctious son would break the delicate glass ornaments and get hurt. She had solved that problem by keeping them away from the lower branches of the tree, out of his reach from the floor.

Ricky knelt down and sat cross legged on the floor, enjoying the quiet beauty of the room which was illuminated only by the glow of the tree.

Enrique woke to what sounded like the soft cries of his mother from the next room. He looked around and saw that his brothers were all still asleep. He climbed out of bed and tip-toed across the cool concrete floor.

He stood at the entryway of the kitchen, which was lit by only a few burning candles. His mother sat at the wooden table, covering her face with the apron that was tied around her waist. "Mama," he said quietly.

She looked up quickly, wiping her eyes as she tried to hide the fact that she'd been crying, although she knew it was too late to hide it from the boy. "Por que esta fuera de la cama?"

"Te oi llorar," Enrique replied timidly.

His mother responded by reaching her arms out for him and he went quickly to her embrace. "Por que esta llorando?"

She pulled away from him gently and smiled through the residual tears that streaked her face. He was the youngest and the sweetest of her children and she prayed that the harshness of an impoverished childhood in Cuba, combined with his observations of the men around him, would not harden him. The odds seemed to be stacked against him, especially now that he was fatherless, although she couldn't decide whether it was better for him to have the callous, womanizing man to lead him or none at all.

Enrique's mother explained to him, delicately, that she had very little money to spend on Christmas since the last of his father's final salary had been spent. In fact, she would spend much of Christmas Day working as a service maid for the wealthy Havana family which now employed her.

Enrique frowned. "Yo podria ir contigo y ayuda."

She embraced him again, touched by his selfless offer. "No, mi hijo. Tus hermanas se cocinan y tu jugar con tus hermanos. Estare en casa pronto." Her tears returned, this time caused by her son's innocent heart.

Ricky shook out of his fog when he heard the sound of his son fussing from the bedroom. He stood up and went back to the room, opening the door to find that Lucy had already heard him and was up tending to him.

She heard him enter and glanced over her shoulder from where she stood with the baby, changing him into fresh clothes. "There's Daddy! I was wondering what happened to him…"

Ricky approached them, smiling. "I couldn't sleep, so I was lookin' at the tree." He kissed her softly. "Merry Christmas." He turned to little Ricky and lifted the boy into his arms. "It's Christmas! You know what that means?"

The baby smiled at him in reply. Lucy giggled, pulling her silk robe around her. "Well, he's never had a Christmas before, so why don't you tell him?"

"I'll do better than that," Ricky proclaimed as he carried the baby out of the room. "I'll show him!"

Lucy smiled broadly as she followed her husband out to the living room and listened to him talking to the baby.

"You see? You see the pretty tree, Ricky? And look! Look at all those pretty boxes under it. Do you know how it got here? It..uh…" He turned to his wife. "Lucy, how did you say it got here again?"

She laughed, remembering that she'd had to describe to him the American version of Santa Claus' nighttime activities as they were decorating the tree. "Santa Claus flew up to the roof with his reindeer…"

Ricky nodded, remembering. "Oh, yeah! He flew up to the roof with his deer that fly and then he came down the chimney!" He pointed to the fireplace as little Ricky laughed at him. "And he brought this pretty tree and all these presents just for you!"

Ricky walked with the baby closer to the tree. "See the lights and the…the…silver stuff?"

"Tinsel, darling," Lucy reminded him, still giggling.

They watched as little Ricky reached out to touch the branches and the tinsel, his eyes as big and bright as the ornaments before him.

Lucy came closer and touched her son's back. "Look, baby, see the big star on top? Isn't it beautiful?"

Little Ricky pointed to it and strained to reach it, to his parents' amusement.

Ricky knelt down with him and pointed to the colorfully wrapped presents under the tree. "Here's somethin' you can touch! These are all for you because you're such a wonderful little boy!" He lowered little Ricky to the floor and watched excitedly as the baby crawled to the pile of boxes, apprehensive at first that he would be told not to touch them or would be pulled out of reach of them, as was often the case with items that intrigued him.

Lucy went to her knees beside him and pulled one box from the pile. "Here, darling, look!" She ripped a small piece of wrapping paper away from the package, to show him that it was alright.

Ricky and Lucy laughed as he gladly followed her example, sitting on his knees and tearing the paper enthusiastically from the box. Lucy helped him open the unwrapped box and he laughed and grabbed the new, brightly painted blocks from inside.

As little Ricky shrieked happily, unwrapping the packages and clapping with excitement at the toys contained within, Ricky and Lucy laughed and played with him.

Lucille ran to the bottom of the stairs, where she was faced with a tall tree lit with tapered white candles. Underneath it was a treasure trove of gifts.

She ran to where it all stood and spotted her parents sitting nearby, sipping coffee and eating scones. Her father stood up immediately when he saw her. "Lucille, darling, Merry Christmas!"

He picked the four-year-old up and showed her the tree. "Look, darling, Santa used pink ornaments on the tree this year just for you. And look at that star!"

Lucille's eyes lit up at the sight before her father lowered her to the ground again. He knelt down to where she stood and picked a box from the many that were there. "Here, darling, look. Start with this one, you know what to do!"

She ripped the paper from the box and lifted the lid to see a beautiful doll in a very fine dress. She lifted it out of the box and hugged it tightly as her father encouraged her to open the rest.

Lucille did so very happily as her father rejoined her mother and talked to her in hushed tones. "How hard would it be for you to enjoy Christmas with your daughter," he hissed.

Recognizing that her parents were on the verge of a fight, Lucille threw her attention into the mountain of toys in front of her, hoping to drown them out.

Her mother sipped her coffee. "This is how I enjoy Christmas, dear. Women of refinement don't get on the floor, not even for their own children. The girl needs to learn."

Lucille's father walked away from his wife and sat on the floor near his daughter, laughing and helping her open the waiting presents.

II.

Lucy sighed as she closed the door to little Ricky's room. Since they'd awakened so early that morning, they'd had a full day of playing and eating, then more unwrapping and playing when Fred and Ethel arrived with another gift for him. For once, it didn't take much convincing to get the little boy to sleep. In fact, Ricky had picked him up from where he had already fallen asleep on the floor with toys in his hands.

Ricky emerged from the closet just as Lucy was returning from tucking their son into bed. He held out his hand, inviting her to sit with him on the edge of the bed. "Honey, I know we said no presents for each other this year so we could focus on the baby, but…I have somethin' for you."

Lucy giggled. "Well, I'm glad it wasn't only me who ignored that conversation. I have something for you, too." She didn't wait for him to respond before jumping up and grabbing a small box from her vanity. "You first," she smiled, holding it out for him to take from her.

Ricky smiled and accepted the box from her hands as she again sat beside him and waited eagerly for him to open it. He untied the bow from the top of the small box and lifted the lid. "Aw, Lucy, sweetheart, these are beautiful!" He lifted one of the silver cufflinks from inside the box and admired it. Each of them was adorned with a small diamond stud.

Lucy put an arm around him. "Oh, good! You said you needed another pair to wear with your tuxedo, so I thought these were perfect…"

He leaned closer to her and kissed her soundly. "They are perfect, I love them. Thank you, darlin'.

She grinned proudly. "Merry Christmas, darling."

Ricky stood up, placing the box on top of his dresser and heading for the closet. Lucy waited for him to return, puzzled.

When he did return again, he was carrying a large box secured by a wide large red ribbon. Her eyes widened at the size of the gift. "Ricky, we said no gifts," she laughed.

Ricky shrugged. "I know, but you din't listen, either. Anyway, it was a wonderful opportunity and…it's somethin' you've always wanted."

Lucy stood up and took the box, which seemed unusually heavy. "Well! What in the world could it be!" She set it down on the bed and pulled at the bow. She looked around the lid for some store name or clue about the contents, but it was simply white. She looked at her husband.

"Go on, open it!" He was as excited to see her open this box as he'd been with little Ricky that morning.

She smiled as she raised the lid, expecting to see what he had for her. She laughed softly when she saw a thick layer of white tissue paper. She slipped her hand under the paper and paused before pushing it away. She felt the softest, smoothest material and knew it could be only one thing. She hesitated, looking at him again with wide eyes.

Ricky was exasperated. "Will you open it, please," he said eagerly.

Lucy pushed the tissue away and gasped, pulling a full-length, golden colored fur coat from the box. "Ricky!" She hushed her voice to avoid waking the baby. "Ricky, is this…this can't be what I think it is!"

He smiled quietly, taking the coat and guiding her gently to stand in front of the mirror that hung on the closet door. "It's mink," he confirmed simply.

She stammered as he rested it around her shoulders. "But…Ricky, how…?"

"I got a good deal, dun't worry about it," he interrupted softly. "It's mink and it's yours."

Lucy stared at it in the mirror, running her hands along it with disbelief. She turned around to face her husband, looking at him intently. "Stay here, I'll model it for you."

Ricky moved backward and sat on the bed as she disappeared into the closet. He waited for her silently as she was out of view for several minutes. When she returned to the bedroom, she was wearing the coat and smiled. "What do you think?"

"It looks beautiful on you, but what took you so long?"

She walked toward him and sat slowly on his lap, opening the coat slightly to reveal that she was fully nude beneath the soft fur. "I thought you might like another gift for Christmas."

He grinned and kissed her, his tongue moving quickly through her lips as his hands slipped under the coat, moving over her breasts and around her back.

Lucy moved her hands down to loosen the drawstring that held the soft pants around his waist. Her open center, already wet from his strong touch, was hovering close to his quickly growing shaft.

She balanced herself on his lap as she removed the coat from her body and it fell behind her. She tossed her head back, biting her lip to suppress her cries as he took one of her nipples into his mouth.

Ricky pulled her closer to him and pushed himself into her. His hands moved over her back and around her thighs as she lowered herself around him, enveloping him fully as her lips locked with his.

Their tongues wrestled rhythmically to the motion of his upward thrusts, bucking into her as she rode him steadily.

Their lips broke apart as each of them gasped for air, beads of sweat rolling down her neck and lingering around her taught nipples, her breasts moving freely with her until they met with Ricky's hands.

After some time, he turned Lucy quickly to lie on her back, giving her one strong thrusting stroke as he released into her. She covered her own mouth out of necessity, knowing that the scream that was bursting forth from her would certainly rouse the baby. Her hips moved upward into him, receiving him and the fruit of his climax until he was spent and he gradually softened and left her.

He lay beside her as she smiled mischievously at him. "Merry Christmas," she said with a soft laugh.

Ricky touched the side of her face. "Merry Christmas. Do you know how happy you make me? You and little Ricky both."

Lucy put her arms around him. "You make me happy, too. And you're a wonderful father. This was a wonderful Christmas." She kissed his lips gently before getting up from the bed hurriedly and retrieving her coat from where it had slipped to the floor. She carried it to the closet to hang it carefully as Ricky chuckled, pulling his pants back up around his hips and tightening the drawstring.

When Lucy returned, she had draped a silk nightgown around her and climbed onto the bed next to Ricky again. They lay quietly until they each started to drift into sleep, nestled in each other's arms.

Their eyes snapped open when they heard their son's cries from the next room. "Christmas is over," Ricky joked as Lucy slid out of bed and walked sleepily to the baby's room.