Christmastime on Oak Hills Drive 2013 - Angela Has Her Cookie and Eats It Too
(Another story that takes place in the same universe as Snowfall.)
The hot chocolate was poured, complete with whipped cream; Frank Sinatra was singing "Silent Night" over the sound system and the fireplace was aglow, warming the room. Angela stood near the fireplace surveying the progress of this year's Christmas decorating. With a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction she mentally signed off on the completed finery; "front door wreath, check; ribbon and greenery on staircase, check; stockings hanging by the chimney with care, multiple checks."
Angela paused and gazed lovingly at the row of stockings on the mantle, each one bearing the name of a beloved family member. She walked down the line, touching each stocking in turn, sighing a little as she read the names of those physically too far away at the moment: Jonathan; close by, but still too far away for her. Samantha; so busy with the kids and even though they visited often, it was never enough. Robert, off at college and not home again until later in the month; even though it was only a couple of weeks it was still too long of an absence for Angela.
Moving down the row, Angela smiled as she saw her mother's stocking; still by far the biggest of the bunch. She continued to Tony's stocking and was happily lost in memories until her reverie was interrupted by a voice, "yo, Angela," it called from the direction of the kitchen.
Angela's heart skipped a beat as she turned and smiled at her husband as he made his way through the swinging door carrying a tray of Christmas cookies to the coffee table.
"You ready to sample these delights?" he said.
"I can think of a lot of delights I'd like to sample," she teased as she walked to the couch.
He shouldn't have been surprised by her flirtatious answer, but even after all these years; he was, "Angela!" he said, pretending to be downright shocked. She grinned at him as she met him at the couch; but her focus wasn't on him; or even, amazingly enough, the cookies; it was behind him. Tony turned around to see what was distracting his wife. He saw it; for there in its accustomed location was the mistletoe, as always the first decoration placed.
"I don't think the mistletoe has been tested enough yet this year," she stated matter-of-factly.
"You don't?" He recalled with a big smile that the mistletoe had, in his estimation, been very well tested; in fact, the testing had delayed the rest of decorating.
"No," she shook her head and grasped his hand, pulling him over to the door, "Merry Christmas, darling," she said, then put her arms around him and snuggled close to thoroughly test the mistletoe. It worked; quite well. Tony embraced his wife, pulling her even closer to him. The mistletoe was undergoing extensive testing for effectiveness and passing with flying colors.
"Now that's mistletoe," Angela confirmed when she finally pulled away.
"It certainly is," Tony agreed. They stood there smiling at each other for a couple of moments; Angela torn between more mistletoe testing and cookie sampling. Oh, the dilemma the poor woman was in. Her face lit up as the perfect solution hit her: combine them; a nibble of cookie, a nibble of Tony; it was win-win.
"What?" Tony asked warily, Santa may be known for a gleam in his eye, but it was nothing like the intense gleam in Angela's at the moment.
"Nothing," she flirted as she trailed her fingers down and up his chest.
There was no way Tony was buying that answer. His arms still around her, he stared at her, daring her to give him a real answer. Angela's only answer was to lean in and give him a quick peck. As she turned away from his arms toward the cookies, for as far away as they were, she did need to retrieve them to put her full plan in action; she startled Tony by giving him a loving pat on his rear.
"Cheeky!" he said, rather surprised.
Angela turned her head back to grin at him.
"Angela, when you look at me like that...it's like you're undressing me with your eyes."
"I think you should use the past tense on that," Angela purred as she picked up the cookies, she turned back to him and smiled.
Tony laughed and decided to play along, "you only love me for my body."
As she set the plate down on the sideboard, Angela said, "darn, you finally figured it out." She picked up a cookie, "you got me, Tony, for almost 30 years now I've only loved you for your body. Oh well, guess that means the end for us, doesn't it?" She took a small bite of cookie and cuddled back up to him.
"Not necessarily, I don't have a problem with being wanted for my body only," he preened; then deciding that two could play at this game, he took a nibble from the cookie Angela wasn't taking enough care to protect.
Angela faked outrage for half a second, but then gave in to a sweet, loving laugh that made any further mistletoe testing unnecessary.
As Tony took another nip of the cookie, he thought the chances of the tree taking its place in the house today were diminishing to non-existent.
He was right.