Have Yourself a Hello Kitty Christmas

Enjoy!


Christmas Eve; ah, I love the winter holidays! I enjoy being able to sit back and watch the snow fall, set up the fireplace with stockings, trinkets and, of course, a plate of milk and cookies. My all time favorite would be playing out in the white blankets that fill my Franklin front yard with my nieces and nephews, although, by far decorating my tree with my friends and family is the blowout of my holiday.

Since I had began my job, time with my parents and my ever-growing family had begun to be limited but I owe it to the McMahons for allowing us the special moments with our loved ones, it is much needed after the ongoing months of travels.

But what makes this Christmas more special than, milk and cookies or snow angels, fruit cakes or presents is Teddy, Theodore Marvin DiBiase Junior, but to me he will always be Teddy…Teddy-Bear, T-bear or Di… but mostly Teddy.

Over the course of the last few months we've been through so much, so to be able to just settle in and relax is such a blessing this time of year.

"You have a lot of Hello Kitty Christmas stuff," my boyfriend remarked as pulled some of the little season's plushies from a box he had brought down from my attic. "I know you love Hello Kitty and all, Cat but this is, like, a gigantic Hello Kitty overdose!"

"Don't blame me," I chuckled. "I didn't buy it all, I used to only have a few," I commented. "You can hold my family responsible for the rest of them!"

It's true, I had anything Hello Kitty that one could ever think of; from clothes, accessories, and dolls to Christmas decorations, ornaments and kitchen appliances; ah, the joys of life lasting obsessions!

"But you love them, right Aunt Kitty?" my niece, Demi, asked me as she grabbed another piece of garland from a box to twirl around the tree.

"Of course, I do, Demi!" I replied while I nudged Teddy in the side. "It comes from the heart and that is what Christmas is really supposed to be about,"

"Ow," Teddy lightly groaned, as he rubbed a hand over his side.

It left a smile on her face, while she continued to decorate the tree, of course it was not green, and it was not pink either; this year I bought a new tree. This one, just so happened to bright pearl white with the LCD lighting already attached; thank God, stringing up the lights was obviously not my specialty!

My sister, Kirsten, walked into the room from the kitchen. "Cookies are in the oven, baking for Santa!" she announced cheerfully as she lightly pats her stomach.

"Did you save some of the raw cookie dough?" T-Bear asked with a look of hunger lightly shown in his eyes. I giggle though I would have to admit, the best part of the baking is eating the raw dough and yes, I am only saying this because I cannot bake whatsoever.

"Actually yes, I saved a little for both of you guys," she smiles. I love how they reacted with one another, it reminds me of the way Cody and I tend to be, it felt great to see the family accepting Teddy, I want nothing more than for him to be comfortable with us.

Teddy-Bear scurried like a starving kitten over to the kitchen in search of the raw cookie dough as conversation between me and my older sister continued. "Oh, by the way, Cat, mom and dad will be around later for dinner and presents, Dad said around six-thirty or so," she brought up.

"Fantastic!" I answered. "You just reminded me, Teddy and I need to get the gifts out of the trunk of his car, and get them under the tree,"

Kirsty grabbed her trench coat, picking up Demi's tiny winter coat as well. "That works perfectly, I need to go and grab the presents from my house anyway," she responded. "Dem, come on, baby girl, Mommy's going to need some help,"

xx – X – xx

After they left, I went off to the kitchen to find Teddy, licking batter off of a spoon for the Christmas cake my sister was in the middle of preparing. "You're so weird," I chuckled. He looked adorable; really, it was like one of those picture perfect Kodak moments.

"Want some?" he asked, holding a clean spoon in his left hand.

I approached him and slowly took the spoon. "Sure, why not, it's not all the time that we get to spurge on homemade batter." I wrapped my arm loosely around his waist as I gently dug my spoon in the batter.

"You know, your sister can make really tasty batter, I really can't wait to try the cake tonight!" Teddy remarks.

I agreed, "Kirsty was always very handy in the kitchen, I was too, I loved to taste everything!" I joked. All of Kirsty's meals and baked goods were always very delicious.

Di broke off a piece of raw cookie dough for me. "You know, if you dunk it in the batter, it tastes really good."

I did so and after I chewed it and swallowed it down. "Before Kirst comes back and realizes that we ate all of the batter, why don't you help me with the present in the car?" I requested.

Teddy tittered. "What's the magic word?" he teased.

"Uh…" I falsely put myself into thought. "Hmm…" I pretended to be deep in thought about the question. "I love you?" I smiled from cheek to cheek.

"Close," he commented. "But the right answer was Hello Kitty."

I laughed. "You can be such a dope sometimes," I remarked. "Would a kiss work instead?" I inquired, considering I got the magic word wrong, I need to make up for this somehow.

"Eh, maybe…" he replied, nodding his head back and worth. "I don't know, though, you did get the magic word wrong." He points out.

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me, Di." I leaned my left hand light on his abdomen as I rose up slightly on my tip toes. His lips met mine, they tasted sweet like sugar and frosting and they were so soft; the best feature about him, aside from his physique, were his lips.

"Whoa!" I heard Kirsten say, Teddy and I instantly broke apart. "Child in the house!" she remarked. "And, are you two eating my cake batter?" she asked as she made her way into the kitchen. "No baby making with my cake batter; get out, get out, get out!" she shoed us away by lightly smacking us with her snow drenched gloves.

"And stay out of my kitchen!" she jokingly hissed.

xx – X – xx

I spent the majority of my time straightening up my house for my parents and my two other siblings, all the presents were now under the tree, the stockings hung, the mistletoe up; all was left was putting up the rest of the knickknacks and such.

I had Mariah Carey's Christmas CD playing from my iTouch on my dock above the mantle. "Hey sweetheart," I heard Teddy say from behind me. I turned to see him holding two cups of hot cocoa. "Sit down, it's Christmas Eve, relax a bit." He held a comforting smile on his face. Behind him Demetria was sitting all cozied up on the couch with a nice hot cup and Kirsten had brought in a fresh warm batch of her cookies.

"Hey, Ted, can I let Riggs out of the bedroom yet?" Kirsten questioned. Teddy had put Riggs up in the room for everyone's safety, especially Kirsten's; with the joy of the box moving and the house decorating, my boyfriend didn't want him under anyone's feet.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about Riggs," Ted comments, he placed his cup of cocoa down on the table. "I'll take care of him, Kirst, you sit down, you've been on your feet all morning,"

"If your insisting, I might just take you up on that offer," Kirsten plops down on the couch and grabs a cookie or two from the dish. "I've been out of this for way too long; I have totally forgotten what it feels like,"

Not too long later did an excited chubby Riggs come running down the stairs and come around to everyone, barking happily and licking faces. He jumped right up into Kirsty's lap trying to greet her with a few of his own kisses.

"Down boy!" Teddy demands. "Don't need anyone getting hurt,"

We had all settled on the couch, the fire burning made the entire room feel cozy and warm. We lowered the music because the Grinch was on television, and no, not the Jim Carry version, the original Grinch, one of my all time favorite.

I knew literally all the words to the songs in the story, I think even Teddy-Bear found it a little bit funny. "You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch, you have termites in your smile. You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Gri-inch. Given the choice between the two of you, I'd take the uh... seasick crocodile!"

We didn't spend too much time on the show, Demi watched it but Teddy and I thought it would be best if we helped Kirsty out with dinner in the kitchen. Teddy tossed salads while I pulled food out of the oven; everything from cheesy biscuits to baked ziti adorned the table.

There were vegetables trays, olive and pickle dishes, all types of juices were stocked in the fridge, along with mom's favorite wine and egg nog for the kids. I had just finished pulling out the garlic bread from the oven when the doorbell rang. It was either one of my siblings or my parents, but I'd put a bet on it that it was Lilliana and her boyfriend.

I scurried off to the door and when I opened it I was greeted by a long awaited hug from my little sister. "Kitty Cat!" she squealed. "Merry Christmas!" we moved out of the way so that her boyfriend could get all of the present under the tree, in one piece.

"The drive over here a little hectic, with the icy roads and such, but we're here!" she exclaims. "It's so good to see you, it's been a while!"

It wasn't much later that Aidan, his wife and my twin nephews arrived either. "Hey little sis, you look great," he engulfed me into a bear hug. "How's life on the road been treating you?" he asked.

"Thanks," I had replied. "It's been long, I'm just so happy to be home for the holidays!" I confessed. Daniela, his wife, embraced me in a soft hug. "The boys were so happy to hear that you were going to host Christmas Eve," she says. "It's so great to see you again,"

"Yeah, so where's the rich boyfriend?" Aidan asks, taking his jacket off and hanging it up in the closet, then assisting his wife with hers; my brother is a true gentleman, thanks to my mom.

"Teddy?" I replied. My eyes looked around the living room, but his presence was yet to be seen. "Oh, um, he's…" Just at that moment he came from the kitchen with turkey that Kirsty had in the oven, and placed it on the table.

"Sorry, Cat, I stole Teddy for his muscles; the turkey was too heavy," my sister comments as she comes out from behind him with a plate of cornbread.

My parents were behind the door only about five minutes after my brother and his family. "Hello, family!" my mother greets, exchanging kisses with all of my siblings. The kids ran to go hug their grandparents as my brother helped them with their bag full of presents to put under the tree.

I watched as my father approached Teddy, they shook hands, and Di, as always, was cordial. "It's great to see you again, Mr. Train,"

"It's nice to see you too, Ted," he replied. "Treating my daughter right?" I knew this was around my time to cut in.

"Of course, sir." Ted responded.

I approached the two of them. "Oh, daddy, you're not interrogating Teddy again, are you?" I asked with a small chuckle in my voice. "Geez, its Christmas Eve, leave the poor guy alone," I teased him as I embraced him in a hug.

"Hey, it's my job," he replies; it was true, dad's job is just that; being my amazing and loving father.

"Guys, dinner is getting cold over here and my tummy's getting emptier by the second!" Kirsty exclaims.

xx – X – xx

All the food was absolutely delicious; Teddy was enjoying every bite, which made my evening even more comfortable, the moms in this family surely do know how to cook a large, yummy meal. And before I knew it the kids were all running into the living room to unwrap the gifts. "Oh, please, oh please!" they begged so happily.

"It's up to Aunt Cat, it's her house," Kirsten and my mom were heard saying.

"Wait; let me get the camera, first!" I squeal; I love the memories, especially with being on the road almost all the time. So, I ran into the sewing room, where I keep most of my own 'DIY' projects and grabbed the camera off of the desk.

"Alright, go nuts!" The wrapping paper flew off faster than anything with all of the kids, the adults waited a little bit, but I didn't care about the clean up, the spirit of the holiday was completely there. I waited for everyone to be completely done with opening their gifts – Di got a little something from everyone too – before I opened mine.

A small lot of candles; I love candles, they were colorful too and scented! My niece got me a pair of Skelanimals earrings and a matching necklace; my family knows me quite well, I must admit.

Although, I noticed that I didn't received one single gift from T-Bear; I didn't say anything, I didn't want to be rude or sound obnoxious so I left it alone. I will confess though, I spent a lot of time and money into his gift, I guess with all of the gift buying for his family, he must of forgotten me somewhere.

After the family had disbanded, after a long evening full of new toys, hot cocoa and much needed conversation, I had piled the dishes into the dishwasher. "Hey, Di, can I ask you a question?" just out of curiosity, I might as well.

"Go right ahead, baby," he replied as he dug into more cookies from whatever was leftover. I didn't want to sound like I was asking him to be greedy but I don't recall ever handing anything off to me with his name on it.

"Did you already give me my Christmas present?" I asked; Gosh, I hope I do not sound pushy or loathsome.

"Your Christmas present," he repeats the last part before continuing. "No, I didn't forget about you, it's under the tree, I didn't know whether or not you'd like it, so I left its under there, I'll take you out after the holidays and exchange for something you'll really love," he replied. "I promise."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "It doesn't matter what you get me, sweetheart," I went off to the living room and saw a little wrapped box, hidden slyly behind the tree. "I'm sure it's lovely," I reassured him.

He followed me inside, stuttering while rubbing his neck with his right hand. "Well, you didn't sound too happy earlier about the gifts you were used to getting…" by the time he said that I had already ripped off the wrapping paper; inside sat a little pink box, it was beautiful and silky, not what I am used to with the kids.

When I picked up the top I was stunned by this white pearl strung, silver necklace; the medallion was lined with diamond chips and on the inside was a picture of Hello Kitty with pink hair accessorized with a bow and a tiara. "Teddy, this is beautiful, why would you think I wouldn't like it?"

"Well, you didn't sound too happy about all the other Hello Kitty stuff," he replied. "So, I figured you didn't want –" I cut him off with a kiss, what he bought me was beautiful and more than I had hoped or wanted.

"Thank you, I adore it." I smiled up toward him.

"Merry Christmas, Cat," he smiled down toward me and then pressed his lips softly to my forehead. "I love you,"

"Merry Christmas, Teddy-Bear," I pulled him into a sideways hug, my head leaning on his shoulder. "I love you too."


Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays; eat lots of food, enough awesome company and have yourself a Hello Kitty Christmas :P

See you in 2011!

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