Chapter 1
Shawn moved about the living room, walking quietly as possible so he wouldn't wake his wife or children up in the middle of the night. He carefully looked out into the darkness, seeing a few figures in the dim Christmas lights on the far side of the room. He smiled and walked closer to the Christmas Tree, reaching over towards it, placing a small box on top of a few bigger ones, and looked around for any signs of Cameron or Cheyenne. When he didn't see them around, he quickly placed more presents under the tree.
They always had their ears out when it came to Santa Clause.
He leaned back and watched the Christmas lights gleam in the darkness, shining on to different objects in the living room like the couch, tables, and mantle where the family stockings huge limp on their nails. Shawn continued watching the lights, how some disappeared and turned dark, while letting the others shine and expose the branches and ordiments within.
"Honey?" A voice asked.
Shawn turned around quickly, only to catch his wife's dark figure standing next to the couch.
"What are you doing up this late?" Shawn asked, a slight smile on his face.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. I heard a noise and thought it was Cheyenne peeping down the stairs again," Rebecca walked towards her husband adjusting a white blanket on her shoulders. "Then I found you."
Shawn smiled and looked back at the tree, saying, " I was just putting a few more under here for tomorrow."
"It is tomorrow."
Rebecca pointed towards the clock on a nearby table, seeing the numbers 12:04 on it. She smiled to herself as she glanced the decorations one by one, soon noticing Shawn's sudden movements as she quickly found herself embraced in her husband's arms.
"Merry Christmas, Rebecca." He said.
"Merry Christmas."
As the two hugged each other tighter, Rebecca, feeling warm skin against her own, looked up and saw Shawn's face staring at her, the look in his eye all too familiar. She quickly leaned in and kissed him softly, returning most of the kisses she could as they kissed for a few seconds longer.
Shawn leaned away and adjusted Rebecca's white blanket on her shoulders, making sure she wasn't cold as it was freezing outside. He smiled some more as he walked slowly backwards and grabbed his wife's hand.
"Shawn, what-"
"You'll see."
Rebecca walked with Shawn hand in hand, leading her to wherever he was taking her. She looked towards the Christmas tree and noticed a small angel sitting on top of it with a golden glow shining through its body.
"I remember our first Christmas together," Rebecca said, continuing to follow Shawn across the living room. "You gave me that angel."
Shawn stopped short of the stockings and turned slowly so his wife wouldn't run into him. "Yeah...I thought it looked as nice as you."
"Shawn." Rebecca said, teasing her fingers as if Shawn didn't notice.
"Okay."
The two quickly walked closer to the stockings, their limp figures hanging in the dim light, and Shawn turned his head slightly at his wife before pointing towards the top of the mantle.
"I made this for you." He said.
Rebecca looked on at the mantle, trying to figure out what Shawn was talking about. She then realized she was standing in front of a shining light, a glass ball of sorts, the words Peace On Earth engraved in the middle. As the sides were covered in small blue lights, tiny strands on tinsel and mistletoe hung beneath it as the angel's glow reflected off the mantel and towards the two standing before it. The stockings were lit with small green lights around the edges, as well as the front of the mantle while balancing purple, green, and red ordiments with pictures taped onto them. A few picture frames draped with more mistletoe beside it as more light gleamed onto the familiar photos.
"It's beautiful." Rebecca whispered.
Shawn reached up and grabbed one of the pictures off the mantle, quickly showing it to Rebecca.
"Do you remember this one?" He asked.
Rebecca touched the rim of the picture frame and quickly noticed who was in the photo.
A man standing in a black suit, smiling as he touched a hand planted on his shoulder. The hand, at first glance, quickly turned into an arm, then a woman holding a bouquet of flowers as she smiled next to him. She was dressed in white.
"Our wedding day." Rebecca said, smiling.
"It was the easiest decision I ever made." Shawn said, a smile of his own on his face.
Rebecca glanced at her husband before placing the picture back in its place on the mantle. She then noticed a few more next to it and grabbed them, instantly recognizing people and places in each photo as she glanced through them.
"I remember this...my mom's birthday, this one was Cameron when he was first born, and Cheyenne when she was first born."
"Those were the first ones I put up here," Shawn grabbed another picture frame and showed it to his wife. "Then I decided to throw these up there."
Shawn smiled as he watched his wife's reaction to the photo, quickly laughing a little as Rebecca grabbed the photo of him and Hunter standing next to one another with a large building in the background.
"You had to do that." Rebecca said.
"We took it at WrestleMania 30."
Rebecca nodded her head, saying, "At least you get to choose which ones you like."
"Okay, okay," Shawn slowly took the picture out of his wife's hands. "I'll put this one somewhere else."
"Thank you."
A few minutes passed before Shawn could show all the pictures to Rebecca, mostly some of them together throughout the years, many with Cameron and Cheyenne, and a few of them with Shawn or anyone else standing alone with a smile on their face.
"Which one do you like the best?" Rebecca asked.
Now they were sitting on the couch with their arms around one another.
Shawn looked over at his wife and said, "All of them...and the many to come."
As the sun's horizon settled in the distance, Shawn looked at Rebecca again and wrapped his arm tighter around her body. He smiled and leaned down towards her neck, kissing it gently. Rebecca cringed and realized her husband's soft bristles of hair floated down towards her skin.
"Shawn," Rebecca said, placing her lips on his face for a few seconds before continuing, "Do you remember what happened before you got me that angel?"
Shawn paused and looked at his wife, thinking to himself while admiring her beauty.
"Yeah," He said. "We had a big fight about something."
"Not just something, it was the biggest fight we ever had."
"If I could remember what it was about." Shawn joked.
Rebecca laughed a little and quickly wrapped her hand around her husband's, saying, "I remember it perfectly."
Fresh pine. Twinkling lights. Bells ringing in the distance. It again seemed like the perfect time of year.
But all Rebecca could think about was her date. It was the first time she'd ever been out on Christmas Eve with a stranger. He wasn't really strange, just a friendly man who she instantly fell for. She just barely knew him, other than he was talented, funny, and sweet enough to talk to even in the most coldest weather.
She soon caught glimpses of Christmas trees in the distance, covered in bright lights and shiny ornaments all around its exterior. Along with Santa standing on the corner ringing a bell in front of a Red Kettle. She smiled lightly and quickly adjusted her coat, now worried about walking too close to him. He hadn't spoken a word since she met him at his hotel.
"Are you okay?" Shawn asked, looking over.
"Yes," Rebecca said, staring at Shawn's eyes. "I'm fine."
"Did you...want to go out tonight?"
Shawn stopped walking and looked over at Rebecca, whose dark hair shined through clearly despite the dim lighting above from the lamps above them. His heart began to beat in his chest once he noticed her smile.
"Of course I want to. It's just really cold out here."
She looked down at her arms, shivering a little as she pulled on the ends of her coat, making sure they didn't come up her arms too much. She remained standing in front of Shawn, who happened to slowly slip his arm around her with a slight smile. She smiled back and quickly caught strange noises coming from across the street.
"Thanks," Rebecca said, grabbing his cold hand. "But it's still freezing."
"Yeah, we should get inside."
Shawn coughed a little as he slipped his arm off of Rebecca's shoulders, grasping his stomach in the process as a tight feeling entered his chest.
"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked, worried.
"Yeah...I'm...fine." Shawn coughed some more until he managed to collect himself, standing upright.
Rebecca's heart raced, now she could've been caught with a sore throat or sick stomach, too. What was there to worry about? Shawn couldn't be sick even on the coldest day of the year. She sighed and began to walk with Shawn some more, noticing how even in the slightest light his skin continued its muscular flair, as well as the light shining off his ever curious heart tattoo propped on his forearm.
"Sorry about that," Shawn said. "I've been really busy and haven't had time to rest up."
"I understand."
As the two of them walked down the sidewalk some more, Shawn looking over occasionally, the sounds of bells became louder and louder as they watched a few people stand next to a Red Kettle and throw money into it.
"Why do we need those things?" Shawn asked aloud.
Rebecca looked over at him, no longer grasping her hand in his, and stared at his face, seeing that he was serious. They stopped walking long enough for each other to stare at one another's face, Shawn's still as serious as ever. Rebecca looked back at the Red Kettle and quickly said, "It's for children who want to have a good Christmas. They collect money to help people who are less fortunate than us. It's what nice people do to help others."
"Still," Shawn said, staring. "It doesn't make sense. Wouldn't someone just use the money for their selves?"
"That wouldn't be right," Rebecca stopped walking and placed her hand in her pocket. "It's what God wants us to do. He wants us to help those in need."
"Why?" Shawn asked.
Rebecca sighed and shook her head. It was pointless trying to get him to understand. She looked at the ground and thought to herself.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Rebecca asked.
"I shouldn't have said that," Shawn said, looking down at the ground. "I forgot you were a Christian."
"That's not the point."
Rebecca shook her head some more and moved closer to the Red Kettle, greeting the Santa next to it before placing a few dollars inside. She then looked back at her date before quickly walking over towards the other side of the road, moving hurriedly as the wind began to pick up speed.
"Wha-Where are you...?" Shawn asked aloud, mostly to himself as he watched Rebecca leave.
He quickly walked down the sidewalk, feeling the cold wind on his skin, and shivered as he tried to catch up to his date, hoping she wasn't too far away from him so he could see her face some more. At least feel relieved that she would be safe of her own. Before he got closer to the other side, he happened to notice the Santa staring at him with a smile on his face.
"Merry Christmas." The man said.
Shawn looked at the man, his red suit glaring in the light, and said, "Merry Christmas."
He pressed his legs on to the sidewalk as the constant chatter of the Santa continued over his shoulder, soon walking down the sidewalk to catch up to Rebecca.
As he continued down the long path, he quickly realized he was now in front of a alley that look deserted. There wasn't a hint of light on this side, with barely any support from the lights inside the shops on the corner, and a cold chill fell across the air. Shawn looked around and tried to find any sign of Rebecca, who now was probably hanging out back at the hotel. But he had to try to find her.
"Rebecca?" Shawn called out into the alley. "Rebecca? Where are you?"
He waited for an answer, but instead he got the sounds of wind whipping through the air at a fast speed.
"Hello?" He called again.
But no answer. Instead, he turned around and walked back towards the other side of the road, where at least he could see some light.
"Happy Holidays, ho ho ho!" The man yelled as people came by donating money. "Merry Christmas!"
Shawn sighed and adjusted his coat, shivering once he felt the cold wind on his face some more. He decided it was best to go back to the hotel, where hopefully his date was waiting for him. He began to hear his own heartbeat grow louder as he kept thinking of Rebecca, how worried she was and how angry she became.
He'd been cringing more than usual at the word of Christmas. The fact that people celebrated it was fine, and he always liked it himself, but now he felt unworthy of a holiday that he barely knew any meaning of unless he was sitting in a Church with his girlfriend. He hated that the most.
As he quickly hurried himself down the near-empty sidewalk, the cold air now picking up speed, he tried to cover his face from the chilling effects of the harsh wind as his feet shuffled under him. He nearly felt tripped on his own two feet most of the time. He soon looked up long enough to realize he was now walking towards a building that happened to be in front of him, but he tried hard not to concentrate on it for long as he began to notice people walking towards him.
Just as he was about to turn the corner and dodge the oncoming crowd, he noticed something near him.
He looked over and saw it. A shining light in between small Christmas trees with blue and red lights around the windows. It had a golden halo on top of its head as its golden body was covered over in gold trim. He stared at it long enough, realizing he was now in front of the store, and now it was staring straight at him.