On this evening, Ana and I lay out upon the sofa in our TV room. She lays between my legs, her back to my front. We are warmed by a grand cocoon of heavy blankets and the three of us are enjoying the moment in each others company. The Christmas specials they play year round never get old for me. I feel so... indescribable, but I'm in the highest of spirits.
"Ana?" I whisper to make sure she is still awake.
"Hmm?" She turns her body to look back at me.
"Just making sure you didn't fall asleep on me." I kiss her nose. "How is our little one?" I rub her belly.
"Fine and is sleeping." She laughs. "Christian, did you have a favorite Christmas special or so when you were growing up?"
"I always loved 'How the Grinch stole Christmas.' Mind you, when I was a boy, I absolutely adored Dr. Seuss. They were simple stories told. When I began talking, Dr. Seuss's books were easy to read. The wording wasn't to hard and the pictures were so colorful."
What a mouthful, Grey!
"What's yours, Ana?"
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!" She blurts out.
I didn't expect her to answer so fast.
"Because..." I elongate the word enough for her to respond. She giggles. "Even though he was 'different' and didn't fit in, there was only one person who showed him how great he really was." She looks deep into my eyes as she blushes.
Christ, how does she do that? She can make anything sound so simple with so little ease. "God, I love you."
She lifts herself from our comfy place and stretches out. "You think the second batch of cookies are done?" I say, standing up to stretch too. "Let's go." She says. Shutting of the TV, I place her hand in mine. We walk to the kitchen luckily just in time for the oven timer to go off. I offer to take them out, very carefully.
"Christian Grey. You never let me lift a finger!" She exclaims.
"Ana. You're already carrying too much."
"What?" She raises an eyebrow.
I nod, gesturing in the direction towards her belly, which she rubs affectionately.
"You are carrying a piece of you and me. That's all you should be worried about."
She rolls her eyes. One of her many challenging habits that I've come to love.
I set the pan on the counter. She grabs a spatula and begins to move the cookies onto the cooling rack. There are many shapes including trees, Christmas hats, stockings, presents and snowmen which look delicious. To think, she made them from scratch.
She searches the cabinets for frosting and sprinkles, then into the drawers for silverware. "Would 'sir' like to decorate a cookie?"
"Yes." I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. She hands me a butter knife. Unscrewing the lid off the container, I see she has chosen vanilla frosting.
I scoop out some and spread the frosting over a Christmas tree cookie with expert ease. As I was about to add the sprinkles, Ana calls my name. I turn my head and she taps my nose, leaving a white frosting dot in the middle of my face.
Oh, game on, Mrs. Grey. Before she can make a run for it, I seize her hand and pull her into me. She squeals with glee. I nuzzle her nose with mine so her nose gets covered too. We both laugh.
She stands on her tiptoes and proceeds to kiss and lick my nose clean. I paint her nose with the frosting and return the favor.
An idea suddenly enters my mind. "Wait here..."
I have my iPod in my hand and plug it into the dock. Christmas music fills the silence. Ana is busy decorating cookies. She stops when she hears the music. I make my way to her. 'Winter Wonderland' by Michael Bublé plays while I cradle my arms around Ana. "Dance with me?" I say.
She nods and wraps her arms around me. I whisk her out of the kitchen. We dance for sometime. 'All I want for Christmas is You' plays next. I mouth those words as we dance. We're being so silly and move uncoordinated to our own fun, but still fancy rhythm.
Ana's blue eyes are alight with joy. Her beautiful face irradiated by the lights of our Christmas tree. Have I ever been this happy?
"Do you have a favorite Christmas song, Ana?"
"The Little Drummer Boy." She says. I motion for her to continue on. "When Ray was in the military, he told me he would to listen to that song while he was on duty. They would play it around Christmas time. He would sit me on his lap and sing the song. He likes the drummers march beat."
"You mean the 'snare drum'?"
She instantly flicks her head up to meet my eyes, shocked. "How did-?"
"Besides Elliot playing guitar, he wanted to try out drums for a while. Let's just say, there's only so much sleep you can get with that instrument."
She grins and lays her head back onto my chest. I can hear the sharp intake of breath. "Are you tired?"
"Mm-hmm." She yawns again.
"Come. Let's go to bed."
We walk to our bedroom after tidying up the kitchen. We find our comfortable spots and let sleep take us. "Tell me your favorite Christmas song. I haven't asked you that." She utters sleepily.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have one. Maybe one of these nights, if I find a song, you'll hear me play it on the piano." I leave her mind to run free to that one. "...but, I think I'll keep what I have in mind for you to figure out."
Her blue eyes open swiftly. "Which one?" She questions.
"Good night, Ana."
"Not even a hint?" Her interest never ceases to amaze me.
I kiss her to quiet her. "Good night, Anastasia." I say, calmly but with gentle seriousness.