Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you the newest chapter of "Christmas with the Formans" I am so sorry that I wasn't able to post it sooner, as most of you know my computer started acting up Christmas Eve and I lost the chapter so I had to rewrite yesterday and today. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas though and some very happy holidays! Thank you SO much for your amazing support it really means so much! I'm glad you all are enjoying the story, your kind worded reviews mean so much *hug* Now this chapter is a lot longer than the other two, sorry about that. I thought about cutting it in half but didn't want to mess with the flow and I also felt really bad for not updating sooner and so I hope this longer chapter will make up for it. Thank you for reading, hope you like it, don't forget to review if you can and as always, please, Enjoy!

December 2, 1983

3:35 A.M.

Kitty's pink slippers tiredly shuffled from the shaggy living room carpet and onto the kitchen's patterned linoleum patterned flooring.

She and Red had gone to bed hours ago, but somewhere around midnight, Kitty had woken up when she felt an emptiness on the left side of the bed. She had brushed off his disappearance as a late night bathroom break or a sneak away for a midnight snack. However, when it was over three hours later and she'd rolled onto his side of the bed and found it cold and spacious, Kitty knew it was more than a late snack or bathroom break that was keeping her husband away.

If it had been a more decent hour of the day, Kitty would have put this disappearance together with the vanishing act he'd done just before dinner; but at three in the morning she just wanted to get her husband back into their bed and go back to sleep.

Eyes and body heavy with sleep, Kitty found Red in the kitchen but there was no unhealthy food or any other kind of midnight snack near him. In fact, the way Kitty had found him had her wondering briefly if she was still asleep and dreaming up the whole scene of Red seated at their kitchen table in his pajamas and bathrobe, reading glasses perched on his nose, and stacks of small paper scattered around him.

There was silence but also a light, rapid clicking sound. It took Kitty a moment or two before she realized the clicking sound was coming from the adding machine that rested beneath Red's left hand

"Red, honey, what're you doing?" she asked, stepping closer to him, her tone of voice showing how sleepy she still was. "It's three thirty in the morning. Come to bed, honey."

Now closer to where he sat, Kitty reached out and rubbed his shoulder softly, encouraging, trying to get him to follow her back upstairs. Red said nothing aside from a quick grunt as he continued to plug more numbers into the big calculator. He couldn't bring himself to pull away from her touch but didn't allow himself to relish in it too much just yet. He had to finish this!

As he bleary eyesight started to adjust and clear up, Kitty noticed that the stacks of paper that covered her previously spotless kitchen table were all receipts.

"Red, what is this?" she was frowning just a bit.

Silence and more clicks followed as Red punched in the last of the numbers into the adding machine.

"This Kitty," Red pulled of his glasses and grinned. "Is Christmas."

Kitty's looked down at the receipts like they were piles of mud that had just been deposited on her clean table. She slowly shook her head, as she lowered herself into one of the empty chairs at the table. "This is not Christmas, Red. Christmas is snow and lights, love and happiness…Christmas is pretty!"

"Christmas is bills, Kitty," replied Red, his expression now more somber and serious. "Look at all these receipts. I added it all up and last Christmas we spent two thousand six hundred thirty four dollars and seventy three cents on Christmas."

"Now that, that just can't be right," she tried to argue but wasn't doing so very firmly.

The information made Kitty not only nervous but shocked too. Ever since Red's plant had started cutting back on hours all those years ago, they had been so good at keep track of their money and how they'd spend it. Could they really have gotten that carried away on Christmas last year?

Red ripped off the paper from the machine to let his wife see the grand total with her own eyes. "Checked it over twice."

She pulled the slip of paper closer to her face then pulled it away again and blinked her eyes rapidly, but no matter the angle the number remained the same: 2,634.73!

"Well," a nervous giggle escaped her lips. "It was a very merry Christmas last year."

"Was it? What do you remember about last Christmas? What gifts to you remember giving or getting?" Red lifted his chin, in a challenging manner.

"Well…I…there…it…"Kitty struggled to come up with a response but couldn't seem to recall much of the previous Christmas and that upset her.

"You see!" Red's grin spread on his lips again and pointed his finger in her direction. "We're emptying our pockets for Christmas here and once it's over and done with, we've got nothing to show for it. Look at all this crap we spent money on last year," he gathered up some of the receipts. "Lights, tree, ornament repairs, gifts, Christmas cards…almost two hundred dollars on baking supplies. How the hell did that happen?"

Kitty tittered anxiously in her seat. "Well there was that fundraiser at the church and then Fez…"

"I don't care," Red held out an open palm, halting her words before she could go on. "I don't care because it doesn't matter. It's money we've spent and can't' get back anymore. None of this crap from last year matters anymore. All that matters is this."

While Red's grin started to make its reappearance on his face, he moved around several of the small white slips of paper until he found what he was it was he looking for.

The little pepper shaker snowman.

It wasn't the little knickknack itself that Red had been on the hunt for, the little guy had finally proved to be of some use by holding Paula's postcard in safe keeping. Moving the snowman and taking the card, Red slid it across the table until it was laid out in front of Kitty.

"What is it?" Kitty was confused but when she grabbed the photo for a better look, she flipped it over and swiftly spotted the familiar handwriting on the back. "Oh! Oh! Oh! It's a postcard from my sister Paula! Aw isn't that sweet…" there was a pause in her excitement as she tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle that Red had given her. "Oh my God! Did you get Paula to come visit for Christmas? Oh this is so exciting!"

A beaming smile in place, Kitty was now wide awake and bouncing with excitement at the idea of getting to see her sister for the holidays. She and Red hadn't celebrated Christmas with Paula since their parents had moved to Arizona. And with Paula here that would mean she would have someone to do Christmas=y things with!

"No!" Red shouted a bit too loudly and harshly.

He hated the way Kitty's smile had fallen so quickly but he couldn't have her thinking that was his surprise. Inviting relatives over for the holiday was practically the opposite of Red's plan.

He chuckled and cleared his throat, hoping to soften it slightly. "I mean no. No," his voice went firm for that repetition. "Alright, forget about it being a postcard from your sister okay? And just check out the picture of that boat."

"Red, this is not just a boat. It's a cruise ship," Kitty said like she shouldn't have had to clear this up and she really thought she shouldn't have had to, Red had been in the Navy! She shook her head, moving her attention back to the postcard and the image printed on it. "Paula's taking another cruise. She called me before she left to tell me all about it and it sounds so magical!"

Kitty gave a dreamy smile as she thought back to the details her sister has shared with her, never noticing the way Red's grin had started to grow a little broader. "There's dining and dancing, fun tournaments…Oh! And every day is a different theme day! You should hear some of the themes that they have…" she stopped midsentence as it finally dawned on her what was going on. The receipts, the postcard, talk about Christmas… "Red Forman, are you getting me tickets for a cruise for Christmas?"

"You tell me," Red was smiling a genuine smile as he pulled out some of the brochures he'd picked up from the travel agency he'd snuck off to just before dinner.

"Oh Red!" she half cooed, half cried, scooting to the edge of her seat and throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh, you are just the greatest, most wonderful, best husband!"

Her beaming smile disappeared only when Kitty moved her lips to cover Red's for a very big thank you kiss. Red kissed her back and pulled her closer for just a moment, before forcing himself to pull away and out of her embrace. He didn't want to but knew he had to. Based off Kitty's reaction it sounded like she believed he was getting her tickets for a cruise as her Christmas gift and they'd be used sometime in January or so, but that wasn't exactly where Red was going with this plan. His job wasn't done yet.

"Look at this one Kitty," he pulled a specific pamphlet holding his cruise of choice to the top of the stack. "A seven day cruise around the Hawaiian islands. We can go somewhere foreign looking without having to actually go anywhere foreign!"

Her husband's excitement made Kitty's smile grow as she giggled lightly. It was rare to see Red so excited about something like this, which made the sight even more welcomed and endearing.

"There's all you can eat buffets, swimming pools, casinos, fishing and snorkeling…"the corners of his mouth tugged up even more. "I might even show you off on their dance floor a few nights."

Kitty bashfully giggled and picked up the brochure, flipping through its photos. "Oh Red, it sounds like so much fun and so romantic too and…" suddenly her smile dropped as she remembered 'fun' and 'romantic' were exactly Red's areas of expertise. There had to be more to it and so with her smile gone and a blank look on her face she asked, "What's the catch?"

"What?" Red tried to sound hurt at the accusation.

"The catch, Red," Kitty's tone told that she would not be fooled, she said it once more putting great emphasis on the word. "The catch."

Now it was him who was nervously shifting in his seat, "Well I wouldn't call it a catch…I think it's a lot more of a perk…"

"Red."

It was now or never…

"We skip Christmas."

"We skip Christmas?" Kitty echoed his words in a much louder tone.

She was now sure that not only had this all been a dream but it was a dream turned nightmare!

"We skip Christmas save some money and spend money on ourselves for a change," Red explained, doing his best to stay positive and excited as he spoke.

"Oh right," scoffed Kitty, tossing the cruise pamphlet onto the table. "Because going on a cruise is a great way to save money. Just how much is this little cruise idea of yours?"

Red's smirk grew like he was happy she had asked. "One thousand seven hundred and fifty."

"We'd save money?" she asked in disbelief, reaching for the advertisement again.

"That's right," Red was prideful in his grin.

Kitty stared down at the brochure for a moment before looking back up at her husband, appearing conflicted and torn. "Oh. Oh, Red, it sounds lovely. It really does but I just don't know if we could skip Christmas. It's Christmas. It's not the kind of holiday you can skip over…like apparently the holiday of my birthday."

Her words made him close his eyes and drop his head back—he hated being reminded of that mistake he'd made years ago.

"Kitty, I didn't skip your birthday I just forgot it," he tried to make it sound better but only got a sharp glare in return, Red cleared his throat and changed the topic of conversation, he couldn't have her mad at him for this. He gave her a nervous smile as he went on. "But that's not what we're talking about, we're talking about Christmas. Let's skip it this year Kitty, what do you say?"

"Red, how can we skip Christmas?" Kitty wanted to know, "It's Christmas, I love Christmas."

As Kitty's voice softened so did the expression on her husband's face, only she didn't see it and was instead looking down at her hands, watching as both her hands were covered by Red's left one.

"I know you do, sweetheart, I love that you love Christmas," he gave her hands a small squeeze. "But you said it yourself, the kids are growing up and this Christmas will be well, different."

Pressing her lips together and looking around the room, Kitty tried to find something to distract her from thinking of the sadder events from earlier. She could feel the tightness in her throat and the tears brimming in her eyes but she refused to cry over it another time.

"The dumbasses will be busy doing their own thing, and now we can do ours," Red continued to speak. "I thought this could be a way to cheer you up a bit, keep you from getting depressed over the holidays."

Kitty gave him a tight lipped smile. "That's sweet, Red but…"

"Just this one year, Kitty!" he threw in before she could give the official 'no' to the idea. "We skip Christmas just this one year and if we decide to make it a new tradition, even better!"

For several moments, Kitty sat there musing over the option Red had given her, she took into consideration her love for the holiday but also all the valid points her husband had made. Red meanwhile, watched her intently; being married for so long, he knew that her taking the time to consider things instead of giving a flat out 'No' was a good sign; but he couldn't rush her.

"Well," she at last spoke, her tone still sounding a bit torn. "We really haven't been on a nice vacation, just the two of us, for more than the weekend since Laurie was born."

"Gotta do it again before one of us croaks," was Red's form of agreement.

"And I suppose skipping Christmas wouldn't be that terrible," she shrugged her shoulders slightly before smiling once again. "After all, it's the parts leading up to Christmas that's the most fun. Putting up the tree, buying gifts, singing Christmas carols…"

Red's grin dropped, "About that Kitty," he coughed and cleared his throat again. "We can't do any of that."

"What?"

"Look Kitty, once you get the tree, you'll want to decorate it and buy new ornaments. Then after decorating you'll think the damn thing won't look complete until it's got presents underneath it." Red explained the snowball effect he was trying to avoid. "You'll go out and buy a bunch of gifts and pretty soon we'll be going on a cruise and doing Christmas."

"Well, now, that doesn't sound too bad," she smiled at the idea of getting to go on the cruise and getting Christmas too.

Red sighed, part of him wishing he could give her this. "We can't afford that, Kitty. We skip Christmas, it's gotta be a total blackout," he told her, "No tree, no spending hours untangling lights, no gifts for the dumbasses, no nothing."

"This is just a dream come true for you, isn't it?"

A smirk twitched onto his lips and he moved his chair close enough to where he could wrap his arm over her shoulders. "Being back on the open sea, under the warm sun, with my girl by my side, can't think of a better dream than that."

"Well, that does sound pretty dreamy," Kitty had to admit, resting her head on his shoulder for just a moment before it popped back up. "And it would finally get Paula to stop bragging on and on about all the fancy shmancy cruises she's been on."

"You can send her a postcard instead of a Christmas card," Red was happy to suggest. "Hell, you can send everyone a postcard. I know how much you like writing those."

"I do and you know," Kitty's tone of voice and smile became more playful and flirty as she snuggled closer to him. "I've always wanted to see my sailor out on the open sea."

His smirk was just as playful and his eyes held a twinkle, "I'll bring my uniform hat."

Kitty giggled with such glee that Red found himself joining in on the laughter until she suddenly stopped and looked up at him, going serious again.

"Skipping Christmas is not going to be easy, you know," she wanted to remind them both.

"I know."

"And I don't know if you realize this but your Christmas blackout would include you not getting any of my Christmas cookies that you love so much."

Red's smile was still intact. "If you wanna go on this cruise, I'll make the sacrifice and wait another year for the cookies."

She pressed her lips together, trying to contain her smile, she couldn't believe she was getting excited about the idea of skipping the most wonderful time of year! But a fun, romantic getaway with her husband sounded so nice…a lot nicer than the way this year's Christmas celebration had started off.

"When do we leave?"

This was Kitty's 'yes' and Red's grin doubled in size when he realized it.

"High noon, Christmas day."

It was going to take some getting used to the idea of skipping Christmas, Kitty was sure but at this moment all she could think about was the luxurious cruise her husband had planned for them. The fact that he came up with idea and acted on it all as a part of a way to cheer her up and help keep her from feeling lonely and forgotten, warmed her heart. She quickly threw her arms around his neck for another great big kiss that this time Red had no reason to pull away from.

Author's Note: So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little of both? Be sure to let me know in a review!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry it was a longer one, I know I said these chapters would be short but kinda was short compared to some of my other stories.

Next chapter Red and Kitty will share their skipping Christmas plans with the kids. How will they react? I forgot to mention that while this story is Red and Kitty and they are the main characters, we will still see plenty of the other characters, just not in every chapter, sorry.

Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!