Keeping Christmas Well
Sunday, December 23, 2012
"Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms…."
MacKenzie burst into giggles curled up next to Will in their hotel suite. They would be going to her family home tomorrow but were taking advantage of a few days alone in London to shop and relax beforehand. "Seriously?" he said to her, looking up from the Dickens book she had given him two years ago for Christmas. "We're two paragraphs from the end."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself," she said, stifling another giggle.
"You actually believed I was Scrooge, didn't you? And that's why you gave me this book," he protested.
"You truly are an idiot," she told him as she leaned up and kissed him. "Did you listen to anything I said when I gave it to you?"
He shrugged. "You found it in London while with your father."
"Do you remember when?"
"You were on leave from Afghanistan."
"Yes. November 12, 2009."
"Wait…. What?" he paused to think. "That was when you were recovering from…."
"Yes," she acknowledged. "It was also five months before Charlie tracked me down in Washington. So, ask yourself why I was thinking about you at all, let alone buying you a gift, when I didn't know when or if I would ever see you again."
"Because you love me," he answered sincerely.
"Yes… because I saw a beautiful antique edition of my favorite book and I wanted to share it with the man I love, even though I knew the chance of that actually happening was almost zero. We're all Scrooge, Billy. We all need to be saved and redeemed."
As her words sunk in, he smiled, and looked again at the book in his hands. He did not deserve this woman, who loved him, who challenged him, who never gave up hope, and who time after time defended him and stood with him. He kissed her on the forehead. "I never did properly thank you. I do love it, and you were right about the book. I would like it to become a holiday tradition for our family that we read it together every year—like we have this year."
"I'd love that," she agreed. "I'll be right back." She scooted off the couch and into the other room.
"What are you doing?" he called after her, setting the book down on the small end table.
But in a moment, she was back, carrying a small, wrapped box. She handed it to him as she sat on his lap on the sofa. "Speaking of family... Merry Christmas, Will."
"MacKenzie, it's December 23. Don't you want to at least wait until tomorrow?"
"Look at your watch…. It's Christmas Eve. And you get to open a present. I want it to be this one."
He shook his head with a smile. It was useless to fight her in this. "Okay." He gave in and tore the wrapping from the box. Inside was a pair of unusual gold cufflinks. He pulled the first one out of box. "A knot, Mac?"
"A lover's knot, silly."
He laughed and pulled out the second cufflink. It was a small circle with Roman numerals engraved across the middle. He looked closer at them: VI-I-MMXIII. "6.1.2013?" he asked in puzzlement.
"Yes," she answered patiently, a coy smile on her lips, as she waited for him to figure it out.
And then he did. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "June 1st?"
"Are you okay with that date?" she asked. "It is a Saturday, which would work out best for our friends. And it should give our families enough notice. I want all of them there with us."
He set the cufflinks next to the book and hugged her tight. "I'll make sure that every one of them are with us." He released her enough to look at her. "Where?" he asked. "England?"
She shook her head. "New York. It's our home now. St. Peter's or St. Francis Xavier's?"
"I'd like that," he whispered against her lips with a soft kiss that very quickly ignited into something far more consuming and satisfying.
After a time, MacKenzie broke their contact and told him, "Finish the book, Billy, so we can go in the bedroom and I can unwrap my Christmas Eve gift… you."
He groaned. "How about we finish the book tomorrow and instead "keep Christmas well" in our own way tonight? Like, right now."
"God bless Us, Every One!" she exclaimed as she scampered off his lap and grabbed him by the hand.
