Hello, hello, hello! Sorry this update is so super late. Today was insane and tomorrow's going to be insane, too, so I imagine tomorrow's update will be just like this one. But it will happen! Because I am determined af to get this out there in the world lololol. Remember a few chapters ago when I was like "Aw man, I wish I could be home for Christmas!" Well, this chapter is a lot like that one. :P

Today's chapter is themed off of "White Christmas," something I will never, ever see down here in Florida. :( It is what it is. Thank you for reading and enjoy!

may your days be merry and bright

It's been two days and she still can't quite get over it. They're married. She's someone's wife now.

She's basically a real, live adult and it's weird as fuck.

It had taken them two years to plan the wedding. Mostly, it was because they were busy, but it was also because she's a detail-oriented, OCD-ridden perfectionist who needed every last aspect of their wedding to be perfect or else she'd go off the wall. Honestly, Spencer is so lucky she found Toby so early in life and that he is so endlessly patient with her, because no one else would ever be able to put up with her nonsense all the time (and now she's married him so he's not backing out of this, either). They're living in a cute and cozy (emphasis on cozy) apartment upstate while they both attempt to rise in their respective careers, paying rent and utilities on time and everything. They make car payments. They buy insurance. They even start a 401k. Spencer wishes teenage-Spencer could see her right now, because she is excelling so hard at adulthood it's not even funny.

(They're not completely there, though. They spend way too much time binge-watching shows on Netflix and buy and build their own cheap furniture from IKEA that looks like they built it themselves and spend every Saturday lazing around together in bed and never getting dressed. Baby steps, right?)

He asked her to marry him accidentally, on her twenty-fourth birthday, after one too many Mai Tais at her luau-themed birthday party. Hanna had taken the liberty of planning and executing this party and the guys wore tropical-print tiki shirts and the girls wore coconut bras and grass skirts and everyone got cheap leis that she'd bought from Party City. Caleb had even hired a fire knife dancer that had left the crowd wide-eyed and awestruck. All in all, it had been an incredible birthday party and Spencer had been feeling the effects of all the alcohol her friends had been pumping into her all night. Toby must have, too, because he'd been much more open and much looser and uninhibited. He'd taken her by the hand and they'd danced drunkenly to the island music and in the middle of all the party chaos, he'd popped the question. He'd looked just as surprised by this fact as she did and she merely nodded and he'd blurted out, "That's not how it was supposed to go." In the morning, with wicked hangovers, they'd laughed and laughed until their sides hurt. She still finds it funny to this day. She's pretty sure she'll never let him live that down.

They'd had a beautiful winter wedding just two days prior, on December 20th. They'd arrived to the ceremony in horse-drawn sleighs instead of limos, had had an indoor, winter wonderland theme with icy trees and sparkling, snow-white lighting and had taken photos outside with the melting snow (ironically, it was fifty degrees and the snow was running into the gutters). Cocktail hour had included spiced apple toddies and hot chocolate spiked with everything under the sun and their sit-down meal had offered their guests a buffet full of comfort foods found around a holiday table. They'd danced for the first time as husband and wife underneath the beautiful chandeliers, seeming to twinkle like icicles, and had had the time of their lives. Easily, it was the best night of Spencer's entire existence. But those who had told them so had been right- their wedding day had gone by in the blink of an eye. And so this morning, the morning of their checkout, they have plans to have brunch with whomever had stuck it out for them and stayed the whole weekend.

Hand in hand, they walk, thoroughly refreshed, through the lobby and nearly a dozen people wish them a merry Christmas. Toby frowns. "In retrospect, getting married this close to Christmas made virtually no sense."

"Yeah. I take full responsibility for that," Spencer chuckles. "But think of it this way- we'll never forget our anniversary-"

"Spencer! We were never going to forget! Come on, it's us!"

"-we'll have something else to celebrate this time of year instead of just getting caught up in holiday craziness-"

"True, but will you make the time for us? You're so busy."

"- and we saved literally thousands on this venue because it's twice the price in the spring and summer." Spencer concludes. "And what are you talking about? You've been busier than me, lately."

"Yeah, that's actually true, too," Toby sighs. "You've got me beat on this one."

"Ha," Spencer grins gleefully. "Your wife is always right, Toby. Better learn that now."

He smiles at the term. "My wife. How weird is that?"

"So fucking weird," Spencer agrees. "We've been together for so long and now it's like… by law, you cannot leave me."

He chuckles. "I wasn't going to leave you by anything else."

They walk through the open doors of the banquet hall that held their reception not thirty-six hours ago. Mingling leftover wedding guests greet them excitedly as they pass and again, Spencer and Toby thank them for attending. They spend a good twenty minutes or so speaking with both sets of parents, utterly astounded that they'd both stayed longer than they were expected to, before their rumbling stomachs beckon for food. Loading their plates high with goodies from both breakfast and lunch (goodbye, wedding dress diet!), Spencer searches for an open spot, Toby close behind her, and spots Aria waving from the corner, all their friends surrounding an ornately dressed table by the window. They take their seats eagerly, eyeing their meal selections with longing, before the conversation resumes around them.

"Your sister's dress?" Aria starts, shaking her head. "Holy crap. She looked like Bjork."

"Yeah, I think she was going for that, actually," Spencer chuckles, chewing contemplatively on a piece of bacon. "I hear feathers are coming back."

"From who?" Hanna exclaims. "As someone who's been involved in the fashion industry her whole life, I can confirm that is, indeed, false."

"Regardless, it was a beautiful wedding," Emily compliments and from beside her, Paige nods.

"Best one I've been to thus far."

"Because you haven't seen ours yet," Caleb chimes in teasingly, linking hands with Hanna. "Country hoedown of the century coming your way next June!"

Spencer pulls a face and Toby asks, "Country hoedown?"

"Wow, Han," Aria smirks. "That doesn't really seem like your scene."

"Yeah, because it's not," Hanna rolls her eyes. "Caleb has this adorable new thing where he throws out random theme weddings he knows I'll hate just to get a reaction from me."

"The wedding from outer space!" Caleb winks at her. "It's going to be big."

"Aw, a little alien ring bearer?" Emily grins. "Champagne from the cosmos?"

"Do not encourage him!" Hanna chastises. "Jesus Christ, I'm just going to marry myself."

"Ooh, you guys already fight like an old married couple," Aria comments. "Which is weird, because they are the only married couple, here."

Toby and Spencer both share a grin and Emily asks, "Yeah, how does that feel? You're both such adults now. Married and everything."

"It's weird, honestly," Spencer shrugs and Toby agrees.

"It doesn't feel any different," He adds. "Maybe on the honeymoon it'll sink in?"

"Oh, you leave today, don't you?" Emily asks and they both nod. "That's so exciting! Are you totally thrilled?"

"I am," Spencer says, nudging her husband. "This one is a little less pleased."

"No, of course I'm excited for our honeymoon. I've never been to Hawaii and it's going to be such a great time. Plus, we need the alone time," Toby explains. "But… We're going to be there for Christmas."

"Ugh, what a travesty," Hanna teases. "A honeymoon suite in a beautiful, all-inclusive resort on a tropical island for Christmas. What a fucking drag."

"Hanna," Toby shakes his head. "That's not what I meant. It's just… It doesn't snow in Hawaii. And who doesn't have snow on Christmas?"

"Um, we won't, at this rate," Caleb replies, glancing out the window as more of the snow melts into the gutter. "It's unseasonably warm."

"It really is. I didn't even need a jacket walking over here," Aria agrees with him.

Paige reasons, "Well, you'll have white sand beaches, right? That's sort of close."

"That's the closest thing I'll get," Toby says. "It's fine. It's not a real problem. I just wish we were going somewhere where there's snow."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to freeze my ass off on my honeymoon, so we're going to Hawaii," Spencer replies and Caleb smirks.

"Wow. So this is what marriage is like, huh?" He teases them and Spencer shoots him a pointed look. "No say?"

"You better get used to it," Hanna tells him. "You think I don't run this ship?"

"Yeah, yeah," Caleb rolls his eyes. "As long as I get my under the sea wedding. It's going to be epic."

"Ugh!"

Upon the conclusion of brunch, they bid farewell to their family and friends, check out of their wedding suite and head straight to the airport, their honeymoon awaiting them. It's a ten-hour flight altogether and once they're in the air for the long haul, Spencer turns to ask, "Are you disappointed we're going to Hawaii?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Toby disagrees. "I'm so excited, are you kidding? We're going to Hawaii. For the first time, might I add, and we're going to spend the entire week lying on a beach. That sounds incredible."

"Okay," She replies hesitantly. "Because you seemed really underwhelmed when we were talking about it with our friends."

"No, no, Spencer, that's not…" He trails off, shaking his head. "It's not Hawaii. It's not the honeymoon at all. I'm really excited to spend a whole week doing absolutely nothing with you. It's the dream."

She grins but senses there's more. "But?"

"But," He frowns. "Christmas won't really feel like Christmas if we're looking at palm trees and it's eighty-two degrees outside."

"I know," Spencer replies. "And I completely agree with you. But you kind of have to let that go, because your uncharacteristic negativity is bumming me out. It's our honeymoon, Toby. We only get one of these."

"I'm sorry," Toby insists, taking her hand. "It's my first Christmas without snow. It's going to be so weird."

"I know it is."

"But I don't want to do this to you or our honeymoon," He says. "So I'll stop talking about it."

"You can talk about whatever you want," She tells him. "I don't want you to be like… what did Caleb say? That you have no say?"

"I've never felt like that." Toby assures her. "Really, I haven't. Maybe that's how Caleb and Hanna deal with things, with ultimatums and one of them having more say than the other and stuff like that, but we aren't like that. I like to think we're equals, don't you?"

"Yes," She sighs in relief. "I was just making sure you felt that way, too."

"We both chose Hawaii. We both chose December 20th," Toby says. "So I guess I shouldn't be shocked that it's the twenty-second now and we're going to be on an island for Christmas."

"It's okay," Spencer nods. "Just think of it as Santa's summer home."

Toby laughs, his head thrown back, and Spencer grins, elated just as well as he is. Below the aircraft, there is nothing to see for miles save for ocean and the closer and closer they grow, the more the anticipation begins to build within them. A series of islands comes into view moments later and they land safe and sound at the airport with palm trees swaying across bright blue skies. Hand in hand, they deplane the aircraft and a kind-looking man is waiting there for them, his sign reading, Newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh. Spencer's eyes widen and when she glances to Toby, he's got a smug grin on his face; he's planned this all along. This kind man introduces himself, picks up their bags from the claim for them and then escorts them to a limo waiting just outside the airport and waiting to take them to their resort. They are welcomed with leis made of fresh flowers and are staying in the honeymoon suite that overlooks the rolling seas. When they make it to their room, they find rose petals scattered across the bed, a complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolates, and the doors to the balcony are spread wide open, allowing the curtains to billow romantically in the island breeze.

It is, in a word, paradise.

"Let's go down to the beach," Spencer suggests, but Toby's already yawning and slipping his shoes off.

"Let's take a nap." He says instead. "Come on. It's almost midnight in Pennsylvania. I'm exhausted. It's been a long weekend, you know."

"Toby, we have plenty of time to sleep," She tugs on his hand uselessly. "Come on! The sun is starting to set. It's going to be beautiful."

"Better plan," Toby replies. "Let's order room service and watch the sunset from here."

Spencer rolls her eyes. "Okay. I'm going to the beach without you. Have fun eating in bed and drinking that whole bottle of champagne by yourself."

Toby cocks an eyebrow at her. "Um, I will?"

"Yeah, that actually sounds incredible. Please don't start without me," Spencer pleads and heads for the door. "I just need to stick my feet in the sand."

"Okay, okay, you win," Toby groans, standing and reaching for her hand. "Let's go watch the sunset."

"It's romantic as fuck," Spencer remarks and he chuckles. "God, why would people honeymoon anywhere else?"

"You got me," Toby says as the elevator dings and they step into it, descending.

The pinks and oranges and bright, bright yellows meld together as the blazing sun sinks into the horizon, the ocean swallowing it whole. Spencer watches, wide-eyed, and comments, "Wow. I've never seen anything like that in my life."

"Yeah," He agrees from beside her, mostly just enjoying the look on her face. "It's incredibly beautiful."

"Isn't this better than getting sleep?"

"Of course it is. I'm with you, aren't I? Everything is infinitely better when I'm with you."

She glances at him, pulling a face. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"I highly doubt that," He disagrees, pulling her in for a kiss. She has to give him this one.

The sky turns from a shady pink to a deep purple and then an omniscient black. They watch as stars appear from their sleepy slumber and grow a bit tired, themselves. Spencer asks, "Should we get dinner somewhere?"

"We could," He shrugs. "Or we could go with my original room service idea and not have to worry about making ourselves presentable."

Spencer smirks. "You just don't want to have to put on real clothes."

"That is accurate."

Laughing, she agrees. "Yes, let's order room service. Hopefully they're fast; I'm starving."

As they pass through the library and are waiting for the elevator, the faint sounds of music begin to emanate from the distance and Toby asks, "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah. What is it?" Spencer wonders and when they turn, a traveling group of singers, the middle one with a ukulele, surrounds them, grinning.

"Mele kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day," They croon beautifully and the couple smiles appreciatively. "That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway."

"Aw," Spencer grins. "Because there are three days until Christmas, right?"

"Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright. The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night. Mele kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say merry Christmas to you!"

"Thank you," She applauds as Toby does the same. "Merry Christmas to you, too!"

They nod and head off to find a new couple to serenade. On the way up to their suite, Spencer says, "That was so sweet, wasn't it?"

"Still doesn't feel like Christmas," Toby shrugs. "I'm sorry. It was nice. But it's not… It's not what Christmas is."

"It is if you've lived here all your life and this is all you know," Spencer shrugs. "Come on, think about it. If someone from here went to Pennsylvania for Christmas, that wouldn't feel like Christmas to them. It's all based on what you grew up with."

"Well, I grew up with pine trees, not palm," Toby tells her. "Children giddy over Santa. Sleigh rides through the snow. That's Christmas to me."

"I get it," Spencer agrees, contemplating the room service menu. "What sounds better- loaded potato skins or parmesan truffle fries?"

"Potatoes are involved?" Toby asks. "The answer is always both."

She laughs and the two order their meals, barely able to keep their eyes open long enough to eat, and when they do arrive, they shovel food greedily into their mouths before passing out entangled in one another's limbs as well as their empty plates and glasses, not even bothering to climb under the sheets and blankets. Housekeeping wakes them well after eleven the next morning and they shuffle a bit, disoriented, to get out of her way so they can have a clean room. They change into their suits, grab a quick breakfast downstairs and then set out for the sandy beaches, determined to have a wonderful first full day of their honeymoon. The seas are calm and are the bluest blue she's only ever seen mirrored in Toby's eyes and they lie in identical lounge chairs and when he grins lazily over at her, she knows this is it. All that suffering she'd endured, all that stress and heartache they'd overcome, had all been leading up to this very moment.

"How expensive is Hawaii?" Toby asks then and Spencer smirks. "No, I'm serious! Let's move. Nothing's tying us down to Pennsylvania except our parents."

"Our apartment, our friends, our jobs," Spencer lists. "Not to mention I can't listen to you complain about not getting a white Christmas for the rest of our lives."

"Okay, okay, I surrender," Toby shakes his head. "I just thought it would be nice."

"We'll have plenty of freezing cold Christmases up ahead," Spencer says. "Let's enjoy this nice warm one."

"Oh, I'm enjoying it," Toby nods. "Should we get drinks? We should get drinks right?"

"Well, as a wise woman once said," Spencer begins and Toby prepares himself for the most intellectual quote of the century. That's not what comes out of her mouth. "It's five o'clock somewhere."

He chuckles and they both stand, heading for the bar. "A wise woman?"

"Sure. I like to imagine it as someone who ran one of those underground speakeasies back in the twenties," Spencer says. "Or even as a suffragette or a woman of color fighting for civil rights. After a long hard day of fighting the patriarchal society, you bet your ass that woman needed a drink."

Toby remarks, impeccably impressed, "I like the way you think."

She bumps his hip with hers. "I knew you only married me for my brain."

"Damn. You're on to me," He jokes and asks, "What are you going to get?"

"I'm thinking a piña colada or a blue Hawaiian," Spencer contemplates and then, teasingly, asks, "Are you going to get a Mai Tai?"

"No way," Toby shakes his head adamantly and she chuckles. "We do not have a good reputation together."

"Why? It worked out," Spencer shrugs. "I said yes and we're married. Now we get to live happily ever after."

"I know," Toby reasons. "But I was not going to ask you like that. I wanted your birthday to be about you, not about us. And I had this whole thing planned; I mean, it wasn't huge, but that's never been our style, anyway, and I just… I let the rum do the talking instead and I ruined it."

"You didn't ruin anything," Spencer says. "Look, I'm sure whatever you had planned would have been incredible and, obviously, I would've said yes then, too. But I love the way you proposed. It was spontaneous. It took me by surprise. And it was totally memorable… Especially when you threw up on my grass skirt."

"That was later. That was way, way later," Toby shakes his head. "Thank God I didn't do that in the moment."

"It's okay," Spencer smirks. "It's the first time you were ever drunk. Who knew rum didn't like you very much?"

"Well I know, now," He chuckles and she laughs, too. "You were so good to me. Taking care of me, bringing me water, like I was some drunk sorority girl."

"You basically were," Spencer teases and he rolls his eyes despite the grin on his face. "My poor baby. Handling alcohol like a rookie freshman at his first college party."

"Yeah, yeah," He waves this off. "You know, your birthday party was the main reason I wanted to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon."

"Why?" Spencer jokes. "Because you couldn't get enough of the plastic flowers, the tacky tikis and the fake grass skirts?"

"No," Toby shakes his head. "Because I kind of ruined your night by getting insanely drunk, but you were enjoying yourself so much beforehand that I wanted to take you to the real thing."

"You didn't ruin my night at all," Spencer assures him. "But that's still the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

They order and pay for their drinks, heading back to their perfect spot on the beach to watch the waves roll in. She had, in fact, gone with the blue Hawaiian, and it isn't long before she is feeling it. "This is so good."

"Yeah?" Toby laughs. "Your mouth is blue."

She wipes at her face defensively. "No, it's not!"

"You look like you ate the Smurfs."

"The Smurfs?" She scrunches her nose. "What an old reference. I'm pretty sure they were even before our time, Toby."

"They made a comeback a few years ago," Toby shrugs. "I don't know. It was the first blue thing I could think of."

She grins. "How's your drink?"

"It's okay. Not very strong, which is a good thing," Toby says. "One of us has to keep our wits about us."

"Why?" Spencer asks innocently. "You don't see me stumbling or throwing up, do you?"

"Ouch. Low blow. Low blow," He shakes his head and she chuckles. "Is this not weird to you?"

"What? Drinking?"

"No, sitting here-"

"Making fun of your low alcohol intolerance?"

"Wow, no. I was going to say-"

"Having the most relaxing day I think I've had in my life?"

"Well, actually yeah," Toby nods. "But I was going to say sitting here drinking on a beach two days before Christmas?"

"Oh shut up about Christmas already!" Spencer insists and tosses her empty glass aside, using her lips instead to fuse with his.

They kiss feverishly for a few moments before he pulls back to ask, "Are you just kissing me to shut me up?"

"Yes," Spencer replies and kisses him again.

After a beat, he wonders, "Trying to distract me from the lack of snow and general Christmas feeling?"

"Is it working?"

"Absolutely."

They spend all of Christmas Eve in bed. It's Spencer's general idea to keep Toby's mind on her and off of Christmas entirely. To say it works would be an understatement; she actually wonders, at one point, if her body will combust from too much sex. She decides it's a way to go that she will endure happily. They'd been so utterly exhausted the night of their wedding that they hadn't even bothered having sex, but in just this day alone, they have certainly made up for it in spades. That night, when they finally manage to tear their insatiable selves away from one another, they attend a real, live authentic luau on the beach, with a whole spit-roasted pig and a fire knife dancer who sets the baton ablaze with his tongue. It leaves them completely in awe and they walk along the beach back towards their suite, speechless.

"I could see you doing that, you know," Spencer teases. "Fire dancing."

"Are you serious? I have zero coordination," Toby shakes his head. "I'd probably set the entire stage on fire and melt my face off."

"I'd still love you," She shrugs and he smirks, rolling his eyes. They pass the shaved ice stand that rarely, if ever, has a line, and Spencer exclaims, "Ooh, I want that. Do you want one?"

"How can you even think about food?" Toby shakes his head, gripping his stomach. "We just ate half our weight at that luau. I'm so full."

"It's dessert," Spencer says. "And it's literally ice. I'm sure you could make room."

He shakes his head and, as the man behind the counter prepares Spencer's, he says, "It's okay. Business is slow. You're the first order in weeks."

Spencer's eyes soften and she turns to her husband, urging, "Buy a shaved ice."

"What?"

"Buy a damn shaved ice!" Spencer says, accepting hers gratefully and adding, "He'll have one too. Thank you."

"No, no, thank you," The man nods and duplicates the order.

On the walk back, Toby shakes his head, saying, "I don't even want this! You just felt bad for him."

"Didn't you hear him? He said no one's buying!" Spencer sighs as they cross the threshold into their suite. "The poor guy. He doesn't deserve for his business to fail."

"I doubt it's his business," Toby reasons. "He probably works in the hotel and just mans the stand when he has to."

"Still," She shrugs and tosses her empty carton into the receptacle. "It was good though, wasn't it?"

"It was," He concedes and joins her on the balcony. "It's beautiful here at night."

"It is," She agrees. "It's Christmas Eve, can you believe that?"

"December flew by," He nods. "Even though it doesn't feel like Christmas at all-"

"Okay, I walked myself right into that one."

Toby chuckles. "Let's sleep. I don't know why, but I'm exhausted."

"It's because all we did today was have sex and eat," Spencer laughs and he grins.

"A honeymoon well spent."

On Christmas morning, Toby awakens in a completely empty hotel room. The sun is gleaming through the opening in the palm fronds outside their window and there is a handful of wrapped Christmas presents on the desk on the opposite side of the room with his name on them, but his lovely wife is nowhere to be found. On her pillow is a piece of hotel stationery and he rubs his eyes and reads, Good morning love. Merry Christmas! Please meet me in Ballroom II where your present awaits (dress warmly!). He eyes the note and then eyes the stack of presents on the desk and grows very, very confused. He sends her text reading, Where are you? Before stepping out of bed and throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, the warmest clothing he'd packed for Hawaii, a tropical island whose temperatures rarely dipped below seventy. After running a hand through his hair and a toothbrush through his mouth, Spencer replies, See note. He frowns. Can't she just make this easy for him?

Ballroom II is the smallest and is in the furthest corner of the lobby. Toby shivers and from what, he can't quite figure out, but when he pushes the doors open, his eyes widen in astonishment. The entire floor is covered in what appears to be snow and more of this mysterious substance is falling from a billowing curtain on the ceiling. In the middle of the floor, Spencer is building an igloo with makeshift gloves and when she hears the doors open, she glances up and grins. "Hey! There you are. Merry Christmas!"

"What the…" He trails off, stepping closer as that familiar crunch of snow sounds from beneath his boots. "What is going on right now?"

"Well…" She shrugs. "You said it didn't feel like Christmas without snow, so… I got you some snow."

"How…?" Toby wonders. "How did you even do this?"

"Well I hate to be that kid in your third grade class who tells you Santa isn't real, but the snow isn't either," Spencer breaks the news gently and he chuckles. "Remember last night? With the shaved ice?"

Toby grins. "You didn't."

"I bought his entire stock… and then some."

"You are incredible," Toby says and pulls her closer, kissing her over and over. "I can't even believe you did this for me."

"Well, I wanted you to have a Christmas that actually felt like Christmas." Spencer tells him. "And Hawaii's been great but it's definitely not a place that fits that description."

"I love it. Thank you," Toby replies. "And I love you."

"I love you, too."

"But," Toby points out. "You did get one thing wrong."

"What?" Spencer asks, alarmed. "Too much on the ground and not enough in the air?"

"Not exactly."

"Is it the igloo?" Spencer then wonders. "The left side is a little lopsided, but I thought I made up for it with the right."

"No," Toby grins. "Christmas will always feel like Christmas as long as I'm with you."

And may all your Christmases be white…