Snow for Christmas. A white Christmas. It had started a day or two before Christmas Eve, continued to snow all through the holiday and now, on the evening of the 26th., it still hadn't stopped. Chandler loved how it looked from the windows of his apartment, how it added the final touch to all his preparations and how cozy and warm and yes, romantic the place would appear to Monica when she came back from her parents. When she came home – and right there was the snag. All that lovely snow that he could have just as easily done without, since it meant that her arrival would inevitably be delayed by it. All that snow that turned to mush and sludge as soon as it hit the streets, and the cold, the wetness and early darkness, plus all the masses of people that would try to make it back on that day too and only manage to clog up and congest all the routes, fill up all the trains and busses until utter chaos reigned, would only serve to delay her arrival and rob them of a lot of precious time together. So no matter how lovely and romantic it looked, thanks, but no thanks.

If only they had gotten themselves cell phones, then he could have called her. Or she him, if only to tell him where she was and how long it would take her to get back. But somehow they hadn't gotten around to it, there had always been something else that had been more important whenever they had some time together. Like doing it of course, whenever he thought about it, it seemed to him that they did spend the majority of their alone time with just that. True, as long as they were keeping their relationship secret, the periods of their alone time would always be limited and thus they always needed to make the best of it and postpone all the less important things to sometime in the future when they would have more time. Not necessarily the time when their secret would be out, no longer be a secret – if that ever happened – but on the other hand, very probably only then.

If they were ever found out, or maybe if they ever chose to reveal themselves to the others, announce their relationship to all of them – if that ever happened, then they would certainly have enough time for everything. Including getting cell phones which by that time they wouldn't really need any longer.

So should they really do that? Chandler stopped pacing his living room and stared unseeing at Chummy the dummy who was now wearing a full Santa costume and holding a tray on which he had stacked a dozen rented videos for Monica to choose from. If all went well they would have three days alone together, enough time for a video or two between their bouts of lovemaking. They had never spent so much time together at a stretch, it would be interesting to find out what they would get up to through all these days. Maybe they should talk about it then, about what it would be like to put an end to the secrecy and purposely and freely reveal their relationship to the world and everyone? Would that be better than to just wait until it came out by accident? He honestly couldn't decide which was better. Had it been long enough? Fourteen weeks, three and a half months, and it already felt like almost an eternity already. To be found out now that they had been doing it for so long felt – wrong somehow. Even stupid. How sweet it would be, how much more of a triumph it would feel to show everybody how blind they had been and enjoy the surprise. But were they really ready for that?

What was there to lose? A lot actually. The thrills most of all. The tickle, the tension, the fun. The urgency. The kicks he admittedly got out of it all – out of the waiting, the sneaking, the ever present fear of being caught in the act that made it all so much sweeter. All that would be gone, lost for good from the very moment their relationship was out in the open and they didn't have to hide any more. When there would be no more need for sneaking and hiding, catching breathless moments in the dark, stealing kisses when no one was watching, exchanging hot glances. That would be over then, and were they really ready for that? For a new phase in their relationship?

On the other hand, it had to end sometime, and what better time to end it but now, at the end of the year? They could start the New Year with a new phase of their relationship, start it with a long deep kiss right at midnight on New Year's Eve, for everyone to see. That felt so right. But was it?

Well, it certainly wasn't for him to decide. He needed to talk it over with Monica. And now it was getting late, almost going on for midnight, and she still had not come. Probably stuck in traffic somewhere, cold and wet in a train or subway and unable to get to where he was waiting for her, ready to supply hot cocoa and eggnog or anything else she might want at a moment's notice. If only she would come … He had been waiting for her since early afternoon, distracting himself first by getting everything ready, cleaning the flat as well as he could and arranging the Barcaloungers, pillows and blankets, plus some towels (because though she was still on her period, there was a slim chance she might be seduced to do it anyway) and candles. He didn't need to take care of the birds since Joey had taken them with him for his sisters' kids to play with (vehemently dismissing his concern that his folks might see them as a welcome addition to their Christmas feast) and found it quite a relief that he wouldn't have to worry about them being cooped up in Joey's room the whole time. When nothing was left to do he spent his time waiting for Monica in his Barcalounger, watching TV, or reading or just sitting there worrying. And dreaming about how it would go when she finally arrived.

She would be tired of course, overwrought and nervous as well as cold and uncomfortable. She would try to hold him off at first, wanting to get into her apartment first, to change there and most probably grab a shower too, not because it was what she really wanted but just felt it was absolutely necessary, simply the right thing to do, and it would be up to him to get her to change her mind, hold her close until she ceased struggling and kept still against him while he rubbed her back and gently pressed down on the small of her back which always hurt her during her period with the palm of his hand, warming it until she relaxed sighing with relief and pleasure, and then kiss her deeply and lingeringly, tightening his embrace. He was only wearing his sweats and as she clung to him she would feel him stirring against her, his soft warmth caressing and enveloping her while he would slide one of his hands down her hips to cup her buttocks and the other up to her shoulder blades to loosen her bra and caress her breasts. If he was very lucky, all of this together with the heat and coziness of the apartment, the savory smell of the cocoa and eggnog would be sufficient to seduce her into letting go, surrender herself to him, allow him to take care of everything, let him undress her and take her to his bed. It was more probable however that after the long and cold journey she would still need to go to the bathroom first, but this way would consent to use his and, if he had managed to arouse her sufficiently, hurry over it as much as possible and return to him even more eager than before. He would wait for her, towels and condoms, and maybe a hot drink at the ready, take hold of her as soon as she emerged again, pick her up and, ignoring her protests, lay her out on the bed, right under the mistletoe he had hung from his ceiling, and in the soft warm light of the candles undress her carefully and lovingly, rub her cold feet, kiss and caress his way up over her thighs and belly to her breasts, and then, still in his sweats, lay on top of her, hold her until she would be hot and drugged with desire, writhing and moaning, wrapping her arms and legs around him, grabbing at his back and buttocks. If he played it just right, she might even forget about the condom in her ecstasy, but it didn't really matter either way. He would kiss her as he entered her, sliding into the hot tight slippery wetness of her, panting and groaning, his head reeling and his heart pounding, feeling her body strain and buck against him as he tried to get closer and deeper still, everything around them narrowing down and tightening until the world just consisted of the two of them becoming one single convulsing ecstatic being, completing each other on their way to their huge, tremendous orgasm that would seize them at the same time, rolling over them and crushing them under it like a giant wave …

Of course it wouldn't be like that, reality always turned out different, but he liked to imagine that he would be able to make it work almost exactly like this dream, and imagining everything beforehand in such detail also made the time pass more quickly. The downside of it of course was that he himself got more and more excited as time wore on, until he almost couldn't contain himself any longer and had to distract himself as much as possible. And inevitably at some point use the bathroom himself, and of course it had to be just at that moment that Monica finally arrived.

However, all was not lost. When he rushed out he found her still waiting for him and jumping at him eagerly, breathless from her run up the stairs, her color high and her eyes shining. And yes, cold and wet too, but in high spirits and not as tired and worn out as he had imagined. She clung to him as he pressed against her, laughing delightedly when she felt him hardening immediately.

"Umm, waiting for me, have you? Ahh … ummm … oh god … I'm sorry it took so long … I just couldn't get away, that damn car wouldn't start –"

"Car? I thought you'd come by train. Or bus."

"No, that would have taken too long. Ross let me take the car after I promised to pick him up on New Year's eve. That is, if dad doesn't trust him with the Porsche then."

"Oh. I thought you had to be stuck in traffic in this weather."

She grinned, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, right, there were a few tight places, but I made it okay. I know a few shortcuts."

"I should have known. I thought you'd be all cold and wet and tired and shivering, and I would have to cuddle and warm you up again, and feed you eggnog and marshmallows until –"

"There's eggnog? Oh my god, and cocoa too! And cookies – and …" Releasing him her eyes widened as she took in the festively decorated apartment, the food and drinks on the counter, the Barcalounger with pillows and blankets, and Chummy the dummy with his Santa costume and the tray of videos. "Oh my … look at all that! This is so perfect!"

"Really, do you like it?" He took hold of her coat as she got out of it and put it on the foosball table, then put his arms around her from behind to kiss her on the neck as she leaned back against him.

"It's lovely. Mmmh, I'm so glad I'm here finally. Oooh, what've you got here? 'Scrooged'? 'Nightmare before Christmas'? 'Trading Places'? Oooh, 'Sleepless in Seattle'! Oh wow, 'While you were sleeping' too! I really wanted to see that, but it's always rented out, especially now before the holidays!"

"I know, I couldn't get it either, so I bought it. I knew you had a thing for Bill Pullman."

"What? As if! No, you totally got it because you have a thing for Sandra Bullock."

"I have? Huh. Well, then it's perfect for both of us." When he slid his hand under her sweater she squealed softly and then turned in his arms to press against him.

"We'll watch it later then. After."

"After what? Bathroom? Shower? Bubble bath?"

"No … though bubble bath sounds nice, we can do that later …"

"After dinner?"

"No …."

"Hot cocoa? Or Eggnog?"

"Mmmmh – no …."

"Presents?"

"Umm, no … wait, presents?"

"But we can do those later too …"

"Shoot, I almost forgot! I've got yours in my bedroom, I'll have to get it …"

He held her back and pulled her close again, surreptitiously steering her towards his bedroom at the same time.

"No. Later. Afterwards will be soon enough."

.

Of course, afterwards he felt almost too drowsy and spent to do much more than kissing and lazily cuddling as they lay snuggled up to each other on his bed. While Monica naturally seemed to be even more charged and energized after their love making and soon got restless again. And impatient. While he was still gathering his strength just to sit up again, she was already jumping from the bed to examine the Christmas decoration in his bedroom, especially the mistletoe.

"That's such a great place for it! Oh, and those candles are so nice, where did you get them? Hey, don't get all sleepy on me, we haven't even started yet!"

"Ah, ummm … okay, okay … ah, oh god – no, I'm afraid it's no use." He let himself flop back on the bed with his arms flung wide. "I'm finished. You killed me. Sucked me dry. I'll never get up again … ah, ow! OOWWW! Stop it! Sto- um, mmmmh …" Then she was straddling him, giggling while she pressed her knees against his ribs and rubbed herself on him and tantalizingly held her breasts against his face.

"Come on, get up. Give me one sit-up!"

"Argh, um … oww…"

"Oh come on! One more try!"

"Argh – oh god … No, I can't. I'm telling you I'm finished."

"Come on! Get up! One … two … three …"

"Ha … oh god, I'm trying … I'm … oh yeah, I am, I'm getting up –"

"Um, that wasn't quite what I meant though …"

"Oh yeah?" He pulled her down until she was lying full length on him, squirming and squealing as he rubbed and squeezed her buttocks and gently slid a finger between her legs and inside her. She moaned into their kiss and then they both started to shiver as their desire took hold once more. He felt more than heard his heart pounding wildly in his ears and his breath rate speeding up until he thought he would pass out from the sheer aching excitement. But he didn't, on the contrary, the feel of her body seemed to have induced fresh energy into his torpidness, until he strained and bucked against her urgently, at last sitting up and holding her while she wrapped her legs around his waist. They finished more quickly this time, but just as intensely and sweetly as before, rocking to and fro on the bed until it was over once more and their breathing calmed again.

"Now I really need a shower."

"Yeah, me too. Yours or mine?"

She considered a bit. "Did you really clean yours?"

"I so did. Not much else to do, was there?"

"Oh you poor sweetie. Okay, yours then. I just have to get my things … Ow, oh god, I can hardly stand …"

"I think I'll just wait here – ow. Okay, okay."

When she got back from her apartment they took a shower together, soaping each other and making out in the hot water, getting into their sweats afterwards and snuggling up in his Barcalounger with hot eggnog and pancakes he'd heated in the microwave.

"Mmmhh, I really needed that. This is so good."

He kissed her on her temple, trailing his fingers through her hair. "Was it that bad at your parents?"

"Um. Not really. Just the usual. A bit more additional heat because I said I'd have to work tomorrow. But if I had stayed, my mother would have asked me by this time why I didn't have to work, or if the restaurant was closed over the holidays, or if I lost my job again ... I don't think they'll really miss me. And this … this is so much better. It's heaven actually."

"Yeah. It really is. Best Christmas ever."

"Really? Better than last year?"

"Last year? What about it? Oh, when I was with Kathy. Um. Yeah, I guess it was nice. But also weird."

"Why was it weird?"

"She had to work – yes, even on Christmas Eve – and then she went to see her parents and they had no room for me, and when she got back, Joey was back too … So, it wasn't bad, but couldn't hold a candle to this one, really."

"I'm so glad." She pressed close again and kissed him until he saw stars. "It's the best Christmas for me too. I can't even remember when I last had a Christmas with a boyfriend."

"Really? What about – no, that wasn't around Christmas, right. Hmm. What about Fun Bobby?"

She made a face. "Yeah, and that actually was the last time. And it wasn't bad – but …"

"Didn't you do it under your tree too?"

"Oh yes, we did, but unlike you he insisted on doing it right on the carpet. Actually right on the needles from the tree."

"Ouch."

"Right. And that was when he gave me that piggy bank."

"Ooouuch ...!"

"And that reminds me, what about the presents? Can we open them now?"

He made a great show of hesitating and considering until she cuffed him and jumped up impatiently, then they handed the boxes over and sat on the carpet in front of the TV to open them, teasing each other with waiting for the other to open it first, until he gave in and opened the small cardboard box.

"What is that – oh my god, a cell phone? You got me a cell phone?"

"Uh-huh!" Her eyes were shining. "It's prepaid, but you can change it to a contract if you like."

"But what about you? Did you get one for yourself?"

"No, I don't need one yet. I wanted you to have one so I can phone you when I'm home and don't need to use your land line or phone your office."

"Huh, yeah, that sounds great. But I want you to have one too. Actually I was thinking about cell phones earlier when I was waiting for you."

"We'll buy one next year then. Do you like this one?"

"It's perfect."

"Let's try it out!" She jumped up and rushed over to his phone to dial a number in it.

"So you already set it up – whoa!" He almost dropped the cell as it started to ring in his hand, with a ring tone that it took him a few seconds to place.

"Oh my god, it's 'London Calling'. Wow. Where do I have to – oh, right." He pushed the button and grinned delightedly at Monica who was still holding the phone. "It's – it's great. I really love it."

She put down his phone and came back to him, a blissful expression on her face. "I already saved the number on my speed dial. And my number is in the memory – there, see?"

"Wow. You've really thought of everything!"

"I know!"

"It's not really invisible though, is it?"

"Invisible?"

"I thought we had agreed on invisible presents. That the others could not see?"

"Oh. Right. I guess I forgot. Well, you could say you got it for yourself. You always buy things for yourself."

He sighed. "I guess I do at that."

"And you can keep it hidden. You know, keep it in your briefcase. That way the others won't ever see it. They never look into your briefcase."

"Sadly, that's true too. But what if you call me and they hear it ringing?"

"You can mute it or put it on vibrate. If you don't answer, I'll leave a message and you can call me back."

"Right. Okay, now it's your turn."

His box was a little bigger than hers. Monica made a halfhearted effort to remove the gift wrapping in one piece, but gave up almost immediately and tore it away.

"Ooooh, what a lovely case! Is that Chinese? And what's that?" She carefully took off the gilt envelope he had taped on top of the red lacquered box and pried it open.

"You said you wanted a gift certificate …"

"And for Victoria's Secret? Oh … oh my god, but that's … that's too much."

"No, it isn't. I want you to get something really, really …"

"Substantial?" She twinkled at him. "Then that won't be invisible either."

"Oh? A lot of stuff I saw there looked pretty much invisible to me. Almost non-existent. If you wear it so it doesn't show …"

She threw her arms around him and hugged him close. "It's perfect! Thank you so much!"

"But that's not all. Check out the box."

"What? Oh, of course. Wow, it's so beautiful! What's it for?" She lifted the lid and then laughed when she saw the cut-out of the Victoria's Secret logo taped on the inside of the lid with "Victoria's" crossed out and "London" written over it. And inside the box were –

"Your watch? The one that stopped?"

"Yes. And here's the condom that Joey gave me that night, the one we never used. And that fortune cookie message from our first laundry date."

"Oh my god. And a photo – oh, a photo of us in London! I don't remember that, when was this taken?"

"It's from the group photo at the Tower of London. I cut out the part with the two of us and had it enlarged."

"Wow. And this … Oh, a snow globe of London! That's soo sweet!"

He leaned towards her and kissed her. "I thought you could keep this in your place and we could put stuff in it. You know. Keepsakes."

Her gaze softened. "Oh, that's sooo …"

"Corny? Cute?" She winced.

"Yeah, but so sweet too. Oh, I could put my photo in it!"

"The naked polaroid? Absolutely. The best place for it."

Monica put down the box and threw her arms around him once more, pressing close.

"I love it so much! It's the best Christmas present ever. The best Christmas. Our secret Christmas."

"Our first Christmas and already the best. How are we ever going to top this next time?"

For a moment she froze and he almost wished he hadn't said that, then she just shook her head, dismissing the thought.

"We'll think of something. This is now, and this is perfect. Oh, I love it so much!" She picked up the snow globe again. "It's like that snow globe of Florence in the movie!"

"Actually, that's what made me think of it."

"Really? Oooh, can we watch that now?!"

"If you promise not to get all moony-eyed over Bill Pullman …"

"Ha! Well, if I do you can always get moony-eyed over Sandra Bullock."

He drew her close and kissed her again. "Deal."