"Why do you say that?"
"He sounded so lonely, Jonathan. And I just realized that I was so caught up in the fact that Dr. Perkins said I couldn't go home, that it never occurred to me to ask him if he wanted to come spend Christmas here with us".
She sat up some and reached for her water glass. He sat up and helped her get it.
"Darling, we will see him when the baby is born. I tell you what, why don't we call him in a few days, and see if he wants to come out for a long visit? If he does, I will have Jack go get him and bring him out right away".
She nodded.
She buttoned up her blouse and then they switched positions and she laid on top of him this time. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.
He waited about 20 minutes, and then eased out from under her.
He went to the kitchen and started making his special Christmas eve dinner for her, being quiet so he wouldn't wake her.
Four hours later, everything was in the oven, and she was still sleeping.
He finally woke her around 5.
"Darling…. If you don't wake up, you will be up all night".
She woke up, and yawned.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, just tired is all."
She started rubbing her neck.
"My back hurts…must have been the way I slept on it".
"I tell you what, after dinner, what if we do something special?"
He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What if I give you a Christmas massage?"
"What's going to make it a Christmas massage?"
"I will rub you with mistletoe".
She burst into laughter, and kissed him.
"Deal".
"Ok, so dinner is in the oven. As soon as we eat, I will do the dishes and then give you a massage".
"Darling, let me help you".
"No, no no. This is part of my surprise for you".
"How long do we have till dinner is ready?"
"About 20 minutes".
"Perfect."
She stood up and started unbuttoning her blouse.
He gave her that devilish grin that she loved so much.
"Oh, I love you".
He stood up and shed his clothes and then joined her on the couch.
They made love right there, in front of the Christmas tree.
After they were finished, they were on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket when the timer went off.
Jonathan got up and threw his pants on and went and started getting everything out of the oven.
Jennifer gathered their clothes and went upstairs and changed into a nightgown she knew he liked, and the matching robe and came back downstairs.
He had just gotten the last thing out of the oven, and set it on the counter.
"what a great idea. Darling, I'm going to go change also. Can you get both of us a glass of water? But wait to go into the dining room till I get back".
"Certainly".
Just as she finished making their waters, he was back, wearing a pair of red pajamas.
"Ok, so, I am going to put this blindfold on you, and then get everything on the table. After I am done, I will come get you".
"Alright".
He put the blindfold on her and led her to the kitchen table, and had her sit.
A few minutes later, everything was ready.
"Ok, darling, it's time. Let me help you up, there…ok, now I am taking off the blindfold."
He took her hand and led her to the dining room.
She walked in and gasped.
"How did you…?"
"I placed a few phone calls, called in a few favors, and here we are".
The table was set with her mother's fine china. The meal he had prepared was a mix of his favorites and her favorite dishes that Walter and Max always made at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
"We have pork tenderloin with a soy sauce based demi glaze and a homemade mustard sauce, sautéed mushrooms, a fresh garden salad consisting of spring mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mozzarella cheese, with an oil and red wine vinegar dressing, apple bacon coleslaw, sweet potato casserole, Caprese sticks, fresh rolls, and coconut sweet tea".
He kissed her cheek.
She had tears running down her face. She stepped forward and touched one of the plates.
She turned and grabbed his face and kissed him with the most passion she had shown him in months. Their kiss lasted a good 5 minutes or so, until he finally broke it.
"You are the most wonderful person in the whole universe. I don't know what contest I entered where I won you, but I am so glad I did. And I would never, ever trade a thing".
She reached up and kissed him again.
"This is the best surprise ever, thank you so much".
"Darling, our food will get cold. And I slaved over all of this while you napped today…"
She chuckled and kissed him again, and then they sat down.
"How did you do this, darling? I gotta know".
"Well, I called your dad. And I told him that you really wanted to come home for Christmas but the doctor said no. He said he understood. He also said that if he didn't have to fly to London the day after Christmas, he would have come to see us. And then he told me that you might feel better if we incorporated some of Hill Haven into whatever we did. So, I thought about it and decided we could have some of the traditional dishes that we would have there, and we could do a few other things, that will be surprises later, also. Walter helped me out big time. And I paid Stanley a double bonus to fly on our plane, and go to your dad's house and pick up the china. Walter was kind enough to send copies of the recipes I would need, so that I could pull this off."
"So that special errand today? That was this?"
He nodded.
"I was meeting Stanley to get all of it".
She grabbed her napkin and wiped her eyes.
"I have never felt more special in all my life. You really touched me this time, Mr. H."
After they finished eating, they did the dishes together, and then went to the den.
He built them a fire, and they snuggled up on the couch.
"Do you want to do stockings?"
"Actually, I think I want you to open one present."
He got up and rummaged under the tree and brought it to her.
She opened it carefully, and found a box. She broke the tape on the box, and lifted the lid to find some soft pink, suede gloves.
"Gloves? Darling, we live in sunny California".
"I know that. But they might come in handy someday".
He leaned forward and kissed her.
"That present has a part two. I will be right back".
He ran upstairs and grabbed her gray sweat pants, one of his blue long sleeved henleys, and her brown mocassins.
"Babe, put these on."
"Ok". She put the outfit on, like he requested. He slipped his rain galoshes on, and then, when she was finished, he took her hand and helped her off the couch.
"Close your eyes. I will lead you to part 3".
"Jonathan, if this is a trick, I am going to be so mad".
"It's not, I swear it".
He led her to the front door and then opened it, and led her outside.
"Open your eyes".
She opened her eyes and her mouth fell open.
"Is this real?"
"Yes, it is. You said you wanted a white Christmas. So, I hired a truck to come by and cover the yard in snow".
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Now, there's just one thing left, Jennifer".
"What's that?"
"You have 5 minutes to make as many snowballs as you can, before the 1st annual Hart vs. Hart snowball fight commences. Winner takes all, and may God have mercy on your soul because you sure won't get any from me".
She was looking at him in shock.
"You expect a pregnant woman to run all over the yard making snowballs?"
"That's a good point. Ok, ten minutes. No running."
"Thank you".
She kissed him.
"Good luck".
She started walking fast and gathering snow and making snowballs. She grabbed one of the buckets that they kept outside by the door and started piling the snowballs into the buckets.
After several minutes she almost had a full bucket.
Suddenly, it struck her that maybe this was a trick. Maybe he wasn't going to make snowballs at all. She started looking around for him, and didn't see him anywhere.
She was just about to call his name when she got hit in the back with a snowball.
She turned and started laughing, trying to duck and throw at the same time.
She ended up behind the car, and threw several good ones that got him.
After about 10 minutes of throwing snow at each other, he called a truce.
"Ok, I concede. You are the winner. I'm out".
"Well, that makes sense, considering I grew up in the snow and you didn't".
She walked over to him and kissed him, and he embraced her.
"Thank you for my snow, darling. This is amazing".
"You're welcome. How about a snuggle by the fire now?"
"Oh, that sounds amazing".
They walked inside and she changed back into the nightgown. He went and made her some warm apple cider, with caramel on top, and made himself a brandy.
He came and snuggled with her.
"Darling, will you do me a favor?"
"Certainly".
"Take a big drink of your brandy."
He took a nice long gulp.
"Now, run it over your lips a little".
He dipped his finger in his brandy and ran it over his lips.
"Now kiss me".
He kissed her nice and slow, and then when the kiss was over, she licked her lips.
"Nah, not the same".
He chuckled at her.
"You miss your brandy's huh?".
"Yes. But, soon enough".
She set her drink down, and put her hand on his chest.
"This has been the best Christmas Eve I have spent with you, ever."
She leaned up and softly kissed him.
The clock on the bar started chiming.
"Oh, it's almost bedtime, Mr. H."
"We better get to bed before Santa comes".
He finished his brandy, turned out the fire, and then held her hand as they walked upstairs.
As soon as they got to their bedroom, she changed into a short nightgown, and he changed into his red silk boxers.
They climbed into bed, and she climbed on top of him.
"Darling, I'm sorry we never got to your massage".
"It's ok. We can do that another day".
She was rubbing his chest.
"You gave me the most wonderful surprises today. So, now it's your turn. Close your eyes, and sit up with your back against the headboard".
He obliged, and she reached over and turned out the light.
She started kissing his chest, and then started moving her kisses lower on his body. She slithered down his body, till she was laying in front of him, and reached her hands down into the waistband of his boxers.
Freeing his manhood, she slowly took it into her mouth, causing him to draw in a shaky breath.
She focused on licking him and squeezing him and making sure he was enjoying it. He ran his fingers through her hair as he laid back and let her have complete control.
She brought him to a climax, and held on as he shuddered and released inside her.
"That was amazing".
She rolled off him, and went and brushed her teeth, and then came back to bed.
He was about to fall asleep.
She snuggled up to him, and kissed him.
"Merry Christmas, darling."
He kissed her for a few minutes, and then they fell asleep together.
***Christmas morning***
Jennifer woke up around 8:30, and was surprised to find Jonathan still in bed with her.
She sleepily snuggled closer to him, causing him to wake up a little.
"Darling, it's Christmas".
"Merry Christmas".
He rolled over away from her, and she started scratching his back.
"Oh, that feels wonderful".
She scratched his back for about 20 minutes, and then got up.
"I'm going to start the coffee".
She grabbed her robe and slippers and headed downstairs.
She could hear him getting up.
She had made his coffee just the way he liked it, and had it ready when he came in the kitchen.
"How about an omelette?"
"Sure".
He chopped the veggies for his while she chopped the veggies for hers, and they made the omelette's together.
After a nice breakfast, they went to the living room to open their presents.
"You go first, darling. Yours are the blue paper".
He brought all the presents over to the coffee table.
As soon as they were all over there, he sat down next to her and started opening his.
First up was a new sweater, that he loved. It was grey, and she had gotten him a grey and blue striped tie to match.
Second was a new pair of boots for when they went to the ranch.
She also got him new golf clubs (that were being delivered later), some new pajamas and boxers, and a new watch.
"I love all of these, darling. You did great".
He thanked her with a kiss.
"Now it's your turn".
He handed her one of her gifts, and piled the others into his lap.
She opened the first one and found a beautiful white lace pajama set.
He had also gotten her several pairs of thick socks like she loved, a gorgeous ring with 4 colored stones, and a beautiful pink pashmina.
"Darling, is there a special meaning behind the stones on the ring?"
"Yes, and you get to figure it out".
She studied it and thought about it long and hard.
"Birthstones?"
"Yes. The purple one, the amethyst, is my birthstone. The topaz one is yours. The sapphire is for when we married, in September. And the emerald is for when our daughter gets here".
She teared up.
"That is so thoughtful". She leaned up and kissed him. She couldn't stop staring at her ring.
He put one more present in her lap.
"Ooh, this is heavy." She started to open it.
After she got all the paper off, she opened the box.
As soon as she saw it, she started to cry.
It was her mother's recipe box.
"Walter made copies of all of them, and you have the originals. And just in case something goes wrong, I am going to have Deanne make copies of them so that we will always have a backup set".
She was crying for real, and he teared up too.
"Now we can have her recipes whenever we want to, babe".
She nodded.
She couldn't say anything, so she just kissed him.
He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head a few times. A few minutes later, she had wiped all her tears away.
"I love this, thank you darling".
They sat there on the couch a little longer.
"We are going to be parents, babe".
"I know. I can't believe it".
"This time next year, we won't be able to just sit here on the couch, just the two of us".
"I know. And I love this, but I'm excited about having a child too".
She put her gifts down, and snuggled closer to him.
"This has been the best Christmas, darling, and it's all because of how generous you have been, and how you have spoiled me".
She moved and straddled his lap, and put her arms around his neck.
"I love you".
She leaned forward and kissed him a few times.
"How about that mistletoe massage?"
"You got it".
She climbed off him, and then he went and got out their massage table that they hardly ever used.
She laid down on it, and he gave her an extra deep tissue massage, using his elbows. He really rubbed her knots out, and used the massage oils that he knew she loved.
She fell asleep on the massage table, and dreamed of their child. She had the prettiest smile, and the most wonderful sparkle in her eyes, and she was a big time daddy's girl.
Jonathan looked at Jennifer as she slept, and was surprised to see she was smiling.
"Hope it's a great dream, babe".
He kissed her forehead as she slept.