CHAPTER 24

Harley yawned as she finally awoke from a rather comfortable sleep. Surprisingly, this time the Joker didn't wake her up, she was able to allow her body to make the decision of when she was to awaken. It felt good. She was however, tightly constricted by the Joker. Harley tried to wiggle free but he only grasped tighter as she tried to remove herself. She laughed knowing that he was awake and fully aware of his actions.

"Let me go." She whispered sweetly into his ear.

"No."

Harley sighed, she loved his childish acts, "Please?"

Joker smiled and then whined to her, "But I'm cold."

She turned her head towards him and saw that his eyes were closed, "Use the blankets. They were invented for that kind of thing."

He didn't respond with any verbal action, instead he pulled her closer and squeezed harder.

"Joker please!" She laughed and gasped for air.

He finally opened his eyes and looked deeply at her, "I'll let you go on one condition…"

Joker loosened his grasp on her just slightly, "And what would this one condition be?"

"Let me think about it…"

Harley patiently waited…and then waited a little longer until she had become impatient, "So…have you thought of this condition?"

"Shhhh…I'm sleeping Harley."

She rolled her eyes and then struggled trying to break away from his strong hold on her, but alas, she couldn't.

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

"…Fine." Joker released her and Harley scurried up and to the bathroom.

After Harley had finished her bathroom adventure she returned to the bed and plopped herself on top of the Joker, which caused him to cough, "You know Mistah J, Christmas is coming soon."

"And?" He looked up into Harleys moist blue eyes.

"When are you going to put up the decorations?"

Joker pondered what his humble abode would look like if he had the choice of decorating it…lots of blood.

"I don't put up decorations." He smiled and rubbed the back of her neck with his hands gently.

"Why not?" Harley looked incredibly saddened by the fact that had been presented to her.

"Never have…no need for it."

"Well, can you do it for me?" She looked so miserable, Joker loved it.

As if he were actually thinking about his decision to reply with a yes or no, he rolled his eyes around in their sockets looking everywhere but at Harley. Then his eyes got dark…amazingly dark even for him, "What do I get for doing it?"

"What do you mean, 'what do I get'?" Harley eyed him skeptically.

He leaned his head to the right, "You know what I mean cupcake…"

"Oh…well…I don't want decorations that bad." She laughed.

Joker tossed her off of him and stood up shuffling over to his closet and retrieved his famous purple suit, "Stupid men don't even know how to iron a damn suit properly."

"You seem stressed Puddin'." Harley walked over to him and began to rub his shoulder but was denied access to touching him at the moment.

He pushed her away with the hand that wasn't holding his beloved suit and Harley was taken back for a brief second, "What's the matter…are you okay Joker?"

Joker dressed into his suit in front of the bathroom mirror, and then began to lather his face with shaving cream. He never acknowledged the fact that Harley had asked him a question.

She walked in while he began to shave with a sharp blade, "Joker?"

He carved away the shaving cream little by little until the white foamy substance was now completely gone, he wiped his face with a wet cloth and then walked out of the bathroom and to the bedroom door.

"Is it the suit? I can iron it for you if you want me too…I can do it really quick."

"It's not the damn suit!"

Harley's eyes became wide and large, "Well, tell me then…" She tried to sound calm, she knew what this conversation could lead to.

"You know damn well what the issue is…but you're too frightened to do anything about it! Why you don't give your seductive little ass to me is a question even I…The Joker…can't figure out completely!"

Harley let her shoulders drop down, "Joker…I'm not frightened…"

He was beginning to walk out the door but he stopped when he had heard Harley reply with that statement, "What do you mean you're not frightened…"

She closed her eyes and heavily sighed, "My butterflies are gone."

"Since when?" He drastically changed his emotion from rage to concern.

"When we had that…talk last night." She didn't have the guts to look at him.

"…Harley…you're ready? I mean positive this time…no jokes?" He laughed as he said the word 'jokes' it was rather ironic to him and Harley had quick-wittingly caught the irony of it herself.

"No jokes…I'm ready." She laughed when she said 'jokes' as well.

Joker smiled diabolically and moved closer to Harley wrapping his long arms around her slender body.

"But only after you put those decorations up." She spoke in a villainous way which had made Joker want her even more, the way she had cleverly orchestrated the words that came from her perfect lips made his stomach create butterflies of his own.

"Fair enough…" Joker took a step back and looked her up and down she had been standing in such a seductive style, and for that he produced a powerful gleam across his white face, "Do you want to help me put them up?"

"Yes…need to make sure you know what you're doing out there."

"We need to go to the store and get decorations then…I don't have anything."

"You should have a Christmas party!" Harley spontaneously burst out as they were beginning to walk to her bedroom so she could get dressed.

"One step at a time…a Christmas party…I don't know about that punkin' pie."

Harley grabbed her suit and slipped out of her top, right in front of the Joker, she didn't mind in the least that he was seeing her bare body. She actually was enjoying the looks from him.

When she finally was completely suited in her black and red jester outfit, Joker slowly mentioned, "I can't wait to have your delicious body. You have no idea how much teasing you put me through."

Harley put her makeup and hat on and then threw her arms around Jokers neck, "Yes I do."

She kissed him and allowed Joker to rub his hand across her breast momentarily before pulling away from him, "Lets go get some decorations."

"I'm hungry though." Joker took a step towards his girl.

"And what would you like for breakfast Puddin'?"

"Cereal…with root beer…and gummy bears." His face was dead serious.

"Cereal with root beer and gummy bears…what type of cereal?"

"Krispies!" He skipped and clicked his heels never taking his glare off of his Harleykins.

Harley laughed and then brought herself up to his height to kiss him once again. When she was finished with her loving, Jokers eyes seemed to become heavy and he bent his knees so he could come face to face with Harley.

"Harley?" His tone was quiet.

"Yes?" She mocked his actions and tone of voice, slightly bending her knees but still facing him just the same.

"You're adorable." With that said, Joker walked out of the room and went to the kitchen with Harley following in close proximity behind him.

"Okay hurry up with making my breakfast…I want to get these decorations up…oh and don't forget we have a job to pull off tonight."

Harley searched through the cabinets to find the necessary ingredients to make his unique dish. Within the cabinets she found a high amount of sugary items, "Do you eat anything besides sugar?"

He didn't answer he only watched Harley move about the kitchen area, seeking out her perfectly formed body with his fists supporting his chin as he sat at the kitchen counter.

She found a bowl and put the cereal into it, adding the root beer and gummy bears to the mixture, "Here you go." She slid the concoction to the Joker who sat contently with drool beginning to protrude from the crevices of his mouth.

Joker grabbed the spoon and shoveled the cereal up and then into his wide grinning mouth. Harley stood watching him eat the disgusting looking meal in front of him.

"Does that even taste good?"

"I wouldn't be eating it if it wasn't good Harl." His cheeks were full as he chewed the gummy substance, "Here try it!" He scooped up a spoonful of the cereal and pushed it toward Harley.

She scrunched her face, "I don't know about that…"

"Just try it. You don't have to like it, you will, but you don't have to. Now open wide!"

Harley, with extreme hesitation, opened her mouth and allowed Joker to shove the spoon in her mouth. She chewed…and chewed…and slowly her scrunched face became less and less, "That's just wrong."

"What?" Joker downed the rest of his food and pushed the bowl away from himself.

"It tastes amazing."

"Told you. Alright let's go get these damn decorations."

They arrived at the store of their choice and stood silently in front of the automatic opening doors, which subsequently were not opening automatically. Joker noticed a sign that stated their hours, they didn't open up until 8:00.

"What time is it Harl?"

"I don't know, I don't have a watch."

"Well you're not much help are you?" He tapped his foot and fumbled around his pocket until he fashioned out a small clock like device. It read 5:13.

"It can't be five thirteen…" Joker looked at Harley who was just as surprised as him regarding the present time.

The two looked up at the sky and realized that it could very well be the time the device indicated. It was still dark out…both of them hadn't even made the observation.

"Well they aren't open, we can just come back later."

Joker stood his ground. Obviously Harley didn't know who she was talking to. This man, The Joker, had been offered the chance of sex…and all he had to do was put up some Christmas decorations. This of course wasn't all too common for the Joker, he had never really supported holidays. Not that he didn't like them, in fact he loved them, he just never made the effort to let the world know he did. But, back to the main situation, he had been offered sex…with Harley…with the sweet, oblivious little jester that he dreamed about night after night, and yes the teasing with her overly seductive body needed to come to an end…tonight. He was going to make sure that these decorations were the best in the land. The brightest, most organized, and gorgeous looking lights ever. After all, sex was on the line. He was NOT going to walk away and wait for another agonizing three hours to get decorations when all he simply had to do was break the window. So with that last statement presumably stated within his wide mind full of imagination, he broke the window.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harley had been almost back to the car when she heard the loud shatter of glass fall to the floor.

"Getting decorations…what else?" He rolled his eyes at her as she made her way back to him.

The two of them walked inside, the alarm sounding and blaring at them, taking their time grabbing whatever they saw and tossed the items into the two carts they had taken.

Once the two carts were completely full, they made their way back to the car and started putting the items into the trunk and back seat.

"Hopefully my new car will be able to hold more cargo." Joker stated while picking up a large box…he had no idea what was inside of it.

"You're getting a new car?" She sat down in the passenger seat.

Joker sat down in the driver seat and looked over at Harley, "Put your seatbelt on sweetie."

The two could hear cop cars nearing.

"Oh thank you."

"Yes I'm getting a new car, it should be here in a few days."

"Alright so I have a question for you Mistah J…do you want a real tree or a fake tree?"

"Tree? Oh a tree…a fake one would be easier wouldn't it?"

"Yea…but do you think we could get a real one? I never had a real Christmas tree, my…mom…always used this small fake one…" Her voice trailed off indulged with sadness.

Joker noticed the tone of her voice and placed his hand on her knee squeezing it slightly, "Harley…if you want a real tree, then we will get a real tree."

Harley felt a few tears travel along her cheek, "Why did she leave…why did she, kill herself? I loved her…even if I always said I didn't…she was my mom. I don't know what happened."

"Hey, enough of that now." Joker shook her knee lovingly and then felt Harley lean her head on his shoulder as he drove.

Harley grabbed the hand that had been placed on her knee and began to play with his fingers, "I just always wonder why..."

"You need to forget about the past…that isn't who you are anymore."

"It's so hard to just forget your life, believe me I'm trying."

Joker kept quiet for a moment, he thought about his childhood then snapped out of his thoughts, "Tell you what…lets get these decorations up…and then the two of us will go out and get the biggest tree we can find."

She took a deep breathe, "Okay…" She kept quiet the rest of the ride home, still playing with his fingers.

They arrived back at the house and Joker ordered his henchmen to get all the merchandise they took out of the car, and then the two began with the decorating process.

"So…" Joker opened up a box of lights and began to untangle them, "how do you want this place to look?"

"Just do whatever comes to mind." She herself was working on the fireplace in the living room, hanging garland on the mantle with red bows.

"Poor choice of words Harl…" He laughed as he imagined a mass murder scene.

"You know what I mean."

Joker grabbed a mass of garland and began to wrap it around the handrail of the stairs, he could see Harley working on the fireplace below, "Are you alright Harley?"

She looked up at him, he was working hard to make the garland look perfect, "Yea…I'm fine."

Joker smiled and then began to walk back up the stairs to start on the other side of the handrail.

Harley finished the fireplace mantle area and walked up the stairs to where Joker was diligently working. He didn't notice her at first but was glad when he finally did, "Hello their sweet heart."

"Hi Puddin'…thanks for doing this."

He stopped his work and looked at Harley, her arms were folded neatly in front of her.

"Come here." Joker opened his arms for her and she, without any hesitation, embraced him.

"I hate Christmas." She cried into his chest.

"You shouldn't hate Christmas, you get free stuff!" He tried to lighten her mood.

She laughed and cried at the same time, "I love you so much Mistah J."

"Geesh, you make me feel so out of character pumpkin." He kissed the top of her jester hat.

"I know I do…and for that I'm truly sorry…"

"What did I tell you about apologizing for things?"

"Right…" She pulled away and joked with him, "Then I'm incredibly glad about my accomplishments."

Joker continued his garland treatment to the stairs, Harley had wrapped herself around his waste as he slowly made his way down the handrail, "It's hard to move with you stuck on me princess, wait until I'm finished."

"No." She laughed.

Joker sighed he loved her childish acts, "Please?"

Harley smiled and then whined, "But I'm cold."

Joker laughed maniacally and loud, Harley oozed with excitement from it, "We…should use blankets, they were invented for this kind of thing."

She didn't respond, she only squeezed him tighter.

"Harley!" He laughed, "Come on now…let me go."

Harley smiled as Joker shifted to be able to face her, still constricted by her tight hold. He knew he could break away from her hold if he really wanted to, but he didn't.

"I'll let you go on one condition…"