Chapter 44
HOUSE
Wilson came over mid-morning on Christmas to help Elle prepare the dinner. He had spent the night at Cuddy's place and she was joining us later for dinner. Elle and I had only been awake for a short while when he arrived, just long enough for the coffee to finish brewing.
We had gone to bed after our little armchair interlude last night, and the discarded pieces of clothing were still on the floor. Wilson smirked as he looked around the living room. When Elle's back was turned, Wilson picked up the bra that she had been wearing last night. He held it up, inspecting it, and then shot me an amused look.
"Looks like someone's been naughty. I'm surprised to see that Santa left any presents at all."
Elle turned around right at that moment and saw what he was holding. She marched over to him and snatched it out of his hand.
"We may be naughty, but we're very nice to each other, so I guess Santa feels we deserve presents after all."
Elle walked around the room and picked up all the stray clothes. She put the Santa hat back on her hat, shot Wilson a smirk and walked over to me. She tiptoed up, put her hand on the back of my neck and pulled me down for a kiss. I obliged her desire and we shared a nice open-mouth kiss. I grabbed her ass and pressed her closer to me. As we broke apart, she cupped me and gave my package a gentle squeeze. Her eyes were lust-filled, her smile sensual and mysterious as she mouthed the word: "Mine." Then she turned and headed down the hall.
I smirked; I was a bit surprised that she had done that right in front of Wilson. His expression gave away his own shock at her action.
Then he laughed: "She really is a little spitfire, isn't she?"
My mind flooded with the memories of last night's events and all I could do was nod in response to his question.
Elle and Wilson started working on Christmas dinner right after breakfast. Elle doused the ham with a can of cherry coke; that seemed really weird to me but she swore that I would love the way it tasted, so I shrugged and let them carry on. After applying the pineapple rings and cherries, the ham went into the oven. They continued on with the dinner preparations while I wandered into the living room.
I sat down on the couch and picked up the phone from the end table. I stared at it for a few minutes. I needed to call my parents and wish them a Merry Christmas, but I didn't seem to be able to dial. I had been talking to Mom 2 or 3 times a month since her visit, but it had always been on Sunday mornings when Dad was off fishing with his buddies. I hadn't actually spoken to him in months, but I knew I couldn't get away with that today.
I took a deep breath and blew it out while stabbing at the numbers on the phone. I told myself to just get it over with; maybe if I was lucky he would be in the john and I wouldn't have to talk to him. As the phone rang, I pondered on the fact that a slang term for the toilet was the same as my Dad's name.
To my bad luck, it was his gruff voice that answered the phone. "Hello."
He couldn't even answer the phone in a pleasant manner on Christmas.
I tried to keep my voice calm as I spoke: "Hey, Dad. Merry Christmas."
"Well, well, well. My son finally remembers to call his folks for a change. What do we owe the pleasure of this call? Oh, yeah, it's Christmas."
My hand fisted. This was not going to be an easy call. "I guess I've missed you the last few times I've called. Mom said you were out fishing."
"Yeah, convenient how you always call when I'm not here. Some people would think that you don't want to talk to me. What are ya ashamed of your old man?"
"Not at all, Dad. It's just been convenient to call on Sundays right before the 1:00 game comes on."
"So you call your mother right before you sit down to watch football and drink beer with Wilson? Or does your little girlfriend watch football with you too?"
Crap. Mom had told him about Elle; I had been hoping that she wouldn't.
"Her name is Elle and yes, she watches football with us."
He snorted: "L? That's not a name; it's just a letter of the alphabet. What kind of people would name their kid something like that?"
I gritted my teeth: "It's spelled E-L-L-E. It's short for Arielle, which is a biblical name, by the way. It means 'lion of God'."
Again he snorted: "I never heard that name in the bible."
"In the book of Ezra, Ariel was Ezra's messenger to the Levites. And in Isaiah 29, Ariel was a code name for the city of Jerusalem."
"Look at that. My atheist son is quoting the bible. I thought you didn't believe it in God."
"I don't, but I have read a lot of literature including the bible. Shakespeare used the name Ariel in 'The Tempest' and so did Milton in 'Paradise Lost'."
"A: the bible is NOT just literature. It is the word of God. And B: I have read some literature. Your old man's not as stupid as you seem to think he is. Shakespeare's Ariel was a real prankster. Is that what your girl is like?"
I rolled my eyes. "No, Dad. You asked about her name; I was just giving you some information about it."
"Yeah, you think you're so smart. Did you know that Uranus has 3 moons, one of which is named Ariel? Your girlfriend's a moon that revolves around your anus." He snorted with laughter.
I gritted my teeth; I just wanted to say hi to Mom and finish this phone call.
Before I could open my mouth to ask for her, Dad blundered on.
"Ah, you didn't laugh at my little joke? Did ya lose your sense of humor, son?"
"I didn't find it very funny, Dad. I would prefer that you not talk about Elle like that."
"Why, what's the harm in a little joke? I'm sure she would understand. Put her on the phone and let's see if she laughs at it."
"No, I won't have you talking to her that way."
He chuckled: "My, you are awfully protective of her aren't you? Are you in love with this one, gonna marry her, or are you just going to shack up with her like you did with Stacy?"
"It's really none of your business how I live my life."
"I'm your father; it is my business. You know what your problem is, Greg? You have it too good. You've shacked up with women getting all the benefits of marriage without the responsibility. You got two legs, yet you think you're such a cripple that you need a handicapped-parking sticker. I know guys,"
I growled: "Don't go there."
I could hear Mom's voice in the background pleading: "John, for pity's sake, don't argue with him on Christmas. Give me the phone. Let me say hello."
Dad's voice got distant as if he was holding the phone away from his mouth. "Fine, Blythe. Talk to him. Say Merry Christmas to his little slut for me."
"John! She's a nice girl. Don't say things like that."
"Nice girls don't shack up."
I shouted into the phone: "I told you not to talk about her that way."
His voice was louder this time. He must have put the phone back up to his mouth. "I'll say any damn thing I want. If she puts up with the likes of you, how nice can she be? She's probably a slutty bitch like Stacy. You seem to attract that type."
"Stop it John! Give me that damn phone."
"Don't you cuss at me, woman. Here! Talk to the jerk we call our son."
Finally Mom got the phone away from him. "Greg. Merry Christmas, dear."
Through gritted teeth, I hissed: "It was until I spoke to him."
She sighed: "Greg, dear."
After that conversation, I was finding it hard to be civil even with Mom.
"Please don't make excuses for him this time. He has no right to say those things about Elle. His behavior is completely unacceptable."
"He just doesn't know how to talk to you."
She sounded so sad, but I just couldn't take her peacemaking efforts today.
"Yeah, you'd think after 47 years, my dad would have figured out how to talk to his son. Some people just should not have kids. I gotta go, Mom. I hope you have a nice Christmas and I'll talk to you soon."
I ended the call and threw the phone across the room, shattering it into several pieces. I looked around the room; I wanted to break something else. Then I glanced towards the kitchen and saw the worried faces of Elle and Wilson. Crap! I guess they heard the whole conversation. Great, just what I needed, two people worried about my feelings. I couldn't deal with this right now. I grabbed my jacket and my helmet and headed out the door as fast as my crippled leg could take me.
ELLE
"Jimmy, he took his helmet. That means he's taking the bike!"
I rushed to the window just in time to see Greg rev the engine and take off down the street. He hadn't ridden the bike since the weather had turned so cold.
Jimmy tried to reassure me. "Elle, don't worry. After that phone call, he just needs to burn off some steam or he'll be taking it out on one of us. Look what he did to the phone."
"I understand that, I'm just worried about the condition of the roads."
"Well, we haven't had any snow or ice storms."
"Not here in Princeton, but he likes to ride out in the country and who knows what it's like out there? It could have snowed."
He looked worried now. "You're right."
I started picking up the pieces of the phone scattered across the room. "Greg kept saying my name. He and his father were fighting about me. Why would they be fighting about me? Greg kept explaining about my name, what was that all about?"
He shook his head: "I don't know. John House doesn't deal well with the unusual and I guess you have an unusual name as far as he is concerned."
"How stupid is that, fighting about my name?"
"John will find something to pick on. When House was with Stacy, he used to make lawyer jokes and rag on him endlessly about the fact that they weren't married. John kept making jokes about getting the milk without buying the cow. House hated that."
"Why does he do that?"
He shook his head sadly: "I don't know, Elle."
"Greg was defending me. He kept saying don't talk about her that way. What on earth could his dad have been saying about me? He hasn't even met me."
Jimmy just shrugged; we had no answers.
I was really concerned; Greg seemed quite upset and I didn't know what he would do. If he was ruminating on the argument in his mind while he was riding, he might not pay close attention to the road conditions and get into a bad situation. I wanted him to just come home. I knew he wouldn't want to talk about it, but I wanted him safe. How incredible that his dad managed to ruin Christmas and he wasn't even here.
"I'm going to call him and try to get him to come home."
Wilson warned: "He might not answer and even if he does, he might be in such a bad mood that he takes it out on you."
"I know and I'll deal with it. I just want him home and not driving around in a foul mood on bad roads."
I found my cell and called his. To my dismay, I could hear his phone ringing back in the bedroom. I looked at Jimmy; he heard it too and just shook his head.
I closed my phone and blew out a puff of air in frustration. "I should just attach a GPS device to his ass. At least, then, I'd know where he was."
There was nothing else I could do but wait for him to come home. I headed back into the kitchen and started working on the rest of Christmas dinner. I needed to keep busy or I would just go nuts with worry. Jimmy joined me and we worked side by side in silence.
HOUSE
I couldn't believe that my old man managed to ruin the first Christmas that I had been looking forward to in years. I was doubly pissed that Elle and Wilson had heard the conversation. After seeing their faces and knowing how concerned they would be, I just couldn't face the two of them. Wilson would definitely want to talk about it and I'm sure Elle was wondering why her name kept popping up in the argument.
My old man was such an ass. Nothing I ever did pleased him. He was never proud of me. Most parents would be proud of their kid when they graduated from medical school, but not him. As far as he was concerned, the military should have been the only career for his son. Once it became clear that I wasn't going to take that path, there was nothing else I could do to please the man.
I could take him ragging on me. After all, he has done that practically my whole life. But I couldn't take him attacking Elle. Not that I should be surprised that he is saying things about her; after all, he attacked Stacy constantly. I suppose he feels that any woman, who would debase herself to be with his loser son, must be an idiot/tramp/slut/loser herself.
I was so distracted by my thoughts that I failed to really pay attention to where I was going. When I saw the Burlington County sign, I realized that I had ridden much further than I thought. Suddenly I was feeling the cold. I was on my bike in December, going 60 MPH and wearing just my leather jacket. Oh, man, and Elle saw me leave like this. She is gonna be really worried. She had planned a really nice Christmas for me and I was fucking it up. She didn't deserve this; she deserved much better.
I pulled over at a gas station and cut the engine. I searched my pockets for my cell phone and naturally, I didn't have it on me. I wandered over to the pay phone and someone had ripped off the handset so it was completely unusable.
The gas station was closed, of course, it being Christmas and all. I was freezing and my thigh was starting to really ache from the cold. I turned around and headed back towards Princeton, keeping my eyes peeled for a diner or any place that would serve coffee. After 5 miles, I found a little hole-in-the-wall place that was just about to close for the day. I convinced them to give me the dregs of the coffee in a to-go cup. It was disgusting, but at least it was hot. I stood with my back to the wind as I gulped as much of the nasty stuff as I could stomach. I tossed the empty cup in the trash and climbed back on the bike.
The wind was really whipping; it felt like the temperature had dropped, but I was probably just feeling the cold more now that my blood was no longer boiling from the fight that I'd had with my dad. My leg was really cramping from the cold and not only did I not have my cell phone in this jacket, I didn't have any oxycodone either. It was going to be a long cold ride home.
I revved the bike and headed north, hoping like hell that Elle wasn't mad at me for ruining Christmas. All I wanted right now was to feel her envelop me with the warmth of her love. I was comforted by the fact that no matter what my dad thought of me, I had an amazing woman who loved me. I sped on down the highway; I didn't want to keep her waiting any longer.
Elle looked relieved when I walked through the door, but she didn't run over to me like I thought she would. I felt like she was holding back from either yelling at me for worrying her or hugging me for making it home alive. We locked eyes for a moment and then I looked over at Wilson.
We've known each other for so long that I didn't have to say anything; he got the message.
"I'm, just going to go across the hall and, check on the food over there."
I stared at the floor until he had departed. When the door closed behind him, I looked up at Elle. I felt bad for worrying her but I didn't know what to say.
My eyes pleaded with her: "I forgot my phone."
"I know. I tried to call you."
I held out my arms and she walked into my embrace, but then quickly backed up. "You're so cold! You must have been freezing on the bike. Want me to run you a hot bath?"
"No, but I need to lay down for a while. My leg is really hurting."
"I'll get the heating pad, OK?"
I nodded and she scurried down the hall to the bedroom. I shucked off my leather jacket, tossed it over the couch and limped down the hall behind her. Elle had already pulled the covers back and set the heating pad down on the bed. I sat heavily on the bed and, with an effort, managed to toe my sneakers off. I had spent way too long on the bike in this freezing cold weather.
"Want some pajamas?"
I nodded, suddenly so weary that I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open for much longer. The argument had taken a bigger emotional toll than I thought.
Elle pulled some clean PJ's out of the drawer and walked back over to the bed.
She hesitated and I knew why. She knew I hated to be babied and fussed over; she was probably afraid I'd snap at her if she tried. Today I wanted her comfort; I wanted anything and everything that she would give me.
My eyes pleaded with her: "Elle."
Silently she helped me pull my shirt off. She slipped a clean tee over my head and then smoothed my hair lovingly. She helped me with getting my jeans off and the PJ's on and then tucked me into bed with the heating pad over my damaged thigh.
As she pulled the covers up to my chin, she asked: "This OK?"
I patted my chest: "Warm me up."
Elle kicked off her shoes and quickly shucked her jeans and sweater. Wearing just her bra and panties, she climbed under the covers and wrapped her warm body around me. I heard a sound, like a wounded buffalo, and then I realized I had moaned out loud. Her warmth felt so good. She planted little kisses all over my face and rubbed her hands over my neck and shoulders until I stopped shivering.
I squeezed her tightly. "Thank you."
"For what, baby?"
"For not being mad."
"I was never mad. I was just concerned about you riding in this weather. I didn't know if the country roads would be icy, so I was worried. I just wanted you safe."
I felt a huge relief. "So I didn't ruin Christmas?"
"No, of course not. We're still going to have dinner and open presents later."
Hesitantly Elle said: "Greg. Not now, but maybe later, if you feel up to it, would you tell me what you were fighting about? You kept mentioning my name and I can't help wondering what it was all about."
I knew she would be curious, but I didn't want to tell her, at least not all the details of what he had said. But she did deserve a bit of an explanation.
My hands lightly stroked her, up and down her back.
"He was making fun of your name. He has to find something to poke at, and since he doesn't know anything about you, he attacked the one thing he does know. If he knew you were a pharmacist or that you're Jewish, he would rag on that. I don't care if he says bad shit about me; he always has and always will. But when he started saying crap about you, I couldn't take it. He hasn't even met you and he's denigrating you just because you're with me, his loser son."
Elle lifted her head and looked me right in the eye. "You're not a loser and if he can't see what a wonderful man you are, it's his loss."
I closed my eyes, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.
She gently caressed my face: "Dinner is about 2 hours away. Do you want to take a little nap before dinner?"
I nodded.
"Want an oxy?"
"Please."
She started to climb out of bed but I grabbed her and held on tightly. Burying my face in her neck, I whispered: "You're da bomb."
Her hands stroked my hair as she softly replied: "I love you too."
After a few more minutes, I finally let her get up. She found my pills and shook one out of the bottle for me. As I dry-swallowed it, Elle pulled the covers up over me again. Lovingly she stroked my hair and kissed my forehead: "I'll wake you right before dinner, OK?"
I nodded and drifted off to sleep.
ELLE
I closed the bedroom door behind me. As I walked back down the hall, I really hoped that the nap would make him feel somewhat better. I did want him to enjoy the rest of the day.
I went over to my apartment and found Lisa had arrived and both she and Jimmy were in the kitchen.
As soon as he saw me, Jimmy jumped right in: "How is he?"
"He's very tired and his leg is hurting. He's going to take a little nap."
"Did you find out what happened?"
"Not the details. But you were right. His dad was ragging Greg about me like he used to do to Stacy. Nice thing to do on Christmas, huh?"
Lisa shook her head: "The two of them have never gotten along. When we were at Michigan, House never went home for the holiday breaks. He just stayed at school and worked over the holidays."
I took a deep breath. "Well, let's make the rest of the day nice. I'll let him sleep for a couple of hours and then I'll wake him for dinner. How's the pie doing, Jimmy?"
We chatted and worked on dinner, going back and forth between the two apartments. We set up the card table at Greg's place because I thought it would be nice to eat over there with the tree and all. When everything was ready, we brought these dishes over to Greg's place and set up a buffet on the kitchen island.
Just as I was about to go and wake up Greg, he wandered out into the kitchen. He had dressed in his usual blue jeans with a sky-blue button-down shirt replacing his usual tee shirt.
He eyed the food like a starving man and then walked over and took me into his arms. He embraced me tightly. It took me just a moment to respond; it was so unusual for him to be this demonstrative in front of other people, even Lisa and Jimmy. I wanted to ask him if he was OK, but I didn't want to do it in front of the others.
"Are you hungry? I have some appetizers."
He gave me one of his evil grins and then replied in French: "Are you one of them?"
"No, but I can be dessert."
"Even better. I'll eat you after they've gone."
I smiled and planted a big kiss on his lips. He was doing better. We were going to have a great Christmas after all.
HOUSE
We each plated our food from the selection on the island and sat down at the table. Everyone was rather subdued and I was sure it was due to the earlier drama. I needed to change the mood pronto.
"I think it's rather bitchin' that I'm spending Christmas with 3 Jews. There is no focus on that whole manger bit; there's just the Santa angle. So there are presents without the religious crap. Me likey. And I'm pretty stoked about the food. Who would have thought that my little Jewish girl could make such a great ham?"
Elle held up a piece with her fork: "Told ya you would like it with the cherry coke poured over it." Then she popped it in her mouth.
"It is indeed tasty. And the fried rice is a wonderful accompaniment for it."
Lisa asked: "So what's the deal with the fried rice? Everything else is home-made except for that."
Elle explained: "Greg and Jimmy have a tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas. They've been doing that for several years. I didn't want to break that tradition with my little dinner."
Wilson sputtered: "Little dinner? There is enough food here to feed an army."
And indeed there was. In addition to the ham and fried rice, Elle and Wilson had made scalloped potatoes, a sweet potato soufflé, green beans, cinnamon apples, crescent rolls and a cranberry Jello salad. Elle had passed around some deviled eggs and stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. Cuddy had brought some wine, a Zinfandel Rose that went very well with the ham. It was truly a feast.
We ate until we were completely stuffed. Cuddy even broke her usual vegetarian diet and ate some ham. When I called her on it, she just shrugged and said: "What the hell? It's Christmas."
I leaned back in my chair and asked: "So, what's for dessert?"
Wilson groaned: "House! How can you still be hungry? You went back for seconds three times."
"Didn't realize you were counting. I smelled something really yummy baking and I want to know what it is."
Elle said: "I made a caramel apple cheesecake pie."
I groaned; that sounded delicious, but I doubted that I could stuff anything else in my stomach at the moment.
Elle thought we could clean up and relax a bit, before having dessert. Everyone else thought it seemed like a good idea so they all pitched in and helped while I strolled over to the stereo. I selected 5 CD's of jazz and blues and loaded them, setting the player on 'shuffle'.
As the first song played, Wilson teased: "What, no Christmas music?"
I rolled my eyes: "Yeah, right. I'll roast your chestnuts over an open fire if you want, but the sleigh bells will be silent."
Cuddy joined in: "Oh, too bad. I was hoping either you or Elle would play some Christmas music for us."
"How much are you gonna pay me to do that? I'll accept cash or being excused from clinic duty for the next, oh, millennium."
It was Cuddy's turn to roll her eyes: "Forget it, House."
As we all found seats in the living room to collapse upon, Wilson went over to the tree and pulled out a long flat box. He handed it to me and said: "Well, in keeping with tradition, Merry Christmas, House."
I rattled the box, pretending to be excited: "What could it be? Hmm, sounds like a tie!"
I ripped the paper off, wondering what degree of ugliness he had bought for me this year. I ended up being rather surprised, my jaw dropping slightly until I realized it and shut my trap.
Wilson chortled: "He's tongue-tied."
He started cracking up at his own joke. The ladies just stared at him, wondering what was so funny, until I held the tie up next to my shirt. Then Cuddy started laughing and Elle gasped.
"Oh my Gawd! It's the Rolling Stones tongue! It matches your,"
Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. It was nice of her not to reveal that I had matching boxers. Wilson would never let me live that down.
Wilson was still laughing at his own joke: "Yeah, there's a tongue on his tie. He's tongue-tied."
Elle started to laugh: "It does give a whole new meaning to tongue-tied, doesn't it, Greg?"
I knew she was referring to the way we have found other uses for Wilson's past gifts.
I decided to put it on. "Wilson you have outdone yourself this year. It's the first time you have bought me a tie that I would actually consider wearing."
(Reminder: see the tie in my faves)
Cuddy teased: "So did you get a gift for Wilson?"
I adjusted the tie so that it hung properly: "Nope that's part of the tradition."
Wilson nodded: "Exactly. I get him a tie; he gets me nothing. And I get to pay for the Chinese food. Since Elle cooked this year, I got off easy, not having to buy dinner."
Cuddy rolled her eyes. "You're impossible, House."
"That's part of my charm."
We hung out for a while until everyone was finally ready for dessert. The pie was fantastic; everyone raved about it until Elle blushed. I was happy that everyone had such small pieces; that left more for my midnight snacks. After dessert, Wilson and Cuddy said goodnight and headed across the hall.
Elle threw herself down on the couch. "Wanna open your presents?"
"OK." I started pulling up on her sweater. I managed to expose her tummy before she started batting at my hand.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm opening my present. Aren't you my present?"
She giggled: "No, I'm your dessert. You're going to eat me later, remember?"
I grinned: "Oh yeah. I'll just have a taste now."
I leaned down and planted several noisy wet kisses on her bare tummy. As usual, it tickled her and she started laughing. I pulled her sweater back into place and loudly smacked her cheek. "Ummmm, tasty."
I leaned back against the couch and looked at her. She was flushed from laughing and she was smiling broadly. She looked so happy that I couldn't help smiling back at her.
"So where's my presents, sweetheart? What did Santa bring me?"
Elle walked over to the tree and picked up two of the packages. She handed them to me and sat down on the end of the couch. I put one box down on the coffee table and proceeded to open the other one.
It was John Mayall's 1966 "Blues Breakers" album with Eric Clapton, the one known as the "Beano" album because Clapton was reading a Beano comic on the cover. It was the actual album, not the CD. It was extremely rare to find this old album and it seemed to be in great shape.
I was extremely touched by her thoughtful gift. "Elle, this is fantastic. How did you find this?"
Mysteriously she just said: "I have friends. Open the other one."
The other box contained John Mayall's 1967 album, "A Hard Road". I couldn't believe she had found these on vinyl. I had the CD's, but vinyl was so much better.
This was amazing. Wilson was right; she had put a lot of thought into finding me just the right present.
I gingerly set them down on the coffee table and pulled her into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her neck. Her hands stroked the back of my neck, tickling the fine hairs there.
In a casual voice, she said: "So, you likey?"
I squeezed her tighter and then my lips found hers. I kissed her as lovingly as I could before I answered: "Yes, me likey."
ELLE
I think he really liked the albums. He didn't say much but he grabbed me and held me close for several minutes. It wasn't a prelude-to-sex kind of hug; it was an I-need-to-be-close-but-don't-know-how-to-tell-you kind of hug. It was the kind of hug he gave me when I crawled in bed with him earlier today. I held him and caressed him and just tried to convey to him how much he means to me.
"Santa brought something for you, too."
"He did, huh?"
"Grab that box with the silver paper."
I went over to the tree and picked up the designated box. I brought it back to the couch and slowly tore the paper off. I gasped in surprise when I saw it: Santa had gotten me an I-Pod Classic. It was the newest version with 80GB of memory and had just come out a couple of months earlier. It was capable of holding 20,000 songs; more than I could even comprehend loading.
I squealed with delight: "Oh, it's just what I wanted. How did Santa know?"
Solemnly Greg replied: "Santa is all-knowing. He even knows what music you like and has loaded a few tunes for you."
I quickly scrolled through the song list; Greg had loaded a lot of my favorites for me, including Janis Joplin, John Prine and Bon Jovi. "I see that. Santa is amazing."
I gave Greg a big hug and kiss and he sputtered: "Hey, what was that for? I'm not Santa."
"You may not be Santa, but I'm sure you gave him some hints as to what I would like, so I'm thanking you too."
He smirked: "Well, Santa got you a couple more things you might like. Open the big box with the green paper."
That box turned out to contain an I-Pod docking station with speakers. This was great; we could listen to music together with this.
"Oh, this is great! I love this. Thank you so much."
These were wonderful presents; I was so excited. I had something else for him that I had bought on the spur of the moment and I went to the tree to get it.
As I handed it to him, I explained: "I thought this might be fun for the office. Something to do when you're hiding from Cuddy."
He had a gleam in his eye as he took the box from me. "I like the way you think, woman."
I had gotten him a remote-controlled robot soccer game. It was portable, unlike the foosball table where Jimmy and Greg spent so much time.
He tore into the box and chuckled when the contents were revealed. "Oh yeah, this is great! Something to do when we get tired of foosball, and it's compact so we can hide out anywhere and play it."
He kissed my cheek: "Me likey. There's something else for you. It's in your stocking."
"Something else? But you've already gotten me so much?"
He shrugged: "Hey, it's not me. It's Santa. I guess he thinks you've been an especially good girl this year."
He opened up the box and started putting the batteries in the controls as I went over to my stocking and pulled out two wrapped packages. I opened the flat box first.
I cracked up with the contents were revealed: "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol?"
He shrugged: "You said that was your favorite Christmas story. I remember watching this version when I was a kid. It's better than the Alastair Sim version."
I giggled: "Well, I can't wait to see this version."
The other box was a small square wrapped in gold paper. It was the size of a jewelry box. I couldn't imagine Greg getting me something like that, but I couldn't imagine what else could be in a box that small.
My curiosity got the best of me and I ripped the paper off quickly. Greg noticed and chuckled: "Don't get so excited. It's not Cartier or Tiffany."
I ignored him and lifted the lid off of the box. I stared at the contents for so long; that I guess I worried him. "Hey, if you don't like it, you don't have to wear it. I just thought it was kinda cute."
I'm sure I sounded awestruck when I said: "No, I do like it. It's beautiful. And I know that this one's definitely not from Santa. This is from my cowboy."
Nestled in the box was a charm shaped like a cowboy boot. It was white gold with little diamond accents all over it. There was even a spur on the heel. The boot was attached to a white gold 18-inch chain necklace.
I squealed: "I love it. Put it on me, please."
He mumbled: "I'm busy here," but he set the robots down and fastened the necklace for me while I held my hair up. I ran to the mirror and took a look. It was just beautiful. I wasn't really into jewelry, but this was so perfect.
I flew back to the couch and threw my arms around his neck. He was still playing with the robots so he acted aggravated at the interruption, but I knew he really wasn't pissed.
"Geez, you're this happy over a little trinket. What would you do if I actually got you something from Tiffany?"
"You'll just have to find out some time."
HOUSE
Elle gave me some cool stuff. The albums were amazing and the robot soccer was going to be great fun at work. She laughed when she opened the Mr. Magoo DVD and she totally loved everything else, especially the necklace. It's funny how I just happened to see that in the jewelry store window and bought it on impulse. After the earlier drama, it was nice to have the day end on a happy note.
Elle cut us another slice of the cheesecake pie and we settled down to watch Mr. Magoo. It was as silly as I remembered it and Elle liked it too.
When it was over, Elle sighed. "This was such a nice weekend. I hate to see it end and have to go back to work tomorrow."
She picked up our empty plates and carried them into the kitchen.
I fiddled with her I-Pod until I found the song I wanted. As she walked back into the room, I started it and held out my hand to her. She took my hand and I pulled her into my arms as the Righteous Brothers begin to sing 'Unchained Melody'.
The months of swimming had paid off. My leg still hurt a lot, but the remaining muscles had gotten a lot stronger. I could do more than just sway with her now; I could actually take a few steps and shift my weight a little better. Although Elle didn't say anything, I knew she could tell; her smile gave her away. I slowly danced her around until we were behind the couch. Right at the end of the song, I leaned up against the couch and put my arm under her ass, pulling her up off the floor and encouraging her to wrap her legs around me. I had been wanting to do this for a long time. Although my leg wasn't strong enough to completely support her weight without the aid of the couch, this came very close to what I desired. It made me feel strong, I felt like a man again. I wanted to carry her to the bedroom like this, but I couldn't do that yet. One day.
I held her tightly and she squeezed me with her legs. Our mouths collided and we kissed deeply. My tongue explored her delicious mouth, tasting like the caramel apple pie that we had just eaten. I could feel my desire becoming more urgent.
I pulled away from her mouth just far enough to whisper: "I'm ready for my dessert."
"You just had a piece of pie. Oh,"
She smiled knowingly and slowly disengaged from my embrace. This time, she was the one who held out her hand. I took it and we walked down the hall towards the bedroom.
We cuddled afterwards, Elle's head resting on my shoulder and my chin resting on top of her head. After a few minutes, I could hear her soft even breathing, signaling her arrival into dreamland. My last thoughts, as I was drifting off to sleep, was that Elle had given me the best Christmas that I'd had in years.
WILSON
Lisa was heading for home and I was walking her out to her car. We had just stepped out into the foyer when we heard the music.
Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
Suddenly she stopped and tilted her head: "Isn't that the song from 'Ghost'?"
I listened carefully and then said: "Yeah, I believe it is."
A long lonely time
And time goes by, so slowly
"Wow. I can't believe that House is listening to that. It's such a romantic song."
I found myself smiling: "Elle has been really good for him. She is definitely bringing out a side of him that I was sure had died when Stacy left."
And time can do so much.
Softly she said: "I hope it lasts. I don't know if he could take another heartbreak."
"I have a good feeling about them. I think they'll make it."
Are you, still mine?
I looked at Lisa as the song continued on. I was enjoying the hell out of being with her. Impulsively I grabbed her and we started dancing to the song right there in the foyer. We slowly waltzed until the song ended and then I kissed her deeply.
When we broke the kiss, I gently touched her cheek and whispered: "Stay."
Her eyes met mine and she nodded.
I took her hand and led her back inside.
I need your love; I need your love.
God speed your love to me.
