The Secret Ingredient is Love

The light dusting of snow that began yesterday morning had continued to fall but thankfully had only resulted in just a couple of inches of accumulation. Harm and Mac wanted to take the kids on a little scavenger hunt today and didn't want to have to venture across black ice to do so. Harm and Mac had created a checklist that consisted of various Christmas lights and Christmas decorations that they had to try and spot in the neighborhood. Some of the items were easy, and some they weren't sure if they would find or not. They knew most of what their neighbors had put up, but not quite everything as some folks hadn't finished their decorations yet. Trish and Matthew had paired off and Frank and Trisha were working together as well. There would be prizes as well when they all returned home.

Grams had decided that she was going to stay home, claiming that her old bones weren't up to all that walking in the cold when Matthew offered to pull her along in his wagon instead. She tickled his tummy and lowly chuckled, "I appreciate the offer, sweet boy, but I'll just stay here and have a snack prepared for you when you get home." She wanted to be able to prepare one of the 12 days of Christmas plans on her own but she wanted to add a few twists that Harm hadn't thought about. it would be her surprise to him.

She was loading up all of their travel mugs with piping hot chocolate when she asked Harm where the marshmallows were.

Harm opened the cabinet, but didn't find their normal selection of marshmallow bits and mini marshmallow packs. Instead he found various boxes of Swiss Miss™ Marshmallow Lovers. Pulling the boxes down, he looks at his wife, "Mac, where did you get these marshmallows from?"

She laughs at him, "The grocery store of course. Why? Is there something wrong with them?"

Harm glares at her skeptically, "No, I just wondered when they decided that Unicorns and Lucky Charms marshmallows were the way to go. I'm not sure why you got these, you know we don't use Swiss Miss™, we make our own."

She shrugs, "I know that, but I thought it would be cute to have something other than just regular plain old white round marshmallows. Don't worry, they are in a different package than the hot chocolate mix so you can easily use one without the other. We can just donate the hot chocolate packs. Far be it for me to break from tradition and use store bought brands instead of stuff made from scratch."

Harm rolls his eyes, "This from the woman who swore she would never drink store brand again after the first time I made you Grams' secret recipe."

Mac grins, "Yeah, yeah. I can't help it. Yours is fantastic."

Harm gently places his lips against hers, "That's because the secret ingredient is love. And you are the only woman I ever made it for."

Mac deepens the kiss and the two of them get lost in their own little world until they hear several throats being cleared around them. Frank mentions, "If you guys want to be able to finish those lists before it becomes totally frigid outside, I suggest we get going."

The Rabb and Burnett families step out their front door, each donning a Santa hat, to begin their little adventure. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Mac and Harm were on a different type of hunt of their own. Their secret list consisted of only one item which was how many different spots with mistletoe that they could find. Not that they needed any reason to engage in a little PDA, but they could always use it as an excuse to get a little extra kissing in along the way. Mac intended to get Harm as hot and bothered as she could throughout the entire evening. Almost every night since they had begun their leave, they were enjoying each other in some of the best ways possible. She had picked up a nice little outfit the other day that resembled one of his planned snacks, but they hadn't gotten to it yet.

The first item on their list was the easiest to check off which was to find a house that contained only white Christmas lights. They only had to step out their own front door to mark that one off. It was also where Harm and Mac got to have their first kiss since there was a mistletoe ball hanging just above the top of their stairs.

Three doors down, they found a pair of lit intertwined candy canes held together by sparkling mistletoe in the middle. Harm and Mac took advantage and melded their lips together again, their cheeks tinged pink by the time they broke apart. Trish teased them, "I thought that only worked if you were standing under it!"

Mac laughs, "Nope, we kiss every time we see it. It makes it a little more fun."

Their daughter chimes in, "Grandma, they are always kissing! You and Grandpa don't kiss half as much as they do! Neither do any of my friend's parents!"

Frank smiles softly as he answers her, "Maybe not now, but we certainly did when we were younger. Trisha, be happy that they are always kissing. It means they truly love each other. If they are embarrassing you, we can walk a little bit ahead of them to see what we can find, and then you won't have to watch."

Harm extends his gloved hand for them to lead the way before grasping his beloved's hand in his ensuring that they stay about three to four steps behind the group. The kids are able to check another item off their list when they find Yoda lit up in a Santa Suit with a green light saber. Matthew argues with his sister, "That isn't from Star Wars™, it's an elf. Don't you see how tiny he is! And his ears are pointy!"

Frank steps in, "I think you are both right. Yoda is from the movie Star Wars™ but he definitely resembles an elf as well."

Harm and Mac overhear the conversation and she whispers to him, "I guess it's a good thing we put Star Wars™ on there and not Star Trek™. Do you remember a couple of years ago when Bud decided to replace the three wise men in Harriet's nativity set with gnomes from the characters on the Next Generation? I thought she was going to break his arm!"

Harm smiles, "Yes, I do. I hadn't seen her that mad at him since she realized he named Jimmy after the original Captain of the Enterprise. Don't worry honey, I won't use any UFO's for the angel's halo."

Mac throws her head back, "No, you would use Tomcat afterburners instead!"

Harm shakes with laughter, "Why didn't I think about that? That's a great idea."

She rears back to punch him in the arm but before she can make contact, he points to a vine wrapped around an electric pole, "Look! Mistletoe." Yanking her to him, he kisses her again.

As they walk over the next several streets, the kids are able to check off several more items on their list: Santa in a chimney, a train that is lined with misfit toys, Pooh and Tiger on a sleigh led by Eeyore, inflatable snowmen, shining reindeer, and trees that are lit up with lights that change in time with the music accompanying them. Harm and Mac are also able to show each other plenty of affection. Their favorite display along the trek is one of Mr. and Mrs. Claus facing each other seated in rocking chairs leaning in for a kiss. Mac remarks, "Think that will be us in another forty years, Flyboy?

Harm gives her a soft smile, "I could easily see us like that. Happily together for half a century and still completely besotted with each other. I just hope my belly doesn't resemble that of Mr. Claus by the time I reach that age."

Mac huskily whispers in his ear, "Don't worry, Sailor. If the calories start to pile on, I'll gladly help you work them all off."

Harm is very thankful for the long pea coat hiding his very evident arousal, although he wishes there were a bit more snow on the ground so that he could fall face first into it and cool himself off! They can't retire to the privacy of their own bedroom soon enough for him tonight!

They arrive back home to find that Grams has prepared another batch of her famous hot chocolate and she also made a platter that resembled a little picnic. She added food coloring to various spreadable cheese flavors and smeared it over Sociables™ crackers to resemble ornaments and stars. Holiday shaped Goldfish™ crackers resembling trees and stockings were on the other side. In the middle, she had used miniature cookie cutters on cheese slices in shapes of snowman, snowflakes, gingerbread men, and stars and placed those on top of ham rounds on top of a plain Ritz™ cracker. Hotdogs in the shape of stockings had been created as well chopping off ¼ of each end diagonally, put together and held with a toothpick, and had whipped cream around their tops.

As everyone dug into the feast, Mac was snapping photos and Harm went out to the garage to bring the kids their prizes for the scavenger hunt. Each of them received a plush animal of Stitch dressed up as Santa, chewing on light bulbs.

Harm and Mac were ecstatic with how much everyone enjoyed their little adventure this evening. Even the adults had a great time. Harm wraps his arm around his wife's shoulder whispering, "I love you, Mrs. Claus."

She turns and whispers back, "I love you too, Mr. Claus," before engaging in one more shared expression of love.