"Good morning, Beautiful! Are you awake yet?"

Roxanne felt Megamind nuzzling her, his goatee tickling her neck as he planted a kiss, and she stirred. "I am now," she groused half-heartedly, opening one sleep-blurred eye. "What... time is it?" she added, a yawn stretching her words.

"It's nearly eight!" he seemed almost radiant with energy. "I wanted to wake you up sooner, but Minion said not to. Come on! It's Christmas! Minion is going to make waffles, and we've got presents! I'm a patient man, but if you don't get up soon, you'll leave me no choice but to tickle you!"

Tired though she was, Roxane couldn't help smiling at his eager joy. "I don't know," she teased. "I might get up. Maybe. It depends. Is there coffee? I'm not leaving this bed unless there's coffee."

"Of course, with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg! Come on, get dressed! No coffee until you're up!"

"Oh, that's just cruel." She turned and smiled sleepily at him.

He leaned down to kiss her. "A reformed supervillian is never quite free from his evil ways, I'm afraid, my Dear!" Taking her hand, he helped her up. It was a good thing he did. She nearly stumbled as soon as she put weight on her legs.

Megamind caught her before she could fall. "Are you alright?"

She laughed. "I think you did your work a little too well last night," she answered with a suggestive grin.

He looked slightly uncomfortable. "Not in a... Bad way, I hope?"

"No, no," she assured him, brushing his cheek. "My knees are still a little wobbly, but only in the very best way." Roxanne slid one arm around his slim waist and tapped his nose with the opposite forefinger. "You, sir, saw to it that I was truly, completely, and expertly debauched."

"Mmmm," His concern was gone, replaced by a look that sent delightful shivers down to her toes. "Well, never let it be said that I am not… thorough." He waggled his eyebrows.

She chuckled again and pecked his mouth before moving away. In a moment of wicked impulse, she put a fluid sway into her bare hips as she walked toward the bathroom door.

Glancing coquettishly over her shoulder, Roxanne was gratified to see Megamind's eyes dark with wanton hunger.

"Come scrub my back while I shower?" she asked, filling her expression with knowing innocence and sly seduction.

He made a sound deep in his throat, an inhuman purr that always made things low in her body throb. "Yes," he growled. "God, yes."

Aware of Minion awaiting them, they weren't too long, and less than an hour later Roxanne was sitting on the living room sofa, festively dressed in a comfortable pair of red yoga pants and a Yuletide t-shirt. The look was ruined somewhat by her robe— a thickly lined, light blue kimono with green and brown embroidery— but at least she was warm. Her hair was still a little damp, and despite the fire in the wood-burning stove, she didn't want to risk catching a cold.

Megamind half-danced over to her. "Merry Christmas!" he said, handing her a package. "Happy Hanukkah!" he handed her another. "Blessed Yule! Joyous Kwanza! Happy Yalda! Io Saturnalia!"

"Saturnalia, Megamind?" Roxanne grinned. "Really?" She looked to Minion for an explanation.

"Once he gets an idea into his head," Minion informed her with a smile. "You just sort of have to let him do it."

"Well, I didn't want to make any assumptions," Megamind sniffed, but he couldn't hide his grin. "Where was I? Oh, yes! Pancha Ganapati!" he presented another gift. "Soyal Blessings— I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say for that one…"

Roxanne was laughing now. "What on earth is Soyal?"

"Winter Solstice celebration of the Hopi tribe."

"Uh-huh. Okay, I'm pretty sure you know I'm not Hopi."

"Yes, well, I was running out of holidays. Beannachtaí lá an Dreoilín!" he added, handing her another wrapped package.

"What is that? And how do you even know all this?"

"An Dreoilín is the Day of the Wren… It's an Irish celebration. I think it's connected to Saint Stephen's Day now, but it has its roots in a Druid Midwinter festival. As far as knowing things: I remember everything I read, and I read a lot. Happy late Saint Lucia Day!"

"How many of these are there?" she asked, accepting the present.

"Twelve!"

"Twelve?"

"Yes, well, Christmas is the standard holiday celebrated by secular culture this country, and there are twelve days of Christmas, so," he shrugged, "twelve presents. Apparently, that's what I'm supposed to do for my true love? There's a song about it."

"Come here and kiss me, you sweet, wonderful goofball."

With a grin, he did just that.

"I didn't know we were supposed to do twelve presents," she admitted.

"Oh, no, you don't have to—"

"But I did get you some things. You too, Minion. They're under the tree."

"Really?!" the hero's eyes lit up and he scrambled to the evergreen. "When did you put these here? I didn't see them yesterday!" Megamind was almost jubilant, nearly as excited as a child, and Roxanne's heart ached a little. The poor man probably hadn't received many gifts in his life. Had anyone other than Minion ever given him anything besides a hard time? She wondered if he'd ever even had a proper holiday before now.

Well, she was changing now, and she'd see to it that this was the first of many! "I put them under the tree last night using my sneaky nosy reporter skills," she joked in answer to his question.

"Nosy you may be, but sneaky? Come on."

"Hey, I can be sneaky!" she protested with a chortle.

He shot her a teasing smile. "Well, I've certainly never seen you do it."

"That's because I was too sneaky for you to notice!"

"Ooh! Touché!" Megamind laughed. "Minion, this one's for you!"

"You open one first, Miss Ritchi. You've got the most."

"Geez, rub it in, why don't you?"

"Oh, really, Sweetheart, it isn't a competition!" Megamind selected a small gift from her pile. "Go on! Open it!" He practically bounced on the balls of his feet.

She tore the blue and silver snowflake paper away to reveal a jewelry box. Inside was a white gold chain supporting a pendant. A more feminine version of Megamind's logo had been picked out in gemstones, the M glittering with sapphires. Where his logo usually displayed oblong lightning bolts, however, the pendant continued the lines, swooping back out to form the tails of twin R's that sparkled with diamonds. In the back of Roxanne's mind, a memory rose: a bit of history from an old documentary. Something about how it had once been traditional to create monographs of lovers' initials as a display of undying affection. She smiled up into bright green eyes. Of course he would know an obscure fact like that.

"Megamind," she breathed. "This is beautiful!"

"Do you like it? I designed it myself!"

"It's perfect! Will you help me put it on?"

He beamed. "I'd be delighted, Miss Ritchi." Bounding up behind her, he perched on the back of the sofa, his legs warm against her sides. When he held one hand out over her shoulder she obediently gave him the box, leaning forward a little to give him more room. He reached around her with the chain, gently caressing her skin as he did, and fastened the clasp before pressing a soft kiss on the nape of her neck. She leaned her head back against his thigh to smile at him. Expression tender, he bent down and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Okay, now one of you have to open one," she said, sitting up as he hopped back down.

Before long, diamond stud earrings, a photo album chronicling her first several months dating Megamind, and a blue evening gown custom-tailored by Minion had joined Roxanne's growing pile of unwrapped presents.

"I thought you might like to wear it on New Year's Eve," Minion explained. "Sir received an invitation to the mayor's party."

"What about you, Minion?"

"Oh, I was invited, too, Miss Ritchi, but I've already sent my regrets," he shuddered slightly in his bowl. "Formal parties are not my idea of a good time. I'd rather watch the parade and the ball drop from Nathaniel's Tavern."

As much as she loved her gifts, Roxanne enjoyed watching the guys open their presents from her even more. Their youthful delight was infectious. Minion was thrilled by a chefs' hat that matched his Kiss the Cook apron, a large bag of dried mill worms— his favorite snack— audiobooks by Erik Larson and Alison Weir— he loved history— and an abstract soapstone fish statuette that matched the décor in his room. He oohed over a gift card to the big international grocery downtown, which was a relief to Roxanne. Although Minion loved cooking, she hadn't been quite sure if giving him such a gift might seem self-serving.

"Did you two plan this?" the aquatic henchman asked with delight when he opened one of Megamind's gifts to him. Inside an envelope had been course material and a letter informing him that he'd been enrolled in next spring's Asian Cooking Course at the Metro City School of Culinary Arts.

"No, actually," Megamind chuckled, patting Roxanne's knee from his seat on the floor. "But great minds think alike!"

"I've always wanted to learn to make Dim Sum!" Minion enthused. "Oh! And Yakisoba!" Roxanne smiled. It still amused her a little that he could enjoy both pan-fried noodles and fish bait with the same relish.

She gave Megamind a custom-made set of silk pajamas embroidered with his logo, a book delving into the more complex aspects of quantum physics— which he began to read immediately— a bottle of twenty-year-old scotch, and his favorite cologne, Jean-Paul Gaultier's Pour Homme. He laughed when he opened her gag gift; she'd ordered, constructed, and painstakingly altered a model Hudson Hornet to look like the invisible car (when it wasn't invisible.) His favorite present, however, was easily the record player, speakers, and collection of classic metal vinyl she'd found months ago in a fleamarket. The player had been a steal, and all it had needed was a new needle, which she'd ordered online from a specialist shop.

"Audiophiles swear that a good record player is the next best thing to hearing the band in person," she explained. "I got you a couple of Christmas albums, too."

"I didn't even know The Trans-Siberian Orchestra released records!" Megamind exclaimed with delight. "Let's try it out!" he turned to one of the brainbots. "You there! Bring Daddy an extension cord!"

The little cyborg dropped the rope dog toy it had been happily shredding— Roxanne had bought an entire bag full of them— and zipped off to obey. Before long, Megamind had a rocked-out version of The First Noel blaring from his new record player. He grabbed Roxanne's hand and pulled her up to dance. Wearing a huge grin, Minion joined them.

After several songs, they collapsed laughing onto the sofa. When Roxanne reached for her last gift, Megamind stopped her.

"You'd better open that one upstairs. It's for both of us, really," he said with a wolfish smile that made her cheeks flush.

Despite the heat in her cheeks, however, she couldn't help but smirk. That particular package had been the "Saint Lucia Day" gift. Trust Megamind, with his ironic sense of humor, to give her lingerie in honor of a religious icon remembered for chastity.

Afterward, they laughed and talked over waffles and coffee, Roxanne sipping from a new mug that read: "Reporters Do It on Live TV." It, along with a bag of dark roast beans so strong they were called Wake the Dead, had been a gift from Minion.

"That's not a bad idea, really," Megamind said, examining the cup and lifting a suggestive eyebrow.

"Sir! Don't you dare!" Minion protested.

"You're the one who suggested it," his master grinned, pouring syrup and powdered sugar onto another waffle. "You can hardly blame me."

"A coffee mug is not a suggestion!"

Megamind had replaced the Trans-Siberian Orchestra album with his other new Christmas record, and the voices of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole crooned classic holiday anthems. After breakfast, they played a game of scrabble by the fire. (Megamind won with "zoopsychologies.") When Silver Bells started playing, the hero offered Roxanne his hand with a bow and taught her the steps of a basic waltz. It was a perfect Christmas morning— the first real Christmas Roxanne had known in a long time— but unfortunately, the afternoon brought an unwelcome interruption.

"Carjacking reported at the corner of Grayson and Highway 94," Minion reported, checking his watch when an alarm sounded. "Looks like there's a hostage,"

"Duty calls," Megamind sighed. "They just had to ruin my day. Honestly! I'm going to dehydrate whoever's responsible and throw them into the shark tank at the aquarium!"

"That's not the holiday spirit, Sir!" Minion objected.

Megamind grinned wickedly. "I'll wear a Santa hat while I do it."

Minion rolled his eyes. "Miss Ritchi, I think I'd better go with him and make sure our city's hero doesn't expose himself to criticism."

"Oh, come on, he'd never actually do something like that."

"He did once, actually."

Roxanne stared at Megamind, horrified. "You what?"

"Minion," Megamind said pointedly. "Go warm up the hoverbike."

"Yes, Sir."

Roxanne was not going to let him get away so easily. "Megamind, did you really?"

He didn't even have the decency to look apologetic. "That man raped a thirteen-year-old girl and got off on a technicality!" he protested defensively. "Besides, it wasn't sharks. It was the hippos at the zoo. And I had the brainbots extract him before he actually died." He sketched a dramatic gesture in the air. "He was practically thrilled when the police showed up. Made a full confession, actually asked to be taken to jail. Of course," he chuckled. "I got hauled in, too, but it was worth it. I escaped the next day, anyway, and stopped by his cell on the way out to remind him why he wanted to stay in. Last I heard, my Uncles were making his life an utter misery."

Roxanne was stunned. "I reported on that case. It was three years ago, right? When he was told trying him again for the same charges would be double-jeopardy, he demanded that he be allowed to bring charges against himself. It made the national news because it was the first time that had ever happened."

"Yes, well, I'd made it clear that it was either face the courts or face me," Megamind's slow smile was pure, delicious evil.

"Punishing crimes isn't exactly standard supervillain behavior, is it?"

"Someone had to do it. I've always had rules as the criminal Mastermind— rules intended to keep people safe— and I expect them to be obeyed." He paused to give her a serious look. "But that's not exactly public knowledge, you understand."

"I won't tell if you won't. You realize you're going to have to tell me more about this sometime, though, right?"

"I'd be delighted. But right now I need to be the brilliant and incredibly handsome Defender of Metrocity." He struck an exaggerated heroic pose, and Roxanne laughed.

"Would you like some company, oh brilliant Defender?"

He chuckled and kissed her brow. "I wouldn't ask that of you, Love. I'll have Minion and several brainbots as backup. Take a nap, read a book, have a long bath. Or there's that Christmas movie marathon on Channel Fifteen. Stay here and enjoy your holiday. You deserve a break."

"Mmmm," Roxanne slid her arms around his neck, slipping one hand up to caress his large head. "I think I have a better idea, Megamind," she cooed with a come-hither smile. "This damsel is going to spend her time preparing for her hero's return. When you get home, you'll find me wearing that last Christmas gift and waiting for you upstairs."

He slid clever fingers down her sides to grasp her round bottom, pulling her against his warm body. "Oh, really?" he quirked an eyebrow. "In that case, my dear Miss Ritchi, I shall make quick work of this." He kissed her in earnest this time, pressing her closer still.

"The hoverbike is ready, Sir," Minion announced over Megamind's watch.