Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: The London Years

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey remembered adjusting to life the first few days in London.

Summary: Another trip down memory lane has Abbey recalling their first Christmas in their new home.

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December 1967

Christmas in London should have been romantic for a newlywed couple just beginning their lives together. In theory, it was supposed to be an adventure. But only months after the big move, Jed and Abbey were still in the adjustment phase, learning how to live with one another and survive in the world without another trusted soul closeby.

Jed was going to school full-time and teaching undergrad courses. Abbey got a job on campus to be closer to her husband, hoping that being together would help with the loneliness she felt being so far away from home. But by the winter holidays, even Jed's presence was no match for her homesickness.

"It doesn't smell like Christmas," she told him as he set up the Christmas Tree.

Jed looked at her, then glanced back at the tree, then again at her, realizing he didn't have a clue what she was saying. "What?"

"It doesn't smell like Christmas. Back home, my parents used to set up the tree in our living room and for three solid weeks, it just smelled like Christmas, you know? Mom was always baking cookies and Kate and I were wrapping the presents, candles were lit all over the living room. The smell of the garland, the aroma from the oven, even the wrapping paper had a distinct scent to it. Throughout the house, you just knew it was the holiday season. It smelled like it."

Jed reached out to take her hand. "Abbey."

She shrugged him away and plastered a smile on her face. "I'm okay."

"Are you?"

"Yeah," she lied. "You know, by next Christmas, we're going to have memories of our own for this little one," she said as she rubbed her stomach.

He had a wicked twinkle in his eye as a fond memory captured his attention. "Like her mommy and daddy making love under the Christmas Tree?"

Abbey chuckled, his humor momentarily taking her mind off her emotions. "I think she'd be scarred for life by that image."

"She? How do you know it's a girl?"

"Just a feeling." She paused to look at his face and despite the grin she found, she still had to ask. "I'm sorry, are you disappointed?"

"About what?"

"That I don't think it's a boy?"

He placed his own hand on her stomach, gently patting it. "Abigail, whether it's a boy or a girl, I really don't care. It's our baby."

Abbey laced her fingers around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied with a kiss to the top of her head.

She let go of Jed and reached for the ornaments sitting on the table. This really was the start of their life together and nothing symbolized that more than the new box of Christmas decorations they had picked out together - everything new, nothing brought from home.

"Where are the lights?" she asked.

"Oh, I forgot," he replied.

"You forgot the lights? Jed, how can we decorate a tree without lights?"

"I guess I'll have to pick them up tomorrow on my way home."

Jed saw the disappointment in her face and part of him regretted lying to her, but it was what he had to do. And the next evening when Abbey returned from work, she would understand why.

She opened the door, flung her purse on the couch, and stepped out of her high heels. She reached for the light switch and let out a sigh of frustration when nothing happened. She began to walk across the darkened room, her hands reaching out in front of her to feel her way to a flashlight. She didn't make it very far before she jumped in fear as strings of multi-colored lights lit up around her. It took her a moment to catch her breath, then realize that Christmas lights were illuminating the apartment.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, looking around the room and finding familiar faces staring back at her.

"Abigail!" her mother shouted as she ran to hug her daughter.

One by one, her parents, her sister, and Millie, Steve, and Joni all greeted her while Jed began lighting the holiday candles that he strategically placed to remind Abbey of home.

"I can't believe this," she kept repeating.

"Believe it, Honey," her father told her. "Jed called us several weeks ago."

"And asked you all to come?"

"No, he told us to come. He had already bought the tickets," Joni said.

Jed crossed the room to stand beside his wife. "Well, I didn't do it completely on my own. This was your Christmas present from me and your parents."

Being pregnant, it didn't take much to make Abbey cry. Her eyes filled with tears as she hugged her husband. "I can't believe you did this."

"I wanted you to have another traditional Christmas with the people who mean the most to you and since you're too pregnant to fly back home, we had to bring them all to you." He stopped to take in the expressions of joy that lit her face, excited that he was about to add one more surprise. "There's more."

"What more could there possibly be?" Abbey asked.

Jed turned to Mary and nodded as Mary began speaking. "Jed has asked me to stay until after the baby is born...if it's all right with you, that is."

"All right with me? I'm going crazy with fear. I don't know the first thing about babies," Abbey cried.

"That's why she'll be here to help you," Jed replied. "She can stay in the nursery since it won't be used for another three months."

"Jed's thought of everything," Millie said from across the room.

Abbey's gaze never left Jed's eyes as she thanked him for the wonderful gift he had given her. "Yes, he has."

Jed put his arms around her waist and led her to the Christmas Tree. "I did my best to find scented wrapping paper, but I'm not sure I succeeded," he said, handing her a present.

"You're too much," she squeaked out, her voice laced with laughter and tears.

She put the present back under the tree and looked up at her husband, her heart swelling with the love she had for him. They silently stared at one another for several moments before he leaned in to give her a subtle kiss on the lips. Abbey grabbed his face and kissed him harder. He didn't resist.

It wasn't long before the guests whisked Abbey out of his arms, leaving him to catch an occasional glimpse at her from across the room. He couldn't get enough of her, the way her mind focused so intently on something as trivial as placing ornaments on the tree, or how her hair fell across her face, leaving only the diminutive details of her features visible when she and the girls began to string popcorn. Jed's breath came with every move she made and every once in a while when she would look up at him, he'd see that familiar sparkle in her eyes that still made him go weak in the knees.

It was these silent expressions of love that got them through their first year in London and would eventually gear them up for the challenges that lay ahead.

TBC