Chapter 11

"Erik!"

He rolled over, burying his face in the pillow. Christine punched his shoulder.

"Wake up! I want to open presents."

"Hmph."

"Erik, get out of bed right now!" She snapped. He looked up at her crossly.

"Christine, what time is it?"

"Seven-thirty. A perfectly good hour to get your arse out of bed. Now get a move on, Nadir and Madeline are waiting for us!"

Erik groaned and pulled on his dressing gown.

"These had better be some damn good presents."

"Of course they will be." Christine said. "And I want to know what you got for me!"

"Oh, how thoughtful!" Christine cooed as she held up the hand knitted jumper that Madeline had bestowed upon her. "You made it yourself?"

"Of course, I always do. Here, Erik, this is yours." Madeline handed him a box, that would no doubt contain his annual Christmas jumper.

Sure enough, he opened the box to find the chunky green woollen item. He smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Mother."

"You're quite welcome, darling. And here's one for you as well, Nadir."

Nadir looked presently surprised. He had never had a Christmas Jumper before. He eagerly pulled on the red creation and beamed around at them all. Christine laughed and then held out a gift to Madeline.

"Here, Madeline, this is for you."

Madeline unwrapped the gift and instantly burst into tears. It was a photo album with plenty of pictures from Erik and Christine's wedding. Erik looked rather astonished at his mother's reaction.

"I thought you'd like it…"

"Oh, I do, I love it!" Madeline howled, pulling them both into an extremely tight hug. Nadir sniggered.

Nadir's gifts were a bottle of fine whiskey for Madeline, a set of Jane Austen novels for Christine and a small, green teddy bear.

"Punjab Junior." He said by way of explanation. Erik looked positively delighted and fell into the lake in his eagerness to unite Punjab Junior with his parents.

When he emerged, spluttering from the water, Christine pushed a large, heavy box towards him.

"Here, Erik. Merry Christmas." She said with a sweet smile. Erik tore off the garishly bright paper and opened the large box.

He stared at the contents.

Then he stared some more.

Then he blinked.

Then he stared again.

And then, finally he kissed Christine so passionately that Nadir and Madeline decided to go and get a cup of coffee. When they returned, Erik was still kissing Christine.

And what, I hear you ask, incited this response?

The answer is every series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD. All seven series. All one hundred and forty-four episodes, as well as extra features and cast interviews.

Madeline began to clear wrapping paper away.

"Well, let's all have some breakfast."

"Hang on; I need to give Christine her present." Erik huffed indignantly. Christine beamed at him as he crossed to the organ and cleared his throat. "I am going to perform a special rendition of Christine's absolute favourite song in the world EVER."

Christine alone knew exactly how much of a sacrifice of dignity it was for Erik to play this particular song. Nadir looked positively shocked and Madeline listened curiously to his performance of Blink 182's 'I Miss You'.

When he had finished, he was rewarded with some equally passionate kissing from Christine. Madeline and Nadir retreated to the kitchen for more coffee.

After an enormous turkey dinner with all the trimmings, it was decided that it was far easier to throw the dirty plates into the lake and buy new ones than bother washing them up. Christine and Erik doubted that they would have gotten away with this had Madeline not fallen asleep in front of 'The Muppet's Christmas Carol'. Nadir had gone home after lunch.

As they watched Kermit the Frog singing a touching song about the festive season, Christine looked up at Erik.

"Do you think that there's any chance that we could invite Madeline to stay for Easter?"

"What?" He looked at her in shock. "Are you joking?"

"No. Think about it, if we invite her for Easter, we don't need to invite her for the summer."

Erik had to admit, that was a good point.

"Well… I suppose so. But I would have thought you'd want her to come for the summer."

"Dear God, no." Christine said, looking horrified at the thought. "I love her, but she's an exhausting woman."

"I seem to remember saying something very similar when you first invited her." Erik commented dryly. Christine rolled her eyes.

"Was that before or after you fainted like a woman?" She smirked. Erik recognised that smirk. It was the same smirk he presented whilst throttling people.

"…After." Erik said grudgingly.

By the time they got to bed, Erik was forced to admit that, much as he didn't want to admit it to either himself or Christine, this Christmas… hadn't entirely sucked.

"You had fun, Erik. Just say it. Playing cards with me and Madeline, eating until you can stand up, playing with your music." Christine said, snuggling up to him. Erik grunted not admitting to anything. Christine smiled.

"Thank you for my song."

"Thank you for my DVD's." Erik said, looking longingly towards the living room, where his beloved DVD's were waiting.

Christine caught the glance and sighed.

"Go and watch them. Just keep the volume down, OK?"

"I love you." Erik said, pecking her cheek and dashing out. Christine smiled as she fell asleep. He could be quite a sweetie when he wanted to be.

And when tempted with Buffy in leather trousers.