A/N: I am sorry for the darker, more depressing tone that my stories took on previously. My intent was never to make anyone feel sad...if anything, I want to try to inspire and uplift people and I hope I can make that very clear in my final three stories starting NOW! :D
December had been a month full of celebration.
To start with, Terri's birthday had been in early December. It wasn't just any birthday, but her 30th. Larry felt so proud of her and extra excited for her for entering a new decade and a new stage in life. He noticed that she'd been craving ice cream lately, as she always seemed to during the colder months for some reason...so he went out and bought her a triple chocolate ice cream cake and surprised her with it. Terri ate so much ice cream that she not only ended up with brain freeze, but also got whole body chills. Larry thought it was adorable and playfully scolded her, saying that was what happened when you ate ice cream in the wintertime. All it took was kisses, cuddles and a little hot chocolate to warm her back up again and to stop her teeth from chattering.
In mid December, the weeklong Jewish celebration of Hanukkah took place. Larry had grown up in a multi-faith household, his mother being Greek Orthodox and his father from the Reform Judaism tradition. Larry and his siblings were raised observing both faiths and traditions and Larry, personally, loved it. He loved that he celebrated two, sometimes three different sets of holidays (three if you counted some of the standard American holidays) and that his family had twice the celebrations that other families seemed to have. He thought it was perfect for them since his family was so large anyway. He enjoyed going to church and going to the synagogue, Sunday dinner and Shabbat, Christmas and Hanukkah, Easter and Passover and so on. He loved both religions and it never occurred to him to choose one over the other or to 'pick a side'. He never had a problem with any of it until other people started to make it their problem and took offense toward him and his family. As Larry grew up, he became painfully aware of the utter hatred directed toward his family from both sides of the divide, both from adults and other kids. Larry took his share of beatings before he learned how to fight back as a teenager. He and his siblings were called awful names and slurs by the other kids at school and before Larry became a violent teenager, he mostly used humor to diffuse things. Thank goodness that he and his siblings had each other and always had each other's backs. Larry recalled many times when one of them was being picked on, and all seven other brothers and sisters would always jump to their defense. Larry didn't get it...his parents may not have always agreed upon certain things, but they obviously respected each other and loved each other regardless. Larry wondered why people couldn't just get along regardless of religion, because it seemed so simple and easy to do in his family. Before he'd descended into a world of drugs, sex addiction, violence and other out of control behavior, Larry recalled feeling a sense of calm and of being connected to God and to family whether he was in a church or a synagogue. He loved the holidays, the rituals, lighting candles, saying prayers. The years 14-16 were like an ugly, violent tornado for him personally and he'd wished he hadn't been bullied and shamed out of seeking a connection to God because he felt that if he'd had God in his life, it would have saved him from a lot of messes. Instead, he worshipped sex and his bad boy reputation. He had only gained a moment of clarity and had pulled himself together when he became a husband and a father at 17 years old, and then attempted to clean up the rest of his act when he'd joined the Marines when he was 18. Upon returning home from the Marines four years later, he struggled to stay as stable and as sane as he could and eventually ended up backsliding into old, self destructive patterns because his relationship had fallen apart...even so, he had never been as bad as he was as a teen. Larry wondered how much of that could have been avoided if he'd had that light in the darkness to cling to. Larry was becoming more serious about chasing that light and hope now and didn't care about his reputation anymore. He was becoming a more sincere person and he just hoped that those closest to him would believe him concerning his earnest desire to turn over a new leaf...he knew he hadn't been the most honest person in the world in the past and had cried wolf more than once. It was a tough pill to swallow...he'd been such a liar in his past and wondered if he could get people to believe him now. He wouldn't blame them if they didn't. To put it plainly, Larry loved getting back in touch with his religious and spiritual life and he didn't care who judged him for it. He could just imagine the sneers and the disbelieving looks from people at the Regal Beagle or from past dates if they learned of Larry's renewed interest in the spiritual, but the only people whose opinions mattered to Larry were Terri's, Janet's and Jack's. Much like how he had felt in his childhood, Larry enjoyed the traditions of both religions and it didn't occur to him to choose between either of them. Yes, observing two faiths simultaneously may have struck most people as odd...most people have trouble sticking to just one. Also, the majority of people only need one to bring them to God and to give them hope and a moral code. But Larry saw himself as a special case in that he needed all the help he could get.
One of Larry's favorite aspects of the holidays was the family togetherness they promoted. Since moving out to California years ago, Larry had stopped celebrating anything for the most part. The holidays became a painful reminder to him of how alone he was and felt, regardless of what new warm body occupied his bed that week. He, once again, worshipped sex and getting drunk as a way to numb the pain. What was the point of celebrating the holidays when he had no family to celebrate with? That all changed with Terri, of course. Larry had found himself digging his dusty, old Hanukkah menorah out of his closet and, caught up in the spirit of things, he proceeded to throw Terri her first Hanukkah celebration. He told her what the meaning behind the holiday was, lit the candles and made potato latkes for the first time in forever. Larry remembered celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas with gusto when raising Diane, feeling it was important for her to continue in the multi faith traditions of their household, even if the outside world didn't understand. And now he was beyond thrilled to have someone else in his life to share these things with.
Larry and Terri thought it would be a sweet reminder of everything if they went back to where everything began for them, as well as for Jack and Janet...so, they arranged for the four of them to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve up in the mountains again, just like last year. They could not believe the changes that had occurred between everyone in just one year. Larry and Terri made sure to get the specific cabin they'd stayed in last year, for sentimental reasons. Jack and Janet ended up renting a cabin right next door to Larry and Terri...obviously, since it was two romantically involved couples now rather than just four friends hanging out, two cabins rather than one gave both couples the privacy they needed. For instance, Larry acted as though he was a character in a musical...he was always dancing around and singing. At breakfast together one morning, he'd been singing So Happy Together to Terri and she just could not help but join in. Terri knew she had a terrible singing voice and would die of embarrassment if Jack or Janet ever heard her trying to sing in earnest.
This need for privacy had a very obvious purpose as well. Larry and Terri were the kind of couple who couldn't keep their hands off one another. That temporarily changed when personal tragedies had hit them both at the same time and Larry had fallen into a depression over it as he became overwhelmed with grief...not just for his own loss, but for the pain that Terri was also going through. He'd ended up losing quite a bit of weight unintentionally. In late November, a thoughtful Thanksgiving dinner by Jack and Janet seemed to finally pull him out of the depths of despair. Ever so slowly, Larry bounced back. The weight came back and the light reignited in his eyes. As he became healthier and stronger, Larry and Terri's love life also came back and the two of them did not hesitate in making up for lost time. They truly missed being together in that way.
Larry and Terri had both been extremely excited to be back in the place where their romance first began to blossom and they loved the walk down memory lane on their first night there. Larry chuckled when he saw the couch where they very first messed around on and fondly remembered how Terri had been too nervous to take her clothes off for that first encounter. Terri laughed along with him, marveling at how much had changed since then. She definitely wasn't nervous with Larry anymore, and a second encounter on the sofa for old time sake proved this fact, and then a third. Terri thanked her lucky stars that they'd gone with two separate cabins rather than sharing a single one because, during their first night there, she and Larry had something pretty embarrassing happen to them. They were in bed together and expressing their love for one another, when Larry got a very painful cramp in his leg right at the worst possible moment. Larry went a little nuts as his brain tried to process both intense pleasure and extreme pain simultaneously. Terri noticed that he was being a tad loud, even for him. It took her a moment to realize that his cries were not entirely pleasure based and to find out the cause of them. Once she figured out what was going on, she began massaging his calf muscle in an attempt to loosen it up. His calf felt rock hard under her fingers and she said so. Larry, not being the most mature person ever, burst into laughter at her choice of words. He half laughed, half groaned in agony and whined as he wondered out loud that if this was what it felt like to get old. It was Terri's turn to laugh as she jokingly agreed with him...after all, at 36, he was the "old man" of the group. She promised to get him a wheelchair for Christmas and the two of them lost it completely at that, laughing like a couple of hyenas. Eventually, Terri came to the conclusion that it had probably been due to the fact that Larry may still have been slightly dehydrated as a result of how sick he'd gotten with grief last month. Her cure for his troubles had been a simple glass of water.
Despite being in separate cabins, Larry and Terri and Jack and Janet always ended up hanging out in each other's cabins every day. The foursome went skating on the local, frozen pond that Larry and Terri tried to skate on last year. It felt like a personal triumph for Larry and Terri because the ice had been too thin to skate on the year before. They had a great time. Janet had been a little nervous about somebody potentially falling through the ice at first, but her worried energy quickly went into trying to keep Jack upright and standing in his skates. She was glad that she'd made him wear a helmet in hindsight.
They also decorated a Christmas tree in Larry and Terri's cabin. Oddly enough, Janet had brought plenty of board games along with her on the trip...but nobody thought to bring any cassette tapes, not even Larry. They just ended up singing Christmas carols together as they decorated...even Terri got into the spirit of things and sang along with everyone. Terri noticed something interesting as everyone sang...when it was Larry's turn to choose a Christmas carol, he'd always start singing a religious one: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Angels We Have Heard On High, Ding Dong Merrily On High, Away In a Manger, Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel, Do You Hear What I Hear, The First Noel, Oh Holy Night, Silent Night and so on. The list was endless. There was a noticeable difference in Larry's tone while he was singing the religious Christmas songs versus something like Jingle Bells. His voice took on a beautiful, honest and pure quality. Terri also picked up on how much worship singing changed his tone of voice when he sang songs and prayers for their Hanukkah celebration earlier that month. The Hanukkah songs were not even in English and were sung in Hebrew and Yiddish, but wow, that voice. Many times while decorating the tree, Terri, Janet and even Jack would sometimes fall silent as Larry would sing his heart out and just stare at him, stunned. Larry was too engrossed with decorating the tree and singing to even notice, however. It gave Terri flashbacks to one year ago when she and Larry had been sitting by the fireplace and he sang What Child Is This to her...it had given her chills and took her breath away and she impulsively kissed him because of it. Back then, Terri thought that maybe he had been singing that way to her in an attempt to be alluring...but then here he was, doing it all over again, and not even noticing people's reactions to it. Terri sensed that something very special was going on with him and changing within him.
Presently, it was Christmas Eve and the gang sat around that very same tree in Larry and Terri's cabin. Jack suggested that they all open one present tonight and then the rest of them on Christmas Day. Everyone agreed happily and Jack went about preparing a cheese plate for all of them to share before the event.
"Alright!" Jack said, coming out of the kitchen and joining his friends and girlfriend in the living room area in front of the tree. "Let's get this show on the road!"
He plopped down beside Janet, giving her an affectionate kiss. Janet returned it before plucking a piece of cheese off of the plate with a sly grin.
"Just a minute!" Terri got an idea. She jumped up and disappeared into the kitchen and came back moments later with a plate of gingerbread cookies that they baked together last night and a glass of milk. She then sat beside Larry and held the plate in front of him.
"Oh...thank you, sweetheart! But I've already had about five of them just today..." Larry laughed, touched.
In the old days, their dynamic went something like this: Larry would flirt with her or say something corny or stupid, Terri would shoot him down with sarcasm, wit and sometimes insults and Larry would laugh it off, seemingly unbothered. Rinse and repeat. Obviously, this had changed in the past year. Terri merely pouted at him before Larry sighed and finally gave in.
"Yes, dear." He relented. He picked up a gingerbread man off of the plate and gave her a cheeky grin before biting off its head.
Now that everyone had the snacks they wanted, Jack went over to the tree first and knelt down. He picked up a neatly wrapped present. It was so fancily decorated that he had to dig through the ribbons and bows for a moment before finally finding the card.
"To Sugar Lips, Love Honey Bear?!" Jack read off of the card before laughing incredulously.
"Oh, that's mine!" Larry mumbled through a mouthful of gingerbread. He took a sip of milk to wash it all down before taking the gift from Jack and handing it over to Terri.
"Sugar Lips?" Janet smirked.
"Honeybear?" Jack laughed.
Larry rolled his eyes, grinning sheepishly while he blushed. Terri laughed along with her friends as she unwrapped her present...well, tried to unwrap it, anyway. Larry tended to go a bit overboard while wrapping presents.
"You know..." Terri addressed Larry as she fought through the ribbons and bows for a solid two minutes. "You could move to the North Pole and be a professional elf if you wanted to..."
Larry snickered at Terri's struggle. Finally, Terri got the wrapping paper off and revealed a decorative tin box. She opened up the lid and lifted out her gift for all to see.
"A bottle of your favorite cologne?!" Terri tossed her head back with laughter.
"No, a bottle of your favorite cologne!" Larry pointed out, grinning proudly. "Now you can stop using up all of mine."
Now it was Terri's turn to blush and Janet and Jack laughed. It was true...as embarrassing as it was to admit it, Terri often found herself using more of Larry's cologne than her own perfume. She just loved the way it smelled.
"Thank you, honey. I love it!" Terri admitted, giving Larry a kiss.
"I knew you would!" Larry was all proud of himself for the gift...it was both humorous and actually something that she'd use and like.
The laughter in the room died down and Terri shifted slightly in her seat, biting her lip nervously before she got up and bent down in front of the tree. She picked up her gift for Larry and handed it to him.
"I hope you like yours. Merry Christmas, honey." She said to him softly.
The gift was lighter than air and Larry was very curious as to what it could be. He wondered if it was possible to pack love for someone else into a box and jokingly asked her if she did so. When he opened the box and saw a sheet of paper laying inside, he realized that this was what she probably did. The two of them were always writing letters and poems to each other.
"Did you write me a love letter?" Larry asked her, truly touched and starry eyed. He just loved things like this.
"Something like that." Terri smiled nervously. "I'd really appreciate it if you would read it out loud."
"Oh?" Larry was taken aback. He shot a surprised glance to Jack and Janet before looking back at Terri and smiling. "Okay..."
Larry cleared his throat and Terri stood, wringing her hands as she prepared herself. She was too nervous to sit down beside him and instead stood in front of him. She took a couple of deep breaths to try to calm her nerves.
"Dear, lover..." Larry smirked to himself at the term of endearment as he read out loud. "Although you won't get your Christmas present until August..."
There was a pause and Larry gasped in shock, his mouth dropping open in surprise. He stopped reading and dead silence fell over the room. Terri had clamped both hands over her mouth and her slight shoulders were shaking...at first, it looked to Janet as if she was trying to hold back laughter, but upon closer inspection, Janet realized that Terri was suppressing tears instead.
"What on earth?" Janet whispered, alarmed. She glanced at Jack beside her and he shrugged, frowning in surprise and concern. Her mind whirled. What was the letter about...a scary diagnosis, a break up? What was going on here? How much more could those two take?
"You guys...is everything okay?" Jack asked tentatively.
Larry finally looked up, snapping out of his frozen state. He made eye contact with Terri, who was barely holding it together at that point. Neither of them said anything for a moment.
"Sweetheart, are you sure?" Larry finally asked her, a slow smile beginning to form.
"It's still really early...but yes, I'm sure." Terri took a deep breath to compose herself. "The doctor said it must've happened shortly after Thanksgiving."
Larry finally came alive. His smile grew bigger and he leapt off of the couch. He hugged Terri tightly, lifting her up off of the floor before setting her back down again. As Terri clung to him, happy tears began to spill down her cheeks.
Jack and Janet felt relieved that whatever it was, it was obviously good news...but still quite confused as to what was going on. Larry fell down to his knees and kissed Terri's stomach while Terri rubbed her fingers through his hair, gazing down at him fondly. It was so intimate, that Jack and Janet felt they were intruding a little bit by looking. Suddenly, women's intuition kicked in and the meaning of everything that was happening slammed into Janet like a ton of bricks.
"Oh my..." Janet uttered, her already large brown eyes growing huge and round in shock.
Jack, however, was still at a total loss.
"Why would Terri wait 8 months to give Larry his Christmas present?" He whispered to her, causing her to chuckle.
Larry and Terri wanted desperately to clear up any confusion for their friends and to share the joyous news with them, but they were both feeling too emotionally overwhelmed to even speak, let alone catch their breath. Larry eventually lost it and he began sobbing quietly as he trembled against Terri. He still had his arms wrapped around her legs and lower back and had his face buried in her torso. Terri continued gently raking her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner.
"I think some serious congratulations are in order for the future parents..." Janet muttered quietly to Jack as she nodded in Larry and Terri's direction, causing Jack's blue eyes to nearly pop out of his head. Before Jack could get too excited, however, Janet continued. "But let's save that for Christmas Day, okay? Come on, Jack...let's give them their privacy."
Clasping hands, Jack and Janet stood up and had every intention of quietly walking out the door, but from somewhere in his bliss, Larry became aware of his surroundings and finally pulled himself together.
"Wait you guys...please don't go..." Larry spoke up softly.
Jack and Janet stopped and turned to face the couple. Larry pried himself from Terri and crawled over to the tree to pick up a present from underneath it. He stood up, made his way over to Terri and handed it to her gently.
"I was going to save this for tomorrow, but I think you should open it now. Merry Christmas, sweetheart." Larry kissed Terri on the forehead. "But please do me a favor and don't open it out here...take it to the bedroom and open it there. I know it sounds weird...but...well, you'll understand when you see it."
"Okay..." Terri said softly, confused yet intrigued.
"And Janet? Could you please go with Terri and help her with it?" Larry asked her.
Janet gasped a little, not expecting to be involved.
"Sure, Larry." Janet smiled, touched. She traded confused glances with Terri and then shrugged. Together, the two girls made their way down the hallway and disappeared into the bedroom. Jack grinned and walked over to Larry, clapping him on the back.
"Congratulations, buddy!" Jack laughed.
"Oh my God..." Larry breathed.
"Are you excited?" Jack asked him.
"Oh my God..." Larry repeated himself, wide eyed.
"Don't pass out on me! Do you need to sit down?" Jack half joked, chuckling.
"What a miracle, Jack. Really...if you think about it...what a miracle! How did this happen?!" Larry marveled breathlessly.
"Larry, if you don't know that by now then I think you're in trouble!" Jack playfully snickered, causing Larry to roll his eyes.
"You know what I mean, smartass." Larry managed a small smile, finally beginning to calm down.
"You do know that they'll be in there for the next hour battling ribbons and bows as they try to unwrap the present, right?" Jack pointed out with a smirk.
"Yeah, I guess I do tend to go a little overboard, don't I?" Larry shrugged and laughed in agreement. There was a moment of peaceful silence between them before Larry's face fell. Jack noticed the change in his mood almost immediately.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked him.
"Jack..." Larry's somber feeling changed to one of panic as old insecurities gripped at his heart. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
"What do you mean?" Jack wondered.
Larry had been nervously fidgeting in place, but now he had started to pace. He ranted a little as he did so, sounding like he was talking to himself more than to Jack. Feelings of unworthiness swept over him in waves. He didn't want to drag Terri down, much less an innocent child. He had a tendency to ruin people's lives, at least, in his mind.
"She's going to ruin her whole life with me..." Larry predicted. "Lord knows how badly I messed up the last time I tried something like this. What was I thinking making her fall in love with me?"
"Listen to me, Lar..." Jack reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders in order to get him to stop pacing. "You know as well as I do that Terri can't be made to do anything. She loves you because she wants to and you love her. You haven't ruined her life and you aren't going to. She's been the happiest I've ever seen her and it's all because of you. The last time you did this, you were a kid...I know you and I know you're ready for something like this. You are not going to let them down...Terri or the little one. I know you're not going to believe me when I say this, but I don't care...you and Terri deserve each other. She is not ruining her life by being with you, buddy, not even close."
As they made eye contact, Larry's pulse slowed somewhat and he could feel a slight calmness settle over and smooth out his more jagged, panicked feelings. Jack's touching little speech threatened to make him emotional all over again, so he tried to bring humor to the situation.
"The little one?" Larry snorted out a laugh.
Jack chuckled along with Larry, laughing at his choice of words. He blinked back tears as he did so. He could feel himself getting emotional for different reasons. For one, he was so happy for Larry after all he had been through and he was relieved that he and Terri had found one another. Another part of him realized that this was going to be a goodbye to Larry and Terri...well, not a goodbye, but a definite change in things. Marriage, children and now a move in the future. Since no children or pets were allowed in the apartment complex, Jack knew that Larry and Terri would soon have to move out. He just hoped it wouldn't be too far away. It was tough to imagine not having Larry and Terri upstairs anymore.
"Don't start..." Larry sighed, trying to blink back tears.
"What?" Jack asked him, although he already knew what he meant.
"Crying." Larry answered him, before going on a nervous rant. "Because if you start to cry then I'll start crying, if I start crying then Terri is going to start crying, and if Terri starts crying then Janet is going to start crying...and everyone knows that when Janet cries the whole world cries with her, so the four of us are just going to be caught in this endless crying circle forever and ever until Kingdom come and back..."
Larry took a deep breath and then paused, blown away at what he just said.
"Wait...what?" Larry cocked his head, confused.
Jack burst into laughter.
"That sounds like something that Chrissy would say!" Jack pointed out.
Larry and Jack laughed together at the truth of Jack's statement. Either way, Larry knew that he was probably screwed and doomed into a waterworks show anyway. Outsiders would not believe this, but out of the four of them, Larry and Janet probably tied for the two that cried the most.
Jack's eyes drifted beyond Larry and widened. He gasped in surprise and Larry immediately turned around. He knew what had caught his eye, but he couldn't wait to see it for himself.
Larry's nerves melted away completely at the sight before him. Janet and Terri were walking down the hallway and stopped when they finally reached the living room area. Terri looked like an angel. As far as Larry was concerned, she already was one...but now she looked the part dressed in a floor length, modest, old fashioned lace wedding gown with long, lace sleeves. Larry wasn't a fan of the way the modern wedding gowns looked and wanted to get something special for Terri, plus, the long sleeves would be perfect for keeping her warm for a winter wedding. After the hard and brutal autumn he and Terri suffered through, Larry had every intention of following through with an official wedding finally. Naturally, he wanted it as soon as possible, so he was aiming for a winter wedding. He was thinking maybe Valentine's Day, as corny as that sounded. Now, because of her pregnancy, it looked as though they'd have it much sooner. It was Christmas Eve, so a Christmas Day wedding seemed a little short notice...but a New Year's Eve wedding seemed doable and very exciting.
Larry ran to Terri and hugged her close, and she returned his embrace. They kissed each other deeply before pulling apart to stare into each other's eyes lovingly.
"You look just like a princess." Larry admitted.
"But I feel like a queen!" Terri smiled jokingly at him. "More specifically a snow queen...especially in this lovely dress you got for me."
Larry laughed before cupping her face and kissing her again. Janet had long since moved to stand beside Jack. She held Jack's hand, squeezing him excitedly while she and Jack looked adoringly at the happy couple. They really did look so perfect together.
Their union was unorthodox, to say the least. When they first met, they didn't even like each other too much...he thought she was a snob and she thought he was a pig. Who would have thought that them fooling around on a couch in the early hours of New Year's Day would have led to so many changes one year later? It was a true full circle moment. Over the course of their whirlwind romance, she'd turned into his personal nurse, mending and healing emotional wounds and scars rather than just physical ones. He'd become her knight in gold chains, just as he jokingly said he would have.
It wasn't perfect. She had proposed to him in a way, and in bed, no less. Technically, they had already been legally married for three months before the actual wedding ceremony. He'd already seen her in her wedding dress before the big day because he bought it for her himself as a Christmas present. Most controversial of all, the bride was now going to be pregnant at her own wedding ceremony. No, it wasn't storybook perfect...
It was their perfect.
THE END
A/N: I think Jack's innocence can be really adorable at times ("Look, Janet! A giant picnic basket!").