Bracken wasn't sure why this particular tradition had begun, but he wasn't about to complain. He treasured it.
Every year for Christmas, Kendra and Bracken filled each other's stockings with whatever they felt their spouse would appreciate. Chocolates, games, silly pens, books, stuffed animals… whatever was small enough to fit inside the oversized sock. There was only one rule regarding what could go into the stockings, and it was an unspoken one at that – they always gave each other at least one pair of warm, fuzzy socks. And on the evening of Christmas itself, they would each wear their newly gifted socks while they created a bed on the floor in their living room and fell asleep to the sounds of a crackling fire in their fireplace.
As they wound down for the evening, Bracken found himself in the kitchen making hot cocoa over the stove the old-fashioned way with milk and actual chocolate (not the powdered stuff tonight). He and Kendra each had a sweet tooth, which pretty much meant that hot cocoa was their go-to drink of choice in the winter months. Eventually he decided that the concoction he'd been stirring for several minutes was both blended and warm enough, so he turned off the heat to the stove and poured the liquid chocolate into a couple of mugs he pulled out of their kitchen cupboard. Laughter hailed him from the living room as he poured, and he cocked his head to the side as he wondered what had Kendra giggling so much. Grabbing both of the mugs, he exited the kitchen and made his way toward the sound of his wife's guffaws.
Upon spotting her, he quickly formed a theory as to what had happened. Kendra had been setting up their bed on the floor in front of the fireplace when she'd apparently tripped or something and had somehow found herself entangled in a bunch of blankets on the floor. She couldn't stop laughing at her own predicament, and her laughter spread through him like a contagion. In no time flat, he found himself chuckling along with her. He couldn't help it; she looked adorable at the moment, and it really was a ridiculous situation to be in.
"Help!" she called out to him. "I've fallen and I can't – I can't get up!" More peals of laughter rang through the air.
"Of course, milady," Bracken said, setting down the mugs of cocoa and grinning as he tried to figure out how best to pry her free of her entanglement. "This is quite the accomplishment. How on earth did you manage to get so twisted up with all of these blankets?"
Kendra couldn't stop giggling long enough to explain it to him.
"Someone's feeling a bit silly tonight," he teased.
"True story," she responded, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. He let her breathe before he really took another look at his blanket-burrito-wife in an effort to undo her burrito-ness.
"Okay, I'm alright now," Kendra began once she'd stopped laughing so much. "It's really not even that funny. I'm just tired and probably had way too much sugar today." She giggled again, then cleared her throat. "I was carrying too many blankets and I tripped over my own feet while trying to set things up. Add a few good rolls to the left and right and, well… I did a good job of pinning myself to the floor." More giggles.
"It's not too bad. If I just pull this one here-" Bracken stopped talking mid-sentence as he yanked on one of the blankets, causing Kendra to roll over onto her back while simultaneously setting her free. "Perfect."
"My hero," Kendra responded, clasping her hands together as she raised her tone of voice up another octave or so.
"Always at your service," Bracken bowed, dropping his voice down another octave or so in return. "Here – stand up and I'll help set up the bed for tonight," he said, extending his hand in a gesture to help her get up. She accepted, and they worked together to get their sleeping accommodations in order; an absolute pile of blankets and pillows, just the way they liked it. Kendra put another log on the fire as Bracken retrieved their cups of cocoa. Once they'd settled into comfortable positions on the floor, he passed one of the cups to her and she scooted closer to him, showing off the pink polka dotted socks he had given her that morning and complimenting him on the super fancy blue ones she'd given him (with unicorns on them of course, because this was Kendra after all and she found that type of thing to be hilarious).
They sat together and sipped their cocoa while talking about how the day had gone and laughing at the shenanigans which had happened amongst their family. Vanessa had wiped the floor with everyone at Mega Scrabble (where they played with four game boards and combined all of the letter tiles) while Warren loudly complained about it and Dale kept telling him to shut up. All of the grandparents had taken to dancing in the living room at some point in time. Seth had arrived late from his girlfriend's house and had had to endure merciless teasing from Warren and Kendra as a result. Jack and Stella, the kids of "Warrenessa" as Kendra and Seth liked to call them, had absolutely been spoiled rotten by all of the adults – especially Marla and Scott. The evening with their family had eventually drawn to a close when Jack and Stella reached the point of sugar crash and Warren and Vanessa had taken them home to put them to bed.
As their conversation reached a natural ebb and the crackling fire turned to smoldering embers, Kendra placed their empty cups on a nearby end table and then tackled Bracken to the ground and laid on her side facing him, entwining their legs so that their socked feet touched each other.
He hadn't known that something as simple as fluffy socks and a bed on the floor could be so magical, yet somehow it was. This was definitely a tradition that Bracken loved.