First Christmas
24th December 1986
"Oh my God," she exhaled exhaustedly as they dragged the Christmas tree into Henry's apartment. "We are never doing this again."
"Well, you practically ran up all of those flights of stairs."
"I just wanted to get it over with. This tree is pretty heavy. I'm not sure it will even fit in here."
"Relax, I can always cut a piece off the trunk. We'll make it work, babe."
They dragged the tree towards the far corner of Henry's living area and put it into the pot that was already waiting for it. Together they lifted the tree and put it in the large flowerpot. "See, fits like a glove," Henry said proudly.
Despite the freezing cold and the drizzle of snow that was falling outside, Elizabeth wiped off the bead of sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her sweater. "I guess you never know how many stairs there are until you have to drag a tree up."
"You did great, babe." He approached her and reached for her face. "You look pretty when you're all sweaty and ruffled."
"Thanks," she retorted sarcastically. "Where are your ornaments? I'll decorate while you make us something delicious."
Henry stepped up to her. "I'm gonna make your favourite."
"Oh yeah, what's that?" she asked as she put her arms around his neck and snuck closer to his body but keeping her distance.
"Do you even have to ask?"
She lifted her eyebrows.
"I'm gonna make my favourite girl popcorn." He pecked her lips.
"Popcorn for dinner? Are you getting sick of feeding me with proper food?"
"It's not for you." He kissed her lips and lingered a bit longer until Elizabeth withdrew and looked at him questioningly.
"It's for the tree," he stated. "I have no ornaments babe. I only have lights to put in the tree. I'll get those for you."
"We're gonna put popcorn in the tree?" she asked, obviously surprised.
"Yeah, don't worry. I know exactly what I'm doing." His lips found hers again.
"Oh, do you now?" she asked before he could crash their mouths together.
He found her tongue and played with it until things started to get heated. His hands snuck towards her back and down her butt where he pinched her cheeks lightly while pushing her pelvis more towards him. She felt him pressing against her and she could feel his starting arousal.
She pulled away from him and cleared her throat. "We should get started," she exhaled while leaving his personal space.
Henry smiled. She had been willing to give herself to him on their third date and now - after seeing each other every single day since she'd first spent the night with him two weeks ago - every time he took somewhat of an initiative, she seemed reluctant to take things further. Truth be told, he wasn't ready for that yet. It was interesting to discover how they could turn each other on just by kissing and touching each other. If she wanted to wait, so would he. Until they were both completely ready.
Henry retrieved a box from his spare closet where he kept things such as his vacuum cleaner, his iron and ironing board and boxes filled with stuff he needed only once in a while. Like the Christmas lights.
"Here you go, babe," he put a kiss to the side of her head. "I'll start on the popcorn. I'll join you in a bit."
It took Elizabeth about 5 minutes to untangle the lights. Henry was impressed. It always took him at least half an hour. She went towards the kitchen and Henry thought she would come to him. Instead, she grabbed a chair from around the dinner table and smirked at him. His disappointment obvious on his face. She blew him a kiss and turned around to get back to the tree. She held up the lights as she climbed the chair. She started from the top down and put the lights around the entire tree. Somewhere in the middle of the tree, she stepped down the chair and continued until all the lights were in place. She went back towards the kitchen and put the chair back in its original place. Henry had his back towards her this time and he was waiting until the popcorn was ready.
She put her arms around him. Surprised he turned around. "Are you coming?" she asked resting her head on his shoulder, eyeing him while darting her fingers along his jawline. He put a kiss to her hair. "Popcorn is almost ready. Hold on a sec." Henry turned back around and lifted the lid from the pot with the popping corn. "Let's go," he said. He quickly took the pot from the stove and put the popcorn in a large bowl.
Elizabeth took the lead in approaching the tree. Henry followed suit and put the bowl on the coffee table. "I wish you'd put a bit of sugar on it," Elizabeth admitted as she grabbed a handful.
Henry laughed. "Like I said, it's not for you." He put his arm around her. "This bowl is for the tree." He looked at her. "But, your bowl is in the kitchen." A wide smile appeared on her face. "Sugar and all."
Elizabeth let him go and went back to the kitchen to find a smaller bowl waiting there for her. "You're the best," she screeched from the kitchen.
"Come here." Henry said. "And bring that thing. I want a bite of that too, you know."
Elizabeth got back to Henry and popped one piece of popcorn into his mouth.
"Only one?" he asked with puppy eyes.
She offered him the bowl so he could take whatever he wanted. "Shall we?" Henry asked as he chewed.
Elizabeth simply nodded. Henry connected the lights to the power socket and switched them on. Elizabeth let out a sigh of happiness. She had done a great job putting the coloured lights in.
"Now, it's just missing some popcorn strings. Let's get to work, Adams," Henry ordered as he sat down on the couch with the pieces of string he'd also grabbed from the closet earlier.
"I prefer 'babe', babe," Elizabeth said plainly.
"I know. Me too," Henry showed her a shy smile while he handed her a piece of string as well. "This is how we do this."
Elizabeth followed Henry's lead and in no time they had strung together meters of popcorn strings. They finished up all the popcorn and when they were ready, Henry cut their strings and tied them together.
They got up at the same time careful not to break the strings. Henry didn't need a chair to reach the top of the tree. Again, they started from the top down. Henry finished the last part as Elizabeth watched him work his way around the tree. When he was done, he turned around to catch a tear slipping from Elizabeth's watery eyes.
"Babe? What's wrong," he stepped closer to her immediately, invading her personal space, silently asking her to open up about what was making her sad.
She shook her head. "It's perfect," she whispered. "You're perfect," she added.
Henry smiled weakly as he grabbed both of her hands that were dangling next to her waist.
""You're perfect." He convinced her. He could do that. Say something so meaningful and convince her that his words were indeed true.
"We're perfect," he added after that.
Elizabeth sobbed when she heard his words. He squeezed her hands.
"I never thought I'd ever be this happy again," she admitted. She had opened up to him in the last couple of weeks. Showing her vulnerable side, only when they were alone. When he could see and feel what the real Elizabeth was like.
She gave him a weak smile. "I know this is a difficult time for you, babe." He brushed the tears away that were falling freely now. "But, I want you to know that I'm here. I'm gonna do everything I can to make you happy. Every single day."
She chuckled. "Are you proposing?"
"No. Do you want me to propose?" he asked teasingly.
"God, no." Her sadness made room for playful banter. "Not yet anyway," she smacked his butt.
Henry was surprised at her words. Yet, he had to laugh at the way she could be playful yet serious at the same time.
"Now, tell me. What shall we do about dinner, babe?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do?" She let it to him to decide.
"Well, I need to go to the supermarket. I don't have that much food left in the fridge. But I'm not sure the two of us can master eating an entire turkey. Although, you never fail to surprise me," he quipped.
"I'm not that fond of turkey," Elizabeth said. "Why don't we go to the store together? We still have an hour before closing time. Then we can pick whatever we want."
"Okay, let's go," Henry took her by the hand and dragged her out of his apartment.
"We need wine." Elizabeth said. "And ice cream." She smiled expectantly at him as they entered the store hand in hand.
"Yeah, we'll get the wine first, then we'll figure out what we want for dinner. And we'll go for the ice cream before going to the checkout. We don't want it to melt, do we?" Henry quipped, knowing damn well most of their bowls of ice cream were left to melt after they had eaten most of it and had then started their nightly kissing rituals.
It caused Elizabeth to chuckle and she thought of the few times the bowls with melted ice cream would still be on the coffee table in the morning.
They decided on a French wine.
"One day, I'm taking you to a vineyard in France and we'll drink nothing but wine," Henry said as Elizabeth put two bottles of the wine in the cart.
"Well, that'll be the first time you'll see me hung-over then," she bobbed her head at her joke.
They went through the different aisles. "Quick answer: fish or meat?" Henry asked.
"Meat," she really didn't have to think about that.
They decided on steak. And tater tots. And a collection of different vegetables: green asparagus, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, parsnip and mushrooms. When they got to the ice cream department, Elizabeth seemed to be in paradise. She went over all the different flavours.
She held out a box of strawberry flavour and a box stracciatella for Henry to decide.
"Both!" Henry said.
Elizabeth smiled widely at him. "I think I could marry you, you know," she joked.
"I know," Henry said. "We're really good at taking things slowly," he meant it as a joke. He sounded sarcastic but Elizabeth flinched and couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with taking things to the next level. Or better yet, not taking things to the next level. They'd known each other for a little less than a month now. What was the respectable time to wait to take that step? Elizabeth didn't know. Heck, she'd wanted to take that step on their third or fourth date. They'd spent every single day together since. They had gone on dates and they had either spent time at Henry's or at Elizabeth's dorm. They'd gone to a party twice and she'd even spent a couple of nights with him after that first night together. It had never lead to anything more and Elizabeth felt comfortable with that. She, however, didn't know how Henry was feeling about it now. Maybe he was getting frustrated.
They made their way to the checkout.
"Do you think we have everything, babe?" Elizabeth didn't respond while she was putting the groceries on the belt. Her mind kept going places and her uncertainty started to take hold of her. "Babe?" Henry pulled her out of her reverie.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we have everything?"
"Wine, ice cream and dinner. Yeah! I guess so."
Elizabeth got out her wallet. "What are you doing?" Henry asked.
"I'm paying. I've been eating the food that you've paid for almost a month now. It's time I did something for you too."
"You don't have to do that."
"I know," she said, "I just want to." She gave him a sweet smile and a nod, reassuring Henry she wanted to do this.
Henry returned her smile and wasn't surprised she wanted to do this. Elizabeth was a very honest and respectable person who never wanted to take anything or anyone for granted. And she was definitely not someone who wanted to take advantage of someone. It was everything he loved about her.
"You're cooking though," she stated.
"Of course." He winked at her. "And you're going to help me, my little sous-chef."
When they returned to Henry's apartment, they noticed the soft glow the place had now that the Christmas tree was completely decorated and lit. They placed the groceries on the countertop. While Henry rinsed the vegetables, Elizabeth put the ice cream in the freezer until later and then opened the first bottle of wine for them.
She handed him a glass. "What can I do?" she asked him.
He clinked his glass to hers and sipped it before saying: "I'm gonna start with cutting up the vegetables."
"I'll help. But I first need to use your bathroom. I'll be right back," she placed a soft kiss to his cheek.
Henry followed her with his eyes. God, he was so lucky.
Elizabeth went to the bag she had put underneath her side of the bed. She smiled at the thought that she already had a side; next to Henry was where she felt best these days. She took out a gift that was wrapped and put it underneath her sweater. She snuck it a bit in her pants, so it would definitely not fall. When she was done, she went back to Henry.
"Okay, tell me," she spoke when she saw Henry had already cut all the vegetables.
"We're going to put this in a dish so it can go in the oven with some olive oil and herbs."
"That, I can do." She started working.
"Mind if I go freshen up?" Henry asked.
"Sure, go ahead, I'll shout if I need your help." Elizabeth answered.
Henry took a quick shower and changed into something more comfortable, he opted for sweatpants and a T-shirt. When he was done, he opened his bedside drawer and took out the small wrapped gift he'd got her. He put it in his pants pocket and went back into the living room. He could see Elizabeth was figuring out how to use the oven didn't notice him. He quickly put the gift underneath the tree without her noticing.
"First time using an oven?" Henry asked as he approached her.
"Very funny. Why don't they just make the same ovens for everyone? One type of oven should be enough and it would make life much easier." She was scrolling through the menu to get the degrees right.
"You're doing great babe. I see that you've already managed to put the plate in the oven," he joked.
She jammed her elbow into his abdomen as he was standing behind her. "200°?"
"Take 180°, that will give us some more time."
Elizabeth turned around in his arms. "Don't you look comfy? All dressed up for Christmas eve," she said as she put her hands on his chest. "And you smell so great." She inhaled his scent as she put a kiss to his neck.
"You're free to take a shower as well if you want to. If you want to change, just take something from my drawer that fits."
"All your clothes fit me." She said.
"True, and you look better in them as well." It was his turn to kiss her now.
"Come on, go ahead, I'll take care of the tater tots and the steak." He kissed her lips before letting her go.
When she was done showering, she put on one of Henry's boxers. She put on a spare pair of panties that were in the bag under the bed and she took one of his T-shirts and put it on after she'd locked her bra. The hem of the T-shirt ran to the middle of her thighs. Not knowing what to do with the gift she'd snuck in her sweater earlier, she decided to try to sneak it underneath the tree without Henry catching her.
When Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom, Henry was busy baking the steak but he immediately heard her. "Hey, babe."
Elizabeth silently swore. She quickly snuck the gift underneath the T-shirt.
"Something smells delicious," she said before asking Henry if he also had some pants for her.
"I'm afraid they'll all be too big for your slim figure, baby." He turned around eyeing her. Her hands were crossed keeping the gift in place underneath her shirt.
"But, just that T-shirt is fine for me, you know." Henry had to swallow at the sight of her.
"I don't want to get cold. I'll just put on my jeans again. No biggie." She quickly returned towards the bathroom and put on her jeans and snuck the gift inside the waistband just like she had done earlier.
"Would you mind setting the table?" Henry asked her.
"Yeah, sure, no problem." She set two plates on the counter for Henry to put the food on. Then she took the cutlery, two napkins and their two glasses to the table. She decided the table was too far from the tree and so she set everything on the small coffee table. She took a couple of cushions from the couch and dropped them to the floor so they would be more comfortable as they ate. She thought now would be the perfect time to put her gift underneath the tree but she was surprised to see a gift underneath it already.
"Hey, Henry," she called out.
"Yeah?" He looked up from what he was doing.
"I thought we said no gifts." She pointed towards the gift underneath the tree.
"I know. It's just something really small and it made me think of you. I just couldn't not buy it." He continued filling the plates with a steak, some vegetables and tater tots.
She nodded. Henry was done, turned off the kitchen lights with his elbow and brought the plates over to the coffee table.
"I figured here would be more Christmassy." Elizabeth defended her choice of eating at the coffee table.
"You're right. Good call."
He set the plates down and stroked his hand through her hair before he took place on the floor across from her.
"This looks and smells great," she said. "Thank you for putting this together."
"It's no trouble at all. Thank you for paying."
She smiled sweetly at him.
"And by the way, it's you that looks and smells so great."
She blushed at his words.
"Here's to our first Christmas," Henry raised his glass.
"Cheers," Elizabeth clinked their glasses together, wondering if it would also be their last Christmas together. One never knows. She was not naïve.
"I really like steak," Elizabeth said as she cut another piece off the meat.
"Slowly, babe, we have time," he mentioned as he saw Elizabeth was – once again – eating rather quickly.
Again he made a remark about taking it slowly. Was he referring to her way of eating? Or was it something else? He saw the change in her features and her mind wandering to a different kind of place.
"Anything on your mind?" Henry asked.
"Are you making fun of me?" she asked blatantly.
Henry looked at her. "Why would you say that?"
"Because you've made a few comments today about taking things slow. Could it be that you're referring to us, you know."
"I'm not sure what you mean, babe." He looked at her for further explanation.
"Are you ready for the next step?"
He didn't say anything; he just looked at her, still not sure what she was aiming at.
"Are you ready for us to have sex?" she asked him.
"Elizabeth," he sighed. "You're overthinking everything. What I may or may not have said about taking things slowly today has nothing to do with us having sex. Or not having sex."
She gave him a nod to express her understanding.
"Are you ready?" he asked curiously.
"Maybe, I don't know," she said hesitatingly. "I don't know what we are? I don't know how long one should wait in a "relationship," she used air quotes around that last word, "before actually doing that. Are we in a relationship? I don't know. I'm not sure. And I haven't … Well, I mean, you would kind of be my first, so it … ."
"Kind of?" Henry asked.
"Well not kind of. You are my first," she answered him as she lowered her head, afraid to look at him.
Henry smiled. "Elizabeth, look at me, baby." She lifted her head up. Her eyes met his and she saw that his were sparkling whereas hers were probably clouded over with worry. "You would be my first too, you know."
"Really?" Elizabeth asked. Surprised, she just figured that Henry was no longer a virgin.
"Yeah. Really."
"Well, aren't you curious about it? And nervous?" She asked. She answered her own question right there, giving her own feelings away: "I mean, I'm just wondering when. And where. And how? And if it will be good, for you, for me;" she sighed. "I don't know what to expect frankly."
"That goes for me too, babe. And if you're nervous, I guess that means you're not ready yet and that's totally fine with me. I don't know whether or not I'm ready. But we'll figure it out together. Don't get all worked up over this, please."
"I'm not, Becky just said that sex is important. And if it's not good, then it won't last."
"Wow, seems like Becky's got all the experience."
Elizabeth shrugged. Henry scooted closer to where Elizabeth was sitting. He took both of her hands in his.
"Listen, I think sex is important too. If it doesn't feel right, or if it continues to be bad, it probably won't last. But I also think that two people have to get to know each other. We've come to know each other quite well. I know you, Elizabeth. I like who you are. However, I don't know your body," his hands went to her knees now. "I don't know what you like and don't like yet. But we'll figure it out. And if our first time – God forbid – turns out to be a complete fiasco, we'll try again until we do make it work. We'll figure it out together until, you know, we're both satisfied with and by each other."
"What if that doesn't happen? What if it stays bad?"
"If two people are made for each other, they will make it work. People just give up too fast, too quickly. I'm willing to work and fight for what we have."
She leaned forward and put a kiss to his lips.
"So, don't worry about it, okay?"
"Okay." She gave him a determined smile, although they still hadn't defined what they are to each other.
"Now eat the rest of your steak, and take your time eating it," he ordered her. "Just enjoy, babe. And relax."
When they were done, they brought their dishes to the sink and started their almost daily ritual. Elizabeth washed, Henry dried.
"This is nice," Henry said.
"What is?"
"The dishes, us being here together, working together."
"You like doing the dishes?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, "you know what they say, right?"
She looked at him. Not knowing what he meant.
"The couple that does the dishes together has the best sex together."
She snorted. "You should definitely stick to your Aquinas quotes."
Both were laughing out loud at each other's teasing now.
"Okay, time for your gift," Henry said as he finished cleaning the counter top and folded the towel and put it on the counter. He grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the Christmas tree.
He picked it up and handed it to her.
"What if I didn't get you anything?" she asked him.
"I don't care. Besides you got me dinner right?"
"You buy me dinner all the time. It's only fair I returned the gesture."
"I know; but I really don't care if you didn't get me anything. Now, come on, open yours."
Elizabeth went back to the couch and sat down. She put the gift in her lap and started to open it. Once she got the wrapping paper off, she saw a small velvet box. She looked at Henry who was eagerly waiting for her to open it.
Inside was a copper coloured bracelet with an inscription. Elizabeth held it in front of her so she could read what it said. You are my favorite person.
"I love it so much, Henry, thank you," she threw her arms around Henry and kissed him fully on the lips.
"I'm glad you like it. Here, let me put it on for you."
Elizabeth extended her arm and Henry carefully locked the thin bracelet to her wrist where it fit perfectly with her other bracelets. He stroked the vein on the inside of her arm and felt her heartbeat. She gave him the sweetest kiss and lingered until she started to speak.
"I got you something too, you know?" she said enthusiastically.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I just wasn't able to put it underneath the tree yet."
"Well, go ahead."
She shook her head. "Find it."
"Find it? Here?" He looked around searchingly. "Aren't you gonna give me a hint?"
"Don't worry. I'll help you."
Henry got up and went to the bedroom. "Am I hot?" he asked looking at her.
"Yeah, you are, but not in this game," she snorted.
Elizabeth stood up as well and joined him in the bedroom. "You're getting warmer," she teased.
He thought she meant it was in the bathroom. She shook her head. He decided to check underneath the bed where he found her bag. He spilled the contents of it on the bed. Lipstick, her wallet, a tampon, her dirty underwear she had taken off before showering but nothing that looked like a gift to Henry.
He picked everything back up and put it in her bag again. He took the tampon and her underwear and he made it seem like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Something entered his mind. She must have put it in his closet as she had one of his T-shirts on. He roamed all the drawers but nothing.
He checked both bedside tables; still nothing that resembled a gift.
Elizabeth stepped back into the living room as he was looking around the bedroom.
"Is it possible it's not in there?" he asked her.
She just shrugged.
"Am I getting warmer?" stepping into the living room.
She nodded. She had a wide smile plastered on her face.
He looked everywhere but he could not find a gift. He scanned his bookrack to see if there was anything unusual. When she approached him to help him she mentioned he was getting warmer but he didn't get the hint.
"Kitchen?" he asked her.
He opened all of the cupboards and drawers and she could tell Henry was beginning to feel desperate.
He opened the oven and Elizabeth had to laugh loudly at that.
She backed him against the oven and kissed him. "You're burning yourself."
Suddenly it dawned on him. "You're the gift?!"
She shook her head. "Find it."
He raised his eyebrows. What was she doing? She was being mischievous and boy did he love it.
She took his hands and put them on her shoulders. Never abandoning him, she drew his hands down along her sides. He could feel the curve of her breasts slightly through his T-shirt on her. "Feel anything yet?"
His mouth was becoming more and more dry as he learned the edges of her body and he swallowed hard.
"Elizabeth," he whispered breathily.
"Keep searching."
She brought his hands to her back and to her butt. He roamed his hands around her butt cheeks and she shivered.
She then brought his hands to the button of her jeans.
It was then that he felt it. The gift.
She could see in his eyes that he had indeed discovered the present.
He lifted the shirt up a bit and saw what appeared to be the size of a small book snuck in her trousers. He also noticed she was wearing his light blue boxers and his temperature shot up.
He put his hand around the wrapped gift and she trembled as he came into contact with her lower abdomen.
"Take it," she ordered.
Henry pulled the gift from her trousers and held it in front of him. It had the shape of a book but the weight was not right.
"Open it," another command. He loved when she took the lead.
He ripped the wrapping paper off and looked at what appeared to be a hardcover. No title on it. No author. And it didn't weigh enough to be a book.
"What is this?"
Her eyes told him to open it and so he did. Inside, the book was hollow. It was actually a box and it contained paraphernalia. He took out their two tickets to Top Gun, their first movie together. He fished out a post-it on which she had written his first words to her: "Thomas Aquinas walks into a bar…" Next, he held out a picture of the two of them; the one they had taken in a photo booth on one of their previous dates. He also pulled out the check that held all the purchases of their first Christmas dinner together.
He eyed her. His eyes softened.
"If we put all our memories into this box, this book will tell our entire story."
"You're the best girlfriend! I love it!"
"Am I your girlfriend?" she asked, hopefulness speaking from her words and her eyes.
"Well, yeah. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
She nodded. She pressed him against the oven again and kissed him, softly first. "No more air quotes then," she hissed before she kissed him more ferociously.
"It's official now!" Henry had the biggest smile on his face Elizabeth had yet seen.
He reciprocated her kiss and picked her up.
He carried her back to the couch and set her down on it. He turned away from her and made his way to his bookrack where he put her gift.
"This is my favourite book in this collection," Henry said as he looked at her on the couch.
He soon joined her on the couch and they nestled against each other. They talked and kissed and talked some more until both were exhausted and had to fight to stay awake.
Elizabeth spent another night at Henry's; in each other's arms, safe and sound. Soon, they would be taking their next step. Not tonight though. They would take it slow until both were completely ready and familiar with each other. They were on the right track.
"Merry Christmas, baby!" Henry whispered as he planted the last kiss of the day to her sweet lips.
"Merry Christmas, Henry," their bodies facing each other, their hands entwined in between their heads, they feel asleep.
