What It Takes

Madison

The living room looked beautiful as I crept down the silent stairs. The tree was shimmering as the lights hit the ornaments. Everything was set up for Christmas. Bear was sleeping in the middle of the room, snoring lightly. I tiptoed around him and smiled down at the old dog.

I turned my attention back to the tree which was the only light in the dark room. Wrapped presents were already under the tree. Peyton must have waited until I fell asleep to procure the packages. It was four-thirty in the morning and I only just came down with his presents.

I placed the presents from his parents, and the one from mine, opposite the ones that were already set out. Then I put mine daintily on top. Lisa had dropped off the gifts three days earlier, already wrapped and ready. She had been perfectly nice, like the first few times I met her. Her mood swings confused me greatly. I stepped back from the gifts and admired them.

I sighed and smiled to myself, going into the kitchen to get a drink. I opened the refrigerator and glanced around, blinking at the light. I casually took out the milk carton and drank out of it. I swapped saliva with Peyton anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. I yawned and stretched, popping my shoulders. Before leaving I briefly noticed a flurry of movement outside.

I jumped and looked closer. I could hardly keep in my squeal of excitement when I realized what it was. I flicked on the light and saw close to an inch of snow on the ground and flurries still swirling down. I smiled widely and turned off the light, turning around and going back upstairs. I pushed the bedroom door opened and yawned again.

I tripped over my own feet and stumbled, grabbing the edge of the bed for support. I crawled under the covers pushing my cold toes towards Peyton immediately. He grunted and rolled over to face me. “You had to do that, didn’t you?” he mumbled quietly. I giggled. “My toes were cold,” I whispered. His eyes fluttered open and his crystal eyes looked over at me. “Merry Christmas,” he said and I smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

He grabbed my hip and pulled me into him as he sighed. I nuzzled my face into his chest and let my hand rest on his side. “There’s a surprise for you outside,” I whispered, feeling sleepy again. “Oh yeah?” he asked. I looked up and saw a small grin on his face. I nodded into his chest. “Mmhmm,” I mumbled, letting sleep take over me.

*

He was so fucking adorable, sitting there on the couch with his straight hair and Santa hat. I wanted to take a picture. We were taking turns opening gifts from our parents. I would open one and then he would open one. Now we were both done. I was nervous for when he opened his.

“Okay, you go first,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. I shook my head. “You go first,” I said stubbornly. I sat straighter on the floor in front of the couch and he pouted. “Babe,” he whined and I shrugged. “You first.” He sighed.
“Only because I love you,” he said and I smiled widely. “You’ll love me even more when you open it!” I sang. He grinned at me and pulled the small box into his lap.

He waited a second and then tore the paper off in record time. It took him a moment to realize what he was holding. “Oh my God! Madi this is amazing!” he yelled, dancing around in his seat. His smile was as wide as I had ever seen it. “I wanted a Touch for so long. Ugh, how do you know these things?” he asked excitedly, holding the iPod above his head and waving it around.

I shrugged. “I’m psychic like that.”

He rolled his eyes, the smile permanent on his face. “Open yours,” he insisted and I nodded. I pulled the small black bag into my lap and stared down anxiously at the scarlet tissue paper. I bit my lip and looked up at him before plunging my hand into the wrappings. A small black velvet box came out and I glanced up at him. Ah, the sweet smell of jewelry.

When I slid the box open, I was not expecting diamonds. The necklace was beautiful. It was perfect and superb. It was so utterly me. I smiled up at him. “Oh, baby,” I cooed, my eyes wide. I moved the box around so the necklace would glitter in the light. I got up and went over to him, sitting next to him on the couch. “Put it on,” I demanded, pulling up my newly straight hair. He fumbled with it for a minute but put it on smoothly. I looked down and ran my fingers on it.

“Thank you so much,” I said, hugging him and kissing his cheek. “You’re welcome. Thanks for the pod,” he said, grinning still. I just sat in his arms, light Christmas music playing in the background and the bright snow glaring in through the window. “I love you Peyt,” I sighed, content. “I love you too.”

We sat like that for a while before I realized the time. We had gotten up late and decided to shower and get half ready before we opened anything. The excitement was a little much so all I ended up done with was my hair. I shot out of Peyton’s lap and into our room to get dressed. I decided on tight skinny jeans and a low cut red sweater to show off my new necklace. Once I sat down at my vanity, the news on the TV next to me, Peyton came in to get dressed.

“I cleaned up a little bit and fed Bear,” he said, heading to his dresser to pull out his clothes. “Thanks,” I murmured, concentrating on my eyeliner. “Are we bringing him with us?” he asked. I blinked and looked at my reflection. “Yeah, I think so. Has he already finished the bone we got him?” I saw him nod before taking off his loose t-shirt.
His bare stomach was flat as a board. He was so small that it was cute. He had muscular arms, but not too bulky. Peyt was, lean I guess. “Like what you see?” he asked, smirking as his milky white chest got covered with a navy sweater. My eyes glanced up at his and I felt myself blush. I turned back to the mirror to finish running my powder-filled brush over my face.

“It’s okay. I love what I see when I look at you,” he said, leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Clothing or no,” he smirked, winking at me in the mirror. I rolled my eyes and pushed him away, getting up and slipping on my silver flats. I turned off the TV and ran downstairs. Peyton was fiddling around with his iPod, and shoving the charger in his pocket.

“Take the presents and put them in the trunk. I’ll get the egg nog and Bear,” I said, rushing around to get everything done. We were already about forty minutes late. I was surprised my mom hadn’t called yet. We finally shoved the old dog’s ass into the car and got in. My feet were freezing, having gotten wet in the snow covered driveway.

“I’m glad it snowed for Christmas,” I said, over the low voice of Gabe Saporta. “Me too. I love snow!” he exclaimed, lacing our fingers together, “But only at Christmas.” I hummed my approval.

As soon as we pulled into my driveway, Bear got excited. He sprinted through the snow as soon as we let him out. Peyton got the presents and I took the egg nog up to the door. My dad was standing there already. “Daddy!” I squealed, smiling. I hugged him and handed him his favorite drink. “Madison, Peyton,” he said and I smiled.

“Madi! It’s so nice to see you in the house again!” my mom said enthusiastically. I hugged her. “Merry Christmas Ma,” I said. Peyton hugged my mom next, my dad put the presents on the coffee table. My mother rushed back into the kitchen and I heard pots being moved around. Lisa and Adam sat casually in the living room, looking like older models out of a magazine with their champagne. I greeted both of them with a Merry Christmas.

Our parents opened their gifts and spoke mostly to themselves about things we didn’t care about while Bear curled up in his favorite corner. I texted Jen and Will while Peyton played around with his, now charging, iPod. “Are those diamonds I see?” Lisa asked, leaning forward. I looked up and nodded shyly. “It’s beautiful. Peyton you have wonderful taste,” she said. We were both a light shade of pink.

“Oh that was so nice. Look at this,” my dad said and I looked away. My mom called us for dinner where we made small talk about school, sports, and future plans. The future wasn’t something I really wanted to talk about since I didn’t really know what was in it. I mean, sure I called a lawyer and everything. Even now, looking at Peyton, it blew me away that we were married.
We were getting along great and everything; today. We constantly fought and that was it. If I had the choice, I’m really not sure what I would do. I was halfway sure it was the same way for him too. But he hadn’t gone that extra step to a lawyer. I kind of felt bad about it.

“Well, we already discussed this with Madison’s parents,” Adam said, and my father nodded. “I want to retire early, and for that to happen, I need you to know how to run the businesses,” he directed to Peyton. Multiple businesses? That was news to me. “I need you to know right after you come out of college. You won’t have the same responsibilities, because I know that’s not what you want. You still need to know what to do.”

Peyton nodded and squeezed my hand under the table. “I don’t know if we’ve told you but we’re moving headquarters to Albany. We have to move up there and we would like both of you to come.”

I felt like my throat was closing up. “But Albany is two hours from here,” I said, my mouth feeling oddly dry. Lisa nodded. “I know it will be difficult but we would like it if you two could talk about it and consider doing it,” she said. I scratched at the back of my neck. I knew there was a look of panic on my face so I sang a little bit of Cobra Starship in my head to calm myself down.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But you do have to make your decision soon. We would have to leave by January 18th,” Adam added and I bit my lip. “Well, we’ll talk about it. Right?” Peyton said, looking sideways at me through his midnight bangs. I nodded reluctantly.

My parents looked somber and grim. “You guys wouldn’t mind?” I questioned. My mom shrugged her shoulders coldly. “You would have been gone in a year if you still lived here anyway. And you were planning on going far, were you not?” she said. I knew it was her way of coping. I just moved my mashed potatoes around on my plate. “We’ll talk about it,” I mumbled quietly.

And now I knew what my decision would be.