Scream Me a Dream

Wednesday December 22, 2010
10:45am

Soya searched through the gift boxes that she and Ville had scattered all around the living room, taking advantage of Ville’s absence so she could wrap his present and toss it into their gift pile without him noticing the one extra gift.

She cast a weary glance at their gift pile and winced, no way would Ville notice one extra gift in that monstrous pile, she thought as she growled in annoyance when she couldn’t find a gift box that fit the frame that she had in her hand. She had the paper, tissue, and ribbon all picked out, all she needed was a blasted box.

Chewing on her lip, she kneeled down to look under the coffee table, which was a disaster of wrapping paper scraps, scissors, unused ribbon and empty wrapping paper tubes. She sorted through the few boxes that were scattered on the floor as well, reprimanding herself for not saving one when she and Ville had been wrapping presents earlier in the week.

Laughing in triumph when she found one that the frame fit perfectly in, she went over to the table where she has laid out all her materials, only to pause when she heard the doorbell ring. Looking over at the counter where Ville usually dropped his keys, she sighed when she saw his keys sitting there along with his cell phone. Sighing again, she walked over to the door, not bothering opening it.

“Ville, love, I forgot we’re out of tomatoes, do you mind running to the store and getting some of those as well.” She asked, trying to stall. She’d sent him to the corner store for soup to get him out of the tower for her to have enough time to wrap his gift. He’d looked at her as if she were crazy to even suggest he leave the warmth of his tower, only for Soya to convince him with a few kisses and the promise to rewarding him tenfold if he picked up the soup. He’d left, still muttering about her being cracked.

“You would send your fiancé in this freezing weather to get a fucking tomato! Eeva open the blasted door! I hate the cold!”

“Hannu!” Soya laughed pulling the door open, pulling him into the house before the cold seeped in. She hugged her friend, only to wince when he hugged her a bit too roughly, pressing on the tattoo on her shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” HP laughed, taking off his jacket as he let her go. “Am I so ugly that you’re wincing when you see me now?”

Soya laughed and shook her head. “No, of course not! I’ve just….” She turned around so he could see the outline of the eyes on her back, causing him to eye it in appreciation

Since HP had been planning on visiting for an early lunch, and she and Ville were spending the early afternoon to finish wrapping the last of the presents, she hadn’t dressed for winter. Also, not wanting to agitate her new tattoo, she’d worn a thin strapped ivory romper with a light brown floral pattern, with military style buttons going down the front of her bodice while the back lay just low enough so only the straps lay loosely on her shoulders.

“That’s fresh.” HP said, running his fingers lightly over her back. “Really well done too, who did it?”

“Kat Von D, she was in town for a few days, she did Ville’s too.”

“Ville’s got a new tattoo?” HP asked, as Soya took his coat, hat, gloves and scarf from him and set them on the couch.

“He did, he can show it to you when he gets home if your curious to see it.”

“Where is he?” HP asked as he followed her deeper into the house, to the table where she motioned him to sit while she continued to start wrapping Ville’s gift.

“I asked him to run to the store for me.”

“Eeva it’s freezing outside.” HP said with a laugh. “Why in the world did you send him out?”

“Because we haven’t had a moment apart for a few days and I need to wrap his present before we take them all to his parent’s house later today.” Soya huffed, “Really it’s his own fault, he wakes up before me and goes to bed after me, so I haven’t had a moment of privacy to wrap it.”

“What did you get him?” HP asked picking up the frame and looking at what was inside, as Soya lay the tissue paper in the box. “Eeva, is this real?” he gaped.

Soya nodded, plucking the frame out of his fingers and placing it carefully in the box, placing red and green tissue paper over it, making sure it was sufficiently hidden within the box, before covering it with its lid. “It is, Josef just sent it to me a couple of days ago, cost a pretty penny to…” She bit he lip, turning towards her friend. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“I think he’ll love it.” HP nodded; amazed that Soya had no qualms paying for items she knew her friends would love. “How much did you spend on me?” he teased.

Soya laughed. “I thought about just having any doctors you go see contact me for your health care since I’ve heard you’re uninsurable, but I figure you and the boys would rack those bills up pretty fast and truthfully, I don’t love you that much.” She said pinching his cheek before picking up the blue wrapping paper that sat on the table and unrolled just enough to wrap the white box.

“I’m hurt.” HP laughed, handing her the scissors when she motioned for them. “Really, what did you get me?”

Soya laughed. “If you can find your present under that mound by the fireplace, you are more than welcome to open it, if not then you’ll just have to wait.”

HP turned and eyed the large mountain of presents with an impressed eye. “Do you know how many presents are in there?”

“Sixty-eight, well, sixty-nine total when I add this one. I’m afraid Ville and I really didn’t think ahead when we started buying presents, we got at least three for all of our friends each, then we got separate gifts for his parents and for his brother and we both went a little crazy when it came to Aida. Then I got gifts for Niina and Nathan, plus you and the boys.”

“You got gifts for the rest of the guys?” HP asked with a raised eyebrow.

Soya rolled her eyes as she cut the paper, setting her scissors down and picking up the box, seeing it in the center of the paper. “Don’t get too excited, I got them each a book on manners and etiquette for kids, I thought the smaller words would help them get through it.” She teased, causing HP to laugh.

“At least you got them something this year; you’re warming up to them.”

“That’s to be determined.” Soya murmured, holding the paper over the box, motioning HP for a strip of tape. He tore a piece off before handing it to her, “Then Ville had some friends he wanted to get things for, then we got things for The Eyes along with Rosalind and her daughter Impi.”

Soya shook her head, before grinning. “Next year we’re just getting one gift for everyone and just putting both our names on it, I have never wrapped so many presents in my life.” Soya said as she tucked in the sides of the wrapping paper, taping the last two edges down before turning the box right side up and sticking a red bow, she had premade on it. “There.” She said, going over and adding it to the pile of gifts, just as the door opened, Ville walking in and closing the door behind him.

“Here woman, I got your blasted soup.” Ville said, handing her the bag as she went over to him. She tried to lean up to kiss him, only for him to turn away. “I don’t want your blasted kisses, making me walk in this cold to the corner store, when you could have driven.” Ville groused as he started taking off the layers of clothing he had on and dumping them on the floor, not caring that Soya was eyeing them in disapproval.

“I tried calling you, but you left your cell phone on the counter.” Soya said biting her lip.

“Why?” Ville asked narrowing his eyes on her, as he took off his beanie.

“I found a couple of cans of soup in the back of the cabinet, you were too far gone by the time I realized it.”

“I really don’t like you right now.” Ville muttered.

“Remember you love me.” Soya cooed teasingly, leaning up to kiss the bottom of his chin. “I’m sorry Ville, I wouldn’t have sent you out there had I known, but everything is ready for lunch now, so why don’t you go sit at the table and chat with Hannu while I serve you guys.”

“Fine.” Ville sighed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “But only because you have warm soup to feed me.”

“Of course.” Soya laughed, pushing him lightly towards the dining table while she headed into the kitchen to serve her boys some soup and sandwiches.

“Hei, HP.” Ville said greeting the Dudeson as he unwound his scarf from his neck and sat next to him, only to frown when he saw the gift wrapping on the table.

“Hei, how are you Ville?” HP asked, smiling at his friend.

Ville nodded pushing the wrapping supplies at the other end of the table. “I’m good, Soya and I are getting ready to head to New York in a couple of weeks, so we’ve been trying and getting as much as the planning for the wedding done as we can.”

“How is the wedding coming along?” HP asked as Soya came out of the kitchen, holding bowls of soup, placing them in front of Ville and HP, the boys thanking her as she went back into the kitchen to get the sandwiches she’d also made.

“As well as it can go.” Ville shrugged, picking up his spoon, only to roll his eyes at himself and take his gloves of his fingers. “The more we sit down to talk about it the more we realize we’re not getting shit done.”

“It’s a very long process.” Soya put in, setting down their sandwiches, only to stop when HP grabbed her left hand to look at her ring, having only heard the news from his friend over the phone, not having actually seen her since they’d met with Mr. Jolien for the last time before the reigns for the studio were handed over to Soya.

“Very subtle looking ring.” HP said, with a grin, letting her hand slip out of his. “Very you.”

“Thank you.” Soya laughed. “Anything to drink Hannu?”

“Water is fine.” HP answered as Ville asked for the same, Soya disappearing into the kitchen again. “I’m guessing you were going for the subtly that the ring offered? It looks much more like a band then an engagement ring.”

Ville chuckled. “Her sister actually helped me pick it, I actually had something a bit different picked out, but Aida really liked that one and swore Soya would like it, and sure enough Soya loves it, loves it so much she won’t take it off to let me get it properly fitted.” Ville shrugged, “The smallness of the ring worked in our favor as we kept our engagement quiet for a while before telling our friends.”

“Are you planning on getting her something else?” HP asked.

Ville chuckled. “That’s for me to know and you to find out at the wedding.”

“What is Hannu finding out at the wedding?” Soya asked setting her bowl and plate down as Ville helped her with the three water bottles that she had tucked under her arm.

“What your dress looks like.” Ville said with a quick grin.

“Ah, I don’t even know what it looks like yet Hannu.” Soya laughed. “I’m going with Josef to pick it when I get to New York.”

“I’m sure Josef is going to love that.” HP smiled. “So what’s left in your planning? Ville said you’re trying to get most of it done here?”

Soya nodded, stirring her soup. “We’re trying to, but every conversation we have about things just end up circling back, we can’t decided on anything.”

“Like?” HP asked.

“Our wedding song for one.” Ville muttered. “We want to have a song to dance to for our first dance but apparently we don’t have a song.”

“You’d think with Ville being a musician he’d be able to think of a song for us to dance to, but he keeps going back to more metal based music.”

Ville sighed. “I suggested “Prowler” by Iron Maiden, she instantly shot it down.”

“I didn’t instantly shoot it down!” Soya said shoving at his arm in her own defense. “It went on the list, didn’t it?!”

“Last on the list.” Ville chuckled. “We don’t want an overly played song, but we don’t want one that’s too new, so we’ve both been on music overdrive to find one.”

“Why not just write one?” HP asked with an amused smirk.

“I suggested that!” Soya said, looking over at Ville. “But he doesn’t want to.”

“I’ve already explained this to you, if I’m going to write a song for us to dance at our wedding, I don’t want someone else performing it so I can dance with you, I’d rather just sing it myself, and since that’s out of the questions I’m not writing a blasted song specifically for us to dance to. I’m not some magical typewriter that can just spout off lyrics and make them into a song in a minute flat. There is a process.”

“All right, so wedding song is still in debate, what else?” HP laughed, enjoying the show that Soya and Ville offered when they talked about their wedding.

“Music in general is still being talked about.” Ville said. “We still can’t decide if we want a band or a DJ or what we want to do.”

“Get a band.” HP shrugged with a smirk. “More Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

Ville chuckled. “But then there’s the question of do we ask one of our friends to play? And if we do then who? Then there’s the hurt that may come if we ask one group of friends rather than the other, but do we really want to go through the hassle of finding and auditioning a band that may suck in the long run.”

“I think it’s just ten times harder to plan this thing with Ville taking the music so seriously. He got very offended when I suggested we just load up an iPod and let it play.”

HP winced. “Even I think that a bad idea, if you’re going to do that, just get a DJ.”

Soya waved at Ville knowing he had a rant for the DJ aspect as well, Ville turned to HP with a sigh. “Even that’s a difficult choice, we have friends that also DJ, Jyrki, Jussi, Bam on occasion, so again, do we ask our friends to do it or do we find someone?”

“All right, so music is still in debate, what else?”

“Soya’s got her dress half way figured out, I’m getting my suit fitted when I get back from New York as is Jesse, so that’s months off. Soya’s Maid of Honor is in charge if figuring out what dress she’s wearing within the month, so that’s done.”

“Colors are figured out, as is our wedding list, finally, we have it narrowed down to 100 at the ceremony and 450 at the reception.”

“Invitations are figured out,” Ville said, Soya had shown him the book idea on her laptop, and he had liked the idea of hollowing out books and putting their invitations in them to send to their friends and family that would be attending the ceremony.

He’d agreed to helping her hollow out the books and even helping her with the crafty part of the books in making makeshift envelopes inside as he figured Aida would probably help with it as well, his only condition be that they get the actual invitations professionally made. So he and Soya had started looking for invitations that they both liked to get them ordered.

“All we really need is a date, and we should get that figured out in about a week, once I get my dance schedule.” Soya put in.

“Are you registering anywhere?” HP asked, wondering what Ville and Soya would want as a wedding gift.

“Soya and I talked about it.” Ville said, looking over at Soya with a smile, before looking at HP, “We don’t want any gifts, we’re not short on money so if we’re missing anything in our household we’ll just buy it ourselves.”

“I’m planning on sending a lot from New York to here as I’ll make this my home when I’m on break from the company, it won’t be until after the wedding that Ville and I will take inventory of all our things and see what we’re missing, so it’s pointless to ask for something we may not need.”

Ville shrugged. “If people really want to give us something, we’re going to ask that they just donate money somewhere, but Soya and I are going to try and narrow it down and see if we can find a charity or two that people can just give their money to.”

“Sounds like a neat thing to do.” HP said nodding approvingly.

“Might as well give money to people that need it.” Ville said with quick grin.

“Really, I think the big thing we haven’t figured out is a venue and I want to reserve it before we leave.” Soya said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“What type of venue are you looking for?” HP asked, uncapping his water.

“We want to get married outside.” Ville said. “It’ll be in May, so it’ll be nice enough to have a wedding outdoors. Soya wants somewhere that we’ll be able to have the ceremony and reception at with little to no travel for our guests.”

“Privacy is another big factor, we really don’t want media finding out about it and crashing the wedding…”

“Or fans.” Ville said. “But a lot of the places we’ve been looking at are to public.”

“Eeva, you are so stupid sometimes.” HP laughed, causing Soya to glare at him.

“Well that’s uncalled for Hannu.”

“I’m serious.” HP said, putting his spoon into his bowl and crossing his arms over his chest. “Here I am, sitting on a large piece of land that will not only hold your 100 guests, but the 450 you also have attending, and you haven’t even asked to use it, not that you’d have to ask, the boys and I would be honored if you got married there.”

Soya frowned. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“That ranch Eeva! I’m talking about the ranch!!” HP exclaimed. “It’s got more than enough room to hold the wedding and all of your guests.”

“Hannu,” Soya sighed, “I couldn’t…”

“Of course you could! You think Jarppi, Jarno and Jukka are going to argue this! We really would be honored if you and Ville got married at the ranch, it would mean no travel when it came to your guests, only for the ones that live here in Helsinki and even then it’s not that bad of a drive to Seinäjoki.”

Ville frowned as he thought about it. “We would have taken care of any transportation and boarding,” He looked at Soya. “We could set up everyone coming out of town at the hotels there from the start, instead of them coming into Helsinki and then driving up there. We were going to set up a car service for your friends from New York anyway, we could just set it up for our friends coming in from here and going up, that way they don’t have to deal with driving.”

“Unless you were set on having it here in Helsinki?” HP asked, looking over at his friend.

“No, we were also looking in Sipoo, but I was hesitating to have it there.” Soya admitted slowly.

“Have it at the ranch.” HP nodded, knowing that the closer Soya got to her mother, the more drama it would cause.

Soya bit her lip. “Hannu.”

“The guys and I will do all the work, we’ll clear out all the weeds and clean out the barn, you can come out before you leave and see how you want things set up, we can do this for you Soya, consider it our wedding present to you.”

Soya sighed. “As long as the other three are fine with it, then…I would be absolutely grateful if Ville and I could get married at the ranch and it would take the largest burden off my shoulders…our shoulders.” Soya corrected after seeing Ville’s playful glare.

“I will talk to the rest of the guys when I get together with them, but they’re going to say yes.” HP laughed. “So now what two have to do, is plan how you want everything set up, let us know and we’ll get it done.”

Soya shook her head. “You’re amazing Hannu.”

HP shrugged. “I want to give you guys something and if you don’t want presents then I’m very willing to give you the venue and help you as much as I can while you guys are in New York.”

“We both know you’re busy as well Hannu, what with you boys opening the club, and the school year starting back up for you, I don’t want you to take this on if you can’t.” Soya started. “Once I figure out my schedule, Ville and I will most likely come back here on the weeks I have off to get wedding things done.”

“Really Eeva it’s not a problem. The guys manage just fine without me while I’m teaching and I really do want to do this for you. It is not a burden, so shut up and accept my gift, because I am not taking it back.”

“Fine.” Soya said putting her hands up in defense.

“We accept the gift, HP, wholeheartedly.” Ville laughed. “It’ll cross that off the list and its one less thing we have to worry about.”

“Perfect.” HP laughed, happy to have helped his friends. “Now you know what would be awesome?”

Soya rolled her eyes. “What Hannu?”

“If one of us officiated your wedding.” HP smirked.

Soya laughed. “Is this a condition to you letting us use the ranch?”

HP laughed. “Hey, by the sounds of it, you and Ville are not looking to do a traditional wedding, what’s less traditional then having me or one of the other guys officiate?”

Soya shook her head. “No Hannu.”

“At least think about it Eeva!”

“We’ll think about it.” Ville chuckled as he and Soya had been talking about asking one of their friends to officiate their wedding.

The rest of lunch was filled with talks of Christmas plans as well as plans for New Years. HP caught them up on the plans he and the rest of the Dudesons had for the rest of the year, as they were all working on different projects, which included filming promo shots for the new season of their show, finishing up their prank book, and working on some new clothing for their merch shop.

They talked even after their lunch was finished, only for Ville to remind Soya that they still had to go to the mall for one last present, along with having to drop off all the presents at his parents’ house. With that said, Soya excused herself from the table, heading upstairs to change into something more winter appropriate.

“You’re getting more presents?” HP asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing the mountain of presents that sat in front of the fireplace.

“Just one more.” Ville said. “Soya’s sister really wants a puppy and Soya got a phone call yesterday from Niina saying that if we wanted to get it for her, it would officially be all right. So we’re going to go look at some puppies.”

“Are you rescuing?”

“We wanted to.” Ville admitted, “Toni, Linde’s fiancé, gave us some numbers for shelters in the area, but no one currently had the breeds we were looking for.”

“But the pet store did?”

Ville nodded. “We called, they have four Maltipoo puppies, two boys, two girls, we’re hoping to find one for Aida.”

“We have yet to decide if we’re even going to get her one, we’re just going and looking.” Soya said, coming back down the stairs dressed in a black knit sweater, a pair of dark wash jeans which were tucked into a pair of brown snow boots.

“You’ll get her one.” HP laughed standing up. “It’s inevitable, you’ll be leaving that store with a puppy, now would you like help loading those presents into your car?”

“Please.” Ville laughed as he walked over to the door, handing HP his jacket, before pulling on his own. Soya wrapping her scarf around her neck and slipped her black gloves over her fingers, once everyone was ready to face the cold outside, they gathered the presents from the ground, Soya sorting them out from the ones she and Ville would share with their friends later that night, and the ones that would be opened on Christmas with his parents.

In no time at all the presents were loaded into the trunk of Soya’s car and they were bidding HP goodbye.

“Thank you for coming for lunch Hannu, and thank you for offering the ranch. It means a lot.” Soya said hugging her friend.

HP hugged her, a bit looser then he had originally not wanting to hit her tattoo again. “Thank you for having me, and really Eeva, it’ll be a pleasure to do this for you.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m so glad you’re happy. Ville, he’s good for you.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Soya murmured softly, looking behind her, to see Ville set a few present on the ground while he locked the tower up. “I am happy Hannu, and it feels really good.”

“I’m glad.” HP smiled rubbing Soya’s arm. “Really, you deserve this, you both do.”

“Thanks Hannu.”

HP nodded, kissing her temple, before waving and yelling out a quick goodbye to Ville, walking to his car.

“Ready?” Ville asked putting the presents Soya had told him to grab in the backseat.

“Yeah.” Soya nodded, turning to him and resting her hands on his chest, adjusting his scarf. “I love you, you know that?”

Ville nodded, leaning down and kissing her softly. “I do, how happy are you that we have a place for our wedding now?” He laughed when he felt Soya’s shoulders sag in relief.

“So unbelievably happy.” Soya sighed. “And knowing Hannu, he’ll start sending pictures of every angle of the ranch so I have a good idea of what space we have to work with.”

“Knowing you, you already have a plan.” Ville chuckled, running his hands up and down her back though her jacket. “So what would you like to do first? Do you want to go to the mall or drop off those presents to Elli and Inka?”

“Let’s go to Elli and Inka’s first, we’ll exchange gifts quickly and then go to the mall.”

Ville chuckled as he let her go, letting her dig through her purse for her keys. “Exchanging gifts is going to turn into catching up as you haven’t seen your friends or their kids in a couple weeks, which turns into coffee, so a five minute visit is going to turn into an hour with each friend, so again, would you like to go to the mall first, which will take half hour tops, or go to your friends?”

Soya laughed. “And again, I still choose Elli and Inka, they both on the way to the mall and completely out of the way to your parents, it’s a five minute visit, ten minutes tops.”

Ville chuckled and nodded getting into the car. “If you say so.”

He’d been right of course, both Elli and Inka had been so excited to see Soya and exchange their gifts with her, that they’d both been pulled into their house with the promise of coffee and good conversation. Each visit had lasted forty five minutes, of Soya and her friends talking and cooing over the children, while Ville kept a smirk on his face, knowing that he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

“Oh don’t say a word.” Soya muttered as they drove towards the mall after leaving Elli’s house.

“I wasn’t going to.” Ville chuckled. “You can say it whenever you’re ready to.”

Soya rolled her eyes knowing that Ville wanted to hear that he was right coming of her mouth, which it wouldn’t, of course. So, she got a little carried away with her friends, he got a little carried away with his music, but she didn’t judge him for it. She rolled her eyes at herself, so she did judge him a bit, but not in a bad way. Shaking her head, she looked over at Ville who was smirking at her.

“You don’t have to say it, just knowing that your arguing with yourself about it is enough for me.”

Soya rolled her eyes. “You get your kicks in odd ways.”

Ville chuckled. “You’re figuring this out now?”

“I’m pointing it out now.” Soya grinned, causing him to laugh as she pulled into the large parking garage at the mall, driving around until she found a free parking space. Ten minutes later, she finally found a space, only for Ville to stop her before she got out of the car.

“What?” she asked.

“I’m going into the pet store on the condition that we’re only looking at the dogs for Aida.”

“I know.” Soya sighed. “You’ve already lectured me as if I were a child.”

“Soya.” Ville warned. “We,” he said gesturing between them. “Cannot get a dog, even if I can be around it, we’ve discussed this, we can’t get a dog. So please, please don’t fall in love with one and make me be the bad guy when I have to remind you that we cannot get one.”

“I won’t.”

“This is for Aida.” He repeated.

“I know.” Soya sighed aggravated.

“So you won’t fall in love with the puppies you see in there?”

“Well I can’t promise that, but I promise I won’t buy myself one. Now do you have your inhaler?”

“I do.” Ville nodded.

“Then let’s go see if we can find Aida a dog.”

Ville nodded, already having a bad feeling about going to the pet store, but following Soya out of the car and into the mall that was packed with the last minute shoppers during the Christmas rush. They walked through the crowd hand in hand making their way into the pet store.

Ville rolled his eyes as Soya went straight towards the windows that held the puppies, acting like a child in a toy shop. Shaking his head, he stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets, fingering his inhaler, just in case, as he stood behind Soya watching her coo at the puppies in the windows.

“Oliko tarvitset apua löytää jotain?” a young female voice asked, causing Ville to turn to see the smiling girl. (Did you need any help finding anything?)

Ville nodded, smiling back at the girl, noting the flash of recognition in her eyes when she saw him, only for the smile to remain as he spoke. “Soitimme aiemmin tietoja maltipoo pentuja.” (We called earlier about your maltipoo puppies.)

The girl nodded quickly. “He tänne.” She said motioning him to the windows at the end. (They’re over here.)

“Soya.” He said, taking her hand and leading her away from the dogs she was cooing at and following the girl to the other windows.

“But-”

“The dogs we came to look at are over here rakkaus.”

Soya nodded following him, only to chew on her lip and look into the window the girl was showing them. “Oh Ville!”

“Joululahja?” the girl asked obviously amused by Soya’s reaction. (Christmas gift?)

Ville nodded. “Hänen pikkusisko.” He chuckled softly watching as Soya tapped the glass lightly when one of the puppies came closer and sniffed. “Toivon lähteä täältä vain yhden.” (For her little sister, I’m hoping to leave here with only one.)

The girl frowned at him, before speaking. “Luulin allergisia koirlle.” Ville was about to respond, only for her to apparently catch her slip and look at him wide eyed. “Anteeksi.” (I thought you were allergic to dogs…Sorry)

Ville laughed and shrugged. “Mikään olla pahoillani, olen allerginen, mutta me katsoimme ylös rodut eivät irtoa ja nämä sattuvat olemaan yksi heistä.” He explained. (Nothing to be sorry about, I am allergic, but we looked up breeds that don’t shed and these happen to be one of them.)

The teen nodded, before looking back at Soya who was still tapping the glass lightly, the girl looked up at Ville amused. “Haluaisiko hän pelata yksi heistä?”(Would she like to play with one?)

“Voi kyllä! Ole hyvä!!” Soya grinned, looking over at them. The girl smiled back, asking Soya which one. Soya pointed the one that had been sniffing at the glass, before the girl left them to go and get the dog. (Oh yes! Please!!)

“I told you not to fall in love with them.” Ville groaned.

“I’m not!” Soya argued, wrapping her arms around his waist. “They’re just so adorable.”

“Soya-” he started, only to be cut off when Soya saw the girl come back with the puppy. She let him go and reached for the dog, rubbing her face along the dogs face as he licked her.

“Oh Ville he’s adorable!” Soya said showing him the dog, Ville nodded slowly, running his fingers over the dogs head, trying not to grin when the dog tried to nip at his fingers. The dog was all white, except for one of his floppy ears and the tip of his tail which were black.

“Seems playful.”

“Maltipoos tend to be.” The girl said carefully, causing Soya and Ville to look at her. “They are great with children. They train easy as well and are very smart. Ville said he was for your little sister?”

Soya nodded, “We want to get her one, but we won’t be around to help her train it.”

“They are good dogs for people who have not had dogs before. They only shed little or not at all, very easy maintenance and adapt easily to any type of home.”

“They’re mostly indoor dogs, aren’t they?” Ville asked, still rubbing the top of the dog’s head, the girl nodding.

“They are, though they like space to run around a lot.”

“Space isn’t something we’re too worried about.” Ville admitted. “We just want to make sure this would be the best dog for her sister.”

“Oh I think she’ll love him Ville.” Soya said grinning at the puppy as he squirmed in her hands. “Let’s get him.”

Ville chuckled. “Are you sure it’s for Aida and not for you?”

“Of course!” Soya bit her lip as she looked at the dog in her hands, he was nipping playfully at her fingers, his black tipped tail wagging quickly. She sighed, before looking back at Ville. “I just feel awful for leaving her all by herself next month, I want her to have some type of company at home instead of Ninna and Nathan, but I don’t want to buy her a friend.”

Ville shook his head. “She’s been wanting one Soya, she’s nearly nine now, she should have this type of responsibility, I did, but if it’s the choice of dog that’s worrying you, we could always bring her back and have her pick one on her own.”

“No, Niina said she wanted a boy dog, and this one seems feisty enough to keep her running around during the day.”

“Then this is the one we’ll get.” Ville said, before turning to the girl. “Want to show me where all the dog things are, we might as well get the basics while we’re here.”

“Of course!” The girl smiled. “I’m Aina, by the way.”

“Wonderful to meet you.” Ville said, taking the dog from Soya’s hand. “I’ll take him before you fall even deeper in love with him.”

Soya nodded watching Ville cup the small dog in one of his hands before following Aina through the store to get the basic necessities for the puppy.

Sighing, she turned back to the windows, looking into them, only to crouch down when she saw the female maltipoo’s underneath the window where she had picked the one for Aida. There was a black puppy sleeping in the corner, while its sister was rolling in the newspaper happy as can be, yipping excitedly. Soya tapped the glass softly getting the puppies attention. The black pup looked up wearily before curling itself closer, but the white pup stared at her, before running over to her, nearly ramming herself into the glass in excitement.

Soya laughed in amusement as she rapped the glass with her nails, the puppy yipping excitedly chasing after her fingers.

“Having fun?”

She looked up and grinned at Ville, tapping the glass in goodbye, before standing up. “I was never allowed a pet, except for Rupert, and well, chinchillas are dreadfully boring. I always kind of wanted a dog.”

“Soya.” Ville sighed.

“I’m not asking for one.” Soya laughed. “I know we can’t have one, I just…the white one, she’s adorable isn’t she?”

“She is.” Ville nodded in agreement.

Soya sighed. “I’ll go get us some coffee, before I fall even more in love with her.”

“I’ll be by in a minute; I’m just going to pay for the pup.”

Soya nodded, leaning up to kiss the bottom of his chin, before leaving the store. Ville watched her leave, before looking down at the white puppy she’d been playing with through the glass. Crouching down, he tapped his own fingers on the glass lightly, the dog instantly looking up and going over to him, trying to nip at the glass to get to his fingers.

“I can see why Soya fell in love with you.” He said trying not to smile as the pup looked up at him with wide eyes, tilting her head as if hearing what he’d said. “You’d travel a lot.” He told her, tapping his fingers once again, but the pup was trained on him, watching as he talked. “You’d mostly stay with her as I can barely take care of myself let alone a dog and I can tell you right now you wouldn’t be allowed on the bed with us.”

The pup tilted its head in the other direction, before yipping, as if agreeing with him.

“Well, if we’re in agreement then.” Ville said, tapping his fingers once more against the glass before going to the register where Aina was waiting for him.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Actually,” Ville sighed. “It looks like I’ll be paying for two today.” Ville said shaking his head. “I’ll take the little white one as well.”

Aina laughed. “I’ll go get her.”

“No,” Ville said quickly before she left, “She’s for my fiancé, as long as people know she’s paid for, it’s fine, I’ll have my mother and father come by later to pick her up.”

“Did you want to get any accessories for the dog? Collars? Leashes? Like you did this one?” she asked, tapping the top of the small crate that sat on the counter.

“Ah, not at the moment. I’ll have my parents pick that out when they come pick her up. Soya’s just gone for coffee so I want to get this done quickly before she sees the total and figures it out.”

Aina laughed, as she told him the total, causing Ville to wince before handing her his credit card. “Dogs are fucking expensive.”

“Pet store dogs are.” Aina agreed. “But her little sister will love it.”

Ville nodded, looking into the crate. “She better, she’s been begging for one since we asked her what she wanted for Christmas.” He accepted his card back from Aina and tucked it into his wallet then back into his pocket. “Thanks for your help today Aina.”

“No problem, I’m glad I could help, I hope you enjoy your puppies.”

“Someone will.” Ville muttered, picking the crate up and grabbing the bags with the collar, leash, dog bed and at least a month’s worth of dog food from the counter as well. “I’ll have someone pick up the other one later today.”

“I’ll make sure people know it’s been taken.”

“Thanks.” Ville smiled, before making his way out of the store, spotting Soya straight away as she sat outside the pet store with two cups of coffee.

“I’ll hold it until we get to the car.” She told him, as they walked towards the parking garage.

“So it’s off to my parent’s house next?” Ville asked once they made it to the car, Ville tucking the yipping dog into the backseat.

“Yes, we’ll drop off all the presents, have an early dinner with your parents, then head home to get ready to go out.”

Ville nodded as he got into his seat strapping himself in as Soya started the car, Bam had already texted him twice reminding him that he and Jussi were having a get together with their friends at Bäkkäri before Bam left the next morning to spend Christmas with his own family.

Bam and Jussi had hosted a “Where the #$&% is Santa” party that last Monday, where they not only showed the movie in the Green Room of Jussi’s bar, but played music late into the night. Soya and Ville hadn’t been able to make it; Soya’s back had been bothering her since her tattoo was still fresh, and Ville hadn’t wanted to leave her alone, having opted to stay with her and watch Christmas specials on TV, even though she had insisted he go and be with his friends.

The compromise had been that he stay with her, tending to her back and they would get together with Bam before he left. Bam had even taken to the compromise, so he’d arranged for all their friends to be in the same place the night before he left, that way they could also exchange presents before everyone went their separate ways for the holidays.

“I’m guessing you have your outfit all picked.” Ville laughed.

“Somewhat.” Soya said vaguely. “I know what shoe’s I’m wearing.”

“Heels?”

“What else?” Soya laughed as she pulled into the right neighborhood, before parking in front of his parent’s house. They got out, Soya opening the trunk and gathering as many presents as she could while Ville grabbed the crate the held the yipping dog along with the bags that were in the back seat.

He followed Soya up the walk, the door opening before they even had a chance to knock, his mother waving them in.

“And I thought Kari and I went crazy with the presents.” Anita laughed, “Ville what is in your hand?”

“This would be Aida’s present, mind watching him until Christmas?” Ville asked as Soya set the presents she had on the couch. “I’m afraid that if we take him home Soya won’t give him to her sister.”

“I would!” Soya argued as Anita opened the crate that Ville set on the ground, the puppy scrambling out of the crate and into her hands.

“Oh! He’s adorable!” Anita laughed picking the puppy up from the ground. “What’s his name?”

“Name?” Ville asked.

“He wasn’t named.” Soya answered. “I thought Aida could name him.”

“God I hope she thinks of something more originally then ‘Fluffy’ or ‘Spike’” Ville muttered.

“Those are both wonderful names Ville!” Anita admonished, “And we’ll let Aida name the pup whatever she wants. Now help me arrange the presents under the tree.”

Ville chuckled opening the door. “We still have a bunch more in the car we have to bring in; I’ll help once they’re all inside.” Ville left the house going towards the car where Soya had left the trunk open for him.

“How much do you just love him?” Anita asked, sitting on the couch, petting the puppy, who was curled up in her lap.

Soya laughed as she sat on the floor near the tree, making room for the presents they had brought. “I think Aida will adore him.”

“She will,” Anita said. “Did you get him any toys?”

“I’m not sure what Ville bought, I think he got just the basics for the dog, we’ll take Aida to the pet store after Christmas and let her pick out what she wants.”

“And the puppy is in addition to all the presents you just brought over?”

“Well not all of them are for Aida.” Soya hedged, eyeing the presents that had her name on them.

“If I see one open flap on any of those presents, Soya, I will know exactly who did it.”

Soya sighed, accepting the presents as Anita handed them to her, Ville walking into the house holding the rest of the presents.

“You’re fiancé reverts back to a child around this time doesn’t she?” Anita teased as Ville set the presents on the floor.

“She likes shaking presents too, so if you gave her anything breakable, tell her now or she’ll shake anything with her name on it.” Ville said helping Soya fit all the presents underneath the tree.

“Don’t shake your presents Soya.” Anita laughed.

“I won’t.” Soya giggled.

“So how would you like to present this little guy to Aida?” Anita asked, “I’m sure Kari and I have a box big enough to put him in for the morning.”

Ville shrugged. “Up to you, I figured it would be a gift from all of us, rather than just from Soya and I.”

“Well in that case, Soya, why don’t you and I go out and see if we can find a box for the pup, I’m out of wrapping paper and tape, used the last of last years on this year’s bunch.”

Soya laughed, “All right, I’ll go with you, Ville want to go with us?”

Ville shook his head, accepting the puppy his mother gave him as she stood from the couch. “No, I’ll stay here and wait for my dad, watch the pup.”

“All right.” Soya said, kissing his cheek. “I’ll be back.” She looked over at Anita who was putting on her jacket. “Try and find out what’s in the big box for me.” She whispered before rushing off by the door, pulling her own jacket and following Anita out.

Ville shook his head, eyeing the big box with Soya’s name on it, before setting the dog on the ground, causing the pup to sit on the ground and stare up at him. “Look I’m going to run out to the car, if I leave you here by yourself for two minutes; you swear you’ll be good?”

The dog yipped, before lying down; laying his head on its front paws. Ville, trusting the pup, stood up, not bothering to grab his jacket as he ran out to the car. Opening the trunk, he grabbed the bag he’d put in there without Soya having known, before closing the trunk and going back into the house, happy to see that the dog hadn’t wreaked havoc on the house while he’d left him alone.

Instead the pup had taken to sniffing the presents and the surrounding areas. Sitting on the floor, in front of the coffee table, he opened the bag, eyeing the small dog as he came over to sniff the paper bag, yipping at it, before tugging on the corner.

“All right.” Ville chuckled, picking him up and setting him on the couch. “Stay there.” He said pointing his finger at the puppy as it lay on the couch, watching him with wide unblinking eyes. Ville kept eye contact with the dog only to break it when he heard the door open, and the stomping of shoes on the stoop.

“Ville?”

“Hei dad.” Ville greeted, only for the pup to run up to the back of the couch his head barely peeking out from the top of the couch yipping at Kari.

“Well, where did you come from?” Kari laughed, hanging his coat up before walking over and picking the dog up, the pup’s barking changed from protective to excited, it’s tail wagging.

“He’s one of Aida’s presents.”

Kari chuckled, “I can’t believe you gave in.” He sat on the couch, bringing the pup onto his lap. “What’s all this?”

“Soya’s birthday present.” Ville said, taking out the package that had come in the mail. “Mum and Soya ran out to get some more Christmas wrap, so I’m taking advantage of it to finish it and wrap it.”

“I’m guessing Soya’s friend sent the rest of the pictures?”

Ville nodded as he handed his father the pile of pictures of Soya during her first couple of years with Josef and the company. “Those were the last ones I was waiting for.” Ville said. “I just need to slip them in and then wrap the album up.”

Kari gave Ville the pictures back, picking the album up, flipping through the filled pages. “I didn’t realize you gathered so many pictures.”

Ville grinned. “Apparently Linde and Mige had pictures from when Soya use to hang out in the garage with us, so I harassed them until they handed them over.”

“Well you’re doing a great job with this.” Kari asked setting the dog in Ville’s lap. “Any allergic reaction to the dog yet?”

“No.” Ville said slowly. “Can’t you hold him though, until I finish with this?”

“Need to start dinner son.” Kari chuckled. “And if he hasn’t gone out since you got him, he probably needs to.”

Ville sighed, looking down at the dog who stood and laid his paws on Ville’s stomach, his tongue lolling out. “Fine, I’ll take you out, then I have to finish this all right?” Ville shook his head, not quite believing he was talking to the dog, as he opened the back door, letting the pup go out, only for the dog to stop and turn back to him, obviously not liking the cold.

“You pee in here, my mother is not going to be pleased, so tough it out, piss in the snow and come back in.”

The dog yipped, before walking further into the porch sniffing, liking the post to the stairs that lead into the backyard, he lifted his leg and peed before trotting back to Ville obviously proud of himself.

“Smart dog.” Ville said, letting the dog in and closing the door, he sat back down at the coffee table, sorting out the pictures before sliding them into their slots, the puppy curled at his crossed feet. After fifteen minutes he was making the finishing touch on the ribbon of the box, before setting it under tree, just as the door opened, his mother and Soya walking in with bags of not only new wrapping paper tubes, but food as well.

“You better tell dad you brought food mum, he’s in the kitchen fixing dinner.” Ville said, kissing his mothers cheek; when she bent down to greet him.

“No, he went into the kitchen to let me know he placed an order for dinner, he’s probably in there reading the paper.” Anita laughed before going into the kitchen to find her husband.

“How was the pup?” Soya asked, sitting on the couch next to him

“I took him out to piss; he’s been asleep ever since.” Ville said looking down at the puppy at his feet. He looked over at Soya. “How was shopping with my mum?”

“It was fun.” Soya laughed, sliding off the couch to sit next to him on the floor, resting her chin on his shoulder. “I like having family around this time of year, usually it’s just me and Josef this time of year, and while we have fun together, it’s always nice to be surrounded by family.”

Ville chuckled, kissing her lips softly. “Soon enough we’ll have our own family to add to this.”

Soya laughed, raising her hand to cup his cheek. “Yeah?”

Ville nodded. “Yeah.”

XxxxxxX

“Soya if you don’t get down here now we’re going to be late!” Ville called from the bottom of the steps.

“Don’t rush me!” Soya called back, causing Ville to roll his eyes.

“Well while you finish, I’m going to load the presents into the car!” Ville called, putting on his black pea coat that lay on the back of the couch before grabbing the presents that were left on the ground.

They’d had a nice dinner at his parents sitting around the coffee table, all four of them laughing the puppy the circled them to get scraps of their food. His parents had assured both Soya and Ville that they were more than willing to keep the puppy until Christmas. He’d also talked to his father about picking up Soya’s puppy from the pet store, which had caused his father to laugh at him and assure Ville that he would go pick the other pup up for Soya and keep that one until Christmas as well.

Once goodbyes had been exchanged, they’d gone home and started getting ready for a night out with their friends. Ville had just changed shirts, changing from the band tee he’d had on to a button down burgundy shirt that Soya had handed him, saying that he needed to get into the Christmas spirit and the color black was not very Christmas-y.

He’d rolled his eyes and worn the shirt, mostly because he wasn’t going to be the Grinch to bring down Soya’s good spirits. He liked seeing the child in her as she eyed every present that had her name on it, the way she shook presents and tried to figure out what was in them.

He shook his head in amusement as he loaded the gifts into the car, trudging his way back into the tower, ready to call for Soya, only to shut his mouth when he saw her coming down the stairs.

She was wearing a forest green dress that ended mid thigh, the front of her dress coming to a low V and leaving no doubt that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her legs were encased in black tights while her feet held red heels with a fancy flower detail in the front.

Her hair was up in a French twist, a Santa hat sitting on her head, she’d changed out her necklace from the one he’d given her to a silver chained layered necklace with red beads. Her ears that rarely held earrings held round ball earrings with little flower detail that matched her shoes.

“Well?” Soya asked reaching the last step and doing a turn with a grin.

“Amazing, as always.” Ville chuckled, leaning down to kiss her.

“I hope you don’t mind that I changed my necklace, I’ll put my other one on again tomorrow.”

Ville shook his head. “Of course I don’t Soya; I’m not going to be angry if you take it off. I like this one anyway. Where’d you get it?”

Soya bit her lip trying to hide her grin, causing Ville to narrow his eyes. “Did you open one of your presents?”

“Maybe.” Soya laughed. “It was from Josef! And he told me to open it early!”

“I knew we were missing presents when we were loading up the car earlier! I’m guessing the shoes are from him to.”

“The shoes are from him.” Soya grinned. “He always gives me shoes, they’re cute aren’t they?”

“Adorable, we’ll add them to the pile that get me all hot and bothered.” Ville laughed, handing her the red trench coat that was also lying on the back of the couch along with her scarf. “Now let’s get going.”

Soya laughed letting him usher her out, grabbing her red clutch before he shut the door completely. “All my heels get you hot and bothered.” Soya pointed out as he wrapped his arms around her waist as they made their way to the car.

“Very true.” Ville chuckled, kissing the side of her neck.

Soya giggled, causing him to grin against her skin, loving the sound of her laugh. Soya turned in his arms as he leaned her against the car, her arms wrapping around his neck as she brought him down into a kiss. He groaned softly against her, their hips meeting as they moved closer to each other, their lips moving against each other slowly.

“Mmm, we really have to go.” Soya whispered against his lips, nipping his bottom lip. “We’re already late.”

Ville groaned, but pulled away, kissing her one last time. “Fine let’s go.”

Soya laughed. “It’ll only be for a few hours Ville, we’ll come back and maybe I’ll let you open one of your Christmas presents early.”

Ville laughed as he opened the door to his car. “Is this present like my birthday present?”

“Maybe,” Soya hedged, ducking into the car, a chuckling Ville following.

XxxxxxX

“You guys are late.” Bam teased as he sauntered up to Ville and Soya at the crowded bar as they waited for the bartender that was serving the regular patrons at the other end. “Did you guys get it on in the backseat of the car?”

Ville chuckled as his arm wrapped tighter around Soya not wanting to lose her in the crowd. “No, Soya just took her time in getting ready.”

“It is hard work to look this good.” Soya teased, leaning into Ville, as the bartender made his way over. She was about to put in their order when Ville spoke for her.

“One Coke, one Long Island.” He said, the bartender nodding as he walked to fill the orders.

“I wanted a water.” Soya said looking up at Ville.

“I’m trying to get you to loosen up.” Ville smirked, looking down at her. “I have plans.”

Soya rolled her eyes. “One Long Island isn’t going to get me drunk enough for whatever is going on in that head of yours, especially if it involves what’s under your bed.” Soya looked over his shoulder and grinned when she saw her friends dancing. “Hold the drink for me; I’m going to go dance with Rose.”

“As if she won’t get you drunk!” Ville called after her, shaking his head, looking over at Bam. “Sorry we couldn’t make it on Monday.”

Bam shrugged. “It’s fine, how’s Soya’s tattoo?”

“It’s healing, still a bit sore, but she says it’s more of a sting now.”

“Yours?”

“About the same.” Ville shrugged, “So you leave in the morning?”

Bam nodded. “My flight leaves at six, so I’m really not planning on sleeping.”

Ville chuckled. “Any plans for the holidays?”

Bam shook his head. “Not really, Jess is going to be in town this year, so I think we’re just going to hang out with April and Phil like every year.”

Ville laughed, thanking the bartender for the drinks before handing into the green room where most of his friends were hanging out. He sat on a black leather couch next to Jyrki, setting Soya’s drink down on the small table next to him.

“Where’s Jus? I saw him when we got in but havn’t seen him since.” Ville said, as Bam separated to go to the DJ booth.

Jyrki shrugged, sipping on his beer. “His blonde friend showed up.”

“What blonde friend?” Ville asked, taking a drink of his coke.

“Isolde.” Jyrki smirked, looking at Ville. “She showed up about ten minutes after you did and they’ve been in his office ever since they got here.”

Ville chuckled, knowing that he probably wouldn’t see Jussi or Isolde for a while yet. “So how do you like having Rosalind and Impi here?”

“It’s been…crowded.” Jyrki chuckled. “But that good kind of crowded. Imp’s with her grandparents right now and they love having her this time of year.”

“How’s Rosalind dealing?” Ville asked, looking through the open door to see Soya and Rosalind laughing and dancing with each other.

“The closer to Christmas it gets the more upset she gets” Jyrki shrugged, before grinning at Ville. “At Christmas she’ll lock herself in the bathroom, argue with her brother, come out trying to hide her tears and we’ll have some amazing sex and all will be right with the world, just like our first Christmas together.”

Ville laughed. “Only this year you have your daughter with you.”

“I spoiled her rotten this year.” Jyrki grinned.

“At least you didn’t get her a damn dog.” Ville muttered, causing Jyrki to laugh.

“No, I didn’t, I’m pretty sure Rosalind would kill me if I did.”

“Why would I kill you?”

Jyrki looked up when he felt the arms of his girlfriend wrap around his neck. “Getting Impi a dog.”

“Oh I wouldn’t kill you, canriño, I would massacre you.” Rosalind teased, kissing his cheek as Soya sat on Ville’s lap. “Impi can barely take care of the fish I get her, let alone a dog.”

Soya snorted. “Where does Impi think all those fish are going?”

Rosalind grinned at her friend. “I haven’t quite explained life and death of a pet to Impi, so I’ve just been replacing her fish.”

Soya shook her head as she took a sip of the drink Ville had gotten her, only to smile and wave her fingers as she saw Isolde coming into the room, followed by Jussi, his hand on the small of her back.

“What are you doing up here?” Soya asked as Isolde came up to her, kissing her cheek.

“Jussi asked me to come.” Isolde said with a shrug. “I was a bit lonely in my flat and Jussi is a sure thing.”

Soya laughed. “Josef said you liked spending Christmas with your family.”

“Oh I do.” Isolde said, stealing Soya’s drink and taking a sip. “I leave in the morning; I only came up for the sex and it’s mostly Josef’s family I love spending time with not so much my own. Do you mind if I keep this, he wore me out.” Isolde said, pointing towards a smirking Jussi.

“Keep it.” Soya laughed, “I really wasn’t planning on drinking anyway.”

Isolde nodded as she looked around the club.”I’m going to go wonder, Jussi, you said you needed to DJ.” Isolde said as she wondered out of the Green Room.

Rosalind, Jyrki, Soya and Ville looked up at Jussi as he stared at Isolde’s retreating form, before turning back to his friends. “What?”

“You called the woman from her home in another country so you could have sex with her?” Rosalind asked in disbelief.

“In my defense,” Jussi smirked, leaning over the back of the couch. “I didn’t call her solely for the sex.”

“Of course you didn’t.”Rosalind said with a roll of her eyes, before looking at her boyfriend. “Come dance with me.” It wasn’t a request but a demand, which caused Jyrki to put his beer down and follow his girlfriend out onto the dance floor.

“You really like her huh?” Soya asked, slipping from Ville’s lap onto the free space next to him, to look up at Jussi.

Jussi nodded slowly. “I tried to convince her to spend Christmas here and she laughed at me.”

Ville chuckled. “You only met her a couple of months ago Jus, I think spending Christmas together is still a bit far off, especially if your relationship is based off sex.”

“It’s not like I want it to be just sex.” Jussi looked behind him, to make sure Isolde was still wondering around before looking back at his friends. “She’s really stubborn about not wanting it to be more, but the sex is way too good to pass up. If you knew what we-”

“We don’t want details.” Soya laughed, putting her hands up. “Seriously, we don’t”

Jussi raised an amused eyebrow over at Ville before straightening, looking back at Soya. “I’m taking advantage of the time she’s giving me, even if it is 24 hours. I really do like her though.”

“Well if it makes you feel better I think she’s half in love with you already.” Soya laughed.

Jussi grinned, kissing Soya’s cheek. “It’s a lie but a wonderful lie; thank you, now I have to go DJ for a bit, see you later.”

Soya shook her head, watching Jussi leave before turning to her amused fiancé. “You have to admit their cute together.”

Ville snorted but nodded. “They are,” he leaned forward and kissed her quickly and getting off the couch. “I’m going to go grab another coke, and you another drink.”

“Water this time!” Soya called, watching him leave with a roll of her eyes.

They’d spent their night talking with their friends, gathering in the Green Room to exchange presents and talk about their Christmas plans. Ville spent most of his time in the Green Room sitting and talking with his friends, happy to spend the time out of his tower and be surrounded by the people he cared for, while Soya spent her time from the dance floor with her friends to the couch at Ville’s side.

He’d bought her drinks, mostly because he really didn’t want her to feel like she couldn’t drink around him especially when they were in a social setting around friends. She’d finished two drinks, and while she wasn’t drunk like the last time she’d drank with friends, he could tell she was a bit tipsy by how happy she was, and just how touchy feely she was as well.

Though he doubted his friends noted the subtle actions, Ville definitely noticed the way her fingers tip toed over his inner thigh, the way her fingers scratched over her back of his neck or the way when she leaned over to talk to one of her friend her lips would skim her ear.

While he had his plans for Soya, which had involved just a bit of alcohol and her willing participation, he had the feeling Soya had more plans for him than anything else. She’d somehow convinced him to get off the couch away from his friends and onto the dance floor.

He wasn’t sure if Soya had prompted Jussi on the music, not that he was complaining. The music called for him to keep her close to his body, his hands settled low on her hips, her back pressed against his chest as her arms came up to wrap loosely around his neck. His lips lowered to skim against her temple, down to her neck, as her hands slid down his arms to rest on his hands. She tilted her head back and gave him a lazy smile, before her lips found his ear.

“Olen jotain näytettävää.” She whispered teasingly. (I’ve got something to show you.)

“Todella?” He laughed quietly. “Mikä se on?” (Really? What is it?)

“En aio näyttää teille täällä!”(I’m not going to show you here!) She laughed turning in his arms, and biting her lip, her eyes going up to the DJ booth where Jussi was standing. “Think you can get the key to Jussi’s office, Isolde told me he keeps it locked.”

Ville blinked down at her. “You want me to get the key to Jussi’s office?”

Soya nodded, her fingers skimming down the buttons of his shirt, before settling on the loop of his jeans, leaning up to kiss the bottom of his chin. “You get the key; I’ll meet you over there.”

Ville nodded dumbly as she let him go and flounced off the dance floor to where they knew Jussi’s office to be. More than curious, he turned to the DJ booth, waving Jussi down, smiling lightly at Isolde who sat on the steps sipping on her drink, watching the dance floor in interest.

“Wish I had my camera.” She sighed, as Jussi came down.

“What’s up?” Jussi asked.

“Soya and I were wondering if we could borrow your office for a few minutes?”

Jussi chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not letting you and Soya have sex in my office.”

“Yes you will.” Isolde laughed, not bothering to stand as she dipped her fingers into his back pocket getting the key out and handing it to Ville. “Just keep off the door and the couch, that’s where Jussi and I fucked.”

“We’re not going to…”

“Sure you’re not.” Isolde said with a smirk. “That’s what I told Jussi and trust me, that room got good use. Just give the key back when you’re done.”

“You know, my office is not my friend’s personal hotel room.” Jussi said, glaring down at Isolde.

“No, but apparently it’s yours.” Isolde said with a roll of her eyes, before looking back up at Ville, “Feel free to use the desk, good leverage.”

Ville turned, not bothering to respond to Isolde’s comment, headed towards Jussi’s office, where Soya was leaning against the door, sipping on a drink.

“Got yourself another one?” he asked, unlocking the door and motioning her in.

“Just water.” She said, leaving the glass on the bar before entering the office, Ville following her in and shutting the door behind him, making sure it was locked before tucking the key into his pocket.

“So what is it you wanted to-umph!” Vile was cut off by Soya’s arms wrapping around his neck her lips attaching themselves to his. Ville chuckled, resting his hands on her waist and regretfully pulling away.

“You are drunk.” He whispered, feeling her shake her head.

“Stone cold sober.”

Ville blinked, pulling further away. “But I got you drinks.”

“Which Isolde replaced for me.” Soya said with a laugh. “I drank ice tea and water all night and wasn’t your goal for tonight to get me drunk?”

“Tipsy.” Ville corrected with a laugh. “And you are very clever, now what is it you wanted to show me?”

Soya smirked as she placed her hands over his on her hips. “You are just going to have to find it and I think that may involve a bit of unwrapping.”

Ville chuckled, leaning down to capture her lips again, his fingers tightening on her hips, he felt her start to lead them towards the side of the room, only for him to remember that’s where the couch was.

“Not the couch.” He muttered against his lips.

Soya laughed as she pulled away from him, “Isolde warned me about that too, I was actually leading you to the chair.”

“Were you?” Ville chuckled as he let her lead him to the chair that sat behind the desk, sitting down when she motioned him to. He watched with a smirk as she slid onto the desk in front of him with her own smile.

“I told you that I would give you one of your Christmas presents, and it just so happens that your Christmas present is on my person.” She smirked, reaching her hands up, taking off her Santa’s hat and letting her hair loose from its twist, the dark locks tumbling down past her back and onto the desk.

“Is it?”

Soya nodded, the smile never leaving her face; “Now one of them you already know.”

“Do I?”

“Well, I’m not wearing a bra, nor am I really wearing anything to hold myself up, the good thing about being so….perky.” She laughed quietly, as if laughing at some inside joke.

“Perky, is…very good.” Ville said slowly, having in fact noticed that she hadn’t worn a bar, but he’d assumed she’d worn the little sticker things she usually did when she went bra-free. Pasties, he believed they were called.

“But…” she said with a small laugh, “You’ve got another present in here somewhere.”

“Can I get a hint?” He teased, scooting the chair forward resting his hands at her feet.

“Well you’re warm.” She said biting the corner of her lip.

Ville smirked as he tip-toed his fingers up her legs resting on her knees. “How am I doing?”

“Definitely getting warmer.” She whispered feeling his hands slide up from her knees only to stop at her thighs. Red hot, she thought with an inward groan.

“Soya…” Ville swallowed.

“Yes?”

“These aren’t tights.”

“No, they are not.” She said, clearing her throat when her voice came out huskier then intended.

“Soya,” Ville groaned, removing his hands from her legs, causing her to groan, and rest them on her hips, sliding her down from the desk so she stood in front of him. His hands moved down from her hips, down her legs to wrap around the back of her thighs, his fingers tracing the outline of her thigh-highs.

“There has to be more to this.” He thought as he pushed her dress up, only to groan when he saw the red clips holding her thigh-highs and… “I am not a religious man at all, but Jesus Soya…”

“You found it.”

She was wearing a lace skirt type thing that lay low and tight on hips and ended just at the start of her thighs, then four red straps went down to clip at her tights. She wasn’t wearing anything else.

“You are not wearing underwear.”

“None.” She laughed quietly. “I was told not to.”

“What do you call this thing?” he asked, fingering the lacy material.

“Mmm, a garter belt.” She leaned down resting her hands on the back of the chair on either side of his head. “Ville…you promised we would finish what we started earlier.” She whispered into his ear.

Ville dragged her down, so she was kneeling on either side of his hips, cupping her cheeks and bringing her down for a bruising kiss, her hands dropping to his shoulders; while her bottom half dropped down to sit on his lip a quiet moan escaping her lips as her fingers tightened on his shoulders.

His own grip was nearly bruising on Soya’s hips as their mouths and tongues fought with each other, he absently felt Soya’s fingers loosen their grip and rest on his chest. It wasn’t until he felt her hands on his bare chest that he realized she’d unbuttoned his shirt and even the button of his jeans. God, his woman had cleaver fingers, he thought as he moved his mouth from hers to make his way down her neck, sucking on her pulse point lightly, loving the way she not only moaned against his neck, but the way her hips bucked against his own.

He wasn’t sure who had done it, if he had pushed the dress off her shoulders, if Soya had slipped her arms out of her sleeves, or if it had been a group effort, but one minute Soya had been fully clothed, the next her dress was bunched at her waist, his own pants unzipped as he slid inside her both their groans echoing around the room.

He let her take the lead, though her speed was torturously slow, he was positive that the entire night had been orchestrated to slowly kill him. He trailed his mouth down her neck to the center of her chest, his lips kissing the side of her breasts before taking the pebbled nipple into his mouth causing her to stop moving against him as she gasped against his neck.

Ville nipped at her lightly, before repeating the actions on the other breast. Moving off the chair, he slid her onto the edge of the desk, hitching her legs around his waist as his hands ran down her thighs undoing the clips that held her thigh highs up, shoving the tights down to feel the bare skin under his hands.

He thrust harder against her, taking his own turn on picking the speed, feeling her hands run down his chest before circling to his back, her fingers tighten their grip. He felt himself pick up his speed even more when he heard her quiet little gasps and moans fill the tiny room, and thanked whatever deity above that the room was soundproof.

He whispered her name like a prayer, against her neck, feeling her nails lightly bite his back, knowing she was close. He reached down between them, his thumb playing with the little bundle of nerves, groaning against her when he felt her inner walls tighten around him and her body tense with his in orgasm.

He breathed against her, resting his forehead against her shoulder as her hands slowly ran up and down his back soothing the nail marks, she’d most definitely left on his back.

“Who told you not to wear underwear?” He asked, once he regained his senses.

“What?” Soya murmured, her eyes closed as she rested her cheek on his chest, loving the feeling of Ville’s fingers combing through her hair.

Vile chuckled, kissing her neck softly before pulling away to look at her. “You said earlier you were told not to wear underwear, who told you that?”

“Oh.” Soya laughed, only to groan when Ville pulled out of her to tuck himself back into his pants. “Hand me my purse?” she said, pointing towards the couch where her purse was, along with her jacket, where Jussi had taken it when he’d greeted them at the door before disappearing for the first half of their evening. Obviously the man had been waiting at the door for Isolde to arrive, now that Soya thought about it.

Ville nodded, going over to the couch and picking up her red clutch handing it to her. “The shoes weren’t the only thing Josef got me.” Soya teased, opening the purse and handing Ville the Christmas card, before slipping her arms back into her dress. Ville watched as she stood and rifled through her small purse, pulling out a pair of red lace boy shorts and slipping them on.

“Ville!” Soya laughed, “Stop staring at me and read the card!”

“Sorry.” Ville said blinking and leaning against the desk as Soya took his previous seat on the chair and rolled her tights back up her legs, clipping them back onto her garter belt. Amazingly arousing, Ville thought, watching her get redressed was just as arousing as finding out what was underneath her dress.

“Did you read it?” Soya laughed, knowing he hadn’t, as she pulled her other tight up to clip it.

Ville shook his head, looking down at the red Christmas card that read “Merry Christmas”, opening it, he chuckled when he saw it didn’t have a greeting inside, instead it held two hand written notes from Josef, one for Soya and the other for him. He started by reading the note to Soya.

To the Future Mrs. Valo (That was fun to write),

Usually around this time of year, you tell me exactly the pair of shoes you want, and I get them for you, and usually the price of them will allow me to get away with only getting you the shoes for both Christmas and your birthday. This year I decided on something a bit different, you still get your shoes, but you get an outfit as well. Wear it all, and don’t wear underwear, you’re breasts are perky enough to go without a bra for the evening, you’ll need the convenience of not wearing underwear, that and underwear will just take away for the sexiness of what’s in the box. If you have doubts, call me and I’ll take care of them for you, as well as explain to you what your goal is with this outfit. Merry Christmas Soya and Happy Birthday – Josef

P.S. Hand this card to your boy after the sex.

Ville blinked. “He knew we were going to have sex.”

“Yeah,” Soya laughed running her hand through her hair and bringing it to rest over her shoulder. “That threw me off too, so that would be around the time I called to ask him what the hell he was talking about, but it all gets explained in your half of the card as well.” Soya smirked, crossing her legs as she looked up at him, twirling her hair through her fingers. “Go on, read it, and if you have any questions about your present from Josef, I’ll explain.”

“My present from Josef.” Ville said slowly, before looking back down at the card.

To Mr. Valo,

So I didn’t get you a physical present, mostly because I still don’t know you all too well, so I wasn’t sure what material thing to get you. But I thought well, you’re a man, and men tend to enjoy sex, so I may have prodded Soya into seducing you with the outfit she wore. She’s not one for PDA’s, especially overt sexual ones, so I figured I’d prod that side out of Soya and at the same time you got a little something something out of it.

Where ever you ended up doing it, I hope you had fun, since convincing Soya to actually do this will probably prove to be the hardest thing I will ever have to convince her to do. Hopefully next year I can actually get you something other than sex for Christmas, but this year, it’s the best I can do. Hope you enjoyed, and note that this will be the last time I pimp Soya out. Merry Christmas – Josef

“Surprisingly,” Soya started when Ville looked at her amused. “It took very little convincing from Josef to do this. I did think it would take a bit more liquid courage, but once I started drinking the first one, I decided I wanted to be sober for this.”

“By far the weirdest Christmas present I have ever received.” Ville laughed, leaning down, bracing his hands on either side of her and he kissed her. “But definitely the most satisfying.”

Soya laughed against his lips. “Don’t get use to this; it most definitely won’t be a regular thing.”

“Monthly?” Ville asked, helping her up from the chair, as she laughed at him.

“More like a yearly thing, maybe.” She corrected, smiling over at him. “Ready to go home?”

“Is there more waiting for me at home?”

“Unfortunately all the rest of our presents are at your parents.” Soya laughed, patting his cheek, before going over to the couch and pulling on her red jacket. “You may want to button up your shirt kultaseni.”

Ville looked down to see that his shirt was still, in fact, unbuttoned, quickly doing up the buttons, he accepted his jacket from Soya, pulling it on, before making sure the room was somewhat in order, as well as making sure Soya’s clothes were all righted before unlocking and opening the door. He hadn’t even walked out before he heard the faint sound of clapping.

Turning he saw his friends gathered near the door, wearing identical smirks and clapping at them.

“Really, I didn’t know Soya had it in her. Sex in public, really?” Mige chuckled.

Soya hid behind Ville, biting her lip in embarrassment. “How do you know we even did that in there?” she asked, peeking over his arm, as he brought her out from behind him, though his arm stayed wrapped around her.

“Please.” Jyrki chuckled. “The room may be soundproof, but if you’d just wanted to talk, a dark corner would have done.”

“And you both have sex hair.” Rosalind laughed. “Oh you have no idea how proud I am of you.”

“I’d also like my key back.” Jussi said, holding out his hand. Ville sighed, pulling the key out of his pocket and handing it to Jussi. “And again, my office is not your personal hotel room, contrary to popular belief.” He said glaring at a smirking Isolde.

“I think it’s cute.” Isolde laughed.

“Well, now that we’ve been embarrassed, Ville and I are heading home.” Soya said with a roll of her eyes. “Unless you’d all like to get your last shots in?”

Their friends laughed, before calling off their teasing, saying their goodbyes to Soya and Ville before Soya gathered their gifts from their friends and followed Ville out to the car, loading their gifts in the back seat.

Once the car was heated up, she made her way carefully down the street and towards Ville’s tower the car heater keeping them warm from the cold outside.

“Ville?” Soya said, causing Ville to turn his head and look at her.

“Hmm?”

“Next time we have sex in public, let’s not do it when our friends are around.”

Ville burst out laughing, intertwining their fingers and kissing the back of her hand. “Deal.”