I Don’t Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You

Letting the door glide shut behind him, TJ walked into the apartment where he’d been living for the past year, smiling as he dropped his bag on the floor and his gaze landed on the perfectly decorated living room. The tree looked like it came out of some sort of magazine, perfectly wrapped presents were lying beneath it and the whole place just felt like Christmas.

It never ceased to make him smile.

The holidays had always been his favorite time of the year, he loved winter time, but more so it probably had something to do with his birthday being around the same time. There was a time he had truly hated being born so late in the year, always being last at everything. Driver’s license, drinking, well, legally anyway….

Shaking his head slightly, still smiling, he ran his fingers through his unruly locks and headed for the kitchen. Passing the dining room table, he had to take a step back as something caught his eye.

And seeing the single present standing on the table that was rarely used, except for Thanksgiving and the occasional team-gathering, he couldn’t stop himself from investigating further. The large, flat and rectangular box was wrapped in golden paper and had a wide red ribbon around it, finished off with a large bow on top.

Reaching out, but hesitating before he actually picked the present up, he noticed the crisp white envelope tucked in under the bow.

Removing it, he quickly opened it and pulled out the card nestled inside, smiling as he saw the childish drawing of a birthday cake on the front. Opening the card, his smile grew as he read the familiar script.

‘Happy Birthday Baby
Quarter of a century, don’t say I didn’t warn ya
I'm sorry I can’t be there, but I hope you have a great one
I love you
A’

His smile faltered slightly as he thought about his girlfriend who wasn’t there, once again, to celebrate his birthday with him. They’d been together for a couple of years, three Christmases to be exact and she hadn't been there for any of them, always having to work on something or another.

He hated it, but he knew that she hated it just as much, if not more. After all, he was the one who spent half of his weeks flying back and forth across the continent, not that she didn’t do her fair share of flying herself, but he still beat her in acquired fly-miles every year.

Sighing softly, he put the card down and reached for the present, carefully undoing the bow before tearing up the paper like he was five years old again. The paper falling to the floor he looked at the black box with swirly print all over it standing on the table before removing the lid and finding only velvet red tissue paper.

Looking at it for a moment, wondering what the heck she’d gotten for him this time, he placed the lid next to the box on the table and began moving the paper away. Catching sight of something black and lazy, he worked quicker and his eyes grew slightly as he saw the scraps of lacy fabric that were inside the box.

A black corset with a number of satin ribbons was the largest item, a pair of panties that weren’t going to cover anything followed and a garter belt that bore a promise of naughtiness completed the look. If he didn’t know his girlfriend as well as he did he would have been confused and moving the tissue paper around, sure enough, he found another card.

‘I’ll model it for you when I get back’

Short and concise, but straight to the point and with the images the items caused his mind to conjure up, he could almost forgive her for missing his 25th birthday.

Dropping the lacy items back into the box and replacing the lid, he picked the whole thing up and walked into the master bedroom, leaving the box on the bed as he returned back out into the apartment.

Making his way through the kitchen, nothing seemed to appeal to him and a quick glance at the clock on the stove told him he could still make dinner at Dave’s place.

Pondering the idea for a second, he grabbed his keys from the table and walked back out of the door.

It was his birthday and like several of his teammates had pointed out as he was heading home after the game, no one should have to celebrate their birthday alone.




Walking the last few yards down the hallway as the doors to the elevator slowly closed behind her, Anna sighed softly as she could almost feel the smooth silk sheets of her bed against her skin. Her feet were aching from being trapped in her high heeled pumps the whole night and her cheeks were starting to do the same from all the smiling she’d been forced to do during the company’s annual Christmas party in downtown New York City.

All she’d wanted to do was stay home and lounge in front of the TV as she wrapped last minute presents and got tipsy on Eggnog with too much rum in it. Dressed in sweats and with her hair in a messy bun, not dressed up to the nines and conversing with people she didn’t even like.

But that was the life of an executive…

And missing her boyfriend’s birthday was the price she had to pay for having her dream job.

Slowly walking down the hall, she gently opened her black satin clutch and pulled out the only key in there. Making sure to keep the noise down to a minimum, it was late after all, she pushed the white-painted door open and stepped inside, her black peep-toed pumps clicking against the hardwood floors.

Placing the key back into the clutch, she ran her manicured fingers through her chestnut-colored hair and sighed softly as she walked further into the room. Flicking on a small lamp in the corner, she left the small bag on the table and shrugged off the beige wrap coat she’d been wearing, draping it across the back of a chair before steadying herself and pulling off her heels.

They gave her perfectly shaped calves and a much desired boost in the height-department, but they were killer on her feet. Suppressing a moan at how good the cold floor felt to her poor feet, she continued further into the open-planed space, sighing softly as she glanced down at the rose-colored Rolex-watch wrapped around her arm.

All but falling into the comfortable couch in the middle of the room, she stretched out her aching legs, resting her sore feet on the coffee table, and picked up the remote from the neighboring cushion, flicking on the TV and praying there would be something, anything, worth watching.

She’d grown up with family always being together during the holidays, yet as of late she’d been doing anything but be there for her family in the end of December. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was the youngest executive in the company or because she was the only one without children, or perhaps it was because she was a woman and they wanted to see her in a dress, but she was always volunteered to work around the holidays and was never allowed to skip the annual and obligatory Christmas party.

Even if she was one of the few who actually had a steady partner, who also happened to have been born the night before Christmas Eve…

She’d learned to live with it, didn’t mean she liked it.

And it did make her worry that maybe she wasn’t the only one…




Yawning as he once again walked through the door to the apartment, he chucked the keys on the table like he did every day, taking no notice of how they fell to the floor after bumping into something. Stepping out of his sneakers, he left them in a haphazard pile in the middle of the floor and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

Leaning back against the counter as he drank from it, he frowned slightly as he noticed the spoon lying on the island, he was pretty sure he hadn't used that…

Shrugging it off, he finished the bottle and threw it in the trash before he shrugged off his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair and he began undoing the buttons on the shirt he’d been wearing before and after the game.

Moving through the open planned apartment, he froze midstep as he heard the soft humming from the flat screen-TV. Careful to make as little noise as possible, he turned back around and his mind conjuring up a range of completely different scenarios, he tried to figure out what was best to use for a weapon, a hockey stick or a baseball bat, as well as which was closer.

However, the sight that greeted him once he reached the living room was one that didn’t cause him to want to find either of the weapons, quite the opposite actually. It made him want to find a cold shower, or a bed, whichever was closest really.

“Merry Christmas,” she smiled softly, her voice barely above a whisper as she made no movement to get up from the couch that had taken them days to pick up two years prior.

“What are you doing here?” he blurted out, blushing slightly as he realized just how rude the question was, but he wasn’t expecting her, she wasn’t supposed to be back before Boxing day, the earliest.

“It’s Christmas,” she shrugged slightly, smiling slightly as she looked at him, hazel meeting blue even in the dim lights from the Christmas tree and the TV. “I caught the red eye out of New York.”

“I thought you said you had to work,” he remembered, still not moving from his spot, in case the whole things was a mirage, something his mind conjured up to keep him from feeling lonely. Considering the way her legs seemed perfectly smooth and a mile long in the short, red sequin dress she was wearing it could very well be a possibility…

“I do,” she smiled sadly. “But its Christmas, and your birthday,” she pointed out like it was the simplest things in the world. “They’re not going to miss me if I'm out here for a few days, and if they do they can kiss my ass.”

“I love you,” he stated frankly as he took a couple of long strides and reached her in no time at all, wrapping his arms around her familiar body and letting her pull him down in the comfortable couch next to her.

“I love you too,” she whispered as she cupped his cheeks and leaned in, pressing her lips against his plump ones, smiling into the kiss at how right everything felt all of a sudden. Her hotel room in New York was still occupied, a bunch of her clothes were there as she’d gone straight to the airport from the party and she knew she would have to fly back soon. But right then, feeling his soft hair between her fingers and his lips against her own she just didn’t care.

The sequins on her dress tickled the skin on his arms but right then he didn’t care, all that mattered was that she was in his arms, and not on the other side of the country.

His large hands splayed out across the bare skin of her smooth back, her body heat sending tingles through his finger tips, he broke the kiss and slowly opened his eyes, just looking at her. Making sure that she was really there…

Smiling slightly at him, she ran her fingers through his hair and brought his lips back to her own before leaning back in the couch. Moving onto her back and bringing him down with her.

Sifting slightly as to not have to end the kiss for anything but the need of air, he made room for himself between her legs as her dark hair fanned out behind her head, contrasting against the beige throw-pillows. Running his hand up her warm thigh, from her knee and beneath the dress that was too short in his opinion but made her look like a million dollars and the best gift under the tree, he let himself get swept up in the familiar kisses.

Her fingers easily undoing the rest of the buttons on the shirt, she ran her fingers over the familiar chest she’d first caught glimpse of by accident when she took a wrong turn at the Scottrade Center. Back then he’d been accused of still carrying around some baby fat that was supposedly slowing him down, but that was clearly not the case now.

Pulling his lips away from her as he was in dire need of air, he rested his forehead against hers, his fingers teetering dangerously close to the edge of her panties. “I don’t ever want to spend Christmas away from you, or miss your birthday ever again.”

The words whispered softly against his cheek caused him to stiffen for a second before he untangled himself from her, surprising her to say the least as she pushed herself up on her elbows, looking at him strangely as he climbed out of the couch and walked across the living room.

“Teej?” she called after him, her voice wavering slightly. She didn’t fall in love easily, but when she’d met him and they’d first gone out on a date together she was already falling before he even dropped her off outside her apartment building. She really didn’t want anything to mess this up, this…what they had…

“Hang on,” he said, glancing back at her over his shoulder and sending her that adorable grin that had her still going weak in the knees.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, surprised that he skipped on a make out session that was sure to lead to sex…a lot of sex.

Not replying he rummaged around under the tree, rearranging presents and causing a few of the ornaments to jiggle dangerously on the branches. Finding what he was looking for, he closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath before he stood back up and joined her on the couch.

“What…?” she began asking as he silenced her with a peck on the lips, placing the wrapped present in her lap. “It’s not Christmas yet,” she pointed out with a cute little frown as she looked down at the present, it was taking every ounce of restraint and willpower to keep from ripping off that paper and finding out what he’d gotten her.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” he pointed out, glancing over to the stereo where the blue number shone, 12.43 in the morning.

“But…” she tried to argue but shut up when he sent her a look. Looking at the present for a moment, she slowly removed the ribbon and dropped it into her lap as she removed the paper wrapped around the small box.

Seeing the black box and feeling the velvet beneath her finger tips, she swallowed hard as she tried to keep her mind from running away from her.

“Open it,” the soft whisper was enough to startle her, but she still did as told and carefully, almost unwillingly, popped the box open. Chocking back a half-sob as her hazel eyes landed on the perfectly clear, princess cut diamond ring nestled into the dark velvet cushion, she didn’t know what to say as she looked up at him.

“I was supposed to do this first thing Christmas morning,” he blushed slightly as glanced down at the ring box in her hands. “I love you, I’m not suave with words or gestures, I don’t even know how to do this, but I love you,” he said honestly, his blue eyes shining as he looked at her. “It’s that simple, I love you. I want you as my wife and I want to spend my life with you,” he licked his lips, reaching out and brushing stray tear from her smooth cheek.

“So, Anna, will you marry me?”

She’d known the question would come from the moment he opened his mouth, but it still took her breath away in a way she’d never before experienced.

“Yes,” she whispered, a small smile spreading across her lips.

“Yes?” he had to check, his smile growing as he took the box from her hands and removing the ring, he grasped her shaking hand and began placing the ring on her left ring finger.

“Yes!” she squealed as she saw the ring on her hand, not even waiting a second to throw her arms around him and pressing her lips against his. She never wanted to spend another Christmas without him…