Tradition

“This can’t be happening,” Nadia dropped her phone to the counter as her forehead rested against the cool granite.

“What’s the problem, babe?” her boyfriend of five months, Mike, asked.

“Guess who’s ticket got screwed up and can’t go home for Christmas?” she mumbled, not raising her head.

“Aw, Nad,” Mike sighed as he crossed the remaining space in his kitchen to comfort her. “I’m sorry.” He knew how much she’d been looking forward to seeing her family for the holidays.

“And I already have the 24th through the 29th taken off,” Nadia bemoaned, leaning into his shoulder. “And my mom was so excited to go shopping. Shit!” she shot up from her seat. “I have to tell my mom.”

“She’ll understand,” Mike soothed. “It’s not your fault.”

Mike watched as Nadia paced the length of space made up entirely of glass windows. As she waited with her phone pressed between her cheek and shoulder, Nadia pulled her hair up into a messy bun. The sad look on her face was enough to make Mike force her into coming on the road trip. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to travel with him sometimes; it was just that Nadia was so damned stubborn.

As Nadia spoke with her parents, Mike smiled at the way Arnold pranced around her ankles. She was at home in his condo, coming over to spend lazy afternoons after practice and work or for a pregame nap with him on weekends. Mike liked having her around so much; it made L.A. feel like…home.

Hanging up her phone, Nadia plopped onto the couch with Arnold and Mike joining her.

“Will it really be so bad spending Christmas here?” Mike asked, smoothing out her hair.

“I guess I don’t want to spend it alone, that’s all,” she shrugged.

“Who said anything about spending it alone?” Mike questioned. “We’ll spend it together.”

“That’s sweet,” Nadia smiled. “But it’s different when you live on different sides of town.”

That was true. Mike lived in the upscale, pricey condos while Nadia lived in a small city apartment nearly 30 minutes away.

“So move in,” Mike suggested. He’d been trying to convince her to do just that for weeks.

Nadia sighed. How had she known that was coming? It wasn’t that she didn’t want to take the next step with Mike-she did-, it was just that she didn’t quite want to give up the independence she’d worked so hard to get. Convincing her parents of the benefits of her moving to Los Angeles for work had taken long enough.

“Please?” Mike squeezed her hand. “For Christmas?”

“We’ll see,” she consented. “I’ll think about it while you’re gone.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

And she wasn’t the only one thinking while the Kings were in Colorado. Mike did a lot of thinking too.

On the plane there, he thought about what it would be like to wake up on Christmas morning with her by his side, what it would be like to make breakfast. It wasn’t that they hadn’t spent nights together in the past-they had-, it was just that there was something special about Christmas mornings.

At morning skate, before the game, and after the game during interviews, Mike’s mind was not on his game winning goal or even how his team had played great; instead it was on what it would be like to unwrap presents with Nadia next to him, together on his couch.

On the plane ride home, Mike’s mind wandered to how happy Nadia always was when she spoke of the things her family would do for the holidays every year. Would she be that happy with him? He thought so.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Getting back to his complex, Mike began to unlock his door. He and Nadia had plans to meet for dinner at her place later that night and if he played his cards right, they’d go out after. But entering his own home, Mike was given a pleasant surprise.

“Nadia?” he called out.

In his typical ‘bachelor pad’, he found Christmas decorations and several box’s marked ‘clothes’, ‘bedroom’, and ‘kitchen’ all lined up in the hall. Walking further into the condo, he saw other boxes, all marked with other objects and rooms. Getting to the kitchen, he found the girl behind it all.

“Surprise!” she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

“You moved in? By yourself?” Mike asked, astounded. She’d done a lot and he’d only been gone two days.

“Not all by myself,” Nadia explained. “Remember Daniel? From work?”

Mike laughed at the thought of the guy who had an unrequited crush on Nadia helping move into her boyfriend’s apartment.

“But we have a problem,” she said. “We need to decide how we’re celebrating Christmas.”

“You’re here now,” Mike said wrapping her up in his arms. “Isn’t that all there is to it? We’ll celebrate together?”

“Not what I meant,” Nadia said. “I mean, what we are doing for the holidays. Like, are we having a special dinner, opening presents early, stuff like that.”

“You mean traditions,” he decided.

“Yeah,” Nadia shrugged. “Something like that.”

“What does your family do?”

“This isn’t just about me.”

“We’ll take both of our Christmasses and turn them into our own,” Mike said.

Nadia considered that. She could still have her big tree and the cinnamon roll breakfast and Mike could have his ugly Christmas socks on and get up at a ridiculously early time. It sounded like the perfect idea.

“Okay, okay,” she agreed.

“Well come on then,” Mike began pulling her out the door.

“Wait!” she resisted the stronger man’s grip. “I need shoes! And you’re still in a suit!”

Maybe Christmas tree shopping would have to wait a few minutes.