Merry Flipping Christmas

Tom’s POV

The light outside of the window woke me up and temporarily blinded me as I opened my eyes. I yawned and stretched, cursing the chilly early morning air.

I turned to my right and smiled at the scene in front of me. Mark was in his blue and green striped pajamas with his hair messy and sticking out in every direction. He had a bit of drool hanging out of his mouth threatening to fall onto the already drool-stained pillow case at any moment. I’m so lucky to wake up to this every morning.

I leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently, careful to not wake him. I lingered for a few minutes, admiring his breathing and the peacefulness of his face as he dreamt. It’s times like these that I’m truly grateful that we made up all those years ago and that we decided to give it another shot.

I hesitantly pulled the covers off of my half naked body, shivering as the cold air engulfed me. I tip toed over to our walk in closet and walked in, switching on the light switch as I did so.
I moved around hangers, opened drawers, and looked through piles of clothes. I was looking for anything to wear today, but most of the things I came across were either dirty or too formal for an ordinary December morning. I sighed and opened another drawer, moving a bunch of Mark’s pants around.

The sound of him clearing his throat startled me, making me yelp and clutch my chest. He stood leaning against the door frame as he giggled at me, looking breathtaking for a person who just woke up.

"Jesus Christ, Mark!" I chuckled, still clinging to my chest as my heart calmed down once more.

"I washed your clothes yesterday while you were at David’s. They’re still in the laundry room. Sorry I didn’t bring them up, I sort of forgot," he replied.

I beamed and crossed the small closet floor, pulling him into a tender kiss.

"Thanks, babe," I said as I pulled away, grinning even wider as I saw the smile plastered on his face.

I walked around him and out into the hall. I shivered again as my bare feet made contact with the chilly hard wood floor, trying to get to the laundry room as quickly as possible.

I entered the small carpeted room and immediately spotted the blue laundry basket full of my now clean clothes. I rooted through them, finding some jeans, an Angels And Airwaves shirt, and some clean underwear and socks.

"Do you need some clothes too, Marky?" I yelled, seeing one of his blue shirts that looked really good on him.

"Yes, please!" He yelled back.

I smiled to myself as I heard the shower turn on. I quickly grabbed some clean clothes for him and began walking back to our room. I stopped on the way to turn up the thermostat, and then ran to our room.

I entered our large bathroom, where Mark was already in the large shower. I neatly folded our clothes and put them on our long, granite counter before I began stripping myself.

Once I was completely naked and practically freezing, I slid back the shower curtain to find my amazingly sexy boyfriend. I smirked at him as I stepped in as well, letting the hot water soak me.

"Well, fancy seeing you here, Thomas," he grinned at me before placing a kiss on my lips.

I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed the shampoo, squirting some first into my palm and then into his.

The rest of the shower was silent, both of us were just enjoying being around one another. We stood for about twenty minutes under the steamy water, our foreheads pressed together, and let the water warm us up.

Sadly, we are adults that have things to do today, so we couldn’t stand in the shower forever. Mark turned off the faucets and we both stepped out, shivering as the air reached our damp skin.

I handed him his blue towel as I grabbed mine and we began drying off. We hurriedly donned our clothes and combed our hair.

I smiled at him as he studied his perfect hair in the mirror one last time before we decided to go downstairs, hand-in-hand.

When we got to the kitchen, Mark hustled over to the fridge. He opened it and dug for ingredients to make a nice breakfast while I sat down at the table.

I took my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through Twitter and Instagram. I yawned and decided to text Travis and ask him what Alabama and Landon wanted for Christmas, since it was only three days away.

As it sent, Mark set a plate with a delicious looking omelet on it in front of me. I grinned at him and leaned up, kissing him as a thank you. He sat down across from me and we began eating.

***
I stuck my pot-holder-covered hands in the oven and pulled out the casserole, placing it on the table. I turned around and flashed a smile at Mark, who was wearing a ridiculous Christmas sweater in celebration of the holiday season.

"Is Travis almost here?" I asked as I took the pot holders off and began busying myself around the kitchen, trying to help as much as possible.

"He should be. Are you sure you got all of their presents ready?" He asked as he began loading the dirtied dishes into the dishwasher.

"Duh, Mark," I chuckled as I thought of all the gifts we bought Travis and his family. It was always rad to see Alabama and Landon’s faces once they opened their presents. They were always so excited to open presents on Christmas Eve, since they had to wait to open all of their big presents from Travis until tomorrow.

The doorbell rang and I grinned at him before we both took off, racing each other to the door. He got there first and shoved me out of the way before he opened the door, revealing Travis and his family.

"Uncle Mark! Uncle Tom!" Alabama and Landon shouted at the same time, running into mine and Mark’s arms.

Travis laughed while holding a load of presents and walked in, hurrying to set them down in our living room where all of the other gifts were placed orderly under the tree.

I let go of Landon and looked his outfit choice over. He was wearing his leather jacket and a t-shirt with the Misfits logo printed on the front of it, jeans, and combat boots. I laughed and gave him a high five, approving of his style. Landon was always a badass kid.

I then scooped Alabama up into a giant bear hug, squeezing her as tightly as I could. She wheezed and slapped my back until I set her down. She was wearing an adorable pale pink dress and had her hair braided to the side.

I patted her head and gave her a kiss on the forehead before I walked over and gave Travis a huge hug. He laughed and patted my back in the manly way he does whenever we hug.

We pulled away and I grinned at him, “Hey, Trav!”

"Sup homie," he laughed and walked into the kitchen to get seated at the table.

"Can’t we open presents first?" Alabama whined, dragging her feet into the kitchen.

"You know the rules, Bama," Mark said as he picked her up and twirled her around while she giggled.

I smiled and settled down into the same seat that I’ve sat in every Christmas Eve since we first started this tradition way back in ‘99. Mark sat to my left and the kids sat on opposite sides of Travis.
We talked, ate, made jokes, and laughed our way through many dishes of food and a bottle of wine. The feeling of joy and family was thick in the air, making everything feel perfect.

"Can we open presents now?" Landon asked as he took the last bite of pumpkin pie.

Mark rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before he replied, “I guess so.”

Both kids screamed with excitement and bolted into the living room before I had even gotten half way out of my seat. All three of us laughed at how ecstatic they were as we sauntered into where they were both eagerly bouncing up and down.

I sat next to Mark, who sat next to Travis on our beige colored sofa. I took a sip of my wine before I set it on the coffee table and leaned back, putting my arm around Mark.

"You can start opening whenever you want," Travis said as he began snapping pictures of them. It was so sweet how close all three of them are.

Alabama snatched up the first present that she saw with her name on it and began tearing at the pink wrapping paper. She finally tore it all off and gave Mark a puzzled look, confused as to why she was holding a toaster box.

I giggled and rested my head on Mark’s shoulder as I laughed, feeling his body also shake with laughter.

"Uncle Mark, it’s not funny! I don’t want a toaster," she frowned at Landon who was trying to suppress his laughter.

"Open it," Mark replied as he took a sip of my wine. I swatted at his hand and then smiled at him as she opened the box.

Her frown turned into a wide grin and she gasped, snapping her head up to grin at us. She reached inside and pulled out a smaller box. She opened it to reveal a sterling silver heart necklace that Mark had boughten her over a month ago.

She squealed and jumped up into his arms, repeatedly yelling ‘thank you’. I smiled at the sight of them, not being able to help myself. This was, without a doubt, the best part of the holiday season.
Landon grabbed the next present and opened up a new leather vest with all of his favorite bands sewn onto it. He squealed almost as loud as Alabama and tackled me into a hug. I laughed and squeezed him back, glad that he liked it.

Travis then opened up the new large television box that had a ‘67 Cadillac’s keys taped to the bottom. He was grateful and thanked us, which made me so thankful that we had the money to buy all the people we care about gifts.

Mark received a new t-shirt, some shoes, and a new amp for his bass. Seeing his face light up when he opened them made me as happy, if not more happy, than when the kids opened theirs. I guess it’s just something about the way a man in his forties still gets as excited as he does.

I opened all the gifts they got me and I got an original Descendents vinyl, the full series of Friends, and a nice picture frame that had Alabama and Landon’s school pictures in them.

As the night came to a close, the feeling of anticipation for tomorrow was starting to get to me. Mark and I still were going to exchange presents, even though we already opened some today. I was anxious to give him mine and see his reaction.

Mark and I were cuddled under a blanket with a gingerbread man on it, Travis was under a Santa Claus blanket on the opposite side of the couch, and both of the kids were sleeping on the floor in front of the fire.

I sighed happily and scooted closer to Mark, breathing in his scent. His scent was so comforting, so intoxicating. His smell is the most unique, amazing smell that I have ever smelled in my whole life. It was a mix between musky and sweet.

"Hey, homies, I think I’ma take the humans home now," Travis said as he stood up and started shaking them.

Mark yawned and checked the time on his watch, which stated that it was eleven forty-five at night. Fifteen minutes until it was officially Christmas.

"Do you need help carrying their gifts out to the car?" I asked, watching amused as Landon and Alabama sat up and started rubbing their tired little eyes.

"Nah, we got it. Thanks again for having us over, and merry Christmas," he said as they gathered up all of their newest possessions.

"You too," Mark said as they walked out and shut the door behind us.

It was silent for a long while. The only sounds that could be heard was the soothing sound of the fire crackling and Mark’s breathing. I closed my eyes as I laid on his chest, listening to his heart pound in an even pattern.

It felt as if I were dreaming, like this was too good to be true. I thought about this a lot. The thought of Mark actually being mine for the rest of my life was so hard to accept. It still felt like just yesterday we had driven to our local wedding chapel…

"Psssst, Tom? Are you awake?" Mark spoke softly, shaking me gently.

I mumbled in reply and yawned, repositioning myself to a more comfortable position.

"It’s midnight. Merry Christmas, babe!" He beamed at me, showing off his perfectly spotless teeth.

I grinned back at him and whispered, “Merry Christmas to you, too, you perfect human.”

We stared into each other’s eyes, drowning in the depths of them. His eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue, such a warm color. They were so full of kindness and passion.

I leaned forward slowly, pressing our foreheads together. We lingered there, his breath hot and minty on my face.

He closed the small gap between us, pressing his lips softly to mine. I reveled in the feeling of his smooth, pink lips on mine. Even after all these years it still made butterflies flutter around in my stomach, making me feel so warm and whole inside.

We pulled apart and smiled at each other again.

"Do you wanna open presents now?" I asked, resting my head on the back of the couch and looking at him.

He nodded and we both ran to the places we hid the other’s gift. Conveniently both of the secret places were no more than ten feet from the couch.

We both retrieved the presents and then settled back into our former position on the cozy couch.
"You first!" I giggled and eyed the small box in his hand that was picture perfectly wrapped in snowman paper.

He grinned, looking eager, and handed me the tiny box. I carefully took the bow off and tore the wrapping paper off. It was a small red, soft box that had a jewelry company’s name engraved into it.
I raised my eyebrow at him and carefully took the lid off. I gasped at the familiar sight of my wedding ring and pulled it out. It was the same old wedding ring that I’d had for the last four years that we’ve been married, except for one thing.

It had the word ‘Always and Forever’ engraved into the gold, along with Mark and I’s anniversary date. I snapped my head up, teary eyed, and grinned at him.

I pulled him into a hasty kiss as I shoved it onto my ring finger on my left hand.

"How did you get it away from me long enough to get it engraved?" I asked, studying the way it shone in the light that glistened from the fireplace.

"I just took it yesterday while you were napping. I know a guy and well, here we are."

I smiled at him and kissed him again, “It’s perfect. Thank you, Mark.”

He just smiled before I handed him his gift. At first glance, anyone would’ve thought it was a book of some kind. It wasn’t, though. I’d spent countless hours on this, making sure every inch was perfect enough for my husband.

He slowly tore away the snowflake wrapping paper, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards into a grin as he realized what I’d done.

I had made him a shadow box. It had all the most important parts of our relationship in there. It had a movie ticket stub from our first date, a mint from the hotel we first made love at, the Christmas card I had made him the first Christmas we spent together, our wedding invitations, and even the first picture we took after we got back together.

He looked up at me and leaned forward, mashing our lips together in a minty kiss. He pulled back and looked at it again, running his thumbs over the front of it.

"Thanks, Tom," he smiled at the box, inspecting everything in there.

After about five minutes of looking at it, he placed it cautiously on the coffee table and we cuddled up again.

I looked out the window and pointed, which made him look at all the snow. Pure, white, untouched, glistening snow was covering every inch outside, and it was still coming down in slow flakes.
I smiled at him and then at the snow, convinced that this was the best Christmas we’ve had in a long time. It was snowing, the presents were thoughtful, we were in love, and even our Christmas tree seemed brighter this year.

I laid my head on his chest and sighed contently. Everything was perfect.