#I'd see christmas cookies at the store and be like of that's for bringing to class or office parties

[angiestown]

I love looking at the treats you bake it really inspires me!! How long have you been baking?

ty ty !! baking I've been doing almost as long as I can remember. we're a big baking family, especially on my mom's side, so I've just always done it. I can't cook for shit tho, most of my groceries are freezer aisle premade stuff lmao

cake decorating I've also done a few times growing up, but I started working as a cake decorator in 2017 I think? and I hadn't really seriously decorated a cake before then. I just had a background in art so when a decorator left our store they put me in to cover for a bit and they were like wait shit she's good at this. my nan was a cake decorator so my dad picked up a bit from her, and he decorated all our birthday cakes growing up so I picked up a bit from him. kind of a shame my nan died shortly before I started decorating. but yeah my mom and dad are like this one-two punch where one likes baking and the other likes making things look nice

[storiesforallfandoms]

santa's sister in law ~ bernard the elf;the santa clause

word count: 4292

request?: no

description: in which he is adamantly against the in laws coming to the north pole, until he meets santa's sister in law

pairing: bernard the elf x female!human!reader

warnings: christmas fluff, sylvia sucking a little bit but that's just canon

masterlist (one, two, three)

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄

a special christmas gift for @omeletdreamer 😌

Bernard was firmly against Carol's family coming to the North Pole. He liked Carol, don't get him wrong. She was a fantastic Mrs. Claus, and he loved her idea to start an elf school at the Pole. He understood that it was hard to adjust to life at the Pole, especially while she was pregnant. But bringing outsiders there was a big no-no. They were already pushing things by letting Laura, Neil, and Lucy in on the secret of Santa.

But all of his protests fell on deaf ears. Santa wanted Carol to have her family while he was going to be busy, and the other elves just wanted Carol to be happy. It was a thousand against one. So, Santa got into his sleigh and flew to get Carol's parents while the elves fixed up the Pole to look like Canada.

"This is never going to work," Bernard said to Curtis. "There's no way they're going to think this is Canada. Even if they believe these ridiculous store signs, they'll never believe Canada is inhabited by a bunch of children."

"Can you not be so negative for once?" Curtis asked. "It'll be fine."

"We are seriously pushing it with how many people know about the Pole and Santa. You can't blame me for being stressed out over it."

"Everything will be fine, Bernard. We have a plan. We got this."

Bernard huffed a sigh and walked away. He was tired of being brushed off like this. He didn't become head elf for nothing. He knew what he was doing. If only someone would just listen to him.

As he was walking away, he heard something in the distance. He looked up to see Santa's sleigh breaching through the entrance to the Pole. He couldn't see them yet, but he imagined Carol's parents in there, asleep from Sandman's magic, expecting to wake up in "Canada". He cringed to himself. There's really no going back now.

"I need a hot cocoa," he muttered to himself.

The kitchen elves were busy baking away when Bernard walked in. Carol had told them her mom's favorite cookies so they were hard at work making a batch to welcome Mrs. Newman. They were wearing comically large chef's hats pulled down to cover their pointy ears, which made Bernard glad his hair was long enough to do that naturally.

"Hi Bernard," Abby said, giving him a bright smile upon noticing him. "Want a hot cocoa?"

"I'd love one, Abby," he responded, sitting down at one of the tables.

She rushed off to make it for him. He picked up a cookie from a plate in the middle of the table to eat while waiting. Abby returned with his hot cocoa. He blew on it, disturbing the steady steam coming from the drink. He hoped that escaping to the kitchen would give him some time to prepare for Carol's parents.

He was taking his first sip of his hot cocoa when the kitchen doors opened again and in walked Santa, Mrs. Claus and her family in tow. Bernard nearly choked on his drink.

"And here's our kitchen," Santa was saying. "Oh, and Bernard's here too! Bernard is my, uh, he's my...assistant."

Bernard tried not to roll his eyes at the title.

He reluctantly stood and plastered a smile on his face. "Hi, nice to meet you...eh."

Carol's dad shook his hand while her mom pulled him in for an embrace. Bernard wasn't prepared for a third person to approach; a young woman with a smile so beautiful it left him speechless.

"This is my sister," Carol said. "We didn't know she was coming too."

"I'm (Y/N)," the woman said. "Mom and dad mentioned they were coming for a visit, so I asked Scott if it was alright for me to tag along."

"Of course it would be alright!" Sylvia cut in. "Scott's already had Carol from us for so long, he'd never say no to bringing Carol's loving sister with us to finally see her again."

Sylvia had a smile on her face but there was venom in her words. (Y/N) cringed and tried to ignore her mother's comment. "It's really lovely here so far. I'm glad I could come."

Bernard was still tongue tied. He kept opening and closing his mouth like an idiot trying to figure out something to say. (Y/N) was watching him, waiting, while Scott and Carol shared an amused look.

"Let's show you the rest of the place," Carol said, putting an arm around her sister. "We'll meet up with Bernard again later."

(Y/N) smiled and waved goodbye as the group left the kitchen. Once they were gone, Bernard felt like he was freed from a spell. He let out a long breath and slumped back down to the table. His hot cocoa had cooled down enough that he finished the rst of it in two gulps.

~~~~~~

Bernard was up late that night doing his rounds of the workshop. All the other elves had left for the night, but Bernard was often the last one up making sure everything was shut down and nothing was left out of place. With the in laws visiting, he was also making sure the workshop was locked up so no one would accidentally wander in and discover everything.

He was preparing to leave when he noticed the door to the kitchen was slightly ajar. He was sure all the baker elves had left for the night, but maybe someone had stayed behind. He poked his head into the room and almost gasped aloud when he saw it was (Y/N) who was leaning against the counter, a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. She was in her pajamas, clearly preparing for bed. Bernard was about to back away and leave her be, until she looked up form her mug and caught him. She smiled and waved to him.

"Good evening, Bernard," she said.

There was no escaping now. He stepped into the kitchen and cleared his throat, trying not to seem as weird as he had earlier. He discretely made sure his ears were tucked away under his hair.

"Hi," he said. Simple, easy. You can't mess up a "hi".

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

She giggled. "Touché. I was having trouble sleeping so I decided to come out for a hot cocoa. That nice baker, Abby I think? She offered to make me one before she left. I was told she makes the best hot cocoa in all of the town."

"Oh, she does. She's the one you go to when you want a good hot drink made."

"She works magic, I'm sure."

Bernard tried not to let his smile falter. "You have no idea."

A silence fell over them. (Y/N) softy blew on her hot cocoa before taking a sip from it. A small trail of foam stuck to her upper lip as she pulled her mug away. Bernard couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

"What?" she asked.

"You just...you have something..." He gestured to his top lip.

She ran a thumb along her top lip, only smearing the foam more.

"Here, let me." Bernard reached up and wiped the foam off with his own thumb. He was suddenly very aware of their closeness when he looked into her eyes. Any words he could ever say were stuck in his throat yet again and he could only imagine how insane he looked, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Thank you," she said. "And thank you for having us here, too. I know it's a busy time of year for you guys. We don't mean to impose."

It took Bernard a moment to remember the story they had been telling Carol's parents: that Scott was a toy maker in Canada and that's why he would be so busy this time of year and needed someone to be there with Carol while she was pregnant.

"It's not imposition," Bernard assured her. "If anything, I think it's going to make Sa - Scott feel better to have you guys here for Carol while he's working."

(Y/N) nodded. "It's very nice of him to have us here considering how my parents tend to treat him."

Bernard thought back to the comment Sylvia had made earlier. The strained relationship between Scott and his in-laws wasn't anything new to him. Scott had mentioned it a few times before, most recently when he was voicing his concerns about bringing Bud and Sylvia to the Pole with Bernard in private. It was evident that both Newman sisters also noticed how their parents treated Scott, and it seemed neither of them were too happy with it.

"I understand why mom and dad get upset," (Y/N) continued. "One minute Carol was a proud principal at the local middle school, and then the next thing we know she's writing us to tell us she got married to a guy we've never even heard of and moved off to Canada to be with him. I mean, even I was skeptical then. But when she'd write to me about Scott and about being here, it was clear that she was so happy and she found the man of her dreams. Who are we to judge the quickness that they got married? As long as she's safe and happy, which she clearly is. But mom and dad don't see it that way. Dad is still convinced that Scott is a cult leader who stole Carol away or something."

(Y/N) paused and looked at Bernard. He had been listening as she spoke, just nodding along and not saying a word. She chuckled a little and shook her head. "Sorry, I'm rambling on about my family drama."

"No! It's-it's fine. Trust me, I've heard similar stuff from Sa - Scott."

She gave him a look. "You keep stuttering on Scott's name."

"Yeah."

He couldn't think of a better explanation besides that. He felt an unfamiliar burning sensation in his cheeks. He wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or just from being so close to her that made him feel that way. She giggled, though; a sound more beautiful than any of the twinkling bells that were often heard around the Pole.

"I'm just glad to be here," she said. "And I'm glad mom and dad can be here for when the baby is born. Maybe that will help them be a little less harsh on Scott."

She finished what was left in her mug and looked around the oversized kitchen. When Bernard realized she was probably trying to figure out where to put the dirty mug, he said, "Oh, I can take care of that for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. You're our guest, and I can handle this."

She smiled and passed him the mug. "Well, thanks for talking to me, Bernard. I guess I should try to sleep again."

"Goodnight, (Y/N)."

"Goodnight, Bernard." She started towards the door, but then paused to turn back to him. "I hope you're not too busy tomorrow. I'd like to spend more time with you."

His face was on fire as she left.

~~~~~~

For the first time in his thousands of years as the head elf, Bernard wasn't concerned with his head elf duties. Of course he was still there if Santa needed him, but he decided not to spend the entire day in the factory and to seek out (Y/N) to spend time with her. She was delighted to see him and was more than happy to accept his offer to show her around "Canada" for the day.

This became a regular occurrence for a few days. Bernard would make sure to check in often to see if he was needed, but if he wasn't he was with (Y/N). He would feel bad about taking her away from her time with her family, but it seemed her parents were more concerned with fussing over Carol than they were about all four of them spending time together. And (Y/N) also assured Bernard that she was making time for Carol and her family as well as spending time with him.

Bernard was more than well aware he was falling in love with (Y/N), and he was also more than well aware of how bad that was. Elves falling in love was nothing new; he had officiated quite a few elf weddings in his time. But falling in love with a human was out of the question. Elves were immortal, humans were not. Scott and Carol were different - upon becoming Santa and Mrs. Claus, their aging processes had slowed down considerably. They weren't completely immortal, but they weren't aging as fast as normal humans did. But that wasn't possible for a human that an elf fell in love with. Even if (Y/N) felt the same way towards Bernard, she would still continue to age while he would stay the same for the rest of time.

But he couldn't stop himself. He was falling fast and hard. Carol's due date was creeping closer, and once it came it would only be a matter of time before the Newman family would have to go back home, meaning that (Y/N) would leave and likely would not come back. That thought hurt Bernard.

Bernard was approaching where (Y/N) was staying one day when she slipped out of the house instead. He was surprised; she had never left before he had gotten there before.

As he got closer he realized that her face was tearstained.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

(Y/N) jumped and turned to look at him. "Oh, Bernard. Sorry, I didn't see you coming. Nothing's wrong."

He was about to point out that she was very obviously upset over something when the door opened again and Sylvia slipped out. She looked like she was about to say something, but she noticed Bernard and gave him a tight smile, one that he had come to learn was very much her fake smile.

"Hello, Bernard," she said. "I was just having a conversation with my daughter. We were talking about spending the day with Carol. We haven't had an all girls day since we arrived. So, unfortunately, I don't think she'll be able to spend time with you today."

"No mom," (Y/N) said. "I said I would join you later for girls time. Besides, you know Carol has an appointment with the doctor. She won't be ready till later."

Her mother was smiling but her eyes were glaring daggers into the younger Newman girl. (Y/N) held the glare before turning to Bernard and taking hold of his arm. She didn't say anything as she dragged him away. He followed anyways, wanting to get as far away from Sylvia as he could.

"God, I don't understand what is wrong with her," (Y/N) said, letting go of Bernard long enough to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I swear she just doesn't want Carol and I to be happy."

"What was she saying?" Bernard asked.

"Oh, she was going off about the fact that I spend so much time with you. Had her usual rant about Scott taking her precious daughter away from her and dad, and then said she'll be damned if she lets it happen with me too. Basically tried to guilt me into not spending time with you today by saying that Carol was upset that she didn't get to see me much, which I know isn't true because just the other day Carol was saying how happy she was that you and I were getting along."

She shook her head. "I'm so sick of it. It's like she can't wrap her head around the fact that maybe, just maybe, life is so busy here that Carol doesn't always have time to visit. It has nothing to do with Scott being manipulative or a cult leader or whatever conspiracy her and dad have cooked up on a certain day."

Bernard listened in silence. He felt bad that (Y/N) had to have these issues with her mother. Carol was hearing it all now, but he was sure (Y/N) heard much more of it when she was back home with her parents.

None of the Newmans could ever understand the way things were with Carol and Scott. They could never know why things were like this, but they likely wouldn't understand even if they knew.

Unless...

It was an idea that shocked even Bernard that he had it. Head elf of the North Pole, Santa's righthand man himself, considering such a thing? After being so against Carol's family coming to the Pole? It was preposterous. But his brain was so clouded by love for (Y/N) that he wasn't thinking proper.

"Come with me," he said. He didn't wait for an answer, just took hold of her hand and pulled her towards the workshop.

His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in hips pointed ears. He had to remind himself there was no going back. This was going to be huge, and it could likely get him into a world of trouble.

He opened the doors to the workshop and (Y/N) stepped in. She looked around in awe at the working elves, most of which were not hiding their ears as the workshop was supposed to be off limits to the Newmans. None of them seemed to notice the two of them enter, and if they did, nothing was said.

Bernard watched (Y/N), nervously waiting for her reaction.

"Is this...what I think it is?" she asked him. "No, it can't be. I must be dreaming. I fell and hit my head and now I'm in a coma having a very vivid dream that all of these small people who are supposed to be Canadians have pointed ears like they're elves."

When she looked over at him, Bernard had taken off his hat and allowed his ears to peak out from under his hair.

"I've lost it," she decided.

"You haven't," he assured her. "All of this is real. It's why Carol hasn't been able to visit as much, or why you couldn't visit until now. Look, there's so much to know about all of this. So much that I want to tell you but technically I can't because there are strict rules about humans knowing about the North Pole."

(Y/N) had another quick moment of shock that she was able to very quickly recover from. "Rules that you're currently breaking by showing me...Santa's workshop. By admitting that you're an elf, these are all elves...oh my God, my sister is Mrs. Claus."

"It is all very complicated," he said. "But you deserve to know that Carol is truly happy here. She's not being held against her will, Santa isn't manipulative or holding her captive. He loves her so much that he risked you and your parents finding out about him - about us - so that all of you could be here for her while she's pregnant."

(Y/N) still seemed to be stunned. She looked around the bustling factory again, her eyes wide with wonder.

"Wait," she said. "But...if you all went through so much to make us think this was Canada, to keep who Scott is a secret...then why are you telling me now?"

Because I love you. Because I want you to stay. Because I want to be with you more than anything, even though I know that will never happen.

"Because I want you to know the truth," he replied. "About all of this. About...about me."

She was looking at him. He didn't know what else to say, so he just looked back. He waited for an answer. He willed her to say something, anything.

She didn't say anything, though. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed Bernard. It was quick, almost hesitant, and when she pulled away she looked embarrassed.

"Sorry," she said. "I...should I have done that? I should've asked first. Was it okay that I did that?"

He smiled. "It was more than okay."

"Okay. I'm...I'm going to do it again, if that's still okay."

Bernard chuckled and moved in to kiss (Y/N) first. He had only ever kissed one person before - when he was young one of the other elves had gave him a quick peck on the lips and ran away afterwards. Not exactly something glamorous or anything like that. So he was a little worried about whether or not he was a good kisser. Although, something felt so natural about kissing (Y/N), like he could never do it wrong even if he tried.

He paused when he realized a slight hush had fallen over the workshop. He and (Y/N) pulled away to see that all the working elves had stopped what they were doing to look at the two of them.

"Back to work!" Bernard commanded. They all quickly fell back into what they had been doing before. "Bunch of gossips, all of them. Everyone in town will know about this by nightfall."

"I don't blame them. I'd assume it's not every day that they see an elf kissing a human."

He chuckled. "No, I guess not."

They decided to step out of the workshop to talk more in private. (Y/N) looped her arm through Bernard's as they walked, a gesture that suddenly felt much more intimate than it had before.

"I guess it goes without saying that I can't tell anyone about this," she said. "Not even my parents."

"No. Which I know is a big ask, but we can't have the secret of Santa going around," Bernard explained.

"Not like anyone would believe me. They'd think I was crazy if I went home talking about how my brother in law is Santa and how I started crushing on one of his elves. They'd sent me to an institute for sure."

Bernard smiled at her word choice. So she had liked him this whole time, too. Had it been obvious? Or had she been trying to contain it just as much as he did?

"How...would things work...for us then?" she asked.

It was the question he was dreading. The one he continued to ask himself despite knowing the answer to: it wouldn't. He couldn't let (Y/N) hold on to him when she left the Pole. She'd likely never see him again, which was for the best.

Seeing the look on his face, (Y/N) stopped. "No, do not tell me it's not going to work."

"It can't work, (Y/N). There's too much complications between a human and an elf being romantically linked. It's never happened before, and for good reason."

"There's a first for everything."

He shook his head. "No, there can't be a first for this. I can't let you throw away any other romantic opportunities you have for me. We may never see each other after this visit."

"My sister is married to Santa. There's no way I'm not coming back after this. And besides, long distance relationships are a thing."

"This one would be...very long distance."

She slid her arm from his and took his hand in hers. "I'm willing to try. I like you too much to give up without a fight."

Every rational part of his brain was screaming for him to stop. He could not let things go further. It was better for her if they ended everything after that first kiss and went hteir separate ways.

But the less rational part of his brain was louder than the rest, telling him not to give up this chance at happiness outside of work. He deserved to love and to be loved, just like anyone else in the world. If it worked for Scott, it had to work for him too, right?

He sighed and squeezed her hands. "It won't be easy."

"I don't expect it to be."

"You won't be able to be here a lot unless you're willing to give up everything the way Carol did."

"That's fine, we can make that work."

"And if you do end up coming here permanently, you can't tell anyone who I really am, or who Scott and Carol really are. You'll have to lie to everyone in your life. Is that something you can be okay with?"

(Y/N) stepped closer to him so that their noses were nearly touching. "I'm already lying about Scott and Carol. What's one more lie about the man I love?"

Love.

It was enough for him to abandon all hope at resisting her. He closed the space between them, kissing her again so passionately that it made her head spin. She wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself, while he wrapped his arms around her waist.

He could've kissed her forever. He could've stood there, wrapped around her and her wrapped around him, the cold nipping at them but barely bothering them, forever. He wanted to take this moment and freeze it, to never have to go back to his busy life as Santa's right hand elf ever again.

But she pulled away first, resting her forehead against his.

"I did promise my mom a girl's day," she said with a sigh. "And I think if I blow her off for this, she'll probably actually kill me."

"I guess I'll have to let you go then."

But he didn't, and she didn't let go of him. They laughed and kissed again.

It would be another several minutes before he would finally (and reluctantly) let her go.

[radarsteddybear]

Rating Kohl's Hanukkah Merch 2024

I went to Kohl's the other day to check out their Hanukkah products, and...it was a bit of a mixed bag. Some pictures are taken from the 'net because I only really took pics of the most egregious offenders.

First up, we have this Star of David...Christmas tree ornament? They had a lot of ornaments, which isn't really all that useful to most Jews. Sure, some Jews celebrate Christmas for one reason or another, and some even have some sort of a "Hanukkah Bush" which they may (or may not, idk what people do) decorate with Hanukkah-themed Christmas tree ornaments, but there isn't really much of anything for the rest of us to do with these except maybe hang them on our cabinet door handles as seasonal decorations. Aside from the fact it's a Christmas tree ornament, the Star of David itself is pretty nice. The random 5-pointed star in the middle of it...is not. 3/10 stars.

Next up, we have another Christmas tree ornament, this one being a dreidel. It would be a pretty nice dreidel if the nun (נ) and gimmel (ג)(pictured left) didn't both look like nuns. As you can see, they are very similar looking letters, and the picture on the website does show them both correctly, but something in their manufacturing process must be going wonky because the gimmels in the store do not look like gimmels. Otherwise, though, the letters are a) Hebrew letters b) the correct Hebrew letters and c) in the correct order, so. 2/10 stars.

Sticking with the ornaments, we bring you one of a bowl of matzo ball soup. Matzo ball soup doesn't have anything to do with Hanukkah; traditional Hanukkah foods are latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts), and Hanukkah gelt (chocolate foiled coins). Matzo ball soup would be more a Passover food, if I had to assign it to a holiday, though it's really an every-day-of-the-year food. This is kind of the equivalent of having an Christmas tree ornament of an Easter egg. I guess, if your Hanukkah bush is Judaism-themed rather than Hanukkah-themed, it fits right in. Still, it feels like it falls into the same category of thing that brings us things like supermarkets putting challah on their Passover end caps. 4/10 stars.

Speaking of challah...

Same thoughts as above except that challah belongs with Shabbat, which you will definitely have at least one of during Hanukkah! Some years, you even get to celebrate two Shabbats during Hanukkah! 5/10 stars.

Not a bad sweater. I appreciate its simplicity, its lack of the same two or three silly puns relating to Hanukkah you see all over the place every year, and the absence of the raunchiness I tend to see with Hanukkah sweaters. Still, I'd much rather it be an actual sweater I could wear than a Christmas tree ornament. 6/10 stars.

Moving on from the Christmas tree ornaments (for now), we have a ceramic dreidel that is, for some reason, melting. This thing is big enough that, at first glance, I thought it might be a cookie jar, but it's probably just a bit too small for that. You can't see it in the picture, but, while all of the letters are written correctly, they are not in the correct order (right to left OR left to right). You almost had it, Kohl's. You were so close with this one. 3.5/10 stars.

This Hanukkah garland is pretty nice. It's got dreidels, Hanukkah menorahs, Stars of David, and doves holding olive branches. Except the Hanukkah menorahs aren't kosher--that middle candle should be offset in some way from the rest. And doves don't have anything to do with Hanukkah--that comes from the story of Noah's Ark, and, as far as I know, that story isn't associated with any specific holiday. 6.5/10 stars.

I'm not usually a big fan of these countdown calendars because they feel a bit too much for me like advent calendars. I know, I know, it doesn't have the little windows with little gifts inside, but still. And this one feels like the design could very easily have been repurposed from one made for a different holiday. What's with the giant candles in the doorways? Hanukkah menorahs belong in the window, not the door. And the fact that they decided to show "25" in as the number of days until Hanukkah...definitely a choice that brings me right back to advent calendars. 3/10 stars.

Ah, finally, some good Hanukkah merch. It looks like it could be a Hanukkah menorah, but it's really just a wooden sign that says "Hanukkah" against a backdrop of dreidels. No notes. 8.5/10 stars.

This piece of Happy Hanukkah artwork is very beautiful. It has everything--Stars of David, accurate dreidels, the words "Happy Hanukkah"...it even has a kosher menorah! Plus a lot of floral elements for decoration because sure, why not. Looks nice. The only thing is that the light-up element is all or nothing--you can't light just some of the candles to reflect which night of Hanukkah it is. If it could do that, it would get a full 10 stars (and I probably would have bought it), but since it can't, I'm giving it 8/10.

I'm throwing these two dishes together even though they're two separate products. You can see that they repeat the same motifs as the wall hanging. The plate on the left doesn't have anything Hanukkah-specific except for the words, "Happy Hanukkah," but the plate on the right has the same dreidels and (kosher!) menorah as the wall hanging. 7/10 stars.

What is a home decor department without at least one gnome? This one's done up in blue and gold with a Star of David hat for the holiday. It's also holding a lit Hanukkah menorah, which I don't really recommend unless you're just moving it from one spot to another (which you probably should have done before lighting it). I can't quite tell if the menorah is kosher or not--the middle candle does look offset from the others, but it appears that it's just because it's a longer candle rather than because the candle holder is higher up than the others. 8/10 stars.

And here we have another gnome, except this one is...another Christmas tree ornament. It says "Happy Hanukkah" on its hat, and the Stars of David have been moved to its robe. It's also holding a wrapped gift instead of a menorah, which. I'm going to be honest with you: at first glance, it looked to me like the gnome was holding a cross. Clearly, it's not a cross, but come on; the crossed part of a ribbon on a package like that is supposed to be on the top, not the side. Otherwise you end up with the ribbon being horizontal on the other sides when it should be vertical. I'm knocking points off for this gnome's lack of giftwrapping skills. 6.5/10 stars.

These cookie cutters are fine. They are entirely serviceable. But why is the dreidel pictured upside-down? It's not just this one picture, either--the other picture on the website also has the dreidel upside-down. I guess the photographer didn't know what a dreidel is? 8.5/10 stars.

I had something like this when I was a kid. In fact, we might still have it lying around somewhere, though some of the candles are missing. It's a neat wall hanging--the candles can be removed from their pockets, so you can arrange the wall hanging to reflect what night of Hanukkah it is. On mine, the flames attached to the candles with velcro, allowing you to "light" the candles if you so chose. On this one, the flames are sewn onto the candles, so they are perpetually lit. What I want to know is why whoever was in charge of taking the photos for the website didn't take a moment to make sure that all the candles (save the one in the middle) were even. It does appear, though, that the pocket for the middle candle has a seam maybe an inch from the bottom, offsetting that middle candle and making this a kosher menorah. 9/10 stars.

I don't know if I've ever seen a Hanukkah snow globe before. This one features a Star of David on the inside, with another Star of David drawn inside it for some reason, and the 9 candles of a fully-light Hanukkah menorah below it on the outside. Not being able to see the menorah itself, I can't tell whether it's kosher or not, but since the candle in the middle is higher than all the others, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. What I don't like is the "Peace love and light" written underneath the candles--there is a comma conspicuously missing between "Peace" and "love." Oh, and the snow globe plays the dreidel song when wound up.

I'd also like to take a moment to remind everyone that Stars of David don't have much of anything specifically to do with Hanukkah--they're a symbol of Judaism. So why we've got one front and center inside the snow globe, I don't know. There's nothing wrong with it being there, it just...isn't the symbol I'd choose for something specifically made for Hanukkah. 6.5/10 stars, mostly for the missing comma.

Now this. This is a Hanukkah snow globe. It's got two sweater-wearing cats playing dreidel in front of a pile of presents (clearly wrapped by the gnome ornament from above--you can see the way that the ribbon is weirdly horizontal on the side that isn't directly facing frontwards). The dreidel appears to be correct (though I didn't take the time to check all four sides of it in the store), and the presents are appropriately wrapped in blue paper (not that there's anything that says that you've gotta douse the holiday in the color blue...or anything connecting the color blue to the holiday at all, outside of marketing). Did I mention that it's cats wearing sweaters and playing dreidel? This snow globe also, of course, plays the dreidel song. 10/10 stars.

This company sure knows when it's got a good thing going. This throw pillow features the same design of cats playing dreidel as the snowglobe did, but more stylized and a bit cleaner. 15/10 stars.

[fckinwild-kiwi]

Dec. 1st: Introducing Christmas Traditions

Hello, my beautiful friends! It's been a while since I've posted and to help combat some of my writer's block...I am going to *try* and participate in @comp-lady's December Writing Challenge!

Day #1: Blanket Fort/Cooking Together

Warnings: Swearing (I think that is it, if there's something else, please let me know and I'll change it!) Word Count: 1.8k+ Words Pairing: Eddie x AFAB!Reader

"Do we really need to buy all of these random snacks for our movie night?" Eddie asked as he looked at the cart filling up before his eyes.

"Yes, I promise you these snacks are vital to the night going well."

"Princess," Eddie mumbled, looking at the girl whom he has been pining after for the last three years. "We don't need to spend all of this money to have a good time. We could order a pizza and split a six-pack like we normally do and I'd still have the best night of my life."

"You don't understand," Y/n said, finally meeting Eddie's eyes. "This is essential. Please just let me do this."

"Okay," Eddie reluctantly agreed. He could see her eyes pleading for him to just let it go. For the next half hour, Y/n and Eddie walked around the store filling the cart before hitting the checkout.

Once Y/n and Eddie made it back to the trailer, Y/n got to work unloading the groceries. "Eddie," She yelled from the kitchen.

"What is it, sweets?"

"I need to ask one more favor from you," Y/n mumbled, looking up at Eddie with what she hoped were puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh no," Eddie joked before looking at Y/n.

"It's nothing crazy, Eds! I just need you to run to Family Video, I forgot to grab the movie but it's already put on hold under my name. Steve or Robin can grab it for you, I'm pretty sure I paid for it too!"

"Why are we not just watching what we already have here?"

"We are not going to sit around and watch those slasher films for the 100th time. This is important, please?"

"Okay," Eddie sighed, before stepping forward to wrap his arms around her and mumbling into her hair. "Yeah, I'll go to Family Video, are you coming with me?"

"No, I have to do a few more things around here to get ready," She responded ominously before pushing Eddie out the door, his shoes in his hands.

As soon as Eddie was out of the trailer, Y/n got to work pre-heating the oven and opening the premade cookie dough to place on a cookie sheet. If there was one thing she noticed after being friends with Eddie for the last three years and longing for more than friendship for the last two, Eddie deserved to be showered with love. He deserved to be showered with love and kindness, especially during the coming holidays, in a way that Wayne could not provide him with. Y/n loved Wayne. He was always so kind and welcoming to her every time she was over but there was no denying that he could not give Eddie everything (even though he tried). Y/n wanted to help change that.

The week before, Y/n had hidden some Christmas lights and three Christmas mugs (that she was going to gift to her favorite Munson men) in a box behind the trailer. As soon as the cookies went into the oven, Y/n grabbed the lights and got to work. The worn couch that Wayne often slept on became the inspiration behind Y/n's plan. She grabbed the kitchen chairs, bringing them into the living room, and then grabbed two king-sized blankets from the linen closet in the hallway. After draping the blankets across the chairs and up to the couch while sitting on the floor. The lights illuminated the blanket shelter but opened up at the front so they could see they would be able to see the TV. It was a perfect oasis. Once Y/n was content with the fort, she moved on to the last part of her plan. Hot Cocoa. Once the pot was placed on the stovetop, Y/n grabbed the heavy cream and chocolate bar and started to slowly melt the two together. As the cocoa started to come to a boil, she heard the undeniable sound of Eddie’s van pulling up into the drive.

“Babe, why did you reserve Miracle on 34th Street it’s barely even the Christmas--“

“Surprise,” Y/n whispered as she watched Eddie’s eyes widen in surprise.

"What is all of this?"

“It most definitely is the Christmas season and I wanted to start the festivities with you,” Y/n said before smiling. “Wait, there’s one more thing!”

She rushed into the kitchen, taking the cookies out of the oven and grabbing the mugs for cocoa. “If I’m overstepping, please let me know,” She whispered, unsure of what to do with Eddie’s silence.

“What? No, Y/n. What? This is incredible. You made hot cocoa too? Cookies!?” He could not believe it.

“I figured since it’s December 1st, there is no better time to introduce you to my favorite holiday tradition than now. We skipped most of our movie nights last December and I respected that but I don’t want to do that again this year. If you and Wayne will have me, I want to make this your most Christmassy Christmas yet!”

“I would love that,” Eddie said as he smiled at the girl across the room from him. “Can I try some of that cocoa with those cookies now?”

"Of course you can!"

After settling in with a few cookies and their mugs of cocoa, Y/n led Eddie into the living room to show him the fort. “Get settled in there and I’ll put the movie in,” She said, smiling up at the curly-headed boy. Her excitement coming off in waves.

As they settled under the fort and opening credits began to play, Eddie pulled Y/n into his arms. “Thank you for this,” He mumbled into her hair.

“Of course Eddie,” Y/n responded, squeezing him tight. “You deserve all the good things.” “No, Y/n. I mean it. Thank you,” He said as he pulled away to look at her. “No one has ever cared about me this much or done anything this thoughtful for me. You’re my favorite person in the world.” “Eds, I mean it. You deserve all the great things this world has to offer. I’m sorry you’ve been dealt such a shitty hand but this,” She said, releasing her hands from around his waist to gesture to the twinkly lights surrounding them. “Is small in comparison to what you deserve.”

Eddie looked around, his eyes becoming watery at the gesture. “You’d do almost anything for the people you love, huh?” “No, but I would do almost anything for you.” “Baby,” Eddie whispered, turning to look at the girl beside him. He could not believe what he was hearing. “Are you saying-“ “I love--“ “No, you don’t get to say it to me first,” Eddie said, putting his finger to her lips. “I’ve loved you since your first day at school. I was willing to accept whatever you wanted to give me because our friendship is the most important thing to me. But I can’t settle for just friends anymore. Not when you make it so easy to love you with your giant ass heart and your life-changing hot cocoa.”

Y/n giggled, tears forming in her eyes. “Eddie, I’ve loved you forever too. God, knows I have. I’m pretty sure Wayne and Nancy have a bet going over which one of us was going to cave first.” “I hope it was Wayne,” Eddie mumbled. “It was definitely Nancy, Wayne thought you’d chicken out,” Y/n laughed as she hugged Eddie again. “Look at me, pretty girl,” Eddie whispered, releasing his hold on her. “What?” Y/n questioned as she looked at the brown-eyed boy before her. “I need to kiss you, okay?” Eddie said, his hands coming up to hold her cheeks. “I think I need to kiss you more than I need to breathe.”

“Well I’d hate to see you go,” Y/n giggled, her hands wrapping around his wrists. “Kiss me then, Munson.” Eddie wasted no time in bringing his mouth to hers. Y/n could sense the urgency in the kiss, it felt as though every wasted moment up until this point, was trying to erupt between the pair. Y/n groaned as Eddie’s tongue swiped across her bottom lip, asking for access. Y/n reached up, grabbing Eddie’s curls to tug him closer to her as their tongues began to explore each other. Too engrossed in learning each other, they did not hear Wayne walk in. As he slammed the door behind him, Eddie and Y/n broke apart, before looking up at Wayne sheepishly from underneath the fort. “Well it’s about damn time,” Wayne grumbled. “Sweetheart, who said it first?”

“Uh, Eddie cut me off so he could say it first,” Y/n said, her cheeks turning pink. “Damn it, I guess I owe Nancy $10.” “I can’t believe you bet against me, old man!” “I can, my love,” Y/n said, before kissing Eddie’s cheek. “Wayne, can I heat you up some cocoa? I brought a mug special for you!” “Now what kind of man would I be to say no to that?” Wayne asked. Y/n got up before winking at a blushing Eddie. “Would you like to watch Miracle on 34th Street with us too? We just started the movie, I don’t think you’ve missed much?” “That’s okay sweetheart. I appreciate the offer but I’ll probably leave you lovebirds to it. I’m going to get a drink or two with some guys at work. Can you make sure the couch is ready for me when I get back?”

“Absolutely,” Eddie said, finally speaking up. “I’ll take this with me for the road,” Wayne said, grabbing his new Christmas mug and pressing a kiss to Y/n’s head. “I love the mug, I can’t wait to add it to the collection.” “I’m glad you like it. We will make sure the living room is cleaned up by the time you get back,” Y/n assured Wayne before he nodded and left the trailer. “Finally he’s gone,” Eddie grumbled, pulling Y/n down on top of him. “Does this mean you’re finally my girl?” “I don’t know, are you asking me to be your girlfriend right now, Eddie?” “Yeah, will you be my girlfriend, Y/n?” “I’d love nothing more,” Y/n mumbled before leaning forward to press her lips against Eddie’s. Before she could let Eddie take it any further, she jumped up. “You’re on clean-up duty! I’ll be waiting for you in your room whenever you’re done. I love you, Eds!” Shaking his head, he couldn’t help but look up at the girl who made a pillow fort for him. “I bet I can finish this in less than two minutes!” “Hah, that’s what she said!” Y/n yelled from the bedroom before laughing maniacally. “Keep talking your shit, baby,” Eddie grumbled, running around the living room of the trailer.

A/N: I know it's been a minute since I've written anything so I welcome any positive advice or critique! Any negative or hateful responses will be blocked because I do not have to put up with hateful or mean people. <3

[pureimaginefic]

Snow fell softly outside as Lizzie hung brightly colored balls on the dark prickly leaves of the Christmas tree. Vicki looped hooks through the ornaments and handed them to Lizzie to hang on the tree.

"Okay, how are we looking so far?" Lizzie asked.

"Great mom" Vicki said to her.

"Feels so weird decorating a tree without your grandmother yelling at me" Lizzie said to her.

"And grandpa passing out from drinking a pitcher of eggnog" Vicki said.

"Oh that reminds me I better pick some up before they get here tomorrow" Lizzie said.

"Great" Vicki grumbled as she continued hooking the ornaments.

~*~

Brian looked in the window case of the jewelry store.

"That one" he said pointing to a heart shaped charm with a V engraved on it.

"We can wrap it for you if you want" the sales lady said to him.

"Uh...sure why not" he said.

"Okay" she said ripping the Christmas paper from the roll and wrapping up the box.

~*~

The doorbell at Vicki's house rang.

"Daddy!" Vicki said happily, seeing James on the doorstep.

"Hello princess" he said hugging her tightly.

"Come on in" Lizzie said.

"Thanks" he said "Really coming down out there, I'm glad we were able to land" he said taking his scarf and coat off.

"So? What do you think?" Lizzie asked.

"Very nice, I'm surprised actually, I'd thought it be a little smaller."

"Well, I grew up in a big house, feels more homey" Lizzie said to him.

"Where's Cindy?" Vicki asked.

"Oh she flew out to New York early, she had an emergency with her parents."

"I hope everything's okay" Lizzie said.

"I'm sure everything's fine, besides now I have a few more days to spend time with my favorite girl" he said wrapping his arms around Vicki "Your parents here?" he asked.

"Tomorrow, if the weather holds out" Lizzie said.

"So..." James said "Where is he? I brought my shotgun" he said to Vicki.

"Daddy" she said to him "I'm actually going to meet him now, I'll bring him by later."

"Great."

"Bye daddy, bye mom, be back later" she said grabbing her coat. The door closed as she left.

"I brought my shotgun?" Lizzie asked him.

"You brought it up" James said to her "So...what about you? Any romantic prospects?" he asked, she laughed.

"Sure you want to know?" Lizzie asked.

"I'm married remember?" he asked.

"A few but if anything does get serious enough then I'll tell Vicki, don't want her getting her hopes up" she said as they put the ornaments on the tree.

~*~

Brian held the gift in his hands as heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Hey" she said coming down to the basement.

"Oh hey" he said smiling "You're all snowy" he said brushing the snow from her coat.

"I know it is really coming down out there" she said taking her coat off.

"Hi" he said to her.

"Hi" she said as they kissed.

"Cookies!" Jackie chimed as she came down the steps with a tray and two cups of hot chocolate "You must be freezing!" she said rubbing Vicki's cheeks.

"Thanks mom" he said to her.

"Thanks so much, Mrs. Littrell" Vicki said as she handed her a mug.

"Okay I'll leave you two alone" Jackie said as she went back upstairs.

"Sorry about her" he said setting his mug on the table.

"Oh I like your mom, she's sweet" Vicki said taking a drink of cocoa.

"Well here, Merry Christmas" he said handing her the gift.

"Aww thank you" she said giving him a kiss, Vicki tore the paper off of the small box and took the lid off "Wow" she said looking at the charm lying in the box.

"You like it?" he asked.

"I love it, thank you" she said giving him a kiss.

"You're welcome."

"This is so sweet" she said looking at it.

"That for me?" he asked nodding towards the gift lying on her coat.

"Oh wow, don't open that" she said picking it up.

"What? Why not?"

"Oh come on, after this? It makes my gift look so lame" she said to him.

"Trust me, you gave it to me I'll love it" he said reaching for it, she put it behind her back "Give it to me" he said laughing.

"No" she said as they laughed.

"Come on."

"No its too embarrassing!" she said to him as she continued to hold it away before pulling him into a kiss, trying to distract him. He was able to get the gift from her.

"Ha!" he said taking the box back from her and opening it. "Oh hey" he said picking up the frame from inside the box "Wow, this is really great, thanks."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I needed one of these actually" he said looking at the picture of the two of them.

"You are way too nice" she said to him.

"No really, this is going right on my nightstand, thanks" he said giving her a kiss."

"You're welcome" she said hugging him tightly "Now I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Bad news on Christmas?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh...my dad just came to town today."

"Oh" he said.

"Yeah and when we were home for Thanksgiving, I told him about you and...he wants to meet you" she said nervously. "Now if you don't want to I completely understand this is totally out of right field and..."

"Vicki" he said "I'd love to meet your dad" he said to her.

"Really?"

"Sure, uh? When do you think? Day after Christmas?" he asked.

"Actually...how about now?" she asked.

"Now?" he asked her.

"I'm so sorry, if the day after Christmas is good for you then its good for me" she said to him.

"Uh no, now's good, lets go" he said standing up.

"You don't have to do this" she said to him.

"No its okay" he said.

"I'm serious you don't..." he sat back down and kissed her.

"I want to" he said holding her hand "Come on" he said as they went upstairs.

"Oh leaving so soon?" Jackie asked.

"Uh we're just going to Vicki's house, I'm going to meet her dad" he said putting his coat on.

"Oh your dad is in town?" she asked.

"Yeah uh he's going to New York to meet my step mom in a few days, so he stopped on his way."

"Oh well that's nice, Vicki sweetie if I don't see you before then, I want you and your mom to have a great Christmas" Jackie said to her.

"Thank you, you too" Vicki said as she hugged her.

"I'll be back later" he said.

"Bye" Vicki said as they left.

~*~

"Well?" Lizzie asked James as he took a bite out of a gingerbread man.

"Delicious, who made 'em?"

"Our daughter."

"Really" he said intrigued as they saw him and Vicki step on to the front porch "That him?" James asked.

"That's him, now be on your best behavior" Lizzie said to him.

"Hi" Vicki said as they came into the house.

"Hi."

"Hey Mrs. McAdams" Brian said to her.

"Well...daddy this is Brian, Brian this is my dad, James McAdams."

"Nice to meet you sir" he said shaking James' hand.

"Well nice to meet you too son, good handshake you got there."

"Thanks" he said.

"Well who wants a drink?" Lizzie asked.

"Oh mom, look" Vicki said showing her the charm.

"Oh that is beautiful, that was so sweet of you."

"I know how much she loves that bracelet" he said to her.

"Have a seat" James said as he sat in a chair, Brian sat on the couch across from him.

"So uh...Vicki says you're a lawyer, that's got to be interesting" he said.

"Mmhmm" James said "So...tell me, how did you meet my daughter?" James asked.

"Oh uh, well we met when they were moving in, she uh was trying to carry a box into...here...and she tripped and fell". "I was playing basketball in my driveway and I ran to see if she needed help, she hurt her ankle pretty badly so I helped her in" he said to James.

"Wow...so you play basketball" James asked.

"Uh yeah" he said.

"He can sing too" Vicki said sitting on the couch next to him.

"Really."

"No..." he said "Well kind of yeah..."

"He's amazing" Vicki said, James looked at her "At singing" she said to him. He noticed Vicki take his hand and their fingers lace together.

"So...what exactly are your intentions with my only daughter?" he asked.

"Oh my god" Vicki sighed as she sat back on the couch and put her hand to her forehead.

"No its okay...look Mr. McAdams...sir, I like Vicki a lot, I really care about her and she means a lot to me" Brian said smiling at Vicki, they laced their fingers once again.

"Alright that's enough interrogation, you're not a prosecutor" Lizzie said to him.

"I'm just trying to get to know my daughter's...friend" he said smiling.

"Daddy, come on" Vicki said to him.

"Alright, well I got to get to my hotel, call Cindy see how everything in New York is coming, I'll see you all tomorrow" he said "Well it was nice meeting you, son".

"Nice meeting you too" Brian said shaking his hand again.

"Bye cupcake" he said hugging Vicki "Lizzie" he said.

Once the door closed Brian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Man" he said "You weren't kidding about the lawyer thing" he said to Vicki.

"Sorry, you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'll be alright" he said leaning in close to her, she turned to look at Lizzie.

"Oh, right, sorry, well I will be upstairs, I have some more wrapping to do.

"Thanks mom" Vicki said as Lizzie went up the steps, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close as they kissed, softly and sweetly as the fire roared next to them.

"So? My dad didn't totally scare you?" she asked as he put his coat on.

"I think all dads are scary, especially if their daughters are as beautiful as you" he said.

"How do you always know just what to say?" she asked, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Wow, look at that" he said opening the door, snow fell lightly on the ground.

"A white Christmas" Vicki said looking outside.

"Merry Christmas" he said to her.

"Merry Christmas" she said before they kissed goodnight he then ventured off into the winter wonderland.

~*~

Vicki brushed her hair as she sat at her vanity, the charm sitting in its box next to her. She picked it up and smiled, she then got off the bench and got into her bed and stared at it. Lizzie stood in her doorway and smiled.

"What?" Vicki asked.

"Its just nice that's all" she said.

"I know, I can't believe he bought me this" she said "Guys never notice such small things like that."

"I meant, its nice seeing you so happy."

"I am happy" Vicki said to her. tears sprang up in Lizzie's eyes "Mom!" Vicki said laughing "If anyone should be crying it should be me" she said taking the box back.

"I'm just so happy for you, this is your first boyfriend" Lizzie said to her.

"Technically he's not my boyfriend" Vicki said putting the box on her desk.

"Yet" Lizzie said to her.

"You keep saying that" Vicki said to her.

"Honey, I remember what its like to be a teenager, first loves are powerful."

"I'll say" Vicki said.

"Well we should get some sleep, want to be nice and refreshed when we pick your grandparents up from the airport" she said rolling her eyes.

"Night mom."

"Night sweetheart" Lizzie said shutting her door.

~*~

"Here we are" Lizzie said opening the door to the house and letting her parents in.

"Oh goodness" Mary said taking her gloves off "Lizzie this is beautiful" she said looking around.

"Thanks mom" her dad dragged the luggage in and set it down.

"What do you think Dan?" Mary asked him.

"Oh I like it, very nice" he said.

"Grandma, grandpa" Vicki said rushing down the steps.

"Oh hello dear" Mary said hugging her tightly.

"Hello sweet pea" Dan said lifting her off of her feet.

"How was your trip?" she asked.

"Oh smooth as can be, considering the weather" Mary said as Lizzie helped her with her coat.

"Where am I taking these?" Dan asked.

"Oh dad, don't worry about those, I can get them" Lizzie said.

"Nonsense, I'm perfectly fine."

"Don't hurt yourself dear" Mary said to him.

"Guest room daddy, third door on the left, right next to Vicki's" Lizzie said to him as he went up the stairs.

"Oh grandma I want to show you my room."

"Well of course dear, but first thing's first, when uh...do I get to meet your special friend?" she asked.

"Soon grandma, he needs a few day to recover from meeting daddy yesterday" Vicki said to her.

"Oh, Jimmy's in town? What happened to the young chippie?" Mary asked.

"Mother" Lizzie said to her.

"Grandma" Vicki said laughing.

"Cindy had an emergency and had to go to New York early, so James is staying on a few days while she deals with it" Lizzie said to her "Did you show grandma what your friend got your for Christmas?" Lizzie asked as she passed by.

"Mom" Vicki said to her "Its nothing he just got me a charm for my bracelet" she said.

"Well isn't that sweet, let me see" Mary said as Vicki held up her wrist and showed it to her "Very pretty" Mary said looking at it.

"Okay we're all set, where's the eggnog?" Dan asked.

[electricea]

"Guess I can understand that much," His head gave a sort of half-tilt at this, seeing the logic in her words, though he still found anything traditional to be rather boring. Really, if he had a Christmas tree of his own, he would fill it with all sorts of random ornaments - any that looked even remotely cool, ornaments resembling his favourite manga characters, even just random ornaments that didn't seem to resemble anything in particular - if part of the fun in Christmas ornaments was being able to make an ornament from practically anything - then another part of the fun would be in being able to confuse people with his unusual choice of ornaments! He almost wanted to chuckle with fiendish glee at the thought.

"I'd like to see your tree!" He leaned over eagerly to get a good look at the pictures on her phone, listening intently as she pointed at and explained certain aspects of the picture, such as presents and the chair. The Christmas tree was undeniably big and beautiful, bigger than any he'd ever seen before - and the presents looked elegantly wrapped, having been arranged perfectly underneath the tree - even just looking at them, he felt a childish sense of excitement, an impulse to tear into the gifts, himself! To see what was inside, naturally! The hot cocoa and cookies naturally looked delicious - whoever was playing the role of 'Santa' there surely had a pretty enviable role, getting to have such delicious food! Even the ornaments had managed to impress, being perfectly arranged and organized like something out of a Christmas magazine or painting - not single one out of shape and they all seemed to line up well. All in all, her photos painted a very picture of Christmas.

"The Children's Party sounds nice - I bet the kids must have had a great time there, certainly not a Christmas that would be forgotten anytime soon - or ever at all, perhaps! In his own limited experiences with Christmas, he didn't exactly have the western experience of growing up with Christmas, with the gigantic tree or the presents or the old fat man - but if he had to guess what the 'perfect Christmas' was, Sonia's pictures seemed to come pretty damn close and he hoped that it really was one, for those kids. "I think so! It's nice that your family shares all of this with the public! I bet the people must really love it!"

Really, he did agree with Sonia completely - these things were beautiful enough on their own, but in getting to share them with others, they only became even moreso. People really ought to share such things with others - in a way, it was like sharing your happiness, as well. At least...that was how he viewed it, in his own clumsy way. "I promise I'll take some pictures for you Sonia, if you take some for me!" He affirmed cheerfully with a nod of his head, adding quickly. "Doesn't have to be of your tree, 'course - but just any Christmas pictures from home! I like getting to see your home and learn more about your life!"

Plus it seemed like Sonia would be having her own experiences here in Tokyo before returning home - the samplings and konbini certainly sounded delicious on their own but the various festivities and seasonal shopping would surely be a fun time too! Perhaps he ought to bring his Ma to some of these, if they could find the time!

"I hope you get to try all of the Christmas treats and snacks before you go! I'll see if I can set some aside at the store for you!" He declares, proudly giving her a thumbs up and a smile. "No matter what, though - I hope that you have a great Christmas most of all, Sonia!"

Continued from here for @electricea!

Well, there were Halloween-themed ornaments made for Christmas, though no matter which booth Sonia perused, they were absent from that Christmas market. And while she wasn't aware of it herself, the markets at home too: unconventional Christmas trees meant finding ornaments through unconventional means. The internet and independent craftspeople, for example. "I think they're mostly selling traditionally-styled ornaments here, Ryuji-san," Sonia smiled, admitting the inevitable. Barring a few uniquely cultural influences, Japan seemed to want to follow Europe's example where Christmas decorations were concerned. Even if the holiday represented two very different things, for those celebrating in Japan and those at home, in Sonia's case anyway, celebrating thousands of kilometers away. Christmas in Europe, after all, wasn't a romantic holiday: it was religious, or otherwise aimed at children to celebrate with a collection of gifts.

"I have a few photos and video of last year's tree on my phone," She offered, choosing to deliberately not address his comment about her deserving a small tree of her own. Sonia wasn't sure she agreed: she spent so much time at various royal functions, traveling, and ultimately dreading the holiday itself she doubted a tree would bring her much cheer, or if her attention would allow her to even look after it. An annual watch of Black Christmas, Krampus, and The Nightmare Before Christmas were often what she looked forward to most, alongside the charity events her family organized each year. Those events offered many recordings of Novoselic Castle's annual tree, so it was a simple task to bring up a video of it for Ryuji to watch: it fit, and filled, the Castle's largest hall, with ornaments in red, green, and blue, surrounded by those in gold and silver. Lights twinkled on every branch in coordinated, pre-determined patterns and an elaborately-attired angel was situated at the top, her fair complexion and flowing golden hair looking down at all who passed by with a soft smile.

"This is from last year, right before the annual Children's Party," She explained, pointing to the array of professionally-wrapped gifts beneath the tree, the tables of hot cocoa and cookies and candies beside it, and a large green-and-red chair for Santa Claus to sit in, awaiting pictures with awed and excited orphans from around the country. "It's on display for tourists visiting Novoselic Castle from mid-October through December 31, but it technically serves as the family tree as well. It probably means the least to us, though: it's a much more fulfilling thing, I think, to share such decorations with the public. Wouldn't you agree?"

She hoped he would: having to explain why the holiday itself was dreaded every year was not something Sonia wished to do. Not while she was full of tea and treats and shopping for ornaments with him. And smiling, as he told her about his own family's tree: chaotic, no theming or color story or coordinated lights, but representing them perfectly. "Your tree sounds beautiful, Ryuji-san," Sonia replied honestly as they approached the till. Donation ornaments for the city centre's tree and ones for them to take home alike: it was a good, fulfilling thing to do, charity and festive decorating at the same time. "Will you take a photo for me this year, so I might see? I'll be returning home soon myself, so I'm spending my last few days in Japan this year doing all the seasonal shopping and sampling I can. Until you really look, you have no idea how many festive events and treats there are in Tokyo! I'm sure the konbini has plenty of limited edition snacks this time of year, too."

With the small paper shopping bag now in hand, Sonia was grateful for the fact she traveled by private plane. There was never any question of all of her luggage not finding a place to fit for the journey home.

[illicitlimerence-writes]

burnt | c. leclerc

pairing: charles leclerc x reader word count: 1.3k words prompt: letter b: baking. from this christmas alphabet prompt listwarnings: mentions of vomit (but not actual vomit, just the consistency(??), food fight, charles and the reader being chaotic, language, burnt cookies, fluff. a/n: here's day two! hope you like it!

my masterlist/ christmas alphabet masterlist

"i promised your mother i'd bring my famous butter cookies for her christmas dinner," you announce, walking to your boyfriend's game room. he sits in his race simulator with his headphones off of one ear.

"you've never baked butter cookies," he says, a frown on his face, you nod.

"i know! but, do you remember your birthday?" you say and he looks up at the ceiling, thinking about that day, then his eyes return to you.

"yeah?"

"okay, so i went to this store and i bought said cookies, turns out your mother loved them! and then she started praising me, saying they were the greatest cookies she's ever tried, so soft and crumbly, and she made me promise to bake them again for christmas," you rant, running a hand through your hair.

"amour, why didn't you just tell her the truth?" charles laughs, getting up from his seat, you furrow your eyebrows.

"because i couldn't! she looked so delighted and proud, i couldn't do that to her!" you say, frustrated.

"it's fine, mon ange, you just have to go to the bakery and buy some more," he walks to you and places his hands on your shoulders.

"that's the thing, though," you point at him with your index finger. "they're closed for the holidays," charles' smile fades as he hears your words.

"well... we can buy from a different store, or we can make them ourselves," he grabs your hand and leads you to your bedroom.

"but they won't taste the same, plus i've never baked anything in my entire life!" you fall down on the bed, covering your face with your hands.

"we've still got a few days, chérie, we can go to the store right now and give it a few tries," charles says as he lays next to you, pecking your lips in hopes to calm you down.

"okay..." you give him a small smile.

-

"it looks like vomit," you and charles both stare at the mix in front of you.

"maybe we can add more flour?" charles suggests, and you nod, pouring some more flour and stirring with a spatula. "it says here to mix with your hands," he reads from his phone, where he found a recipe for the cookies.

"i'm not touching that thing, you've said it yourself, it looks like vomit!" you say, scrunching your nose.

"i'll do it," charles shoves you a little to the side with his hip. you watch as he mixes in the new flour with the vomit-looking thing you'd created. "it feels gross," he chuckles as he continues. "can you add a bit more flour?" he asks after a few seconds, you grab the bag and pour some more in. slowly, the mix becomes less liquid and more solid, it actually starts looking like the paste you see in movies or cooking shows.

"i think that's it, we just have to split it in two and put them in the fridge," charles says as he walks to the sink to wash his hands.

"do you think this will work?" you ask as you cut two pieces of plastic film to wrap it around the dough.

"we'll just have to wait and see." charles says as he places both halves in the fridge. "while we wait, we can work on the frosting,"

-

the cookies have all been cut and are now resting in the oven, you watched in delight as the first three cookies you placed in, turned into a beautiful gold around the edges. you used the cookie cutters in the shapes of candy canes, christmas trees, and snowflakes and wait for the current batch to bake. next, you move on to make the frosting.

"add more sugar!" you say as you stir with a spoon.

"there's already like three cups of sugar! we'll get sick because of this," charles complains.

"pour more goddamn white sugar or i will pour this on your head."

"i'm not giving you any more sugar, that's enough!" he grabs the bag of sugar and runs away. you chase after him with the bowl of frosting on your hands.

"come back here! give me my sugar!" you yell, running behind him. "dammit, why am i not athletic," your chest heaves as you breathe heavily. you stay quiet, waiting for charles to come out of wherever he's hiding and surprise-attacking him.

it works. he opens the door to his game room and pokes his head out, you shuffle against the wall, hoping he didn't see you. he makes his way out, the bag of sugar securely in his head, you watch his reflection on the conveniently placed mirror, thanking your past self for putting it there. it gives you a perfect view of your wide-eyed boyfriend but he can't see you at all. you prepare yourself, grabbing some frosting with your own fingers, cringing at the feeling on your hands.

"give me my sugar!" you yell as you throw it on his face and shirt. he stands there, stunned, with his mouth open in surprise.

"oh, no, you did not." he shakes his head slowly, and you walk backward, your eyes never leaving his figure.

"yes, i did."

"you'll regret this, mon ange," he says as he continues to walk your way. by now, you're afraid to look away, but you can tell you're about to hit the wall. you're being trapped.

"what are you gonna do about it?" you raise an eyebrow as you cock your head to the side.

"this," he says, opening the bag of sugar and pouring all the contents on your head.

you gasp. opening your eyes wide, you see a proud, cheeky grin on his face.

"oh, it's on!"

you run to the kitchen, you don't want to clean the entire house because of your mess, you grab whatever leftover ingredients you can find on the counter and throw them charles' way. you both laugh and yell like teenagers. you turn around to grab an egg when you feel charles' hands on your waist, spinning you around and pinning you to the wall.

"i win," he declares, leaning his head forward.

"nuh-uh," you shake your head.

"you're a bigger mess than i am! look at your hair,"

"but i'm not done yet," you give him a devilish smile as you smack the egg on his head.

"neither am i," he says as he grabs what's left of the frosting and smears it all over your face. you close your eyes, letting the silliness of the situation get the best of you, you break into a fit of laughter.

"you- your hair!" you laugh as the egg slides down charles' hair and the sides of his face.

eventually, you regain your composure, leaning against the wall as your heartbeat slows down.

"chérie?" charles calls, you hum in reply. "you've got something on your face." you swear your neighbors heard the snort and laugh that left your body.

your eyes fly to charles. he leans against the counter with a playful smile on his face.

"come here, i'll help you clean up," he grabs the roll of paper towels, you step closer, sliding your hands around his waist.

you present your face to him, closing your eyes as you wait to feel the rough paper towel against your skin. instead, you feel soft lips on your own. you smile into the kiss, pulling him closer.

"hmm, i think we did a good job on the frosting," he says, diving in for another kiss and taste of the frosting.

"it still needs more sugar, though," you say, pecking his lips. you're about to turn around when charles grabs your waist and sits you on the counter. he places a hand on each of your thighs, opening your legs so he can fit in the middle.

"i think i need another taste to decide," he mutters on your lips.

you stay there for what feels like hours, with charles' face on your hands and his lips tangled with yours.

when you open your eyes again, all you can see is smoke.

"holy shit!" you push charles away, jumping down from the counter and running to the oven.

"shit, they're burnt!" charles yells as you grab a kitchen towel and pull out the tray of cookies. you quickly close the door to the oven as charles runs to open all the windows. when he returns, you both look at the tray of black, crumpled cookies.

"looks like we'll have to try again," charles says, scratching the back of his head. you look at him with a grin on your face.

"you think?!"

[jjungkookislife]

hi, b!

for the christmas/holiday prompts - #5 with namjoon, please! 🥰

hi, lee! thank you <3

Kissing Clause

pairing: Namjoon x reader

tw: none?

prompt 5: I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause

Christmas was a huge event in your household! You were a "Christmas starts November 1st!" family. The Christmas tree went up as soon as the Halloween decorations came down. Fortunately, your son had inherited your excitement for such joy and decor. Despite having the attic stuffed full of decor and ornaments, little twinkle lights, and a reindeer or two, you always took your little boy shopping for more.

Your husband, Namjoon, was not enthused when you'd walk into your home with your son on your hip, holding shopping bags from several stores, all stuffed full of new items for your home or your Christmas tree. From matching pajamas to slippers and Christmas sweaters, everything about the three of you screamed FAMILY!

"Come on, Joonie," you pout. "He's only little once." With those words, Namjoon was sold and boarded the Christmas Train head on, rocking on the railway with no escape.

"This is ridiculous," he bites back a laugh as he looks at himself in the mirror in your bathroom.

"He's losing faith," you say with a frown. "He asked if Santa was real today."

"Maybe it's time we told him?" Namjoon asks as he adjusts the itchy white beard he's wearing. He had stuffed a pillow or two under the jacket and turned to the side. "I don't know how you expect me to get downstairs like this."

"Carefully and quietly," you remind him as you leave the bathroom, waiting for your husband to follow you.

Your son had been put to bed over an hour ago, and you were gonna stay up to "catch" Santa, hence Joonie in the costume. You'd show your son the video in the morning and all would be well.

"Babe, I can't see where I'm going."

"Here," you stick your hand out. "Grab my hand and I'll lead."

Namjoon does as he's told, going down the stairs carefully, hoping he doesn't meet his end.

Once safely on the first floor, he wipes the sweat from his brow. He spots the tray of milk and cookies, posing by them and taking a few bites, pretending he's been caught.

You laugh, shaking your head and praising his efforts.

"Do I put some gifts down? What am I supposed to do?" he asks as he grabs the sack from the couch, lifting it over his shoulder and knocking down the tray of cookies.

"Shhh," you hiss.

"Sorry," he mutters. "I can't see."

"Santa wears glasses too, ya know," you remind him.

"That may have helped," he admits with a shy smile. "Too late now."

"Come here," you bring him close, posing him by the tree for a video and a few pictures.

"I really appreciate you putting this on," you say sincerely, grabbing the collar of his jacket.

"Of course, baby. I'd do anything for you two," he says and leans down to kiss you.

"Mommy! You're kissing Santa Claus!" you turn when you hear your son shout.

"Uh, as thanks?" you cringe. Ooh, this was not good.

"Does that mean I get more presents?" Your son asks as he runs to Santa. Namjoon picks him up, holding him in his arms.

"What now?" he whispers.

"Abort mission!"

this prompt list

[sohemotional]

I'd give you a Finn baked good if you wrote the Baker!Finn AU where Rachel stops by to buy cupcakes and pastries all the time. Wait no, 2 Finn baked goods.

Aww this is a cute prompt! They live in NY in this AU. Also posted this here on AO3

Carole's Cupcakes was all Finn had ever known. He had grown up as a small boy learning recipes straight from his mom as she spent all of her time preparing huge batches of cakes, cookies, pies and other sweets. The boy had a giant sweet tooth and getting to taste all of the treats was half of the fun for him. He also liked the bonding time with his mom, as she was the only family he had. He also liked how methodological and scientific everything about baking was, as he had to measure out the perfect ratio of every ingredient.

It was sometimes difficult when business was slow and Carole could barely afford to pay her bills but somehow they kept the bakery going. Since he was a teen he had worked there as a pastry chef and he loved his job, even though spending all of his early mornings baking bread definitely killed any social life he could have had.

They just couldn't seem to bring in any customers lately. It was just a few days before Christmas and Finn noticed how exhausted his poor mother looked as she walked around the shop early that morning, putting the finishing touches on a fresh batch of snowman cupcakes and Christmas tree shaped sugar cookies to set out on the display shelf. He wished there was a way to make things better for Carole.

Rachel Berry was walking briskly in the direction of the theater, speaking into her phone in a loud voice that made several other pedestrians nearby flinch, or give her strange looks.

"No, please I'm on my way. I'm sorry, you know I'm literally never late in my life. This medication I took made me oversleep and my limo was in an accident... I'm literally two minutes away!"

The woman was distracted and yelped as she slipped on a patch of ice. Her day was already a mess and it just got much worse. A few people nearby stopped to help her up but her ankle already felt twisted. She groaned in frustration and noticed a bakery nearby that seemed to be open. She was shivering in the bitter cold and decided anything was better than staying outside as the snow continued to pile up. She had seen the sign for this store many times but hadn't gone inside.

She hobbled into the bakery. It seemed to be a tiny, family-run hole in the wall shop and Rachel suddenly remembered how hungry she was, her mouth watering as she saw all of the sweets on display. Rachel never usually ate anything with flour or sugar but she was so stressed out that there was nothing she craved more right now than a cupcake.

She was embarrassed when she tripped on the way to the counter in the middle of staring at those baked goods. At least no other customers were around to see her. A tall man with a friendly, boyish face who she thought might have been the owner held out his hand to her with a smile. Rachel fell silent, noticing how handsome he was and she had never seen eyes that were such a light brown, bordering on gold or warm amber. She thought he looked cute in the apron he was wearing and her cheeks flushed.

"Hi there, are you okay?"

"No, not at all!" She complained, wincing as she stood up. "Thank you for your help. My ankle seems to be injured and I am terribly late for work."

"I'm sorry to hear that," He said in a warm voice, helping her into a chair. There was a middle aged woman standing in the background wearing an apron and Rachel could tell from their features that she was related to the tall man. "Can I get you anything, Miss?"

"A coffee and one of those... snowman cupcakes, please."

Rachel's eyes widened because it was one of the best cakes she had ever had and she was so hungry that she quickly devoured the entire thing. The boy with the broad, friendly face was grinning at her.

"You hated it, right?" He joked.

"It's the best I've ever had in my life!" Rachel announced dramatically.

"Here's a little surprise on the house... just for you!" Finn pulled out a cupcake with bright green icing that resembled a Christmas tree with a little star on top from behind his back. Rachel gasped. She loved stars but this boy had no way of knowing that.

"Oh no... I really couldn't, I mean I'll pay for this, I couldn't ask you to... but I'm supposed to be watching my diet and these are too good to resist."

"C'mon, I know you want to try it," Finn added mischievously, ignoring her protests. "It's totally on the house."

"You're bad for tempting me so much." Rachel joked but gave in, her eyes rolling back as she bit into the cupcake. The mint chocolate of the cupcake was so rich and she loved the crunch of crushed candy canes. There was something so nostalgic about this shop that brought her back to her childhood and her mood was already lifted. She was starting to warm up and the coffee was also great.

The two of them fell into easy conversation as he took a seat next to her for a moment since they were no other customers around to attend to at the moment. Rachel was surprised but delighted as it had been such a long time since she had ever been able to connect with a complete stranger. They were both in similar situations of working extremely long hours and having not much of a social life.

Finn chuckled at her expression as she stared lovingly at a red velvet cupcake then he looked at her for a long moment. He recognized her face and distinctive voice. She was a very pretty, striking girl and Finn had always had a thing for tiny brunettes with brown eyes so it was difficult to stop himself from being smitten. Suddenly it clicked... he looked over at a pamphlet on the counter for a show that was now playing in town... this girl was a huge Broadway star! Finn suddenly felt very nervous and he gulped, wondering what he should say.

"You're Rachel Berry?! As in Funny Girl's Fanny Brice Rachel Berry?"

The brunette girl nodded with a huge megawatt smile. Finn couldn't believe that he and his mom had this star who had been in all of these musicals in their humble little shop with its tacky wallpaper and old, breaking down furniture that had been there since the sixties.

"Did you make these cupcakes yourself? They're amazing." She told him, giggling after he had remained in stunned silence for what felt like forever.

"I did," He admitted bashfully, feeling his face turn red. "I'm Finn, by the way. Finn Hudson. Sorry for not introducing myself properly before."

"Well Finn, I'm going to have to order five cases of these for my co-workers. Actually we'll need those cakes and cookies as well for one hundred people."

Finn looked over at her in shock and saw his mom's eyes widen at the same time because of what Rachel was offering like if it was no big deal that she was asking for hundreds of items.

"Sorry, I hope that won't be inconveniencing you and your mother. Will that be alright? Will you need additional time?"

"More than alright. We'll have everything delivered to you." Carole shouted to her. She was happier than Finn had seen her in a long time.

Rachel grinned, winking playfully at Finn who was still staring at her in awe while she went up to pay for everything. Everything about her gave off the impression that she was ridiculously rich.

"I must be going, Finn but you've certainly made my day a little more special."

Finn beamed, wondering if he was just imagining the flirtatious tone in her voice. He was amazed that a guy who was as completely ordinary as himself had attracted someone as interesting and important as her into his tiny little shop. She was so friendly even though she had no reason to be. They both felt reluctant to part from each other when the time came for her to go.

"You're welcome. Rachel I... I hope we see you again. You're always welcome here."

"I hope so too, Finn. Merry Christmas."

She kept gazing at him as if expecting something more after they shook hands. He kissed her on the cheek quickly and Rachel seemed stunned, touching her face constantly on the place he kissed as he smirked at her teasingly while she blushed. From then on, it became a tradition for Rachel to pop by before or after, or sometimes even during her workdays to chat with Finn. Sometimes he even got her to give in to eating a cupcake. He got a new customer... and somehow, he thanked his lucky stars... a new girlfriend.

[ashhdaniellee95]

Will You Marry Me? × Antonio Dawson

|DECEMBER 09 • Antonio's POV|

"I've thought about this for a very long time, because I really like, well love this woman that I've been dating for about 2 1/2 years, and I thinks it's time I find a ring for her. One of her friends told me her ring size and now I'm going to each jewelery store to find the right ring. I've looked at a handful of stores, but nothing pops out, so I go on to the next one and hope something catches my eye."

He walks in, and a jeweler welcomes him to the store and asks what brings him in. He tells him he's looking for a ring for his girlfriend and that he going to propose on Christmas but he has to find the right one first.

So the jeweler, whose name is Ghephrey, shows Antonio a few rings that would look nice on her finger, but nothing that stands out to him, so they keep looking.

They look at every single ring they have and Antonio tells the man which ones to hold on to because one of them might be a winner.

As Antonio looks at rings over again, he gets a call, and pulls it from his pocket to see who it was; his girlfriend. So he told the jeweler man to be quiet cause doesn't want her find out, then answers. "Hey baby. What's up?" She smiles. "Oh nothing, just having lunch with Hannah," {Hannah was her cousin, he remembered}, "Oh, how's that's going?" She swallowed a piece of food before she spoke.

"Good. They're talking about having a family soon." He smiles. "Oh that's good. How is she doing?" "She's good, she's in the bathroom, so I thought I'd call you for a few minutes while she's in there." He smiles, "Well that was thoughtful." "Yeah, I tend to think a lot about you." "I'm glad." "Yeah." He hears her take a bite of something she was eating, then swallows. "She just got back from the bathroom, so I'll call you later baby. I love you." He smiles, "I love you too." As they hung up, the thought in the back of his mind says 'she has no idea'.

His thoughts come back in play, as he continues to look for the perfect ring for his perfect girlfriend.

|DECEMBER 09 • Annaleigh POV|

After lunch with Hannah, I leave and go to Mom's for a couple of hours and sit and talk about nothing, but mainly about Antonio. My mom really loves Antonio, says he's the best thing that's happened to me. I agree, and we continue talking.

About another two hours later, I leave and head home. Me and Antonio moved in a few months ago after he asked me to. And I of course said yes. I mean, who wouldn't want to move in with their best friend.

Anyways, I get home and pull of my shoes at the door, and put my keys in the bowl with 'keys' in my handwriting (cause it was neater), and my stuff on the kitchen counter, then lay down on the couch for a little while.

When I wake up (about an hour or so later), I hear the door being quietly shut, and very little quiet movement. I guess he saw me asleep and didn't wanna wake me up. Nice.

It got quiet for a few minutes not knowing what he was doing, but I was too tired to get up and find out.

I lay there a little longer, till I feel two hands carefully pick my head up, sit down, then carefully place my head on a pillow. I smile at that. And without opening my eyes, I say hello. "Hi, baby. It's good to see you." I hear him chuckle, "Yeah, I know. It's good to see you too. How long have you been home for?" I open my eyes to look into his. "Not long, bout an hour or so. Why? What's up?" He smiles. "Oh nothing. Just wanted to spend as much time with you before I have to go back to work tomorrow." "Well, you can do that by grabbing us a beer and a few snacks while I get a movie started. But it's your choice where you want to watch it." He smiles. "See, that right there is why I love you." She smiled. "I love you too." She comes to him with a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Let's watch it in our bedroom. More comfortable." She smiled. "Okay. Just meet me in there with the stuff." He nods his head as she walks upstairs to their shared bedroom and gets the movie(s) setup.

As she makes the bed fluffier and got a movie started, he comes in with four beers and a bunch of snacks (sour patch kids, Sour Skittles, cookies, tortilla chips and dips), and he puts it on the table at the end of their bed.

They each grab a beer and a snack and then get settled for the movie.

××

About two and half, three hours later, the movie ends and she's asleep. He quietly moves away from her warm body to take the stuff down to the kitchen.

After he finishes putting everything away, he looks at his watch for the time; 09:15pm. He goes back into the shared master bedroom and sees she's still asleep, so he grabs a pen and piece of paper and writes her a quick note, and grabs some clothes to get a shower, then head's into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, she wakes up to an empty room, but to hear the shower running. She looks on either side of the bed on the night stands for a note, and sure enough, on her side was a note, in his cute but little messy handwriting: 'hey baby, I'm in the shower. i'll be out in a little bit. love you.' and at the end of the note, was a heart and a kissy face.

She smiled to herself and thought about something, before she herself grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Once she got in there, she stripped herself naked, then whistled. His head perked out from the curtain, "I see you got my note." She smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, I did. And I wanted to join you. So you can, you know get a good night sleep, since you have to be in early." He laughed to himself and smiled. "You were always the spontaneous one." "Yeah. So can I join you? I'll be sure to give you a wild ride." Without hesitation, he pulled her into the shower with him and they started making out under the water.

He made a trail down her neck and whispered something dirty in her ear, that made her giggle and shiver at the same time. He leaves a bruise on her neck and tells her to jump and wrap her legs around him, and she complies and does as told.

Once she wraps her legs around his torso, he enters her slowly with passion, and they start making love, right there in the shower, against the opposite side of the shower door.

Things started to get hot and heavy as he pounds into her, making her clench around him, screaming and crying his name out with intensity, "Ahh, Antonio!!", "Mmhmm, right there, right there!", and "yesss, just like that, oh my God." were other things that she purposely and spontaneously spit out from her mouth as he pounds into her, harder and faster than before.

It was like that for an hour, back and forth, the dirtiest of things he said in her ear to make her scream more and more to make her clench more and more, that made her cum and have orgasms, faster and harder, that eventually made them both cum at the same time, her cuming and orgasming all over his cock, and his hot salty cum, pouring and spewing all inside of her, making her head fall back, her toes curl, and her back arch up to it's absolute maximum height.

That was the reason she loved him for who he was, because he was good at sex, wherever the placed they deemed good enough so they wouldn't get caught in public.

After they calmed down, their bodies touching each other, and their heart beating rapidly, they went at it again, wanting to feel all that goodness they felt when they hit their high, when he hit her g-spot that made her rapidly scream his name from the top of her lungs, rolling off her lips so smooth and melty like it was butter.

It was more intense, the way he snapped his hips into her vagina, back and forth, the way she screamed for mercy every time he pushed his turso up inside her making her want more, the way he was leaving bruises and hickies everywhere his lips and mouth went, and everytime she pulled his hair at the nape of his neck from the orgasms he made her have each time, making them both succumbing to each other, made it sweet and loving, but yet at the same time, sexy and hot and passionate between the both of them.

He came inside her once more, before kissing the top of her head, then kissing her lips sweetly.

She slowly got off him, and they both stood under the shower head to feel the warmth of the water running down their heated bodies, from the amazing sex session they just had.

They let their bodies cool down before helping each other wash and rinse their bodies then one by one getting out and drying off, then clothing themselves.

After they had finished all of that, it was close to 11 o'clock at night, and they decided to head to bed.

××

|Annaleigh's POV|

A couple weeks had passed, the sex sessions between Antonio and me, getting better and better with each passing time.

It was now 11:43pm on Christmas Eve, and she still had no idea what was going to happen at midnight, which was less than 20 minutes away.

All of Antonio's and Anna's friends and family had shown up, each one bringing something when they came and showed up at the front door.

It was a tradition, getting together a few hours before Christmas, to celebrate friends and family coming together. I guess that's why he wanted a big house, so he could have big tables to fit in the big house (4 bed, 4 baths, very high ceilings). The celebration started off with a toast, to Antonio and I, letting everyone come over to our home this time, instead of us and others going separately to his friends and families houses, and the same to me.

After the toast, they got started by saying grace, then go down the food line, one by one everyone pilling their plates with food.

After everyone ate, they passed presents around each person the present was for.

His parents gave me, I mean us, some more stuff for the kitchen, and some things for the bedrooms and bathrooms. A few of his friends gave him a few boxes of condoms. Nobody knew though, just me and him and the friend(s) that gave them to him.

His sister gave us something for us to enjoy when were alone, and also his and hers cups and placemats for the bathroom.

And hour before midnight, half of the party left (his parents and sister, my parents and brothers), and it was just our friends. His daughter and son wanted to stay at a friend's house, so he let them, so it can just be us adults tonight.

We chatted and talked among ourselves, about different things, the men obviously talking about sex, and the women talking about God knows what, until I hear Antonio from across the room, wanting everyone's attention, and asking for me to come stand beside him. I walk up to him and give him a hug, and he returns the hug, but with also a kiss on my lips.

"I want to thank everyone for coming tonight to celebrate Christmas with us, and to be able to make it at such a late time in the day," he looks down at his watch, "and I want to say thank you to Anna, for being my rock, for being there for me when I was down, and I think a lot about you, and um, I wanted to ask you a question," he grabs something from under the tree that's behind us, and unwrap it to reveal a small black velvet box, and my mind goes ballistic and wild, knowing what he's about to do. "I felt that it would be good to do this in front of our friends," he stands in front of me and drops down to one knee and asks, "Annaleigh Browers, will you marry me and be my wife, forever??" I smile so hard, I can barely contain myself, and blurt out, "yes! Yes yes yes, a million times yes!! Oh my God." My hands starts shaking, as he takes the ring out from the box, and slips it onto my left ring finger. He jumps up and hugs me and spins me around as everyone around claps and wolf whistles. {ring}

We celebrated and talked more, until we all went to bed, Antonio letting them stay the night, since it was past 1 o'clock in the morning.

When Antonio and I went to bed, we celebrated our engagement, the only way we knew how; sex all night long. And I'm pretty sure our friends heards us and started laughing their asses off.

He made me orgasm so many times, I clenched around him, all of my body felt the intensity of my orgasms, and his body also felt the intensity of his orgasms too, we came undone together, feeling everything ten times better than a few weeks ago. He really is putting the meaning to 'great in bed' to a whole new level. 👅

And I guess it looks like I have to get ready for a wedding soon. And maybe, just maybe, a family too. 🙏😄👰🤵⛪👩‍❤️‍👨🥂🍾💍🍼👶🤰