Kinsley: Long Short Week

I had dinner with my brother on the Tuesday before Christmas.  He made it into the city to meet me this time, and I went straight from work.  He was fitting me in before his nap before his shift, so we decided on an earlier dinner.  I was (of course) late, and Kaleb was already there.

"Sorry," I apologized, sliding into the other side of the booth.  "Being late is kind of my thing."

He chuckled.  "Good to know.  It's fine, I'm glad you made it." We were both quiet for several seconds too long, then started talking at the same time.  "Sorry, go ahead," Kaleb said.

"I was just asking what your plans for Christmas are," I answered.

"I'm going to Mom's house," he said.  "I don't know what to expect."

"Oh," I replied.

He burst into laughter at my non-response.  "Oh?"

I shrugged.  "Not to needlessly color your expectations, but the last time I saw Mom she threw something at me and called me a 'stupid little tramp', so...."

"Nice," he responded, smirking.  "I'm looking forward to seeing what she can come up with for me then."  I snorted and rolled my eyes.  "What are you doing?  Christmas with the boyfriend's family?"

"His name is Damien.  And no, actually.  He and I are going up to his sister and brother-in-law's place in Crested Butte for the weekend.  Just the two of us."

"That sounds nice," he said.  "Though I'm shocked you're not going to Dad's house."  It was my turn to crack up at that.  Not in a million years.

Our dinner was great.  The more time we spent together, the easier it got.  I was still wary, and I think he could tell, but overall things were going well.  So well that he hugged me without asking this time before we parted.


I was so excited to spend Christmas with Damien.  I didn't even care if we skied.  I was just happy to be spending a holiday with someone I actually wanted to spend it with, not someone that I felt obligated to spend it with (like my family).  I couldn't remember the last time I actually enjoyed a holiday.  Pleasant holidays were a foreign concept to me.  We'd decided to each take a half day off on Wednesday the 23rd and leave that afternoon.

I got up super early on Wednesday to make sure I had enough time at work to get everything done that I needed to before taking off for the rest of the week.  I left work around 12:30 and hurried home.  I'd packed the night before, so I just took a quick shower, double checked my stuff, and then let Damien know I was ready.  Damien got to my house around 1, and we left right away.

I'm weird and I totally love long car rides, so I was prepared with snacks and a playlist.  Damien was amused by my antics, but quickly appreciated my planning when he decided he wanted a snack.  "I don't know," I teased him from the passenger seat.  "You thought my snacks were silly an hour ago."

"I never said they were silly," he replied indignantly.  "I think I said 'unnecessary.'"

"Well, I think it's 'unnecessary' that I share them with you, then," I said, smirking.

He snorted.  "You're going to let me starve to death while I'm in control of the vehicle you're riding in?  That seems like a poor life choice on your part."

I laughed.  "I don't know, this giant truck would probably hold up pretty well, even without a live driver, don't you think?  I'm not too worried."  Damien laughed and shook his head as I grabbed my bag of snacks off the floor and handed over the candy bar he'd requested.

By hour 3 in the car I realized that my plan was not foolproof, and I'd forgotten caffeine.  Much to Damien's disappointment, I dozed off for awhile.  He was enjoying my singing prior to that, I swear.  I woke up when Damien parked the truck and turned it off.  I yawned and stretched.  It was already dark even though it wasn't even dinner time.  "We're here, Sleeping Beauty," Damien said.

"Mmm, aren't you supposed to kiss me to wake me up?" I asked, yawning again.

"I'm no prince, you're out of luck," he replied, opening his door and hopping out of the truck.  I laughed to myself and unbuckled my seatbelt.  He surprised me by pulling my door open.  "But I guess I can try," he said, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me down out of the truck.  He kissed me hard with one arm around my waist and one hand tangled gently in my hair.  "Well?" he asked after he pulled away.

"Definitely awake," I said, nodding.  "And anyways, it doesn't have to be a prince, just a true love's kiss.  Though it's supposed to be a true love's first kiss."

"You are...so very special," he replied, laughing.  "I have no response to that."

"Not a Disney movie buff, huh?" I teased him.  He shook his head, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again.  I was pretty sure that nothing could keep me from being in an amazing mood right now.  He kissed me back and then we stood outside his truck with our foreheads pressed together for several seconds before I finally pulled away and peeked behind him at the house.
"Wow," I said, surprised.  "When you said Elize and Jason had a place here, I didn't imagine it looked like this."  The house was actually a gorgeous log cabin.  It was moderately sized and clearly well cared-for.  "It's beautiful."

"Wait until you see the inside," Damien said.  He pulled open the back door of the truck and grabbed our bags.  "Jason designed it himself."  Jason was a real estate developer, so I don't know why I was surprised by the house.

We headed inside and I admired the fireplace with the gorgeous stone surround, the high, vaulted ceilings, and the giant windows.  The furniture and decor was simple, accentuating the beautiful design of the home.  I followed Damien up the stairs and into a large master suite.  The suite has its own fireplace, but I was a little confused by its position in the wall.  It made perfect sense once Damien showed me into the bathroom and I saw that the fireplace also serves the bathroom.  It's right next to a deep corner tub that I could easily spend hours in.

"Okay, I'm going to need a house exactly like this," I told Damien, poking my head around the glass wall of the shower and seeing the multiple shower heads.  "I don't even need the whole house.  I just need this master suite."

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" Damien agreed.  We walked back into the bedroom and Damien wrapped his arms around my waist.  "I love you," he said, smiling at me.  "I'm excited to spend Christmas with you."

"Gross, stop it," I said, trying not to laugh.  He shook his head and tightened his arms around my waist.  "I'm just kidding," I amend.  "I love you too, and this is already perfect. Was your mom upset?"

"She was a little disappointed," he admitted.  "But she understood."  He leaned down to kiss me, but I yawned.  Damien laughed and said, "How about this?  I'll go out and pick up a few things from the grocery store for the weekend and you can lay down for a little while."

"I'll feel bad if you go by yourself," I protested.

"You can come if you want, but I don't mind going alone.  I'd rather you get some rest so you don't fall asleep on me as soon as we get back."  I had to admit it sounded great, because I really hated going grocery shopping.  I agreed to the plan and got settled in the comfortable king sized bed while Damien went downstairs.  I fell asleep almost immediately.

When I woke up and made my way back down to the living room of the house, I was surprised to see Damien sitting in front of the fireplace, untangling a string of Christmas lights.  I was even more surprised to see a tree in a stand in the corner of the room.  He grinned at me.  "Passed a tree stand while I was getting groceries," he explained.  "I thought the place could use a little festivity."  

"You're amazing," I said excitedly.

"I dug out some of their decorations.  Here, can you untangle this?  I picked up some dinner, and I'll go get it ready."

He stood up and handed me the string of lights, and I made him stop so I could kiss him.  "I love you the most," I said with a grin.

Damien was gone for a couple minutes, then came in with plates.  I abandoned the string of lights I was working on and sat at the small table in the corner by the tall windows to eat.  Damien set the plates down and returned to the kitchen.  When he came back out he had two steaming mugs in his hand.  He set one in front of me and said, "Hot apple cider with bourbon."

"Has anyone told you that you're absolutely perfect?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't go that far," he replied, chuckling and shaking his head.  "But I'll just be happy that you're happy."

We ate and then returned to the tree.  I turned on my Pandora Christmas music station and we drank our spiked cider and decorated the tree together.  I was showing off my sweet dance moves while we cleaned up the excess decorations when Damien wrapped an arm around my waist from behind and pulled me against him.  "You don't like my Christmas dancing?" I asked, laughing.

"Hmm, it's fine," he replied, his breath tickling my neck, "But I had something else in mind now."  He pushed my hair off my neck and started kissing along my shoulder and the back of my neck.  "Unless," he said, stopping abruptly, "You'd like to carry on dancing by yourself."

"No," I said quickly.  "No, I like your idea."

We ended up having sex pressed against one of the tall windows, which luckily wasn't visible by any other houses.  We left the rest of the Christmas decorations and our mess from dinner and went straight up to the bedroom.  It was a little chilly, but Damien turned on the fireplace and we climbed into bed.  "How are you still tired?" Damien asked, as I yawned and curled up against him.

"It was a long short week," I replied, shrugging.  It had been, since I'd had to try to cram a week's worth of work into two and a half days.

Turns out Damien shouldn't have talked, because he was asleep before I was.  I carefully extricated myself from his grasp and rolled onto my other side and got settled.  It didn't take me long, and I was soon asleep too.