Her first real Christmas

Malachi awoke the eve of the most famous holiday of the year, slowly opening her crystal eyes, stretching, yawning and then walking over to the window. Opening the curtains she jumped back slightly when she noticed that the entire area outside was sheet white, she heard the front door unlock and open to see me walking in covered in snow carrying a large parcel.

"Ah, I see you're awake, Malachi" I said.

"You're up awfully early aren't you, Kyle?" She said as she walked downstairs.

"I had to go out and get this turkey for the meal tomorrow" I replied "The roads are horrible out there today; my Honda hardly had any grip"

"I'm surprised how quickly all of this snow has fallen. Only yesterday it was clear" she said as she helped me take the box upstairs.

"It looks like we will have a white Christmas after all" I said with a smile on my face.

Placing the turkey in the freezer I retrieved a small wrapped parcel with a red bow tied around it from under the sink and handing it to my partner, she looked confused at first but then I explained.

"What is this?" she questioned.

"It's a tradition during this holiday to hand out gifts to friends and family, remember? You don't have to get me anything; it's just that this is your first proper Christmas with me here in the last two years. I know it's not till tomorrow but I thought you may want this one now"

Undoing the straps and opening the box Malachi looked inside, moving the tissue away her eyes shot open upon seeing what I had presented her with. Inside the box carefully wrapped up where two brand new, hand stitched, black silk gauntlets, noticing that her current sleeves had been battle scared and torn she took them off and placed them on the counter. Sliding the new ones on she marvelled at the craftsmanship that went into making them.

"These are beautiful" she gasped. "Thank you. Thank you so much Kyle. They feel so soft"

"You're welcome Malachi" I said. "I thought it was best to give you something truly special for your first Christmas. Those took me weeks to make for you"

Malachi just stood there in amazement at her partner's gesture for quite a long time before we could get on with all of the pre celebration chores. Leaving the house both in extremely good moods we embarked on their next trip. Starting the Cobra and leaving the apartments they almost instantly lost grip on the snowy roads of Ashford. After a long hard struggle on the almost sheet ice the two of us arrived at the department store where I needed to buy a tree for the lounge.

"Hello you two, what brings you here?" The shopkeeper asked as he handed a woman her change.

"We need a basic imitation tree if you have one" I said to him.

"Sure thing" he replied as he left the counter to find what we needed.

"Why do we need a tree?" Malachimon asked me "It seems an odd item to purchase"

"It's a custom that everybody has at Christmas to have a tree that's decorated somewhere in their house" I explained as I picked out some lights to wrap around it.

The old shopkeeper returned shortly after with a large cardboard box containing a six foot imitation Christmas tree, handing it over he swiped my credit card and handed it back to me. The two of us left the store with cheerful goodbyes and walked back to the car.

Not noticing the sheer lack of grip on the surface Malachi put a foot forward without a second thought. As her paw touched the pavement it lost all possible grip and before she could even react with her claws she found herself losing her footing and falling flat on her side, her mask slipped off as she landed.

In only a few seconds after leaving the store her pride was dented by a simple frozen puddle, smirking at her mistake I used my free arm to assist her back to a normal stance. Standing upright and brushing all of the snowflakes off her fur, Malachi's eye streaks flushed a light red in embarrassment of her foolish miscalculation. Trying my best not to laugh and embarrass her even further I simply looked away and continued walking with the box under my arm. Following shortly afterwards Malachi made sure that she used her hooked talons on her feet to steady herself as she walked very skittishly so not to fall again.

Skidding to a halt next to my blue Shelby I rested the tree on the centre console of the car so it balanced in the middle of the cabin, turning back to open the door my heal met a very smooth section of ice and I lost control. Slipping directly onto my back I only uttered a short 'Ow' as I painfully hit the concrete, my partner stood over me smiling afterwards.

"Maybe now you realise what it feels like" she gloated.

"Why don't you just save it and help me up?" I said.

Knowing full well that the feeling was now mutual between the two of us Malachi helped her fallen lover to up so we could then climb into our seats. Leaping over the door and not bothering to open it Malachi took her prised place next to me as we set off back to our home. Dropping my partner off I sent her back to the house with the parcel and drove off to complete other final chores leaving Malachi the job of constructing the tree.  Using her jet black claw she sliced open the box without too much effort and removed all of the branch pieces laying them out in order of size.

I spent much of the time viscously wrestling the Shelby through the streets trying to get around the town as best I could under the circumstances, drifting through the streets of Ashford for at least two hours and only travelling a couple of miles before I had completed all of my odd jobs and could slowly make my way home. Exhausted cold and covered in snow I stumbled through the door only to find my partner looking equally tired. Her green fur was badly ruffled and she was covered with imitation pine needles, I could not help but laugh after seeing her in such a state.

"Ha! Malachi, what in the name of Christ happened to you?" I chuckled.

"Yes very funny, Kyle" she said as she brushed off the needles "I was attempting to install that tree you bought, and it was going well up till the point where it collapsed upon me. By the way I like your new white jacket, it suites you" she sniggered.

"Oh thanks a lot, and by the looks of it you did a good job with the tree, it looks fantastic there Malachi" I said as I looked at the small pine tree in the corner.

It had been an exhausting day of pre celebration preparations and the two of us just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. I looked around the corner of stairs to see Malachimon sitting crossed legged on the sofa with candles lit around her instead of the actual lights, the atmosphere was just right for her to mediate peacefully. As I walked downstairs quietly with a small mug of hot chocolate Malachi's nose twitched and one of her emerald eyes opened slightly.

"What is it dear" she said as she took a deep breath.

"I thought you might like something to help you sleep well, so I brought you this ready for when you come upstairs" I said.

Taking the mug she sat there slowly drinking while I sat next to her admiring the small spiritual zone that my partner had created in the middle of the sofa. The candles flickered gently casting small moving shadows around the walls and floor of the room. The atmosphere around me was so blissful I could have sat there all night with her but I knew it was too late for much more to happen so I left my partner to it. Another ten minutes later or so she came into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, she took of her leg sleeves first then her arm sleeves then undid the strap on her mask.

She then lay down next to me and we both kissed each other goodnight.

The next morning it was Christmas day. I was already awake and I then slowly started to wake Malachimon up, I grabbed her shoulder and lightly shook her until she then groaned "What time is it?"

"About six in the morning" I said. She sighed and sat upright.

"Why have you got me up this early?" she yawned.

"Come with me" I said and made my way out of the bedroom. She stood up and followed me out of the door and downstairs, it was still dark everywhere but there was so much light in my heart for what I was about to show her.

As I turned on the lights she stood there motionless and starred directly at the tree in the corner. Underneath its warm illuminating lights was a stack of wrapped gifts, she then looked at me and said with a very eager tone "Are...all those for me?"

"Of course" I said. "Merry Christmas Malachi" I said as I kissed her on the cheek.

She then kneeled down beside the tree and picked up one of the presents, she then lightly shook it to figure out what was inside. She looked to me and I nodded saying she could open it, so she did. Using her claw she ripped open the paper and then lifted the lid on the box to see what it was. Moving the paper aside she then took out the item, it was a long black cloth tipped with some woollen tassels at either ends. She looked confused and then asked "What exactly is this?"

"It's a scarf" I told her. "Here let me show you"

I kneeled down beside her and took the woollen snake like item; I then gently wrapped it around her neck. I made the ends hang over her front mane and she then admired it. "It's so soft and warm" she said.

"That's the idea. It's to keep you warm" I said.

With the scarf still around her neck she then pickup up another gift, after ripping off the paper she then investigated inside.  She removed two brand new books I had bought for her, I knew she was a keen reader. After she had opened all of the gifts she thanked me before putting them in the bedroom, except for the scarf which she left on.

By this time I had started to think about the Christmas dinner I needed to prepare. I made my way into the kitchen and took out the turkey and was stuffing it with chestnuts and sage when my partner entered the room.

"Need any help?" she asked.

"Since your volunteering, can you chop up those vegetables?" I replied

She nodded and started to chop up some sprouts and carrots; whilst she was doing this I then placed the turkey in the oven. As I turned to her I was amazed to see that all of the vegetables had already been sliced.

"Wow that was fast" I said.

For another two hours I prepared the food and the table for the two of us. I then lit the candles and called my partner down, as I looked up my jaw dropped as I saw her. I had given her a black silk skirt with a long back to it to match her other items of clothing, it was meant for special occasions but she had decided to try it on. The smooth material complimented her lines perfectly, she was beautiful.

"How does it look?" she asked.

Picking up my jaw I said "You look stunning...... Anyway, have a seat"

She took a seat on one side of the table whilst I placed some soup in front of her. Afterwards was the meal itself of turkey, stuffing, sprouts and carrots with gravy then followed by a fine sponge desert. After dinner the two of us sat on the sofa together, I placed my arm on her shoulder as we watched some Christmas movies together.

As we watched "Jingle all the way" Malachi then said "I must say that this is one of the best days of my life"

"I'm glad" I said. "I'll try my best to make it just as good every year"

"I've never been treated so well before. Thank you" she said as she then kissed me on the cheek. I turned my head round and our lips met.