A Christmas Story

~*~
"May those you love be with you this
Christmas time
To make for you an extra beautiful
Christmas time
May all you long for soon come true
That's my Christmas wish for you"
A Very Merry Christmas
~*~

This was hers and Zac's first Christmas together as a married couple, and there was just something about it that made AJ feel giddy. Tonight was certainly going to be memorable.

AJ walked into the kitchen and boiled some water. Tomorrow, she and Zac would be leaving to spend Christmas in Tulsa with his family. Tonight was reserved for just the two of them. When Zac had made the plane reservations, he suggested he and his wife exchange one gift each before they leave. Originally, AJ planned to give him the watch she caught him admiring when they had bought Isaac's birthday present. But now, she had something else in mind for her husband.

"AJ? You home?" Zac called out as he shut the door to the apartment behind him.

"Yeah, Hon. In the kitchen," AJ responded, pouring the boiled water into two mugs on the kitchen counter. "Hot apple cider?" she asked, offering him a mug.

Zac accepted the mug and gently kissed his wife's forehead. "How was your day?"

"Good, although staff Christmas parties were never my thing ... Yours?"

"Tiring. Glad it's over." He untucked his dress shirt from his pants and unbuttoned it. "But I'm also anxious to give you your gift," he said, grinning devilishly.

"Uh-oh ... What do you have up your sleeve?" AJ asking, smiling. Zac often brought that smile to AJ's face with his playfulness. It's something that'll keep them young at heart for years to come.

He rolled up his sleeves and held up his hands in an I surrender-like manner. "There's nothing up my sleeve. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," AJ said, taking her husband's free hand with hers as they entered the living room.

The couple placed their mugs on the coffe table. AJ strode over to the stereo and turned it on. Strands of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" filled the room. Zac sat under the tree, deciding which of the many gifts he bought his wife to give her tonight. AJ sat down beside him cross-legged. "Here," he said, handing her a small package wrapped in red foil and green ribbon. "Merry Christmas, Sweetheart."

"Thank you," she replied, taking the gift from him and pressing her lips against his. She carefully tore off the wrapping and slowly opened the box. Inside was a Christmas tree ornament. It was a small, ceramic frame with holly along the top and sides. On the botton it read, "Our 1st Christmas Together, 12/25/11." Inside side the frame was a wallet size picture of Zac and AJ on their wedding day. "Oh, Zac..." AJ whispered, embracing him.

He returned the embrace. "I thought you might want to hang it on the tree before we left for Tulsa."

"And you thought right," AJ told him, her lips once again meeting his. She took his hand in hers as she rose to her feet, indicating for him to stand as well. "Help me find the perfect place on the tree for it."

"How about here?" Zac suggested. He removed a candy cane from the branch and placed it higher up on the tree. Then he hung the ornament on a branch eye level with his wife. "What do you think?"

"It's perfect," AJ whispered, then sat back down on the floor cross-legged. Her husband joined her, and she handed him his gift. "Merry Christmas, Honey."

Zac tore off the paper and opened the box. He pulled out a 5x7 picture frame. Across the top it read "World's Best Daddy." He looked up at his wife quizzingly. "What's this?"

"It's a picture frame," she answered, smiling.

"World's Best Daddy...? AJ ... are you ... Are you..." Zac stuttered, finding it difficult to get the words out.

She nodded her head yes. "I just got the results of the test today. I'm pregnant, Zac."

"You're pregnant..." Zac muttered under his breath. He looked down at the carpet and ran a shaky hand through his hair. A few moments passed before he looked up and into his wife's eyes. "H-how ... how did this happen?"

AJ smiled and giggled at her husband's shock to this announcement. "Zac, you were there. You know damn well how it happened."

"Well..." He ran his hands through his hair again and sighed. "How far along are you?"

"Two months."

"Two months!?!" Zac jumped into a standing position. "How can that be? We've only been married for two months."

AJ rose to her feet as well. "Well, they don't call 'em honeymoon babies for nothing." She took a step towards her husband, and he backed away from her, like a frightened kitten. "Zac, what's wrong?" she asked, a concerned expression appearing on her face.

"It's just..."

"What? What is it? Tell me."

Zac bit his bottom lip, trying to decide the best way to express what he was feeling. But everything was all jumbled up, and it hit him so hard, so fast. And before he could stop it, the words came pouring out of his mouth. "Parenting is for ... my parents!"

AJ look down at the carpet for a moment. When she finally looked up at her husband there was a wounded expression on her face. "Meaning what?"

"My God, AJ, I'm still a kid myself. I LIKE being a kid. I thought I was destined to be an uncle forever." Zac bit his bottom lip, instantly regretting having ever opened his mouth. He didn't really mean what he said, did he?

"Well, you never mentioned that to me!" AJ's voice rose with anger. "I didn't want to be an aunt forever! Not that it matters now anyway." She quickly spun on her heel and ran to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Zac stared into the tiny colored lights that hung from the tree. A father! "Dad's a father," he whispered to himself. "How could I be what my father is? My father is an astonishing man; I could never live up to that," he whispered to the tree, inhaling the scent of pine. Thoughts of picking Madeline up when she fell off her bike fluttered into his mind. Was there anyway he could do this? He lifted his guilt laden arm and fingered a string of lights. "This is going to be a long night," he sighed.

He sat down on the couch and picked his mug up off the coffee table. Instead of raising it to his lips, he looked down into it, as if his intense stare could make an answer or revelation rise from the now lukewarm liquid. He sighed and set the cup down on the table. He wiped his palms - now sweaty thanks to his nerves - on his pants before rising to his feet. He walked towards the bedroom and took three deep breaths before knocking.

"Come in," said a muffled voice.

"I-I'm sorry, AJ. I didn't mean all those things I said," Zac told her, sitting down next to her on the queen sized bed and stroking her dark hair. Even though her stare was directed towards her hands, which were folded in her lap, her sniffling indicated she had been crying.

"Then why ... why did you say them?" She lifted her tear-stained face so she could look her husband in the eye.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Because ... because I was shocked, and ... well ... scared."

"Scared? What were you scared of?" AJ shifted so she was facing her husband. She took the hand resting on his knee into both of hers. "There's nothing to be scared of."

"Well, maybe not for you. But for me ... I have to follow Tay, Ike, and my dad. That's no easy task. I'm not like them. I can't be like them." His voice was soft and quivered nervously.

"I don't want you to be like them. I want you to be you - the man I fell in love with and married." The corners of her mouth turned up in a small, gentle smile. "How can you not know that you'll make a wonderful father?"

Zac shrugged his shoulders. "You really think so? That I'll make a wonderful father?" he asked hopefully, his eyes sparkling at the thought.

"Yes," AJ said before gently kissing her husband's full lips. "I do. Merry Christmas, Daddy." She smiled.

He returned the smile. "Merry Christmas, Mommy." Then Zac lifted his wife's sweater and gently kissed her abdomen. "Merry Christmas, Baby."

Dedicated to Amanda. Thanks for everything!

© 1999

Azureina77@yahoo.com | "Faces of the Heart"