Alenia was trying very hard to not get frustrated, but failing miserably. While he was still in the middle of a chuckle, she grabbed Tom’s arm and asked, “What the hell did your mother just say about me?”

He kissed her cheek and told her, “She said that you’re the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen and she doesn’t know how I’m able to keep my hands off of you for more than two minutes at a time.”

His wide palm found her thigh under the table and she felt her body tense. Not out of sexual longing…okay, perhaps slightly from lust, but mostly from discomfort. This Christmas dinner had been the longest hour of her life and it didn’t look like the suffering was going to end anytime soon. Alenia had been sitting the table, listening to Tom and his family carry on in German, laughing and enjoying themselves while she tried to smile while not understanding a word being spoken. Normally laughter was contagious, but not when you’re worried that you’re the butt of a joke.

She brushed his hand away and then regretted it when he frowned at her. “I’m being serious, Tom.”

His face was somber, but he put his hand back on her thigh to comfort her. “Engel, why would you even think she said something bad about you? And even if she did, do you really think I would laugh and not defend you?”

Alenia blushed from pure embarrassment. He was right, of course, his family was warm and lovely and had been nothing but kind to her, even if Tom and his cousins were the only ones among them who spoke enough English to carry on a full conversation. She was being ridiculous, irrational, a Grinch.

She forced a smiled, trying to feel it from her heart, and put her hand over his. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I just…I wish I could talk with your family. It’s frustrating.”

“Don’t be sorry, angel. It’s my fault. I should have been better about teaching you, but every time you open your mouth and those beautiful words come out…” He shrugged as a conclusion to his thought.

And Alenia giggled, thinking of their “lessons” that usually got off track quickly. “Yeah, somehow we always end up doing something else.”

Tom patted her thigh and then looked around the table, noting that most everyone was finished eating. He said something to his cousins in German and they all made happy sounds of agreement, standing just as he did and pulling Alenia up.

“What’s happening now?”

Tom only smiled and then turned to say something to his parents, kissing his mother on the cheek. The older woman smiled at Alenia, reaching out to squeeze her arm tenderly and Alenia felt even worse for assume they were all bad mouthing her in German.

“Come on.” Tom was tugging her along and Alenia skipped to keep up.

“Where are we going?”

“Kühnhackl tradition. You’ll see.”

His bright, mischievous smile was enough to lighten Alenia’s heart and she wrapped both arms around one of his as they made their way through the house. They ended up in the den, one of the dens, actually. Tom’s aunt and uncle had a massive estate in upstate New York that was big enough to house the entire Kühnhackl family during the holidays. Tom and Alenia could only stay one night before returning to Pittsburgh and once she saw the place, the beautiful old house surrounded by acres of meadows, she had been intensely disappointed that they couldn’t spend the whole week there.

The den they found themselves had a retro sunken floor and featured wonderfully overstuffed furniture that seemed to devour you once you sat on it. Everything was plush and soft and welcoming and Alenia cozied into a loveseat with Tom just as his cousins began filing in, yelling in German and waving whole cases of beer over their heads.

Tom and Alenia both laughed, but he shouted at them first in German and then said, “English only from now on, mein engel is tired of all that German nonsense.”

Alenia gasped and sputtered, “I didn’t -”

She was cut short when Hannah flopped down and threw her arm around Alenia. “Aye, das herzchen, it is grating on the nerves, nein?”

“No, really, it’s lovely, it’s just that -”
She was met with a chorus of “ayes” and “ahhs” and “uh-uhs” and finger waving in her direction by all the Kühnhackls, including Tom. In the face of such obvious joy and good cheer, all Alenia could do was laugh.

“Fine, you’re right, it is…hideous.”

A round of applause and laughter was issued along with much more shouting in approval and agreement. Hannah handed Alenia a beer that she was grateful for and then Leon stood up to make a toast.

“Before you all get piss drunk, I have something to say.”

Jonas, already half-drunk from the wine at dinner yelled, “Oy, we already know you’re a fucking queer, mate.”

Alenia, not used the cousins’ borderline cruel harassment, wasn’t sure if she should laugh or be appalled. When Tom smiled at her, she chose the former, letting out a giggle and taking a sip of her beer.

“What I like up my ass isn’t the issue. But, I think we can all agree, that considering events in the last year, our Tom has done us all proud.” The group let out a collective “here here” and Alenia snuggled closer against his side, feeling perhaps even prouder than the rest of them. But then Leon went on, “And I’m not talking about that business with the Cup. I’m talking about how he finally convinced a beautiful women to let him stick his cock in her.”

Amidst the laughter, Jonas let out a cheer. “That’s right! Congrats on finally popping your cherry, you ugly bastard.”

“Haha, hilarious, fucking assholes.”

Leon finished his toast, or rather, roast. “To Tom. Glad you finally became a man and done the family proud.”

Bottles were clanged together and Alenia was overcome with laughter, caught up in the familial teasing. Tom pulled her closer and whispered, “Just to be clear, I wasn’t a virgin when we met.”

“Oh, I know. Trust me. Virgins don’t fuck like you did that first time.”

He pulled back and grinned at her. “So only the first time was good?”

Alenia saw the gleam in his eye and wanted to kiss him senseless, wanted to climb in his lap and tell him how much she adored him, how she practically melted every time he so much as looked at her with his serious eyes, about how he could probably bring her to orgasm just by putting his hands innocently on any part of her skin.

She took a sip of beer and gently pecked his cheek instead. “You’re always good, Tom. And you know it.”

“Right. I just like to hear you say it.”

Not that she wasn’t starting to love his fun-loving cousins, but she really, really wished they were alone right now. Especially since he was looking at her like he knew every nasty thought she was thinking and agreeing with each one of them. She distracted both of them by asking, “Tell me about this Kühnhackl tradition. You guys just get drunk after dinner?”

“Eh, sort of. The tradition is after dinner we split up, kids go one way, everyone else another. Sometimes we’d go out into the snow or watch movies. Now that we’re all older, now we just get drunk.”

“Adorable. But since you’re all grown up shouldn’t you guys be hanging with the adults? Don’t you find it a little odd that you’re all still basically sitting at the kids table?”

Tom was cut off by yet another cousin, Christopher. “Hey, until one of us has a kid, we’re still the kids around here. Drunk kids, but kids all the same.”

Alenia raised her beer towards him. “As long as there’s beer, kids table is fine with me.”

“Ah, that’s the spirit. A few more of those and maybe you’ll let us teach you the schuhplattler.”

Tom laughed, probably imaging Alenia dancing, but she shook her head. “I don’t know what the hell that is, but I’m gonna go with ‘no’ before you even ask.”

“We’ll see about that. Drink. It’s Christmas, after all.”

It only took a beer and half before Alenia allowed herself to be talked into attempting the traditional folk dance Tom and his cousins were well-versed in. Only slight buzzed, it wasn’t the alcohol that made her willing, but Tom’s smile, Jonas’ insults tossed at everyone with love, Hannah’s prodding about everyone’s personal lives. Plus, it was Christmas and Alenia was done trying to ruin the mood with negative assumptions and frowns.

After the dancing came the singing. Which was very loud, very off key, and very fun. They managed a rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas, but since not a single one among them knew all the words there were many improvisations along the way, several of them x-rated, naturally.

Hannah and her boyfriend eventually snuck off, presumably to…well, you can imagine. And they didn’t return. Jonas and Leon then started a heated battle of truth or dare between just the two of them that everyone else just watched and laughed at and which ended with Leon rolling around in the snow. Naked.

Electing for a hot shower, Leon ran off. Still naked and too drunk to care. Slowly, the rest of the bunch wandered away as well, to bed, to find other mischievous, who knows. When tom and Alenia were alone on the couch, she was well and truly drunk. And incredibly happy.


“I fucking love your family, Tom.”

“Yeah? They loved you. You might be the only American they’ve ever met who could drink them under the table.”

She looked up at him and saw his glazed over eyes reflecting his smile. He kissed her sweetly and a little wobbly, hitting the side of her mouth at first before getting himself on track.

“Mmm, Tom…you’re so cute. But so serious.”

Granted, he didn’t look serious now, grinning at her with his eyes half closed. No, now he just looked sweet. And sexy.

“You like me serious.”

“Mmm, yeah, I do. I like you silly, though, too. And drunk.”

“Yeah, I am that right now. Where are you going?”

Alenia had slowly slipped off the couch and between his knees. Now her hands squeezed his thighs.

“I’m gonna give you a little Christmas b.j.”

“Shit. I won’t ever argue with that.”

Both of them were giggling when Tom shoved his pants down around his knees along with his boxers. Alenia tugged them all the way off, kissing his knee before raising up to lick the shaft of his cock.

Tom let out a low groan at the contact and then fully moaned when her lips closed around the tip of him. “Mein engel, you are too good to me.”

Humming around him, she pressed deeper, pulling at his cock in long drags before easing off of him again. She dove back in, letting his soft skin caress her tongue as she worked to take him further down her throat. By the time she managed it, Tom was about to lose his goddamn mind.

He pulled free of her mouth, not quite whimpering when the cold air stung his hot cock. He managed to get himself on the floor without falling, which was pretty impressive, and then he got her underneath him, kissing her roughly while writhing against her.

Alenia ignored the hard floor against her back and enjoyed the hard man on top of her. She yanked off his shirt, leaving him naked and then she set about rubbing her palms against all his warm skin.

He tasted of beer and had she not been so drunk herself she might have found that off putting. As it was, she licked into his mouth for another taste. And then another. Pungent and now frantic, the kiss went on until Tom realized something. He pulled back and started at her.

“You are wearing entirely too much clothing.”

Laughter coming from both of them, Alenia rolled them towards the center of the living room until she was on top. Tugging off her shirt, Tom reached up and undid her bra. That done, he rolled them again, sinking lower to pull off her bottoms so they could come together, flesh to flesh.

He wasted no time pressing inside her, but stopped short when she giggled. “What?”

“We’re in the middle of the den. Your mother could come in here and see this.”

The beer must have numbed her sense of shame, because instead of being embarrassed by the thought of being caught fucking by his family, she only laughed harder.

Tom chuckled against her mouth, kissing her and filling her with his cock all at once. The quick, slick glide of him into her channel made her gasp, but then she was right back to laughing. Quiet giggles interrupted by moans came from both their mouths as they kissed and rutted together on the soft, pale grey carpet.

Tom probably should have cared more about the fact that he was fucking his girlfriend in an exposed room, but she was just so warm, so wet and eager for him. And it was difficult to consider the consequences when she was murmuring his name and then sucking at the skin over his collarbones.

And then she saying, “Baby…Tom…let me get on my stomach.”

“Fuck yeah.”

He pulled out and she rolled over. She was still pressed flat to the floor when he pushed back in. He knew the exact moment when she was able to work her hand underneath her body and find her clit with her fingers. Not only did she moan, but her whole body went taut and tight around him.

“Engel…you feel so fucking good. Is it good?”

“So good. You make me feel so good, Tom. Just like that.”

He thrust into her tightness, listening to her moans get higher pitched every time, feeling her pussy start to flutter and make it nearly impossible to move. When she came, she bit down on her forearm to stop from screaming and Tom didn’t last very long after that.

He found himself laying on his stomach right beside her and smiling when she opened her eyes.

She started giggling again and said, “I like this Kühnhackl tradition thing. Especially the sex afterwards.”

“I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve ever ended the night this way.”

A rush of possessiveness ran through her veins and that fact made Alenia quite happy. “Good. Now I have to ask you a very serious question.”

“Hmm?”

She rolled onto her side and he did the same, pulling her closer and then rubbing his fingers up and down her arm.

“What did your mother really say about me? And don’t say nothing because she looked right at me and then said something to you.”

“I already told you what she said.”

“Tell me again, without lying, because I know she didn’t say that part about you keeping your hands off me.”

Tom issued her a half smile. “You’re right. But she did say you are the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen. And that I need to be very careful not to lose you.”

Alenia suddenly felt her throat closing. She forced the words out. “Really? That’s really what she said?”

“Really.”

“Oh.”

“Is that alright? You look like you’re going to cry.”

“It’s…fine. I just feel like a complete bitch for assuming the worst.”

Tom had to chuckle. “It happens. I’ll teach you more German. By next Christmas you won’t feel like you don’t know what’s going on. I promise.”

“I can’t even think about next Christmas, I’m too busy enjoying this one.”

He kissed her while smiling. “Ah, good, mein engel. Then let’s go to bed so we can enjoy it some more tomorrow.”

Tom stood, but Alenia just laid on her back, smiling at him.

“Are you coming?”

Just drunk enough to be in the mood to act like a child, she held out her arms. “Carry me. I’m drunk and it’s Christmas.”

Tom sighed, but his smile gave him away. He pulled her up by the arms and then let her jump onto his back so he could carry her to their room.

“Only because it’s Christmas.”

Notes

Okay, I think I'll have one more Christmas story this week, I hope. That one is a surprise, but I will tell you that I am moving Brandon Manning to New Years Eve because someone else is demanding my attention right now.