The sky was clear - remarkably clear - and the twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but throbs of one body, timed by a common pulse - Thomas Hardy (Far From The Madding Crowd)

Christmas break from work had started the day before; I was all packed and ready to head to the airport the next afternoon to go home for a week and a half before school started again in early January to spend Christmas with them. But I was coming back here for New Years. I wanted to spend it with Jamie. I was going to tell him when the clock struck midnight that I wanted to start the year with him.

I was on my way to Jamie's house since we were going to have our mini Christmas together before having friends over to his house for a Christmas party.

I punched in the code to his gate as soon as I pulled up to it just after five that afternoon.

The gate opened and I drove into his driveway and parked, getting his Christmas gift from the front seat and then leaving to go into his house. I opened the door and walked in, tossing my purse on the table at the front door and slid my boots off next to the door before making my way into the house, knowing that he would be in the kitchen.

"Hey," I smiled when I saw him leaning against the island, looking down at his cellphone.

He looked up at me and smiled back at me, "Hey," he said, placing his phone down and coming over to me, pulling me into a hug.

I pulled away from him and smiled, bringing his gift in front of me, "Merry almost Christmas!" I said, hanging the gift to him.

He laughed and took the gift, "Thank-you! Here is yours!" he said, turning slightly to pick up a box from the island and handing it to me.

I took it and smiled, "Let's open it in front of the tree!" I said excitedly, before running over to the living room where Jamie had put his tree up.

I heard him walking behind me as I plopped down onto the floor in front of the tree; he sat down in front of me.

"Open your first!" I shouted as he got situated.

He laughed, "Calm down!"

I smiled, "I can't! It's Christmas, we're having this party, and I'm going home...I’m too excited right now!"

He smiled and laughed at me, "Fair enough, I'll open it!" he said, flipping the gift open to get to the slits of paper.

He unwrapped the box as I bit my thumbnail in anticipation. I saw his eyes go wide when he saw that it was a watch box, nothing overly fancy but it was one from Fossil, even though I knew he had some Rolex ones that were fancier.

He opened up the watch box and looked at the watch inside; it was an all-black watch on a leather strap where you could see the gears. He pulled it out with a small smile.

"Josie...you didn't have to get me this," he told me.

I smiled, "I know you have a lot of nicer ones," I said almost shyly, "but I know you like watches in general so...I hope you like it."

He looked up at me, "I love it, thank-you," he smiled.

I smiled back, "You're welcome. I got it engraved too!"

His eyes lit up as he flipped the watch over to see the back of it, his smile grew and he breathed out a small laugh, "Third times a charm," he whispered.

I laughed a little, "I know it's dumb, but...this time is the charm, I think!"

"It is," he said instantly, looking up at me.

I felt myself blush and I looked away from him, over at the tree taking in all of the lights and decorations hanging from it.

"Open yours," he urged.

I smiled and began to unwrap the box in front of me; I opened the box and saw two more wrapped boxes inside, one larger and one smaller, "Open the bigger one first!" he said.

I laughed and nodded, pulling out the bigger one and wrapped it. I pulled the paper off and saw that it was a hardcover of the first Harry Potter book, even though Jamie knew I had all of the books. I looked up at him and smiled nonetheless.

"Thank-you so much!" I smiled.

"Open it," he said gently.

I knitted my brows together in confusion, but did as he said and opened it to the first page where I saw the one and only signature of J.K Rowling.

"Oh my God," I gushed, as I stared at it, "How did you get this?" I asked in awe.

I heard him chuckle, "Online. It's huh...a first edition," he said trying to be casual.

I snapped my head up to look at him, "What?" I gasped.

His face went red but he nodded, "I thought you'd like it!" he defended.

My mouth dropped open as I stared at him, "Jamie...I've looked into it...I know how much this was...I can't take this," I told him, but still kept a death grip on it.

He smiled, "You're keeping it! Now open the other one!"

"Jamie," I breathed, "really, I can't."

His eyes were soft, "Josie...I wanted to do this. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have. But I can so I did."

The tears welled up in my eyes at the unbelievable gesture. This meant the world to me.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"You're welcome. Now the next one!" he urged.

I laughed a little and set the book down gently and went for the next box, which was smaller, and I could tell almost instantly that it was jewellery of some sort.

"Jamie," I whined as I unwrapped the small box, "I can't already tell you that you shouldn’t have done this."

He laughed, "You don't even know what it is! It could be teeth someone lost in the NHL!"

"Ew!" I cried while he laughed.

"It's not, I swear!" he said between laughed.

I shook my head, "Better not," I threatened, loud enough for him to hear.

I unwrapped the paper and saw a grey box and I felt my stomach knot up, "I already can't accept it," I said, handing him the box.

He tilted his head, "Again...I wouldn't have done it, if I didn’t want to. Please take it."

I sucked in some air, knowing that he wouldn't let it go, I opened up the box and couldn't breathe for a moment. Inside were the most beautiful set of earrings. They were diamond studs, bigger than any pair, real or fake, that I ever had.

"Jamie..." I breathed.

"Do you like them?" he asked nervously.

I looked up at him, "Jamie...I can't, really," I said, trying to hand him the box.

"Hey," he said, sliding closer to me, he took my other hand in his, "I wanted you to have these. When I was out picking something out for you, I knew this was it when I saw them! I can afford it, Josie, and I wanted to do this for you!"

I began blinking back tears as I looked at him, "Thank-you," I told him, "it means so much to me."

He smiled at me, and placed his hand on the side of my neck, leading me to him where he placed a sweet kiss on my forehead.

He pulled away and looked at me, "Now let’s get ready for this party, okay?" he said.

I laughed and nodded, "Okay."

--

The party was in full effect, I had changed into a festive red dress that flared out and was mid-thigh, I pulled my hair up into a semi-chic messy bun and paired everything with my new earrings.

Jamie graciously let me invite my friends to the party, which meant a lot to me. I was so happy that they all got along. Most of the team and their wives were there too, along with some of Jamie's friends that weren't in the NHL.

As soon as Sherrie and Toby walked in Sherrie looked right at my ears and her eyes widened, "Jesus Christ, Josie, do you realize how many carats those are?" she whispered as she took her shoes off.

I shook my head awkwardly, "No," I answered.

She grabbed my wrist and leaned in close, "Like, three fucking carats! Josie. What the fuck!"

I shrugged when she pulled back from me, "I don't know, Sher! I told him I couldn't accept them!"

"They're beautiful," she gushed looking at them, as the door behind them open and Zoe and Kyle walked in.

Before anyone could say anything Sherrie spoke up, "Take a look at this ice bergs in Josie's ears!" she whisper yelled to them.

I rolled my eyes as Zoe and Kyle looked at them, "They're gorgeous," Zoe smiled.

I smiled back, "Thanks," I said awkwardly, waiting for them to stop talking about it.

I'm pretty sure that Zoe sensed how uncomfortable it was making me, "Alright, lead me to the Hockey Star's bar!"

I smiled and started walking to the kitchen where mostly everyone was, hanging around and talking and drinking. Jamie was leaned against the counter, beer bottle in hand talking to Tyler and Rous as usual.

"Hey," Demers said, sliding up to me and putting an arm around me.

"What's up Daddy D?" I asked looking up at him.

He laughed and shrugged, "Thank-you for accepting my nickname," he said with a slight nod of his head.

I scoffed, "Oh come on, how could I not use it? It's perfect, obviously."

"You sad about leaving Jamieson for Christmas?" he asked playfully.

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I am actually."

"You know he cares about you a lot, right?" he asked me seriously.

I smiled, and bit my lip, "I like to think so."

"Hey," he said, stepping front of me and putting his hands on my shoulders, "he does. Don’t forget that, okay? You mean more to him than anyone, I think."

"I don't know about that," I said with a small laugh.

He shook his head, "Trust me. He does. He talks about you all of the time. You're the best thing that has happened to him. And we all care about you too, Josie. You're making our Captain happy, and that means a lot to all of us."

"Damn, Demers," I said poking his side with a big smile, "making me all emotional and shit."

He chuckled and went back to his position beside me, "I just want you to remember that is all."

"I will," I told him, taking a peek at Jamie who was entertaining my friends with a story.
"You care about him too...right?" he asked me slowly.

I looked up at him, almost shocked, "Of course I do, Demers. I wouldn't play around with him or his emotions. He's too good of a person."

He smiled and kissed the top of my head, "Just checking," he said, mumbling against my hair.

"What's up, kids?" Cody asked walking over to us.

"I'm literally older than you," Demers told him with a light shove making Cody laugh.

"Yeah, you definitely look it," Cody said shoving Demers back playfully.

Demers dropped his arm from my shoulder and hey began pushing each other around and chirping as they laughed. I smiled and looked around the kitchen; Zoe and Kyle were talking to Patrick and Abby Sharp while Sherrie and Toby talked with Jordie.

I felt myself becoming overwhelmed, almost to the point of tears. I was so immensely happy in that moment. Jamie had been so welcoming to my friends and so had the rest of the teams and their wives and girlfriends. I felt my throat begin to tingle. I was worried that I would start bawling in the kitchen, so I slipped away from everyone and went quickly up to Jamie's room and closed the door softly behind me.

I realized then how much I wanted to be with Jamie. That I was really ready to be with him. That he had shown me that he cared about me, so I knew that he wouldn't hurt me.

I didn't wanna tell him right then, though. I didn't want to tell him and then have to leave the next day for home for Christmas. I wanted to tell him and then be able to spend days with him. I would tell him on New Year’s, so that we could start the year fresh. With us together.

The door opened behind me, I wiped my eyes and turned quickly, wanting to see who it was. Jamie was there facing me, closing the door behind him.

"Are you okay, Josie?" he asked me, worried.

I nodded and smiled at him as he approached me, "Yeah...yeah I'm fine."

He pursed his lips and looked at me, "Then why did you leave and why do you look like you're crying then?"

I breathed out a small laugh and shook my head at him, "Can't get anything by you, eh?"

He smiled and put his hands on my waist, "Spill it."

I put my hands on his arms and breathed in deeply, "I don't know what happened," I told him, "down in the kitchen I felt like I was gonna start sobbing right there or something. I know that I live here in Dallas and everything...but it's never felt like home to me, even with my friends and everything. But...down there...down there felt like home for the first time since I've been here.

"It didn't scare me or anything," I explained, "I just felt happy down there. It just felt...right to me."

He smiled widely at me, "That makes me really happy, Josie. I want you to feel at home here...whether it be in Dallas or here with me, that's what I want. I want here to be like a second home to you, you can come here anytime. I'll make you a key so you can stay here if I'm gone," he said making me laugh.

"Josie," he said as my laughter faded, "you make me feel at home too. And hearing you say that to me...I can't tell you how much that means to me."

I squeezed his arms and then slid my hands up to his neck, "You mean so much to me, Jamie."

He held me tightly and shook me a little bit making me laugh quietly, "You mean everything to me, Josie."

I pulled his head down to mine and I kissed him, deepening it instantly. I pressed my body flush against his gripping at his hair at the nape of his neck. HIs hands left my waist and slid down gripping my ass quickly before leaning down and grabbing the backs of my thighs and lifting me up, as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He carried me over to the bed and laid me down gently with him crawling over top of me.

He positioned himself between my legs are we continued our kiss which was becoming more and more heated every second. I wanted him badly right then, more than I had ever wanted anyone I had been with. And I could feel, literally, that he wanted this too.

As much as I wanted it...I couldn't do it. Not right then. I didn't want to have sex with him then have to leave the next day...that's not how I wanted it to go. He moved his head and began kissing and gently biting my neck. I bit my lip and placed my hands on his chest, pushing him back slightly.

"Jamie," I breathed.

He pulled his head back and looked at me with lust filled eyes and rosy cheeks.

"I can't...not like this...not right now," I told him quietly.

He closed his eyes and groaned a little bit but he had a small smile on his face so it made me giggle a little bit.

"Okay," he said slowly after a few seconds.

He crawled off of me and offered a hand so help me off of the bed. I slid off of the bed and went to the mirror that he had over his dresser and looked at myself, fixing up my makeup and making my hair look normal again.

Jamie walked over to me from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned his head on my shoulder, I grinned and placed my hands on top of his and leaned the side of my head against his.

We didn't say anything. I honestly don't think we needed to. We both knew what was going on with us. And I think we both knew that when we saw each other for New Year’s...things were going to change between us, for the better. We would be together.

"Ready to head back down there?" he asked me quietly.

I smiled and nodded, "Ready."

We let go of each other and left his room and went downstairs. Everyone was still in the kitchen area, and no one really seemed to notice that we were gone.

We slipped back into the kitchen pretty much unnoticed by everyone, Jamie went to the fridge and got each of us a beer, opening mine before handing it over to me. I took and looked up at him; he smiled down at me and wrapped his arm tightly around me.

I put my beer bottle on the island in front of us and wrapped both of my arms around him, smiling at the sounds of our friends around us enjoying the party we had thrown.

"Merry Christmas, Josie," Jamie whispered to me.

I looked up at me and grinned, "Merry Christmas, Benny."

Notes

A couple more chapters before I post a chapter I've had written and ready from the very beginning. Get ready.