Falling Fast and Breathing Hard

The following morning, I woke up refreshed and ready for spending Christmas with some of the people I love that mean the most to me, including the new ones in my life. I'm feeling like Keith and Natalie are slowly becoming two of those people and I have such a great feeling about Keith and my mom being together for the rest of their lives. They make me think so much of the beautiful relationship my parents had so many years ago. He looks like she's a queen and an angel all at once which makes me melt into a puddle; I keep hoping for the best for them as well as hoping the best for Kris and I. Sometimes, I can't believe that Kris picked me out of everyone; he picked one of the most insecure and broken people out there and loves me more than anything in the world, aside from Kalea of course. So, to say I'm blessed, would be an understatement. Seconds later, I felt his lips on my cheek causing me to smile like crazy. I turned on my side like I did last night to talk to him.

"Merry Christmas." he said, smiling.

"Merry Christmas."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Amazingly. What time is it?"

"8." he said after looking at his phone.

"You think anyone else's awake?"

"No idea. Kalea, maybe. I'll go get her and check on everybody else."

"And I'll start breakfast."

"Sounds like a plan."

And with a kiss and a quick trip to the bathroom, we were on our way to different places. I headed to straight to the kitchen beyond ready to cook. I grabbed the ingredients to make one my favorite casseroles ever which is a delicious sausage and hash brown breakfast casserole. I hated that it'd take up to forty minutes to bake, but I didn't mind as I wasn't gonna mind waiting for my pecan sticky buns to bake. Just as I was cooking up the sausage and was about to start making the hash browns, I heard someone come downstairs who I immediately assumed was Kris.

"Hey. What's cookin'?"

That can only be him. I laughed at his cheesy pun.

"What?" he asked with our beautiful daughter in his arms.

"Nothing." I said, shaking my head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Ok. So, what are you cooking?"

"Sausage for my sausage and hash brown casserole, then I'm gonna make pecan sticky buns."

He immediately licked his lips.

"How long is the casserole gonna take to bake?"

"Close to forty minutes."

"The sticky buns?"

"About the same."

He grumbled and had a frown on his face which caused me to laugh once again.

"You poor baby. You don't think I hate that, too?" I asked turning around.

"You do."

I smiled and kissed him.

"As soon as they're done, I'll serve everything. I promise."

"Ok." he said smiling.

"Before I continue cooking, I'd like to say good morning to the prettiest girl in the world." I said kissing Kalea's cheek.

She giggled.

"Can Mommy have a kiss?"

She gave me a quick kiss to my cheek and smiled back.

"I love you."

"Wuv oo." she cooed.

I looked up at Kris with a smile.

"Life is perfect." I said with tears in my eyes.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, wiping them.

"I'm just so happy. I can't even imagine how I'm gonna be once this day is over."

"I feel the same way."

He kissed me and I kissed back while Kalea giggled.

"You are adorable." I said after parting.

"Well, I'm gonna let you finish cooking."

"Ok. So, who is up?"

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! Everyone's trying to get awake enough to pee and get down here."

I laughed.

"That's good. Thank you."

He proceeded to walk into the living room and turned on the tv before placing Kalea in her swing. Less than fifteen minutes later, breakfast was in the oven and we were waiting for everybody else to come down and sit around the enormous yet beautiful Christmas tree. I snuggled up to Kris and laid my head in the crook of his neck.

"I love you." I said, taking a hold of his hand.

"I love you, too." he said, taking my hand and squeezing it.

We stayed like that for maybe fifteen minutes until we heard several footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Good morning!" I heard my mom practically sing.

Hearing how cheerful my mom was at this moment reminds me of every Christmas I had growing up and every one since.

"Good morning, Mom." I said with a huge smile.

"Good morning, Mrs. Allender."

"How's my beautiful granddaughter? Can I hold her?"

"She's happy. Very happy. It's her first Christmas. And yes, you can hold her."

I smiled and gestured to Kalea who was still in her swing.

"Hi, Kalea. You look especially adorable today."

She giggled like she usually does as my mom picked her up.

"Are you ready for Christmas? To open presents?"

She simply smiled which told me exactly what that meant.

"Is anyone else up?"

"Yeah. Keith and Natalie should be heading down the steps any second now."

Less than a minute later, I heard them coming down the steps.

"Hi, guys. Merry Christmas!" I exclaimed.

"Hi! Merry Christmas!" Natalie said.

"Merry Christmas." Keith said.

He immediately walked over to my mom and kissed her cheek.

"So, how is everyone this morning?"

He received choruses of great and wonderful.

"What smells so good, honey?" my mom asked.

"A sausage and hash brown casserole, along with pecan sticky buns."

"How long until they're done?"

"About 25 minutes."

She nodded.

"So, what does everyone want to drink?"

I received orders of chocolate milk, coffee and orange juice which Kris and I got for everybody before we sat down in the living room. I immediately sat down in front of our gorgeous tree with a very happy Kalea in my lap. Our wonderful pets, Sammy and Nala were in the middle of the room, eagerly waiting for presents, which we got a lot of for them.

"Are we ready to open presents?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Kalea exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air.

Everyone laughed while I kissed her cheek.

"Well, I am too, baby girl."

"Which one do you think we should open first?" Kris asked Kalea.

After looking at him for a split second, she reached for a present right behind me. It had the prettiest bow I had ever seen, so I picked that one for her to open first.

"Ooh... I like this one too!" I said, smiling.

She giggled as she touched the bow.

"Ready?" I asked her.

She cooed.

"Alright! Here we go!"

I touched the paper and began to rip the paper as Kalea watched with a huge smile on her face. Once the paper was ripped off, my mom spoke.

"I know she already has a stuffed penguin, so I went to the next best thing..."

I opened the box to find a teddy bear with a yellow blanket under it.

"Oh Mom, it's precious and I love the blanket too."

I held it out and Kalea immediately took it from me and held it against herself.

"As soon as I saw it, I had to get it for her."

"Well, she clearly loves it. Don't you baby girl?"

She giggled as Kris took a picture.

"This is totally going up on Facebook." Kris said before kissing Kalea on her cheek.

After he passed his phone along, everyone agreed.

"Who wants to go next?" I asked.

My mom raised her hand. I showed where hers were and she picked the smallest one, which was clearly from Keith. He had his arms around her, holding her around the waist in the cutest way as they looked so adorable. When she opened it, her mouth dropped. It was a sapphire necklace with the jewels all around it. She turned around immediately and kissed him.

"It's so beautiful! How much was it?"

"That doesn't matter. All you need to know is I remember you talking about how much you like sapphires, so I knew I had to get you a necklace with them in it."

"Well, thank you very much, honey. I love it."

"My pleasure. I love you."

"I love you, too."

I melted as I remembered all the times my dad had bought her presents; she lit up in the exact same way. Kris took this as the opportunity to turn his head and mine to kiss me.

"I love you." he said.

"I love you, too."

About ten minutes later, the timer dinged which indicated that the casserole and sticky rolls were done. If it I wasn't around a bunch of people, including my daughter and our pets, I would've jumped up and squealed as I went to get breakfast, but I was, so I didn't. Instead, I handed Kalea to Kris and I got up and made the relatively short walk to the kitchen.

"Breakfast's ready!" I said as I took the dishes out of the oven.

Everyone got up and walked to the kitchen, overly excited to eat.

"This smells so wonderful!" Natalie said, referring to the rolls.

"Thank you. They took work, but I couldn't wait to make them."

Kris helped me serve everyone before we walked toward the kitchen table and ate. Kalea wasn't thrilled with the idea as she kept whining and looking toward the living room.

"Sweetie, it's okay. We'll be back in there soon. We just need to eat first." I said.

The whining continued.

"Kalea. Mommy's right. You know?" Kris said.

The whining subdued, but she still wasn't a happy camper.

"I get it. You were like that." my mom said.

"Really?"

"Your first Christmas, you whined the same way she did. It was adorable."

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"When did I get over it?"

"The next Christmas."

"Good to know."

I looked over to Kris, who was beside me and trying not to laugh, and I gave him a look. He immediately stopped and mouthed sorry, so I kissed his cheek and mouthed thank you.

"Anyway, how is everything?"

I got choruses of delicious and amazing which clearly made me happy.

"That's awesome. Thank you. It took work."

"Well, the work definitely paid off." my mom said.

After a short breakfast, we made our way back to the living room. Kalea squealed as I sat her down in my lap.

"Is my baby girl happy?" I asked.

She just giggled.

"Thought so." I said, kissing her cheek.

"She is seriously the happiest baby I've seen, aside from when you were a baby. Is she always this happy?" my mom asked.

"Pretty much. She's just a ray of sunshine every day."

We ended up opening presents for another half hour before I was ready for a nap.

"Sleepy?" Kris asked.

I nodded.

"Mind if I take a nap?"

"Of course not. I'll watch Kalea." he said before he began yawning.

"I'll watch her. You two can go nap." my mom said.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Absolutely. I don't get to spend a lot of time with her as it is."

"Okay. Thanks Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I'll talk to everyone later, then?"

Everyone nodded.

"Let's go, beautiful." Kris said.

And off we were to our bedroom for a nice nap.

"This is nice." I said as I laid my head on his chest.

"It is."

"I can't believe I'm this tired."

"Well, that's what we get for being parents."

"Yeah."

"See you in an hour." he said, kissing me on the top of my head.

"See ya."

Within seconds, I was in dreamland.

I walked into the kitchen as I smelled cinnamon rolls and the breakfast casserole I've decided to make as of exactly two years ago as a Christmas tradition. I also heard the giggling of two year old Kalea running toward me.

"Mommy!" she squealing.

"Kalea! Good morning."

She jumped into my arms.

"Mornin'. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." I said kissing her cheek.

"Merry Christmas." Kris said walking toward us.

"Merry Christmas."

He kissed me which immediately grossed her out.

"You know, sweetie. One day, that's not gonna be so gross." I said.

"Doubt it."

"It's true. Mommy's always right." Kris said.

She shrugged.

"Alright. I'm gonna put you down. Is that okay? I need something to drink."

She nodded.

"Okay."

Once I did, I headed into the kitchen to get a glass of milk, but before I even poured the milk into my glass, I got a hit of nausea.

"I'll be back."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't feel well all of a sudden."

"Do you think...?"

"It wouldn't surprise me."

There was a possibility of me being pregnant. We had been thinking about it for the past four months, so I went off birth control and we've been trying ever since and with me being nearly a week late, I bought a couple tests two days ago. I was thankful because I didn't wanna go out on Christmas Eve or today to get at least one pregnancy test. After I took them, I stayed in there for about ten minutes until they were ready which were the longest minutes of my life since the day I found I was pregnant with Kalea. Once those minutes were up, I took a deep breath and looked at them; a smile appeared on my face as it read that I was pregnant. Holding in a squeal, I walked out of the bathroom and placed the tests in the pouch that was on my long-sleeved shirt.

"Is breakfast ready, yet?" I called out as I made my way down the stairs.

"Yeah. I was about to tell you, actually."

"Cool. I'm starving."

"You feelin' better, Mommy?" she asked in her booster seat at the kitchen table.

Kris was serving breakfast for everybody.

"I'm feeling great, honey. Thanks for asking."

"You're welcome."

When he walked back to get something for her to drink, he came to talk to me.

"How great are you really feeling?"

I smiled and took them out of my pouch.

"We're gonna have another baby?" he said, starting to smile.

"Yes. We're gonna be parents again!"

He immediately hugged me and kissed me again.

"You go sit and we'll tell her together. Alright?" he said.

"Alright."

Once we sat back down, I almost couldn't hold in my excitement.

"Kalea, Daddy and I need to tell you something."

"Yeah?" she asked before taking another bite of food.

"Mommy's gonna have another baby." Kris asked.

"Really?" she said, smiling.

"Yes." I said.

"When?"

"I don't know yet. I have to see the doctor to found out."

"Yay!" she said, clapping.

"You're gonna be a big sister, aren't you?"

She began giggling and nodded. This couldn't have been a better reaction to telling your child that he/she's gonna be a big brother or sister.

I woke up to music and didn't wanna wake up.

"No." I said.

"Wanna sleep longer?" a clearly awake Kris said.

"I had one of the most amazing dreams."

"What's it about?"

"It was Christmas two years from now and I found out I was pregnant that morning. When we told Kalea, she was elated about being a big sister. It's weird. I did have that pregnancy dream when I was pregnant with her and I went into labor at home with our 'son.'"

"That is an amazing dream. Wonder what it means?"

I shrugged.

"Who knows, but it was a lovely dream nonetheless."

"You can say that again."

"Would you want a boy next time around?"

"I was thinking about that. Yes. You?"

"I'd love to have a boy."

"And I'd love to have a boy with messy hair like his daddy." I said, sitting up so I could kiss him.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

He smiled and kissed me.

"Ready to get up? I'm sure somebody's waiting for us."

"More than ready. Let's go."

After a stretch and a quick trip to the bathroom, we talked downstairs where everyone was there asleep in front of the television, including an adorable Kalea who was just waking up. I slowly and quietly walked into the living room and picked her out of her swing.

"Hi, baby girl." I whispered.

She immediately giggled as I held her against me.

"Did you have a good nap?"

She cooed.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." I said before I kissed her on the forehead.

"How is she?" Kris asked as Kalea and I walked toward the kitchen.

"Good. She had a lovely nap. Isn't that right, sweetie?"

She kept on smiling like the happy child she is.

"That's fantastic." he said, kissing my cheek.

"When do you think they fell asleep?"

"Oh, who knows. I just know that they look like they're in a deep sleep."

He nodded.

"So, what do you wanna do till they wake up then?"

"I have no idea." he said as I felt Kalea touch my cheek.

"She's too cute. I swear." I said, laughing.

Kris laughed as well.

"When'd you guys wake up?" my mom asked, yawning.

"About ten minutes ago."

"You two sleep good?"

"We slept well. How about you? Kalea?"

"She seemed to sleep well and so did I."

I nodded.

"You have any idea on what you'd like to do now?" she asked.

"Good question."

Turns out that we decided to watch a couple Christmas moves before I started dinner.

"Hey." Kris asked as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

I had just started cooking the sweet potatoes.

"Hey."

"Sweet potatoes smell amazing already."

"Thank you."

"As do you." he said, kissing my neck.

If I could melt into a puddle, I would; he's just too much sometimes.

"You don't smell too bad yourself, big boy." I said, smiling and turning slightly to kiss him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Are you curious about something?"

He always does this when he wants to ask me something.

"Je te veux si mal en ce moment." (I want you so badly right now.)

"Je veux que vous, aussi." (i want you, too.)

"Comment l'amour de ce soir?" (How about tonight, love?)

"Il est une date." (It's a date.)

"So, how are the lovebirds doing?" Natalie asked, leaning over a kitchen chair.

"Great. Kris here is impatient about dinner though."

"Is that so?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It is." Kris replied, taking another good whiff of the sweet potatoes.

She laughed.

"So, how long then?"

"About a half hour."

She nodded and walked back into the living room.

"You are such a liar." Kris whispered.

"Did you really want me to tell her about what we were actually talking about?" I asked, giving him a knowing look.

He shrugged.

"I guess not."

"No one needs to know about our private lives. You know that."

"I do." he said, nodding.

A short amount of time later, dinner was on the table and everybody was starving and excited to eat. Looking at the dining table, I instantly knew why. There was a spread of potato salad, sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy as well as the main course, my honey-baked ham. For dessert, an apple pie and a cherry pie with the option of vanilla ice cream for on top of any slice of pie they chose to eat.

"Once again, dinner looks absolutely delicious, Athena." my mom said.

"Thank you. I enjoyed making it." I said with a smile.

Everyone had smiles of their own once they started eating.

"This ham is perfect. It's so sweet and yummy." Natalie said.

"Wish you coulda tried the turkey she made last month. It was perfect." Keith said.

I smiled to myself.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to taste it next year."

"I hope so, too."

She smiled at me and I smiled right back.

"Thanks for this amazing feast. It's beyond delicious." she said.

"Thank you."

When it came to dessert about an hour later, I had trouble deciding which pie I wanted to start with; all I knew is that whichever one I chose would be topped with cool whip.

"What's wrong, honey?" my mom asked as she sat at the table, eating a slice of cherry pie.

"I don't know which pie I want." I said, biting my lip.

"You are adorable." Kris said from beside me.

"Shut up."

My mom laughed.

"Want me to make the decision for you?" he asked.

"Would you mind?"

"Not at all." he said, kissing my cheek.

"Thank you."

"Sit down. I'll bring it."

"You're too sweet."

I smiled to myself and walked back to where my seat was and sat back down. Just seconds later, he placed my plate in front of me before he sat his down and took his normal seat next to me.

"I got you apple; I got myself the same."

Apple is his favorite, aside from pumpkin, of course.

"Good decision." I said after kissing his cheek.

"I like to think so." he said, smirking.

I laughed and shook my head.

"Is your slice good?" I asked.

He gave me a knowing look as everyone laughed.

"Ok. Stupid question."

About twenty minutes later, we had finished eating and were stuffed. As Kris and I began clearing the table, my mom walked into the kitchen where he was placing a plate into the dishwasher.

"Honey, let Keith and I clean up. You and Kris should sit down in the living room."

"Mom. It's fine. We can..."

"Sweetie, I'm not taking no for answer. You wouldn't let me during Thanksgiving, so please. You two go and relax. You deserve it after such a long day."

"Thanks Mom, Keith. Kris and I really appreciate it." I said, hugging her.

"Don't mention it. I love you."

"I love you, too."

And after a few more hugs, Kris and I headed to the living room and relaxed in the corner of the sectional. Natalie was sitting in the attached la-z-boy, entertaining Kalea who was giggling up a storm. I honestly hoped that she would become my sister-in-law, in due time that is, because of how amazing of a person and how her father's treats my mother like the queen she truly is.

"Hey Athena. Hey Kris."

Kris waved and said hey.

"Hey. How's my baby girl?"

"Wonderful. I've never seen a child as happy as yours to be quite honest."

My heart melted.

"Well, that's a great thing to hear." I said as I laid my head on Kris' shoulder.

I began to drift asleep on his shoulder for some odd reason.

"Wanna take another nap?" he asked.

"No, because if I do, I won't sleep tonight." I said, looking up at him.

"You sure? Tonight's activities will be sure to make you sleep." he said, whispering the last sentence.

He had a point. I immediately smirked.

"Makes sense."

I snuggled back into him. Ten minutes had passed when I heard my mom and Keith walked back into the living room and sat comfortably on the other side of the couch.

"You two look comfy, Athena." my mom said.

"We are. So do you guys."

"Do we have anymore ideas on what we can do for the rest of the evening?"

"Um...can we maybe play some board games or watch a movie or two."

"How about we start out with a game?" Natalie suggested.

We started out with Pictionary which I sucked at, went to another movie and finished with a game of Trivial Pursuit which turns out I'm great at. Around 11, I was ready for bed as was everyone else; Kalea had gotten a head start when we put her in her crib over three hours ago.

"Hey." I said, crawling onto the bed.

"Hey." he said, pulling me toward him.

Kris pressed those gorgeous lips onto mine and that's all it took for me to fall under his entrancing spell that he had on me. I melted into him as I felt those giant hands slip my shirt off and unlatch my bra, freeing me.

"Thank you so much!" I said breathless.

"My pleasure." he said beginning to attack my neck.

"Fuck Kris." I said as I threw my head back.

His grip on my hips grew stronger, so I was bound to have bruises in the morning.

"Am I hurting you? At all?" he asked.

I must've had some look of discomfort on my face. Ugh. I really hope he doesn't panic when I tell him I'm in a bit of pain.

"Just a little, but..."

"What? Where?"

He interrupted me, but I expected that. He was clearly panicked; I was touched that he cared, but this was odd... really odd.

"Kris. I'm fine. It's just the pressure you have on my hips, but it's okay. You're not actually trying to hurt me." I said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You sure?"

"100%."

"Ok. Thanks for letting me know."

"Don't mention it." I said before kissing him again.

He smiled before grabbing hold once again. Then, I decided to pull his shirt off and move down south to reach his briefs... and take off those pants of his, of course. When I finally had the pants off and a hand in his briefs, the look on his face and the moan... a quiet moan if you could call one that. He countered with two hands pulling off my pants, followed a hand down in my panties; I let out a similar moan to Kris'.

"Fuck me." I whispered into his ear.

He responded with a smirk and swiftly flipping us, so I was on the bottom. I giggled once before he took my panties off and I took off his briefs.

"Ready?" he asked in a raspy voice as he reached for a condom.

"What do you think?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

About twenty minutes later, we were content as I listened to the beautiful sound of his heart beating.

"How do you think today went?" I asked.

"Amazingly. Can you believe how happy Kalea was with the bear your mom gave her? She was absolutely elated."

"She was precious."

"Yeah. She definitely was." he said before he kissed my temple.

"That necklace my mom got was beautiful. I loved."

"Your mom is well-deserving. He adores her."

I smiled.

"...just like the way I adore you."

My heart must've skipped a beat.

"You're too much sometimes. You know that?"

He let out a laugh.

"And Natalie deserves someone like you in her life." I said as I lifted my head to kiss him.

"You're too much as well."

I laughed.

"Merry Christmas, Kris."

"Merry Christmas, Athena."

Notes

Title courtesy of the song, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.