Our First Christmas

Nikolas and Gia laughed as the dragged the tree into the cottage, the snow swirling around them. It was the perfect tree, tall, wide, and of the darkest green. The smells of pine and fresh snow wafted through the air, the feeling of holiday seized them.

“Um, Nikolas?” Gia started, “It’s not going through the door!” He just started laughing nearly dropping his end. As the weight of the tree shifted, she slipped on the snow. He jumped, hurrying to help her to her feet.

“Are you alright,” he asked, scooping her tiny form up from the snow. She smiled at him and nodded.

“I’m fine,” she said softly, shivering at his nearness. “I was…uh, just making snow angels.” She glanced around. Between the house, the tree, and Nikolas, there was nowhere to move. “But,” she said, shifting to the problem at hand, trying to ignore the fact that his presence was warming her blood and quickening her pulse. “How are we going to get the tree in?”

“Get a bigger door,” Nikolas suggested with raised eyebrows. Gia shot him a ‘look.’

“I knew we should have gotten a smaller tree, but no… Prince Nikolas had to have the biggest tree on the lot, must be a guy thing.” She quipped.

“Do you want to take it back?” He queried.

“No,” she answered quickly. “It’s too late. I’m already attached. I always wanted a tree like this as a little girl.” She sighed. “Want to try again?”

He nodded, and they attempted once more to cram the tree in through the door. Fifteen minutes and two pine needle flurries later, they finally succeeded. This time, he tumbled, but not into the softly packed snow – onto the hard, wooden floors, making a ringing thump.

“Nikolas!” Gia exclaimed, dropping her end of the tree. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, uh, wood angels don’t work so well,” he murmured quietly. “This tree sure is a lot of trouble. I don’t think it loves us as much as we love it.” He sat up, as she knelt beside him, staring at the evergreen lying on its side.

“No, I guess it doesn’t,” Gia agreed. “Where should we put it?” She asked, glancing around the room. They both got to their feet.

“Over there, near the window,” Nikolas suggested. They both struggled with the ornery tree, finally righting it only to realize it had gone lopsided and a bald spot had formed on one side.

“We wrecked the tree!” Gia exclaimed dismayed. “Well, this doesn’t bode well for Christmas. First, we wait until two days before Christmas to get a tree, and then, we finally find a decent tree – a great tree, and we ruin it!”

“It’s not ruined,” Nikolas assured her. “We can cover up that spot, and all trees are a little…angled.” Gia, however, did not look convinced. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He turned the bald spot towards the wall, finished righting the tree, and examined it. “It’s still a pretty nice tree.”

“I guess,” Gia said, still a little disappointed. “It’ll look a lot better once we put up the ornaments and popcorn.”

“Popcorn?”

“Yes – you know, strings of popcorn? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen people string popcorn on a tree? Anyway, it’s a tradition in my family.”

“Macaroni and cheese on Thanksgiving was one thing, but there will be no popcorn on my tree,” Nikolas complained. “It’ll look tacky.”

“Excuse me, Prince Nikolas, I forgot you were above microwavable foods,” Gia quipped, pouting. “Come on, lighten up, Christmas won’t be Christmas without the popcorn garland.”

“Popcorn is not garland!”

“It can be,” Gia replied. She stepped closer to him. “You ought to at least try it; you might like it.” She added, but he wasn’t convinced. “Please, please…pretty please with gaudy rings and Faberge eggs on top?” He shot her a look. “You know you want to,” she added, with a grin and sparkling eyes.

“But – I mean - We probably don’t even have any popcorn…” He pointed out.

“I bought five boxes last week,” she informed him, knowing she’d won.

*~*~*

Gia and Nikolas had spent three hours on the popcorn garland and she was now stringing it deftly around the tree. He narrowed his eyes, still thinking it looked tacky, but he liked humoring Gia. He decided the sparkle in her eyes when he’d agreed to help her was well worth the audacious appearance of the result.

“Doesn’t that look great?” She asked, not allowing him time to answer before she added, “Where are the ornaments.” He silently opened a box, and she peered in. She reached in gently and pulled out a ball, carefully wrapped in cloth. It had children playing in the snow and words written in Russian: младенец первый рождество. “What does this mean?” She asked.

He smiled a little. “Baby’s first Christmas,” he translated, and she laughed lightly.

“Aww…” she teased gently, but her eyes darkened. “Handmade, right?” And to think mine came from K-mart.”

“Don’t start that,” he pleaded. “I can’t help it. Besides, I thought you realized that – ”

“That what?” She asked softly.

“That the Cassadine money comes with a price,” Nikolas murmured quickly, and she bit her lip and nodded.

“I’m sorry. I guess, it’s just that – for a little while, my mom and I were really poor. I mean poor. That’s why mac and cheese is a family Thanksgiving tradition. Not because we’re quirky, but because that was all we could afford,” she sighed, looking down, a little bit shamed. “I guess, it just created a chip on my shoulder – you know. I just…”

“I didn’t realize. I mean, I knew you didn’t have horses or islands like the Cassadines, but – ”

“Yeah, well, now you know. Besides, after mom went back to school and graduated from CUNY, we did just fine,” she said, sticking out her chin, wishing she hadn’t made herself vulnerable to him. She handed him his baby ornament. “Here. You can put this up.”

He dropped it, watching the fine crystalline ornament crack and scatter along the floor. “I have an idea. Let’s go to K-Mart.” She looked at him, surprised. “Get your coat.”

“Shouldn’t we clean up … ”

“Yeah, you get your coat on and go start the car. I’ll clean this up,” he said, nodding.

*~*~*

“Here!” Nikolas exclaimed. “This is exactly what we need.” Gia turned toward him, and he held up the boxed ornament that read: Our First Christmas, in plain green text.

“If you say so,” Gia said with a shrug. “We came all the way out here to buy one ornament.”

“Read it.” She did and smiled a little. “You know what I think. Handcrafted Russian ornaments can’t hold a candle to K-Mart’s selection.” She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“That’s it, I have to do this,” she murmured before kissing his mouth firmly. He gripped her to him gently and returned the kiss with as much passion and affection as he could muster.

“Merry Christmas, Gia,” he murmured against her lips.

Holiday Fanfic Challenge Main

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