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“Why did I let you talk me into this?” Emma groaned while Alyssa eagerly pulled her by the hand through the parking lot.
“Because you love me,” Alyssa’s voice lilted as she jumped to a stop and turned to Emma to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Besides, it’s our first christmas as an out couple and, despite your protests, I think you’re just as excited as I am about that.”
“Of course I’m excited about that,” Emma said. “I’m just not excited about this.”
Emma looked up, gesturing at the giant, blinking sign that read Santaland. Alyssa followed Emma’s gaze before returning it to her once more, frowning slightly.
“Come on, babe, it’s gonna be fun! We only have to volunteer for a couple hours and then we can explore the park for the rest of the day!”
Still staring at the sign, Emma chewed her lip nervously before looking at Alyssa. Big mistake. Alyssa had her best puppy dog eyes on, her lower lip jutting out as she pouted.
“Please, Em?”
She still hesitated. “I dunno, Lys…”
Alyssa’s features reset for a moment before she grabbed the lapels of Emma’s jacket, running her fingers languidly down the fabric. She stepped forward, close into Emma’s space, her eyes flickering down to Emma’s lips. Leaning in, Alyssa whispered in Emma’s ear, “If you do this one thing for me now, I promise to do that one thing for you later.”
Emma’s eyes grew and she swallowed hard. When Alyssa pulled back, Emma grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the gates. “Come on, Lys, we don’t wanna be late!”
//
After signing in at the volunteer check-in, Alyssa and Emma were sent to dressing rooms where they changed into assigned costumes. Adjusting the halo of her angel costume, Alyssa called to Emma, “How are you doing in there?”
After some incoherent grumbling, Emma answered back, “I look ridiculous, Alyssa.”
“Aw, babe, I’m sure you look adorable.”
Stepping out of her own dressing room, Alyssa waited a moment before the door to Emma’s opened. She stepped out, the small bells on her shoes jingling with each step to reveal a very vibrant elf costume, complete with pointy ears. Emma awkwardly held her hands out as she looked at her own costume. When she finally looked up to see Alyssa, her jaw dropped. “Lys, you look… Beautiful.”
Alyssa felt heat rush to her cheeks as she tucked hair behind her ear. Then, smiling tenderly, she kissed Emma’s nose. “And you look absolutely adorable.”
Emma frowned again as if she suddenly remembered her own costume and Alyssa couldn’t believe just how cute she looked as a grumpy elf. “Of course you got the elegant angel costume and I got dorky santa’s helper.”
“Just a few short hours, babe,” Alyssa reminded her before grabbing her hand and leading her out into the park.
They were both assigned to a daycare of sorts, a place for parents to leave their child for an hour or so while they shopped around. They wouldn’t be working together, but they were close enough that they could still sneak glances at each other. Alyssa got to help out with the babies while Emma was put with the pre-k range. Emma flashed Alyssa one more desperate look before she was swarmed by the children. Careful not to startle the baby she was holding, Alyssa held back a laugh that tried to escape from the sight.
//
Emma checked her watch for the fourth time and groaned as only 30 minutes had passed. Emma wasn’t around kids much growing up and definitely didn’t have the babysitting experience that Alyssa did, so she felt extremely out of her element there. The second she stepped into the pre-k pen she was overwhelmed with the number of kids suddenly surrounding her, asking a thousand questions at once. Another volunteer swiftly swooped in and saved her, staying long enough to let Emma get more comfortable. She gave Emma a sincere “good luck” before leaving her to her own defenses.
It didn’t take Emma too long to realize wrangling kids wasn’t much harder than the sheep on her grandma’s farm and soon she had them sitting down around her. She’d found a children's guitar in one of the toy bins and was relieved to find it wasn’t too different from her own - only smaller. To her own disbelief, an hour flew by as she played songs and kept the children entertained.
Every now and again, she caught Alyssa staring and would scrunch her nose at her girlfriend, trying not to give much attention to the way her stomach would swoop at the sight of Alyssa tenderly holding a baby. She was so lost in her staring, she almost missed one of the children raising their hands. Stopping the music, she called on them. “Uh, yes? You have a question?”
“Yeah, what’s your name?” a little boy asked her.
“Emma.”
His eyebrows tangled. “That’s a weird elf name.”
“I’m, uh, from the south pole. Our names are different there,” Emma said. She was about to start playing again when another hand shot up. “Yes?”
“How old are you?”
“18.”
“Yikes,” the kid mumbled not-so-quietly.
Before Emma could ask what that was supposed to mean, two more hands flew into the air. She called on one.
“Do you like pink?”
“I guess,” she answered before pointing to the other hand raised. “Yeah?”
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Chicken nuggets. Anymore questions or can we get back to singing?” Emma asked, regret hitting her immediately. The moment she said that, at least five more hands went up and she sighed heavily. They were mostly silly elf related questions. How many toes do elves have? Do elves have to take naps too? Who makes toys for the elves if they’re making them for everyone else? It felt like for every question she answered, two more hands would pop up.
Having completely given up hope of returning to music, Emma set the toy guitar to the side and called on a small girl sitting up front. Shyly, she asked, “Do you know the angel over there?”
Emma followed the girls gaze to find it led right to Alyssa. Smiling, Emma said, “Yeah, I do.”
“Lucky. She’s so pretty.”
“Isn’t she?” Emma said dreamily.
“Are you two married?” another boy asked.
Emma choked. “No, we’re not.”
A friend of the boy hit him lightly. “Don’t be dumb. She isn’t wearing the magic marriage ring.”
“The what?” Emma tried to ask but the boys continued on.
“It wasn’t dumb. They keep making googly eyes at each other and my dad says that only happens when people like each other.”
“Maybe they’re friends. Are you two friends?”
“I guess,” Emma said at first. Shifting in her spot, she corrected, “Well, she’s my girlfriend actually.”
Oooo’s broke out and some of the kids giggled. “I told you.”
“So you like her then?”
“Look at her. Of course Miss Emma likes her.”
“Yes, I like her. I really, really like her,” Emma said, trying to regain control of the conversation. “Okay, next question. Yes?”
A little girl put her hand down before she asked, “Does she like you?”
“I sure hope so,” Emma chuckled nervously.
“I think she does.”
“Me too,” another kid chimed in.
The same little boy from earlier raised his hand again, not waiting to be called before asking, “So if you both like each other, why aren’t you married?”
“I…” Emma started before his friend jump in again.
“Can elves and angels even get married?”
“I wish I had an elf mom and angel mom.”
With that, the kids broke out into chatter and Emma frantically tried to calm them again with no success.
//
Alyssa was gently bouncing a sleeping baby in her arms as she watched Emma with the children. It was entirely adorable the way they all circled around her, hanging onto her every word. What she would give to know what they were talking about…. Her interest only grew even more when they children started looking and pointing her way.
“Alright, Alyssa, we’re gonna have a bit of a schedule change. The next volunteer is here early, so you are free to go whenever.”
Pulled from her thoughts, Alyssa set the baby down in one of the empty cribs and made her way to Emma to let her know the slight change in plans. As she got closer, she thought she heard a kid say “she’s coming” before Emma spotted her and quickly shushed the children. Alyssa’s curiosity piqued as Emma’s body language shifted. Before she could say anything, Emma nodded her head at Alyssa and said, “Sup, girl?”
Alyssa stared blankly at her for a moment, taking in the tone, the word choice, the elf costume. When she realized that Emma was trying to be serious, she strained herself swallowing a laugh and bit her cheeks to keep from smiling. Trying to play along, Alyssa looked around before placing a hand on her chest and asking, “Me?”
Emma looked a mixture of shocked and relieved that Alyssa went with it. She nodded dumbly. A smile finally broke across Alyssa’s face as she reached the fence nearest Emma, who adjusted her elf hat before saying, “Uh, hi.”
“Hi,” Alyssa responded, glancing at the children behind Emma, their attention glued to the interaction before them. Suddenly feeling a little nervous, Alyssa’s smile tightened as she said to Emma, “I got let go early.”
“Of course you did,” Emma groaned.
“I’m sure I can switch you if you want? I don’t mind finishing up here.”
The kids seemed torn, half of them cheering at the idea of Alyssa taking over and the others booing at the suggestion of Emma leaving.
“No, that’s okay, babe. Thank you though,” Emma said, glancing at her watch. “Besides, there isn’t that much left and I’d hate to leave you with these hooligans.”
“Hey!!” the kids rang in near perfect unison before Emma flashed them a playful grin.
Alyssa laughed as her heart swelled in her chest. “Okay, call me when you’re done and I’ll come find you.”
As Alyssa placed a sweet kiss on Emma’s cheek, she could’ve sworn she heard a mumbled, “Oh she definitely likes her,” and added it to the list of things she would have to ask Emma about later.
//
The rest of Emma’s shift passed quicker than she expected. A small part of her felt sad when she went to say goodbye to the children, but she was eager to spend time with her girlfriend. She called Alyssa and got instructions on where to find her. When Emma finally spotted her, she was smiling excitedly with her hands behind her back.
“Sup, girl?” Alyssa said with a teasing smile.
Emma groaned. “I’m sorry about that. The kids made me nervous. I honestly have no idea where that even came from.”
“You’re cute,” was all Alyssa said before gently kissing Emma’s nose.
Emma scrunched it and asked, “What do you have behind your back?”
Alyssa’s face lit up as if she’d forgotten about the surprise behind her. “Close your eyes!”
Emma smiled and obliged.
“Okay, now open them.”
Emma blinked a few times to find a small, glass ornament dangling in front of her. It was painted neatly in Christmas colors with their anniversary date written across the center.
In the past, Alyssa and Emma had to watch with longing as other couples made ornaments for each other and now they could finally have one of their own. It was small and simple and so them - something to display as a symbol of their love. Tears collected in Emma’s eyes as she hugged Alyssa, mumbling in her hair, “Thank you, Lys. It’s perfect.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Alyssa replied as she held her tightly. They stayed like that for a moment before Alyssa said slowly, “So, I found a gingerbread house building station.”
Emma pulled back and smiled. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
Hand in hand, the two walked around checking out the different activities and booths. There was just about every Christmas activity one could imagine. Even Emma had to admit the park was pretty amazing. Nudging Alyssa and pointing, Emma said, “Wow, they even have a reindeer petting zoo.”
Alyssa laughed when she spotted the pen with various farm animals donning makeshift antlers. Pointing to a pig, Alyssa said, “I think that one is Dancer. I hear he’s a bit snippy though.”
“Can you blame him? He got named Dancer,” Emma replied.
Alyssa raised her eyebrows at Emma. “What’s wrong with that name?”
“You wouldn’t name a pet teacher or firefighter.”
“Well, what would you name it?”
“Honestly? Anything would be better than Dancer.”
“I can’t believe all this Santa shade right now,” Alyssa laughed. “Okay, give me three names that would’ve been better.”
“Easy.” Emma held up a hand, counting out with her fingers as she said, “Pepperoni, Fudge, and Rhubarb.”
“Rhubarb?”
“Barb for short or Rhubarbara when in a professional setting.”
Alyssa stared at her, blinking a few times. “I think you’re serious and that concerns me.”
Emma tilted her head, thinking for a moment before deciding against telling Alyssa just how serious she was. Smiling and grabbing Alyssa’s hand, Emma said, “Build a home with me, Alyssa.”
Smiling back, she replied, “I’d love nothing more.”
The two had a blast building their dream home out of gingerbread and candy. They managed to only swipe frosting on each other’s faces a few times. Complete with two gingerbread women, one sporting a flannel and the other in a simple dress. Alyssa and Emma stood back to marvel at their creation.
“It’s really good, but it’s missing something,” Alyssa thought out loud.
Emma hummed in agreement before an idea struck her. A minute later, she added something next to their little mini-me cookies. “There.”
“What’s that?”
Emma frowned. “A dog.”
“Oh, yes obviously a dog,” Alyssa corrected herself with a guilty smile. “Can I name it? I don’t want to explain to people that our dogs name is Marshmallow.”
“Not a bad name,” Emma said with a shrug. Alyssa rolled her eyes and started to speak but Emma pleaded, “Wait no, please, can I name it?”
Alyssa tilted her head before giving in. “Fine, you get one chance.”
“Chi-”
“No food related names.”
Emma’s mouth shut tight. Pausing, she smiled innocently and said, “Nugget.”
Eyeing her for a moment, Alyssa said, “Okay, that’s actually cute. Like a little gold nugget.”
“Mhm, yeah, sure,” Emma said, putting an arm around Alyssa and proudly beaming at their creation.
After a moment, Alyssa mumbled, “It’s nice.”
Emma pressed a kiss to the side of Alyssa’s head, knowing they were both thinking the same thing. “Sure is. I can’t wait for the real thing though.”
Alyssa nuzzled her head into Emma’s shoulder as she sighed happily. “Me neither.”
//
Alyssa held the door to Betsy’s house open for Emma has she carried their gingerbread house in and set it on the counter. Betsy was out of town for the weekend, celebrating Christmas with her other grandchildren. Emma only got out of it because they had plans with Veronica the next day.
Walking up behind Emma, Alyssa slipped her hands around Emma’s waist and placed a light kiss to the side of Emma’s neck. “Today wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Emma hummed as Alyssa’s lips worked along her skin. “No, I guess it wasn’t so bad.”
“Maybe it was even great?”
Emma gave in. “Yeah, it was pretty great.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Alyssa mumbled under Emma’s jaw. “Cause it’s about to get even better.”
Turning in Alyssa’s arms, Emma’s eyes were wide as she asked, “Do you really mean it?”
Alyssa nodded, an amused smile on her lips. “A promise is a promise and I am a woman of my word.”
Emma licked her lips. “We can…”
“Mhm.”
“While I’m…”
Emma nearly whimpered as Alyssa nodded again, her eyebrows wiggling at Emma before she led her into the living room. Laying on her side on the couch with her head propped up in her hand, Alyssa’s fingers danced along the space in front of her. “Come here, little spoon.”
Eagerly, Emma laid down, scooting back until she was situated neatly into the curve of Alyssa’s body. Alyssa began playing with Emma’s hair, drawing a satisfied sigh from her while she turned on the tv to start an episode of Gourmet Makes. Happily she mumbled, “Best Christmas ever.”
“Em, it’s only the 21st.”
“I know,” Emma said, closing her eyes as she melted into Alyssa’s touch. “My statement still stands.”
Alyssa giggled, leaning down to affectionately kiss Emma’s cheek. “I love you so much, Emma Nolan.”
Smiling to the touch, Emma replied, “I love you too, Alyssa Greene.”