The fire in the fireplace crackled warmly. Rose stared at it in pure fascination for this was her first time celebrating Christmas. She looked over at Dimitri who was busy putting ornaments up on the tree.

"So this is Christmas," she stated, a childish smile gracing her lips. A silver box appeared in front of her. She opened it and plopped  a chocolate into her mouth. Yummy!

He rolled his eyes at her. "Yes, this is Christmas. Instead of shoving chocolates into your mouth, may I suggest you help decorate the tree?"

She brushed her hands and crawled to the ornament box. Inside were colorful and sparkly ornaments she had never seen before. She rummaged through the box and found something that caught her eye. She lifted it up with sparks in her eyes.

He turned to look at what she held up.

"A Christmas angel," he told her and sat down on the carpeted floor with her. In fact she looked like a Christmas angel in her silver gown. She was glowing with life in the light of Christmas.

"She's beautiful!" she giggled and stood up. She walked around the tree, trying to find the perfect spot for her angel. The bright yellow star was at the very top, and there was a perfect place for her angel. She tried tiptoeing to reach the top, but couldn't.

He chuckled at her attempt and grabbed the ornament from her hand, hanging it near the star. She clapped her hands and smiled brightly. He opened three large bags of wrapped presents. 

"What are these?" she asked innocently.

He picked one up and said, "A Christmas present. You open these on Christmas morning."

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. He couldn't help it but smile. In a bag far across the room was something that he bought just for her. It was difficult to hide it from her, but so far all the Christmas decorations distracted her.

"And that's tomorrow, right?" she asked, helping him put them under the tree. 

"Yes, December 25th."

She shrugged and went back to the fireplace. She sat down by it and just watched it. He looked at her as he folded the paper bags to put them away. How was it that this Christmas seemed merrier than all of that other ones? 

"Rose," he called.

She turned around, smiling at him. "Yes?"

"I wanna show you something."

He walked to the tree and sat down by it. She followed him with a frown on her face. He laid down under the tree without saying a word.

"What are you doing?" she asked, thinking that he was being silly. He didn't reply. She sighed and laid down next to him under the tree.

To her amazement, she found a different, looking up the Christmas tree. The lights looked like fairies like in those storybooks she'd read while he was at work. They were for children, of course, but she enjoyed them nevertheless.

"I used to lay under the Christmas tree when I was a child," he explained softly.

She was breathless. "It's so beautiful!" she squealed and threw her arms around him, laughing. Surely the tree was not the only beautiful thing in the room. To him the brightest thing in the room was her. Everything about her shone light.

"This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," she remarked, reaching up to touch some of the hanging ornaments. 

Then, she frowned and turned to him. "Why don't you spend Christmas with your family?" she asked.

He sat up and stood on his feet, brushing his pants. She appeared in front of him and narrowed her eyes at him. He sighed and patted her head like she was a little child. He rolled his eyes at her and asked, "Have you ever danced with someone?"

"Uh, no?" she replied, slightly confused.

He offered his hand with a smile and said, "Dance with me?"

"But I don't know how to dance like that!" she cried, her eyes widening.

"It's not hard. . ."

She scowled and said, "Fine, but if I mess up, I'm burning your credit card."

She placed her hand in his and he pulled her closer to him. She seemed a bit uncomfortable and unsure. She awkwardly put her other hand on his shoulder and asked, "What next?"

"This," he said and guided her to the middle of the room. She kept her eyes on their feet as they danced.

"I can't," she pouted, not knowing how the dance went. He surprised her by twirling her around. She giggled and started to feel comfortable dancing with him. 

They danced for a few minutes longer in the living room. Ever since she arrived here, his house had been filled with laughter, innocence, and joy. As he danced with her now, he realized that he would never want her to leave. His life before he met her was dull and dark, but with her, she made it exciting, funny, and adventurous. She made him want to show her all the things he knew.

"Last twirl!" he said and twirled her. She laughed and when her laughter died down. They stared at each other. They got along better than what they believed. He leaned in and placed a kiss on top of her head. She froze on the spot, her greatest fear. Did that kiss not move her heart? Or rather it did too much. 

He stepped back from her and cleared his throat. "It's tradition," he said and went into the kitchen.

"Tradition?" she repeated, frowning. She followed him into the kitchen and asked, "So, we do that to everyone?"

"No!" he answered. "Not everyone. Only. . .special people."

Her eyes sparkled. "So that means. . .I'm special?!"

He saw her grin and chuckled. "Apparently. If it wasn't for the fact that you were an angel the first time we met, I would have put a bullet in you."

"Well, lucky me, I am everything you say I am," she teased and opened the top cabinet. Jars of sweets were organized and welcomed her with temptation. She opened one and plopped a few M&Ms into her mouth.

He shook his head at her and said, "Good thing you're an angel, or you're not gonna have many teeth left in your mouth."

She was the only person who could eat her way through his food storage. She smirked proudly and replied, "Yum! Yum!"

Tomorrow he was going to cook a turkey. She absolutely had no idea what a turkey was. He took this chance as an opportunity to amuse himself.

"A giant bird?!" she cried. 

He stepped closer to her and said, "They are one of the most vicious birds in the world. If you're not careful, they will peck your eyeballs out and eventually kill you."

"On Christmas?!"

"They love attacking people on Christmas. They hate Christmas!"

She gasped and said, "That's horrible. Must we bring one here?"

"We must!"

"But why?"

"Simple, " he said. "It's tradition."

She scowled and bitterly said, "Ooh! Tradition, tradition, tradition!"

Seeing her face made him laugh. She then realized that he was playing a joke on her. She narrowed her eyes at him and pointed her finger at him. "You lied!" she accused him. "How could you?!" 

She felt completely betrayed. She started chasing him in the kitchen. He ran out of the kitchen and shouted, "Merry Christmas!"

"Ooh! Merry Christmas?! This will be your last Christmas! I will kill you, Dimitri! Get back here!"

𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕤, 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕤!