Eggnog with a side of romance
Gulliver always had a tradition with his family where he opened his presents early on the night of Christmas Eve. Tonight's was special as it was the first time spending it with Alice as a couple.
art by Gately_art
The sound of a crackling fire and the smell of fresh pine, gingerbread and hot chocolate filled the apartment as Gulliver and Alice sat down near the christmas tree, Gulliver checking his watch on occasion as the time was now 11:59 PM.
“Well you sure are eager to start unwrapping gifts!” Alice said with a giggle as he saw Gulliver’s feet kick a little in excitement. “It’s nice to be part of the tradition with you, Gully. It makes me feel like I am part of your family.”
Gulliver looked away from his watch and scooted closer to Alice who was wearing an adorable knitted pink christmas sweater and pajama pants, he placed his hand onto her shoulder and gave a beaming smile to her. “Are you kidding! You are part of the family now, and you always will be, darling.” Gulliver then leaned in and gave her forehead a quick smooch
Alice blushed and gave him a kiss on the cheek in return. “Still though, I kinda feel bad that your folks got trapped at home from the snow storm, they aren’t going to make it in time to open up their gifts.” She said with a pout.
Gulliver gave a slight sigh but then shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, it’s alright. We all did this for many years and if I am going to be honest..” Gulliver petted the side of her cheek which made his lover start to lean into it and purr. “Spending our first Christmas as a couple is the best gift right now.”
Alice gave a surprised look before raising her eyebrow with a smug look on her face “Well, look at you being a smooth talker! Guess I am rubbing off on ya!” She would say nudging her boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Yeah, Maybe you are.” Gulliver would check his watch and gasp before he suddenly wrapped his arms around Alice and stood up and lifted her up slightly. “Happy Holidays, Love!”
Alice giggled and kissed his nose as her feet slightly dangled from off the floor from the height difference between the two. “Alright, alright Tomcat! You know I'm afraid of heights!” she said playfully as Gulliver slowly set her down and
“Sorry, sorry!” he would say with a sheepish grin before he clapped his hands together and rubbed them eagerly “Now! Let’s not waste our time! Open your gift!” Gulliver said, grabbing a small box from the pile of presents and placing it into her hands.
Alice couldn’t help but be enamored of the sight of Gulliver’s excited energy and she nodded and slowly unwrapped the present, she sat down and moved the wrapping paper from inside away and gasped in awe as she slowly pulled out a heart pendant from the box. “Oh Gulliver…This is beautiful…”
“That’s not all!” Gulliver said before pointing at a small button on the side of the locket. “Press this for a surprise!”
Alice used her thumb to gently press the button and the heart locket opened which caused Alice to cover her mouth in shock as she saw what was in it, there it was a picture of Gulliver and her posing next to each other as children with Alice doing an silly expression with her tongue out at the camera and Gulliver shyly smiling on the left side and on the right it was another picture of them as adults on their first date in the photo booth, they had their hands shaped in half a heart and placed against each other to form a full heart and Alice was sticking her tongue out playfully and giving Gulliver bunny ears with her fingers, Gulliver visibly had a blush on his cheeks in the photo. “Honey…” is all Alice could say as tears started to form in her eyes.
Gulliver leaned over and gently grabbed the locket and closed it and slowly placed the necklace around her neck and smiled. “Now you can have our journey together in one little place and take it around with you. So you can see how far we have come.”
Alice sniffled and wiped a tear from her face with her sleeve before taking a deep breath “Tomcat, I would kiss you right now, but before I do, you need to open YOUR gift!” she announced with mock authority and grabbed a box from the present pile and gently set it next to Gulliver. “Open it, you cutie!”
“Oh, well don’t mind if I do!” Gulliver began to open the wrapping and take off the lid off the box and his eyes widened and a grind formed on his face as he pulled out a green sweater which looked to be knitted by hand. The front of the Sweater had a yellow cat paw print in front of it.
“I know how much you like your sweaters! I see you all cozy and snuggly all the time, I HAD to knit this for you!” Alice said pointing at the paw print. “I am pretty proud of that, I poured my love into this.”
Gulliver hugged the sweater before giving a happy sigh and nodding “Alice, this is so sweet of you, thank you-” He was suddenly interrupted by Alice’s lips being pressed up against his and he quickly returned it and closed his eyes, Alice wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in more.
Suddenly the front door opened and a familiar snow leopard along with Juliana and Alexander stepped into the room. “MERRY CHRISTMAS- oh…” Len’s voice trailed off as Gulliver and Alice continued to kiss without even noticing the rest of the family.
Juliana smirked and she cleared her throat loudly which caused Gulliver to jump and Alice to stop kissing, she giggled as Gulliver looked away in embarrassment .
Len looked at Gulliver and then at Alice and then pointed at Juliana and Alexander. “Hold on…what did I miss while being away from you guys!?”
Alexander smiled and pat Len’s shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Len.”