A Late Christmas Gift 03

"Come on, sleepyhead, it's time to deboard~" Sugarbell descended as a warm hug and a gentle kiss to Rick's forehead and he was roused by the cacophony of other passengers climbing over one another to hurry off the plane. "Did you have a nice dream? I saw you twitching like a puppy kicking its legs. Actually, I took a video, do you want to see?"

Rick shook his head and smiled. A whole year with this woman, to the day, and never once had she allowed herself to dip out of adorability. She stood within the mass of people and let them flow around her easily like water, as if she could slip through at any moment she pleased, and that much was one-hundred percent true. Once she'd taken his hand in hers, they retreated from the fuselage into the terminal with such ease that the crowd might as well have not been there for her guidance.

They'd packed light, no more than a carry-on bag for each of them, considering where they were going. It had been a while since Rick had been back in his home state, but then an airport looked the same on any end, with the exception of the merchandise on offer.

He looked at his watch. "We must have had a tailwind the entire way here; we're an hour early. If I know my sister, and I do, we're going to be waiting an hour at least, now."

At his side, Sugarbell clung to his arm while peering into the shops. "I know I said that I could beg a ride on the sleigh again, if you wanted, but I'm glad that we chose to take the slow way. Look, they have sweaters for sale with Bigfoot on them~ Isn't that adorable? Do you want one? Do you want me to wear one for you?"

But, maybe it would be nice to see his girlfriend as a tourist once in a while. Her pointy ears were bouncing up and down as she lifted herself on her heels to see over the swells of the crowd and her cheeks pinked by excitement; Rick could almost forget the last several hours of being crammed into a tube with a few dozen mouth-breathers, since he could see this on the other end. Sugarbell hadn't lost a beat, because of course she didn't, she was too perfect; she'd talked the ear off a couple from Arizona until the in-flight movie stole their attention and she had to content herself napping on his shoulder.

"I have some already," he said. "Are you sure it isn't you who wants another sweater?"

Sugarbell pursed her lips in thought and obviously fake affront, tugged at the hem of her adorably hideous holiday sweater (it jingled quietly every time she moved). "I'd rather wear one of your sweaters, if it came to that. I always feel cozier in your clothing."

He pushed them through to a bench in front of a storefront so that he could text Katherine that they had arrived early. A moment passed before he got a response in nothing but emojis that amounted to "I'm still getting into the car."

"It looks like we'll have some time to look around, I suppose. It might be expensive, but we could grab a bite somewhere around here if you're peckish."

"Nope." Sugarbell mildly scolded him by poking his nose. "Don't you know we have to keep an appetite for later? What will I tell your mother if you can only get through two plates of home cooking before you have to take a break for it all to settle? Not to mention there will be snacks, and candy, and dessert! You said that she's making three pies? And that's on top of lunch!"

"Maybe more." His mother would be trying to blow his girlfriend out of the water, but she'd be fighting an uphill battle against an elf's homemaking... "Alright, you don't have to convince me not to pay these obscene airport prices for a slice of pizza."

She'd turned around on the bench and her eyes were glued to a novelty Bigfoot-themed travel mug. "I don't think it's obscene."

"No?"

She idly shifted back and forth, rubbing her shoulder against his arm. "No, not at all. It's all about economics, after all. You have a commodity that's related to how many things can be crammed into the same space, that is: there can only be so many shops. They have to pay for the space, and that raises prices, but they also get to have a captive customer base, so they can raise their prices to a certain point so that they aren't losing money. And, you know, it isn't as though the option isn't there to drink at the water fountain or pack a bag of pretzels to snack on."

"I suppose not..."

In the crowd, a little boy had separated from his guardians and waddled up to Sugarbell. He'd been staring up at her, sucking on his thumb long enough that Rick was going to say something before the little boy finally spoke up. "Are you a elf?" he asked.

Sugarbell brightened and bent double, hugging her legs so that she could speak to the boy on his level. "Why do you think that?" Her grin was infectious, as if there were any doubt that this woman was an elf. From the candy-cane leggings to the pointy ears, it was weirder that more people didn't notice.

"Ears!" the little boy said and pointed.

"Oh no, you can see them?" Sugarbell clapped her hands over her ears, having the time of her life. She couldn't fool anyone with the shocked expression she'd put on, the way her green eyes sparkled. "You're a really smart man, aren't you? Not just anyone can see, you know~ But you've got me; I'm an elf."

The little boy hopped in place, glowing with excitement. "Do you know Santa!?"

"Of course I do~ He's really nice, and he's going to come over to your house tonight, I know, since you've been a good boy this year, haven't you?"

Rick knew that look of uncertainty that passed under the boy's eyes. He didn't have anything to worry about; there was hardly anything that could get a five year old on the naughty list, if Rick's assessment of Santa's character was on the money. And Sugarbell's expression hadn't moved one millimeter to suggest anything to the contrary.

The boy said, "Can you ask him to bring a bike?"

Sugarbell tilted her head. "Don't you think it's a little late to ask Santa to bring something? I'm sure that he has a gift planned for you that you'll just absolutely love, and if he doesn't give you a bike this year, there's always next year, if you're a good boy~"

"You think so?"

"Why, I know it for sure~ But say, buddy, do you know where your parents are?"

The little guy turned in place, looking out into the crowd until his neurons started firing again and he came back with tears in his eyes.

"That's okay buddy, we'll help you out, c'mon."

Sugarbell took him by his sweaty little hand and put him onto her shoulders so that he'd have a better chance of spotting his folks, likely the only ones in the crowd frantically looking for a little boy who should have been on a leash in the first place, while walking him over to the nearest help desk. There would be a public announcement system if nothing else worked. And Rick followed at more than a few paces back, since Sugarbell was difficult to mistake for someone with unwholesome intentions (as he had, when he first met her, in what should have been his locked apartment). She'd even begun singing a little Christmas jingle to get the kid's mind off of things without taking his eyes off the crowd.

There at the desk were a couple who were trying to get an announcement of their own out: a father who took his son off of Sugarbell's shoulders and flicked his ear, and a mother who swept Sugarbell up into a hug. They tried to give her some money, but of course Sugarbell was more than happy to have done the right thing and she came back to Rick glowing merrily.

"Good thing you were here," he said when they'd found enough of an alcove that they could hear one another.

Sugarbell shrugged, drew his arms around her while resting back against his chest. "It's the least I could do, when I was was the reason he got waylaid in the first place. You know, I haven't actually been an elf for a mall Santa yet? I hear a lot of them complain, but it's not that bad at all if it's only one kid, I suppose."

"Right, you've said before that the north pole populates those to get a feeling for what gifts to give out." Rick set his chin on Sugarbell's head and enjoyed the scent of peppermint. "It's been a year, but it's still hard to believe that, when there have to be hundreds of those events every year."

She rolled her head back and forth on his chest idly, more peppermint. "Thousands. But we only send out a few hundred elfs every year. The rest of it is all statistics, you see? People are more similar to one another than they are different, when it comes down to the wire. It's only when there are exceptions to the rule, like you, that we have to get directly involved." Sugarbell turned up her chin and kissed his cheek. "That's when things are best, when we get to see the results of our work and the happiness on the faces of the people."

Rick hugged her more tightly and touched his lips to hers briefly. "Trying to fish for a compliment, are we? Here's the fish: you've made me plenty happy."

She giggled, that's precisely what she was doing and she'd known that he would know it. "So, what kind of person is your sister? I've seen the pictures, but you're always so quick to change the topic when your family comes up. I'll be meeting them in just a little while, so it's your only chance to set the record straight before I see with my own eyes. And don't say it's embarrassing when I know the way my mother was chatting you up last year."

"Don't try that. You know as well as I do that you'd've put her on a silver platter if I asked for her that first night."

She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'd've been more selfish if I thought I was at risk of losing you. Or maybe I'd've seen that you weren't the kind of guy that I liked." The words were a little harsh, but she didn't believe a word of their little alternative history. "Morals do get a little warped when you live for hundreds of years. I think she'd be fine with sharing. Maybe a Christmas gift idea for another year?"

Rick turned her around forcefully to pin her against the wall and stare down into her impish expression. "Keep playing with fire like that and there might be consequences."

More smug, giggling like a brat, Sugarbell pinched the hem of his shirt. "Ooh? You're going to punish me? I'd like to see you try."

"You'd like me to punish you, is what you mean."

"You know me too well~" Sugarbell wiggled within his shadow. "So, spanking? You'll have to wait until we get home, to discipline me properly, my love~"

"I don't know," he said, slipping his hand around her body to cup one sweet cheek. "We've got a solid half hour before my sister is supposed to be here, and I'm sure we could find somewhere that there aren't so many spectators. Or do you want to be able to sit when we get to my parents' house?"

Sugarbell still couldn't hold in the giggle fit that had been building in her belly. "I like it when you try to act hardcore~ But could we actually look at some of the Bigfoot stuff? Some of it looks really cute."

Nothing here is as cute as you are. Even he wasn't corny enough to actually say it aloud, choosing to accept her proposal by taking her hand in his and following along while she pleased herself in the shops, showing off every little thing that caught her eye, then putting it down with a soupcon of disgust when she spotted the price tag despite her previous observance of market forces.

-o-

Rick had said that he made more than enough money for her to treat herself a little more often, but Sugarbell felt more and more often that she could simply craft whatever it was that she saw. The Bigfoot sweater that she really wanted, to give to Rick so that it would soak up his scent before she could steal it and bask in his heat, was something that could be the result of a pleasant evening with a couple skeins of yarn and knitting needles.

Moreover, she'd have the good fortune to see his smiling face when he came through the door after a long day of work and she had a gift waiting for him along with a smooch and hot dinner on the table. Of course this was more of a gift for herself, when it came right down to it. Sugarbell had a hard time thinking of gifts that she'd given him that weren't also meant for herself.

New bakeware: a commission from one of her svarltalf friends; she didn't feel safe making anything in the rusted-through pans that Rick had already owned when she moved in. One couldn't underestimate the joy of working with the proper tools, of exquisite make, and even better if that work was to make dinner for one's sweetie. She had to imagine her cooking was ninety percent of what rick ate anymore, and she pinked with pride to think that.

Filmy lingerie? Not even going into the pleasure of putting it on in secret in the morning so that she could be teased with its ephemeral touch all day, the look on Rick's face when she stood up from the dinner table and let her day's dress fall to the ground... and then the joy of being swept up and carried to their bed~ It was always more a gift to herself than it was to him...

And even herself...

He'd always thought that her being a gift was an imposition on her she could tell, no matter how many times she told him how many other elfs had competed for the position of his girlfriend. Humans were odd. Cute, but odd. There was often a pause to his loving touch, as if he didn't really believe that she was with him of her own volition, or that it was a matter of near-religious devotion to Santa that kept her where she was, at his side.

Sugarbell took it as another sign of his good nature, so that his doubt wouldn't hurt her feelings. She'd rather that her lover held no resistance to her in his heart, but she couldn't tell, couldn't ask, whether he knew that he was doing it.

In one shop, in the back, there were racks with special dog rosa-blanca.ru, decorated for the holidays, and marked with common names so that customers could please themselves searching for their own.

Rick laughed as she searched. "Pretty tall order, finding one that says Sugarbell, don't you think?"

"There could still be a 'Bell' or a 'Sugar', I bet."

"Maybe Bell." He shrugged, leaning against a clothing rack to let her do her thing in peace without his hovering over her shoulder. "Though I don't think you'd find Sugar. That's a little bit more of a, you know... stripper name... That's not what I mean."

Sugarbell giggled to herself. "Sweet one, should I tell you the names of some of my closest friends?" She put up one finger after another while keeping her eyes on the rosa-blanca.ru. "Honeybun, Maple, Sugarstar, Ginger, Turkish delight, Sugarplum, Pudding, Sweetmeat-"

"You're going to have to explain that last one."

"It's another word for candy," she said. "And anyway, I was never looking for my own name. That's just absurd, as if they'd seen me coming and printed one off just in case I came in and it caught my eye. No, I was looking for..." she held up her prize: a tag with Rick's name printed into the steel, "this. Do you think I'd look good with a pink collar, or is green better?"

Rick laughed, and the sound filled her breast with pride, but she noticed that he shifted in front of the dog collars so that she wouldn't reach for one.

"You're right," she said, putting the tag back. "I'm sure we can find a better deal on this sort of thing, just by visiting a pet store on the way home. I've seen those machines that print out custom rosa-blanca.ru, don't think I haven't. They have heart shapes, too."

He held her and started moving them both toward the door; his sister would be there any minute to pick them up after all, and they shouldn't keep her waiting by her car. "You're not my pet, though."

"Potato, tomato. I think it would be nice to have a claim of ownership between us. A collar may be outside your comfort range, but maybe charm bracelets? Easy enough to make, and you can show yours off to all those gorgeous women in your office, let them know that this nice hunk is off the market~"

He was smirking, she could tell even though he was behind her. "I've shown you pictures from the office and you know there are no such women."

"Well, well, of course you wouldn't take pictures of the pretty ones if you were trying to make me feel secure." Sugarbell marched in front of him, bobbing her head side to side. "But mother says your man should leave home with his belly full and his balls empty. I kid, actually my mother wouldn't let you leave the bed until she'd secured your loyalty."

"Aha. Speaking of gorgeous women, do you have Lov's number?"

Sugarbell turned on her heel and thumped her fist on his broad chest. "Too far, I'm sorry," she said.

"I've said you can come see my workplace if you want. I have told everyone about you, but you could stake your claim and give all the girls the stink-eye."

"Maybe for the new year's party?"

Rick's smile shone, he kissed her bare forehead. "I wasn't planning on going, since I had someone to watch the ball fall with, but I guess it'll be nice to see my co-workers jealous. Oh hey, there's Katherine!"

-o-

The young woman was shivering next to a minivan despite her heavy winter coat, a muffler, (fake) fur-lined boots, wool leggings, and mittens. To Sugarbell, Katherine was the spitting image of her brother, face shape and all that, similarities that an untrained eye might miss; they were unmistakably siblings. She was doing her level best to send Rick a text that she was there and waiting for them to come out through her mittens, didn't quite notice they were already there until she'd finished and was alerted by the ping of Rick's phone.

Rick closed the distance and got everyone into the van to escape the cold before exchanging pleasantries, stuffing Sugarbell into the passenger seat and himself in the rear with their bags and Katherine's mess. They pulled out of the space with considerate silence as Katherine used all of her concentration to keep them from getting into an accident amid the rush of traffic spurting out of the airport.

It was some time later when they'd come out onto the freeway and driving didn't take so much attention that Katherine couldn't talk.

Sugarbell started off the conversation. "Thank you ever so much for taking the time to pick us up. Rick was nearly ready to waste the money on a rental before your mother called and set all this up."

"Yeah, sure," Katherine said. "Wish I'd had a chance to step inside and talk you up. It's gonna be hard to convince you to give up on that guy while mom and dad are around."

Rick spoke up from the back seat. "She doesn't mean that."

"Who says?" Katherine shrugged, sticking her tongue out at him in the rear-view mirror. "Sugarbell, was it? Did you know that this guy once cheated on someone in high school?"

"I did not, she cheated with me! I didn't know she had a boyfriend until after he'd popped me in the eye."

Sugarbell was giggling, trying to hide it adorably behind a raised fist. "You two must really love each other~ I'm glad to make your acquaintance, Katherine, and I hope that I meet your expectations."

"How could you? That guy has been hiding you under a rock. It was only a little while ago that mom was able to pry a picture out of him, and then we were all pretty sure that he'd finally cracked and picked up an account one one of those sites. So, how much is he paying you to actually show up in person?"

Pouting, Sugarbell peered around the corner of the passenger seat to make sure that Rick wasn't taking the ribbing too hard. Of course, he had the security of knowing that none of it was true, and he simply smiled at her so that she would feel as secure when she turned back.

"Nothing," Sugarbell said. "I'm here to see who I may soon call my mother in law, father in law, sister in law... So I do hope that I meet your approval... Though, if I don't, that wouldn't matter."

"Oh?" Katherine said.