Christmas Carol

“Carol, you were made for this town. You belong here,” he says, bending down to kiss my forehead.

“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted me with you,” I respond, trying to pull away, coming down off of my high of having the man I love wanting me with him. This sudden shift in reality is abrupt… and painful.

“Shhh…” he groans, refusing to let me go. “I do want you with me, mi corazón. I’m just saying that you are home here in Mistletoe. This place feeds your happiness. You love Christmas and everything the holiday stands for.”

I swallow nervously, because he’s not wrong, but I don’t want Mistletoe if it means I can’t have him.

“Cyrus. I know you hate Christmas and I know why. I do love it here, but I love you more. I can be happy anywhere you are.”

He smiles at me, the kind of smile that brightens his blue eyes and makes the rest of the world disappear.

“Mi corazón, do you not understand? You have changed everything for me. You have given me my very own Christmas miracle.”

“I have?”

“Si. You have given me your love and before you came over here I was watching you laughing and talking to the people of Mistletoe and I realized something.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ve given me the one thing I’ve never had and really the only thing I truly wanted all these years.”

“I don’t quite understand, Cyrus,” I respond helplessly, not knowing what he’s talking about, but recognizing the importance of it just the same.

“You gave me a home, Carol. I love everything about this town now, because I see it through your eyes. This is where I want our children to grow up.”

“Our children…”

“Definitely, mi corazón.”

With his words he drops down onto a knee and looks up at me. My heart is beating crazily.

I watch as his hand slips down into his pocket and he pulls out a small jewelry box. I gasp, his face blurring as tears begin to well up. I can’t believe this is happening.

“My beautiful Carol, I just put a down payment on a ten-acre farm, which will soon have a beautiful house full of empty bedrooms. I just signed a five-year contract to play for the Montana Moose, for a hell of a lot less than I was offered to play in Arizona.”

“I…”

“I did all of that, Carol, because I’ve finally found the place where I belong and a woman who owns my soul.”

“Cyrus…”

“Marry me, Carol. Marry me and live with me here in Mistletoe. Raise a family with me and make me the happiest man in the world, mi corazón. I love you.”

He reaches the ring up to me, taking my hand in his and slipping it on my finger.

“Cyrus!” I cry, falling down into his arms, hugging him and peppering his face with kisses. We tumble onto the sidewalk, snow falling down on us and I don’t even care.

“Is that a yes, Carol?” he asks, pulling my hair from my face, holding my neck and looking up at me.

“Yes! A million times, yes!” I cry and then he kisses me.

He kisses me, right there underneath the twinkling Christmas lights of Mistletoe, snow falling down on us and all of my friends singing, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, in the background and there’s never been anything more perfect.Carol“What are you doing, sweetheart?” I ask, coming up to stand beside Cyrus.

Instantly his arm goes around me, and he squeezes me into his body. I angle my head and tiptoe up to kiss him. He’s standing against a candy cane decorated light pole, looking down the street as everyone gathers around the town’s twelve-foot Christmas tree and begin singing. I had been there with them, but when I saw him standing alone I walked over to him.

“Just looking at everything, mi corazón.”

“We can go home, Cyrus,” I murmur, giving his body a squeeze and resting my head against his chest. I smile, because I know he’s been trying in the couple of months that we’ve been together, but he really hates Christmas.

“You love this, Carol,” he says smiling down at me.

“I do, but you don’t,” I respond simply. “Let’s go home.”

“Just like that,” he says, his voice so soft it’s almost drowned out by the music. He turns so that we’re facing, and he looks down at me. His hand curves against the side of my neck.

“Cyrus?” I question, my heart beating faster. I’ve never seen him in this mood before and it leaves me worrying.

“I hated the idea of being transferred to Montana, Carol. I thought my life was hitting rock bottom again. I’d fought so hard to get out of that state home, to build a flashy life full of expensive shit, so that anyone who saw me would never feel sorry for me again. I wanted them to look at me and see that I wasn’t the trash I was treated as when I was a child. That I wasn’t someone others could just throw away.”