One Step at a Time

I\'m sorry this update is SO late. I lost the Internet for about a week and this last week after getting it back I either wasn\'t feeling well or something else was distracting me. But it\'s finally done.

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“I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you to just drop in like this today.” Liz’s mother said while she fixed a couple drinks for her daughter and herself. Flowing knowingly though the kitchen, making sure everything was right in place after disturbing them unexpectedly.

“Well, I was in the neighborhood… ten miles away.” She responded peculiarly as she shifted her eyes to the beverage in front of her. “Actually, I wanted to find out what our plans were going to be for this Christmas.”

Her mother took a seat on the other side of the island and rested her hands on the cool marble countertop. “As far as I know it’ll be you, your father, and I; but Mike and Colton are going to be able to make it this year. That is, unless you had something in mind?”

“Um… kind of…” Liz started, looking down at her drink and blushing slightly. “But I don’t know how well it would go over.” Her mother raised an eyebrow in curiosity and Liz continued. “There’s this guy…”

“Oh there is, is there?” Her mother interrupted with a mischievous smile.

“Oh, God… that came out so… not how I intended.” She defended herself with a darker blush. “Um, no, it’s just someone that I’ve been friends with for the last few months. Someone to have lunch with or just to spend time with, you know.”

“Uh huh.” Her mother said, though with a tone as if she wasn’t fully convinced. “So does this ‘just someone’ have a name?”

Liz nodded. “Jake.” She said simply, but with a smile that didn’t help her mother believe her. “And he’s kind of in a… poor situation.” She worded carefully, not sure how to bring up the subject. “I stopped by his house on Thanksgiving before I came here for dinner and he was spending the day watching sports and ordering out for pizza.”

She looked at her daughter with confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“It was Thanksgiving, mom. That’s all he was doing. He was doing that because he doesn’t have any family and usually ends up spending these holidays alone. I’m just afraid Christmas will be the same…” She trailed off when the image of him getting up and going to bed as if it were any other day popped into her head. No family gatherings or a tree with presents under it, no lights on the house, a bare fireplace, the lack of Christmas music playing in the background. Liz finally had to kick herself for painting such a depressing image.

“I can take a guess where this is going.”

Liz looked up with hope in her eyes. If it were her father looking back into those wide, dark eyes he would have said yes without her having to ask a question. Her mother, though one of the greatest people in Liz’s eyes, was a bit more hesitant about things, especially strangers. “I… was just wondering if he could come spend Christmas here with us.”

“I don’t know…” She started with a small sigh.

“It’s not like he’s just some random person off the street. Heather and I have both known him for…” She stopped to count the days in her head. “Almost half a year now.” She also hopped that if she threw her best friend in the mix it would help convince her.

“And he has no family at all?” She asked with another small sigh, more or less with her decision made. Liz nodded her answer and knew that she had won her mother over. “I suppose it would be alright if you brought a friend.” She said with a heavier, fake sigh as if Liz really had to grind her down before she gave in.

She reached over with a smile and gave her mother a hug. “Thank you so much. I’m sure this will mean a lot to him. IF I can get him to come that is.”

***

Jake was in the kitchen making a sandwich for the movie he was about to watch when he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He wiped his hands clean and walked around the corner to answer, to his surprise seeing Liz standing on the front stoop with her hands behind her back. She was about as innocent looking as you could get, which most likely meant she was up to something. Hiding all body language under her thick coat and scarf and wearing a mischievous look in her eyes.

“Hey, this is an unexpected visit.” He greeted as he opened the door to let her in.

“Yeah, I’m having a knack for that today it seems.” She said, making sure she was always facing him and keeping her arms behind her. He eyed her as if to question her statement, but she told him to forget it. Now he was trying to see what was behind her. “I just came by to give you something.” She smiled as she brought a box out from behind her, wrapped in blue paper with gold stars and red ribbon tied around it.

He took the present from her reluctantly, looking it over before facing her again. “For my birthday I assume?” Liz bit her lip and nodded. She looked so pleased that Jake couldn’t do anything but accept it. “You didn’t have to do this.” He said with a sigh as he slowly headed into the living room, beginning to undo the bow.

“I know, but I wanted you to know that at least someone acknowledges your birthday. Besides, I think it’s time I treat you to something for once.” She said sitting next to him on the couch. He placed the gift on the coffee table and started on the wrapping, careful not to completely trash it as it looked like she took her time to make it look nice. Once open he was left with a plain white box and he looked over at Liz, a look of eagerness on her face, before opening it.

“Oh my God…” He said in shock as he parted the tissue paper that surrounded the item inside. He slowly stood up pulling up the long coat from the box and dragging it out to get a good look at it. “This is…”

Liz stood up beside him to look at it for the first time since wrapping it. “I know. I noticed you would always look at it every time we passed that clothing store.”

“But… this is too much. The thing cost, like a hundred bucks.” He stuttered, almost speechless from her overwhelming gesture.

“It wasn’t. I caught it on sale just a few days ago. And no, I won’t tell you how much off. People aren’t supposed to know the price of their gifts.” She lectured, waving her finger. “Come on, try it on.”

Jake hesitantly opened the tan trench coat and slowly slid it on, flipping it up and down some to get it to settle around his body well. He adjusted the cuffs and tugged at the collar before turning back to Liz. “You really shouldn’t have.” He said again.

She reassured him not to worry about it, finding it strange that she was the one to say it for once. “So… do you like it?”

He ran his hand down the sides of it and found the two front pockets and broke them in. “I love it.” He said simply. “It’s perfect.” Liz beamed at his approval and when she came near to check how it fit close up he caught her by surprise, pulling her close into a hug and lifting her up playfully before setting her down again. “Thank you.” He whispered into her hair.

Liz blushed at this unexpected contact between the two and nervously wrapped her arms around him as well. “Y-your welcome.” She said into his chest. “I hope it makes up for me dragging you to that wedding the day after your birthday.” He rubbed her back a couple times before finally letting go, all too soon Liz thought to herself. Once their embrace broke he immediately returned to checking out his new gift while she spent this time to calm herself. Eventually being the first to speak again. “You smell like avocado.”

The randomness of her statement snapped him back to where he was. It took his mind a couple second to register what she said before remembering why and laughing. “Oh, yeah. I was making a sandwich before you came here.” He said. “Do you like avocado, bacon, and tomato?” Jake offered as he started back to the kitchen.

“Um, I’ve never had one.” She said. “But… I am kind of hungry. If it’s not too much trouble.”

“None.” He answered. “I was getting ready to watch a movie too… um, would you want to stick around for it? It’s A Wonderful Life.”

Liz didn’t have any plans that day besides seeing her parents and stopping by Jake’s, so she gladly accepted. He served her the sandwich that he had already prepared and while she set the movie for them and got settled he made a second. He enjoyed having someone with him to watch this movie with again. When he was younger it was a not so original tradition for his family to watch all the classic Christmas films like Miracle on Thirty-Forth Street and A Christmas Story. They always started with It’s a Wonderful Life, Jake’s personal favorite, and he never broke the flow even after his parents passed.

They made it to the part where George was on the bridge wanting his life back when Jake suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. Looking over he noticed Liz was resting her head against him. He nudged her a couple times and called her name, but she was sound asleep. He slowly got up to his feet, keeping his hands under her to prevent her from falling over and gently laid her down, placing one of the pillows under her head. Jake then went over to the closet and got a blanket for her, wrapping it around her snug as carefully as he could. Finally kneeling down and slowly removed her glasses and rested them on the nearby table.

He didn’t leave, though. He just sat there for a couple moments and watched her, taking in how peaceful she looked when she slept. He brushed back some strands of her hair and leaned over giving her a light kiss on the forehead, hoping that it wouldn’t be enough to cause her to stir and wake. Imagining how embarrassed he would be if she caught him doing this. “Good night.” He said in a barely audible whisper and got up to turn in himself, shutting off the television and lights on his way out.

The next morning Liz was awakened by clanging sound in the distance. At first she didn’t pay too much mind to it, figuring it was garbage truck knocking around the dumpsters behind her apartment, but when she started to feel around where she was she shot up. Her eyes were blurry and she couldn’t figure out where she was until she started to rub the sleep from her eyes and she began to focus again. “Oh no.” She let out with a gasp.

She quickly gathered her composure and snuck out of the room, not knowing where Jake was or if he was still sleeping, and didn’t want to disturb him. When she got to the hallway, though, she could smell food being cooked. Eggs, she realized and poked her head shyly into the kitchen to see if he was there. “Well good morning.” Jake’s voice startled her from behind. Apparently he had come around through the service porch to see if she was still asleep, but ended up following her. She let out a small scream and spun around to see him right behind her, a sequence all too familiar in their relationship.

Instead of chiding him for sneaking up on her again she felt the need to apologize. “I’m so sorry.” She said, watching him walk past her to return to the kitchen.

“For what?” He insisted, returning to the eggs frying on a large pan over the stove. “It’s not like you got in the way or anything.”

“I know, but…”

“I didn’t know what you liked for breakfast, so I just made some eggs. I assume everyone likes eggs in some way or another, but I made scrambled. Is that alright?” He interrupted to force her to end the apology, saying that it was fine once and for all.

“Oh, um, yeah…that’s fine.” She stuttered, not expecting this abrupt change in subject.

Jake smiled in acknowledgement, turning his attention back to the stove and tossing around the chopped up eggs with a couple of spatulas, flopping down a few pieces of bacon as well. “And what’s your morning brew of choice?”

“Coffee.” She said simply as she took a seat at the small table, but raised an eyebrow when she heard him groan with disappointment.

“Uh, I’m afraid I don’t have any.” He said regretfully. “I don’t drink the stuff, so… I have tea, is that okay?”

“Tea’s fine.” She assured, resting her elbows on the table and clasping her hands together. Jake began dishing up her plate after setting a kettle in the sink to fill and placed it in front of Liz, turning back to grab a fork for her. He really knew how to pile a plate, she thought. There must have been four or five eggs piled in front of her with just as many slices of bacon. She knew she couldn’t possibly finish it all, but he went to the trouble for all this that she figured half would be a decent amount. Her thoughts were broken by the whistle of the pot and Jake came over with a mug, tea bags, and the hot water; placing them next to her plate.

“So did you sleep well?” He asked, sitting down across from her while crunching on a slice of bacon.

She was silent for a moment as she finished the bite she was working on. “I guess I did. The last thing I remember was Clarence being wrestled around by Bert then the next thing I knew I was waking up to the sound of you cooking.”

“I’d use that term loosely if I were you.” He returned. “There are very few things I can make well. Luckily for you eggs are simple. Salt, cheese, heat, and I’m done.”

“They’re perfect.” She praised as she poured the hot water into her mug and began dipping the tea bag in and out. “But, aren’t you going to have any?”

Jake shook his head. “I don’t like eggs. I only have them around for waffle makings.”

“I thought you said everyone likes eggs?”

“Yeah, well, I’m a real weirdo I guess.” He joked with a smirk. He got up again to start cleaning up everything while Liz continued to enjoy her breakfast. As he was at the sink washing the pan he used he couldn’t help glancing over repeatedly at Liz. Admiring all of her movements like how her hair would always fall in her face and she would constantly have to push it back, or how she would still look around his house shyly as if she was still a complete stranger to it. Also how she was easily startled he laughed to himself inside.

Liz finally finished as much as she could before getting up and adding her plate next to the sink. She offered to help him with them, but he refused telling her to relax and make herself at home while he finished up. Instead she found herself leaning against the refrigerator watching him clean up. Here she had a guy who could cook, clean, fix things, and treat her well, and she was too shy to make a move. Not that that would change anything. He wanted a friend and she was just that. Trying for anything more would probably ruin things, she reminded herself.

“Jake?” She asked quietly, grabbing his attention over the running water. “What are you doing for Christmas?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I can’t say I’ll be up to much of anything. Why?”

“Because…” Liz was hesitant to continue, still leaning against the refrigerator and messing with her nails nervously. “I was kind of wondering… do you… would you want to spend it with my family and me?”

Jake fell silent for a moment while he turned off the water and dried his hands. He turned to see her standing behind him looking down at her hands and he started to laugh slightly. “Are you serious?” She looked up at him shyly and nodded her head. Looking at him with those eyes that killed him every time he looked into them. “I don’t know…”

“Why not? It would be something to do, there will be lots of food and things to do… it would be fun.” Jake didn’t say anything just yet as he was running the idea through his head. “I was going to ask last night after the movie, but you know how that went.”

“I don’t even know who would be there… I wouldn’t even know anyone who would be there, aside for you.”

“Well, it would just be my parents and brothers and me.” She explained. “The plan would be, we would go on Christmas Eve for dinner then spend the night. My brothers will be coming in sometime Christmas morning and we would all spend the day there, either coming back that night or the next morning. And you don’t have to worry about not knowing anyone there. They’re all perfectly nice people.”

“Still, I don’t know… wouldn’t I be intruding?”

Liz frowned playfully as she pushed off of the refrigerator. “No you would not be intruding.” She repeated back, sticking her tongue out with a huff. “Now stop trying to think of ways not to go. Either you want to or you don’t.”

Jake leaned against the counter and crossed his arms to think about it more. “You really want me to go?” He asked. She nodded again and even though she felt that he would give in, she wasn’t sure. After all this time that they’ve known each other the way that bizarre mind of his worked was still a mystery for her. Finally after what seemed like much deliberation he let out a heavy sigh. “I guess so.”

Liz let out a small laugh and clapped her hands together in victory. “Great! Everyone will be glad to have you over.” She assured, but as usual Jake had his doubts. He never was good at meeting new people and here he was about to meet a whole group. It was only the beginning of December so he had a fair amount of time to get use to the idea, but he still felt uneasy about it.

***

“I still don’t know about this.” Jake said as he climbed out of the passenger side of Liz’s car. It was the first time he had ever ridden in it and quite frankly he was relieved to get out. It was a smaller car without much legroom and for a half hour drive it was fairly uncomfortable to say the least. He reached into the back seat and pulled out his duffle bag for the over night stay, sighing heavily as he looked at the house of her family.

“It’ll be fine.” She consoled him, her breath appearing in the air in front of her lips. Tonight was the coldest day of winter so far and was a perfect overcast setting for Christmas. Liz came up next to him as he was hugging the coat she gave him closed around him. “I’m sure they’ll be glad to meet you.” She continued as she whipped her scarf around her neck.

This is the type of nervousness a boyfriend is supposed to feel, Jake thought. When a couple has been going out long enough to make meeting her parents significant and the poor guy awaits the stare of disapproval from the mother and the overprotective wrath of the father. His heart jumped a beat when he heard the doorbell ring on the inside and he began nervously looking around the porch. Taking in some left over fall decorations that were still fitting for the current season like dried leaves and a Thanksgiving wreath that was able to carry over for Christmas.

Jake whipped his head around and held his breath as the door opened to reveal a woman with short, dirty-blonde hair and a smile spreading across her face at seeing her daughter. She quickly embraced Liz in a hug and wished her a Merry Christmas before turning her attention to Jake.

“So, you must be Jake.” She analyzed and he only nodded. “Well, come here.” She motioned with her arms stretched out for a hug. He looked over at Liz with a thrown expression on his face and she nodded him to go ahead. He stiffly stepped over to her as she pulled him close for only a few seconds before parting and looking him over. “You’re taller than I imagined from Liz’s description.”

“Mom!” Liz shouted, somehow hoping it would drown out her comment even though it was after the fact. The idea of Jake finding out that she spoke about him in detail like that horrified her and she made that apparent by the color of red her face turned.

She smiled amusingly at her daughter and looked back at Jake, taking a step back into the house to invite them in. The warmth of the place was welcoming as he took in his surroundings and they removed their coats. The first room, the living room was nicely furnished similar to that of an old Victorian with a fire burning in the fireplace. The house also smelled of cinnamon, which Jake couldn’t place the source of, whether it was from decorations or something cooking in the kitchen.

“It’s nice that you could make it.” Liz’s mother started as she guided them through the room. “In case you didn’t know, I’m Grace. You can call me that too. No need for formalities like Mrs. or ma’am around here, especially during the holidays. Well, come into the kitchen so I can get you two kids something to drink.”

“Thanks.” Jake finally managed to spit out. Well she seems nice enough, he thought, but three more to go. “It was nice of you to have me.”

She returned a smile as she handed the two of them a cup of hot cider and turned back to a pot on the stove. A plume of steam rose when she lifted the lid and pushed some of it away with a wave of her hand. “What are we having tonight?” Liz asked, finishing the first sip of her drink.

“Chicken and dumplings.” She replied as she poked around in the pot with a wooden spoon. “Something simple so I don’t ware myself out and won’t want to make the turkey dinner tomorrow. In fact…” She turned to another counter top and picked up a bundle of carrots and a peeler. “You two can help my out by skinning the carrots.”

Liz smiled in an exhausted fashion as she reluctantly took one of the vegetables. “She always does this.” She said, looking over to a flustered Jake. “Whenever she has some extra hands she takes advantage of it.” This time throwing her statement more towards her mother who retaliated by whipping her lightly in the arm with a towel.

“I see you’re putting our guests to work.” A male voice said from behind, startling all three of them. “Now where’s the Christmas spirit in that?” He said as he came around and kissed Grace on the cheek. The man must have had feet made of cotton, Jake thought. How on earth anyone could enter a house and a room so silently, yet casually was beyond him. He turned to face Liz and she got up to greet him with a hug. “Hey, Pumpkin. How are you?”

Pumpkin? Jake chuckled inwardly to the apparent pet name she had. “I’m fine, Dad.” She replied, looking over to Jake to trigger an introduction.

“So you must be Jake.” He said reaching his arm over the island to shake his hand. “You can call me Harold.”

“And you would be right.” Jake returned as he met his hand in the middle and shook it. “Thanks for having me.” He found himself saying again. For some reason he felt a little at ease with him. Probably because he didn’t tower over Jake imposingly like he imagined, but instead was of slender build with brown hair that seemed lighter due to some scattered gray hairs, and he had soft eyes that didn’t pierce through him. Grace did too, come to think of it. Even though she looked him over as if she were inspecting him for a job, she was sincere with her welcoming and Jake almost felt stupid for being such a nervous wreck about this night.

Harold looked behind him and saw that Liz and Grace were involved with the food on the stove and turned back to Jake, observing the pile of carrots he had already cleaned up. “It appears you’re use to this type of slave labor.” He joked with a clear of his throat as he adjusted his glasses and sat on a stool across from Jake.

Jake looked up from what he was doing to meet his eyes with a slight chuckle. “Kind of. I use to help my parents with this kind of thing back when. Now I find me doing it for myself.” He reminisced as returned to the repetitive motions, trying not to go into a trance while doing so. Any time he would do any kind of monotonous work it was like his mind would just shut down and go off elsewhere.

“Oh, yeah.” He said with another clear of his throat, a nervous habit all to familiar to Jake. “I’m sorry to hear about them. Though I know this is probably the crumbiest thing to bring up now.” He let out a slight sigh of exasperation.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jake consoled. “I’m the one that brought it up… plus I’m passed it anyway.” Was this happening? Jake was the one worried about this visit and he was the one comforting them? There was just something off about that, he thought.

“Honestly, Dear.” Grace spoke up. “I have no idea how you manage to speak to a hundred students every day, but one person in your own home ends up getting you tongue-tied.”

Harold swiveled around on his stool to face his wife and brushed his hand through his hair. “It’s perfectly understandable.” He said in mock defense. “In front of a large group of people it’s relatively impersonal. In one-on-one or in smaller groups you have to open yourself up more, making yourself a bit more vulnerable.” The two ladies laughed as he explained and Jake had to smile himself, feeling himself unwind more.

“So, you’re a professor?” He asked Harold and he spun around again and nodded. “Funny, so was my dad. And my mom taught high school.”

“I didn’t know your parents were teachers.” Liz said as she turned around with a towel, cleaning her hands off. Grace came over and took the carrots that Jake had skinned and dropped them in the pot.

Jake shrugged and he got up to wipe his hands as well. “It just never came up.”

“What did they teach?” Harold asked.

“My dad…” He pause for a second, seemingly staring off into space as if he was reaching into his memory to remember. “He taught Science. My mom was an English and Creative Writing teacher. I even had her in my freshman year for a semester before… uh, well, before…” He trailed off with an awkward chuckle.

There was a heavy silence that fell over the room for only a second before Grace deliberately broke it by moving onto another topic. “Well, that’s enough of that. Diner’s almost ready, so everyone get ready and head into the dining room.” She motioned everybody out of the room and Harold patted Jake on the back as he walked by as if to apologize for bringing up a subject that was apparently sensitive to him.

He got up afterwards and followed Liz to where a bathroom was to wash up before dinner, not wanting to use the kitchen sink and possibly get in the way as her mother was finishing up. Liz apologized as well, not for her dad, but just for the situation. She felt she probably should have warned her parents that his family, or lack there of, was kind of a touchy subject, even though he shrugged it off as not a big deal. Just as he did this time.

Dinner afterwards went off well enough. Chicken and dumplings was one of Jake’s personal favorites and he was surprised that it just happened to be what Grace cooked. Normally he would have figured that Liz tipped them off and her mother prepared it to make it homier for him, but to his recollection he couldn’t remember ever telling her it was one of his favorites. While they ate they mostly spoke about things that were completely foreign to Jake like family and friends, constantly explaining things to him so he didn’t feel so out of the loop. Something he wished they didn’t do because he felt that it was becoming a burden after a while.

Occasionally they would turn to him and ask him about himself, but his replies were always short and vague. Giving them the bare minimum of what they wanted to know without having to delve much into his past. Though he was grateful that they invited him and were trying to keep him in the conversation with them, he kind of wished they would just let him watch from the sidelines. Talking about himself was never a strong point, especially with relative strangers. All and all he was having a good enough time, so he really couldn’t complain.

After dinner Grace told Liz and Jake to go into the living room and relax while she and Harold cleared the table. They were once again greeted by the warmth of the fire, which they had a clear view of from the dining room, and Liz took a seat on one of the couches. The room was set up so that the coffee table flowed out from the direction of the fireplace and on either side was a small couch. Large enough for a decent amount of people to enjoy without taking up too much space, and adding symmetry to the room that a couple chairs on one side instead would have disturbed.

“I hope you’re not having too bad of a time here.” She said as she watched him take in some of the pictures and cards that were on display on the mantle top.

He turned to look back at her, noticing that the flames were flickering in her eyes reflection, and averted his gaze some when he realized that he was just staring at her. “I’m not. Really.” He said simply. Turning his attention back to the pictures he was looking at before.

Liz got up and came buy his side, looking at the same black and white photo of a couple that he seemed fixed on. “My grandparents.” She explained. “On my mom’s side. I never got to know them, though. He passed away before I was born and she when I was only two or so.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Jake said remorsefully.

She shook her head at his apology. “It’s okay. I mean, I wish I got to know them, but since I didn’t it’s pretty hard to miss them.”

Jake turned his head to say more when he was preemptively interrupted by Harold’s voice behind. “Alright, who’s ready to open presents?” He asked, clasping his hands together in a clap.

“Presents?” Jake asked, stunned as he turned around. “Now?”

Harold could only laugh. “Don’t worry, we’re not one of those weirdo families that opens everything on Christmas Eve.” He said. “But every year each of us opens one thing the night before.”

Liz immediately rushed over to the tree that was decorated brilliantly. Bright with colored and white lights and ornaments scattering the branches, ranging from old ones like ‘Baby’s first Christmas’ to more recent ones like the annual Mother’s or Son’s ones. He was even able to spot his own that he brought along. They had told him to bring an ornament that he liked if he had any, to help make him feel more at home. He decided on one of his older ones of Garfield and Odie asleep in bed with Santa hats on. The first one he ever got.

Jake headed meekly over to the far end of one of the couches where his duffle bag was still resting and sat down, reaching over and unzipping it to pull out a small cedar box. He rested it between his leg and the arm of the couch to hide it until everyone was done messing around by the tree. Liz then came over and sat beside him with her hands tucked into the opposite arms of her long sweater, hiding whatever it was she had as well. “You two can go ahead.” Grace called over. “We’re still deciding over here.” She finished with a child-like laugh.

Liz looked over to Jake with a timid smile and he cleared his throat. “Um… well…” He decided not to try and say anything more, not knowing what all to say. Instead he simply pulled the wooden box from his side and handed it to her gently and watched her eyes light up at the sight of it. It was unexpected to her that he got her a gift, but knowing that it was Jake she should have known better.

“Oh, Jake…” She trailed off as she took it in her hands. “It’s beautiful.” Jake had found it after stumbling into an antique shop after hours of searching for something that he thought would be worthy of a gift. Originally it was in somewhat poor condition with rough edges and the lid didn’t open and close quite right, but he spent a little time with it at home and made it look almost like new. Liz just sat there and examined it, running her fingers over the edges and the smooth sides before spotting the bottom where there was an engraving made by a wood burner.

‘For Liz. Merry Christmas. Jake.’

“This is so sweet.” She said as she finally opened the small box and gasped slightly. Inside rested a pair of glasses frames, tucked in tightly by white tissue paper. This is what Jake was really nervous about with this gift. The box he knew would be fine, but he didn’t know how well this would go over.

“I can take them back if they don’t fit exactly right, or you don’t like them.” He said instead of waiting in silence for her vocal reaction. “I just remember you complaining about the ones you have pinching your nose all the time.”

Liz looked over in disbelief. “How do you remember that?” She asked in a soft voice. “That was months ago.” Jake only shrugged as he watched her carefully pull the thin black-rimmed frames out and look them over. She slowly opened them up and pulling her hair back before slipping them on, wiggling them around a bit to see how snug they fit. “They’re perfect.” She finally said and looked back at Jake through the empty space where the lenses should be.

A sense of relief came over him knowing that she didn’t hate them. That relief was quickly turned into embarrassment, though when she got up to show her parents what he had done. He was far enough away that he couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but from the smiles that were constantly being shot his way he had the general idea. “I had Alice come with me when I went out to get them.” He said as she came back to him, beaming from the gift she just received. “I figured she was around your size, but if they were still off you could take them back to have them altered, or trade them in.”

She didn’t say anything in response just yet, though. Instead she was the brave one of the two and took him into a hug as soon as she sat down right next to him. “Thank you.” She whispered into his ear. “This is just so… thank you.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say as soon as she started to say it. She could only sputter out thank you a couple more times. They finally broke apart when they heard a couple chuckles come from the other couch.

“Would you like us to leave you two alone for a while?” Grace joked as she played with the ribbon of the package she was holding in her lap. Liz’s face turned a bright red as she scolded her mother for the comment and Jake leaned back and rubbed his eyebrows with a moan. Now I’m getting this from her family, he thought.

“Anyway.” Liz started loudly to drown out her parents lingering comments. “Here’s yours.” She said to Jake, handing him a small white box with a simple red ribbon tied around it. “I’m sure it will pale in comparison with what you got me, but I hope you still like it.”

She watched intensely as she did when he was opening his birthday present. He opened the box slowly and his eyes narrowed at the two tickets that were lying inside. “Tiger tickets?” He was growing ecstatic as he just stared down at them. “You… got me tickets to a Tigers game?” He said again through stuttered laughs. “I can’t believe it. Thank you.”

Liz smiled at the notion that he apparently liked his gift. Though compared to hers, two little pieces of paper in a plain box just looked so cheap. “I’m glad you like it. One of Heather’s brother’s friends actually has season tickets and these are some of the very few he was willing to part with.” She explained.

“You know…” He started as he took the two tickets into his hand and fanned them out. “For the ten years or so that I have been a fan I have never been to a game. This means a lot.” He smiled and put his arm around her shoulders as sort of a half hug, knowing full well that her parents would probably start all over again with their teasing. Liz would have taken it, though. At that moment she would have just liked to have been in his arms again. Every time they were close like that, even though it’s only been a few times, it left an effect on her that she couldn’t explain, but enjoyed none-the-less.

***

When it got late enough everyone decided that it was probably time to turn in. Liz’s brothers were expected home the next morning and Grace wanted to get an early start on the turkey dinner she had planned. Liz showed where Jake was going to stay the night, the small guest room on the first floor that was normally used as an office, but had a twin bed for cases just like this. After thanking each other for their gifts yet again they said good night and Liz trotted off to her old room to turn in herself.

She had her own room that she would be familiar with, but Jake wasn’t so lucky. He could never sleep well in strange surroundings and would probably lay awake for hours before finally falling into a short, light sleep. A couple hours already passed since he settled down. He rolled his head to the side and looked at the clock next to the bed. Twenty-five after twelve and he was still wide-awake.

He sat up on the edge of the bed and looked around. Probably the worst thing about sleeping at a strange place is that when he can’t sleep he gets bored and normally he would just watch TV or something, but in places like this he can’t very well do that. He looked around the room for anything to do and there was a computer, but he wasn’t about to just boot it up and start browsing without asking. Looking around more he realized there really wasn’t much of anything to do other than that.

His eyes wandered over to the window and he had to do a double take at what he thought he saw. He got up from the bed and headed over to look outside, rubbing his eyes clear on the way. Just as he thought he saw, it was beginning to snow. Not heavy at all, but just a few flakes coming down and nearly disappearing after touching the ground. Without a second thought he put on his pants and shoes and grabbed his coat from the hook on the back of the door. He slowly opened it and poked his head out to make sure he wasn’t disturbing anyone and quickly, but lightly made his way down the hallway and meticulously closed the front door after going outside.

Jake wandered out onto the front lawn and looked up at the sky, watching the flakes floating erratically above him. He suddenly realized just how cold it was outside and hugged his coat closed when he heard the door open behind him. He whirled around and saw Grace slowly coming down the steps towards him, wearing flannel pajamas and a pink robe.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” He asked in a low voice.

She shook her head as she came up beside him. “No. I was already awake and I saw you sneaking out. I’m a bit of an insomniac, so it’s not odd that I’m up until late at night.” She explained. “So what’s your excuse?”

“I don’t sleep well at places I’m not use to.” He answered simply, looking down the street at all the houses that were decorated with lights and glowing Santa’s and snowmen. There was a lengthy silence that followed his reply until she finally broke it for them.

“You miss them, don’t you?” She asked him. He looked to her as if to question what she was talking about. “Your parents, you seem to miss them a lot.” Jake only averted his gaze to the ground and nodded. “I can relate. I lost mine at a fairly early age too.” She said. “I think I overheard Liz telling you about them after dinner.”

Jake nodded his head again. “I’m sorry about that.” He said. “You had other family though, didn’t you? After they passed?”

“I was lucky in that sense. People to support me while I grieve, but eventually you just have to move on.” She said. “I’m sorry that you apparently didn’t have that.” The remorse was true in her voice.

Jake scrunched his lips and nodded. “But when do you stop missing them?”

She looked up to him with comforting eyes, the same eyes Liz had given him before in the past. “You never do.” She reached up and put an arm around him and startled him. He could only think that that was the exact same way his own mother would comfort him if something was bothering him, and he actually let her. “Well, anyway, we should get back inside. It’s cold out and we don’t want to get sick on Christmas.”

“I’ll come back in a minute.” He said, letting her go on ahead. He let out a quivering breath that he was holding back for a while now and watched his breath trail off into nothingness. He wasn’t ready to let go just yet, he thought, thinking about what Grace had told him. Everyone has their time, it’s been three years for him, it just wasn’t his. Not yet. Though he hadn’t felt as lonely since Liz came into the picture. Jake calmed down some when he thought about her, like the morning she asked him to come here for Christmas. It was nice waking up and actually having someone there with him. And when she invited him, almost wanting to make him a part of his family, he was touched. Even though he did try to think of an excuse not to come. Now he was glad he did.

After he went back inside he was able to fall asleep relatively easy. The next morning came quickly and he got up to find Grace and Harold already up in the kitchen. Apparently Liz was still asleep and he ended up having more time alone with her parents. They offered him some hot chocolate, which he accepted graciously and Grace poured some already mixed batter onto a waffle iron, which immediately made him suspicious. Later he found out that Liz told them that he didn’t like eggs or coffee and preferred waffles before she went to bed the night before.

Liz finally came down stairs and joined them for breakfast, almost feeling like she was the guest seeing how well everyone seemed to be getting along in her absence. They all sat around the island while Grace started dinner until they heard the doorbell ring. Liz’s brothers arrived at the same time and were greeted as warmly as he was and then they were introduced to him. Both of them seemed really nice to Jake and neither of them seemed to have a problem with him being there. Colton, the oldest, even brought him a bottle of wine from the vineyard he worked at as a gift when he heard he would be joining them. Jake didn’t have the heart to tell him he didn’t drink, so he didn’t say a word about it figuring that he would just save it in case of a special occasion later on.

Mike was more Jake’s speed, laidback and quieter than his older brother, but given the right moment could be just as rowdy. The two of them also had the habit of teasing Liz, but despite that he could tell that they were very close. It was a new side of her that he never truly saw before. She was loose and carefree, perfectly at ease with herself and the people around her. Back home she was shyer and wasn’t very outgoing, but he liked that part of her too. Come to think of it there wasn’t a lot, if anything, about her that he could think of that he didn’t like.

After everyone opened their presents, Jake watching the family intently as they enjoyed every moment together, they spent most of the day just sitting around and talking. Once going outside to play in the measly inch of snow that had fallen during the night before. Starting up a very short lived snowball fight and Colton burst into hysterical laughter when Mike swiped some yellow food coloring from the house and began spraying it around the yard. Finally Grace announced that dinner was ready to be served and everybody piled into the dining room.

Harold and Grace took the heads of the table, Jake and Liz sat beside each other, and her two brothers sat across on the other side. Everything looked great as it was placed on the table. The turkey of course in the center followed by a bowl of salad, stuffing, and garlic mashed potatoes, and of course cranberry sauce traditionally shaped in the form of a can. The absolute only way to serve it. In a word, everything about dinner was perfect. The turkey was moist and tender, the potatoes melted in the mouth, and the homemade salad dressing was amazing. And if all of that wasn’t enough, after dinner Grace brought out a delicious raspberry buckle for desert.

After dinner everything seemed to settle down. It was night once again with another fire in the fireplace and Silent Night playing softly on the stereo. They would strike up conversation occasionally, but otherwise they were just enjoying everyone’s company in silence while treating themselves to hot cider. After a while Jake felt a familiar weight leaning against him that was Liz. She had fallen asleep and decided to use him as a pillow again. Instead of trying to wake her this time he only rested his head against hers and closed his eyes. There was no one in the room at the moment to make any comments, but he didn’t care if they were. He enjoyed being this close to her and he wouldn’t trade this moment for anything.

It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps reenter the room, but he didn’t open his eyes. He recognized the whispers as Grace and Harold’s and it appeared that they were talking about them. He heard her make a comment that the two of them looked good together and adding something along the lines of ‘I wonder how long it will be before…’ Harold wondered if they should wake them so they could get to bed, but Grace opposed, letting them remain there together like that. Jake slowly opened one eye when he heard them leave to make sure they really were gone and looked at Liz at the corner of his eye. Maybe everyone is right, he thought to himself. Maybe there is something more here than I’m willing to let myself see. He shrugged inwardly and only forgot about debating with himself at the moment. He was just content with being with her right now.

***

New Years Eve had finally arrived and Liz and Jake were amongst the crowd in the town square celebration. Every year the city had a knock off of the Dick Clark ball dropping in Times Square with a look-alike ball much smaller in scale that lowered over the large fountain. It was a couple days before that he had asked Liz if she wanted to go to it. It was something he has never gone to and he was a little curious about it and thought it would be fun to have her along. Unlike other times when she was reluctant or questioned him about the invitation she agreed immediately.

“You know, even thought this is smaller than New York, there are still a lot more people than I was expecting.” Jake commented. Liz nodded and looked around at her surroundings. Everything was very much like the fair they went to together earlier in the year. There were vendors all around with different kinds of food and souvenirs like novelty glasses that took the shape of ‘2006’. There were elevated screens everywhere with a clock counting down the final minutes of the year and the ball rested higher above ready to descend during the last few seconds.

The two of them had already spent an hour or so there, but as time passed more and more people began showing up and the whole place got quite crowded. “And there’s still time for more to come.” Liz added some time later.

“Well, did you want to stick around or did you want to duck out early and find something quieter?” He asked, at the same time being bumped by somebody that seemed to have had a few too many drinks.

Liz laughed at his short encounter with one of the looser spectators there. “I would be alright with leaving.” She said with a smile, knowing which Jake would prefer to do. He ushered her ahead of him to make sure she didn’t get lost in the ever-thickening crowd and finally got out of the main part of the square. From there they headed down a street that lead to a row of stores along the riverside that ran through part of the city.

“Much better.” He said as he took a deep breath of relief. His personal space had been utterly violated over the past half our and he was glad he had room to stretch out. “About thirty minutes until the new year.” He said looking at his watch just for the sake of it. With clocks everywhere it was pretty hard not to know what time it was.

Liz glided along the side of the deck that separated the walkway from the actual riverbed, taking in the moonlight sparkling in the water. “So, do you have any new years resolutions?”

Jake crinkled his forehead some and remained where he was, just watching Liz pace back and forth along the railing. “I’m not sure. I never was one to think about that kind of thing.” He answered. “Besides, I can’t think of very much I need or want to change right now. What about you?”

She paused as if she was thinking about it for a while before answering. “I’m not sure either. There are things I probably should change, but I don’t know.”

“Like what?” Jake asked, coming along side next to her and leaning down on the railing.

“I don’t know… I feel like things are pretty much fine the way they are, but there’s still this feeling like it’s… not. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I think I know what you mean. Though I don’t know how I’d explain it either.” He said. There was silence between them again, but it was a comfortable silence. She gazed out onto the water, but Jake was content watching her. Watching the wind carrying her hair into her face and the way she cocked her head to one side when she rested against something. It was all these subtle things that she did that lately Jake enjoyed about her. “Maybe there is something I’d change.” He said abruptly.

Liz looked up at him with questioning eyes. There were some strands of hair in her face and Jake reached over and brushed them back behind her ear. She blushed at this unexpected gesture and shifted her eyes between Jake’s and her hands. “W-what would you change?” She stuttered.

Jake scooted over so that he was brushing up right next to her, but casually looked out over the water. Liz’s heart began racing and she could feel her face heating up. The way he looked at her when he brushed her hair aside sent shivers down her spine. “Do you believe that if someone wants something they should just set out and get it?” He asked.

“Um, I guess so.” She answered meekly.

“No matter what the risk or consequences?” He asked, turning slightly towards Liz, leaning against one arm and sliding the other over the small of her back causing her to jump slightly and stiffen. She turned to face him and looked up to him with those wide, brown eyes that when met with his own caused her to look away shyly. He stood up straight now and brought his hand up to her cheek and brought her gaze back to him, cupping her face with both of his hands. “No matter what?” He asked again, lowering closer to her.

“What… what are you doing?” She forced out with a trembling voice.

“I want to kiss you.”
“But… w-why?”

“Why not? It’s new years.”
“Not for… not for twenty minutes…”

“Why wait?”
“But… but I…”

“Elizabeth…” He growled softly. She was already flustered and the use of her full name for the first time by him only threw her off more. They were so close that their noses were nearly touching and she couldn’t think straight, but soon she didn’t have to. In the short time that he was finally able to keep her quiet he stole her lips with his. A soft, startled moan escaped into his mouth and she tensed up from this new intimacy between them, but eventually she was able to melt into his touch.

They remained bound by that same kiss for as long as their breath would allow before they finally had to part. Both took a second to regain their composure, Jakes hands never leaving her and he placed a kiss on her forehead. For the longest time she only stared straight ahead at his chest before finally being able to look him in the eyes again. She opened her mouth a couple times, struggling to let out what was on her mind. “Um, so… what does this mean?” She asked, the only semi-reasonable thing that she could.

“Well, I guess this means we’re more than friends.” He said, resting his head against hers and looking deep into her eyes.