All I Want For Christmas...Is You

         It was six days before Christmas and nineteen year old Landon McMorris waited nervously in his car, parked just outside of Hendricks High School. He held his gray-knit glove covered hands closer to his weak heater as he stared down the door that connected the high school to the outside world. Any minute she would be walking out. Hands tucked securely in her coat, dark hair gently clinging to her face. As he thought of her, his hands anxiously gripped the steering wheel.

         So long he had been away. An eternity, so it seemed. He knew she would be surprised. He was hoping for that, but the anticipation was gnawing at his very core. Finally, the bell rang. He watched as kid after kid burst through the red-bricked building and into the harsh December air. He scanned through them as each of them reacted in their own way to the Colorado winter.

         At last he saw her. She had come out slowly with a few other people at her sides, other seniors he guessed. He smiled as he watched her brush her hair away from her face in her familiar way. Her group stopped at the bottom of a ramp. He tried to imagine what they were saying.

         “Any plans for the holiday?” The brown-coated boy asked the group. Then of course everyone would voice their answers. He wondered what hers would be. After talk about vacations and family gatherings, he noticed that she seemed to be the one to start the good-byes.

         As her friends took their leave, some together and some alone, she too turned and walked away. She was coming down the sidewalk in his direction. He wondered if she would notice him. When he saw that she would not, he waited until she was right next to his car and rolled down his passenger window.

         “Need a ride home?” He called out to her, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. She turned her head quickly and saw him. Her eyes grew wide in surprise, a smile spread across her small face. Her already red cheeks grew brighter as she clasped her uncovered hands over her mouth.

         “Landon!” She cried as she flung the car door open and plopped down on the vacant seat. She leaped across the center console that divided them and threw her arms around his neck. He breathed her in. Her hair smelt like vanilla and pumpkin spice, which, he thought, was perfect for this season.

         “How have you been? When did you get in? Have you seen your parents yet?” The questions poured out of her mouth as she stared at him, her eyes tear-filled with happiness.

         “I’ve been ok I guess, I got in about an hour ago, and no...I came straight here from the airport but I called ahead and they’re waiting for us at your house. We’re having dinner together tonight,” he laughed slightly and wiped a fallen tear from her face. “I missed you,” he sighed.

         “I missed you too,” she smiled widely and grasped his hand, “I thought you wouldn’t be home for another year.”

         “I thought so too, but they sent me home for the holiday,” he replied, not taking his eyes off her for a second.

         She threw her arms around him again, this time kissing him. He absorbed every moment. He never wanted the moment to end, except it was freezing. Reluctantly the two separated and made their way towards her house. All the while, they talked about their lives while apart, their new friends, their old friends, their families, and anything else a twenty minute drive could hold.

         When the car parked in front of the little log-cabin styled house, the two of them grew silent. They were only looking at each other and smiling now.

         “Come on, I wanna see something,” he said as he caressed her hand. He got out of the car and went and opened the door for her.

         “Always so chivalrous,” she smiled. He kept her hand as they walked across to the far side of the snow covered lawn. He stopped at a bare willow tree and found the sketched-in initials. He traced his hand over the inscription in the wood.
“Landon Trevor McMorris loves Alice Elizabeth Walker,” she sighed with a smile.

         “It’s still as true now as it was then,” he stated as he turned and looked at her. His tone was light and his face gentle but she could since the seriousness in his eyes.

         “It is for me too,” she smiled as she touched his face.

         “Alice,” he said as he removed her hand from its place and kept it in his hand, “I know the Army has got my life right now, but you have and always will have my heart. You know that right?” The seriousness in his question, in his eyes, pierced through to her very soul.

         “Of course I know that,” she said, worry in her tone. Why was he being so serious? Her anxious heart began to race.

         “I never want my heart to belong to anyone else, Alice, ever. You are the sole keeper to it and if you don’t want it, it will be yours anyways because you are the only person I will ever love,” he told her. He could feel the apprehension building up in his face.

         “Landon, what are you saying? I’ll always want it. I love you too,” she replied. He breathed in deeply.

         “Alice, what I want to know is...,” she gasped for breath as she hit his knee. “Will you marry me?”

         He pulled out a radiant white box and opened it to reveal a silver ring which had been forged to resemble a brilliant sapphire-blue snowflake. She was utterly speechless. The tears instantly welled up and began pouring out onto her cheeks.

         “Yes!” She cried as she once again flung her arms around his neck. He placed the ring on her finger and then pulled her to lie next to him in the snow.

         “Merry Christmas sweetheart,” he whispered in her ear. “I love you.”