Exception (OMGitsfirefoxx and iiJeriichoii) [Wattys2015]

Chapter 43: Christmas Day

Tucker's POV:

I woke up to the sound of glass breaking downstairs and Sonja's quiet yelp.

"You okay?" I yell.

"Mhmm, just broke a cup" Sonja answers.

Guess there's no point in sleeping any longer, I think as I get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I get a good look at my sleepy, tired self in the mirror and scratch my head. Thank god I don't have any meetings and big projects for a couple of weeks. Bless you Christmas Season. I washed up, got dressed and went downstairs only to be greeted by a very flustered Sonja. She ran into the hallway before I stepped into the kitchen, turned me around and pushed me away.

"Stay out of the kitchen, I'm having some complications" she said, laughing, a smile plastered on her face.

I nodded and set foot for my recording room because I needed to prerecord some videos anyway.

I spent an hour recording some Counter Strike: Global Offense and some ARK: Survival Evolved with GoldGlove.

"It's ready" I heard Sonja's call, and almost tripped down the stairs running to the kitchen.

"What have you been cooking it smells so good!" I say, my voice cracking in the middle of the sentence.

On the table, is.... nothing. I skid to a stop in the middle of the kitchen and look at Sonja who is standing four feet away from me.

"Sonj. Care to explain?"

She nodded and walked into the living room. I followed. Sonja pointed to a wooden basket that was the source of the mouthwatering smells in the house. On top of it, was a neatly folded red and white blanket. I grabbed the basket and the car keys that Sonja was handing me. We left the house, got into the car without a single word.

"Sonja, I don't know where to go" I laughed.

She handed me a tiny heart shaped sticky note with a street name on it.

The drive took about half an hour and we ended up near an empty beach.

Sonja pranced out of the car and onto the walking path, me trailing closely behind her.

I was completely speechless at this display of affection, but this was very thoughtful and the beach was beautiful. Sonja and I followed the small concrete path for fifteen minutes in silence and then it opened up to stables. I heard the sound of horses and birds singing and it was so peaceful. I turned to Sonja who had the biggest grin on her face.

"Merry Christmas. Now let's go ride a horse!" she jumped up and down, clapping her hands. Sonja took off running towards the two horses that were set out for the two of us. A woman dressed in horse riding gear made her way out of the office and walked over to us. She asked us a few questions, showed us the trail we were going to follow and wished us luck. Sonja got onto her horse with great ease, while it took me some time and overcoming the fear of a giant animal under me. Sonja jogged the horse over to the start of the trail and patiently waited for me while I gained my balance and got used to the controls.

As we rode on the trail, Sonja leading, I learned to love my horse and I learned to ride better and Sonja taught me how to trot. However, the trail came around back to the stables very quickly and we had to dismantle our horses.

"That was the best!" I told Sonja, as we were leaving the ranch.

"I thought you would enjoy it, now let us eat on the beach!" she said, opening the trunk of the car and getting the basket and blanket. We walked down to the hot sand and settled down closer to the water.

The slight wind that blew on the beach allowed us to seat in peace and not burn in the hot LA weather. The seagull and wave sounds made the atmosphere better also. Sonja's wonderful home cooked food topped all of my expectations.

"This is the best food I've ever tasted" I said, finishing my portion of the scallops and moving on to the brazed broccoli. We chatted on the beach and finished all of the food that was prepared until it was getting dark.

I extended my hand to Sonja to lift her off the ground after I packed up the basket.

"So what do you wanna do afterwards?" I said, driving us home.

"A movie and some Christmas cookies that I made" she answered, looking at something in her phone.

We arrived at home and while I was putting in a movie that Sonja requested, she took some cookies out from the fridge and heated them up again and putting some frosting on it.

"Snowmen with frosting" she brought the plate with a stack of delicious looking baked treats over to the couch and took a seat.

"Merry Christmas" I kissed her forehead and tapped play on the remote.