Dripping Exclusives

(9) P.O.V

J E R E M I A H

Friday

5:00 pm

I can't believe i'm wearing this shit.

I stand in the mirror, staring blankly at the pair of pajamas. I tug on the pants, shaking my head at the endless amount of reindeer and Santa. I return back to the task of buttoning up the matching shirt to go with it. "OMG! You look so cute babe", Ameila comes in the same pajamas, jumping in place. She walks over to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. As corny as I found this shit to be, I would do it all again if it means seeing a smile on her face. "Thanks hun, you ready to start decorating?", I ask and lead her out the bathroom. I hold her hand and walk towards the living room.

We come face to face with our tree. It's seven feet tall. It's a nice size for our cozy apartment.

In July we moved into an apartment together. It's a decent size for two people. Some people might think we moved too fast but I think the pace has been immaculate. I don't regret the decision either, it's been heaven. Of course, somedays we have our ups and downs but who doesn't? Those petty disagreements never stopped me from enjoying the luxury of being in her presence.

Ameila sits on the floor beside me and pulls the bag of ornaments in front of us. I take out the brown and gold ornaments and start placing hooks on them. "What is your favorite Christmas memory", she asks as she places hooks on some as well.

"Last year with you", I answer without a doubt.

She smacks her lips, "I'm being for real"

"Me too", I say as I start hooking some of them on the tree. "My family always sucked the fun out of Christmas by constantly complaining about money or how they hated other family members. One of the reasons, I keep my distance now", I turn around to see her staring at me with a pout. She completely stopped messing with the ornaments, giving me her full attention.

    "What about Lucky and Sniper?"

  "We all come from the same hood. The minute we got some paper, we all moved into the house that you met me at the cookout that day. We'd been living there since we were eighteen.", I laugh as I remember us struggling to make recipes from Pinterest. "One thanksgiving we spent the whole night burning shit down. Niggas couldn't make mac & cheese for shit", she giggles.

    "Don't get me wrong we've had some funny ass memories but things with you feel like home. Everything with you feels like home", I admit. My heart warms watching her face light up in real time. "I always admire how much of a pure soul you are. It felt so good to do corny shit like make hot cocoa and open presents. Spending the whole month watching Christmas movies with the same ending", her smile becomes wider.

     Ameila rushes to give me a hug. She rubs my neck, pulling me closer. "Well i'm happy I can be apart of your peaceful memories. You are home to me too and I can't wait to see our future together", she says in my ear.

    My feelings for someone have never been so strong.

    "Let's finish this tree before I start crying", it didn't take much for her. Ameila is one of the only people I know that are tune with their emotions. She wasn't ashamed about them either, if she was sad, mad, or happy she didn't have an issue expressing it. "C'mon crybaby", I lift her on my shoulders so she can start putting some on the top.