Preston's P.O.V.
Christmas had never really been a thing in my life, mostly because my family was Jewish. Of course, I had been exposed to Christmas traditions through school and all the arts and crafts you did as a little kid, plus all of my friends talking about the food and the presents they got. I didn't mind because although we didn't celebrate Christmas, we did celebrate Hanukkah, which was just as fun.
Hanukkah was a relatively minor holiday in the Jewish calendar and was sometimes called the Festival of Lights- it was an 8 days holiday that occurred over the period of Christmas and New Year's. We celebrated by light the menorah, a candle, with another candle each day of the holiday. We play dreidel, sing songs, exchange gifts, host parties and eat special foods, mostly deep fried foods which symbolised the oil from the menorah used in the Temple. Chocolates and candies were also exchanged.
My family never really adhered to the traditional side of things but we still celebrated it mostly because it was a replacement for Christmas, and a time for family.
And this time, Rob was coming to stay with us this time around. I was super excited to have him staying with us because this would be our first Christmas- well, Hanukkah- together since becoming a couple, almost 5 years before. Even days before I was tidying my room, creating a set-up for him at the office, filling my fridge with food for the days we weren't at my parents.
The day of his flight in I was there almost half an hour early, just waiting for him to arrive. I tackled my boyfriend into a huge hug and held him tight, so, so glad to be back together again and the kiss he gave me was something I had been waiting for for months now. He had been up in Canada since August, in Australia for half of that, and now, a few days before Hanukkah began, he was back with me.
"God, I missed you so much Pressy." He whispered, pressing a kiss to my lips. "I'm so glad I'm back here."
"And I'm so glad you're here too." I breathed, breathing in his scent. "You have no idea how much I missed you."
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My parents knew Rob and once they knew about us, they instantly accepted us as a couple. I don't think they cared that I was gay because they loved my quiet, stoic, happy-go-lucky boyfriend who would attack me from behind with hugs, kiss me when I wasn't expecting it, picked me up and carried me across the room just because he could. They loved him because he made me truly happy, how could they turn him away?
Keeley opened the front door when we pulled up at my parents place on the first day of Hanukkah, which started in the evening. Rob and I had spent the days after he had arrived at my apartment, cuddled up on the couch with arms around each other.
"Hey Rob!" She said excitedly, glad to see my boyfriend back- but I could see the cheeky look in her eyes. There was something going on, a prank likely, that she and my younger brothers and possibly even my parents had organised. There was always a prank going on in my family and I had a feeling, this holiday, Rob and I would be the targets.
"Watch out." I mumbled to my boyfriend as we took our shoes off inside the front door. "I sense a prank and something tells me it's going to be us that gets hit with it."
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I was at least partially right about the prank. No one mentioned anything the first day, more focused on the family and food and tradition to worry about pranks, but the next day I began to notice. There was mistletoe- everywhere. Hung above every doorframe, above the stove when I was cooking, tied to the back of our seats, even under the porch outside despite it being too cold to go out there. I laughed about it with Rob later that night, lying in bed.
"They're trying to get us to kiss." I giggled, one arm tight around Rob's waist.
"Oh I'm aware." He smiled. "It's kinda funny to be honest. Wanna try and get around it as long as possible?"
"Yes! Let's do that, it'll annoy them, especially Keeley and Josh."
"It's decided then." Another kiss. "Let's annoy them."
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That was exactly what we did. We purposely ignored the mistletoe throughout the house, splitting up if we had to go through a door, untying the plant from where ever we could- being very physically affectionate but avoiding kissing unless we were alone like that plague. I could tell it was already getting to them.
And I could tell I was getting to them because the mistletoe kept appearing when we took it down, and more of it too. Keeley and Josh continued to try and push us under doors together, or getting Rob to grab something from the kitchen when I was cooking, that sort of thing. But of course, we knew what they were doing and avoided it, laughing at them when they noticed.
Rob sniggered, his arms around my waist. Josh was glaring at us. "This is fun." He whispered, reaching around me to steal a chip off the plate in front of me.
"Mm." I mumbled, leaning back into him happily. "We still gonna keep it up?"
"Why not?" He laughed. "This is fun."
So that was exactly what we did- for the 8 days of Hanukkah, the 8 days we spent with my parents, we very carefully worked our way around the mistletoe to avoid having to kiss underneath it and fall victim to their prank. And no matter what anyone, or Rob and I, said, they continued to keep it up.
By the end of the holiday everyone was in on the prank, everyone, my parents, my siblings, my family friends, were all trying to get Rob and I together under the mistletoe and we were trying to avoid it- but it didn't last long once everyone was onboard.
On the last day of Hanukkah neither of us was paying attention as we walked into the kitchen, Rob's hand in mine- and Keeley cried out in triumph. I looked up and would you look at that, hanging above us was a sprig of mistletoe.
"Yes!" She cried, pointing and cackling. "Finally! It only took a week! Now you have to kiss!"
I laughed and turned to my boyfriend, pulling him down by his collar to kiss him, almost making him stumble. I felt him smile into the kiss and he pressed back, hard.
So, kiss me under the mistletoe because while it wasn't Christmas, it was still for family.
