“Aw, Blitz, where are you going? Wha- no, baby, don’t!” The rustling of tree ornaments followed Willow’s shouts, prompting me to set down our mugs and run out of the kitchen to investigate. She seemed to be scrambling to pull something out of the tree when I noticed the flurry of white, black, and orange scurrying amongst the branches. Blitz jumped into the tree. My knees buckled as I cackled, greatly amused by our kitty’s hijinks. “Oh, for the love of God, Maya, stop laughing and help me!”
Still chuckling, I stood back up shakily and walked over to aid in Blitz’s rescue mission. First, Willow attempted to draw him out using his favorite catnip toy, while I held the tree to prevent it from falling. When we didn’t succeed, I resorted to holding the tree with my left hand as I grabbed at whatever moving branches I saw with my right. Though it took me a few tries, I eventually managed to scoop our kitten out of the tree. He then had the nerve to meow indignantly at me as I carefully placed him on the ground, away from the tree. Blitz tried trodding over again, only to be stopped by the two of us.
By the fifth time, both of us were struggling to contain our laughter at our baby’s tenacity. He seemed to realize that he would not achieve his goal then and walked away. The day had had the makings of a wonderful memory: the first thing we noticed when we woke up was the chilly temperature, accompanied by the sight of the untouched sheet of snow outside our window. Rather than do the chores we’d planned to take care of, we opted to laze about. Willow took care of preparing breakfast, while I started making us coffee.
After eating our French toast, we went to the living room to play with Blitz, a kitten we’d adopted a month ago. He was very eager to play, which surprised us. He was usually on the sassier, “don’t touch me unless I actively seek it” side of cats. We were just happy that he was interacting with us in such a lively manner. Before we knew it, we had spent about an hour with Blitz and our phones had several more pictures of him than they’d had earlier.
I noticed some light snowing happening outside and proposed we should have some hot chocolate, as the weather was perfect for it. Willow agreed, but said I should go prepare it because she wanted to keep playing with the little calico. Off I went to warm up some milk in our favorite mugs. I popped some hot chocolate bombs into them and stirred the contents, until I heard Willow shout at Blitz for jumping into the tree. Now, we were finally able to retrieve our hot chocolate-filled mugs and, luckily, they were still warm.
Steaming mugs in hand, Willow and I shuffled over to the couch. We sat carefully to avoid spilling our hot chocolate and snuggled up to each other. The fireplace crackled to our left, radiating warmth throughout the room. All the Christmas decorations seemed brighter somehow, almost as if they sensed that the holiday was just a week away. I smiled, feeling comforted by the aliveness of our home. Willow and I must have shared the same thought because we both turned to look at each other, fond expressions on our faces. A blush crept up my neck and warmed my cheeks further as I gazed adoringly at my amazing partner. Her expression softened as she leaned in towards my face. Our lips met for just a moment, gentle but sure.
We pulled away shortly after, giggling lightly when our eyes met once more. Willow leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed before saying, “You were right; it is a good day for hot chocolate.”
“Here’s to me being right, then,” I raised my mug half-jokingly, soon to be clinked by Willow’s.
“Cheers!”