Marlene wasn’t one particularly excited for Christmas, she was rather impartial to it. Don’t get her wrong, it happens to all of us, doesn’t it? When you are a kid, Christmas - or just the winter break - can be the most magical time. You get presents and spend time with your family. But then you grow up, and you learn the secrets of this time and it is just another holiday, nothing special anymore. And Marlene learnt to just let it pass, eventually Christmas ends and the routine goes back to normal after New Year’s Day.
Until she met Mary. Mary, who loved Christmas. And Marlene, who inevitably and wholeheartedly loved Mary.
She woke up that day before Mary did, sun rays coming through the window and laying gently on Mary’s silhouette. Marlene was studying her golden brown skin, beautifully caressed by the sun. It felt like such a sacred moment to witness that Marlene thought of drawing her, framing it forevermore.
Mary began to slowly open her eyes and stretched her arms. She looked at Marlene and noticed that the blonde was already awake.
“Good morning, love.” Mary signed. She asked Marlene if she had turned on her cochlear implant, to which Marlene simply nodded. Mary kissed her and rested her head on the other girl’s chest.
“I wanted to ask you something.” She confessed, intertwining her fingers with Marlene’s.
“What is it?”
“Would you like to host Christmas’ Eve here? I know you don’t really like it, but I really want to invite all of our friends and celebrate our friendships. I don’t know, I just want to have all of the people that I love on an important day for me.” She said in a hurry, as if she was trying to let it pass quickly with no harm.
“Mary, of course I would love to. I know I’m not too fond of Christmas, but if it is important for you, then it is for me as well. I love seeing you happy and that’s my priority,” Marlene cupped Mary’s face. “I love you.” And she kissed her before she could add something else.
“Alright, got it. Now let me get ready for work. We’ll talk about this later.” Mary kissed her again and stayed like that for a few good minutes. But she didn’t regret it, how could she?
***
“I can’t believe what I am about to do.” Marlene pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes while shaking her head.
“For fuck’s sake, what is it? You are making such a fuss, it must be bloody important.” Sirius said, letting out a laugh, trying to release the tension.
“Alright, fuck me. What can I do to make Mary happy? I genuinely don’t know what to do, is there something coupley to do for Christmas?” She looked at Sirius looking for an answer.
“You are literally asking the atheist dude that has a Jewish boyfriend. I see you are desperate, Marls.” He approached her and took her hand while grinning.
“Oh fuck you. I didn’t know who to ask! And you are my best friend, and a fucking romantic, through and through. Don’t you dare deny that.” She pointed at him accusingly.
“Yeah… I cannot beat those allegations. You are lucky I have an idea, you are welcome babe.” He replied with a satisfied smile.
“Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess it? Come on, Black, spill it.” She demanded.
“In two days the Christmas lights will be lit, and that’s something a lot of people love. Knowing Mary, I reckon she might love it if you take her there. You can surprise her! Tell her you are going to Tesco or something.” Marlene jumped on him the moment he stopped talking and hugged him tightly.
“Sirius,” she sighed. “What would I do without you? I bloody love you, you wankhammer.” She kissed his cheek.
“I love you too, Marls. Now, get the fuck off me.” They both burst out laughing.
***
The day of the Christmas lights had arrived, but Mary was more focused on organizing everything for the night of the 24th. Marlene was a bit worried, what if Mary wasn’t excited to see the lights? All she talked about was food, invitations and cleaning. The blonde-haired girl didn’t know what to do to get Mary out of the house to make the surprise, but she would think of something. She had to.
“Love, can you vacuum the floor again? I’ll wipe off the dust.” Mary asked politely, but Marlene groaned.
“Mary, give me a fucking break. We’ve been cleaning for the past two days, I swear everything is fine. Loosen up a bit. Come here, please.” She raised her arms so that Mary would come and embrace her on the couch. Mary obeid.
“See? This is comfy, let’s stay like this for a while! We love cuddling.” Marlene exclaimed while tossing Mary’s hair to the side with her hand to press gentle kisses on her neck. Mary shivered.
“Marls, please. Let’s get this ready and then we can have some fun, alright?” Marlene nodded her head and bit her ear, right where she knew Mary loved it.
“Oi, fuck off. You know that’s my weak spot.” Marlene laughed against her neck and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She looked at the time; she needed to come up with something to distract Mary.
“Eh, sweetheart, do we have to go to Tesco? Or another shop? Maybe we should do that and buy everything now for dinner.” Marlene couldn’t believe she was using another of Sirius’ ideas. That bastard, she had to thank him later if it went as planned.
“Oh yes! We definitely should do that. You are driving, so get the keys. I’ll put on my trainers.” And with that she left for their room to get changed quickly.
They got in the car and Mary turned on the radio. Last Christmas by Wham! was playing.
“Oh my god, I absolutely adore this song.” Mary said excitedly and started singing it perfectly. Marlene loved her voice, she knew how to use her instrument to sing every song and do it flawlessly. All of a sudden, Marlene turned to the right, and parked at Tesco.
She looked at Mary and took her hand. “Before going there, I want to show you something.”
“No way, are you going to fucking propose at a Tesco?”
“PLEASE,” they were cackling. “Not yet, love, but noted. No parking lots.”
“What a relief!" Mary laughed, "Okay, so what is it?”
“Follow me.”
They got out of the car and Marlene walked up until a spot that was beginning to get covered in snow. She looked at her watch: two minutes. Right on time. Mary looked at her in awe, not believing what was happening. She wrapped her arms around her neck.
“Marls, is this what I think it is? Have you brought me to see Christmas lights?” She looked right in the eyes of her girlfriend with so much love that Marlene wanted to keep that moment in her memory.
“You are 100% correct, that’s exactly what we are doing here. Now, look up.” Right after Marlene’s cue, everything lit up above them. The environment was instantly transformed into a Christmas scenery, with snowflakes turning the place white. There was a radio playing The Christmas Song in some car.
“Thank you, love. Would you like to dance with me?” Mary offered.
“I’ve never slowed danced before.” Marlene said shyly under a breath.
“Let’s fucking do it now. Just follow me.” Mary took the lead and moved freely, steadying her grip on Marlene. And she forgot about all her worries, just focusing on Mary. Mary’s eyes, Mary’s arms, Mary’s shoulders.
Oh Mary, the lovely Mary. Marlene realised right there that this was what she wanted, what she had always longed for. Mary gave Christmas a new meaning, new things to celebrate. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was.
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you