footnotes

Julietta shrugged, taking in the sight of the incredibly decked halls. It was good to see that she was dating someone who clearly came from a family that was as close knit as her own, apparent in not how nice the Christmas decorations were, but in rather how she could see the personal touches in the way they’d been put up or selected. That included the dozens of candles. “Should I not? It smells like a home, you know? It reminds me of my house. How you can just smell that someone lives there and that the people who live there actually spend time there.” She smiled softly, cheeks glowing softly under the light of the various Christmas lights, the candles flickering. “That’s what it smells like.”

She poked her tongue out at her boyfriend, cheeks flushing not because she was embarrassed, but because she was just so happy. She felt like the keeper of this special version of Baze that nobody got to see, at least not as often as she did. He was just the right amount of affectionate with her in public, enough to be cute, but in private, that was when he really came out of his shell in more ways than one. She adored who he was all the time, certainly, but the Baze that teased and flirted was perhaps her favorite version, mainly because that one was only for her. “No, it’s not a fruit cake! Have a little faith in me.” She picked up one of the bags from the floor, handing it over to him, knowing he’d be surprised that something so heavy could only contain baked goods, but it was stuffed to the brim with cookies, brownies, and candies. “They’re for your entire family. Mainly you, but don’t tell them that.”

Her heart raced a little as he grew closer, the smell of his soap and the warmth of his body making her close her eyes just to savor it for a moment. She’d dated before, but she’d certainly never felt like this with a guy before. She’d never felt this need for connection, and not only physically, but intellectually and emotionally. It was perhaps the biggest feeling she’d ever encountered in her short sixteen years, but it didn’t scare her. Nothing with Baze could be scary. She leaned in to sneak a kiss while he was so close, understanding what people meant when they said someone tasted like Christmas when their lips meant. This was what Christmas was supposed to feel like. Pulling back, Julietta grinned. “Well I just gave you your baked goods, so you’re up!”

If he hadn't known this before, he surely knew it now: Julietta was the perfect girl. His mother's severe scent obsession was always something Baze had been uncomfortable sharing with others, ever since a visiting cousin had mocked him for their "smelly house." But what touched him far deeply than just accepting his mother's Christmas traditions was Julietta's perspective, as kind and wholehearted as ever. Admiration and gratitude fell over him at once and, overwhelmed, Baze took her hand and kissed the back of her palm. With great tenderness, he said, "You're the most incredible person, Julietta Valent."

God, she was so cute. These moments always filled him to the brim, until he was sure that he would explode or overflow with all the mushy emotions he had only dreamed of feeling. He grinned unabashedly at her, thinking he could do this forever — watch her, listen to her, sing her praises from his lips. "Hey, who said I didn't like fruit cakes?" Baze stuck his tongue out at her right back. He eyed the bag curiously as he took it, and let out a soft grunt in surprise at its weight. "Julietta, how many fruit cakes did you put in here?" he asked incredulously. He couldn't put anything past Julietta; her kindness knew no bounds, and Baze knew how much she loved to surprise him with the sweetest gifts. Intending to tease her, Baze took his time opening the bag, moving agonizingly slow. But he couldn't make the act last forever, and finally, he unveiled mountains of sweets. "Oh, Julietta," he breathed out, staring at it with wide eyes before he remembered she was still watching him expectantly. "I love it. I can't believe you did all this... for me." Baze leaned in to kiss her shortly. "Thank you. My family will love it, too."

She could already tell as she approached the house that she was going to love this family. It was so warm and inviting just from the outside, the lights welcoming her. She could see the glow of their Christmas tree in the living room through the window, and it was so lovely that she couldn’t tell whether it was real or fake, and she didn’t care much either. What she loved about Christmas was this surreal sort of warmth that filled every moment despite the frigid temperatures, and she loved the cliches, and this year, she loved that she got to share all of that with Baze. He’d come into her life so suddenly yet so slowly all at once, and it was like she’d watched the whole thing unfold before her eyes but yet somehow she’d blinked and suddenly he was there. It was so special, that it was appropriate that it’d happened so close to Christmas.

"A fruit cake?" Baze quipped, raising his eyebrows and sending a teasing grin her way as he went over to the Christmas tree. Underneath were multiple presents, but right now, he was just looking for three in particular. Bright red wrapping paper and green ribbon, as predictable as you could get on Christmas, but he hoped that what lay inside wouldn't be so cliche. Or rather... well, he was sure that they would be cliche, but he hoped she would like them. She probably would — Julietta always did — but Baze wanted to see her eyes light up, wanted to see everything about her light up. She was his girlfriend now, but that didn't mean Baze had stopped wanting to please her.

Baze,

My family tends to go a bit overboard with the baking and decorating, so I figured I’d give you a bunch of these kinds of things.

The snowflakes are sugar cookies and the more colourful ones are shortbread, just so you know, and then the chocoalte snowflake things are peppermint bark. Also everything’s peanut free because I wasn’t sure!

Julietta had never felt like this about a boy before. She knew part of it was because she was young, but the bigger reason was the fact that none of the boys she’d met had been Baze. It was insane to think that she’d once assumed Baze didn’t like her due to the way he reacted when she greeted him at school, and now she was ready to shout to the entire world that she was lucky enough for Baze Ashby to be her boyfriend. Giving presents had always been easy for Julietta thanks to her baking skills, but she wanted to do a bit more for who she considered to be her first serious boyfriend. She’d followed Autumn’s advice and gotten him a nice sweater and shirt combination her mom had helped her pick out, but for some reason she was nervous.

Julietta knew part of her nerves came from the simple fact that she just wanted him to like what she got him for Christmas. A bigger part came from how deeply she felt for Baze. They’d only been together about a month, but she could already feel how different it was from anything she’d ever experienced before. Perhaps it was in the way that Baze had been drawn to her for so many reasons other than her looks and expected popularity, or perhaps it was because they’d started off as such good friends first, but either way, she loved the way this felt.

It was going to be worth it, though. The Ashby house was decorated on the inside as it was on the outside, with Christmas lights strung along the walls and ceiling, a Christmas tree bright and eye catching, festive candles burning and giving the entire house a somewhat chemical but Christmasy smell. He'd tried to get the smell out, but there was nothing he could do about it. His nose, at least, was immune to it after years of going through this tradition every year; he wasn't sure how Julietta would react, though. And she was the important one today, the Queen of the hour. Anyone who knew Baze and knew their relationship would have known that Julietta was, truly, Queen of every hour, but today, she was especially important to Baze. There were three boxes underneath the Christmas tree, all waiting to be given.