#amanda lattimer

"Yo ho ho and a bottle of eggnog and rum!" Pete sang, clinking his glass with his wife's.

Amanda grimaced even before she took a sip of her drink. "You and your stomach of steel, Soldier. I can do one cup of eggnog and it will hold me over for the entire year. How can you drink glass after glass?"

He took a healthy gulp. "That would be with the assistance of the rum, my dear. It's like a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down."

She took another sip and bobbed her head in a yes-no-maybe fashion. "The rum does help."

"And an extra dash or two of nutmeg."

"Yes, but neither the rum nor the nutmeg changes the consistency, Pete, and therein lies my problem. It's too thick and heavy and it just settles. Look at it," she instructed, tilting the glass and rolling it, watching the liquid slowly move around. "It's off-putting."

Pete gave her a goofy grin. "That's the same thing you said about me the first time I asked you out."

Amanda laughed heartily. "And in regards to that, I stand corrected. But this stuff always has and always will disgust me."

He sighed. "Well, at least I was able to change your mind about me."

"I'm glad you did, Soldier."

Pete pulled a candy cane off the tree, giving Leena a big cheesy grin when she gave an exasperated sigh, glaring at him.

"Those are meant to be decorations, Pete!"

"They are also meant for consumption, my dear Leena," he said, pointing the candy at her.

She sighed again. "Just...try not to eat them all. Save some for Christmas, okay?"

"I can't make any promises."

He walked into the foyer, twirling the candy cane between his fingers. He stopped as he was hit with a rush of memories.

His eyes and smile wistful; it was the nostalgia that he was still in love with.

That first Christmas with Amanda on the base. They had an artificial tree with cheap ornaments, lights, tinsel, a star, and about two dozen candy canes. Well, it had started with two dozen candy canes. That number had drastically decreased by Christmas Eve.

Amanda had watched from the entry way between the kitchen/dinette and living room, catching Pete trying to sneak another one of the sweet minty confections from the tree. She smiled, chuckling lightly before she folded her arms across her chest and took on a stern tone, ordering Pete, "Put the candy cane back and step away from the tree, Soldier."

Pete had looked like a kid caught with his hand stuck in the cookie jar. "What? No, I was just--"

"Giving in to that insatiable sweet tooth of yours?" A smile had slowly spread across her face.

He had shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

Amanda had walked over to him, pulling the candy cane of of his hand. She kept her authoritative tone, "You keep this up, at this rate we're not going to have any left on Christmas."

"I am okay with that."

"Pete."

"We can buy more."

"That is not the point, Soldier."

"Yeah, well..."