"Mhmm, something smells good."

A pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I felt a face full of prickly beard rub against my neck.

"Yeah, I'm making cake," I replied, tilting my head to rest my cheek on him.

"I meant something else smells even better, but yeah, the cake smells good too," he chuckled.

"You flirt," I giggled. "It's been five years since we're married."

He just laughed without commenting. His eyes landed on the icing bowl.

"Chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate," I giggled.

"Your favourite," he whispered in his deep voice, nuzzling deeper into the crook of my neck. I could feel his warm breath on my skin and the hug felt like a bubble of safety.

"Not as favourite as some other hot chocolate." I turned around, giving him a naughty wink. The goofy grin on his face was enough to let me know he got the hint.

I took the jar of raisins, sprinkling a handful into the batter.

"Wait, are we making a fruitcake?" he asked, picking up one raisin from the bowl, tossing it into his mouth.

"Fruit and nut with chocolate frosting," I grinned.

"Chocolate frosting is extra if we're making a fruitcake," he argued.

"But I love chocolate and I love nuts too," I whined, sprinkling some broken almonds and cashews before stirring the mixture again.

"Well, I have both —"

"Eww, gross. Not on Christmas!" I tried to shrug him off playfully.

"Oh really? Are you strong enough to resist?"

He whipped me around suddenly, squashing me against his body. I yelped trying to keep my sticky fingers off his new blue sweater. His lips landed straight on mine. My lips responded immediately, moulding themselves to fit his perfectly, as if they were created to complement each other. There was a hunger in the gesture, laced with traces of desire. My cheeks felt hot, blood rushing to colour my skin.

When we broke the kiss, I was gasping.

"See, you can't resist me." He winked, deliberately rubbing his beard on my cheek to annoy me.

"Isn't it already time to shave off that jungle?" I commented, turning back to the kitchen counter, looking around for my baking bowl.

"This jungle stays," he said, opening the shelf and handing me the butter-paper circles. "But—" he reached for the chocolate icing. I swatted his hand away.

"Not now," I chided.

"Fine, but if you want the jungle somewhere else to be removed—" he took the mixing bowl and started pouring the creamy cake batter slowly on the butter paper, "—that can be arranged."

"We still have to put up the lights on the Christmas tree and decorate the cookies," I said, grabbing the bowl from him and scraping it audibly, to get the last batter out. "So, stop daydreaming."

"It's evening dreaming." He pointed to the window. And sure enough the mellow orange sunlight was lighting up the potted plants on the window sill.

"Stop annoying me." I pointed the sticky ladle at him like a sword. "Go put up the lights."

"Remind me why we do this every year when there's no one coming to our house?" He shrugged.

"Because it brings cheer in the atmosphere. We don't need ten people to make us happy. We're content with each other's silences."

I closed the door of the micro oven and proceeded to set the temperature.

"So that means romantic Christmas movie plan still on?"

"Yes, my love." I turned around, pulling his cheeks with my batter coated fingers. "We'll watch our stupid, silly, unrealistically extravagant, happy ending Christmas movie like every year!"

"You got batter on my beard." He jutted out his lower lip like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"Serves you right for pricking me, you porcupine!" I laughed, reaching up on my toes and kissing his cheek, batter and all!

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"Can I get some tea with the cookies?" he shouted over the sound of running water hitting the metal sink loudly as he washed off the batter.

"Sure, but not until you put the lights on."

"It's a tiny tree anyway. How long will it take."

"Don't underestimate tiny things. They can be  pretty annoying."

"Yes, I know that since the last eight years. I'm dating one tiny thing." I looked up just in time to see the smirk on his face.

"Let's not talk of tiny things or I might have other lists." I bit my lips.

His laughed out loud, sauntering off to fix the small tree we put up in our living room each year.

We make fake snow with cotton and paste it on the plastic leaves of our tree and wrap the whole tree in yellow fairy lights. I leave the electrical connection stuff to him. Men know their thing best.

We continued with our quips and innuendos to and fro from one room to the other, as I put the water and milk to boil and switched off the microwave oven, letting the cake stay in to rise a bit more with the heat.

I liked the banter between us more than anything else. We didn't mind the teasing or the word puns at any time of the day and anywhere. We almost had our own secret code for communication!

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"Tea is ready," I called, proceeding to take out the cake.

"That looks yum," he remarked from the kitchen door, licking his lips.

I grinned and brought it to the counter, taking up the chocolate icing cone. I could feel him watching me intently as he sipped his evening tea lazily. He liked seeing me busy at work.

By the time his tea and my uneven icing was done with, my fingers were dripping with chocolate frosting.

"Look—" I turned back. He was already behind me. He grabbed my hand, putting three of my fingers in his mouth without warning, sucking off the chocolate with audible slurps.

"Get off me!" I tried to mock punch him.

"On one condition—" he grinned. "—movie time!"

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We ended up on the couch, wrapped together in a warm blanket munching on his favourite pizza and a slice of chocolate cake, his arm around me with Christmas Prince playing on the TV.

"There's no mistletoe here," I mumbled into his solid chest, midway through the movie.

"But I can still kiss you," he chortled.

I laughed again, throwing my hands around his neck playfully. He snaked his hands through my hair. And then we kissed, slow and soft, delicate and heavenly. My nerves lit up like the fairy lights blinking on our Christmas tree.

"Make a wish," he mumbled into my mouth. I closed my eyes simply savouring the kiss. I wanted him, needed him, desired him with all my heart. "I already got my wish," I whispered back, deepening the kiss again.

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