“Coconut was naughty again this morning,” I pout. “I spent so long looking for him I almost missed my bus, and that silly kitty was napping in my drawer all along! Can you believe that?”
“I can. It sounds like the second son is a handful, as expected,” he chuckles faintly. “It’s okay, I’m sure Muffin will teach him to behave.”
“I hope so! I’m relieved he stopped hissing at him. I think he just doesn’t want us to think he actually likes Coconut! Did you see the picture from last night? I couldn’t believe I caught them napping together!”
“It was a good picture. They were very adorable.”
I blush a bit. Every time Nicolas uses a “cute” word, I can’t help but think of all the times he’s called me that. And he does it a lot!
“…I still feel a bit sad we can’t bring them with us for Christmas,” I admit. “I feel like they’re going to be upset and think we’re abandoning them.”
“I’m sorry,” Nicolas says. “I know we’re going to miss them very much. I checked the cat hotel’s social media page again lastnight, and they got another very positive review. I believe we made a good choice for the boys.”
“I know. I think so too, but I’m still going to miss them…”
When it became clear we couldn’t bring the kittens along with all our holiday traveling, Nicolas took the whole operationveryseriously. He researched a dozen cat hotels, narrowed them down to the best-reviewed ones, and booked us two separate visits! Linda was right, our little furry princes are going to be spoiled rotten over the holidays.
Sure enough, when we finally reach my apartment, both of them are waiting right inside the door. Muffin meows loudly to greet us, while Coconut, the naughty little kitty that he is, immediately tries to slip past us to escape. Nicolas scoops him up without missing a beat.
“We’re home,” I sing-song.
Muffin meows again and curls around my ankles like the good boy he is. I’m still convinced he remembers I picked him up from that parking lot two years ago! With his soft brown-and-white coat, he really does look like a chocolate muffin made entirely of fluff. His little brother, Coconut, is equally fluffy, but he’s smaller and his fur is all white—hence his name!
“Are you finished packing?” he asks.
“Pretty much! It’s so silly I’m taking a suitcase for three days, isn’t it?” I bite my lip.
“It’s not silly. You’ll need space for souvenirs. And the gifts for your family. And the cats.”
I’m glad we had all the presents we could shipped right to my parents’ door. There’s no way I could have packed everything for my siblings, their partners, my parents, and my nieces and nephews in a suitcase or two!
“I’m so excited for the Christmas Market,” I clap my hands together. “I watched more vlogs last night; Quebec looks sopretty under the snow! And I can’t wait to get back to the Christmas shop! We need to find an ornament for Coconut!”
“We do,” he hums. “You’re also out of their special hot cocoa mixes. We should restock.”
I beam, remembering how sweet and enthusiastic the staff were when Nicolas took me there. A few months ago, we finally managed a weekend getaway to visit his hometown, and it turned out to be one of our favorite trips ever. Quebec City was so pretty at the beginning of fall; I can’t wait to see it at Christmas time!
“I can’t wait,” I smile. “Are you excited to come to Portland too?”
“Absolutely. I asked the dry cleaner to press my Christmas shirt. I requested extra care.”
I giggle. That shirt!
I found it a few weeks ago during another shopping trip with my colleague Kitty. It was the perfect shade of blue to match his eyes, and it had the tiniest, cutest little snowmen all over it—I couldn’tnotget it for Nicolas! I knew it would be the perfect gift for our Latte Anniversary, which isn’texactlythe anniversary of our meeting, but close enough!
I mean, Nicolas is the CEO of the company, so of course I knew who he was, but I feel like we only truly met when he first approached me that fateful evening… I had snuck away to the executives’ break room for a latte, and while I fully expected to be scolded by my boss, he actually used that as an excuse to talk to me! Cheeky move, right? And the rest was history… Well, if you count me finally dumping the boyfriend I had at the time (don’t worry, he was not a good man and he moved on quickly!) and Nicolas patiently taking me on date after date (eight of them in four weeks; he was relentless!) until I finally agreed to become his girlfriend (yay!). It became such a special memory for us that I knew I wanted to celebrate the one-year anniversary of thatlatte meeting with him, with that shirt as a gift and, of course, a latte!
To my surprise, Nicolas had the same thought, and he gifted me the most adorable notebook for my recipes, which I obviously loved… but I think I was even happier to see how much he liked that shirt with the tiny snowmen. He’s worn it proudly every chance he gets since. It caused quite a stir, because after seeing Nicolas’s shirt, a lot more executives suddenly started coming to work wearing shirts with discreet little gingerbread men or candy cane-themed ties! The office was abuzz for days with amusement about the executives’ outfits; there was even a secret poll on who wore the best Christmas-casual office attire… and Nicolas didn’t win despite my best efforts!
“Good,” I smile. “Oh, and what do you want for dinner tonight? You must be hungry! I saw your calendar; you didn’t have time for a proper lunch again, did you?”
“I didn’t,” he admits, “but I am hungry now. How about curry? I love your cooking, but we should take it easy this evening. Finish packing, go to bed early.”
“Good idea,” I nod. “I haven’t had it in forever!”
“Let me order it. You should go and finish packing.”
“Alright!”
