All I Want for Christmas... Ch. 01

The white snowflakes whirled against the darkness, caught in the headlights, and rushed up against the windshield of Jennifer's car. She was perhaps driving a bit faster than she should have, considering the weather, but was anxious to get home. The winter holidays were finally here. Jennifer had been looking forward to it, what with all the assignments and studying in college. It would feel good to get away from it all and spend some time with her father, as well as her other relatives.

Since her mother passed away a few years ago, her father had been living alone since Jennifer moved out, so she made sure stay over on the weekends as often as she could. She still considered it home. They lived in a suburb to a larger city, so it would have been an easy commute, but at 21, she still felt the need to have her own place. Luckily, her car, an old Nissan Altima, allowed her the option to visit often and still maintain a social life. The trip only took her about 40 minutes or so.

'Last Christmas' was playing on the radio as Jennifer turned into the streets of her childhood. Same songs every year, as far back as she could remember. She didn't mind. She liked the repetition, the tradition. Same streets, same people, same white snow she used to build her snowmen from. Same house.

Jennifer parked the car on the driveway, in front of the garage. She walked up to the door through a thick layer of snow, creaking satisfyingly under her steps. She put down her bag and rang the bell. Peter, her father, opened the door with a smile on his face. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt which looked comfy and warm, and it also showed off his biceps. His chestnut colored hair was combed and full of volume, and his beard has been shaved. Her father, who was 42, looked great for his age. Hell, he looked great for any age.

"Princess!" Peter greeted with a big smile.

"Daddy!" Jennifer exclaimed, as he came over and hugged her tightly.

"Merry Christmas," he added as he held her in his embrace.

"Merry Christmas to you too, dad. You look great!"

"Thanks sweetie!" He beamed at the attention. "I made myself look extra good today, since my only daughter is coming home for the holiday. You haven't seen her have you? A tall, beautiful girl with an amused grin on her face?"

Jennifer couldn't help smiling at him.

"There she is," he said playfully and surprised her by leaning in and planting a kiss right on his daughter's lips.

"Dad!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"What? You're standing under the Mistletoe, see?" he explained and pointed behind her, above the door. Jennifer turned to look.

"Like you didn't put that there on purpose," she said sarcastically. Not that she minded.

"Oh, relax. It's just a 'Christmas kiss' I'm just so excited to have you home with me for this long."

"And the rest of our relatives?" Jennifer asked.

"Ah, yeah. Them too, of course," he answered, with less enthusiasm. "Which reminds me, I better take this down now so your Aunt Tina doesn't get any ideas."

Jennifer chuckled as he reached around her and took the plant down. Tina would try almost anything she thought she could get away with when it came to Peter, especially with some eggnog in her. It never got her anything from him though, other than cold looks.

Jennifer took off her jacket and carried her bag into her room.

"Jen! You want some coffee?" Peter called from the kitchen.

"Sure," she called back and began unpacking.

The presents lay hidden under layers of clothes in her sports bag. A couple of toys for the young ones in the family and a gold watch for her dad. Peter had handled buying the rest of their shared gifts for the others. Shared, even though he insisted on not letting her help pay for them.

Jennifer took the gift wrapped box with the watch and hid it under the pillow on her bed and let the rest sit on her desk.

Peter was waiting by the dinner table, two steaming cups of coffee in front of him.

"All set up?" he asked and handed her a cup.

"Yep, there's not a lot to unpack."

Peter was sitting with the steaming cup held in both hands, holding it up to his face and blowing on it to try and cool it down. He smiled at her, his mouth half hidden. Jennifer quickly tore her eyes away from him, to make her attraction less obvious.

Damn, he's handsome, she thought as she looked around for something else to focus on.

"Oh, is that this year's tree?" She asked, noticing the pine tree in the living room. The dining room was basically one with the living room, the majority of walls between the two knocked down to make a larger and more open area. She had noticed the tree before, but she needed something to talk about.

"You like it? I picked it up earlier today. I thought we could decorate it tomorrow evening together with everyone else."

"Sure, sounds good. So they're flying in tomorrow then?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah, Jeff and the rest of the gang are on the same flight tomorrow, and your uncle is driving over with his family and Tina," he explained. Jeff being his brother and the rest of family coming from her late mother's side of the family.

"It was snowing like crazy on the way here though, they might want to take it easy if they are going out on the roads," Jennifer suggested, even though she had been going a bit too fast herself.

"I'll make sure to tell them," Peter said, smiling. He fell silent for a moment, gazing at his daughter and with a grin on his face.

"What?" Jennifer asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just can't believe how grown up you've become."

"Come on, dad..." She said, a little embarrassed, even though she appreciated that he saw her as more of a woman.

They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their coffee. The only sound that could be heard was the low ticking from a clock. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though, like it could be with other people.

"How is Tommy, by the way? Has he been treating you right?" Peter asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh. Um, he's fine. I was going to tell you. We kind of broke up."

Unlike most fathers, Peter was perfectly comfortable with his daughter dating, and having sex. It took him some time to adapt, but he had come to realize that his daughter is now grown up and smart enough to make the right decisions.

"I don't know. It just didn't work out is all..." Jennifer said.

"That's too bad. I liked him." Peter sighed to himself. "I get that you don't want to be tied down, but you really should try to stay in a relationship for longer than a month some time, Jen," he admonished.

"It just didn't feel right," She tried to explain.

"Well, what would feel right?" he asked. Looking genuinely curious.

"I don't know..." Jennifer answered, shrugging. A mature man, she thought to herself. Someone like you, dad. But she couldn't say that.

He didn't look too happy with that answer, but seemed to accept it. "Oh well, you're still young. You'll figure it out. It's not like you're going to have any problems on that front," he murmured.

"What about you?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What about me?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You know. It's been a long time since you broke up with... um, who?"

"Heather," Peter answered, looking less amused by the second.

"Yeah, Heather. Haven't you hooked up with anyone new since then?"

"Hah, I'm not sure I should share that much. But no, there's not really anyone new," he replied.

"Why?" Jennifer asked, perhaps being a bit too pushy with her questioning. "I can't imagine you having any trouble attracting women." Peter flashed her an appreciative smile at that.

"Well... It's more a question of attracting the right kind of women. At my age, I can't be wasting my time with just anyone."

"I see," Jennifer said. She guess she understood that.

"Or maybe i'm just wasting too much time thinking about the one woman I can't have..." he whispered, but it came out louder than Jennifer thought he had expected in the silence of the room.

Peter's cheeks flushed red and he coughed, then turned his attention to the coffee that remained in his mug. The atmosphere in the room changed, putting a stop to that conversation.

After they put the coffee cups in the dishwasher, they sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, breaking the silence with the sounds of commercials and sitcoms. It was getting pretty late in the evening, but they still stayed up for a while, sitting close, enjoying each others company.

Next chapter coming soon!