December 24th, 2061. Presidential Residence, San Fransisco, Fireblue territory, North American Province. 14.15 local time.

Eleanor Lucas lay down on the bed and, with a satisfied groan, stretched out her legs. The fluffy pillow behind her back smelled of roses. She closed her eyes and let the scent engulf her.

“Finally,” she mumbled to herself.

She had been looking forward to this moment the whole morning. She had sat at the head of the conference table, pretending to listen to her cabinet members, all the while secretly counting down to the end of the meeting.

It was Christmas Eve tonight and that meant she had the whole afternoon and evening off. Barring any emergencies, of course. That was the life of a president, she had quickly discovered. Time was never really yours.

For now, it looked like she could spend Christmas Eve as planned. In bed. Her eyebrows shot up when she realized she still had her shoes on. She kicked them off without opening her eyes, letting them drop onto the floor.

A satisfied smile pulled at the corners of her lips. She considered her options. Maybe she would watch a movie. Or read a book. She took in a deep breath. Or take a nap. “Oh yes,” she thought. ”A nap sounds perfect.”

A knock on the door immediately forced her to postpone that plan.

“Yes?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the door.

A familiar face walked in. El pushed herself up on her elbows.

“Mary,” she said, “Why are you here? You should be with your family!”

The lines around Mary’s eyes proved she had had a long life with many smiles.

“I’m leaving soon. I just wanted to bring you this before I leave,” she said, her voice smooth and kind. She nodded at the tray in her hands.

El sat up more, trying to see what was on it. A single mug. A waft of something delicious made it to her nose.

“Oooh,” El purred, her mouth watering. “What is that?!”

Mary put the tray down on the nightstand. “It’s something my family drinks every Christmas.”

She took a step back. “Try it. Careful, it’s hot.”

El didn’t hesitate. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached for the mug. Her eyes widened once she held it under her nose for an exploratory sniff.

“This smells amazing!”

Mary folded her hands on her belly. “My grandma’s recipe.”

El wrapped her fingers around the mug as if there was liquid gold in it. She closed her eyes and took in the aroma.

“I smell….” She thought for a moment. “Something buttery?”

Mary laughed. “Hot buttered rum. Perfect for a lazy Christmas Eve,” she said, walking to the door.

El sipped the warm drink. It had a rich and spiced flavor with a kick at the end.

She groaned. “Oh my God, this is delicious,”

Mary wagged a finger at her. “Drink slowly and take a nap afterward.” She winked. “Merry Christmas, Madam President.”

El grinned back at her. “Merry Christmas, Mary. Thank you so much.”

Mary gave her one last, brilliant smile and disappeared, leaving El alone again.

El fluffed her pillow with one hand, holding the mug in her other. When she was comfortable, she took a big gulp. The rum made her whole chest glow.

She looked around her bedroom. It was cozy with a reading corner she loved. The staff had added some extra decorative lights for the holidays. She felt at home here.

After just 2 more sips, her eyelids were growing heavy. She placed the mug on the nightstand and let herself sink further into the pillow.

She shut her eyes and felt the muscles in her arms and legs relax. El lay completely still as she listened to the sound of her own breathing before drifting off.

A low voice whispering something in her left ear brought her back from her slumber. She liked how soothing the sound was and rolled her head in its direction.

Warm, soft lips brushed against the sensitive skin of her ear. El smiled and pressed even closer.

“Sorry I’m late,” the familiar voice whispered.

El wanted to answer but wasn’t able to come up with any words yet. When an arm slipped around her waist, and a hand found the bare skin under her shirt, she moaned happily instead.

“Missed me, huh?” the husky voice continued.

El nodded slowly. Fingertips were tracing a line from her belly button to her chest. She turned onto her side and opened her eyes.

What she saw, took her breath away. It always did. Louise’s hair lay on the pillow, wild and frizzly. ‘Untamed’ was the word El preferred.

The strong lines of her nose and jaw usually gave Louise a stern expression. Not now, though. Dark brown eyes stared back at her from under thick eyelashes.

“You should wake me up like this every day,” El said, her voice sultry.

“At 6PM?” Louise replied, her full lips curling up into an amused smile.

El wrinkled her nose. “Did I sleep that long?”

“Uhuh,” Louise said, nodding.

El pulled her eyes away from Louise’s, glancing around. The room was dark except for the dim light of the Christmas decorations.

She focused back on her lover and let out a deep, happy sigh. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Louise placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “It’s our first Christmas together. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

El snuck her hand under Louise’s shirt, longing to feel her warm skin. “I think I know what I want for Christmas.”

Louise chuckled. El could feel the muscles rippling under her fingers.

“Oh, really, what is that?” Louise asked, shifting her leg so it rested between El’s. El responded by pulling Louise closer, their chests pressing against each other.

“I want to,” she started to say, her fingertip on Louise’s lips.

A sudden shift of the mattress was followed by loud, enthusiastic panting in El’s ear. She yelped. “What the?!”

A cold nose pressed against the back of her neck. Whiskers tickled her skin. El turned her head only to get a sloppy lick right in the face.

“Stucky!” El gasped, pushing herself up and wiping her cheek with her sleeve. Louise laughed. Stucky used the moment to flop down, his head in El’s lap.

“Oh my God! Did you let him in here?!” El asked Louise, pointing at the dog. Stucky looked up at both of them with his big puppy eyes.

Louise sat up and shrugged, a little uncertain. “Yeah?”

El frowned at Stucky, who was still giving her his best puppy look. “I never let him in here!” she said. “He knows he’s not allowed in here.”

“But it’s Christmas,” Louise pleaded as she scratched behind Stucky’s big, floppy ear. “He was lying by the tree downstairs, looking all sad and lonely.”

El quirked an eyebrow at Louise. “You mean he suckered you into this?”

Louise smiled at Stucky with so much affection, El’s resolve to kick the dog off of her bed was starting to melt.

“Yeah, sure,” Louise admitted, “Want me to bring him back downstairs?” Her voice sounded genuinely disappointed.

El let out a deep sigh. “Meh.”

“Does that mean he can stay?” Louise asked quietly, leaning over and wrapping her arm around Stucky’s neck.

El wasn’t ready to give in just yet. “You’re going to turn him into one of those spoiled dogs.”

“No,” Louise replied after kissing the top of his big head, “He’s just sad today. I bet your aunt let him sleep on her bed all the time.”

El opened her lips in mock shock. “Oh! I can’t believe you just went there.”

Louise managed to look somewhat sorry. “Okay, sorry. But he’s just so…”

“Fiiiine,” El interrupted her, raising her hands in surrender. “Enough already!”

Both Louise and Stucky grinned. El rolled her eyes. These two were getting along way too much. She pointed at the foot of the bed.

“But he has to lie over there! I am not going to get pushed out of my own bed!”

Louise quickly crawled to the spot El had indicated. She patted the sheets. “Stucky, come here.”

Much to El’s surprise, he listened immediately and clumsily made his way to Louise.

“Good boy,” Louise cooed, rubbing his back. He lay down and curled up, ready for a nap.

“Hey, you, back here,” El demanded when Louise kept petting him for another minute.

Louise gave her a wide smile. She crawled back, lay down and wrapped her arm around El. El rested her head on Louise’s shoulder.

“I guess this works,” she muttered. Louise’s chest went up and down slowly.

“Yeah,” Louise replied. “This is perfect.” Her fingers were playing with El’s hair.

“So how do you usually celebrate Christmas?” Louise asked after a moment.

El closed her eyes. She loved it when Louise fidgeted with her curls.

“Ehm,” she replied, “My aunt and I had dinner, I guess. But we never made a big deal out of it. She was too…”

“Too what?” Louise prodded her when she didn’t finish her sentence.

“She just wasn’t big on holidays,” El continued.

“What about you?”

El shrugged. “I enjoy everyone’s cheerful mood. And I do like all the good food.”

“But I guess this is your first Christmas without her?” Louise asked, a bit quieter. Her fingers were now stroking up and down El’s neck.

El cleared her throat. “Yeah.”

Louise wrapped her arm around El more firmly. “Are you okay?”

El thought for a long moment. “I think I am,” she finally replied.

She missed her aunt every single day. But having Louise here helped. More than she could ever have imagined. She placed her hand on Louise’s chest, covering her heart.

“I have you now,” she whispered.

Louise kissed the top of her head tenderly. “Yes, you do.”

El looked up at Louise. She was again taken aback by Louise’s beauty. How on earth had she gotten this lucky? She looked for a way to tell Louise how much she loved her.

Stucky stretched all of his paws with a sleepy groan, interrupting the moment. Contented snoring followed soon after. Both Louise and El chuckled softly.

Stucky’s snoring was sort of hypnotizing, El quickly discovered. Listening to his breathing was making her eyelids grow heavy again.

Louise’s arm around her made her feel so safe. This was how she wanted to spend every Christmas, she thought. Soon after, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

For the second time, a knock on the door woke El back up. She blinked a few times. Her bedroom was dark except for the warm glow of the Christmas lights.

She padded the sheets next to her. They were cold. El sat up, her arms heavy. She looked at her feet. No Stucky. She turned her head. No Louise either.

Her chest immediately ached from disappointment and longing. “Shit,” she said and bit down on her lip.

A second knock on the door reminded her of her visitor. She rubbed her eyes, trying to shake off the sadness.

There was someone at her door and that could only mean one thing. Her holiday was already over. She wondered what had happened.

“Just a second,” she said loudly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. El nearly knocked over the mug with the hot buttered rum while getting up.

She ran her hands through her curls and wetted her lips. She was relieved she hadn’t finished all that rum. She tried to straighten her clothes.

Her sweater was all wrinkled and she soon gave up on making herself presentable. If she had to go out, she could always change.

El took in one last breath and turned to the door. “Come in,” she commanded.

The door opened slowly. The first thing El saw was a shiny, black nose poking through. She tilted her head. A sense of déjà vu coming to her.

Stucky raced through the door then, his tail wagging wildly. El gasped when she saw who followed him inside. It was Louise, wearing jeans and a funny Christmas sweater.

“Hey,” Louise said with a goofy grin.

El’s heart soared. “Hey,” she replied while trying to calm down Stucky, who was jumping up and down around her.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Louise said. “But I dressed up!” She pointed at the green tie and red tuxedo on her sweater.

El laughed, shaking her head. Stucky was licking her hand now and she pulled it back, wrinkling her nose.

Louise winked. “Mary said I am supposed to look the part when spending Christmas with the President.”

El grinned back at Louise. Stucky had finally calmed down and was now eyeing the comfortable bed. She walked up to Louise, who closed the door behind her.

“You got the briefing wrong,” El teased as she poked Louise’s chest.

“I did?”

El nodded sternly. “Yes, you’re going to have to take this off.”

Louise raised a dark eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“Yes, right this instant,” El replied, wrapping her arms around Louise’s neck.

Louise ran her hands over El’s hips. “Missed me, huh?” she asked, her voice wonderfully familiar and husky.

El pressed her lips against Louise’s. “Yes, way too much,” she whispered.