The Magic of Christmas

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go."  Actually, it's looked like that since Halloween but I notice now that some of the shelves even seem to be dwindling down.  Our family is coming for Christmas and so I'm trying to get everything done ahead of time so I can enjoy them w/o running around trying to get last minute things done.

I love Christmas, always have always will.  Okay, I admit there were a few down years, but all in all, Christmas is magic.  When Jared and I were together, it began the day after Thanksgiving. We would climb into the SUV to our favorite Christmas Tree Farm and start searching for just the perfect tree.  Sometimes it took more than one trip, but Jared always indulged me and would make as many trips as it took.  He had learned early on in our relationship, that indulging me was far easier than fighting me. 

Once the tree was purchased and put in its perfect place, in front of the picture window, came the task of decorating the tree.  Jared was in charge of the lights, and I did the rest.  Once again Jared always indulged me. To me, there could never be too many lights on the tree.  Jared would rearrange the strings, adding more as necessary, until I was satisfied.  He always remarked that if the tree were outside, we would have planes landing on our front lawn, it was so bright. 

Well, let it be said, that Jared must have become weary of indulging me.  One year, right before Thanksgiving, Jared informed me that he no longer wanted to be married.  He didn’t specifically say to me, but since he remarried within the year, I have to assume that’s what he meant.

That was a pretty bleak holiday for me.  I didn’t even have a tree.  I couldn’t understand how Jared could leave me at my favorite time of year.  It never occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, he couldn’t go through indulging me one more time.

By the following year, I had moved on.  I still didn’t have a tree, the reason being I was going away for the holidays and what would be the point.  Some of Christmas’s magic returned in the form of a Norman Rockwell Christmas Village in Colorado and meeting Paul.

Paul’s family owned the lodge where I was staying.  He had recently retired from the military and was decompressing at the lodge until he decided what he was going to do with the rest of his life. 

I was standing in the dining room waiting for a table and admiring the decorations except for the tree.  Paul came up to me and asked if I needed assistance.  Not having any idea who he was, I remarked that the tree could use another string or two of Christmas lights.  He laughed and told me I sounded just like his mother.  I’m not sure I liked the comparison, but Paul proved to be an excellent companion, and we spent the next few days together. 

When it came time to leave, we exchanged information and vowed to keep in touch.  There were no promises or expectations, just a friendly exchange of information.

Here’s where the Christmas Magic took over.  Paul had been a helicopter pilot in the service. It just so happened that a position became available in an area not too far from my hometown.  We got together for dinner when he came for the interview and once he was hired for the job we began spending more time together.

Paul wasn’t nearly as indulgent as Jared and I didn’t always get my way.  If we disagreed, he would listen to my side of things, but if he still didn’t agree it didn’t matter how much I carried on he stood firm.  I could either accept, or he would call a time out until I came to my senses, as he would say and then we would agree to disagree.

We went to his parent's lodge for Thanksgiving where he proposed.  Of course, I said yes.  There wasn’t anything not to like about Paul.  He was about six feet tall, with piercing blue eyes, black hair that curled at his neck when it got too long and a body to die for.  Besides that, he was a gentleman, and I was crazy about him.

We decided to plan the wedding for the springtime.  Jared's folks would find it hard to get away during the Christmas holidays.  That was all right with me. 

Since we were at the lodge the Friday after Christmas, it wasn’t until the following Saturday, and Paul and I went off to select our tree.  We went to my favorite lot, and after a couple of hours, I told him I couldn’t find one I liked, we’d have to go to a different place tomorrow.  I was told that of all the hundreds of trees at this farm, I could certainly pick one and if I couldn’t he would pick one for me.

He did because I refused.  We were in the parking lot, and he was hefting the tree on top of the car when I heard a familiar voice.

“Hello Nika, did you find your perfect tree?” 

Paul, who heard the remark answered.  “No, she couldn’t choose so I chose for her.”

Jared laughed.  “You, sir, are a glutton for punishment.”  It was at this point that I introduced Jared to Paul.

“What do you mean?” Paul inquired.

“Well, Nika here is a stickler for the perfect tree.  Of course, she may have changed since we were married.”

I wanted this encounter over, and I kept urging Paul to finish loading the tree and getting underway. Finally, Jared shook hands with Paul and wished him well. In the car, Paul wanted to know what Jared meant that I was a glutton for punishment for choosing a tree that wasn’t to your liking.

“Oh, Paul, that was Jared’s way of saying I liked getting my way.”

“And if you didn’t.”

“Well, I just kept haranguing him until I did.  He always gave in.”

“So this is the way you’ve always behaved.”

“I guess so.  Frankly, although Jared never said it,  I think it’s the reason he didn’t want to be married to me any longer.”

Paul was quiet for the rest of the ride home. When he unloaded the tree and brought it in the house, I told him where I wanted it placed.  He disagreed saying it would be too much in the way of the front door.  We argued back and forth, and that’s when things changed, and a new kind of magic emerged.

He took me by the arm and led me to the couch.  Over his knee I went.  I was fighting and yelling like a banshee, but he held me in that position, over his knee, hands and legs dangling in thin air.

“This stops now. I will not put up with your childish behavior any longer.  Now that I know it has been going on forever, it’s time to put a stop to it.  If Jared wasn’t man enough to take you in hand, I am. “  The first smack of his hand was a doozy.  The sound seemed to reverberate around the room.  Two more smacks and I heard someone ask if everything was okay.

Paul had apparently left the front door open when he brought in the tree, and my carrying on was providing entertainment for the neighbors.  I was embarrassed beyond belief, but it got worse.  Instead of merely answering that everything was fine, Paul told the inquiring neighbor that it was only me getting a spanking and he was sorry I was causing such a ruckus.

“I see,” said the neighbor.  “I’ll just close the door,” and sure enough I heard it close. 

Paul was getting a renewed dose of my vitriol.  He started smacking me again.  It hadn’t slowed me down either.  The next thing I knew my jeans and panties were being lowered and his assault on my bottom had risen to a new level.  The smacks came harder and faster until finally, I wasn’t able to breathe, much less complain.  My ass had to be on fire, and still he continued the barrage of whacks to my bottom.

Sometime, he must have figured I’d had enough because the spanking stopped and he held me in place while rubbing my back.  He had to help me up, I had trouble getting my bearings, and my legs were wobbly. He caught me in a bear hug.

“Now be a good girl, go wash your face, and we’ll get this tree decorated.”

I did as I was told and when I came back downstairs, the tree was exactly where he wanted, and he had strung the lights.  There weren’t nearly enough to suit me.

“Paul, I  like a lot of lights.  Do we have any more strings?”

“Nika, I have strung over three hundred bulbs on this tree.  I am not hanging anymore.”

“But it seems to need more.”

“Let me ask you this, do you need more?”

“More lights, yes I do.”

“No, I was referring to more spanking because that’s what you’re going to get if I hear another word about needing more lights on the tree.”

I went to get the ornaments and began hanging them on the tree.  My bottom was lit up enough for one day.

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The following year we bought an artificial tree with over four hundred lights.  I still get spanked but that first spanking was the last one I received because of a Christmas tree.

See you later for more Aimless Ramblings.