055

For once in a very long time, when I woke up that morning I rolled over to see Sidney still asleep. That was probably the best Christmas present ever. A smile crept over his face and I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Merry Christmas Ebenezer," I whispered running my hand through his hair. "Merry Christmas Scrooge." I felt his hand run down my back and into my underwear, grabbing on to my ass. "Mmm, mmhmm," I smiled as I wrapped my leg over his. When was the last time this happened?

That Christmas I felt like I reconnected with Sidney, which was odd because I never felt disconnected. Maybe it's not me, maybe it's him. We spent the whole day on the couch watching movies and drinking beer. That's also how we spent New Years, we were becoming somewhat boring. That was all up until my 26th birthday. Oh wow, I'm THAT much closer to 30!!!! And that just means 40 is right around the corner.

I didn't want to get out of bed. I wanted to hide under the covers all day. "Why are you so scared of getting old?" Sidney asked me as he ripped the comforter off of me. I groaned and crawled out of bed, pushing past him to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and started the shower. I turned around and saw what looked like lipstick smeared all over the mirror. 'Grow old with me, whatever fate decrees, we will see it through, for our love is true.' I ran my fingers underneath the words he wrote on the mirror. I quickly unlocked the door and stepped outside to see if he was still in the bedroom. He wasn't, but a big box that said 'Open Me' was lying on the bed. I pulled the top off and revealed a beautiful white strapless dress. I pulled it out of the box and started laughing a bit. That's too short for someone my age!! I walked into the bathroom and turned the shower off. I headed downstairs where Sidney was making breakfast.

"So what's the dress for?" I asked him as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "We're going out tonight, just you and I. I'm not going to allow you to just ignore the fact that it's your birthday." I moaned into his shoulder blades. I really, truly did hate birthdays. He turned around in my arms and looked down at me. "Go take your shower, and when you're done, we can have breakfast." He leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss on my lips. "Okay, just don't burn the house down." I gave him one more quick kiss and headed back up to the bathroom. 

My phone would not shut up through out the day. Why must people remind me of how old I'm getting? I looked down and saw the most recent one was from Colby. 'Hey kiddo, happy birthday! Just remember age is just a number and I will be your best friend til your boobs hit your knees.' I started laughing and Sidney gave me a questioning look. I handed my phone to him and he laughed too. "He said the same thing to me on my birthday!" I played with Sidney's fingers as we watched the NHL network. "So when do I need to start getting ready?" I asked as he rubbed his thumb over my tattoo. "We should go now," he smiled and lifted me up into his arms. "Sid!" I moaned grabbing hold of him as he ran up the stairs and pushed through our bedroom door. "Remember that foot massage I gave you?" he asked as he laid me down on the bed and held my feet in his hands. "How could I forget that? Wait which time? Nose bleed or no nose bleed?" I laughed looking up at him as he pulled my socks up and then yanked my pants off. "Sid, I hate foreplay. You know that," I moaned but he acted like he didn't hear me. 

Usually when I got all dressed up I would pin my hair up in what I called a beautiful birds nest of a mess, and I always got compliments on it, but Sidney hated it. So I decided to keep my hair down, with big waves. I slipped into my new dress and it fit me like a glove, it reminded me of the wedding dress I had picked out. It had a green satin ribbon tied around underneath the bust, and then short, close to the body layers of lace fell to mid-thigh. I loved it. I slipped into the black heels Sidney got me for my opening, pulled on my black pea coat and headed downstairs where he was patiently waiting for me. "Are you going to let me see?" he smiled spinning his car keys around his finger. I turned around unbuttoned my pea coat, and slipped it off. I turned around to see Sidney's jaw a few inches from the floor. If he loves this, he will love my wedding dress! I walked up to him and lifted up his chin with my finger closing his mouth. He was about to say something but I shut him up pressing my lips against his. 

I didn't ask Sidney where we were going, because I knew he wouldn't tell me. I played with his fingers as we drove in downtown. I wasn't that hungry, so I was hoping Sidney was taking me somewhere with light foot, not Chinese or Italian. He parked and I looked around, I had no idea where I was at. He opened the door for me and held my hand as we walked into a dance studio. I was confused. "What are we doing at a dance studio?" "To learn how to dance," he smiled squeezing my hand. We walked in to find a couple twirling around the floor with very pretty music playing in the background. "Ah, Mr. Crosby, Miss Winters, welcome," the gentleman smiled as they stopped in front of us. "Do either of you have any dance experience?" I laughed to myself, remembering how every time we dance it's the same two step. "I, umm -" "No, you don't," I laughed cutting Sidney off. "Well today, we will be teaching you the rumba," the lady explained to us. "Oh wow, this is going to be a disaster." "Ah no, Miss Winters, it's a dance of passion, you two should have no problem."

"Quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow." I had to try and control my laughter, we were all over each others feet. "You are dancing like virgins, where is the passion?" our female instructor asked pushing Sidney and I closer together. "Well hello there," he winked down at me. About a hour later we looked like professionals. Ha, who am I kidding?! "So we will see you closer to the wedding no?" the instructor asked us. "Yes, we will be back around the middle of June, thank you so much," Sidney smiled then helped me put my pea coat on. "We're going to take dance lessons for our wedding?" I smiled up at him very excited. "Yes, I don't want to look like a fool," he smiled and then kissed me. 

After dancing I was starving, and we opted to take Chinese food home. We listened to Joe Cocker and sat by the fireplace, with our legs entwined eating our food. "I have to go get your gift," he laughed when he tried to move, but I tightened my legs around him. "You already got me a gift Sid, that beautiful dress," I moaned as he slipped out from my death grip and headed downstairs. He walked up the stairs with what looked like picture frames wrapped up. One was about ten inches by fourteen inches and the other was a lot bigger, a few feet bigger. He set the smaller of the two down on the couch and set the big one down on the ground next to me. "What in the world is that?" "Well open it," he smiled. I grabbed onto the paper and ripped it off. "Oh wow Sid," I smiled as an oil painting of my brewery came into view. "I want to turn that empty room downstairs into a bar, and this would be perfect in there. Just a little reminder that you can do anything you put your mind to. But you can't hide this one like you hide the one of the brewery in Woodinville," he smiled kissing me on top of the head. "This is awesome Sidney, thank you so much. It's like a portrait of my first born," I laughed while standing up to give him a kiss. "And then there's this one, I already cleared a space for it on the mantle," he laughed as he leaned the painting up against a wall and handed me the other gift. I looked at the mantle and saw there was in fact a space cleared out right in the middle among the dozen or so framed pictures of us and our families. I started ripping the paper off the back, and once all the wrapping paper was gone I turned it around and immediately covered my open mouth with my hand. "It's beautiful Sid, I had no idea there was anyone in there with cameras." The picture was of the back of Sidney leaning against his stick on the ice, and in front of him, to the side, I was standing on the steps holding the ring box in my hands looking down at Sidney. I leaped into his arms and gave him a big kiss. We walked over to the mantle and placed the frame right in the middle. "Oh and there's one more thing," he smiled squeezing me around my waist. "What?" I asked with a little laugh. "Taylor is flying in tomorrow, I changed her flights, and talked to her teachers myself, so you have her for a week." Girls Week!! I didn't say anything else I just kissed him. Maybe birthdays weren't that bad after all.