Twas the night before Christmas (eve) and on the top floor, Marshall felt someone a knock-knock-knocking upon his back door.

...Can you believe I've had two books published?

Elizabeth was at a friend's house for the night so Corey and I could have a day alone before we were surrounded by his entire freaking family. (No pressure.) For three. Freaking. Days. Apparently, his parents were excited to meet me, but I was still going in almost completely blind. I'd seen a few pictures, but that was it. Corey was going to brief me in the car. (As opposed to at home, where he debriefed me in the bedroom.) It was kind of scary. My family really consisted of three people and a few kids, where Corey had two sisters, a brother, and their respective spouses. One of whom was a crazy born-again Christian. Not to say that all born-agains are crazy. I'm sure there are Jewish folk who aren't quite as cool and hip as I am.

So anyway, Corey and I were left at home doing typical parent Christmas stuff. You know, last-minute packing...

"Mnn! Fucking take it!"

....gift wrapping...

"Oh! Oh. Oh god.. Fuck me! Fuck!"

....the usual.

Okay. Fine. We were having sex. Happy?

I'd found out a few weeks ago that Corey could be very much into dirty talk now and then, which surprised me, to say the least. Not a bad surprise, because I could be kinky myself, but still. He really didn't seem the type, and it was even sexier hearing those words come out of that mouth... Corey could be the sweetest, most romantic guy on the planet, but when he was in a mood... Well. Every now and then, when we had the place to ourselves and were feeling it, we'd engage in a little dirty talk and some fairly rough sex. We'd even themed it for the holidays.

"Mm! Yes! Come down my chimney, Santa!" I gasped, tangling my fingers in his hair and trying not to laugh. He groaned, biting my shoulder lightly.

"I'm gonna stuff presents under your tree, baby..."

"Oh, yes! Dump your big red sac all over my tree!"

Corey burst out laughing and stopped, panting hard. "I love you, you fucking freak," he murmured, nuzzling the side of my neck and trying to catch his breath.

Grinning, I pulled him closer, still feeling those tingles down my spine whenever he said it. "I love you too."

"I can't think of any more Christmas-related euphemisms, Mars."

I thought for a moment, but my brain was clouded with mid-sex thoughts and it was tough actually getting an idea through the murky depths. Hard, even. Finally...

"Got one," I said, reaching down to grope his perfect ass. (It was amazing, by the way. I wanted to write my third book just about his ass.) In response, he thrust into me so hard that my eyes rolled back into my skull, and I lost conscious thought for a second, responding with only a gaspy moan.

"Too rough?" Corey asked me breathlessly, kissing my throat.

"Just... nn! Caught me off-guard." I gasped again, arching my back. "Oh... Oh god... Corey... get me an ugly snowman sweater that I can take back the day after Christmas!"

He laughed, nipping my earlobe. "Yeah... you keep that fucking receipt, you slut..."

I'd never been so happy in my entire life.

Not just the sex, either. I just felt... deliriously happy with him. Even after, when I was snuggled against him, panting, and he kissed my forehead. I was a bit sore, but in a good way.

"I love you."

"Love you too." I tucked my head under his chin and breathed in his scent. He'd had to fly overnight to cover an out of town game the week before, and I had trouble sleeping until I used his pillow and sprayed a little bit of his cologne on the underside of the pillowcase. It's sad, I know, but I've never been in love like this before.

And my sister hadn't let me forget it, either. When we'd gone over to my mom's for Hannukah dinner, she sat next to me on the couch, watching Elizabeth delightedly hold the baby. "You know you've turned into one of those couples you used to make fun of, right?" she said.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"You're just... deliriously happy, aren't you?"

"...Pretty much, yeah."

"He is pretty hot," Sarah said, looking over to the kitchen where Corey was watching dishes.

"Yeah, I'd fuck him." Brian sat down on the arm of the couch, handing Sarah a glass of wine, grinning.

"I'd fuck me too." Corey sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulder. "I'd fuck me hard." He lisped into my ear.

I burst out laughing, and my sister gave me a '... god, you fags are weird.' Look that I'd been getting a lot of lately.

I met Corey for lunch a few days ago so we could do our last-minute shopping (as much as I'd gotten to know Elizabeth over the last while, he still knew her better.) and we were in the mall, holding hands and everything, and the looks we got were either '..ew.' or '...aww!', depending on who they were coming from. We had a couple teenage girls following us for a while, looking at us like we were on display in the Museum of Hot and when Corey groped my ass in Pottery Barn and gave me a kiss, they almost had collective ... I don't know. Vaginal aneurisms.

"Baby?" He prodded me, and I looked over, still feeling the tingles running through my body, and that really great feeling that just said 'Yeah. You're content.'

"Mm?"

"I ... was thinking, would you .. I mean, your cat's here, and a ton of your stuff is here. D'you... want to move in? You hardly ever spend any time at your apartment anyway."

"You had me at 'vaginal aneurisms'." I cooed.

"... what?"

"Of course I'll move in."

"W... well, but... Vaginal aneurisms? What the fuck."

"I love you too." I kissed him. Corey looked utterly bewildered.

"... Did I fuck something loose up there?" He asked, toying with my hair, half-smiling.

"Maybe. Wanna see if you can fuck it back in place?"

"... I do like a challenge." Corey got out of bed, despite my protests, and I decided to enjoy the view. He returned with a couple big mugs of hot chocolate and some leftover pizza from the night before, and soon I was snuggling naked manflesh again. "I'm really glad you're coming with us tomorrow, baby."

"It's a little nervewracking."

"And spending Hanukkah with your family wasn't? I'm pretty sure your Grandmother referred to me as the 'gay' all night."

"Goy, honey."

"... what?"

"Goy. Like... non-Jewish person."

"... Fuck."

I laughed and kissed him, setting the hot chocolate aside so I could move closer to him, wrapping one arm around his waist. He watched me for a minute, suddenly serious, and kissed me – not in a 'Oh my god, I'm going to fuck you' way, either, but a 'The ship's going down and that piece of driftwood's not big enough for both of us.' Kiss. I mean, seriously. Why did Kate Winslet not let him up on the driftwood? There was room. I think if they'd have snuggled, he could've lived. But no, he had to fuck off and die in the water. Do you have any idea how many times I had to sit through that movie, between my mother, sister, and the girls in my high school who just wanted a gay best friend? Honestly.

There was a weird, intense look in his eyes that did weird me out a little, but it was honestly a turn-on. "Corey?" I asked, poking him in the shoulder.

"I love you."

"... I love you too, Core."

"N... No. I love you. More than I've ever loved anyone." He swallowed. "I love the fact that you have inner monologues and kind of drift off sometimes and when you come out of them, you say shit like 'vaginal aneurisms.' I love that you have the weirdest sense of humor in the world. I love that your biggest fear is that your mom will find out you eat pork. I love that after we make out, you just do this little sigh and nuzzle your face into my neck." I could actually feel myself blushing. I didn't even notice I was doing that at all, let alone enough to have it be a habit. Corey laughed and shook his head. "I .. I love that you didn't even care about dating me when you knew I had a daughter. "

"Lizzie's great." I shrugged. I didn't really want to tell him that I'd been a little freaked out at first, but she was pretty easy to love. She was like a small snarky twink. It was great.

"Yeah, but a lot of guys wouldn't feel that way, Mars."

It was weird. He had a laundry list of all these little things he loved about me, but when I thought about it, I just thought 'him'. Was that weird? He loved the tiny parts of me (not to say that all my parts were tiny), and I loved the whole. Sure, there were little things I loved about him, but all I knew was that I loved him. I loved being his. I loved that he loved me so much. You know what? Fuck it. I was going to propose to him. We couldn't get married in our state, but a post-Christmas trip to Canada wouldn't be hard to manage. Elizabeth didn't have to be back in school until the second week of January, we all had our passports, and we could go to the mountains and make it a family vacation.

Oh, shit. He's looking at me. Say something. Wait. What were we talking about? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Drifting off again?" He asked, running his thumb along my jaw.

See? How fucking perfect is he? I swallowed back my nervous reaction and wet my lips. "Just thinking about Christmas, that's all."

Sure, marriage was a huge commitment. But like Sarah never tired in telling me, I was almost thirty. It was time. I wanted to settle down, and have my little gay family and – oh god, what if Corey and I took a honeymoon in Paris? He's never been in a foursome...

"Just... ignore anything my brother says." Corey murmured, pushing me back onto the bed and laying on top of me. "He's always been kind of a dickhead. I probably wouldn't have had Lizzie if he hadn't started pressuring me about gays burning in hell."

"You have the most amazing shoulders."

He laughed, kissing me. "You're like a fucking teenager sometimes. Mm. Speaking of, Mom found my old football uniform in my closet." My brain switched on, and I stared at him. "I was thinking I could bring it home with us and see what kind of little roleplays you'd think of." I got hard so fast that I felt dizzy. He just smirked, patted me on the ass and got up, walking nakedly towards the door. "You want anything from the kitchen?"

Wordlessly, I shook my head. I reached across the bed and dialed my sister's number. "I think I'm going to propose."

"You know, some people say 'hi' first." She answered. "What brought it on?"

"Um. We had like.. two hours of amazing sex.. and then he said he was gonna bring his old football uniform home."

"Jesus Christ, Mars." Sarah groaned. "You have the libido of a teenage boy." There was a pause. "Two hours?"

"I can't even walk, Sare."

I could tell she was sulking. "Well, how lovely for you. You inviting us to the wedding?"

"Uh, well. We were just gonna drive up to Canada..." She started to laugh, and I blinked. "... What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Nothing. You go have fun, Marshall. Get a nice ring and a yarmulke for him."

"... God, he did look fucking gorgeous in a yarmulke." I shivered. She hung up on me. I heard footsteps padding up the stairs, and Corey returned with a plate of leftovers my mother sent over. "Mmn. Food, then fucking."

"It's already cold." He said, putting the plate on the side table and pinning me onto the bed. "Not gonna get any colder... Now what were you saying about me emptying my sac under your tree?"

...my boyfriend is the most perfect man in the world.