To month: Oh she's terribly lazy. Even lazier than me (maybe), and I don't think she could make a decision without being pushed into it to save her life! Oh well, everyone's got flaws. Hers just happen to be keeping her from the guy she wants to be with. I thought about including a scene where one of her friends slaps her around a little bit and says "wake up, stupid!" but figured that would be pretty random...
To HKUMoo: Yes, this is the last chapter! I'm glad that you said it was getting more serious...I have a lot of trouble writing seriousness, so it's good that you noticed that that's what I was going for!

I want to thank you guys for sticking with me to the end! You all made it a lot of fun to post this story!!

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Santa Substitute

Chapter 6: Of Barbeque and The End

I was ecstatic in my cap and gown, as I walked to get my diploma. After five years of college, I was finally done. What I would do now, I had no idea. After the ceremony, I met up with Nicholas, and we had barbeque. He asked if I knew yet what I was going to do, and I admitted not. I said I definitely wanted to move, but I wasn't sure where. I wanted a new environment. He listened to my excited chatter of all the different places I could live.

"And, of course, I'd want you to come with me, if you want," I added.

"Of course," he said, then bit off some rib. Chewed. I watched the muscles of his jaw work, and wondered why I suddenly found him so handsome all the time. If I'd been honest with myself, I would have admitted that I had for some time, off and on. But honesty with myself was not my strong point. After eating, we went back to the house, and I stripped and put on a T-shirt, feeling immediate relief. I liked dressing up, but when dressed up for that long, it became uncomfortable. Nicholas also stripped to his boxers, something I had found he did often in the summer. He got hot very easily. So there we were, two puddles: I on the sofa and he on the floor, when he asked me what I wanted to do now. I kind of grunted in response. I was tired. I wanted a nap. He crawled over to me and rested his chin on the couch so that we were eye to eye, and asked again.

"I dunno," I said, "I'm sleepy." He chuckled.

"Do you want to go to bed?" he asked. I closed my eyes.

"Mm, no."

"What do you want to do?" he repeated.

"Whatever you want," I slurred. If left to my own devices, I was definitely going to go to sleep. Even though my eyes were closed, I could tell he was smiling.

"I'll let you take a nap while I think about what I want to do."

"Okay."

He ruffled my hair, and I smiled as I fell asleep. I had this absurd dream in which I was just a floating pair of eyes, and people kept not seeing me and poking me and getting their hair in me and stuff, so I spent most of the dream all watery and uncomfortable. When I woke, I viscerally rubbed my eyes and blinked repeatedly, before smelling food. I sat up and stretched, yawning as my joints popped. There was food on the table, and Nicholas was setting what looked to be a basket of rolls on the table.

"Hungry?" he asked. I nodded. After all that barbeque, I shouldn't have been, but I was. "I thought we could have a nice dinner and watch some TV." I smiled and moved to sit at the table.

"That sounds perfect," I said. We ate, washed the dishes, then sat on the couch to watch TV. We flipped channels for a while before finally deciding on a marathon of some detective show. A couple hours in, I was watching the expressions play across his face, when he noticed, and asked if anything was wrong. I shook my head. "No," I said, "I just like that face you make when you're taking in information."

"Do you now?" he asked teasingly. Instead of responding, I leaned toward him. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Not sure," I replied. But I knew now: I was going to kiss him. I leaned in more, and he leaned away from me. I sat back, a little hurt that he'd rejected me, but not altogether surprised. I turned back to the TV and got re-involved in the show. During the commercial, he got up to go to the bathroom, and I sat there alone, watching Pamper's keep babies' butts safe, trying not to think about what had just happened. Hopefully he would forget about it, and everything would go back to normal. Hopefully. He came back in, and, still standing, leaned down, grabbed my face, and kissed me full on the lips. My eyes shot wide open. His hands were damp and smelled like soap, and his lips were soft and warm. I felt my eyes flutter shut as a warmth overtook me, and I reached up to grab his arm. He pulled away, leaving the kiss short and chaste, and reclaimed his spot next to me on the couch.

Our relationship continued to slowly evolve over the years, until it had become a stable boyfriend-girlfriend type thing. We trusted each other completely, which was something entirely new to me, and, from what he'd told me, entirely new to him as well.

It was Christmas Eve, and I'd haphazardly decorated the house, like always. The string of Christmas lights up the staircase had started escaping the tape I'd used keep it in place, and the wreath I'd bought was a little too big for the door, so I'd hung it on the window instead. I'd never been good at decorating, but Nicholas didn't seem to mind. In fact, when surveying my handiwork, he had called it "cute." I minded, though, and every year I begged him to do his magic and make it all better, but he always refused, saying he preferred it the way it was. We had moved into a rental townhouse in Missouri, and had been living there for nearly a year and a half. I was a part-time editor at a local newspaper, and liked my job--I liked my life there.

For some reason, he wanted me to sub tonight. I didn't really mind, hadn't done it in a while. Tom (who had become white around the face) wagged his tail at me as I waddled through the house in the fat suit. It hadn't escaped my attention that the dog seemed friendlier towards me when I was wearing the Santa getup.

"Bye!" I called.

"Bye!" he echoed from somewhere upstairs. The reindeer knew me better by then, and didn't stare at me anymore, they just sort of glanced at me as I took my seat. The night went by without a hitch, but I was still worn out when I got home. Carrying around all that extra weight was not easy. Imagine my surprise when I saw the house decorated beautifully, the smell of brownies thick in the air. Feeling eyes on me, I looked to my left. Nicholas was sitting in the armchair in the living room. He stood and greeted me.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Fine," I said. "Wow, I really like the decorations." I looked all around me, taking in the twinkling lights and winter flowers placed strategically around.

"I thought you might," he said, smiling happily. I smiled back. "Would you like some brownies? I made some without nuts for you," he added. My smile turned into a silly grin.

"Heck yeah!" I exclaimed, but before I could go gorge on chocolate, he asked another question.

"Will you marry me?" My right eye blinked. What? He held out a little velvet box, and I took it and opened it, my hands admittedly shaking a little bit. Inside was the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen, simple and small. It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening, but once I did, I squealed in delight.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. He grabbed me and kissed me, fat suit, beard, and all.

He never found a woman who was willing to give up her life for him, but he found one who'd made her life with him already. I guess that's good enough.

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So there you have it--the end! I hope that you liked it, or that it was at least mildly entertaining, and I hope to see you next story. ^_^
I found the end to be a little...clipped. I don't think that I like it as much as I could, but it will take a while of me not seeing it before I'm willing to look at it again and correct it. So, yeah, my apologies.