Maria Deluca ranted to herself while making some hot chocolate in an elf uniform on Christmas Eve.

Now normally she would have turned her X-boyfriend Michael away with some line like "It's tradition for my mom and me to wake up Christmas morning and have some herbal tea together while we exchange gifts." Nevertheless, she knew that he knew her Mom was out of town for Christmas morning when he asked to stay. So in yet another weak state around Michael she agreed, and SHE offered to sit and talk with him over hot cocoa.

'But god when he was sitting with those kids on his lap today in his big Santa suit he just looked so adora- NO I can't be thinking this way about him anymore! I have to be strong GIRL POWER! Strong, strong, strong!'

"Hey need any help?" Michael interrupted Maria's pep talk to herself.

"Oh, uh no I'm good just another minute left in the microwave some stirring and our cups of cocoa are ready".

"Oh ... OK well I'm gonna go change, this Santa suit is scratchy not to mention it's heavy as hell to walk in. I'll be back in a second." Michael said as he walked into the laundry area where he knew he had a shirt and pair of pants from the last time that Amy was out of town. Those were the good times he liked to remember. Not these occward moments that they seem to be having lately, sep that time they spent in 'her little elf house' wasn't so bad he thought with a suddle moan. But he just didn't understand what he had done wrong. Why couldn't Maria be 'her' with him still in her life. He loved her more than he ever thought it possible for him to love anything.

Maria walked in the living room with two steaming cups of cocoa, one in each hand. To see Michael with his boxer-pants on but no shirt.

"Hey Maria, do you know what happened to my shirt? I though it was here with my pants but I can't find it".

As Maria set the two mugs with floating white marshmallow puffs on the top of the hot chocolate on the coffee table, she hesitated before she answered. "It's in my room. I'll go get it". She said as she rushed passed him into her room making sure to avoid eye contact with him.

Well that was probably the last answer he was expecting, "So Ria why's it in your room". He asked with a sweet but taunting voice.

"I might have slept in it a night back or so, don't get a big head over it space boy.... it was the only thing clean." She said with a confidant smile, praying on the inside that he wouldn't see right through that little lie.

"Ok whatever you say Pixie". NOT! Michael said over and over in his head, what did she think he didn't see through that one. But what bothered him was that if she'd missed him enough to sleep in his old ragged not to mention un-clean shirt. Why did she keep pushing him away?

"Well I'm tired, long night.... I think I'm gonna turn in. You can take the cou-

"Maria what did I do wrong?"

"What, nothing Ok if you don't want to sleep on the couch"

"No, no I mean why couldn't you be you with me?"

"Michael, I -

Michael was not waiting for answers, as he moved in and kissed her soft crimson lips. As he moved his hand up to cup her cheek, and when Maria realized she had put her hand on his back to pull him towards her, that she wasn't doing that because it was automatic or on instinct but it was because it was Michael her Michael and no matter who she wanted to be or where she wanted to go in life she couldn't do it without Michael. Because without Michael she wasn't Maria.

So when he ran his velvety soft tongue over her bottom lip to silently plead for entrance into her familiar mouth, she knew that in the morning when things would be back to the way things were, she wouldn't have a doubt in her mind that, that was exactly where she wanted to be.