First Semester Finals

"You mean, you were holding pepper spray in one hand and his hand with the other while you were looking at the Christmas lights?" Diane asked Bethany incredulously.

"Well, a girl can never be too careful," my new girlfriend deadpanned. The truth was she'd never actually taken the pepper spray out of her knapsack, but this was funnier. "If I remember correctly, pepper spray wasn't the only thing I threatened him with."

"That's right!" I laughed. "You threatened to kick me where 'the sun don't shine' if I tried anything."

"And yet, here you are," the professor mumbled. Aunt Debbie quickly brought her drink to her lips to hide her laughter. Bethany's grandmother simply shook her head. It was Bethany whose reaction surprise me.

"Actually, I pretty much had to demand a kiss when we finally arrived at the house," she smiled, remembering. This earned me odd looks from everyone around. Interestingly, it was her uncle and grandfather's looks that bothered me the most.

"She didn't have to demand one," I interjected. "It's just that it felt a little weird considering how hard it was to convince her to let me walk her home. Besides, I was afraid if I tried I'd end up in the hospital getting my eyes washed out."

"I believe my exact words were 'Are you going to kiss me or what?'" Bethany reminded me. I laughed and rubbed my nose in embarrassment.

"You did say that," I admitted. "I was just trying to be a gentleman."

"So what happened next?" Diane asked.

"He kissed her," her father answered. "He'd have to be gay to do anything else."

"Dad!" Diane cried in embarrassment.

"He's not wrong," her grandfather added with a laugh.

"Don't be offended, they're just having a little fun," aunt Debbie offered.

"Don't worry about it," I said, shaking my head. "I learned today that it turns out my middle brother Ryan bet my older brother Matt that I was exactly that. It cost him ten bucks."

"Seriously?" Bethany asked in disbelief.

"You'd have to know Ryan to understand. I told you having sibling wasn't all it was cracked up to be," I shrugged. "Especially, when you're the youngest of three boys."

"Meeting your brothers should be interesting."

"You have no idea," I snorted.

"Men," Bethany's grandmother sighed, sharing a look with the rest of the ladies.

"So, was it a good kiss?" Diane asked, obviously not willing to let the story go despite the fact that it was pretty much over, at least the PG version.

"Not at first," I laughed, meeting Bethany gaze with a smile.

"But it got a lot better, fast," she added. We shared the moment until her mother interjected.

"I expect so. You two looked awfully cozy when I first saw you together." Her tone was more than a little sarcastic, causing both Bethany and me to blush. "Now let's eat."

"Not before Bethany and Will kiss," Diane insisted.

"Pardon?" I asked in surprise. Kissing Bethany in front of her entire family wasn't on my top ten list.

"Mistletoe!" Diane cried excitedly, pointing above the doorway we stood under.

"Seriously?" Bethany sighed at her younger cousin as I glanced up. "I thought you threw that away when your mother insisted." Sure enough, there was mistletoe above the doorway, but it clearly had seen better days.

"I did," Diane grinned. "But mommy helped me fish it out of the garbage when Grandma said Will would probably be joining us for dinner."

"If nothing else," professor Saxxon sighed, looking at me. "I think it's safe to assume you and I agree on how much siblings can be a pain."

"It's a start," her mother offered, and then looked me and added, "Now would you please kiss the girl so we can get on with dinner."

"Not a problem," I smiled, trying to hide my embarrassment. Bethany came into my arms easily enough.

"You know, Diane isn't wrong," she said with a warm smile. "The way we met was romantic in a way."

"That's how I'll always remember it," I offered, only half joking. Bethany's smile grew as I pulled her lips to mine. I guess maybe kissing Bethany in front of her family wasn't such a bad thing after all. The hard part was stopping, at least until her family started making comments. Truthfully, they pretty much began as soon as our lips touched.

"If you don't finish soon I think I'm going to lose my appetite," her uncle Frank said.

"How come you don't kiss me like that anymore?" he wife retorted.

"Ill mom, just ill!" Diane grimaced, causing both her parents to look at each other and smile knowingly.

At that point tried to stop the kiss, but Bethany refused. That earned a comment from her mother.

"Dear, doesn't your generation at least know of the concept of playing hard to get?"

"Apparently not," her father interjected with a laugh.

"What are you grinning about?" his wife asked. "It's not like our generation was any better."

"I know," he replied, surprising her and everyone else present by pulling her close and giving her a kiss. I was guessing that he might have had more than his fair share of eggnog. The funniest part was his daughters' reactions.

"Ewwe!" Bethany's mother, the college professor cried.

"That's just gross!" Aunt Debbie added, but she was grinning.

"Way to go dad!" her husband cried, making of all things, a fist pumping action. I didn't catch the rest of it because my attention was focused on Bethany. She'd finally broken our kiss and she was looking at me in a way that warmed me in all the important places.

I tuned out the rest of her family for a few moments. Well, actually I pretty much tuned out the entire world. Nothing mattered except the young woman in front of me.

"Merry Christmas," Bethany said softly.

"The first of many," I promised. I had no doubts, and from her expression I could tell that she didn't either. "This is the best Christmas ever."

Diane overheard us and blurted out, "How sweet! A Christmas romance!" And she wasn't wrong...so we kissed again, despite the catcalls and complaints from her family.