Thanks go to my editor Althefish. You're the best.
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It is Wednesday night, well actually it's Thursday morning. The weather channel said tonight we would have snow. This will be the first snow of winter. I always loved when it was snowing, it always seems magical somehow. So quiet and peaceful.
It's about 2 in the morning when I wake up. I take a quick peek out the window, and sure enough, it's snowing. It's the big fluffy snow that drifts down from the night sky. It is going to be perfect. I grab a pair of shorts and a tank top and quietly head for the kitchen. At 31, the tank top hugs my perky C-cup breasts. The shorts emphasize my long, strong legs. My short red hair is probably all messy, but I don't care at 2 AM. I'm trying not to wake Mike up. I head into the kitchen, the night light is on, but I need a bit more light and turn on the stove light to see what I'm doing.
I had my birthday last month, and someone got me some chocolate from Europe for making hot cocoa. They gave me a container of dark chocolate and a container of milk chocolate with mint. I decide on the mint hot cocoa tonight. I quietly get out a saucepan, place it on the stovetop and turn on the heat. I grab a big mug from the shelves, and the milk from the fridge. I fill the mug with milk, minus some space for the chocolate, and pour it into the saucepan.
I return the milk to the fridge and peek down the hall to see if I might have woken up Mike, but the lights are still out in his bedroom. (Yeah, we have separate bedrooms, but that's a long story.) I grab a spoon and pry the top off the chocolate and then stir the milk a little. It's not hot yet, but it's always good to stir anyway. I go to my bedroom and grab the big ugly blanket. It's purple on one side, and red on the other, but it's soft and warm, so I can overlook the glaring colors of it. I realize I might be cold after this adventure, so I pull the blankets up on my bed and turn the electric blanket on. I turn on the light on the nightstand and head back to the kitchen with my blankie.
I stir the milk; it's getting warmer, but not quite ready yet. I fill the mug with water and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes to warm the mug itself up. I don't want to put my hot cocoa in a cold mug! I check down the hall again, but no signs of life from Mike's room. I can't resist and I start picking out some of the chocolate morsels from the container. They look like itty bitty chocolate chips. I see the first bubbles forming in the milk, so I turn the heat down and add three heaping spoonfuls of the European chocolate morsels.
The instructions say I have to stir continuously until the chocolate is melted. This actually took a few minutes the last time I made it. So I stand there in the kitchen, in my shorts, slowly stirring the pot of milk. The microwave dings, I had hoped to stop it before it finished, but I was focusing on the saucepan and forgot.
The chocolate is somewhat melting, it's a big, sludge-like blob on the bottom of the saucepan. The smell is wonderful. I keep stirring when I see Mike walking into the kitchen. He is wearing only his pajama bottoms, his eyes are half closed and his hair is sticking up in different directions. You would think with hair that short that he wouldn't have 'bed head', but he does.
"What are you doing?" He asks, somewhat groggily.
"I'm making hot cocoa. I was trying to be quiet so you wouldn't wake up."
"I don't think I heard you, but the smell is wonderful. I think that woke me up."
He walks behind me and leans against my back, his hands snake around my waist and rest against my stomach. He leans in and inhales deeply. He asks if that's the mint one, and I tell him it is.
We stand together until the hot cocoa takes on a smooth, creamy, rich texture. I ask Mike to pour out the hot water from the mug. When he's done I pour the hot cocoa into the nice warm mug. It fits perfectly, no measuring cups needed. Holding the mug in front of his face, I ask he wants to share. His eyes light up and he eagerly nods a yes. For being a 53 year old guy, he has these moments where he acts so childlike, and I just have to laugh.
I nod to the big ugly blankie and ask him to grab it and follow me. He looks a bit confused, but he'll follow the hot cocoa anywhere. I lead him to the door by the deck in the back of the house. I unlock the door, and step out into a winter wonderland. Mike takes a tentative step outside; he doesn't look very excited about this part.
"Put the blanket on the bench." I direct him. He opens the blanket and drapes it over the bench. He has most of it on the ground and I have him pull it up higher. I sit down on the bench and pull my legs up to the seat. I pat the seat next to me and Mike sits down. He has his feet on the deck and I tell him he should bring his feet up like mine. He says he's fine and we wrap ourselves in the blanket. There is a light covering of snow in the backyard. We share the hot cocoa in silence for a few minutes, before Mike says his feet are cold.
I unwrap both of us from the warm blanket, and I have him put his feet up on the bench. I was all warm and snuggly, and now I have his cold feet to deal with. Then we cocoon ourselves back in the blanket. It's much warmer like this. We pass the hot cocoa between us, just watching the snow float down.