Despite being in a strange bed at a nearly-empty hotel, Christmas morning felt truly "right." I could hear the wind whistling past the window, and instinctively knew that virgin snow was falling upon the area. I was warm and cozy underneath the covers.
And, most importantly, I was not alone.
Megumi slept peacefully in my arms. I held a sleeping goddess, and I knew that a deity somewhere above was indeed smiling upon me.
In time, I extricated myself from my girlfriend's feeble hold and emerged from underneath the heavy covers. There was plenty of instrumental Christmas music in an iTunes playlist, so I turned on the laptop, signed in, and activated the playlist, an all-bells version of "Jingle Bells" soon playing softly.
Opening the heavy curtains, I gazed out upon the white scene outside, the snow falling fast and hard, driven by the whistling wind. There was no traffic in the streets, no passersby on the sidewalks, and only a lone stray dog meandering through the park. The sky was indeed overcast, giving a strong sense that this day would be full of nothing but snow, just as I had come to expect for Christmas in my eighteen years of life.
Hearing a gentle rustle behind me, I turned away from the window, the curtains still parted, allowing some natural light into the hotel room. My goddess looked at me with sleepy eyes, her expression one of confusion.
I returned to the bed, slipping underneath the covers once again, and Megumi clutched me tightly. I held her close as well, recognizing that, for once, Christmas held a particular significance for me, for I was no longer a discarded kid in an orphanage – instead, for the first time in my life, I was someone who was truly loved and cherished and wanted.
And, just as importantly, I had someone to love and cherish and want.
...and I wanted to make this Christmas memorable for more than just spending the day in a hotel room.
As Megumi slowly became more conscious, I began to caress her, kiss her, squeeze her. She said nothing with her mouth, instead allowing her eyes to speak what was in her heart. A contented sigh passed between her dainty lips, and she melted into me, completely at peace in my arms.
"Merry Christmas," she finally whispered into my ear, punctuating it with a kiss to my cheek.
"Merry Christmas, indeed," I replied, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I don't know about you, but this is already the best Christmas I've ever had."
"That is very good," Megumi responded. Underneath the covers, she maneuvered herself upon me, her lengthy black hair acting like a curtain around my head as she kissed me. My hands roamed her back, and she whimpered softly into my mouth before her tongue slipped inside to slither against mine and cause my breath to catch in my throat.
All too soon, my goddess rested her head upon my shoulder, looking across my neck toward the window. "Snow," she noted quietly.
"Since I've lived all my life up north, Christmas is never Christmas without snow," I commented. "There is something unique about all the white covering everything which makes Christmas a particularly visual holiday for me."
Megumi nodded against me, stroking my face. A moment later, she whispered into my ear, "I have special gift for you."
"And I have a special gift for you as well," I replied, hoping that Megumi would truly appreciate the gift I intended to give her.
"First, I must prepare," she responded, "so I take suitcase and go to my room. You come in... in one hour?"
That surprised me, for I did not expect a gift which required preparation. "One hour it is, then," I agreed, and I could both see and hear the smile forming upon her lips.
A few minutes later, Megumi was gone, having taken her suitcase and a small package of Ho Hos with her for breakfast. I heard her enter her hotel room on the other side of the wall, and I wondered exactly what she planned to give me for a Christmas gift.
I spent the next hour getting dressed and then fretting about my gift to her. Suddenly, I was deathly afraid that my gift would overstep our unspoken bounds, that my gift might be the downfall of our budding relationship. Yet I could at least take some consolation in Megumi's dream:
A dream about us. You were rich, with large house, nice car, own driver, many nice things. You had sold an invention, made money in market. We... We had kids. Three girls, all beautiful, all look more like you.
With any luck, then, given her dream, my gift would not be detrimental to our young love.
An instrumental version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" wafted from the speakers on the laptop as I stood at the window once again, surveying the white-covered suburb. The wind had diminished greatly, the trees in the park below no longer swaying nearly as much, the whistling sound no longer audible. In a way, it felt like a Christmas at the orphanage, looking out across the white-covered plain, but this was different, for then, I had no one, and on this particular Christmas, someone very special was awaiting me on the other side of the wall.
I ate a pair of Twinkies and drank from a small bottle of water – not an ideal breakfast, but it would suffice until later in the day when we would certainly order something from Room Service. Then I went to my suitcase and retrieved the box of Trojans.
I had plenty of time still before Megumi would expect me to knock at her door. While I could guess at how to put on a condom, I was uncertain. I could see that printed on the inside of the box was a set of instructions, with small drawings as guides, but I did not want to destroy the box just for that, so I decided to go to the Internet for advice. While the college had purposely paid for Internet access for me knowing that I had a laptop with me, I had not used it yet, and it took a few minutes and a call down to the main desk to finally get online.
It did not take long to find an online guide – also with illustrations – explaining step-by-step how to put on a condom and how to remove it after use. The process was really rather simple, yet I spent perhaps another ten minutes reading and rereading and rereading the same guide, committing it all to memory. It somehow calmed me, and, in conjunction with Megumi's dream, allowed me to shift my focus from worrying about my gift to wondering about her gift.
Clearly, I reasoned, Megumi was making something for me. I wondered what that could possibly be. Listening attentively, I did not hear any sound coming from her hotel room. The curiosity was beginning to gnaw at me, but I also knew deep inside that no matter the gift might be, I would be quite satisfied with it.
As the hour drew to a close, I turned off the laptop, plunging myself into silence. After putting the condoms back in my suitcase, I went to the window one more time, my eyes drinking in the virgin whiteness cast across the suburb. A lone pickup truck drove slowly along the far end of the park, but otherwise, there was no sign of humanity.
Yet, for once, I did not feel alone, as I knew that the young exotic student who loved me awaited me across the wall.
I knocked and waited outside the door to Megumi's hotel room, and I heard no sound emerging from the other side of the door. My heartbeat was quickening, and I felt an unexpected nervousness suddenly rise up within me. But as soon as I heard the lock begin to disengage, the nervousness subsided, although my heartbeat remained accelerated.
Megumi allowed me into the room, taking care to place the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the hallway-facing handle-style doorknob before closing and locking the door. Then she stepped into my arms, pressing herself fully against me as we embraced anew.
"I did not think to buy wrap paper," she admitted once she stepped out of my hold, "but I hope you still like your gift."
"I know I will," I assured her.
My goddess smiled shyly, directing me to the bed. Sitting at the edge of the bed, I slipped off my shoes, noting that she had moved the covers to one of the chairs at the table, watching as she went to her suitcase and withdrew something, presumably my gift. She turned to me, hiding the gift behind her so that I could not see it, and slowly returned to me.
"What I hold is not your gift," she informed me. "What I hold is the means to use gift."
That was a perplexing statement, which must have been evident in my facial expression, for Megumi quickly added, "You will understand."
There was a long hesitation, and I had the sense that this was a "now-or-never" moment for Megumi. I could almost see the thoughts and emotions whirling around behind her eyes.
Then, her arms moved, slowly, and I soon saw the means in her hand.
It was a box of Trojan condoms.
I needed a few moments to get over the shock of seeing the condoms. Then I needed a few more moments to understand what Megumi had meant by "the means to use gift."
I looked up from the box to Megumi's face. She was smiling shyly, clearly a little nervous knowing that she was heading into unexplored territory. "Megumi," I whispered, very uncertain what to say, how to express what I felt deep inside.
"I am your gift," she said softly. "I give you me, completely. You have the heart. I now give you the body."
