Wrapping Up (Mitchell Family #4.5)(20)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Since we’d waited until the last freaking month to go shopping, things we wanted to get people were scarce. Luckily, Miranda enjoyed online shopping and got everything she could from her cell phone while we were at the damn mall. At first I thought it was a waste of time, but after seeing the crowds of freaking idiots in the mall, the less amount of time we had to spend there the better.

We still had a bunch to get, including new decorations for the tree and a bunch of things for the kids. Miranda wanted to surprise Van with her favorite chocolates that were only sold in our mall in North Carolina. Every year we bought my father a new stein for his collection and my mother loved anything with angels on it.

Miranda sat down and started going over the list of things we still needed to get. We were determined that we weren’t going to go back out to shop. While watching all the weirdo people walking by us, I noticed a lingerie store and that is where I came up with my idea for the Christmas picture.

I patted my wife on the leg, grabbing her attention. "Baby, I’ll be right back."

She looked at me and then to where I was looking and started shaking her head. "Well, you could have been a little more secretive about it, now I know what I’m gettin’ for Christmas."

I leaned down and kissed my sexy wife. It was better she had nothing to do with this plan of mine, on account of her telling me it was a horrible idea. "Trust me when I say, you have no idea what you’re getting for Christmas."

She cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "Should I be scared?"

I kissed her on the lips again. "I won’t buy anymore whips if that’s what you’re asking." I kept walking away from her, toward the store. Once inside, like always, I was approached by a couple women asking how they could help me. Of course, after looking around I wanted something to give Miranda for after everyone left. I picked out a bodice that laced up the front, with matching panties. It was white with black lace all over it. The panties were going to be the most fun, being that they were crotchless. I found myself imagining how hot Miranda was going to look in the outfit and felt the woman that was helping me tapping me on the shoulder. "Sir, did you need anything else?"

I walked over to the holiday section and told her what I wanted. I even filled her in on my idea of how we were going to pose. I don’t know if she was appalled or wishing she could join in on the fun.

Once I checked out, I found Miranda in the same spot I had left her. She looked down at all the things on the bench and laughed. "Please tell me you didn’t buy the whole family lingerie?"

I grabbed some of our other bags and helped her up. "Don’t worry about it. Everything I bought is totally comfortable."

For the next two hours we went from store to store, standing in longer lines each time. My wife never faltered as she stuck to her list and managed to get it all done. The car was full on the way home and we still had enough daylight to go unload everything and take Iz with us to get our tree.

Like always, we got everything done and walked over to my parents to get Iz and the boys saw us. We both had a problem with leaving them when they were reaching their arms out crying for us, so we spent a little time with them before sneaking out with their sister. This was the first year that we had decided to go cut down a Christmas tree.

I made the mistake of letting Iz be the one to pick out our tree. I think we circled the tree farm three times in total. At first it was cute how she put her little finger up to her face and walked around the tree studying each part of it. After the tenth tree, it just wasn’t as cute. Miranda and I were both so exhausted from shopping that the last thing we wanted to do was walk around the lined rows of pine and spruce trees until our indecisive daughter made up her mind.

Finally, after bribing her with ice cream and chocolate, she made her choice.

I thought it was going to be easy to cut down the damn thing, so I walked over there looking all tough, but after my first couple swings I realized how wrong I was. Apparently, it was hard for my tired ass to hit the same spot each time I swung the axe.

Miranda was beside herself with laughter, making fun of me. "I think you should let Iz have a turn, Daddy."

"Very funny. Would you like to come give it a try, smart ass?"

I never should have asked…

Miranda pulled her hair into a ponytail and cracked her knuckles. "Let me show you how a country girl does it."

I rolled my eyes and acted like it didn’t faze me, but I had a feeling she was going to show me up. That was one of the reasons that I loved her so much. She was so determined to always show me up and I loved the competition.

Iz and I sat back on a patch of moss and watched Miranda busting her ass to cut down our tree. After ten minutes, she had a nice chunk taken out of the trunk. Her face was red and she was sweating, even though it was kind of cold out. "Want to switch?"

"You just want to try again since I did so much better than you." She put her hands on her hips and waited for me to agree with her. I wasn’t going to make it that easy for her. "I’d rather watch you. I mean, you’re getting all hot and I’m enjoying watching you scrunch up that little face like when we’re alone. It’s so sexy."

My wife looked at our daughter and pointed behind her. "Bella, look at that squirrel." When our daughter turned to look for the squirrel, Miranda looked toward me and mouthed the words ‘fuck you’ and then she began chopping on the tree again.

Realizing that I was never going to hear the end of it, I got up and grabbed the axe out of her hand. "Why don’t you take a break, Baby? I will take care of the rest." I kissed on her neck and she finally let go of the axe completely.

When she walked away I pinched her ass cheek, making her turn around and give me another dirty look. I liked it when she got angry. Her pretty face scrunched all up like she could really hurt something. It was so cute.

Miranda took Izzy to look for the invisible squirrel while I continued busting up the tree until it fell sideways onto the hard ground. My daughter had picked a tree farthest from our truck, so dragging it was also a pain in the ass, but I knew she would always remember us doing it.

On the way home I thought it would be cool to listen to Christmas music. Iz and I sang about bells and reindeer until we were all sung out. By the time we pulled up at the farm, Miranda was rubbing her temples like her head was about to explode. I knew that she was exhausted and having to deal with the boys wasn’t going to be easy. "Why don’t you go inside and run a bath while Iz and I bring in the tree and go get the boys. After the kids go to bed, I will come out and get all the gifts and carry them in so we can wrap them."