Happy HoHoHo

By Mary Maxie

In time for the holidays, or any time you want a sweet escape, five of these stories are from Mary Maxie, and the sixth, is a children's story given to me to publish, by my friend Sandra Stanton Cotey.
The stories all have a Christmas theme, but may not be the Hallmark stories you might expect in such a compilation. All of the women, like most of Mary's heroines, are adventurers at heart, happy to travel or be alone, but just as happy to find that special someone as they approach the HoHoHo season. I hope you like Elisabeth, Jenny, Sharona, Ellie, and Riona! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good read!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Maxie
• Release date: Oct 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311000460

Book preview

Chapter 1

Mom, we need to go to the dollar store, five year old Lonnie begged, not for the first time that week. His mom hadn’t been paying a lot of attention but now she paused from her salad fixings and asked why he needed to go now.

Aw-w-w, Mom, you know it’s Christmas, and I have to get something for Elisabeth. She told me she already got me something.

The two mothers had met as they waited outside the pre-school class room to pick up their little ones after class. They and the dads had laughed over the two five year olds’ obvious crush. Elisabeth’s dad had said Sure, Lizzie can date, just not till she’s 45. And if I hear of that little rug rat, Lonnie ever kissing my little girl, I’ll string him up by his thumbs.

This year the two little ones were in kindergarten, and because that lasted all day, compared to half day last year, Lonnie always sat with Elisabeth for lunch, and managed to trail after her in the playground, or stand next to her for music class. They were the two tallest in the class, so they inevitably got to stand together in the back row for assemblies, concerts etc.

Last Christmas, Elisabeth had shyly presented Lonnie with a Winnie The Pooh zipper pull for his back pack, and he had made her a macaroni wreath in class. They always made a home made card to go along with their little presents and always signed them with X’s ad O’s.

When they got to the dollar store, Lonnie took such a long time deciding what to buy with his dollar, that his mother grew impatient.

Just pick something Lonnie. She will like whatever you pick out because it’s from you.

No, Mom, it has to be just the perfect thing, because she’s perfect.

Lonnie thought Elisabeth was the most scrumptious thing he’d ever seen. As a five year old, his powers of observation and description weren’t all that well developed, but he thought her hair was the color of the caramel sauce he liked on his ice cream, and her eyes were the deep brown of pure chocolate. They had both started losing baby teeth, so they compared how many teeth they had lost, and how much money the Tooth Fairy had left for them.

Lonnie always wanted to wear his Star Wars shirt, even though he had never seen the movies, which had been popular when his parents were his age. Elisabeth had told him that Star Wars was her father’s favorite movies of all time, and that she wanted to see the movies, but she would wait till she and Lonnie were old enough to see the shows together.

Lonnie you can’t wear your Star Wars shirt every day just because Elisabeth likes it. I have to wash it some time you know.

With a five year old’s wisdom & aplomb, Lonnie told her, Well, then tell Gramma to get me another t-shirt for Christmas, or else you can do the washing on a Saturday when I don’t go to school.

And so began the rotation of the Star Wars shirts, and Elisabeth’s first fashion influence was over her young friend.

Eventually, Lonnie settled on a fuzzy spiral green and yellow caterpillar, which he assisted Elisabeth in twining around the handle of her lunch box, where she could see it every day.

Elisabeth’s gift to Lonnie was a dozen chocolate chip cookies that she helped her mother bake for him.

When Elisabeth’s birthday came round, Lonnie was the only boy at her party, and likewise she was the only girl at his party. The parents feared they would feel out of place with so many kids of the opposite sex at the parties, but it never seemed to bother Lonnie and Elisabeth.

As they got older, they bought presents from the travelling school book sale, and later yet, there were coupons from McDonalds or the movies. She found him a tiny teddy bear, and his gift was a plastic Barbie doll on a skateboard charm.

It was always a big deal for them to find exactly the right thing for each other, and Elisabeth had a little jewelry box that she kept her treasures in. while Lonnie had a shoe box in the back of his closet where he kept everything she had ever given him, (except the edible stuff of course, which was all gone). Each of the little cards was also stored there, with the year inscribed on the back of each one.

Lonnie knew that Elisabeth also kept all of his cards, even though he was embarrassed to tears at how ugly his kindergarten efforts were, and tried in vain to get her to throw them away. She always refused, stating that she loved every one, and would keep them forever in the decorated box she had made one year as a Girl Scout craft.

One year, the parents deemed them old enough to have a Star Wars marathon. They rented all the movie series and stayed up late to watch every one, in sequence. They gorged on licorice, popcorn, coke and hot chocolate. It was a wonder they both didn’t throw up after all of that, but they were too engrossed in the movies to care about their stomachs. That year, they went on line to find vintage Star Wars t-shirts to give to each other for Christmas.

As time went on, and video games and other electronics took over their lives, the presents got more interesting and expensive—at least five or ten dollars. There were plastic bracelets espousing causes, and zodiac necklaces, plus hockey pucks and hockey tape.

Once they were old enough for cell phones, there were interesting phone covers like Batman or pink ones with jewels. One Christmas there was even a quick hug and a peck on the cheek for each of them from the other, as they exchanged their gifts and cards.

Dad, I gave Elisabeth her Christmas gift today, and she hugged me, and kissed me on the cheek. Is that a good thing?

Trying to keep a straight face, yet failing miserably as he remembered his own teenage crushes, Lonnie’s dad merely told him it was a gesture between friends, and that as long as the kiss wasn’t on the mouth, that all was well.

***

Chapter 2

And then came their first prom. Although they were only fifteen, the prom expenses started to mount up. Boys were expected, for perhaps the first time and for many boys, the only time, to be romantic and find an interesting unique way to ask their girls to the prom. Lonnie brought one yellow rose and a Rubik’s Cube to school, and handed them to Elisabeth. Some of the colors on the cube had been covered over with paper, and if she could put the cube in its proper order, the colors might not match up, but the letters spelled out Will you go to Prom with me, along with some Xs and Os.

Lonnie rented a tux, and asked Elisabeth what color her dress was, so he could choose a bow tie and cummerbund that matched her dress. Of course, a wrist corsage had to match her outfit as well. She, in turn, fussed over shoes, hair, makeup and a boutonniere for Lonnie. She was able to borrow a dress from her mother, as they were the same size, so the floor length royal blue satin froth of a creation was altered to fit better in the midriff and the hips. The dress was embellished with silver sequins and beads all around the neckline and shoulder straps, so she wore silver shoes and rhinestone earrings to match.

Since they were only Freshmen, to save some money, the parents wanted to drive them to the dance, so no limousines were involved.

Even though Elisabeth and Lonnie didn’t really date, they just hung out together when they could, there was no question that they would go to Prom together. Many of their friends were still dateless only a week before the big event, so they considered themselves lucky they had a built in date.

The parents insisted that copious numbers of photos be taken, so the pair dutifully smiled and mugged for the cameras till their facial muscles were stiff. When they finally escaped the parents and made their way into the hotel where the dance was being held, they both giggled at finally being alone—well, as alone as they could be with a couple of hundred of their friends and chaperones. They danced every dance, and before long both were barefoot, Lonnie escaping the pinching formal shoes he had rented along with the tux, and Elisabeth from the uncomfortable heels that rubbed her toes raw.

When a slow dance started up, they didn’t exactly know how to waltz, but they hugged and swayed in time to the music. Maybe we should have been paying more attention to Dancing With the Stars last season, Elisabeth smirked.

Are you kidding? I’d never watch something like that. Those guys might be able to dance, but I bet they can’t play hockey.

Yeah, the costumes are pretty far out there, and I’ll bet none of those women have a black belt in Karate.

The eagle-eyed chaperones kept watch over all the doors, and the only reason anyone could leave the ball room was to visit the rest room. Couples weren’t allowed to leave together, so there would be no hooking up at this dance.

***

Chapter 3

The only time Lonnie and Elisabeth were alone, was waiting outside, under the hotel’s large red canopy, for Lonnie’s dad to pick them up. They were almost the last couple left waiting, and Lonnie held Elisabeth close to himself. His heart was beating faster than it ever had before, and he could feel her soft breasts against his chest. Suddenly he had the overwhelming urge to kiss her—not on the cheek— but on the lips. He took a quick look around for chaperones, and seeing none, he kissed her briefly on the mouth.

She tasted like the strawberry punch they had been drinking, and she smelled like flowers, with an overlay of cotton candy. So he dived in for another taste. The first kiss had been with all four lips firmly closed. Now, however, he reached out his tongue to lick some of the sugar from her lips, and was rewarded by her little tongue slipping out to tangle with his.

They stood, arms entwined, and lips glued together, for what seemed like forever, but was really only a couple of minutes before Lonnie’s dad rolled up in the family van. The couple stepped nervously apart, embarrassed to be seen by a parent, and knowing they were likely in for a lecture about appropriate behavior.

Nothing was said while they were together, but next time they met at school, they compared notes and found that they had received the standard lecture from each set of parents. Since they were now teenagers, the lecture had also included ‘the talk’ about condoms, safety, unwanted teen pregnancy and all that went along with that.

That Christmas, Lonnie found a sterling silver heart that broke into two pieces, so that they could each wear half. The engraving on the heart when it was together, said Two together, one heart forever, but you could only see the whole message when they held the halves beside each other. They swore to keep the necklaces forever, and to never forget their Christmas presents.

***

Chapter 4

Throughout high school, Lonnie and Elisabeth were always together. They went to games, proms, concerts, skiing, swim meets, karate meets and anything else they could manage. They studied together and shared their life plans. On a hot summer night the summer after their graduation, they decided that the time was right to consummate their love. They took a large picnic basket, blankets and swim suits out to the lake, and under the stars, remembering their parents’ lessons about safe sex, they made wonderful, sweet love on the beach.

Elisabeth giggled when Lonnie’s necklace hung down and tickled her as he lay over her. When they changed positions, her long caramel colored hair plus her necklace tickled his chest. Nothing could dampen their ardor, or their love, not even giggling. After, they ate, swam, made love again, and then swam again. This time, they didn’t bother with swim suits, and of course, young love being what it was, they made love in the water.

That long endless summer, their love became stronger and stronger. They made love whenever and wherever they could find time and space that was private. They learned about each other’s bodies, what turned them on and what they liked best.

Now that they both had computers, internet searches were easy and they found much that they wanted to try. They practiced everything they found and when they were alone one night, at the lake, she teased him and dunked him underwater until he bobbed to the surface, choking on the brackish water. They made it to shore, where he collapsed, trying to draw air into his lungs without choking any more. It was dark enough that he couldn’t see how embarrassed she was, but that was soon forgotten as the moon light touched her skin, and he made love to her. He could feel her warmth and slippery heat with every thrust. They both came hard, Elisabeth several times, and both agreed that the fact that they had both been a little scared in the water, made their joining that much more exciting, a re-affirmation of life.

There were no sex toys to be had in their small town, so that was off the table too. However, Elisabeth developed a penchant for reading erotic romances that she could download from Kindle, and they found a wealth of new things to try together. One of the things that both of them especially enjoyed was learning how to hold off their orgasms until they were both wild with wanting. They practiced delayed gratification and found that once they finally did orgasm, the coupling was much more enjoyable. When they had first become lovers, it was always like a race to the finish, partly because they didn’t know any better, but also because they didn’t have much privacy for making love. Outdoors, it was often cold or raining, & the threat of being seen by anyone was always paramount. One thing they had agreed on, was that neither of