Curt crept out to the driveway early Sunday morning and retrieved the newspaper. He pulled his coat tightly around himself and shivered. It was getting colder. The sky was grey and he'd heard on the news that it might snow. He hurried back into the house and shed his cold coat. He unwrapped the newspaper and set it out on the table. He sat down and flipped through it while sipping his coffee. He glanced at the clock, it was nearly 8:30. He would get up soon and make breakfast for Terri. He had been letting her sleep late on the weekends since she had to get up early every other day of the week. He'd gotten up at the crack of dawn, a song running through his head that he had to write down before it was broken up by other thoughts and disappeared. He sat in Terri's basement with his guitar on his lap, a piece of paper and a pen on a table next to him and composed the tune. When he was satisfied he went back upstairs, made some coffee and now sat, reading the paper. Chicago wasn't much different than any other big city he'd been in. Same old, same old ... politics and murder, police corruption and drug crimes. One story he found quite interesting was a story of a woman who murdered her own children right there in Naperville and was being tried at present. It seemed she was a nurse, her husband a doctor, her husband left her for another woman and to get even with her now estranged husband she drugged the three kids and suffocated them while they slept peacefully. His heart sank at the mere thought of it. How could anyone be that cruel? The trial was being delayed because her lawyer insisted she was clinically insane. Curt thought about Brent and his own trial that was impending. It had been a few months since they'd heard anything but here this trial had been two years in the making! It was finally coming to a head ...

"Why didn't the bitch just kill herself?" He muttered to himself as he finished the article and turned the page. He scanned the articles for something interesting. The Mayor was shooting his mouth off again. Curt didn't care to read that. He'd only been living here a few weeks and already didn't like the Mayor of Chicago. Arrogant was the best way he could describe him without getting ugly. Curt's head snapped up as he heard the toilet flush in the hallway signaling him that Terri was awake and about to head his way. He stood up and looked around. He hadn't even started breakfast yet. He went over to the cabinets over head and pulled out a cup and poured hot water over a tea bag for her. He turned to her as she entered the room.

"Hey," He said. "You're up early." She went over to him and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, but I'm tired." She mumbled. "I was getting lonesome in there." He kissed her head.

"Want to go out for breakfast?" He asked her. She didn't answer right away. "Hmmm?" He nudged her.

"Oh, uhhh, yeah. That would be good. Let me get dressed." She said noticing that he already was. He turned her around and pushed her towards the bedroom.

"You go get dressed and I'll make you some tea to wake you up." Terri scooted away and, after dipping her tea bag in the water a few times, discarded it and added some sugar and lemon to it. He brought it into the bedroom to find her lying on the bed, curled into a fetal position. He smiled and set down the cup. He lay down on the bed next to her and touched her wavy, brown hair. He found a lock curled up tight and pulled it straight and then let it go. It snapped back into place like a spring. He laughed softly. He pushed her hair aside and kissed her neck lightly. When she didn't move, he tickled it with his tongue. She jumped slightly and swatted at him. She felt his head and her eyes flickered open.

"Oh, that's you!" She said smiling sleepily. He laughed and rolled her over onto her back.

"Come one, sleepy, let's go have breakfast." He kneeled on the bed next to her. She folded her arms behind her head and smiled.

"You've been up how long?" She asked. He straddled her, his legs around her waist, and leaned down.

"A few minutes." He joked. She laughed and then stared at him, green eyes penetrating.

"Righttttt ..." She said. "And you want me to jump out of bed and run outside in the cold?" He laughed at her while he slid his hands up the top of her pajamas. His hands found her breasts and he held onto them. They were warm, his hands were cool. She jumped. "Not nice, Curt, not nice." He smiled.

"You know ... in Alaska ..." She pulled one arm out from under her head and smacked his shoulder.

"I've heard this damned story already!" She said cutting him off. He laughed again. He tweaked her nipple and she yelped.

"I've decided that why go out for breakfast when I've got what I need right here ..." Curt said raising up her top and bending to her large, full breasts. He nibbled on them and she sighed. She lay her hands on his bald head and touched it lightly. It was amazing how soft and smooth it was ... she knew it was highly sensitive to touch and she stroked it lightly as he sucked on her. He moved up and kissed her. "You trying to start something here?" He teased as he looked into her smouldering eyes.

"Trying to finish it." She said reaching down to the waistband of his jeans. "It would seem it's already started ..." She unsnapped and unzipped them.

After they made love, they got dressed and went out to breakfast. Afterwards, since they were out they stopped at the bakery and picked up a pie for dessert and then went home. Curt busied himself with his guitar while Terri sat on the floor in front of him and wrapped Christmas presents. He looked over at her and, seeing her sitting there with paper strewn around, presents in a pile behind her and more unwrapped gifts waiting in a line in front of her, he smiled and began to pick out a tune on his guitar. Terri pulled a piece of tape off the roll, taped a package closed, set it down behind her and, noticing the tune, looked up at Curt who winked and smiled at her. She laughed. He was playing "The First Noel." She continued to wrap gifts as he played a string of Christmas songs to her. When she was finished, they got dressed in their coats, scarves, mittens, and hats - Curt remembered his hat this time - and headed over to Andrea and Brent's for dinner. Curt, holding his guitar case in his hands, rang the doorbell while Terri stood with the pie cradled in her hands. Brent opened the door and waved them in. They came in and shed their coats. Brent approached them with a glass of wine in each hand and smiled. Curt and Terri each took one. Andrea joined them a moment later and handed Brent a glass of wine. Brent held up his glass to the three.

"To us, may we live long, healthy and rich, and may we always be together." He said and they touched glasses and sipped the wine. Brent leaned down to Andrea and kissed her lightly. She smiled and turned to Terri. She indicated the couch.

"Shall we?" The four went over and sat in the living room.

"You brought your guitar?" Brent asked Curt. Curt nodded.

"I wrote a song this morning and I wanted to play it for you, see if you had anything to contribute." Brent nodded. After they chatted for a bit and the wine glasses needed refilling, Brent got up, got his guitar and set it down on his chair. He collected the wine glasses, refilled them and brought them back two at-a time. Curt retrieved his guitar from the front hallway and pulled it out of the case. He and Brent sat down on the floor and played. Curt played the song he'd written that morning for Brent and Brent listened appreciatively. Terri and Andrea tried to talk to each other but soon were distracted by the two as they collaborated on the song.

"It's very good, but what if you were to add something like this ..." Brent said and began to pick at the guitar, Spanish-style. "It would add a little flavor to it." Curt listened and frowned.

"Like this?" He said and picked at his own guitar strings. He picked until he found the right key and then closed his eyes and played. Brent looked back at the girls and smiled.

"Good, isn't he?" He whispered. Terri and Andrea sat mesmerized by Curt's performance and when he stopped playing and he opened his eyes, they both clapped. Curt and Brent laughed together. "They are so easily impressed." Brent mused. Curt nodded.

"They are!" He said. After an hour, Andrea excused herself and went into the kitchen. She filled a huge dutch oven full of water and set it on the stove to boil. Terri joined her moments later.

"Can I help you?" She asked Andrea as Andrea peeked into a pot of what smelled like spaghetti sauce. Andrea shook her head.

"It's almost done. Here, smell." Terri stuck her nose in the pot and sniffed.

"Wow, that smells good. You've outdone yourself Annie." Andrea shook her head and covered the pot.

"Not me." She said heading over to the refrigerator and opening it. "Brent." She pulled out a huge bowl of salad and set it on the table.

"Brent?" Terri asked, not believing. "He made it?" Andrea nodded and smiled proudly.

"He sure did!" She said pulling out bottles of salad dressing. "I started to make it and he pushed me out of the way and did it himself." Terri laughed as she pulled four plates out of the cabinet above the sink and set them on the table. Terri stood there, amazed. She'd never seen, let alone heard, of that aspect of Brent's personality. After the noodles boiled al dente and the garlic bread was baked, the four sat down and ate. After tasting the spaghetti Curt turned to Brent.

"Hey, great gravy paisano!" Brent smiled.

"How did you know I made it?" He asked Curt, taking a sip of wine.

"There's so much garlic in it that my hair fell off." He rubbed his clean-shaven head. "Oh, hey, see!" They all laughed. "No, really it is good. And, I'm glad to see you somewhat back to your old self." Brent just looked at him seriously a moment and then went back to eating. He wondered what Curt meant by 'somewhat.' During dinner, darkness fell and while Terri and Curt loaded the dishwasher full of dishes, Brent went around turning on some lights in the house. Andrea put away the leftovers and when they were all finished, dressed warmly and headed out the door to Andrea's car. When they got outside they discovered that it had begun to snow for the ground was covered in a light dusting and the flakes fell from the black sky and slowly descended.

"Perfect!" Andrea exclaimed. "It is just what we needed!" The four climbed into her car and she drove to the zoo. By the time they made their way to the entrance, the snow was falling with more purpose. Both Brent and Curt grabbed their girl's hands and held them tight as they sauntered down the pathway that led to the heart of the zoo. There were hundreds of twinkling white lights precariously placed around the lane and through the trees. Christmas music played softly over loudspeakers, families strolled, children ran excitedly in and out of the trees kicking up the snow. Curt glanced over at Terri and noticed little delicate snowflakes had landed and stuck to the curls of the hair that stuck out from under her hat. She gazed back at him and he smiled. He pulled her close and kissed her lightly on the nose. He found her nose was very cold and pulled her close to him as they walked. Terri pulled Curt into the Tropic World house and Andrea and Brent followed. The four of them warmed as they walked through the exhibit featuring animals and creatures from South America, Asia, and Africa. The exited back into the cold and snowy night. By the time they made their way to the east end of the zoo, visiting the bears and the lions, they were chilled to the bone and stopped off in the Safari restaurant and sipped hot cocoa. When they could feel their fingers again they boldy stepped back into the chill and sought out the elephants and giraffes. When they approached the pachyderm habitat, Andrea and Brent skipped ahead while Curt held Terri back. Before they entered the house where the elephants lived, Curt wrapped his arms around Terri and brushed her snow tipped hair back from the sides of her head with a mittened hand and looked into her eyes. She smiled up at him, her green eyes twinkling in the street light, the snow fell around them, flakes landing and melting from the heat of their bodies. He leaned down slowly and kissed her, long and luxuriously. When he pulled away she sighed, her breath coming out in a huge puff of smoke.

"Terri, " Curt said softly as he held her gaze. "I just want you to know that you mean a lot to me." She smiled. "And, I've never been more pleased with a decision I made in my whole life as the one that led me back here, to you." He hugged her tight and then pulled her into the elephant house ...