Beneath the Mistletoe

By De_light

"I'm dreeeaaaming of a whiiite Chrisitmaaaas..." Michelle crooned along with the radio as she parked in the driveway of her new home. A white Christmas....a peaceful Christmas.... That's exactly what she was dreaming about! Of course, nothing involving her marriage to Danny had ever been peaceful, but they had come as close as they ever would by purchasing their house. It was just too perfect -- she could go about her business all day and return to a cozy home, HER home, where she could cuddle up with her husband at night. And Danny...well, it was a nice compromise for him, too. He could go off and do whatever it was that he did all day for the "family business," but at least they didn't have to live it 24 hours a day like they did while living at the Santos dungeon. There was no Carmen looking over their shoulder, no freaky Deitz guys hanging around...just Michelle and Danny, alone, in their own perfect little home. She looked at the place fondly, watching as the tiny white snowflakes piled up outside the house. Inside, though, she could see the warmth of the twinkling Christmas lights that she and Danny had hung together a month ago in their excitement to begin their first Christmas as a happily married couple. She couldn't wait to go inside and kiss her husband!

"What are you doing home so soon?" Danny asked, appearing in the kitchen doorway as she came in.

"Why, aren't you happy to see me?" Michelle gave him a fake pout.

"Of course I am! Oh, always!" Danny kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her. "I just didn't expect you home so soon. I was going to have dinner all ready for you when you got here."

"You were cooking for me?" Michelle smiled delightedly, nestling her chin on his shoulder.

"Well I know we usually cook together, in order to safeguard against any potential poisoning that would occur if you tried to cook alone..." Danny paused, grinning, while Michelle playfully punched his arm. "But I thought I'd do something nice for you on Christmas Eve."

"Oh, Danny, that is so sweet," Michelle said, heading into the kitchen.

Danny tried to head her off. "Hey, don't go in there!"

"Why? Danny, what is all of this stuff?" She dodged around him and peeked inside a few grocery bags on the counter.

"It's nothing, get away from there."

"Danny! You've got a ham in here! And two pies! And a bunch of other stuff... You know, I already bought everything for Christmas dinner!"

"I know, but I just wanted to make sure we were going to have enough. I want it to be the perfect dinner!"

Michelle laughed. "You wanted us to have enough? So did I! I already have a ham AND a turkey! Not to mention two other pies, and half a million side dishes!"

"A ham AND a turkey? And you're yelling at me about buying too much?"

"Well, I... I didn't know which you'd want, so I bought both!"

"Ah, I see. So we each have our own ham and two pies. We're going to have to share the turkey though..." Danny smiled, drawing her away from the counter. "I guess we're going to have plenty of food!"

"Yeah, I guess we are!" Michelle laughed, kissing him. She wished she could stay there in his arms for the rest of the night.

"Ok, now get out of the kitchen while I cook."

"Fine, fine, I know when I'm not wanted. I'll just go...wrap some more presents..."

"Oh yeah, presents! You'd better not even try to snoop!"

"Would I do something like that?" Michelle asked indignantly.

Danny raised his eyebrows at her. "I don't know...I find it awfully funny that you had to root around in the closet at 2am last night..."

"Oh, I don't believe this! You saw me? You have one suspicious mind, Danny Santos! For your information, I was...I was making sure that I hung up that blouse I picked up from the dry cleaner!"

Danny grinned at her. "You didn't find anything, did you?"

"Not a THING! Danny, where on earth did you hide them?" Michelle shook her head, laughing.

"I'll never tell. Now get out of the kitchen!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later that night, Michelle turned off all of the lights except for the Christmas tree, wanting to savor the peaceful beauty. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Danny come quietly into the room. "What are you thinking about?" He whispered, not wanting to break the silence.

Michelle sighed deeply. "Just....things."

Danny was silent for a moment. "You're thinking about your brother, aren't you?" he said finally.

Michelle shook her head. "A little bit. I've just never spent a Christmas without my family, so I can't help it. I love you so much, and everything about our life together is so perfect..."

"But you miss your family."

"I do. I'm still so mad at Rick...I mean, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for locking me up like that. He really hurt me, and I don't know how to deal with him knowing that I can't trust him...and he obviously doesn't trust me...but..." She shook her head again. "I'm sorry, we shouldn't be talking about this stuff. It's depressing."

"You don't have to be sorry! I mean, I know it's hard. Believe it or not, I miss my family too."

"You do?"

"I do. We may have our problems, but the holidays were never like that."

Michelle turned to face him, smiling. "Tell me about it. I've never heard what your childhood holidays were like! I can't picture Carmen baking Christmas cookies..."

Danny smiled. "Well...I guess it was pretty much like any family. We would just all be together. All of our family would come for this big huge dinner, and my mother and father were the perfect hosts. Pilar would come home, and we'd have so much to talk about. And Mick would always...Mick would..." Danny stopped suddenly with his brother's mention.

"Oh God, Danny....I..."

"No. No, Michelle, don't say anything. It's ok."

"I just feel so....so bad."

"You shouldn't. It wasn't your fault. He became a different person."

Michelle stared at him, wishing there was something she could say. She finally turned away, blinking back the tears in her eyes. "I wish thinking about our families didn't have to hurt so much. Especially tonight, on Christmas Eve."

Danny was silent for a moment, staring off into his own separate world.

"Yeah, me too. But... That's the way our lives are, I guess."

"They don't have to be, you know. Things can work out for us."

"I know. You are going to fix things with Rick eventually. You've got a great family that loves you."

"So do you. You can fix things with your mother eventually, too."

Danny smiled wistfully. "I don't know about that. She can hardly be considered a mother. If it weren't for Pilar, I wouldn't have anything to do with that whole business....I'd be rid of my mother for good."

"You don't mean that. I know you love her."

Danny looked into his wife's eyes. "Well maybe I shouldn't. If she can't accept you as my wife, she has no place in my life."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, their souls spilling into one another like they always did, from the very first time they met. Then they melted together, kissing.

"I have you, Michelle, that's all I need."

"And you're all I need. You are all I will ever need."

The world outside of their embrace seemed to fade away as they kissed, loving each other and every moment they were in each other's arms with a consuming passion that left them breathless.

Then Danny pulled away. "Wait a minute, I have something...."

"What's that?" Michelle asked, watching him rich down beside the sofa.

He dangled a branch above her head. "Mistletoe. Christmas wouldn't be complete without it!"

"Oh my God," Michelle laughed. "I don't believe you bought mistletoe! We have to hang it somewhere!"

"Yeah, we do. I was thinking..." Danny stood up on the couch, pinning it to the ceiling above them, "that right here would be perfect."

Michelle laughed delightedly. "Yes, I think that works for me! Now get back down here so we can finish what we started!" She pulled him back down next to her, and he leaned in for a kiss. She closed her eyes, allowing the feel of his mouth against hers to intoxicate her. Then she reached for his shirt and began to unbutton.

"Michelle," Danny murmured playfully. "You are supposed to KISS beneath the mistletoe..."

"Oh, I'm kissing...I'm kissing..." she breathed in his ear. "And planning to do a whole lot more..."

"Is that allowed?" Danny turned his face to her, pressing his forhead against hers.

"Oh, I think so. When you're under the mistletoe you are supposed to love the one you are with. It doesn't matter how you show it....or how many times...."

Danny chuckled to himself as she began to run her lips down his chest in a trail of kisses. "If you say so. Merry Christmas, Michelle."

With that, they sank into one another beneath the mistletoe, guided only by the twinkling lights of the tree and the sound of their own beating hearts.

*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Michelle woke up still wrapped in Danny's arms on the sofa. The sun was peaking in, and she could see the glistening snow piled outside the window. So far, it was a beautiful white Christmas. A few feet away, the lights on the tree still twinkled, as if winking knowingly at her about the scene they had witnessed the night before. There were presents upon presents piled under the tree. Feeling the excitement of a child welling up within her, she gently shook her husband. "Danny! Wake up! It's Christmas!"

He smiled before his eyes even opened. "Mmm. And what a wonderful Christmas it is."

"Come on, let's open presents!" Michelle pulled herself away from him, wrapping a blanket around herself as she stood up. She began to dig through the pile. "Here, this one is for you....from Santa." She smiled, her eyes sparkling.

Danny smiled, still lying on the couch. Just watching her beatiful face, so happy, was enough to warm him on the coldest day. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life, he was sure. He took the present from her, tearing the paper from the box. "Wow, Santa...what a guy! He got me that sweater I was looking at in the mall!"

Michelle giggled. "See, he's always watching....he knows who's naughty and nice!"

"Then how on earth did you and I get all of these presents?" Danny teased. "That one over there with the silver bow on it...that's for you."

Michelle tore it open, tossing the paper on the floor like an excited three year old. "Oh, Danny..." She pulled the necklace from its box. "This is so beautiful....thank you so much... Put it on me!"

They continued on, swapping presents until the last of them were gone. When they were finished, there were piles of newly opened gifts left and right, and mounds of wrapping paper seeming to overflow the room.

"Wow...we have to clean up this mess now!" Danny said, surveying the damage.

Michelle laughed. "It reminds me of playing in the pool of balls when I was a kid. Did you ever do that?"

"Yeah, you mean at the amusement park?"

"Yeah! It used to be so much fun! You could just dive down under all of those plastic balls and no one could find you. It was like having your own little world."

Danny smiled at her lovingly, reaching for her hair. "We already have our own little world."

Michelle smiled back. "You know, Mr. Santos...we are still under the mistletoe, and it IS Christmas..."

Danny gave her a devilish smile. "You're right! Absolutely right. I like the way you think!" He pulled her towards him, and they fell backwards into their own little world amidst the mounds of wrapping paper.

As their kiss melted into another, and then another, Michelle couldn't help wondering what would happen if those twinkling Christmas tree lights could talk....

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Danny? Danny, I think this rice is done, how about you?" Michelle peered into a pot on the stove, stirring cautiously.

Danny turned to look over her shoulder. "Oh, Michelle...it's burning. Yes it's done."

"I thought it was starting to look crispier than it should be!"

Danny shook his head, muttering to himself in amusement. "She thought it looked crispier than it should be.."

"Don't laugh at me! What can I do that doesn't involve touching anything on the stove?"

"You can mash the potatoes, how is that?"

"Ok."

They both went back to their work in silence for a moment. The kitchen looked like a total disaster area -- food everywhere, all of the burners going, and dishes piled in the sink. Dinner was almost ready.

"Wow," Michelle said finally. "I don't even know why we are making all of this. Just because we have it doesn't mean we had to make it all at once....we could eat for a month on all of the stuff we bought."

"Well," Danny said, not looking up from the counter where he was transferring hot rolls from a pan into a basket, "I just thought that we'd make enough to be sure. I wouldn't want to sit down to eat and not have something there that we wanted. Besides, it's not like we made all of it...we did leave one of the hams in the freezer."

"Yes, we did, but that still leaves us with a ham and a turkey to eat!"

"So we'll have a lot of leftovers, big deal! Besides, you are the one that decided to buy those in the first place, aren't you?"

Michelle smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. "Yes, yes, that was me. Well, you never know, we might have some surprise guests."

Danny looked up, surprised. "What guests? Why would you say that?"

"I don't know; maybe it was a premonition telling us to buy extra food."

Danny's eyes narrowed for a moment. "It's Christmas; I don't think we'll have any unannounced visitors."

Michelle shrugged. "Well, I'm just saying -- we got a little carried away here, so if some unannounced guests did arrive, we'd have plenty to feed them!"

"Uh huh." Danny nodded his head at her. "Would you set this basket over on the table?"

"Sure."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Michelle and Danny both looked up, and then looked immediately at each other.

"Looks like your surprise guests are here!" Danny said. "Who could that be?"

"I have no idea," Michelle said, shrugging. "Why don't you go see?"

"No, I think you should go see!"

"I'm not going to get it!" Michelle said, almost laughing. "I don't know who it is!"

"Oh, come on! I've got butter all over my fingers. Just go answer the door!"

"Uh uh, you're coming with me. We'll both go answer the door!"

Danny sighed. "Ok, fine, hang on." He wiped his hands off on a paper towel, and then went towards the hallway. "After you."

As they reached the end of the hallway, Michelle turned to wink at Danny. "Well, let's see who's here!" She pulled the door open quickly, and took a step back.

"Rick!" Her mouth opened in shock. She looked at Danny, and then back at her family standing in the doorway. "Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

Rick stood for a moment, not saying anything. "We were invited, Michelle... You emailed us about a week ago and said you'd like us to come for Christmas dinner!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

Abby put her hand on his arm, and said "It's ok, Michelle, if you don't want us to be here, we can go. We don't want to intrude."

"No! No, I don't mean... I just know I didn't email you, that's all!"

"I did." Danny's voice was firm behind her.

"You?" Michelle and Rick voiced together.

Michelle turned to her husband, and he spoke. "I wanted it to be a surprise for you, Michelle."

"Well, it certainly was! I can't believe you did this!"

"I just wanted to give you the chance to work things out with your brother, that's all. You miss your family too much to let this go on."

Michelle put her hand to her mouth, tears forming in her eyes.

"You're not upset, are you?" Danny looked concerned.

"No! No, Danny, I... Thank you."

"Well are you going to let them in?" Danny gestured with a smile.

"Oh! Yes, of course! Abby, Aunt Meta, come on inside. Don't stand out there in the cold!"

"Let me take your coats," Danny said, as Michelle gave the two women a hug.

Then she turned to her brother.

"Am I allowed to come in too, or should I just go wait in the car?"

"No...no, you might freeze. You might as well come in."

Rick smiled at her. "I've missed you, Michelle."

She paused, taking a deep breath. "I've missed you too." She smiled as they stared at each other for a moment. "Well, can I get a hug?"

Rick's face beamed in relief. "Anytime," he said, embracing his sister.

Michelle walked up to Danny and hugged him from behind. "You're such a jerk," she laughed. "Now I know why you were trying to buy all of that extra food behind my back!"

Danny grinned. "So you're happy?"

"Yes, I am. I can't believe you did this for me."

"Christmas is no time to miss your family." Danny gave her a light kiss on the lips. "Now that our guests have arrived, I think we should set up a bigger table...maybe in by the Christmas tree, wouldn't that be nice?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. Want to help me?"

"Sure."

The two headed for the next room, but were halted by the doorbell ringing again.

Danny looked at Michelle quizically. "Who could that be?"

"I don't know," she said, giving him a look. "Did you invite anyone else I don't know about?"

"No, I didn't...just Rick, Abby, and Aunt Meta."

"Well maybe you'd better go check it out!" Michelle said, nudging him towards the door.

"Ok, I'll be right back to help with that table." He hurried to the door, wondering who it could be.

"Mother! Pilar!" His voice was full of shock. "What are you all doing here?"

"You asked us to Christmas dinner, Daniel! Remember, you sent us an email last week?"

"No," Danny said, shaking his head. "I didn't..." Then he heard Michelle giggling behind him.

"Michelle?"

She laughed out loud, unable to contain herself. "I guess two can play this game, Danny!"

He shook his head, beginning to laugh along with her. "I don't believe this! YOU invited them?"

"What's so funny? Do you want us to leave, Danny?" Pilar spoke in the doorway.

"No, no. Come on in!" He gave his sister and Ray a hug, shaking hands with Bill and Ben as they stepped into the room. Then he nodded to Carmen. "Mother. Please, come in."

Michelle pulled herself away from him. "Merry Christmas, Carmen. Danny, I'm going to go set that table up."

"Wait, Michelle." Carmen spoke up.

"Yes?" Michelle turned to face her.

"I want to talk to you while we're alone."

"Oh..." She looked at Danny, who shrugged at her.

"Actually, I have something to give to you."

"What is that?"

"Here, open it," Carmen said, pulling a small jewelry box from her purse.

"Ok." Michelle looked at her cautiously, and then flipped the box open. Inside was a beatiful gold ring, unlike any she had ever seen.

Danny leaned in closer to look. "Mother, that's your ring!"

"Yes, you remember it?" Carmen questioned him, smiling gracefully.

"Yeah, you used to wear it all the time!"

"I stopped wearing it the day you came home married to Michelle. I always planned on giving it to your bride. I was going to give it to her on your wedding day."

"But you just couldn't bear to give it to ME, right?" Michelle said, looking her mother-in-law in the eye.

"Well. That's not important. Today is actually a much more appropriate day to give it to you. My husband gave me that ring on OUR first Christmas together. He said it was a symbol of the strength of our relationship, despite all of the people who said we shouldn't be married. He said that as long as I could look at that ring, I would know that he loved me, and nothing else was important."

"I never knew Papa gave you this ring! And now you're giving it to Michelle?" Danny asked, surprised.

"Yes. I always wanted to give it to the woman that could make my son as happy as your father made me."

"Michelle is that woman, Mother."

"I know she is, Danny. And I know she loves you very much." Carmen paused, looking at her son as Michelle wrapped her arms around his waist. "You know, your grandmother hated that your father married me. She did not like me at all. But she has taught me many, many things throughout the years, especially that you can learn to love the woman your son marries if that is what makes him happy. You are my son, Daniel. If accepting Michelle as a part of the family is what will make you happy, and what will keep you in my life, I will do it. Michelle and I can learn to get along, can't we? For Danny?"

Michelle smiled warmly, hugging Danny closer and then releasing him. "Yes, I think we can do that."

Danny took a deep breath. "Thank you, Mother."

"You're welcome. I love you, Daniel."

Danny nodded, looking at her. "I love you too." Then, for the first time in months, he hugged his mother.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ok, are there enough chairs set up?" Danny asked, dragging two more to the table.

"Um, I think maybe we need three more," Pilar said.

"No, no I don't think so..."

"Michelle? Danny, have you seen Michelle? The ham is ready to come out of the oven!"

"No, I haven't seen her Aunt Meta. I don't know where she took off to."

"That's alright, I'll get the ham myself."

"No, you don't have to do that! I'll get it!" Danny started for the kitchen.

"No, I'm fine. You go back in there and finish setting the table," Aunt Meta said, shooing him away.

"Uh, ok. Thank you for helping!" Danny caught Rick smiling out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't mind her, you can't keep that woman away from the kitchen when there's a holiday meal to prepare!"

Danny nodded. "I've noticed! I think I'm going to go get some of the other stuff, though. Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thanks."

"Ok. If you see Michelle, tell her she is needed in the kitchen."

Danny headed into the kitchen, stepping aside for Aunt Meta with the ham. He caught Michelle just coming out of the bathroom. "There you are! We're almost ready to eat. Let's get the rest of this stuff on the table."

Just then, the doorbell rang for the third time that day. Danny and Michelle stopped in their tracks.

"Michelle?" Danny said, looking at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Danny?" Michelle said, looking just as pointedly at him.

"I didn't have anything to do with this one!" He said, holding up his hand as if under oath.

"Me either!"

Just then, they heard Pilar's voice in the hall. "Bill, would you get the door please? Danny and Michelle are busy."

"Sure, no problem."

As Bill headed for the front door, Danny and Michelle grinned at each other and ran to the hall to watch.

"Mom! Matt!" They heard him say in surprise. Sure enough, there were Vanessa and Matt, along with baby Maureen.

"Pilar..." Danny said. "It had to have been Pilar!" The two of them laughed to themselves, watching the scene unfold in the doorway.

"I hope you don't mind," Pilar said, coming up to them. "I figured if we were all going to be here, what's three more? I didn't tell anyone, though, because I wanted it to be a surprise for Bill. I thought he should be with his family on Christmas."

"That's fine," Michelle laughed. "They're perfectly welcome."

"Great!" Pilar said happily. "I'd better go explain this to Bill."

Danny turned to Michelle, still shaking his head in amusement. "Well who else has been invited? Is there anyone, out of all of our friends and family, that is missing?"

Michelle laughed again. "No, I can't think of anyone else to invite..."

"Ok then. Let's get these last few dishes and go eat!"

"Wait a minute, Danny. I need to show you something in the bathroom."

"Michelle! I appreciate the thought, but we have a house full of guests here!"

"No!" Michelle said indignantly. "It's not that! Just come in here with me!" She took his hand and lead him into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Ok, what's going on?" Danny asked, watching her turn away from him for a moment. When she turned back, there was something in her hand. "What's that?"

"Look at it."

"What is it? A home pregnancy test? Michelle?" He looked up at her, and she nodded. "There's a plus...what's a plus? Does that mean... What does that mean?" He looked at her urgently, the words falling out of his mouth.

"It means.... Merry Christmas, Dad!"

"Oh my God!" Danny leaned backwards, using the sink for support. "Are you serious? We're...you're... Oh my God!"

Michelle laughed, unable to stop the tears in her eyes. "Can you believe it? I bought the test yesterday and I didn't have a chance to do it last night, and... Can you BELIEVE it?"

"Can I? No. Oh my God. How? How?"

"Well you see, Danny," Michelle said, wiping her eyes. "When two people really love each other..."

"Hey! I've got that part. I mean how did you know? How pregnant are you?" He reached for her, staring at her stomach as his hands gingerly touched her.

"About a month. I'll have to go see Dr. Sedwick this week, but I think it's been a little more than a month."

"Wow... That's all I can say, is wow! I can't believe this!"

"So you're happy, then?"

"Happy? Michelle! I'm ecstatic! I'm thrilled! I can't believe how happy I am!"

"Oh, good..." Michelle said, pulling his hands away from her stomach to hug him. "Because I'm happy too.... I wasn't prepared for this, but I am SO happy."

"What do we do now?" Danny asked, holding her at arm's length for a minute. "Should we tell everyone?"

"Do you want to? Or do you want to just keep it to ourselves for awhile?"

"I want to tell the world!" Danny said, his huge smile growing even wider. His eyes gleamed with pride and joy, looking at his wife. He pulled her to him for an excited, passionate kiss, lifting her off the ground.

Michelle sighed happily. "So do I! And there's no better time for it, because our entire family is out there!"

Danny smiled again. "Well then, let's go! We'll eat our huge feast, and then we'll make our announcement!"

Hand in hand, they emerged from the bathroom.

"There you are!" Bill said, spying them. "We finished bringing all of the food in because we didn't know where you two disappeared to. So now all you have to do is sit down and we can eat!"

"We're on our way," Danny said.

As they took their seats, everyone held hands for Ray's prayer. Danny squeezed Michelle's hand, listening to his cousin tell of the many blessings they all shared that day...and he thought about the blessings that no one knew of yet. "Life is beautiful," he thought.

When the prayer was over, he looked up, spying the mistletoe from the night before, still pinned to the ceiling directly above the table. He smiled to himself, recalling Michelle's words. "When you're under the mistletoe, you're supposed to love the one you're with. It doesn't matter how you show it." Perhaps that was the lesson of Christmas; it had brought together so
many people, people who's only bond was love -- a love that some of them were only beginning to learn how to express. Sitting there beneath the mistletoe with his family and friends, he understood that it really didn't matter how they showed it; the important thing was that in his home, in his life, the love was overflowing.

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