Ways to celebrate Christmas

Just another dark and snowy winter day.
- I need to fix this table. That leg keeps falling off all the time. By the way, do you have any wishes about the Christmas Eve? Tacos like last year or traditional food or something else?

 

Kaarna says:
- Oh sorry, didn’t I mention it? We made up and I’ll be at Mari’s after all!
- Oh… okay. I really can’t keep up with you two. How many times have you split up and got back together again?
- I don’t know and I don’t care. We are together now and that’s all that matters.

In the afternoon of the Christmas Eve Kaarna steps in Mari’s home.

- Oh crap! I didn’t know we’re dressing up fancy!
- Babe! You can wear whatever you want! It’s not important!

Mari’s dress and high heels make Kaarna both uncomfortable and horny. Also she thinks that Mari’s idea of a Christmas tree is somewhat weird, but other than that everything is nice. 

Christmas songs are softly played on Spotify and the girls eat fancy chocolate and traditional tarts with hot mulled wine. And they cuddle a lot.

After a very delicious and well made dinner it’s time for the gifts! Mari gives Kaarna a gift card to an art supply shop.
Kaarna thanks her warmly. She bounces up and down on the sofa, because she’s so excited about getting to give her own gift to Mari.
- Your gift is in my backpack and I need to prepare it… so you must go to the bedroom now. And no peeking!

Mari sits on the bed waiting.
- Kaarna is so excited, I wonder what she’s up to, Mari whispers to herself.
Then the door slowly opens.

In comes an Elf! Straight from Korvatunturi! Mari can’t believe her eyes.

- Let’s make your fantasies come true, the Elf says with a shivering bedroom voice and winks his eye.

- Kaarna!!!!! Noooooo!!!! Did you really think I’d be turned on by an old short dude with a beard?! Oh lord take that thing off!

- But you said you fantasize of elves, Kaarna mumbles.

- I was thinking more like… this…
- That’s so American! When you said elves, of course I thought of the Finnish type.
- Come here you, Mari laughs and kisses Kaarna, who giggles:
- Well, I really was surprised to hear about elves. Did I destroy your fantasy now?
- You absolutely did!
- Do you have any other fantasy that I could ruin next?

They laugh so much that it makes their tummies hurt. And then they go between the sheets together, as themselves.

Mari’s most important tradition is to watch sobby Christmas movies all through the night.
- This is more cruel than waterboarding, Kaarna tries to protest. Luckily chocolate helps her to survive. And to be honest this movie is actually kind of cute. Eventually Kaarna falls asleep feeling really happy.

 

Now that we know that Kaarna´s Christmas is perfect, we can see how Ken is doing alone at home. 

One of the neighbors has lit the garden candles along the path to sauna. Ken smiles when he remembers how important they were to Hector.
- You have a garden candle fetish, Ken used to laugh at him.

Hector calls Ken and asks:
- Are you sure you don’t want to join us? Mom has made tons of food! All sorts, in the good oldfashioned Carelian way! We’ll be going to the Christmas church and cemetery in the evening. First we pay a visit at auntie, of course. It would be nice to have you here!

When they hang up, Ken thinks:
- Hector is so sweet. But no no no… rushing here and there and overeating heavy food is not at all what I want from this day.

Ken prepares himself a cheese tray. Instead of cooking a traditional Christmas dinner he has bought treats that he loves but he normally can’t afford.

 Quality over quantity is the theme of Ken’s very own Christmas.

As Ken starts to unwrap the only gift under his tree (of course it’s from Hector), his thoughts go way back to the Christmas Eves of his teenage years…

So now we are about to take a time hop to the undefined years when Ken was a teenager.