It was an early Christmas morning when a young mother woke up. She sat up straight and looked to the alarm. It was just half past five, which was way too early to get up, certainly on a day like this. Before she would go back to sleep, she listened to the baby phone. When she heard the small noises her little boy always made when he was asleep, she knew everything was all right. So she laid down again, causing her hair to be spread on her pillow like a peacock's tail.

"Did you really have to wake me up?"

The sound of her teasing fiancé made Anita Knight glance over towards her loving Victor Volt. "I was very quiet."

Victor chuckled and he propped himself up on his elbow. Soon he started to fondle with Anita's hair. "What's on your mind, Anita?"

"Nothing much. I figured that I could get some sleep."

Victor's hand lingered towards Anita's neck. "In my arms, I hope."

"Hm, maybe." Anita closed her eyes and felt Victor's hand going towards her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Victor bended over Anita and started to kiss her. It was a long and loving kiss, which wasn't a surprise to Anita anymore. She got used to these little suprises from Victor and she was more than happy to return the kiss.

But one little noise from the baby phone made an immediate end to this romantic scene. Anita pushed Victor away and she rushed towards the baby room. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Her seven months old son just said his first word, and this time for real! Anita looked at her Timothy, who was lying awake in his cot.

"Mama!"

It couldn't be clearer; Timothy said his first word, and it was mama. "Did you hear that, Victor? Timmy said 'mama'!"

"Yeah, I heard and felt it." Victor's mumbling said more than enough about how he felt about Timmy's wrong choice of timing.

But Anita didn't pay much attention to her fiancé. She lifted Timmy out of his crib. "You are awake early, sweetie. Are you hungry or are you just looking for attention?" After a few months, Anita got used to the different noises from her little boy. She knew exactly if Timothy would be hungry, tired or just upset. She walked towards the rockingchair and rocked her little one back to sleep. "Can you believe it, Victor? Finally, after seven months, he finally said his first word."

Anita looked to the doorway when there was no response. Victor was already back to bed, being a little bit grumpy that Timothy had called them out of bed so early in the morning. Victor had never been a morning person, besides from the times he had to get up because Timothy was hungry. She looked to the boy in her arms, who was back asleep again. It appeared that he was awake just to say his first word. He sure is a strange boy, just like his father. Anita could see the similarities between Timothy and Victor. Not only their eyes and nose, but also in the way they acted. "Time for you to go back to bed, just like me."

Once she knew that Timothy was fast asleep, Anita went back to the master bedroom. Her lila room didn't only have her stuff, but also things that belonged to Victor. To Anita, it felt all wonderful. It was the thing she truly missed in life; someone next to you who loved you until the end of time. Victor's back was facing her, so he had no idea that she came back to the room. She sneaked towards the bed, and suddenly, she took a jump and landed onto the bed.

Victor turned around, sat up straight and looked to Anita. "What are you..." He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, because Anita gave him a long, romantic kiss.

"This is my way to say I'm sorry for the rude disturbance of our little love thing." Anita took one deep look in his chocolate-brown eyes. The routine they had most mornings when they had their days off was something she couldn't miss anymore. She couldn't miss her Victor anymore; their love was too big to be able to miss the other half.

Victor smiled and he placed an arm around her before he kissed her again. "So, we can go back to sleep again then?" In stead of waiting for a confirmation from Anita, he just pulled her down with him. "You know, it seems that you start to take over some of mine character properties."

Anita chukled, she knew exactly what Victor was talking about. The two of them seemed to be taking over each other's character properties now that they were living together. "It looks like it." She nestled herself into his arms and closed her eyes again. She wanted to sleep in his arms and get up in time to prepare the things for their Christmas dinner.

===

During the morning, snow finally started to fall. Unfortunately for Anita, she had to do a lot before she could even think of getting out to take a stroll through the snow. It was almost noon when she could be found in the kitchen. It was time to prepare the last few things for their dinner of that evening. It had become a little tradition to celebrate it with the whole family on Christmas day. They had the biggest house at that moment and it just felt nice to celebrate it at home just one more time before someone else would organize it.

"Mama, he needs you again!"

Anita sighed. It was like Victor took Timothy's first word as a way to tease her and to give her all the dirty jobs like changing diapers or burping him. "Victor, could you please do it this time? I really need to..."

But Victor already walked into the kitchen with Timothy on his arm. "I'm sorry, Anita, but he really said mama and not dada."

Anita took Timothy from Victor and she looked to her son. It didn't look like he needed something, but he just said 'mama' just because he liked to say it and he got attention from his mother. "You are just one strange boy, honey. Just like your father." That last sentence was meant for Victor in stead of Timothy.

Victor moved behind her, and he placed his arms around her. He placed his head onto her shoulder and he whispered in her ear: "But you still love me, don't you?"

Anita didn't move a muscle. Of course she still loved him, but she also loved to tease him. "Hm, who knows. But I still need a reason why."

"Because I'm sweet, romantic, loveable and of course your fiancé and the father of your child. Isn't that enough?"

"And what about proof?"

Victor carefully grabbed Anita's hand and his fingers moved over her engagement-ring. "Isn't this more than enough proof?" He placed a kiss on her cheek and he let her go again, but only to stand in front of her. He gave her a hug very carefully, with their son still in her arms. It felt good to be celebrating Christmas with the whole family.

Anita smiled, and gave Victor a kiss before she placed Timothy back in his arms. "If you truly love me, Victor Volt, then you will let me finish dinner before the end of this evening, so we have something to place on the table once everyone is here."

Victor wanted to reply that, but the doorbell made this impossible to do so. Before he would go to the front door, he just couldn't help but tease Anita. "I'll go and get it, and I will let you finish dinner just this once."

He went to the front door and was surprised to see his two best friends standing outside in the snowblizzard. "Kyrsten and Ray, what a nice surprise. Come on in, you two must be cold."

Kyrsten and Ray Kowalski walked into the hallway and took off their coats. "Merry Christmas, Victor. And a merry Christmas to you too, sweetie." The last sentence was meant for Timothy, who gave Kyrsten a big smile. "Mind if I hold him?"

Victor shook his head and passed Timothy to Kyrsten before they would get to the living room. "So, how are you coping it, living together with a pregnant woman?" Kyrsten was pregnant for eight months now and she was really showing it. Victor remembered how it was to live together with a pregnant woman and he figured that Ray had the same problems.

"It is alright. All I have to do is help in the household and that's it. No more sickness and other things. All Krysten has to do is to sit back and we are just waiting for our little one."

Ás soon as Anita had heard the voices of her best friends, she decided to get out of the kitchen and say hi to them. "Hi guys, what are you doing here?"

Kowalski chuckled when Anita gave her a hug. "Well, we figured we could take a little walk and we just ended up here. So we just couldn't pass your house without visiting you. How are you doing?"

Anita sat down onto her chair and gave her friends a sweet smile. "We are doing fine. Timothy just started to say his first word, so we won't be hearing the end of it today."

Kowalski looked to the little boy in her arms. "Really, what is it?"

"Mama."

Kyrsten knew more than enough when she heard that sigh. "Victor is making you pay for that, isn't he?"

"Yes." Anita just shook her head. "But enough about us, how is your baby doing? Is everything still alright?"

Ray looked to his wife, looking for confirmation. When she gave him that, his smile couldn't be bigger. "The baby is doing alright, we even know what it will be."

Victor and Anita looked to each other. They both figured that they wanted to wait until the birth, but apparently, they didn't have the patience for that. "Well, what will it be?"

"It'll be a girl."

Anita smiled. When she learned that Victor rather wanted to have a daughter, she was surprised at first. But then she learned his reason; he wanted to be her hero and when he would have a son, the chances were that he would stop seeing his father as a hero, where a girl would always idolize him. So Anita figured that Ray must have the same feelings about that. "I'm guessing that you are happy about that, Ray."

Ray nodded. "I can always try to protect her, without the chances that she will hate me for that."

Kowalski just rolled her eyes. She had more the idea that a father would want a daughter so he could secretly play with her toys too, without being embarrassed about it. "Shall we tell them her name too then?" But even before Ray could say a thing, she turned to her friends. "Her name will be Jessica Kowalski. When we knew we would have a little girl, we started to call her Jessica in stead of Junior. We started to love it and decided that this should be her name too when she is born."

"That is just wonderful. It really is a sweet name, Kyrsten."

"Thank you, Anita." Suddenly, she heard little Timmy saying his first word, causing her to laugh. "I'm not your mommy, sweetie. But I think you'd rather be with her than with me at the moment."

Anita took Timothy from Kyrsten and gave him a hug before she went to Timothy's playpen. "I spoiled you too much already. Just one cuddle and you can play in your playpen."

Ray stood up from the couch and he looked to Kowalski. "I think we'd better be going now before we are caught in a snowstorm. Don't forget that Lucy and our boss will be coming soon."

Kowalski nodded and she stood up. "It was very nice to be here and give my feet some rest. Maybe we'll come and visit you on New Year's day." She gave Anita a hug and looked at her. "I hope you will come and visit me during the last weeks. I do feel a little bit lonely these days now."

Anita gave her a big smile. "Of course I will." She said goodbye to her friends at the front door, and when she got back, the radio was playing a slow song. "Victor, what's the meaning of this?"

Victor smiled and he grabbed her hand. He placed his hands on her hips and looked into her eyes. "I can't really recall when we danced as a couple. And I figured we had some time to do so right now."

This was a surprise she wasn't really expecting from Victor. Of course, he had always been sweet and romantic towards her, but he had never done a thing like this. So, she placed her arms around his neck and enjoyed the song. It wasn't before the end of the song that Anita started to talk again. "This was sweet of you, Victor. I can't believe you just did this."

A kiss followed and Victor ran with his hand through her hair. "I just love to be romantic, especially for you."

Anita gave him a kiss before she would get out of his arms. "It was wonderful, Victor. But I really should be going back to the kitchen before things start to burn."

===

The rest of the day was full with joy and celebration. After dinner there was the unwrapping of the gifts and Arthur and Mildred gave Victor and Anita the opportunity to get a nice walk outside together. So that is what they did. They went to the park, just like the year before to make the same round they did back then.

"It is just unbelievable. One year ago, you told me that you loved me and we couldn't wait to be parents. And now we're engaged, have a wonderful boy and..."

Victor looked to Anita when she just stopped in the middle of her sentence. "And what?"

Anita smiled when she stopped on the middle of the bridge. There was just one memory that would always be with her. "Victor Thomas Jefferson Volt, I love you. I really do."

There was just one thing Victor could reply to that. He placed his arms around her and kissed her deeply. "Anita Guinevere Knight, I truly love you too."

Soon they continued their journey. Even though they were lucky not to be in the snow hazard, like the one that afternoon, the snow made the scene more romantic. And this was one of the rare moments that they were together.

"We should make this tradition, Anita. Every Christmas, we go out for a walk without anyone else. Just you and me."

It was a tradition Anita wouldn't even dare to think negative about it. "I love it, Victor. But only if there would be someone to watch over Timmy."

Victor nodded and he pulled Anita closer to him. He loved being romantic for Anita, she was surely the only one he truly loved. He gave her a kiss on her cheek and looked to her. "So, what did you think of my gift for you?"

It was a gift that would never be forgotten, or at least not so soon. Anita got a big pile of comics from Victor, for somewhat selfish reasons. "I can't believe you gave me that so I wouldn't nick your comics anymore. But it was really sweet of you, Victor."

"It is just like I said this morning, Anita. You took over some of mine character properties. You became more playful, goofier and you started to love comics, just like me."

"Hm, I don't know about the goofy thing, but the rest is certainly true. And you became more thoughtful and more responsible. Plus, you are a great father to Timmy."

"And you a great mother."

This would be surely one Christmas both of them wouldn't forget, certainly since Timmy decided to say his second word in the middle of the night, making Victor jumping out of bed this time to make sure that he heard it right; that it was 'dada' this time, and not 'mama'. Only a little boy like Timothy Thomas Jefferson Knight could shake things up like he did, and his parents didn't mind it at all.