WINTER... At home for Christmas (Part 19a)

After our return to school I'd be willing to bet that I saw more snow fall over the next three weeks than I'd seen in my 18 years. It snowed each and every day. Some days a little... some days a lot. But, classes were never cancelled. Money, and the lack of it, continued to be a problem. Elle and I had set the middle weekend of the three plus weeks of school we had before the Christmas break for me to visit. Donny had decided that he'd not be going home with less than four weeks to go until we'd be off again but I was told I'd be welcome at his house if I went over. I used my last unexcused "cuts" so as to be at the bus stop on time. As usual it was snowing and, as we were in a rural area, radio forecasts were useless. I had no idea what to expect and just assumed that the bus would be running. I waited for over and hour and when I saw lights starting to go on in the stores across the street I finally gave up. My parents had friends who ran a small mens clothing store in the town. At Thanksgiving my father had chastized me for not having stopped in to say "hello" to them. I was cold and my toes actually hurt so I decided to walk across the street to their store. As I started into the store I saw my reflection in the window. There was at least an inch of snow on the hood and shoulders of my coat. I shook off as much as I could and walked in. The rush of warmth was very welcome. After the pefunctory introductions were over we got to talking and I explained what I was attempting to do. They insisted that I call Elle to explain the situation. She, like me, was disappointed but there was little either of us could do. The couple who owned the store, the "B's", made me promise to stop by anytime I was downtown. I didn't know it at the time but this relationship was to become an important part of my life.

The last day of classes before the Christmas break for me was a Wednesday. It was also the first day that it didn't snow since we'd returned. I hoped it was a good omen for the upcoming vacation. I'd managed to find a ride that would take me right through the town where my grandparents lived. My parents had decided, much to my dismay, not to return home for Christmas. Even though my grandfather was basically healed, my grandmother's arthritis was worse. Tradition was big in my family and Christmas dinner was ALWAYS at their house. My mother, in trying to work out the logistics of pulling that off while maintaining her own home decided against reopening our house until after it was over. I was promised that we'd be back home a few days afterwards. Again, it was a case of not being happy about the situation but not in a position to do anything about it. I had no idea what was about to happen but my mother's decision turned out to be very good for me.

Elle's last class was on Thursday so there was a day's lag in our schedules. I'd managed to persuade Cliff, the owner of the gas station where I'd worked part time during the Summer, to hire me for part of my Christmas vacation. He was in the process of negotiating with the gasoline company who supplied him to build a brand new three bay garage. My presence would allow him time to get a lot of the details worked out. Because it was the slow season (our area was primarily geared for Summer activities) the hours were much reduced which worked for me. Elle was going to replace her mother at the drug store while she was home and our hours were to coincide so that was good. At the close of my first day I went to her house to wait for her return. I was disappointed to find that she'd decided to spend the nite at Nancy's (one of her roommates). That left me no choice but to spend the evening with my family. It was a LONG night.

There was no way to communicate with Elle as I didn't know Nancy's last name and I didn't want to ask Elle's parents for it. Friday was a very long day. I knew that she was to arrive on the noon train but I had to stay at the gas station. When 6pm finally arrived I drove down to her house and, again, was disappointed to find no one home. It was frustrating, to say the least. I waited for over an hour with still no sign of her. By the time I got to my grandparents house I was way late for dinner. My parents were not very happy with me, (It would've been great to've had a cell phone at that time) so much so that I wasn't allowed to go out. The more I pleaded the more stubborn they became. Here it was, two days into my vacation and I still hadn't seen Elle.

Saturday was Christmas eve and Cliff decided to close at 3pm. I immediately headed for the drug store. Thank goodness business was slow as Elle and I got in one quick embrace and then settled for talking. Elle invited me to her house for supper and this time I did use the phone. It was OK'ed but I was told to be home in time for the midnight Christmas eve church service. For a few minutes I was happy but Elle and I never really had any time alone. I had to wait until late Christmas day to go visit Elle. I didn't have a present for her but she knew that as soon as I got paid that it would be coming. Her father was asleep in his chair and her mother was finishing up in the kitchen. Like we did the previous Christmas, Elle and I went into the living room to look at her presents. Almost immediately recieved my first "present", even though I don't believe it was intentional. As Elle sat down on the floor she gave me a beautiful upskirt look at her panties. I was pleasantly surprised to not see the bulge that had become almost a part of her. I could immediately see that the panties were nylon and not cotton. I would've loved to reach over and touch them (and her) but with her mother nearby I didn't even make a move in that direction. Her present to me was a beautiful wool sweater. I felt guilty opening it as I didn't have anything for her (yet). We had to wait until it was time for me to leave before we could get really close. Rarely did we ever get to embrace with the lights on but we did on this night. I had my coat on and was just about to go out the door when Elle gave me my second unexpected "present". She'd been holding the open door and suddenly let it go and grabbed the hem of her skirt. In one fairly quick motion she lifted it (and her slip) up to her chest, hesitated for a few seconds and then slowly let it down. I know that this time it was planned. The vision of that helped make my trip back to my grandparents a pleasant one... and gave me hope for the rest of the vacation.

To be continued...