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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UPR chapter.

“Aw, Blitz, where are you going? Wha- no, baby, don’t!” The rustling of tree ornaments followed Willow’s shouts, prompting me to set down our mugs and run out of the kitchen to investigate. She seemed to be scrambling to pull something out of the tree when I noticed the flurry of white, black, and orange scurrying amongst the branches. Blitz jumped into the tree. My knees buckled as I cackled, greatly amused by our kitty’s hijinks. “Oh, for the love of God, Maya, stop laughing and help me!”

Still chuckling, I stood back up shakily and walked over to aid in Blitz’s rescue mission. First, Willow attempted to draw him out using his favorite catnip toy, while I held the tree to prevent it from falling. When we didn’t succeed, I resorted to holding the tree with my left hand as I grabbed at whatever moving branches I saw  with my right. Though it took me a few tries, I eventually managed to scoop our kitten out of the tree. He then had the nerve to meow indignantly at me as I carefully placed him on the ground, away from the tree. Blitz tried trodding over again, only to be stopped by the two of us. 

By the fifth time, both of us were struggling to contain our laughter at our baby’s tenacity. He seemed to realize that he would not achieve his goal then and walked away. The day had had the makings of a wonderful memory: the first thing we noticed when we woke up was the chilly temperature, accompanied by the sight of the untouched sheet of snow outside our window. Rather than do the chores we’d planned to take care of, we opted to laze about. Willow took care of preparing breakfast, while I started making us coffee. 

After eating our French toast, we went to the living room to play with Blitz, a kitten we’d adopted a month ago. He was very eager to play, which surprised us. He was usually on the sassier, “don’t touch me unless I actively seek it” side of cats. We were just happy that he was interacting with us in such a lively manner. Before we knew it, we had spent about an hour with Blitz and our phones had several more pictures of him than they’d had earlier.

I noticed some light snowing happening outside and proposed we should have some hot chocolate, as the weather was perfect for it. Willow agreed, but said I should go prepare it because she wanted to keep playing with the little calico. Off I went to warm up some milk in our favorite mugs. I popped some hot chocolate bombs into them and stirred the contents, until I heard Willow shout at Blitz for jumping into the tree. Now, we were finally able to retrieve our hot chocolate-filled mugs and, luckily, they were still warm.

Steaming mugs in hand, Willow and I shuffled over to the couch. We sat carefully to avoid spilling our hot chocolate and snuggled up to each other. The fireplace crackled to our left, radiating warmth throughout the room. All the Christmas decorations seemed brighter somehow, almost as if they sensed that the holiday was just a week away. I smiled, feeling comforted by the aliveness of our home. Willow and I must have shared the same thought because we both turned to look at each other, fond expressions on our faces. A blush crept up my neck and warmed my cheeks further as I gazed adoringly at my amazing partner. Her expression softened as she leaned in towards my face. Our lips met for just a moment, gentle but sure.

We pulled away shortly after, giggling lightly when our eyes met once more. Willow leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed before saying, “You were right; it is a good day for hot chocolate.”

“Here’s to me being right, then,” I raised my mug half-jokingly, soon to be clinked by Willow’s.

“Cheers!”

Carola Ríos Pérez is a writer for the Her Campus at UPR chapter. She focuses on writing reviews and analyses about films, series, and books, as well as sharing some of her life experiences through personal essays. In 2021, she graduated with honors from Colegio Nuestra Señora de Belén. Initially, she began her career as a university undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus as a Communications student, with a major in Public Relations and Publicity. Currently, she is a junior in Humanities, majoring in Modern Languages, with a focus on Portuguese and German. Other than academics and Her Campus, Carola enjoys kickboxing and spending some quality time with her three cats, Keanu, Ginger, and Kai. Her passion for languages is reflected in her music tastes, and there’s no song she won’t listen to at least once. Occasionally, inspiration will strike, and Carola will focus on writing her own stories, heavily inspired by the Young Adult novels that shaped her teenage years. Every once in a blue moon, though, she will either go into a minor baking frenzy to procrastinate or pick up her guitar and “jam” her worries away.