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Scylla sat on the couch, book in hand and eyes passing over every line with intrigue. Soft, decades-old music played quietly through the room, and a mug of tea sat steaming on the side table within reach. The light scent of lavender filled the apartment, bringing with it, a sense of calm.
The burning candle was not the only thing that allowed her to feel calm, though. It was quiet in the apartment. So incredibly quiet. Raelle had taken their Boxer, Crash, out on a hike earlier in the morning, so Scylla had the place all to herself. No pitter-patter of large, nail-tipped paws on the floor; no squeak of a chew toy; no need to stop what she was doing to take the Boxer out for a walk. No sound of video games playing loudly on the television; no unnecessarily lit lights.
Just Scylla, a book, and a cup of tea.
Of course, she loved that big goofball. And the dog, too! She loved seeing the large pup and Raelle playing on the floor together; she loved the cuddles on the couch where Crash would rest his head on Scylla’s stomach; the puppy-dog eyes. She loved her girlfriend with all of her heart! Her laugh, her smile, her warmth. Scylla had no problem with the gaming; she would join in pretty often, too.
However, it was nice to have a day to herself every once in a while.
She soaked in the peace and quiet.
Scylla barely registered the sound of the front door unlocking. The door was thrown open, and a cold breeze immediately rushed in to replace the warm comfort. Scylla looked up from her book. Raelle stepped in, draped in layers of clothes and dragging a damned tree behind her. Crash stood beside Raelle, carrying a large branch in his mouth.
Raelle pulled down the scarf covering her mouth, revealing a bright smile directed toward her girlfriend. “Honey, I’m home!” She gestured toward the tree in her hand, which had already scattered pine needles all over the formerly clean floor. Crash shook the branch in his mouth excitedly and sent more needles and twigs flying.
Scylla sucked in a deep breath. “Dear Goddess…” she murmured. “What is going on?”
Still standing with her hand gripping the tree, Raelle explained, “It’s December, babe! Christmas is comin’ up! You told me before that you’ve never celebrated Yule cause y’all were always on the run, an’ then you were on your own. You’re not alone anymore, an’ my family always celebrated Christmas.”
Scylla looked between her two loves. Both stood expectantly before her—Raelle with a big smile plastered on her face, and Crash swishing his long tail with overflowing joy. The sight was comedic, and Scylla couldn’t help laughing as she stood from the couch and made her way over to the two of them.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going tree shopping?” she asked as she draped her arms around the blonde’s neck. Raelle dropped the tree to wrap her own arms around her girlfriend’s waist. “I would have joined you.”
“We didn’t actually go to a tree farm…” Raelle said innocently.
Scylla lifted a brow at her. “What did you do?”
“Well,” Raelle started, “we were hiking, right? And on the hike, we came across a few cute little trees. So I just… cut one down and took it to the truck.”
“Is that legal?” Scylla asked, baffled.
Raelle grimaced. “Don’t know. But it’s all good, babe. No one saw!”
Scylla chuckled once more and leaned forward to capture the proud woman’s lips as Crash jumped around with the branch.
“Oh, oh,” Raelle pulled away just enough to dig into her jacket pocket and bring out her phone. “Look, look!” She swiped around on the screen and a moment later she turned it to Scylla. “Check out this mushroom we saw on the hike!”
The image was of a patch of long orange horn-like orange mushrooms growing out of a fallen tree.
“It’s a Stagshorn, right?” Raelle asked, clear pride in her voice.
Since meeting Scylla, Raelle often grew excited when she would see mushrooms. It had become somewhat of a game for Raelle to find new species and Raelle would try to remember their names from a book Scylla had gifted her for her birthday.
“It is!” Scylla confirmed, a wide smile on her lips. “What’s its scientific name?”
Raelle’s face scrunched up in thought as Scylla pulled her close again. “Somethin’-somethin’ cornea.” she answered with a cute pout.
“Calocera cornea.” Scylla clarified with a peck on her lips.
“Fuck,” Raelle chuckled. “So close!
“Very close, yes baby.” Scylla nuzzled her face into Raelle’s neck, leaving kisses on her skin. “Now that we’ve got a tree,” she continued, “I guess we should go buy some ornaments.”
Raelle bounced up on the balls of her feet, breaking Scylla’s hold on her once more. “Yes!” she exclaimed, “Put your shoes on, babe! We need one of those tree stand things, too!”
With another laugh at the pure happiness that emanated from her girlfriend, Scylla put on her shoes and a jacket.
“Beautiful, what’s your hurry? Listen to the fireplace roar. Beautiful, please don’t hurry,” Raelle danced her way to the now standing tree, holding a round ornament in her hand, and singing Michael Bublé’s parts of Baby, It’s Cold Outside.
Scylla giggled as Raelle reached for the tree from behind the brunette. Her body pressed gently into Scylla’s back, Raelle buried her face into the crook of the brunette’s neck, leaving a kiss there before she placed the white and blue ornament on the half-decorated fir. Smiling, Scylla hung her own deep blue ornament up.
“This is nice, huh?” Raelle asked, swaying side to side to the music. Her hand dropped to Scylla’s waist, leading the woman to sway and dance with her. “Our first Christmas together , Scyl. After everything that we’ve been through, who’da thought we’d be where we are?”
Scylla smiled and looked up at the tree. She took in the scent of nature from the freshly cut tree, and then held onto the scent of sandalwood and hot cocoa coming from her girlfriend. She briefly thought of a time where she had forgotten the scent of the body wash used by the Fixer.
Instead of feeling sad, though, Scylla’s soft smile grew. “I’ve always known we’d be here. I never gave up hope that we would find our way back to each other,” she said.
She turned around to soft blue eyes looking back at her. Raelle had stopped swaying, but Scylla continued, holding onto the woman’s hips this time and keeping them in rhythm.
“I love you, Scyl.”
“I love you,” Scylla returned.
Raelle poured two cups of black tea on Christmas morning. She added sugar and milk to one mug, and only milk to the second one. With a long yawn, she handed the milk tea to a bed-headed Scylla before she took a sip of her own sweetened drink.
“Thanks, babe.” Scylla leaned forward to peck her girlfriend’s lips once, twice, three times before she pulled away and reached for an apple on the kitchen counter.
“We ready?” Raelle asked, gesturing toward the tree that now had gifts beneath it after twenty days inside their apartment.
“Babe,” Scylla shook the apple in her hand, “can I eat my breakfast first?”
Raelle sighed dramatically. “I guess…”
A couple minutes later, a knock sounded on their door.
The two women exchanged confused looks. They were hosting dinner later that night but weren’t expecting anyone so early. Raelle walked over and looked through the peephole. With a happy exclamation of, “No way!” she unlocked and opened the door.
Edwin stood on their doorstep, stepping in with his arms out and a big smile on his face. “Hey, sport!”
“Pops!” Raelle exclaimed, throwing herself into her dad’s arms for a hug.
Scylla reached them as Crash jumped around the two in excitement, looking for attention from the newcomer. “Edwin!” she greeted him as Raelle stepped away to bring in her father’s bag.
Edwin caught sight of Scylla and his smile grew wider. “There’s my girl!” he said, opening his arms again in an inviting hug. “Come here, Scylla!”
Scylla stepped into his warm embrace and lingered until Crash eagerly pushed his way between them, wanting nothing more than to get all of his granddad’s love and attention. Edwin kneeled to scratch the boy’s head.
“I didn’t know you were visiting,” Scylla said, pleasantly surprised.
“Neither did I,” Raelle said. She shut the front door with her foot and set the bag down by the couch. “Everything okay, Pop?”
“Oh yeah,” Edwin assured, waving away her concerned tone. “Just wanted to surprise my girls for the holiday, ‘s all. I got you two somethin’.” He stood from petting the Boxer and unzipped his bag, pulling out a poorly-wrapped box. “I see I’m just in time for the gift opening.”
“You are!” Raelle grabbed Scylla’s hand and walked them to the tree.
They all plopped down on the hardwood floor and began the process of opening the gifts. It wasn’t too much; only a few gifts for each of the girls. There were also a few wrapped presents for their friends, but most of the gifts under the tree were for Crash, who was also celebrating his first Christmas.
Scylla and Raelle laughed as their spoiled dog ripped wrapping paper to reveal a squeaking Crash Bandicoot toy.
Edwin had gotten them a 2000 piece puzzle of a mountain and river view, which they intended to start later that night when the dinner party ended. Raelle gave her girlfriend a book by her favorite sci-fi author, a journal, and a beautiful necklace with three sapphires set into it.
Scylla thanked her with a kiss.
The soldier received a new medical pouch, and a black and green bracelet that matched a new collar for Crash, which the blonde happily clipped onto herself and her dog. Her final gift was not something she could open in front of her father and she was warned of this just as she was about to rip into the paper.
The day continued with chatting and laughter as Scylla and Raelle cooked in the kitchen, preparing for the dinner they would be hosting for Raelle’s unit and their friends. Scylla had also managed to convince Anacostia to come as well, who was bringing her former Necro instructor, Izadora.
It would be a busy night, and they wanted to make sure it started off right with delicious food. Which is why they forbade Edwin from helping in any way, as his cooking would surely end up poisoning them all.
Byron and his husband were the first to arrive, to Scylla’s surprise; he was always, in his own words, “fashionably late”.
“Did she like the gift?” he whispered to Scylla when they greeted one another.
Scylla laughed. “She hasn’t opened it yet, but I’m sure she’ll want to take it for a test drive tonight.”
The apartment slowly filled with lively and smiling friends . After dinner, they all sat together to play a game, and Scylla found herself looking around the room at all of these people in their home. All of these people she never expected to be surrounded by. Scylla was never able to celebrate a Yule, or a Christmas, or much of anything given her life as a Dodger. When her parents were killed, she no longer had a family to celebrate with.
But now she had Raelle and Crash. Now she had Edwin, Anacostia, Tally. Even Abigail. So many other people she never would have imagined until now.
Now, she had a family for celebrating the holidays.
And she’d never been happier.