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Morgana sighed as she looked at her calendar. December again already, and no plans for Christmas. This seemed to happen every year. Her father would book a holiday to somewhere warm and sunny while her brother and his girlfriend would celebrate with her family. This, of course, left her with no plans year after year.
“Why are you staring at that calendar like it ate your lunch?”
Morgana jumped. She hadn’t realized she’d been that deep in her reverie. “Hi Gwen. Sorry about that. Just feeling sorry for myself.”
Gwen, Morgana’s best friend, slipped into the chair on the other side of Morgana’s desk. “What’s up?”
“Oh, I have no plans for Christmas, as usual.”
“No plans? Why not?”
Morgana sighed again and explained her sorry lot to Gwen. When she finished, Gwen smiled. “Morgana, it’s your lucky day.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m officially inviting you to my home village for Christmas.”
Morgana smiled. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely! Besides Lance will be there, and Percy from accounting. Oh, and Gwaine. You know Gwaine, right?”
Morgana rolled her eyes. She knew Gwaine. She also knew Lance, Gwen’s boyfriend, and Percy from accounting. “Where’s your village?”
“Ealdor. In Corwall. Heard of it?”
“No, should I have?”
“Not particularly. It’s a little speck on the map. But I love it! And I’ll get to introduce you to everyone! This is going to be so fun!”
“I can’t wait,” Morgana said. “Thank you so much for saving me from another bland holiday in my flat.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and plan for snow. We usually get plenty of it.”
Three weeks later, Morgana was packing for snow. She wasn’t sure exactly what else to bring, since she didn’t know what they’d be doing. She’d tried wresting the information from Gwen, but her friend had stayed tight-lipped.
Two hours passed and she was in a car with Gwen, Lance, Percy, and Gwaine. Gwaine kept trying to get them started on singing naughty Christmas carols, but Gwen and Lance shut him down every time. Morgana was thankful for that. Gwen turned on the radio and found some genuine Christmas carols, which they listened to, with some chatter here and there, for the rest of the trip.
Morgana was stunned by the amount of snow on the ground already. In their city, they usually didn’t see this much snow all winter. She was glad she’d dressed for the weather, though she’d had to purchase a few new sweaters. “Does it always snow this much here?” she asked Gwen.
“Oh yes. But don’t worry—they make it totally safe. With salt and such. Don’t worry,” Gwen replied.
“Great,” Morgana said.
They pulled up in front of a small house. “Morgana, this is my house. We’ll be staying with my dad and my brother. We get to share a room, ooh!” she squealed. “You boys will be staying at the Air B&B you found, right? Or are some of you staying with Merlin?”
“No, we’re all at the Air B&B,” Gwaine replied.
“Okay, we’re all within walking distance of each other anyway,” Gwen said. She and Morgana got out of the car and picked up their suitcases. “Bye boys. See you at the Christmas Market later.”
With a wave, Lance drove the guys away. “A Christmas market? I’ve always wanted to go to one of those,” Morgana said.
Gwen looped her arm through Morgana’s. “You’re in luck! We have the best one for miles around. Now come, let’s go meet my family.”
Soon Gwen was knocking on the door. It was opened by an older man. Gwen dropped her things. “Dad! Hey dad, this is my best friend Morgana. Morgana, this is my dad.”
Gwen’s dad stuck out his hand. “Call me Tom. A pleasure to meet you, Morgana. Gwen has told us so much about you.”
Morgana eyed Gwen. “She has?”
“Of course,” Tom said. “But only good things.”
Just then, a younger man came around a corner. “Elyan!” Gwen yelled. She ran forward to give him a big hug. “Elyan, this is my best friend . . .”
“Morgana.” Elyan stepped forward to shake Morgana’s hand as well. “Good to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“It’s good to meet you both,” Morgana said with chattering teeth.
“Oh my goodness, let’s get you inside,” Tom said. He and Elyan pulled the ladies’ bags inside and shut the door. “Come, sit in front of the fire and warm up.”
They had barely sat down when another knock sounded at the door. Elyan rolled his eyes and said, “I wonder who that could be?” But he got up and answered the door. He followed another young man into the living room.
“Gwen!” The young man said.
“Merlin!” Gwen stood and ran over to meet Merlin with a big hug. Morgana stood. “Merlin, this is my best friend, Morgana.”
“Enchante,” Merlin said, and picked up her hand and kissed it.
Morgana was enchanted. Merlin was tall, with hair as dark as hers, and startling blue eyes. “Good to meet you, Merlin,” she said.
He smiled. “I’ve been waiting all day for you guys to arrive.”
“More like peeking through the curtain every five minutes,” Elyan said.
Merlin smiled sheepishly. “I live next door.”
“Let me guess—you’ve heard all about me,” Morgana said.
“Actually, I have. Gwen’s a prolific e-mail writer and texter.”
Morgana turned to Gwen. “You’ve really got to stop talking about me.”
Gwen just laughed. “Are you here to escort us to the Christmas market? You’re a little early.”
“I am and I know. I’ll just sit in here while you ladies get settled in Gwen’s room.”
“Thanks. Well, Morgana, let’s go get settled then.”
Morgana followed Gwen into a room down a short hall. There they talked while stowing their suitcases. “Merlin’s such a charmer, isn’t he?” Gwen asked.
“He is indeed. What does he do for a living?”
“He builds websites. Make quite good money on it, I understand. In fact, he did a good deal of the work on our company’s website.”
“Wow.”
Gwen smiled. “Yeah, he’s really talented. Very smart.”
“Are you trying to talk me up to him?”
“Yes. I’ve got to look out for him, you know. He’s still single.”
Morgana rolled her eyes but smiled. “Okay you. Enough. Besides, I think we’ve left them alone long enough.”
“You’re probably right. Who knows what they could be hatching?”
They rejoined the men in the living room and talked for a while. Morgana shared what little about her life that they didn’t already know. She saw Merlin watching her more than once but found she didn’t mind. He seemed like an interesting man and wouldn’t mind getting to know him more.
After an hour or so, Morgana and Merlin were invited to dinner. Gwen grinned before pointing Morgana to the seat next to Merlin. Morgana stuck out her tongue but sat where Gwen had directed her. This time, Morgana invited Merlin to share more about himself. She found out that he lived with and supported his mother and that his dad had died just two years ago.
After dinner, Morgana thanked her hosts for the meal. Merlin turned to her and said, “Are you ready to go to the market?”
“Definitely,” she replied.
Everyone donned their coats, hats and boots and set out in the frosty night air. Morgana found herself walking in step with Merlin. “Is the market very far?” she asked him.
“Just a few short streets over.”
“Oh good. It’s cold, isn’t it?”
He chuckled. “It’s warmer in the city. Must be all those people living there.”
Morgana smiled. She was really beginning to like Merlin. He was warm, witty and honest. She could use more people like that in her life. Maybe when the week was over, they could stay in touch.
When they reached the market, Morgana gasped with delight. There was a choir singing carols, and multiple vendors selling wares, including hot cocoa. “Ooh, I’ve got to get some hot cocoa,” she told Merlin.
“Then we’ll get some. I’m buying.”
“But . . .”
“I insist. You’re our guest here and it’s my duty to make you happy.”
“Then thank you.” Morgana grinned.
As they drank their hot cocoa, they wandered from booth to booth, Morgana exclaiming over the goods of each. But they lingered a long time at a glass blower’s booth, exclaiming over the ornaments. Morgana especially loved one clear orb with a Bethlehem star inside. “How do they do that?”
“With a lot of patience,” Merlin replied, laughing.
“It’s exquisite.”
“A lot like you.”
Morgana turned to look at Merlin. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
They walked in near silence through the rest of the market. Morgana wasn’t sure how to handle Merlin’s comment. It was very sweet of him, of course, but could he already be falling for her? She lived in the city—that’s where her life was, where she belonged. Wasn’t it?
Gwen caught up to them at the market’s exit. “So, what did you think of the Christmas market, Morgana?”
“There were some really lovely items for sale. And the atmosphere was so festive,” Morgana replied. She’d had a great time with Merlin showing her the sights. In fact, she was thinking about going back to purchase the glass ornament with the Bethlehem star, but changed her mind when Gwen said they were heading home.
Lance, Gwaine and Percy had met them at the market, and they all walked together back to Gwen’s house. Morgana still walked with Merlin behind the main group. They talked a little about the market until they arrived at Gwen’s house. Morgana watched as Lance sneakily gathered a ball of snow in his hands and slipped it down the back of Gwen’s coat.
“Lance!” she yelled and stooped to form her own ball of snow, which she lobbed at her boyfriend. He ducked and hurriedly formed another ball of his own.
“Snowball fight!” Gwaine yelled, and soon everyone but Morgana was forming balls of snow and throwing them at each other.
“What do I do?” she said to Merlin.
“Here, watch,” he replied. He stooped to the ground and grabbed enough snow to fill his hands. He then rolled it around in his hands until he made a rough ball, which he chucked at Gwaine. It hit Gwaine in the back of the head.
“Hey!” Gwaine yelled and quickly threw a ball at Merlin. Merlin ducked and the ball hit Morgana in the chest.
“Oh, it’s on,” she said. She copied Merlin’s instructions and soon had a ball flying at Gwaine. It hit him in his face.
Merlin nodded, impressed. “You’re a natural.”
“You say that now . . .” said Morgana, before lobbing a snowball at Merlin’s head.
Soon they were engaged in the snowy free-for-all, laughing and yelling like the others. Merlin and Morgana got each other a few times, and after a while, everyone collapsed, laughing, in the snow. Tom, who’d ducked safely out of the way when the fight began, said, “Now that you folks are done, come inside for some hot cocoa.”
Everyone picked themselves up, dusted off the snow, and trooped inside the house to talk while Gwen and Tom made the cocoa. Morgana spontaneously kissed Merlin on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For teaching me how to make snowballs.”
He laughed. “I think I regret that.”
“You will if we ever get into another snowball fight. But seriously, I appreciate you making it a good night for me.”
“You’re welcome.”
Just then, Tom called everyone to the kitchen for cocoa. While they sipped, everyone chatted. Merlin once again made his way to Morgana’s side. “Hey, I’ve been thinking . . .”
“You, thinking? That must be so hard for you.”
Merlin laughed. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“So anyway, I was wondering, if you didn’t have any plans tomorrow, if you’d like to come over to mine, meet my mum, and bake Christmas cookies with me?”
“Mm, that sounds like fun. Let me just ask Gwen.” Morgana reached out and snagged Gwen’s shoulder.
Gwen turned “Yes?” she asked.
“Do we have any plans tomorrow?”
“Nothing until late afternoon, when we’re going sleigh riding.”
“We’re going sleigh riding? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Gwen laughed. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Well, color me surprised.”
“I knew about it,” Merlin said.
“Naturally,” Morgana replied. She rolled her eyes but laughed. “Okay I will come to your house for cookie baking. But I have to warn you—I don’t know how to bake.”
“That’s all right. I’ll have fun teaching you.”
“Great!” Gwen said, clapping her hands. “It’s a date.”
“A date?” Morgana asked.
“Only if you want it to be,” Merlin replied.
Morgana smiled. “A date it is.”
The impromptu party broke up after that, with everyone citing a need to get to bed and rest after the long day. Everyone bid each other goodnight and returned to their respective lodgings. Once they were in bed, Gwen asked Morgana, “So how’s it going so far with Merlin?”
“You threw us together,” Morgana accused.
“Yes, I did, and it looks like it’s working.”
“Maybe. But don’t pat yourself on the back yet.”
“Oh, I won’t. But you do make a cute couple.”
“Gwen!”
“Oh, all right. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Gwen.”
The next morning came a little too early for Morgana, who was used to sleeping in on her holidays. Gwen shook her awake while saying, “Morgana, wake up. Merlin is already here.”
Morgana sat up. “What? Already?”
“He said something about getting an early start on the cookies. I guess he wants to spend a lot of time with you today.”
Morgana frowned. “Well, he’s just going to have to wait until I’m ready to go.”
“He’s fine with that. He’s chatting with Dad and Elyan in the living room.”
“Okay, I’m up.” Morgana grabbed some clothes and went to shower. After she was dressed again, she went to the kitchen for breakfast. Tom had baked some delicious cinnamon rolls and there was fruit and delicious coffee too. After she ate, she declared herself ready for the day and went to meet Merlin in the living room.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Gwen, Tom and Elyan, Morgana took Merlin’s arm and they left to walk next door to his house. Upon entering, Merlin called out, “Mum! She’s here!”
A petite woman made her way down the hall. Morgana could tell she had the same coloring and eyes as Merlin. “It’s lovely to meet you.” She stuck out her hand.
Merlin’s mum shook Morgana’s hand. “Hunith. I understand you’re taking over my kitchen today?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Please, call me Hunith.”
“Okay, Hunith. And it was my understanding that Merlin was doing the takeover.”
Merlin grinned. “Oh no. You’re definitely helping. We’re going to squeeze in as many cookies as we can before late afternoon.”
“Okay,” Morgana replied.
“I’ll just be puttering around the house while you work,” said Hunith.
“Sounds good, Mum. We’ll see you later.” With that, he grabbed Morgana’s arm and dragged her into the kitchen.
Morgana found the kitchen to be small, but homey. She found bags of flour and sugar sitting in corners. Mixing bowls were stacked on the counter, ready to be used. “This is great!” she said, surprised at her enthusiasm. “Where do we start?”
“We’re going to start with an easy one. Cookies with red and green M&M’s in them.”
“That sounds very festive.”
“Okay, where do we begin?”
“At the beginning.” Merlin brought out measuring cups and spoons from a drawer. “First we pre-heat the oven.”
“Why do we do that first?
“So it’s nice and warm when we’re done mixing the cookies and they can go right in.”
“Okay, so do we mix up ingredients next?”
“Yes.” He pulled out a large bowl from the stack and sat it on the counter, then turned to the refrigerator to pull out butter and eggs. “But first we have to measure.”
“How . . .?”
“I’ll show you first then you can try it out.” He reached for a large measuring cup and a container on the counter which held sugar. He dipped the cup in the sugar, made sure it was level then dumped it into the bowl. He added brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Next, he reached for the hand mixer.
“Is that a mixer?” Morgana asked.
“Yes, it’s just a hand mixer, but that’s all we have.” He stuck it in the bowl and turned it on. It mixed the ingredients well. “Are you ready to try measuring?”
“I think so.”
He handed her a large cup and the container containing flour. “We need six of these.”
“Okay.” She measured like she’d seen him do but dropped the cup on the floor. “Oops, sorry.”
“It’s all right.” He swept up the mess and dropped it into the bin. “Would you like help with that?”
“Yes, please.”
Merlin stood close behind her, putting his arms around her, his hands on hers. He helped her scoop and level the next full cup and dump it in the bowl. Two more times he did this then stepped back. “Think you can handle the next three on your own?”
“Yes?” Morgana replied. She found herself missing the close contact.
He laughed. “Okay. I’ll get out the baking soda, salt and M&M’s.”
“Great.” A bit disappointed, she measured the last cups of flour. He let her measure the last few ingredients too. “Can I mix these in?”
“Sure. Let me help you with that for a minute or so until you get the hang of it.” Merlin resumed his position behind her and helped her hold the mixer in the bowl. They started it off slowly then gradually turned up the speed.
“I’m doing it!” she crowed and turned to look at Merlin, whose eyes had gone soft.
“Yes, you are,” he said. His head slowly began lowering toward hers, before he jerked back and stepped away. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she whispered.
“What did you say?”
Morgana stopped the mixer. “Don’t be sorry. I wouldn’t have minded.”
“But we’ve known each other less than a day.”
“Oh, come here.” She stepped toward him and pulled his lips down to hers.
He was soft and sweet, tender and perfect. She let him go far sooner than she wanted to, and that scared her. Was she beginning to fall for him? What did this mean? And why was she over-analyzing it when he was looking at her like that?
“That was wonderful,” he said.
“I enjoyed it too,” she replied.
“You really don’t think it’s too soon?”
She grinned. “Merlin, at this point, I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”
He cupped her face. “That’s really sweet.”
“Thanks. Now, we need to get back to these cookies, yeah?”
He smiled. “Yeah.” He dropped his hand and peered into the bowl. “It looks pretty well mixed. We need to drop them onto baking sheets.” He turned to a cupboard behind him and took out several flat metal pans.
“Oh, those are baking sheets. But what do you mean ‘to drop them?’”
He chuckled. “Of course you wouldn’t know what that meant. This is what it means.” He took a spoon from a drawer and scooped a bit of the cookie dough out. He then held the loaded spoon over one of the baking sheets and let the dough drop.
“I get it now.” She smiled. “I guess I’ll get to try this too.”
“Oh definitely.”
“How do you know how much to scoop up?”
“Watch me again.” He repeated the scooping, showing her how much to scoop. “Think you can try it now?”
“Yes.”
He reached into the drawer again and pulled out another spoon. He handed it to her and watched as she scooped an amount of dough onto the spoon. “That looks pretty good. Now drop it onto the pan.”
She held her spoon over the pan and watched it. The dough stayed put. “What now?”
“Shake it a little.”
She shook the spoon, but the dough remained stuck to the spoon.
Merlin laughed. “Sometimes you have to . . .” he reached over and pushed the dough off with a finger.
“Oh.” She laughed. “Hopefully it’s not every time.”
“I hope so, too.”
They smiled at each other and got down to the serious business of dropping cookies. As they finished a baking sheet, it went into the oven. Soon they had all the baking sheets filled. “This seems like a lot,” Morgana commented, looking at the pans covering most of the counter space.
“No more than usual. This recipe makes around twelve dozen, depending on the size you make the cookies.”
“Oh.”
Merlin laughed. “You really aren’t a baker, are you?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Well, it’s time to wash up and get started on the next batch. It’ll have to chill. And while those are chilling, we can make more.”
“You really take this seriously, don’t you?”
He smiled. “Holiday baking is no joke.”
They washed up the dirty implements and Merlin got out the ingredients for the next kind of cookie. When they’d mixed those and set them to chill, they got started on the next batch, something Merlin called bar cookies. “You spread them out over the whole pan and bake then cut them up when they’ve cooled.”
“Sounds good.”
“Can you juice lemons?”
“Yeah, I can manage that.”
“Good, because these are lemon bars.”
After the lemon bars, they worked on cookie batch after cookie batch, stopping to have lunch then resuming once they’d eaten. Hunith came in now and again to check on their progress. Before Morgana knew it, they’d pulled the last pan from the over. “Phew!” she said, wiping her brow and taking a seat at the table. “How many different types of cookies did we make?
“Six,” Merlin said. He thumped into the seat next to her.
“Wow.”
“Yeah. It’s like that. Did you have fun?”
“I had a lot of fun. Especially doing this.” She leaned into him for a quick kiss. They’d kissed a few times over the course of the day, and she’d enjoyed it every time. He’d looked like had too.
“Mm, yes. Do you want to go back to Gwen’s and get ready for the sleigh ride?”
“What’s to get ready? I’ve got my coat and everything here.”
He pointed to her shirt. “I should have gotten us aprons.”
Morgana glanced down at her shirt and discovered it was stained with flour and a few other unknown substances. “Oh. Well. I guess I should go back to Gwen’s and change.”
“I’ll walk you there.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” He took her hand and lifted her up then helped her with her coat. He got his coat on and together they left after saying goodbye to Hunith.
He walked her to Gwen’s door and said, “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He bent down and gave her a kiss.
While their lips were still touching, they heard the door open. “Ah ha! I knew it,” Gwen’s voice said.
Merlin and Morgana broke apart to glare at Gwen. “Who’s looking through the window now?” Merlin said.
Gwen just laughed and dragged Morgana into the house. “See you later, Merlin,” she said with a little wave and closed the door.
Merlin glared at the door for a moment before going home to change.
Gwen followed Morgana back to “their” room. “Make sure you change into something nice,” she said, “the sleighs are taking us to a posh restaurant. Well, the only restaurant in the village.”
“Thanks for telling me now,” Morgana replied. When Gwen didn’t leave her to change alone, she turned back to her. “What?”
“You and Merlin, I knew you two would work!”
Morgana rolled her eyes. “Yes, you were right. Happy now?”
“Yes I am.”
“Good. Now, can I change?”
“Oh, oh yeah.” Gwen backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.
A short while later, after Morgana had changed, she, Gwen, Elyan, and Tom waited for the others to arrive. A knock sounded on the door and Elyan went to answer it. Merlin entered the living room and sat next to Morgana. She smiled. “We just waiting on the others?” he asked, “Because the sleighs are already here.”
“Ooh, they are?” Morgana was up and over to the window before anyone could reply. “Oh wow, they have lights and bells and everything!”
There was another knock on the door and Gwen let in Lance, Percy and Gwaine. “Looks like we can get started! Now, two to a sleigh and couples together, of course.” She gave a pointed glance at Merlin and Morgana.
“Why is Gwen acting so weird?” Merlin asked Morgana as they all trooped outside.
“Because she set us up successfully.”
“Oh. That’s a good reason.”
He held out a hand to help Morgana into a sleigh then got in beside her. They pulled a cozy-looking blanket up over themselves and waited for everyone else to get situated. Morgana noticed Tom standing back. “Aren’t you coming?”
“No, I’m going to help Hunith with some home repairs,” he replied.
“You’re not good with those, I take it?” she asked Merlin.
“Nope.” He grinned. “But Tom is. He comes over all the time.” The sleighs started moving so they waved to Tom. “Hey, I wonder if Gwen is trying to set up my mum and Tom.”
Morgana shuddered. “I hope not. But on the off chance, how good is her record of setting people up?”
“Pretty good.”
“Uh oh.”
“Yup, pretty much.” He took her hand. “Let’s not talk about her anymore. I see that you clean up nicely.”
“Thank you.” Morgana grinned. “So do you.”
The sleighs took them on a tour of the village. Merlin gave running commentary on whose house they were passing, or who owned what business. Before Morgana knew it, the sleighs pulled up at the restaurant. “Oh look! The Christmas market is just down the street!” Morgana said. “I want to go back to the glass blower and buy that ornament.”
Merlin laughed. “All right. We’ll go. But after dinner please?”
Morgana’s stomach growled. “Oh, yeah. I think that’s a good idea.”
Everyone piled out of the sleighs and the sleighs drove off. They trooped into the restaurant where a table had been reserved for them. Morgana sat with Merlin on one side and Gwen on the other. “So, what’s good here?” she asked both. They had different opinions, but Morgana finally went with something Merlin recommended, though neither he nor Gwen looked at the menu.
They all chatted while they waited for their food to arrive. Morgana discovered that Percy from accounting actually had a pretty dry wit, and she laughed at his observations many times. She and Gwen were going to have to invite him to their drinks nights when they got back home.
Home. What was that going now that she had this thing going with Merlin? Was it just for fun or was it going to develop into something more serious, where one of them would have to uproot themselves for the other? Morgana took a deep breath; she was overanalyzing again.
Their food arrived just then, so she could focus on eating. And my, was the lasagna delicious! Everyone ate, with only bits of chatter punctuating the silence. After everyone had eaten, there was talk about what they should do next. The consensus was that they go back to the Christmas market, and after that Gwen would walk Lance and the guys back to their place while Merlin walked Morgana back to Gwen’s.
When they got back to the market, they broke into their two groups and wandered through the booths. After buying hot, mulled cider for her and Merlin, Morgana made a beeline for the glass blower’s booth. She was disappointed to find that the ornament of her choice had already been purchased.
The glass blower offered her other ornaments at a discounted price, but she’d had her heart set on the one with the Bethlehem star. She thanked him and they walked away.
“I’m sorry the one you wanted is gone,” Merlin said.
“It’ll be okay,” she replied. “I guess I should find something for my father and brother.”
Merlin took her hand. “It’s all right to be disappointed.”
“I know. I just really wanted that ornament.”
As they walked through the rest of the market, Morgana found gifts for her father and brother then they started their walk back to Gwen’s house. “I hear we’re going caroling tomorrow night,” Merlin said.
“Caroling? But I can’t sing,” Morgana replied.
“Can’t sing or never really tried?”
“Never really tried. Is it hard?”
Merlin smiled. “No, not really. Just stand next to Gwen and match what she sings.”
“I can do that. I think.”
“Great!” He took her hand and they continued walking. “Do you want to come over to mine again tomorrow?”
“Are we doing more baking?”
Merlin chuckled. “Not unless you really want to. I thought we could watch some holiday movies together. That’s me and my mum’s Christmas Eve tradition. We could have hot cocoa too.”
“That’s a sweet tradition, and you really sold it with the hot cocoa. I’d love to.” She laughed. “I don’t seem to be spending much time with Gwen, do I?”
“Oh, I have a feeling she doesn’t mind much.”
“Yeah, so do I.”
After that, they talked about some of their favorite holiday movies. It appeared that Merlin and Hunith had all her favorites. “You have quite a collection, don’t you?”
“Hey, don’t judge. We just love the holidays.”
“I do too.” She paused for a moment. “I’m glad I get to spend this one with you.”
“Me too.” He pulled her close for a quick kiss.
Too soon, they arrived at Gwen’s house. They kissed again and bid each other goodnight. “I won’t come over so early tomorrow,” Merlin said.
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” And with another kiss, he was gone.
Gwen woke Morgana again the next morning, but at the sedate hour of nine. “So, how was your night?”
“Gwen, you never let up, do you?”
“Nope.”
“It was nice. I bought some gifts for my dad and Arthur.”
“I want the details, Morgana! About you and Merlin . . .?”
“There’s not much to tell. We held hands, talked, kissed now and then . . . then invited me over today to watch holiday movies.”
“Ah, that sounds perfect. You’re going, aren’t you?”
“Of course. They have all my favorites, and hot cocoa.”
Gwen laughed. “You never turn that down, do you?”
“No. Chocolate is an essential food group, you know.”
“Oh, I know.” Gwen patted her flat belly.
“I guess I’d better get up and get ready.”
“You do that. Breakfast is going to be yummy, by the way.”
Morgana got up. After showering and dressing, she joined Gwen’s family for a delicious breakfast. When they finished, they went to the living room to chat. At about eleven, Merlin knocked on the door. “Guess who?” Elyan called after he’d opened the door. Morgana stood and walked over to meet him. “Hey, you.”
“Hey. Ready for a holiday movie extravaganza?”
“I am.” He helped her with her coat, and they waved goodbye to Gwen and her family.
They held hands as they walked next door. Hunith opened the door for them. “I’m glad you could join us for our annual tradition,” she said.
“Thank you for sharing it with me,” Morgana replied with a smile.
“It’s our pleasure.”
“Shall we get going then?” Merlin asked.
After a spirited debate about what should come first, they finally decided on It’s a Wonderful Life. From then on, they rolled through movie after movie, breaking midafternoon for a late lunch. Merlin and Hunith said a lot of lines together with the actors, which didn’t bother Morgana at all. She did it herself from time to time.
It started to get dark just as the end credits for Elf rolled. “Looks like it’s time to go back to Gwen’s for dinner,” Merlin said.
“Are you coming with us, Hunith?” Morgana asked.
“I am. I understand you need all the women’s voices you can get.”
“Well, you will make three of us then.”
“Sounds good to me!”
They all donned their coats and made their way to Gwen’s, where they found everyone there just getting ready to eat. After dinner, everyone got ready to leave. Gwen pulled several worn folders from a box. “Here’s the music. Treat it with respect.”
She passed out the folders. Morgana opened hers up. Inside there was music to several carols and other fun holiday songs she knew. She was relieved; she sang along to these in her car sometimes.
Everyone got their winter gear on, and they went outside, walking toward the house of Gwen’s other neighbor. Tom knocked on the door and an elderly couple answered. “Silent Night, everyone,” Gwen said. “One, two, and go.”
They continued this pattern at nearly every house they came to. Gwen and her family seemed to know which ones to avoid. Morgana held Merlin’s hand the whole time, and occasionally, Gwen would glance at them and smile.
Morgana found she was enjoying herself. She didn’t think she’d be able to sing that well but having Gwen and Hunith nearby helped. At one point, Hunith turned and caught them holding hands. She smiled and gave them a thumb’s up sign. “I guess that means Mum approves of us,” Merlin said.
“I guess so.” She smiled. “It’s good to know.”
After they’d circumnavigated the whole village, they ended up back at Gwen’s house. Morgana made to go in too, but Merlin held her back. “Come with me over to mine for a little while?”
“Okay?”
“I have something for you,” was all he said as he led them to his house. “Have a seat on the sofa while I get your gift.
Morgana was puzzled but did as he’d asked. After a minute or two, Merlin returned with a small, wrapped box in his hands. “For you.”
“But I don’t have anything for you.”
“That’s all right. I don’t mind at all.”
“Are you sure? Because I could just run to the market . . .”
“It’s closed. But please don’t worry about me. Please open your gift.”
“Okay.” Morgana peeled off the wrapping to find a white box. She opened the box and pulled out the bubble wrap. Her breath caught; inside the box was the ornament with the Bethlehem star inside. “How?”
“I went back to the market that first night and bought it for you. I knew you had to have it and I wanted to give it to you.”
She sat the box on the table in front of them then jumped into a tight embrace of Merlin. “Thank you so much! I love it already.”
He embraced her back for a good long while. “You’re welcome.”
She pulled back to look into his face, smiling. Without warning, he bent down and pressed their lips together. Morgana felt the difference at once—this kiss was more serious than their previous ones, and it lasted for a long time before he broke away. He smiled at her and kissed her again before breaking apart just to bring her to his chest.
“Morgana, I don’t know how it’s possible to fall in love in less than three days, but I’ve accomplished it.”
She pulled back a little to look into his face again. “You have?”
“Yes, my dear Morgana, I have.”
“I . . . I’m pretty sure I love you too.”
Merlin chuckled. “That good. Otherwise, this would be incredibly awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Definitely.” She smiled wide. “Wow, I’m in love!”
“Yes, you are.” They pressed their lips together again, just enjoying the sweetness of each other.
When they broke apart, Morgana grinned. “So what does one doe when one is in love?”
“Well, generally the couple in question works out how they’re going to be together when they live far apart.”
“Ah, yes. The fun stuff.”
“The fun stuff,” he agreed. “Morgana, I know we can work this out.”
“I can drive back and forth on every other weekend or so . . .”
“And I can visit you on the other weekends . . .”
“. . . Until I can arrange something, maybe remote work, with my company.”
“Morgana, I can’t ask you to do that. You’d be leaving your family, your friends. My job is more portable—I can do it from anywhere.”
“Merlin, I can’t ask you to leave your mum and your friends.” She took his hand. “It’s much easier for me to leave the city. Eventually. I don’t mind. My family is rich—they can come here to see me whenever they want. I barely see them anyway.”
“If you’re sure . . .”
“I’m sure. I love you. We’ll work through all the bumps until I can be with you on a more permanent basis.”
“You want to be a couple, permanently?”
Morgana smile. “Isn’t that what you’re intimating?”
“Well yes, but—” She silenced him with a kiss. “Mm.”
“So it’s settled.”
“It would appear so.”
She smiled. “Shall we go tell the others?”
He stood and pulled her up. “Yes, let’s.”