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“A little to the left… no, not that much, yeah there, um, a little closer to me… wait, less close. Okay, that looks perfect!” Yuuki sighs.
Zero groans. “Finally, miss perfectionist.”
“Honey, go ahead and tighten those screws, before your dad collapses under all that weight.” The girl on her belly under the tree giggles.
Zero shoots Yuuki a glare, but in truth, his arm is getting a little tired from holding the tree up. He had just come back from tree shopping with their daughter, and they were working on putting it up in their sitting room, enlisting Yuuki’s eye to make sure it was straight.
The girl finishes tightening the screws of the tree stand, then scoots out backwards from underneath the tree, standing up. She might not be Zero’s biological daughter, but in the years since they’ve formed their little family, he’s come to see her as his in every other sense. They all stand back and take in the sight.
“OOOOOKAY!” Yuuki speaks up, in her best Disciplinary Committee voice. “Time to DECORATE!!! Zero, help me put these lights on. Sweetie, go find your brother.”
Before anyone can move, however, they all perk up to the sound of little feet pattering down the hall. A silver head bursts through the archway. “Mamaaaaaaaa! The timer’s going off!” It’s been going on forever, why didn’t you come in?” Yuuki suddenly stiffens, eyes going wide. She slaps her hands to her cheeks
“Oh no.”
“Yuuki, what the hell did you do?” Zero asks, closing his eyes.
“Um, well,” she begins, looking down, “ImadecookieswhileyouweregonebutyoucamehomeandaskedformyhelpandIforgotand—!” She lets out a squeak and dashes out of the room.
Zero sniffs the air. “Come to think of it, I do smell smoke.” As if on cue, at that minute, the smoke alarm begins to shriek in the other room. “SHIT,” he yells, before sprinting out of the room. He can hear the children following him.
In the kitchen, Yuuki stares forlornly at a sheet of smoking, blackened lumps—clearly intended to be cookies. The look on her face is heartbreaking. Zero moves to stand behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders.
“It’s okay, love. You’ll keep practicing, and someday, you’ll get it. We’ve got a long time.” He’s not just talking about cookies.
Yuuki smiles up at him. “I’ve still got the rest of the bowl of dough chilling in the refrigerator. Let’s all roll them out together, and this time we’ll remember to take them out in time. Zero, come here. Darlings, come pick out some cookie cutters you’d like to use”
Later, when the cookies are out of the oven, having been cut into festive shapes and sprinkled with red and green sugar, the four stand around the Candle Festival tree, hanging all kinds of sparkly ornaments on it. A fire crackles in the hearth, and music plays softly in the background (it’s an album that used to be Kaien’s, which Yuuki still cherishes). Zero and Yuuki stand close to each other, rarely moving far enough away that they cannot touch.
Zero leans down to softly speak next to Yuuki’s ear.
“You know what these cookies made me think of?” he asks. Yuuki shakes her head “I still remember, long ago, you tried to make chocolates for St. Xocolatl’s day, to give to that bastard. You failed miserably, but you managed to make one come out right, and you gave that one to me. Thank you. Back then, my world was dark and painful and lonely. But you were there, you were my light, my warmth,” Zero pauses, and realizes his eyes are damp, “and I can never thank you enough for that.”
Yuuki turns to him, and smiles like sunshine. “I love you too,” she whispers, and stands on her tippy toes to kiss him.
Zero hopes, to the deepest of his core, that they have a long, long, long time together.