Work Text:
…
Twas Christmas time in Hermitcraft when all through the land,
Christmas trees were built by friends looking to lend a helping hand.
…
“That's not how the story goes, daddy!” Poppy shouted with a pout.
“You’re right, Peanut! This is a special version of the story about your uncles Jimmy and Tango and your cousins Phoenix and Ember! You remember what happened last year, right?” Scar sat on the edge of Poppy’s bed, his daughter tucked in tight.
Poppy thought for a moment, then shouted “No!” with a giggle.
“I wanna hear the story too, daddy!” Lilac said from her bed on the other side of the room.
“Well, come on over here then!” Lilac grabbed her stuffed Cold Guy doll and ran over to Poppy’s bed.
“Did I hear talk of my favorite deputy?” Grian said as he entered the room. A very sleepy looking Sunny on his hip.
“You’re just in time, Gri! I was about to tell the girls a little story about what happened at Christmas last year!”
“Think you have room for two more?”
“Oh, please! The more the merrier!” Grian put Sunny down on Poppy’s other side and sat down on Poppy’s bed next to Scar.
“Now, where was I?...”
…
Twas Christmas time in Hermitcraft when all through the land,
Christmas trees were built by friends looking to lend a helping hand.
…
“Looking good, guys!”
“Ah!” Impulse jumped, almost dropping a beautifully painted bauble that was about the size of Ember’s head when she was born, Jimmy noted fondly. Impulse peeked down from the scaffolding tower he was standing on. “Jimmy! Ha! You scared me! What are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d bring the kids to see what you guys were up to! They were wondering where Dad went, weren't you?” Jimmy turned to his toddlers sitting in the Mangrove boat that he had on a lead.
“Da da!” Ember squealed. She was sitting upright in the front of the boat while Phoenix was in the back, leaning over the side, trying desperately to eat the snow on the ground. Both were bundled up in layers of sweaters, thick winter coats, pants, boots, and matching sparkly beanies that shimmered with the snow. Even the little makeshift boat sled Jimmy had made was lined with blankets to keep the blaze/canary hybrids warm.
“Awww, let me see my favorite little blazes!” Zedaph said in a tone most would reserve for very cute things. He ran over from where he was building huge presents that were almost taller than Jimmy, leaving cloven hoof prints in the snow.
Impulse hung up the bauble before making his way down to the little group now gathered around the boat. “Wow, Zed. Tango’s not your favorite blaze anymore?”
Zed knelt next to the boat. He looked up at Jimmy, silently asking him if he could pick up one of the twins. When Jimmy smiled and nodded, Zed carefully picked up Phoenix just before he could shove a fistful of snow into his mouth. “Tango knew as soon as these two popped out that he wasn't my favorite anymore.” Jimmy knelt down to pick up Ember, but quickly handed her off to Impulse when she saw her favorite uncle and squealed, “Uncah Ipy!”
”There’s my Ember!” Impulse replied to the rather adorable butchering of his name. “You’re right, hun, Tango is definitely fourth on my list of favorite blazes.”
”Fourth?” Zed responded. His head quickly snapped to Jimmy.
”Don’t look at me!” Jimmy replied quickly. He put his hands up in a mock surrender. “I said I was never doing that again, and I meant it!”
“Ha! I’m sure there’s another blaze out there who I like better than Tango. I can’t let his ego get any bigger than it already is.” The three adults laughed.
“Tee!” Phoenix squealed as he took the fist of snow he was still holding and plopped it on Zed’s head. Impulse laughed even harder. Jimmy was trying very hard to hold a stern face to his son, but he was holding back just as much laughter as Impulse.
”Ma? Tee?” Phoenix said as he turned in Zed’s arms and reached for his mother. His smile turned into a frown.
”Phin, no! That’s just something you can do with daddy, remember?” Jimmy said as he took his son from Zed.
Zed put his hands on his hips, pretending to be mad at the toddler. He opened his mouth to say something when-
“Skizz! Would you get down from there?!” A voice that was unmistakably Tango shouted from the other side of the tree.
“But, Top! I’m the Angel at the top of the tree!”
Jimmy looked up and shielded his eyes with one hand, keeping a firm grip on his son with the other. A very bright figure was perched on the top of the tree. From what little he could see, he assumed he was staring at the back of Skizz, wings stretched out and halo glowing bright above his head.
“No way, Skizz! I didn't just spend an hour fixificating this star for you to be the tree topper!”
“Aw, man!” Skizz flew down to the ground and rounded the corner with Tango, who was holding a huge Christmas tree star.
“You know you were supposed to be helping decorate the tree, not yourself. Right, Skizz?
“But I look so pretty!” Skizz extended a wing in front of Tango’s face. Jimmy could see the copious amount of glitter coating Skizz’s wings.
“That’s gonna take ages to wash out,” Jimmy said with a sympathetic wince, but a smile plastered on his face as he caught sight of his mate.
“JIGGLES!” Skizz shouted. His wing was quickly withdrawn to lie at his back as he ran over and wrapped Jimmy in a bone crushing hug, being mindful of Phoenix, but still lifting him off his feet. “I haven’t seen you out and about in a while man! What's up?”
“Nothing much,” Jimmy said after being put back down. “Just trying to stay warm since you guys keep stealing my heater.”
“Pft! What happened to you, Zeddlebop?” Skizz asked with a laugh. A piece of snow fell out of Zed’s hair and onto his nose.
Tango leaned the star on one of the presents that Zed had built and made his way over to the group. He leaned down and grabbed some snow, packing it into a small snowball that could fit in his son’s palm. With a warm smile on his face and a light chuckle, he gave the snowball to Phoenix and bowed his head. Phoenix then plopped the snowball on his father’s head and watched with wonder as it immediately turned to steam. Brewing tears forgotten, Phoenix squealed with delight and reached for his dad. “Tee!”
”Yes, Tee!” Tango agreed. Jimmy fixed him with a look, expecting him to correct their son’s mispronunciation. Tango got the hint and continued, “But it’s steam, buddy!”
”Tee!” Phoenix replied. Tango grabbed Phoenix and set him on his hip. With his free hand, he reached up to cup Jimmy’s cheek and bring him in for a quick kiss. “Hi, Rancher.” He said when they parted.
”Hi, Rancher.” Jimmy replied.
“Da da!” Ember squealed with a big, toothy grin. She reached out to Tango from her spot in Impulse’s arms.
Tango reached out with his free hand to hold his daughter as well. “Hi, firefly!” Ember immediately wrapped her stubby arms around her father’s neck and buried her nose into his scent gland.
“AWWWW! Top, this might be the cutest thing I have ever seen!”
“You say that every time you see them, Skizz,” Tango replied.
“And every time it’s true!” Skizz retorted.
“Is the star ready to go?” Zed asked. He had managed to get most of the snow off of him, Impulse helping to brush off the top of his head.
“Yeah! Should be good to go!” Tango replied.
“Oh yeah! This tree is about to be awesome!” Skizz replied. He was about to head over to where Tango left the star when Impulse put a hand on his shoulder.
“Y’know, we have two little helpers here who I’m sure would love to put the star on the tree!” Impulse said, gesturing to the toddlers in Tango’s arms.
“Aww man!” Skizz said dramatically with an exaggerated droop in his shoulders. He even let his wings hang low, the feathers at the end touching the snow on the ground.
“Good idea! I’ve been meaning to take them flying in this weather!” Jimmy replied in a joyful tone, knowing Skizz’s reaction was a show. Jimmy grabbed Phoenix, whose eyes were fixated on the sparkles in Skizz’s wings, from his mate and began to unzip the toddler’s outer jacket to let his downy wings out. The appendages immediately stretched out and fluttered behind the boy.
“That’s a long way up,” Tango lamented, craning his neck to see the top of the custom Christmas tree. He counted Impulse’s scaffolding tower at about 20 blocks high, and that didn’t even reach the top of the tree.
“Oh, they’ll be fan-dabby-dozy, don’t worry!” Jimmy said reassuringly. He began to pass Phoenix over to Skizz. “‘ere Skizz. You take Phin up.”
Skizz took Phoenix into his arms automatically, like he’d done it a million times. “Wait, why me? Shouldn't Tango take him up?” Skizz asked with a shock.
Jimmy gave Skizz a questioning look and extended his wings to their full length before retracting them again. Skizz looked at Jimmy, then at Tango, then back at Jimmy, before he looked behind him at his own wings. “Oh.” Skizz looked back at the toddler in his arms. “You hear that, NikNak? You get to go flying with Uncle Skizz!” Skizz tickled the toddler’s tummy, earning a squeal and a giggle in return.
“Come on, Em! You wanna go flyin’?” Jimmy asked his daughter, who was still clinging to her father’s neck.
“No!” She responded.
“Come on, firefly! You get to put the star on top of the tree!” Tango said, gesturing to the star that Zed had brought over. “Only really important people get to do that!”
A small smile crept its way onto Ember’s face. “Otay!”
“That’s my girl!” Tango replied. He took off her outer jacket, the girl copying her brother in stretching out her downy wings. She was then passed along to her mother.
Skizz and Jimmy each held their respective toddler out in front of them. Zed came over and placed the star between them. “Hold on really tight, ok?” When they were sure the kids could hold the star’s weight, the two winged adults flew up and helped the kids position the star at the top of the tree.
“Tango, I think they might have to do this every year!” Impulse said happily, looking up along with Zed and Tango. He had his comm held in his hands, snapping pictures of the scene above him.
“They grow up so fast! They’re gonna start flying by themselves soon!” Zed said, eyes glued to the top of the tree.
“Don’t remind me,” Tango said with hints of sadness in his voice. “I’m waiting until they get their first sparks.”
Zed and Impulse’s eyes widened, seemingly thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong with two energetic toddlers flying around with fire on their heads.
…
Lights in the shopping district were flickering true,
And it was so cold outside that Uncle Tango’s hair turned blue!
…
A very blue-looking Tango stepped through the doors of a rather large hall that was set to host all of the Hermits and Emperors in just a few weeks for the annual Christmas Eve party. With an inventory full of redstone supplies, the blaze was ready to help out with any preparations needed. But first, he had to drop off two very energetic toddlers at the designated play area.
There was already a flurry of activity with many Hermits busy working on something to make the night a little more magical. Bdubs was sitting off to the side, busying himself by knitting what looked to be a giant blanket and watching Beau and Maple as they quietly played with what looked like different versions of Jimmy. Ren and Joel had set up in a corner, wrapping presents and carving wooden toys, respectively. Doc worked at a table, wiring up some sort of device that looked like a heater, with Mumbo right next to him, working on wiring up some Christmas lights. Every once in a while, they would look up towards the massive tree that the ZITS had put together the previous week and hide a smile as they watched whatever mischief Teddy and Hermes were getting into.
“Tango!” Etho’s head popped up from a hole in the floor that Tango hadn’t noticed until then. Immediately, the scent of a roaring campfire spiked, and plumes of black smoke shot out from Tango’s ignited hair and tail. Tango could feel a protective growl start at the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down so he didn’t scare Ember and Phoenix, who he was holding in each arm. Both of which had small sparks in their hair from the scare.
”Hoooooooooo! You can't scare me like that, Etho!” Tango forced his scent down, but it was still slightly burnt. He plastered a quick smile to his face. “There’s exposed wires all over the place! One spark in the wrong place and everyone’s gonna need new repeaters!” All eyes were fixed on the activity at the door, except for Mumbo, who shrugged his shoulders and got back to work.
Etho eased himself out of the hole in the ground and subtly exposed his wrists and neck to the tense alpha to show he wasn’t a threat. “Sorry,” Etho said sincerely. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
The area was washed in the scent of calming sweet berries as Bdubs made his way over. “Hiya, guys! Well, that’s new!” Bdubs gestured to the now small plumes of black smoke emanating from the twins’ hair. They almost resembled extinguished candles.
“Yeah, that is new!” Tango agreed. “Their first sparks! Jimmy is gonna flip when I tell him!” Tango’s scent was happily simmering once again. Everyone was getting back to work, and slightly louder giggles were heard from the boys behind the tree. Tango could’ve sworn he heard an exaggerated smooching noise coming from one or both of them.
“Well, congratulations, you two!” Bdubs said as he lightly patted both of their heads, earning himself two rounds of giggles. “Hey, how about you two come play with Beau and Maple, huh?” Tango slowly lowered the twins to the ground so they could walk over to where Beau and Maple were playing. Bdubs grabbed a hand each so they wouldn’t fall. The shorter omega barely having to bend over to do so.
“I’m seriously sorry, Tango. I know what that probably looked like.” Etho said quietly now that the kids were out of earshot.
”Hey, it’s all good! As long as you don’t plan to explodificate me, it's fine.” Tango patted a reassuring hand on Etho’s shoulder.
“I would never even imagine it.” Etho slowly started following Bdubs over to where the kids were playing, Tango following him closely behind, before he felt his comm buzz against his wrist,
[SolidarityGaming whispered to you]
Hey love
You ok?
[You whispered to SolidarityGaming]
Yeah all good Etho just scared me a bit
You enjoying yourself?
[SolidarityGaming whispered to you]
Yeah its a proper bird bath over here!
twobirdschillinginahottub.img
The picture was a selfie taken by Jimmy, the man smiling into the camera from a hot tub. Next to him, Grian looked like he was about to splash water at Jimmy.
[You whispered to SolidarityGaming]
Glad to see it!
I have a surprise for you when you come back home
[SolidarityGaming whispered to you]
GRIAN JUST SPASHED ME
oh?
[You whispered to SolidarityGaming]
Love you Rancher
[SolidarityGaming whispered to you]
Love you Rancher
Tango looked up from his comm and jogged over to Bdubs, Etho, and the kids. Bdub’s was back in his chair, knitting needles in hand. Etho had crouched down to check on the kids.
“Ma!” Phoenix proudly declared, pointing to the Cold Guy stuffie in Beau’s hands.
“Do these kids have any toys that aren’t Jimmy?” Tango asked with an amused grin on his face.
“By how they only play with them, you wouldn’t think they do,” Etho responded.
Tango, now satisfied that his kids would be entertained for a while and were under the careful watch of Bdubs, decided to finally see for himself what Teddy and Hermes were up to. As he stepped around the tree, he saw Teddy holding Hermes’ Sheriff doll and Hermes holding his own Tango Bo Peep doll. The boys were making the dolls kiss each other over and over again. Lost for words, Tango merely shook his head and made his way to Doc and Mumbo’s table.
”Hey, guys? What ya working on?” Tango asked mostly to Doc.
”A new and improved floor heater!” Doc held up his machine to show Tango the inner workings. “This will connect to the redstone-infused wool blanket that Bdubs is working on, and it will create a system that will keep every corner of the floor perfectly heated.”
”I still don’t know how you managed to make redstone-infused wool!” Mumbo exclaimed, “How many codes did you break to make that?”
”A master never reveals his secrets, Mumbo.” Doc replied
Mumbo sighed and looked up at Tango. “This guy!”
”How long have Teddy and Hermes been doing… that?” Tango asked, gesturing over his shoulder at the tree.
“Pretty much the entire time we’ve been here,” Doc responded. “My boy is happy, that’s good enough for me.”
”Tango, mate, please tell me you have another project for me. If I make another string of Christmas lights, I might explode! I mean, it's really quite simple to make! Why can’t the builders make them? They’re gonna be hanging them anyway!” Mumbo was visibly very antsy.
“Actually, I might! I needed to make a disc rotatificator for a jukebox-“
”On it!” Mumbo said, cutting off Tango and pulling out a notebook to make a quick plan of the machine he was going to build.
Tango left Mumbo and Doc to their work and made his way back over to Etho’s hole in the ground, where he was once again working. Tango heard the flick of a lever, and the beginning of The Christmas Song started playing from note blocks beneath the ground.
”Sounds good down there, Etho!”
”Thank you, thank you!”
Tango found a spot next to Etho’s hole to set to work on his speaker system, which was meant to amplify the sound of Christmas music playing from a juke box to the large hall without being too loud that the party goers wouldn’t be able to talk to each other. He rifled through his inventory and took out his redstone shulker box and his shulker boxes of music discs. He made sure to bring along some of his favorite joke discs as well to play along with the Christmas music. Tango sighed and set to work.
…
Presents were wrapped by each Hermit with care.
They were gifted to loved ones with joy in the air!
…
The annual Hermit and Empire Christmas Eve party was in full swing when the family of four walked through the doors of the party hall. The familiar tune of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” announced their presence as it played from the expertly crafted noteblock doorbell Etho had constructed the week before. As the noteblocks stopped, music from the jukebox system, which Tango himself had made, continued playing. The hall was magnificently decorated, the building team seeming to step up their game every year. The tree in the middle of the room flickered and sparkled with Christmas lights, glitter, and fancy ornaments. The star on the top was shining bright, much to Tango’s delight.
“Hello, sweet faces! Glad to see you!” Keralis said as he jogged over, a little out of breath. He was dressed in a rather tacky Christmas sweater. Just as most of the guests were for an ugly Christmas sweater competition that would be happening later.
“Hey Papa K! Hope we’re not too late,” Tango replied
“No, no, you're perfectly fine! Rough morning?” Keralis asked
“A bit, these two couldn’t decide if they were too hot or too cold this morning,” Jimmy said, looking at Phoenix in his arms. The little boy was wearing his usual thermal shirt with a sweater over top and was already trying to shed his outer jacket with a frustrated frown on his face. Jimmy looked over at Ember in his mate's arms, who was desperately trying to reach for her own jacket out of Tango’s inventory.
“They’re just learning how to regulate their heat. It won’t be too long before we have two new little flames! Did I tell you they got their first sparks last week?” Tango asked Keralis as he pulled a knitted scarf out of his inventory and wrapped it around Ember, satisfying her for now.
“Oooooh, that’s very exciting indeed!” Keralis said as he booped Ember on the nose, earning a giggle.
“Top! Jiggles!” Skizz shouted from the other side of the hall. He had found a spot near the snack table with Impulse and Zed and was gesturing for them to come over. It looked as if Christmas threw up on him from the look of his ugly sweater.
“Unca Skih!” Phoenix squealed, both twins making grabby hands in Skizz’s direction.
”You wanna go to your Uncle Skizz?” Jimmy asked his kids.
”Ya!” Ember replied. Phoenix gave his Mama a very enthusiastic nod.
”Go get ‘im!” Jimmy said as he lowered Phoenix to the ground, Tango followed suit with Ember. Both twins ran as fast as they could over to “Unca Skih,” Phoenix ditching his jacket in the process.
Tango watched as Phoenix and Ember gave Skizz a big hug as the angel picked them both up, earning shrieks and giggles as he spun them around. Jimmy picked up Phoenix’s coat, depositing it in his inventory, and went to drop his and Tango’s presents off under the tree. He took a moment to look at the kids’ pile.
”They do love spoiling them, huh?” Tango said, slipping his hand into Jimmy’s.
”Yeah, they do.” Jimmy looked over the presents, seeing just how many were addressed to Ember or Phoenix. Jimmy squeezed his mate’s hand, “Come on,” and started to walk over to the rest of ZITS.
The party went on as the last of the guests arrived. Friends mingled and caught up, children laughed and played, snacks were shared and eaten, and the presents piled up. It was a lovely evening until Xisuma clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention.
“I think it's time we see what the kiddos got for Christmas, huh?”
A cacophony of noise arose at once, and all of the very happy kids ran over to their usual present unwrapping spots, big smiles and excited giggling filling the room. Parents sat by their kids, helping to sort through gifts, throwing away wrapping paper, and making sure each kid properly thanked the aunt or uncle who got them the gift. As always, a plethora of Jimmy toys were opened. One in particular was a brand new Captain Solidarity action figure that Beau opened from Joel.
“Hey, Jim?”
“Don’t.”
“That’s America’s ass!”
“Joel! Not in front of the kids!” Sausage said, covering their son’s ears.
It was soon revealed that every kid got one. Each wearing a different colored suit to match their favorite color.
Phoenix and Ember each opened a new sparkly Santa hat embroidered with their names from Cleo. “So we can tell them apart easier!” They joked. After admiring the sparkles, both twins promptly tugged them on over their heads (with a little help from their parents), ditching their usual beanies, resulting in several awws from the crowd.
Once the kids were happily playing with their new toys (and after an unfortunate incident where Beau poked himself in the eye with his new action figure), it was time to start the annual secret Santa gift exchange.
Bdubs had gifted Jimmy a heated blanket made out of some of the extra redstone-infused wool. “I had a little help from Doc with the heating bit, but this should keep you warm and cozy!” Jimmy then gifted Xisuma two certificates for lifetime free visits to the Isla Bonita Spa. “You deserve a break every once and a while, X. Plus, I heard it’s a great spot for a date!” A little while later, Tango gave Ren a few acoustic guitar songbooks. “They even have space for you to write your own music!” And Cleo gifted Tango a custom armour stand statue of a warden, which was received with plenty of excited Tango noises.
As the party drew to a close, a few of the joke discs finally played, including a familiar-sounding “ Oh my gods! ” closely followed by a playful growl from the alpha whose voice just played to the entire hall, “TANGO!”
The ugly Christmas sweater competition was over almost as soon as it began, with Joe getting a vast majority of the votes as his Grinch sweater somehow had a mouth that sang along to the music from the jukebox.
As soon as Jimmy realized Phoenix and Ember both had their new hats pulled over their eyes as they layed down almost on top of each other, he decided it was time for them to head out. The little family of four said their goodbyes and went home.
…
But two little tykes who were snuggled all warm,
Were about to teach their parents what would become their new norm.
…
“Merry Christmas, Rancher,” Tango said as he planted a kiss in Jimmy’s hair. The omega had his head on Tango’s chest and was slowly waking up for the day.
“Merry Christmas, Rancher,” Jimmy groggily replied. After a few minutes of enjoying the morning and the feeling of Tango’s hand stroking through his hair, he propped himself up on an elbow to share a quick peck with his mate before they both got out of bed with a stretch to start on their morning routine. Jimmy got the twins all dressed and ready for the festive day, both of them insisting on wearing their new sparkly hats, as Tango prepared a breakfast fit for the holiday.
The twins toddled out of their room as fast as possible, Jimmy right behind them, and went straight over to the Christmas tree. Ember spotted a present that was suspiciously shaped like a giant toddler-sized car and made a break for it before getting promptly scooped up by Jimmy.
“Ah, ah! Breakfast first, then we can open presents!” Jimmy said, tickling his daughter. He extended a wing to block Phoenix from picking up a smaller wrapped present. “Tango, a little help!”
Tango turned from the kitchen with a plate of oatmeal gingerbread muffins in his hands. He quickly placed them down on the table before running over and lifting Phoenix high in the air. “You listen to your mama, little buddy.”
Both twins were sat at their booster seats at the table, Tango working on fixing a plate for each of them while Jimmy served himself.
“Mmmmmh, this is so good! New recipe?”
“Yeah, thought I’d try something special. Glad they came out good,” Tango said as he put a plate of cut up muffin in front of each twin.
“Da da, potty!” Ember said after a few bites.
“Ok, firefly up you go!” Tango helped Ember out of her seat and followed her into the bathroom.
Phoenix was happily chomping away, so Jimmy pulled up his comm,
[Emperors and Hermits]
[SolidarityGaming]
Merry Christmas everyone!
[Bdoubleo100]
Merry Christmas!
[Keralis]
Merry Christmas! Love your sweet faces!
[Smallishbeans]
Merry Christmas to everyone except Jimmy
[SolidarityGaming]
HEY
Jimmy watched with a smile as Christmas wishes came through from every Hermit and Emperor. It wasn’t long before Jimmy heard the sink turn off in the bathroom, followed by a small sneeze and a faint woosh .
Tango made an indescribable noise before happily shouting, “Jimmy! Ember’s on fire!”
”What are you on about!?” Jimmy shouted back, concerned. He turned from Phoenix, safe in his booster chair, to the hall to check on Ember when he heard a sneeze and a woosh from behind him. Before he could even react, he felt a sharp burning all through his wings and up his back. He turned around with a shout, and he briefly saw that Phoenix’s hair was on fire, the boy giggling and laughing at the flames licking up his mother’s wings.
“TANGO WHERE’S THE WATER?!”
“No, no, don’t worry, they're fine! They just got their flames! Didn’t you firefly?” Tango proudly said to Ember, whose hair was also flickering. He calmly walked back to the dining room, figuring Jimmy was only panicking because he had never seen a blaze’s first flame before, until he saw his mate was thoroughly on fire.
“JIMMY-”
…
And what did he say before he vanished from sight?
…
“FLEE WITH EXTRA FLEE!”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
[SolidartyGaming burnt to a crisp while fighting User_PhoenixTek]
…
Merry Christmas, Jolly Ranchers. And to all, a good night.
…
Scar looked at his children, all fast asleep with happy smiles on their faces and visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.
“We should move them back to their beds,” Grian whispered.
“Aw, but look at them! They’re so peaceful. And it’s Christmas tomorrow! It’s a special night!” Scar whispered back, pleading.
Grian took a second to look at his mate’s big green eyes. Shining by the light of the night light that illuminated the room. “Fine, but only for tonight.”
Scar smiled at his mate and carefully stood up. He offered a hand to Grian, who gladly took it. They walked out of their children’s room and closed the door with a quiet click.