Work Text:
The Moonar Yulenear in the Barkrock house was never a quiet affair. If their last name didn’t give it away, their Yulenear Eve parties certainly would. The Barkrock Yulenear traditions were mostly comprised of various types of eating, drinking, and dancing until the neighbors complained. They used to have names, a long time ago, but the insertion of humans and other species into Orc territory meant that those old names were lost. The festivals and holidays of those Orcs were gone, but their traditions would carry on.
Lydia Barkrock was intent on adding her own special traditions to her family’s celebrations. Once her son was born—and once she was sure she was going to be raising him alone—her first thoughts were fond future ones. The Yulenear meats, cider, and traditional dances were some of her favorite memories of her childhood, and she was so excited to be able to carry those traditions on and make new ones with her new family.
As Ragh grew, he proved to be just as fond of the Yulenear traditions as his mother. He demanded cup after cup of the apple cider Lydia made; his eyes grew wide with delight at the sight of the colorful icings which adorned the donuts Lydia had fried for him; Lydia feared that Ragh might just explode with joy when he had his first bite of Yulenear pork. He was a perfect little boy, and she couldn’t have ever asked for anything more.
When he was small, maybe five or six, Ragh had a hilarious idea that Lydia would keep up until Ragh took it up with his own family. He suggested that, since it was a special day and he was a very special boy, he should be allowed unlimited hot chocolate on the Moonar Yulenear. Lydia threw her head back and laughed until tears formed in her eyes. He asked it in such a precious way, how could she say no? So, she agreed and set up a slow cooker on the counter. She let Ragh pour the milk and stir in the chocolate; set out a bag of big marshmallows and a ladle and let Ragh go to town.
Any other parent would probably have been fearful that their child would feel sick after unlimited hot chocolate all day long, but Ragh had taken after his mother in the form of his iron stomach and sheer will to eat as much as he pleased. Besides, he was just about twice as big as his classmates by that age. Ragh drank hot chocolate all day long, carefully ladling it into his mug and topping it with one huge marshmallow. He stirred it for a minute, letting the marshmallow melt into the cup. Lydia just watched him, her sweet little boy.
When he was nine or ten, Ragh suggested that he and his mom should swap one gift. Just something small, and just for fun. Lydia thought this was hilarious, as most of the gifts Ragh got for her came from the book fair and tended to be little trinkets or toys he thought she would like. She always did, and kept a small box of them in her closet. Lydia agreed, and resolved to swap one of her gifts with one of Ragh’s.
The first year, he got a tiny snow globe while she got a toy axe, meant for prospective Barbarians to practice with. He gasped and his hand shot out to grab the axe, making Lydia fall back onto the floor with laughter. He kept the snow globe, and Lydia didn’t mention that he’d functionally gotten himself a gift. It stayed on his shelf, stirring warm memories every time Lydia saw it.
The next year, Ragh suggested that they should have auntie switch one of their gifts and they should guess which one was swapped. Lydia praised Ragh for his genius and said she’d call her sister later that day. She didn’t tell Ragh that she hadn’t spoken to her sister in a couple years—she wasn’t just busy for the holidays every year. That night, Lydia told Ragh that auntie was coming late because she had to work and she’d swap one of their gifts while Ragh slept, so he wouldn’t know which one it was. He giggled under the covers and thanked his mom. Lydia kissed him on the forehead and told him goodnight.
When the Yulenear came around and Ragh bounded down the stairs, following the sweet smell of pancakes and bacon from the kitchen, he was plopped down by the tree before Lydia could even say good morning. She looked at him knowingly and asked if he really wanted to skip his breakfast, and even though he insisted that he wanted gifts first, a grumble from his stomach told Lydia all she needed to know. With pancakes, eggs, bacon, hot chocolate, and no fewer than three cookies in him, Ragh sat back down by the tree and watched his mother pile his gifts in front of him.
Then, he suggested that they play rock paper scissors to decide who went first. Lydia, ever the competitive mother, said yes. She would have won soundly, but Ragh had a terrible habit of sticking his fingers out if he was going to use paper or scissors, so of course she let him win. Ragh rejoiced in his victory and began tearing into the wrapping paper. It was green and red, patterned with little axes and swords; Ragh had picked it out himself. He opened the smallest box in front of him first, and saw the necklace he knew he’d saved up to buy for his mom. It was a small, black twine necklace with two pendants: a small key and a lightning bolt. The pride he felt at his win quickly deflated as he bemoaned his luck, saying it wasn’t fair, that it was too easy. Lydia wasn’t concerned with her son’s whines about fairness, she was positively glowing with admiration. He’d never gotten her jewelry before, and it meant so much to her. She plucked the box from Ragh’s hands and put the necklace on, asking Ragh to help her clip it on. When she turned around and pointed to the pendants, all of Ragh’s sorrows were forgotten as he excitedly clapped and reveled in how well he knew his mom. Lydia wore that necklace day and night, rain or shine, until the relatively cheap twine frayed enough to break. When it did, she’d had it replaced with a mithral chain and continued wearing it. She would treasure that gift until she was buried with it.
For the first few years after she took Bakur into her chest to trap him, Lydia wasn’t able to celebrate the Yulenear with Ragh, and even if she wasn’t able to express it, she wanted nothing more than to do so. When it was safer, after she’d been returned to her own home, Ragh took a great amount of time to set up a perfect Yulenear for them. Every other sentence from Ragh was about what Lydia might want. She decided on some new clothes and a pair of earrings after much goading from her son.
When the next year came and Lydia was well enough to plan for herself again, she’d gone to great lengths to get her family’s recipe for Yulenear pork. She hadn’t had much contact with them since she’d had Ragh, but she reasoned that it was for Ragh, so it was worth it. What was even better was the look in Ragh’s eyes when he saw that Yulenear pig at the center of the dinner table. He started crying a little bit, her big baby, and ate until he thought he might pop. Lydia had never been so proud of anything in her life, and she was so excited to see the man Ragh became. Even when he went grey, he would still be her baby, and she would do whatever she could to make him happy.