Maddie stopped and glared. “It was How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and right now you’re about to lose two women in thirty seconds if you don’t shut it, mister.”
Cy shook his head and Lilly realized that maybe, just maybe this is what family was like. Too bad her own sister wasn’t here.
4
“Eadric, are you sure that Nyke will wear the Santa suit?”
He chuckled. “No. But no one else would and he’s apparently too busy to answer, so he got nominated.”
As they neared the ship, bags and bags of decorations in their claws, Eadric reached out.
Are they distracted?
The last thing Eadric wanted was to walk into the females and ruin the fun. Or, well, he hoped it was fun.
All clear, Deo replied.
Dropping the boxes and bags, they shifted. Kal stretched his hands.
“Next time we look into the thing called a car,” Kal said.
Kal and Eadric carried in a few loads of decorations into the commons of the ship. Eadric might have gone a little overboard, but when did a dragon ever do anything halfway. He wasn’t about to be outdone. Ever.
One of the shiny furry garland things tickled his nose as it peaked out of a bag balanced on top of another. Yeah. This might have been overboard.
“Where do we put these?” asked Kal.
Looking around, Eadric didn’t suppose it mattered. In a few minutes this place would be full of life and decorations and this Christmas.
As they set boxes everywhere, each of his brothers grabbed one and went to work.
What is tinsel? asked one.
Look at the back of the package, get the tree.*
What tree?
Eadric brought in a box nearly as tall as the biggest of them.
This tree. He responded.
It’s in a box? came another response.
It’s all you can buy this time of year, we were told. Eadric ripped open the packaging and pulled out a green fuzzy stick.
They all looked at it.
Let me guess, there're instructions for that too? asked another.
What kind of tree is in a box? Is it alive?
Do they assemble all their trees?
The questions fired faster than the decorations went up, but they did it. Working on each assignment as any military trained warrior did.
One hour later they all stood back and marveled at their work.
“It looks like something threw up,” said Kal.
“Wasn’t there some creature that ate light up shit like this?” asked Barak.
They all stood in a line against a wall, careful to not touch anything breakable. They all shrugged.
“This is what humans do for a celebration? You’re sure?” asked Deo.
Eadric poked at a small device called an iPod and music played.
“The lady at the All Christmas All the Time store said that this is what every human does. Well, there can be something called snow, but I didn’t understand how to make that.”
Kal clapped his brother on the back. “I think Lilly will be surprised. Maddie has seen this before, I believe anyway. I’ve tried to pry a bit, but every time I brought up holidays she got suspicious so her memories weren’t very clear. I have seen this fancy tree though. This looks correct.”
Walking over to the tree, Kal and Eadric placed several packages underneath.
“What are those?” asked Deo.
Eadric stood a little taller. “Gifts. There is one for each of you from Kal and myself.”
Looks of confusion and surprise passed between the brothers. Surprising any of them was rather impossible. Kal shared a look with Eadric, this was going to be perfect.
“All right. One more thing. Nyke,” Eadric said, as he handed Nyke a bag. “This is supposedly the traditional outfit for an elder.
Nyke scowled. “I am not an elder.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Yeah, but you act like a grumpy old dragon most days, so,” said Kal.
Everyone burst into laughter and Nyke’s scowl turned to something of a pissed off hybrid between murder and maybe a little entertained.
“You’re lucky I like your mates, you assholes.” He headed out of the commons, strange costume in hand.
Eadric looked around. It did kind of resemble something rather obnoxious with twinkling little lights everywhere and sparkling wads of soft spike like material. The tree was pretty. Perhaps this is something they would bring back with them. Decorating trees in a gesture of thanks. The creepy jolly man though, that Nyke could burn, after.
“Shall we get them now? Cy is running out of distractions. Maddie was doing his hair last I heard from him while Lilly did something they called a gothic makeover. Perhaps we should remove this YouTube from their phones.”
Kal called Cy while Eadric checked the food. He hadn’t realized that cooking a turkey would be a tradition and he couldn’t find one fast enough, he’d tried. Kal and Eadric had spent close to half an hour trying to hunt a turkey. Their dragons enjoyed a few other delicacies, but none appeared to be what was a turkey. It had all worked out though.
He opened the oven, the scent of warm meat treated his nose. Stacks of burgers and fries piled together on platters waited to be served. He liked this food a lot as well, and Kal said his mate was craving one. Happiness filled him like a bubble. Anything to make their mates happy.
“Is this music necessary,” asked one of his brothers. Eadric swung around.
“Yes. It is absolutely necessary. The lady at the store said that no Christmas was complete without Christmas carols.”
He moved closer to the door, the pull of his mate's approach impossible to ignore. Kal joined him. They had been away from their mates for far too long in his opinion.
Eadric rubbed his chest. He had never felt like this before. Like a child. He couldn’t wait to give her gifts. He wanted to see her smile. He wanted to chase her nightmares away and leave Earth with only the best of memories.
Shush, they are coming.
He got a few glares. Fine, he stated the obvious. But how did one stop the excitement from bursting? This Christmas was indeed magic.
First Lilly entered, her
