Page 69 of A Phoenix Reborn at Christmas

Then Leo turned to Jasper. He laughed. “Remember how we used to dress up as krampuses and then hide in the house, bakery, or alley? We’d jump out and terrorise our siblings and start yelling the Krampus Night song. We even had switches. Then Mother and Father took those away.”

Jasper chewed his cookie, not meeting Leo’s gaze.

The laughter on Leo’s lips died. “Jas?”

“I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” Then Jasper trudged towards his room, Kali following.

Leo swallowed. “I’ll bring in your tea in a bit.”

“Thanks,” Jasper muttered as he closed the door.

Leo stared after his brother. Percival came up and put a hand on his arm.

“Why—” Leo rubbed a hand over his face. “I just don’t understand.”

“I’m sorry.” Percival kissed his shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, Leo turned to Percival and grabbed a cookie. Leo forced a smile. “Well, should we get back to decorating? I think there is some space on the mantel.”

Percival squeezed his arm. “Sure.”

They continued making and hanging decorations. But Leo didn’t teach Percival the Krampus Night song. Thankfully, Percival didn’t suggest it.

“It looks beautiful, doesn’t it?” Percival said as he looked around the room. “I’m so glad I could contribute.”

“We did a good job. And your phoenix feathers are the perfect Christmas decorations.” Leo smiled.

But the situation with Jasper lingered in the back of Leo’s mind. He just wanted his brother back in his life. And he wanted Jasper happy.

Still, Leo was grateful to have Percival with him. It made the sting of the pain bearable.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

“So what do you think about this tuna fish pie?” Leo held open his mother’s pie cookbook. He glanced at the large phoenix behind him.

Percival tilted his head from side to side, the plume on his head swaying with the movement. Then he shook his head. He sat on the floor in Leo’s bedroom in his phoenix form, legs and talons tucked beneath him. They’d had to push some of the furniture to fit Percival in the room like this.

“Yeah. I agree.” Leo leaned against Percival, sinking into the warm orange and red feathers. “Honestly, tuna fish pie was never one of my favourites.” He wrinkled his nose.

Leo flicked a page. “What about this? Trout and potato pie?” Leo held out the page to Percival.

Percival leaned forward, orange eyes fixed on the page.

“As you can tell, we are in the fish section of the pie cookbook,” Leo said. “But we haven’t made a fish pie together yet. So maybe tomorrow will be a good day for it.”

Percival seemed to consider. Then he shook his head.

“No.” Leo turned the page. “What about a smoked haddock pie? It’s smoked fish. You like smoked things.” He paused. “Oryou make fire and smell like smoke sometimes.” Mainly during sex. “Does that translate to you liking the taste of smoked food?” He glanced at Percival.

“Anyway, it has cheese and leek.” Leo smiled. “This one is actually a favourite of mine.”

Percival once again perused the page. After a moment, he gave a nod.

“Excellent! Then we’ll make smoked haddock pie tomorrow.” Leo flicked his gaze over the written recipe and the illustration, all of which had been done by Leo’s mother.

His throat tightened as his fingers traced her familiar scrawl. “You know my mother had a talent for making pies,” Leo said softly. “She had a lot of talents. She was an excellent baker.”