Page 4 of A Very Denarius Christmas
“Alright,” I said. “The goal is to get as much of the frosting on the cookies as you can.”
Even as I said it, I knew we would have sticky fingers, claws, and faces to clean when they were done. And I’d love every minute of it. Sitting between Luna and Griffin, with Ionus and Great-gramps leaning against the counter, watching us as we got started, a sudden lump formed in my throat, threatening to choke me. I hadn’t wept since the night our dragonets had hatched, but in this moment, with our family all together in the kitchen, and those little heads, plus Odem’s, bent over their cookies, the tears threatened to fall like a mighty deluge.
“Grrrummmmm,” Kane grumble, a tube in each hand trying to squeeze them onto the cookie’s surface. “Out!”
“Hang on little one,” Odem said, gently prying one of the tubes from between his fingers to inspect it. “Yup, this one has a clog at the tip, let me fix it for you.”
“Cog?” My adorable dragonet attempted to emulate.
“Clog,” Odem said, carefully enunciating it for him before turning the tip of the tube where Kane could see it. “See that right there. That’s a clog. That’s why your frosting won’t come out of the tube.”
“Fostig,” Kane said, squeezing his other tube and sending a spurt of green all over his sugar cookie.
My dear dragonet cocked his head, then reached to touch some of the frosting that had landed against the side of his tube. First he poked it, then he licked it off, smiling at the sugary sweet taste of it. “Fostig!”
“That’s right, frost-ing,” Odem said, once again being careful to take his time and pronounce the word fully, so Kane would have a better chance of catching on to it.
“Frostig, yum,” Kane said.
“That’s right, buddy,” Odem said while I passed him a toothpick so he could take care of the clog.
A glance to my left showed my focused Griffin trying his best to draw stripes on his cookie without making the lines of icingtoo thick, while my precious Luna was busy drawing a tutu on hers, like the ones she loved to wear when she skipped and spun around the house. Her tongue poked out from between her lips as she worked, the picture of concentration. There would be several new tutus waiting for her under the Christmas tree to replace the ones her brothers had accidentally ruined by snorting flames or belching tiny cinders all over them. She felt things far too deeply for a dragonet so young, her caution and consideration about the feelings of others, something I’d already come to love about my sweet girl. Knowing now, thanks to Raven, that was her gift, it all made sense, though we’d have to keep a watchful eye to ensure it didn’t consume her.
I was so lucky.
The Goddess had blessed me beyond my wildest dreams.
Hunter was busy covering his cookie in frosting polka dots, occasionally adding a dot of one color on top of the other as he steadily worked at covering the surface, while Odem handed the frosting tube back to Kane, who held it over his cookie and squeezed it so hard frosting shot out of the tip. Squealing, my boy then proceeded to squeeze the other one and laugh when the blue frosting shot out. Like a drummer in a heavy metal band, Kane raised and lowered those tubes, squeezing on every downswing, shooting bright, colorful frosting everywhere.
He got it on the cookie, he got it on the plastic, he got it on his uncle Odem and several squeezes even shot across the island to land on me. All the while he wiggled in his seat, squealing and laughing, sing-songingno cog, no cog, frosting yum, yum, yummm.I could hear the steady clicking of Gramps taking pictures, as an upswing and an oddly timed squeeze sent frosting sailing up towards the ceiling. My mate groaned, then let out an exasperated chuckle when a second splat landed near the first. He was pinching the bridge of his nose when I glanced over at him, but my stoic storm dragon protector was laughingtoo, while Great-gramps cackled beside him, mutteringhave fun getting that off.
They were wild and messy, but damnit all, they were mine, and I was gonna love every flaming, charred, icing filled moment of watching them grow up.
Chapter Three
Ionus
“I have to admit,” even though I was still scrubbing icing from the ceiling. It would need repainting due to the technicolor oily stains it left behind. “That was a memory I’ll never forget.” Our dragonets had the time of their lives decorating the cookies. Some were lightly topped while many had inch high frosting. Those we’d keep hidden away given how hyper they already were. Too much sugar was no bueno in this house.
Alex wrapped his arms around my waist. “Odem is so wonderful with them. I can’t wait until he has a clutch of his own.”
“Me too. With each passing day my younger brother continues to amaze me. Betcha Gramps and Great-gramps sleep like babies themselves tonight.” Laughter, squeals, anddon’t do that, rang out from the playroom. “Sugar highs are a bear to run off.”
“Amen, dear husband, but the grands are tending to our brood. Shall we make our escape while we have a moment of peace and practice making more?”
“More? Wasn’t it you who threatened to castrate me?” I wasn’t opposed to more children, but I was rather fond of my balls staying intact.
“Ha-ha, yes, and I will if I end up pregnant. But the act itself I am always down for, especially while my heat is nowhere near.” My analytical brain did its best to calculate when that would be. “Don’t worry your busy brain, dear mate, it’s months away. Let’s go.”
As soon as we turned toward the stairs, in came Mattias with a large box he dropped in the foyer. “Got your tree.”
“Took you long enough,” I huffed.
Mattias crossed his arms and glared at me. “I had to fly two towns over to get it in the daylight. You owe me two-hundred bucks.”
I rolled my eyes at the ridiculousness. “Like you need the money.”
“A little appreciation goes a long way, brother.”