Page 5 of A Very Denarius Christmas
“Thank you, Mattias,” Alex backhanded my chest. “We really do appreciate this. Would you like some cookies?”
“Love some.” Mattias snarled and glared at me as he followed Alex into the kitchen. Sorry, but for lack of a better term, he just cock blocked me and getting that blood flowing…elsewhere, wasn’t instantaneous.
With a huff, I hauled the damn plastic monstrosity from the box and attempted to read the directions but in the end, threw them aside. “Useless. Whoever wrote them should be fired.”
An hour later, surrounded by a smart-assed audience, I plugged the damn tree in, it lit up and the jackasses clapped. “Great, now you guys can move it into the family room and attempt to decorate it with whatever you find. I’m going to bed,”and I stormed off and up to our bedroom much as a petulant child would. Proud of myself? No, not in the least.
I showered, alone, completely my fault. Who knew an old ass dragon could act so childish.
“Are you done throwing your tantrum, sir?” Alex asked as he came into our room. “I surely hope so because now that your dragonets are in bed it’s time to fill the stockings.”
“Shoot, the kids are in bed?”
“Yes and Gramps read them the bedtime story Papa had promised. Luna was not happy with that at all.”
“I need to go kiss them goodnight.”
“Yes, you do. Then meet me downstairs to do the stockings.” Alex left in a huff. I really flubbed up and on our first celebrated Christmas Eve, no less. I was all set to read them ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas then I…well, I acted like a version of me I hoped to never see again.
I popped into their rooms and kissed the foreheads of my beautiful babies. How long I’d waited to find my mate and start a family and here I was ruining a monumental night with my shitty attitude. Tears welled in my eyes as I glanced at my babies.
Blessed by the Goddess herself.
What a fool I was tonight and now I’d missed this first with my dragonets. I wiped the fallen tears away and kissed them again and whispered how much Papa loved them. The story book I was to read glared at me from the oversized rocking chair perched near the window.
How will I ever make this up to him.
“Luff ew, Papa,” my sweet Luna whispered.
“Love you too, Princess.” With another quick kiss to my half-asleep baby girl, I shut her bedroom door and sighed.
“You did it to yourself,” Alex chided. How long had he been standing there watching me wallow?
“I know and I regret it, immensely.” No one could make me feel any lower than I did right now. “Let’s fill the stockings and get the presents back under the tree.” I followed him into our bedroom closet, and we proceeded to load our arms full of gifts. It took a couple of trips to get it all down to the family room but with the merry tunes Alex had on I felt back to my old self by the time we’d finished.
“There, the stockings are done. I love seeing them overflowing. The kids will be so excited in the morning.”
“And waking us up early. I promise to get them ready and down here so you can have a few minutes to yourself in the morning.” There, I could be fair.
“Don’t puff up that peacock chest of yours. If you think that even puts a dent in you making it up to me or the kids, you’ve got another thing coming, dragon.”
Well, so much for that feeble attempt…
Tossing and turning all night, I worried I’d ruined Christmas. My head said I hadn’t but my heart hurt. Before the crack of dawn, I dressed and quietly went to the kitchen to brew a vat, yes, there would be that many bodies in and out today, of homemade hot chocolate with the plan to read the beloved tale to my children this morning even though it was after the fact. Cocoa in hand, I envisioned my four adorable offspring sitting in front of the tree as their Papa provided them with a theatrical version of the beloved tale humans adored.
As soon as the cocoa was simmering, I heard the dragonets stirring and wove my way up to their rooms.
“Merry Christmas, my loves!”
A round of half sleep ladenMewy Chistas Papafilled the hall. One by one I dressed them then gathered them in my arms and carried them downstairs.
“We have to wait for Daddy to get up so I thought we’d have cocoa and story time. What do you think?”
“Yay!” they cheered, though the twins kept eyeing their stockings, but those had to wait for Daddy too.
I cooled the cocoa with ice cubes as I poured each into a spill-proof sippy cup and sat them in a semi-circle in front of the tree as I took my place in the nearby chair.
“’Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house…” I began, their wide eyes glued to me as I read it. My heart filled with such warmth, having garnered their attention in such a positive manner was a rarity. Their sweet ooh’s and aah’s filled the air as I finished the tale, only once I was done a round of applause filled the silence. How had I not heard the others sneak up on us?