Page 25 of A Swan for Christmas

They wandered to the next aisle, sipping their cooling cocoa and enjoying the lights and decorations as much as the wares. Kellan gasped then shoved his almost empty cup at Vic before rushing to a stall a few booths away.

What the hell?

He caught up to Kellan right as he picked up a stuffed wolf, holding the toy in front of him and staring at it with an expression of adoration. Vic froze, glued to the spot, unable to tear his eyes from the scene before him. He swallowed past a lump in his throat, his eyes burning as he committed the moment to memory where he could add it to the many other wonderful ones he’d been building with Kellan.

Kellan turned to him, his jaw slack. “Oh Vic, can we please get it? The markings and the color of the coat is almost exactly like yours!”

Vic coughed into his fist in an effort to regain control of himself. “Of course, you can have it.” He stooped down to press a kiss to Kellan’s temple. “And you’ve got the real thing too, forever and ever.”

Kellan hugged the wolf to his chest. “You’re much better than any stuffed toy, but I was thinking that if any of my eggs should ever be fertile and we have a baby, they’d love it too.”

Vic sniffed and swiped a finger under his eye, unable to respond other than to nod. He waved his hand toward the woman manning the booth, hoping that Kellan would get the message that he should give it to her so they could pay. He pushed a couple bills into Kellan’s palm then dipped his head back in a bid to keep the tears from spilling.

Kellan tugged on his hand and Vic noted that the toy had been wrapped in red and green tissue inside a gift bag, the very end of its snout peeking out from beneath the folds of paper. He beamed a smile up at Vic.

“Thank you, Vic. We can put it under the tree and save it for Christmas morning.”

Oh gods. He’s gonna get me all wound up again.

Since he didn’t want to be caught openly weeping in the middle of the town square, he decided to take a moment and haul all their purchases to the truck so he could pull himself together. Vic left Kellan with Flora for a bit, since he loved to quiz her about the different oils and what they were used for.

When he returned, Flora was helping a customer and Kellan was standing off to the side, holding his palm against his belly with an odd expression. Vic hurried over to him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “I’m not sure. You know how I keep getting full really fast all the time when I eat?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that came on all of a sudden as well as a kind of gurgling in my gut. But all I had was the cocoa.”

Vic frowned. “Maybe it was the whipped cream. You did eat that kind of fast.” Boy, did you ever. “If you’re feeling bad, we can leave. We can pick up some ginger ale on the way home.”

“No, I don’t want to go.” Kellan regarded him with imploring eyes. “It’s better now. I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? There’s still another weekend left before Christmas, we could come back again.”

Kellan clutched his hand. “But what if there’s another storm? It’s so pretty tonight, we can see the stars. And we haven’t even watched the ice skaters yet.”

Vic pulled Kellan into his arms. “All right, let’s stay. But if your stomach starts bothering you again, then let me know.” Vic framed Kellan’s face between his gloved hands. “I love you and you’re very precious to me.”

Kellan offered him a wide smile. “I love you too, lots and lots. Can we go to the rink now?”

Vic rubbed their cold noses together. “Anything you want, sweetheart.”

Chapter Nine

Vic trudged across the parking lot, exhausted from a load of craziness at both the inn and restaurant. One of his staff members from housekeeping, Lila, had fallen into some bizarre coma with zero explanation. Then, one half of the burners on the grill had died. With Christmas and the other year-end holidays upon them, he couldn’t afford to have his kitchen compromised in any way.

When he reached the porch of his cabin, he banged the toes of his boots against the wood to shake off as much moisture and detritus as he could. He swung the door open and was in the middle of pulling off his gloves when Kellan burst from the bedroom at the back of the house, screeching and flapping his arms. Whoever thought mute swans were unable to make noise had never been around Kellan when he was either having sex or excited about something and speaking at the top of his lungs. This display, however, was something new altogether.

Kellan had made it halfway across the length of the cabin at full speed, when he seemed to come to his senses, grabbing hold of the couch arm to halt his progress. He let out a few puffs of air as his frantic breathing gradually slowed.

“Vic!” He placed a hand to his forehead. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Vic was about to respond when he noticed that every cabinet and closet door within his visual range was wide open. He frowned as he finished removing his gloves, stuffing them in his coat pocket before shrugging it off. Once he’d tossed it on the coat hook, he took a few tentative steps toward Kellan. When he reached what he thought was a safe distance in case Kellan went berserk again, he opened his arms.

Kellan’s lower lip trembled for a moment then he launched himself into Vic’s embrace. He broke into fits of sobs.