AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My mother sent along my childhood ornaments. I told you that.” I’m still staring at the box as if he’s holding a snake. We are very careful to be honest with each other at all times, and this feels like I just walked into a trap. It’s probably not as big a deal as I’m feeling like it is, but there’s nothing quite as awful as your loved one getting you a gift and you haven’t gotten them anything in return.
“Yes.” He lifts one hand and catches my chin in a gentle grip. “I like that tradition. Both for the experience of you picking an ornament every year, and the knowledge that when you start your own household, she was able to send all that history to you for your first holiday away.”
Slowly, my brain starts to catch up with my emotions and I’m able to read between the lines of what he saying. I look at the box again. “That’s not for me.”
“I thought it would be nice to start that tradition with our children. I know this technically isn’t there first holiday, being as how they’re not in the world with us yet, but it still feels right.”
“Oh, Hades.” Itdoesfeel right. So many things have ended this year, but so many things have begun as well. He releases me and I reach out to lift the lid off the box. Inside, nestled in plenty of crinkle paper to keep them safe, are two ornaments. They are nearly identical perfect black starbursts, one lined with silver and one lined with gold. “They’re beautiful.”
“Shall we put them on the tree now?”
“Absolutely.” As I rise and follow Hades to the tree, I feel a little silly for jumping the gun and making assumptions about the gift. Of course he wouldn’t walk back on the promises we made to each other. He never has before. He certainly wouldn’t start now. We hang the delicate ornaments and step back to survey our work. The twins choose that moment to start doing cartwheels in my stomach. I wince and press my hand there. “I think they like the present.”
Hades sinks to his knees next to me, and frames my stomach with his hands. “Calm down, little ones. We’re excited to meet you too, but you’re hurting your mother.”
I manage a chuckle. “You keep trying to talk sense into them, but I don’t think they’re listening. There’s just simply not enough room.” We have a little less than three months left. It seems like no time at all and yet an eternity. But then, my chances of making it to full-term with twins are significantly worse that I’d like. I push the thought away. There’s no room for worries today.
I cover Hades’s hands with mine. He raises his gaze to me and smiles, all of the stress and worry from last year seeming to fall away. “I’m still having a hard time believing this is real. I keep expecting to wake up one morning and find that it’s all been a dream. I don’t deserve you, and I don’t deserve this happiness.”
“Yes, you do.” I shift my grips to his wrists and tug him up to his feet. “You deserve all the happiness in the world. Only good things, husband, only good things.” I don’t promise that everything’s going to be okay. Life is life, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned is that there are no guarantees. But that doesn’t mean we have to live in fear. We have right now. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Persephone. Every time I think I can’t love you more, you go and prove me wrong.” He kisses me, long and sweet. “Now, let’s get ready for guests. They should be here soon.”
Thank you so much for reading First Holiday! If you enjoyed this little slice of life novella and want to spend more time in Olympus, please be sure to check out Neon Gods, which is the story of how Hades and Persephone fell in love.
Amazon
iTunes
B&N
Kobo
Google Play
Once upon a time, John and Daphne Sawyer moved to northern Michigan—the Leelanau peninsula to be exact—and purchased a rambling old farmhouse set amid acres of neglected vineyards, hilly fruit orchards, and peaceful pasture. Together, they worked hard to transform the place into a working farm and winery as well as a small but elegant inn and wedding venue. They also raised five daughters, whose love stories are told in the Cloverleigh Farms Series:
Sylvia Sawyer, 40, married to Henry DeSantis
Her children Whitney (16) and Keaton (13), from a previous marriage
Their son Steffan (2)
Her book: UNBREAKABLE, (Cloverleigh Farms #4)
April Sawyer, 38,married to Tyler Shaw
Their daughter Frankie (4 months)
Her book: UNFORGETTABLE, (Cloverleigh Farms #5)
Meg Sawyer, 37, married to Noah McCormick
Their baby boy (1 week overdue)
Her book: INSATIABLE, (Cloverleigh Farms #3)
Chloe Sawyer, 35, married to Oliver Pemberton
