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“Yes. Joseph. He likes you.”
I got into the sleigh with her. Mina and Joseph waved at us, and we waved back.
“Nah, he doesn’t like me,” I said. But I was smiling to myself. “He was just being polite.”
“No, he meant it when he said he could use your help this spring. By then, the baby will be here, and I’ll help Mina. They need us. Which is a good thing, because I’ll need Mina too.”
“What for?”
Snowdrop was happy to be moving again. Frost ran ahead of the sleigh.
“For when I’ll be in her position,” Aura said, cuddling to my side. “Big, and round, and heavy, and terrified that I’m not ready to be a mother.” She chuckled.
I was stunned. Was she talking about having babies? So soon? Because I was in.
“She’s glowing, though,” she continued. “Do you think I’ll glow when I get pregnant?”
I looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Because she was.
“You’re glowing already, my wife. And I believe you’ll glow even more.”
She giggled and hid her face in my arm.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aura
What we knew about Christmas came from ancient books that had survived the Shift. There weren’t a lot of them, and most had missing pages and even entire chapters that had been lost and impossible to reproduce. There was a lot we didn’t know about this holiday, like why it was called Christmas, and why the people who lived on Alia Terra before the Shift chose to celebrate it in winter. We did know that gifts were exchanged on the first day of Christmas, and that we were supposed to decorate our houses and our yards prior to it. Some people took an entire tree inside and decorated it, but I personally never understood this tradition. I was glad to see that Krampus didn’t favor it, either.
The second I got the yarn that I wanted, I set about to work on the Christmas presents I was going to give my husband, Frost, and Snowdrop. Fluffy was going to get something, too. I spent every minute I had knitting. It was a good thing I loved it and my fingers were used to the effort, otherwise I might not have finished in time.
Christmas Day came much too soon. Because I’d been so busy knitting, Krampus took care of Christmas dinner. I was eternally grateful to him. I cooked too, but I had to admit that he was simply better at it than I was. It had snowed all day, and I hated it that we wouldn’t be able to visit Mina and Joseph because of how bad the roads were, but it was cozy inside, and I had my husband. What more could I ask for? I had never been greedy, and I wasn’t going to start now.
Before dinner, we gathered in front of the fireplace. Krampus and I sat in front of each other, ready to exchange gifts, and Frost was at our feet, his ears perked in anticipation. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew it was different from our daily routine. Fluffy was in my lap, munching on a biscuit. Snowdrop was in the barn, of course. I was going to bring him his gift later.
“I’ll go first,” I said. “I didn’t have much time, so... I’m afraid Frost gets the best present.”
I pulled out a sweater that I’d knitted for him. For some reason, I’d gotten this knitting pattern in my head, and I started making the sweater before I realized it would take me forever to make it in my husband’s size. Lucky Frost.
Krampus laughed out loud. I frowned, and he apologized, saying, “It’s lovely. But Frost has never worn a sweater. Let’s see if he’ll let us put it on him.”
The dog sniffed his present thoroughly before allowing us to dress him up. We struggled to make him understand he needed to put his front legs through the two holes, and when the sweater was finally on, I was tired and sweaty. Krampus seemed to be just fine, but the whole process had been a workout for me.
“And this is for you,” I told Krampus as I gave him his gift.
He tore into it quickly, grinning, and pulled out a scarf that was in the same colors as Frost’s sweater. He hugged it to his chest and looked at me with what I could only call puppy eyes.
“Thank you so much,” he said. “No one has ever knitted something for me before.”
My eyes widened. “Better get used to it. I’m already thinking about what I’m going to knit for your birthday.”
His smile fell. “I don’t know when my birthday is, Aura.”
I set Fluffy down and moved to press myself to my husband’s chest. He wrapped his big arms around me.
“I know. That’s why I think you should choose a day, and that will be your birthday. What’s your favorite season?”
“Spring.”
