Page 83 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
“Santa came!” Ruby grabbed her mother’s hand, dragged her to the sofa, then placed matching felt reindeer antlers on her head.
Mads approved.
“Did Santa bring coffee?” Mads placed a freshly brewed mug in her hand. “Santa’s all right by me,” she mumbled, sipping the brew.
Ruby tore through her presents with fierce glee that verged on mania. The calf sat at the epicenter of torn paper and discarded ribbons, like the splatter pattern of a vanquished foe. He could not have been prouder of his daughter.
He unwrapped his gifts and thanked them both with kisses and hugs. Odessa smiled at his gifts of bath soap and lotions, along with the gift certificate to a clothing store she favored. They were adequate gifts, not amazing gifts, and he could see the visible disappointment in her forced smile. He did not need to read her aura to know that.
“I think there’s one more present,” he said. He pointed to a small, flat box tucked into the branches of the tree. Ruby scurried to retrieve it and brought it to her mother.
“What’s this?” Odessa examined the hand-carved wooden box. Gerald helped Mads make the box. Shaping an item from one piece was a completely different skill set than cutting and joining pieces together. He carved the entwined hearts design and inlaid it with crushed stone and resin. Polished to a smooth finish, lacquered, and sealed, the box gleamed in the twinkling lights from the tree.
Mads moved to his knees. “Open it.”
Inside, Odessa found a gold ring nestled on a bed of velvet.
“Odessa—”
She screamed. A happy scream, he hoped.
“Yes! Ohmigod, yes.” Clenching the ring in one hand, she threw her arms around him. The felt antler whacked him in the face. “Yes, yes,” she repeated, peppering him with kisses.
A happy scream.
He held his mate, who managed to laugh and sob at the same time. “Can I ask my question now?”
She held the ring protectively against her chest. “Oh no. You’re going to say something stupid and ruin the moment, aren’t you?”
“Stupid’s not a nice word, Mommy,” Ruby chided.
“Only if it’s stupid to say that I adore you, love you, and I always have,” Mads said.
“So stupid,” Odessa whispered.
“There’s only ever been you in my heart.” He gently forced open her hand and took the ring. “You’re the best person I know. My first friend. My first love. My first kiss.”
“Mine too. All those things.”
“Marry me? Let’s do that legally binding thing you humans seem so fond of.”
“There it is,” she said with the brightest smile he had ever seen. He slipped the ring on her finger. “Oh. My. God.”
“Yes?”
“Yes!” More hugs and kisses.
This was the greatest day of his life and it was about to get better.
“I’ve always wanted a Christmas proposal. How did you know?” She admired the ring on her hand. A ring of daisies cast in gold circled her finger, with a topaz chip in each blossom. The design reminded him of the flowered crown she made him once. He wore it proudly, decorated like the king of the forest. He hid the blossoms from his father and pressed them in a book to preserve them.
“Mommy, you watch that kissing movie every Christmas,” Ruby said.
“It is true,” he added. When they were young, Odessa had been obsessed with a low-budget romantic comedy. The couple did not like each other at first but meddling friends conspired to bring them together. At the end, the romantic lead proposes on Christmas Day in front of the tree. Odessa would give a dreamy sigh and proclaim that was exactly how she wanted to be proposed to. “Every time we watched it, you said that’s what you wanted.”
“You remembered.” She smiled, eyes watering.
“You watch it every Christmas. We can’t forget,” Ruby said. She moved to her mother’s lap and admired the ring. “I don’t think this is the right ring. It’s s’posed to be diamonds.”
