Page 4 of Dreaming of an Omega Christmas
Being wood elves gave Traviel and Elarian the power to control plants, which included accelerating their growth. I knew they had started growing some things for the town restaurants, so they could use fresh, locally grown food in the winter. It seemed that Sweet Bites had placed an order for some holiday baking.
Elarian came in a moment later with another box. “In the back,” I told him, before he could ask.
Eden returned to his post at the front counter, so I decided to go ahead and just order a round of everyone's favorite Sweet Bites breakfast. By the time the elves were done carrying in their boxes, I was sitting and waiting for them at a table.
“Oh, thank you,” Traviel said, recognizing his favorites at an empty place on the table. He sat down next to me. “You’re awesome.”
“Thank you, Travis. Just what I needed,” said Elarian.
I smiled and nodded to both him and Travis as he sat down, settling Kirielm in a high chair next to him. He produced some little cereal puffs for the baby and set them within reach.
“I can't believe he's eating solid food already,” I said, as Kirielm grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth. I looked fondly at the child they had dubbed my nephew from time to time as we ate and talked. Even though I did feel lonely here sometimes, there were some things that I would hate to give up. And while I felt awkward around Elarian and Traviel for the first couple of months, I seemed to have settled into a role as a close friend. Traviel had taken to jokingly calling me his brother, and quite honestly, I was starting to embrace it. I wondered if, as a human, I'd be able to find Vale Valley again, if I did leave. I wasn't sure I could do it without the help of the genie.
After we finished, I got up to throw our trash away and heard Elarian's happy cry of surprise. I turned to see he and Traviel were greeting someone. I walked over as they introduced the man to their baby, and stood awkwardly near the table, wondering who the stranger was.
After a couple of coos to the baby he straightened, turned, and with a start I realized it was Falkanar, the wandering elf! He glanced at me with a nod of greeting, then did a double-take with wide eyes.
“Who? What?” he stammered, looking back and forth between me and Traviel.
“Ah.” Traviel laughed and clapped me on the back. “This is Travis. It's somewhat of a long story. Travis, I’m sure you remember Falkanar. You know him, in a way.”
“We've actually met likethis,” I said. They all looked confused, so I elaborated. “I ran into Falkanar at a grocery store back home. He's the reason I realized Vale Valley was a real place.”
Falkanar’s eyes widened in recognition. “I remember that! I thought you were…” He looked at Traviel, then back at me. “Sorry, I also thought you were human?”
“I am,” I admitted. He looked back at Traviel again.
“It's a long story,” Traviel chuckled. “When did you get into town?”
“Last night,” Falkanar said. “I figured I’d start off on the right foot with a good breakfast.”
Elarian smiled at him “I’m glad you did. Why don't you grab your food and come over to our place? We can catch up.”
“That would be great,” Falkanar said. “Let me just grab a bite.” He headed over to the counter to order.
“You're invited too, of course,” Elarian said. “I'm sure he'd like to hear the story from all of us.”
“I’ll be there.”
Elarian was grinning widely as he cleaned up Kirielm, and I knew he was happy to see Falkanar again. I honestly felt the same way. Even though I only knew the wandering elf from my time as Traviel, I knew he was a good man. In spite of the fact he could only stay in one place for a short amount of time, he pushed that limit to stay with Elarian, after finding out that the pregnant wood elf’s mate kept disappearing at random. He even drove Elarian to a couple of doctor’s appointments. I knew firsthand how grateful Traviel had been for the assistance in his absence. And I felt the same way. Not to mention the grocery store incident. That one was accidental on Falkanar’s part, but nevertheless it led me to Vale Valley, and I was grateful for that.
The five of us headed back to Traviel and Elarian’s house together, while Falkanar regaled us with where his wandering had taken him over the last six months. Even though I tended to move around a lot, I couldn't believe how many places he had gone in just a few short months. Although, I suppose when you moved around every couple of weeks, you covered a lot of ground.
We settled into the living room and Elarian got a pot of tea started, while Traviel settled Kirielm down on a play mat.
Falkanar’s eyes once again darted between me and Traviel. “So, what exactly happened? More importantly…” He turned to Traviel. “Are you still disappearing?”
“No,” Traviel said. “Thanks to Travis here, with a little help from a genie.”
Falkanar’s eyebrow raised
“Make that alotof help,” I said.
Together, the three of us wove the story of how regular human me managed to get three wishes, bring Traviel and Elarian to life, and end up living in Vale Valley across the street from them.
“That's incredible,” said Falkanar, when we were finished. He looked back and forth between me and Traviel again. “Just incredible.” His mouth quirked up into a smile. “I'm glad I ran into you, then.”
“Me too,” I said honestly.
