Page 37 of Mistletoe and Mayhem
Dorian frowned at him. “That’s an odd way of saying it.”
“Is it?” Kian grinned, then dropped his gaze to Dorian’s chest.
Dorian looked down, then groaned. “How’d you find that?”
Cackling, Kian smacked a kiss on his lips. “You tried to prank the master, gorgeous. You failed. Now you get to face the consequences.” He cocked his head taking him in with an evil grin. “Never thought I’d find a sparkly vampire sexy, but hey, first time for everything. Why not end a first vacation with the first sparkly vampire sighting?”
Story Five - Chaos, Coupons, and Christmas Shenanigans
CHAPTER ONE
“My turn! My turn! My turn!”
Alistair watched with a smile as Elijah plucked Hazel off her feet and put her on his shoulders, lifting her higher to put an ornament on the tree. She looked delighted by the height change, even though it was only two inches taller than Alistair, and she’d ridden his shoulders dozens of times. Meanwhile, Thayer bounced from foot to foot, waiting impatiently for his turn as Elijah’s little helper.
The tree was a new addition, something the kids had seen at a human friend’s house that they wanted to try. Their mother refused, she felt it was important to maintain family traditions, but after their time apart Alistair gave in without complaint. He did discuss it with Edwina first, they both agreed to co-parent without holding any past grudges, but she said it was fine as long as they appreciated both. Alistair included plenty of the normal traditions, but he didn’t see the harm in adding a few new ones. Elijah agreed with him, it was just a bit of fun, so they ended up buying a replantable tree to decorate when the kids arrived.
Watching his kids put the colorful baubles on the tree with Elijah made his chest warm, and not for the first time, he wasglad for the way things turned out. He never would have known what real love was if it wasn’t for Elijah.
Pink tinged Elijah’s cheeks as he set Hazel down, he could definitely hear Alistair’s train of thought, despite giving his attention to the kids. Alistair felt a smirk pull at his lips. Was it his fault his telepath was so sweet and sexy and perfect–
Alistair!
Even along the bond, he could hear the whine in Elijah’s voice. He both loved and hated when Alistair showered him with compliments, because he wasn’t sure how to handle that kind of attention yet. Six months together wasn’t long enough for Elijah to easily accept that kind of attention, not after a lifetime of the opposite.
“Children, I think your daddy has been sitting out too long. He should join us,” Elijah said, drawing the kids’ attention off the decorating and onto where Alistair had been stringing dried orange slices and cranberries for more tree decorations. His compromise with the tree was that all the decorations were natural except for a handful of human types that the kids had picked out themselves. Stringing cranberries wasn’t his favorite holiday activity, but the kids had wanted to play with Elijah, and he adored that, so he didn’t argue.
Thayer eyed him considerably, tipping his head to the side. “Daddy, you’re shorter than Eli, right?”
Alistair gave his son a mock-flat look. “Why are you pointing that out?”
“I’m taller than Hazel. If you pick me up, will we be taller than them?”
He pursed his lips thoughtfully. That wasn’t a terrible idea. “Let’s find out.”
Setting his task aside, he scooped his son up and put him on his shoulders like he’d done a thousand times before. Both kids were turning eleven soon, it would steadily become moredifficult, but he refused to say no when they asked to be picked up. Even if Thayer always pulled his hair when he sat on his shoulders.
He straightened slowly, the ceilings weren’t exactly tall, and chuckled when he had to remain partially ducked to not squash his son.
“I don’t think we can do a fair comparison inside,” Elijah pointed out with a smirk. “Should we try again outside?”
Everyone agreed, and they set the children down so they could put on jackets and boots. When they opened the door, the kids shrieked, jumping up and down in their excitement.
“It’s snowing!” they shouted in unison.
It had been snowing for over an hour now, but the kids hadn’t noticed, too busy decorating and baking cookies. They spent a good thirty minutes decorating Helios’s cat tree, much to the large cat’s smug satisfaction. It was a good thing they hadn’t noticed before now. The delay meant there was enough snow on the ground to play instead of just a light dusting.
The height test was momentarily forgotten as the kids ran outside, making tiny snow people and snow angels, while Elijah found a good stick to write their names in fancy script in the fluffy white powder. Alistair added a little magic to the mix, making the letters sparkle, and he was glad the kids were outside with the screeches that followed. He would have feared for his hearing if they’d been inside.
“Daddy! You and Eli have to do snow angels too!” Hazel demanded.
Elijah, happy to be included, went along without a fuss, but protective instincts made Alistair pause. Elijah’s jacket wasn’t as warm as his or the kids’. It was a cute little wool thing, but would definitely not keep him warm, or dry, for long if he got it all wet.
I guess you’ll just have to warm me up afterward, Elijah purred in his mind.
I won’t complain about that, he shot back with a smirk, letting Hazel lead him to a patch of mostly undisturbed snow. He took Elijah’s hand as they sat down and laid back spreading their arms and legs to make a proper snow angel. When they stood again, they were careful not to disturb their creations, stepping to the side to get a good look.
“Aw! They’re holding hands!” Hazel cooed, delighted.
