Page 3 of Fated Midlife Christmas
“Mine, too,” Arden chimed in. He’d been attached to Sage ever since she’d first come to the Artemis Eclipse Sisterhood’s covenstead, and it was quite possible he was only saying this for her sake.
“How about you?” Chelsea asked Corbin. “We could go watch the Christmas tree lighting, or we can get back to the house for the party.”
“You should all join us,” Beck suggested. “The kids can get comfortable and relax, and Lilith has really decked the place out. I think she’s been cooking for the last few days.”
“A party!” Sage’s eyes lit up. “I like parties!”
“Me, too!” Arden echoed.
Erin smiled. “We’d love to come.”
“Kristy? Amanda? You, too.” Chelsea insisted.
Before she knew it, she was heading back to the Alexander clanhouse, hoping she didn’t find any ways to embarrass herself more than she already had.
2
“Oh,yay! You’ve brought everyone with you!” Lilith exclaimed as they arrived at the Alexander clanhouse. “Ewan and Griffin were just telling me that we’d never eat all of this before it goes bad.”
Lars and everyone else who’d been at the Hawthorne Hotel came streaming into the house. The living room was suddenly full of chaos and laughter.
Sage grinned and spun in a circle as Tina unwound her scarf from her neck.
“Where did your mittens go?” Tina asked.
“Um…” Sage looked in her pockets, but she only found one red mitten. They went back out to their car to find the other one.
Corbin plopped on the floor to yank off his boots. He tossed them toward the shoe rack before he came racing over to Ewan. “I saw him! I saw him!”
“Did you?” Ewan gave anoofof discomfort as his young clanmate hurled himself at his stomach, but he didn’t complain.
“He was right up there on the rooftop! Do you think he flew his sleigh up there?” Corbin suddenly rolled off of Ewan’s lap,and a thoughtful look came over his face. “Wait. Why didn’t he just use his sleigh to get back down to the ground?”
“Um, I think that’s a good question for your father,” Ewan said, giving Beck a pointed look.
“First, you need to go put your boots where they belong,” Chelsea chided Corbin gently. “Then we can talk all about it.”
Maeve and Kendrick showed up a moment later, since Chelsea had called them on the way over. “Ah, now this feels like the perfect way to kick off the Christmas season!” Kendrick announced, his arms wide and his voice booming. “Everyone here together, just as it should be. We just need a fire going.”
“On it!” Griffin went over to the fireplace, where he carefully created a pyramid of wood. Instead of lighting it with one of the matches from the mantel, though, he crouched in front of it and blew a controlled stream of flame from his lips. The fire was soon crackling happily.
“I hope you’re not missing home too much,” Beck said to Lars as he came to stand next to him. “Our traditions are all a little messy, and sometimes we forget a few here and there, but at least we’re all together.”
Lars took in the scene around him and smiled. It was loud and disorganized, but everyone was smiling and laughing. There were plenty of festive Christmas sweaters, and the smell of delicious food wafted out of the kitchen. Most interesting of all, however, was Amanda as she made her way across the room to ask Lilith if she needed any help. “I think it’s just fine. Speaking of traditions, I brought something along that might be a fun addition to the evening.”
Slipping into the kitchen, he found Lilith at the stove. “Do we still have a little time before dinner?” he asked as he opened a cabinet.
“We do, and I hope you’ve got a good way of filling that time.” Lilith shut the oven door and frowned. “I miscalculated the time I needed for this ham. I don’t know how I managed to do that!”
He held up the tall, clear bottle he’d brought along from home. “I think I can keep everyone entertained for a while if you have some small glasses.”
“What is it? And don’t you need to chill it?” Lilith took the bottle and studied the label. “Aquavit?”
“The water of life,” he explained. “In my country, we serve it at room temperature.”
“I guess that kind ofischilled all the way up there in the Arctic Circle! Yes, I think I’ve got something.” Lilith found an assortment of shot glasses and put them on a tray along with a couple of other items, and she and Lars came out to the living room. “Lars has brought us an aperitif!” she announced.
“What’s that mean?” Sage asked.
