Cosima Niehaus smiled at the winter wonderland out the kitchen window. She'd woke earlier than everyone else and come down to put on a pot of coffee. She'd been tempted to wake Delphine for a Christmas morning romp but thought the acoustics of Cal's cabin might not have offered much in the way of privacy. So, she'd padded downstairs on bare feet to enjoy the quiet before the rush of Christmas morning was upon them. Cal and Sarah, who'd been seeing each other for the past few months, had invited everyone up to the cabin for Christmas morning. Donnie and Alison had already made plans to go to Miami. Art and his wife had been trying to reconcile their marriage. They'd taken their kids, along with Charlotte, to Disneyland for winter break. So, that left Helena and her little ones, Cosima and Delphine, Felix and Colin, and Sarah, Kira, and Cal, all of whom had stayed the previous evening at the cabin.
Cosima put a kettle of water on to make Kira a hot chocolate and in case Felix or Sarah preferred tea in the morning instead of coffee. It felt weird to be in a house with so many people for the holidays. Cosima had grown up an only child of two only children. She'd seen movies with extended families spending cozy warm Christmases together, but that had never been her reality. She looked at the Christmas tree in the front room which was abounding with more gifts than she'd probably received in all of her Christmases combined. She wasn't sure she was equipped for this kind of family life. She didn't have much time to think about it because Felix came into the kitchen looking like a zombie in a silk robe. "Thank God, you made coffee."
"Morning Felix, didn't sleep well?"
"No, our room was above Sarah and Cal. The only thing worse than lesbians is hets grinding all night!" Felix rolled his eyes. "You look well rested, though. Trouble in paradise?"
"You wish," Delphine called behind him. She looked like a goddess in her ivory silk pajamas as she leaned against the door jamb.
Felix glared at her. "Seriously, how does your hair look that good? You just rolled out of bed. And you don't have on a stitch of makeup. You're ridiculous."
"Don't be a hater!" Delphine brushed by Felix and pulled Cosima in for a morning kiss. "The bed was cold without you."
"Yeah?" Cosmia grinned against Delphine's mouth. "Did you miss me?"
"I stand corrected. Lesbians are worse!" Felix waved his hand and pretended to ignore them as he made his coffee the way he liked it.
"Looks like we got more snow overnight," Delphine said as she released Cosima.
"Yeah, I was thinking maybe we could go for a little walk." Cosima suggested.
"Sure. Do you want to wait for the kids to get up and open presents or do you wanna go now?"
"Umm-" Cosima hesitated. Would it be rude to not wait for the kids to get up? She'd never considered that. Cosima looked at the fresh snow and then back to the gift-laden tree. Before she could answer, Sarah and Cal came into the room looking as fresh as spring greens. Cosima shot Felix a knowing look. He raised his eyebrows and bobbed his head in a "you see what I mean" gesture. Cosmia lowered her head to hide her smile.
"Cos, you start the pancakes, I'll get the eggs, Cal, can you set the table?" Sarah started meteing out the various breakfast tasks.
"Pancakes?" Cosima's eyes widened. Apparently, Christmas breakfast was going to be a thing too.
"I like pancakes," Helena called as she came in carrying a twin on each hip.
"I just bet you do," Felix quipped. "With your appetite, I'm surprised you haven't eaten your young yet."
"Why you say this, brother-sestra? It is Christmas. Is day to be nice. So, I don't kill you."
"Thank you for that," Felix responded flatly as he ducked out of the kitchen. And just in time, Cosima thought because after that, the room was a flurry of activity with everyone working to put together a morning feast.
Delphine helped Cosima with the pancakes, heating the griddle and pouring in the buttermilk. "Whoa, that's too much." Cosmia cried.
"Non, that batter is too thick." Delphine shook her head.
"We aren't making crepes, mon cher," Cosima teased.
"I won't have any of your cheek this morning," Delphine retorted.
"I'll let you have both of my cheeks tonight," Cosima butted their hips together suggestively.
"I hope that's a promise you mean to keep." Delphine whispered.
After breakfast, the next hour, to Kira's delight, was spent opening gifts. The highlight of which was Cal and Sarah presenting Helena with birth certificates, social security numbers, and passports for her and her children. She was now officially Helena Manning and Art and Donnie were Mannings as well. Cosmia hadn't even bothered to fight the tears that came with the sheer joy of seeing Helena's bright smile when she asked, "You make us official family, sestra?" and Sarah replied, "Yeah, Meathead, you and the meatballs are my family forever now."
After the presents were all opened. Delphine pulled Cosima aside. "You wanna go for that walk now?"
"Yeah."
They went upstairs and changed into suitable clothing then headed out into the back yard. The snow was pure, no footprints, no dirt. It was sheer beauty. Cosmia almost hated to ruin it but she locked the image away in her memory then took a step into the fluff.
Delphine followed Cosima onto the frosted yard. As the snow crunched under her fur trimmed boots, she threaded her arm into the space between Cosima's arm and waist. They walked that way for awhile, just enjoying the peaceful winter around them.
A bright red cardinal swooped in front them on a mission to find his own breakfast in the cold morning. "It's new for me too, you know." Delphine whispered against Cosima's ear even though there was no one around to hear their conversation.
"What? Cosima' eyes blinked behind her glasses. Her eyes were wet but Delphine wasn't sure if it was the icy air that made them water or an unspoken emotion.
"The big family Christmas. It's not something I'm familiar with either."
"Really?" Cosima felt a little heartened by the comment. She knew that Delphine had siblings and she had just always assumed they had huge gatherings like the ones that filled the silver screen.
"Really. You know, I only saw my brother and sister in summer on holiday. And at Christmas. But Papa, he worked right up til Christmas morning. Maman tried to fill the home with love when we were there but it wasn't a happy place, really. Mostly, when I was home, I stayed in my room and read books." Delphine stopped herself because the sad look in Cosima's eyes made her feel maybe like she was oversharing and she didn't want to ruin the beautiful Christmas morning. "I hope you won't judge me for saying that I was happy when I found out that our number here would be limited."
"God no! I was relieved too." They both chuckled, lightening the mood.
"Good!" Delphine kissed the top of Cosima's red sock toboggan. "But I am glad we came. I love you, Cosima. Je t'aime."
"Yeah? I'm pretty fond of you too."
"Really? Just how fond are you ma Cherie?" Delphine asked as she pulled Cosima into Cal's work shed.
"Umm, I'm not sure what kinda girl you think I am," Cosima teased as she looked around at the various implements that hung on the wall.
"I think you are the kind of girl who slept without any panties last night but didn't give me any satisfaction." Delphine edged their bodies closer to a workbench and pulled off Cosima's knitcap letting her long dreads fall freely.
"Hmmm, noticed that did you?"
"Oui, every time my leg slid between yours I could feel your warmth and your fur tickled my thigh."
Delphine placed her hands on either side of the workbench as she finally had Cosima's back up against the edge of the tabletop. "But then when I slid by hand over your breast, you just entwined our fingers like you didn't want sex, even though you swiveled your little ass against me. That was naughty."
"Naughty? Who are you DelphinClaus?"
"Maybe, would you like to sit on my lap?"
"Ahaaahaa, more than I'd like to admit."
Delphine bit her bottom lip and looked around the room. She spotted an old camping chair. "Wait here," she ordered and pointed her finger at Cosima to warn her that any disobedience wouldn't be taken lightly.
Cosima could feel her arousal in her lower belly as she watched Delphine pull the chair from it's sleeve and unfold it. Delphine made sure the locks were secure and then sat down before calling Cosima over. "Come here," she commanded in her soft but assertive voice.
Cosima heartily obeyed. Nothing ratched up her desire like Delphine taking control. When she got situated on Delphine's thighs, Delphine reached around and undid the zipper of Cosima's winter coat. She slid her hand inside and squeezed Cosima's breast through the sweater she wore. "What do you want for Christmas, Cosima?" Delphine whispered.
"You," Cosmia breathed out a whisper as she pushed her own hand down over her sex.
"Uh-huh, you naughty girl," Delphine chided as she pulled Cosima's hand off of her pussy. "That's mine to unwrap."
"Please, I'm about to explode. I'm not gonna last long."
"Let me see," Delphine moved her hand under the band of Cosima's leggings. "Mon amour, so wet." The feeling of Delphine's ice cold hand against her burning, swollen clit was thrilling. Cosima relaxed her body against Delphine's and opened her legs wider, giving Delphine more room to work her off. It didn't take long with Delphine rubbing her with the pressure she knew Cosima liked and whispering naughty sweet nothings against her head as she pleasured her. Delphine couldn't help but smile when Cosima collapsed against her, wordless. There'd been a time when Cosima's sharp criticism of her lovemaking abilities had filled her head with doubt but she'd moved beyond that and had seen the barb for what it was, a lover striking out in the most hurtful way they could. Delphine had no doubts now about the sexual power she held over the woman stretched out across her body. But she wondered sometimes if Cosima knew the all-consuming power that Cosima held over her. Delphine didn't say 'I love you,' lightly. She didn't fall in love easily. But, she feared that Cosima did fall in love easily. Afterall, she'd turned to Shay rather quickly and she'd loved her, Delphine couldn't deny that Cosima's feelings for the other woman had been genuine. And that was what scared her the most. Did Cosima love her as much as she loved Cosima. If Cosima left her now, Delphine knew it would be her ending. She'd barely made it through their first break up. Alcohol had helped, alcohol and the fact that she'd believed that she was doing what was best for Cosima. But now, she knew that if she had to sit by and watch her love be with someone else that she wouldn't be able to do it.
Delphine looked down to find Cosima studying her face. "Everything okay?" Cosima asked.
Delphine affected a tight-lipped smile and nodded. Cosima knew that face. "No it isn't. What's going on? I thought we were having fun here."
'Oui, we are. I guess I just need to know that we are doing more than that." A tear formed at the corner of her left eye.
"Hey, hey, what's this?" Cosima sat up and faced Delphine. She tried for humor. "You aren't supposed to cry until after you come, remember?"
"I'm sorry."
"Stop. Why are you apologizing. Talk to me. Don't shut me out, Delphine."
"Cosima," More tears started coming, Delphine tried to sniff them back."When I say, I love you. I mean, I mean, I'm in love with you."
Cosima could feel her own tears starting to well up. Did Delphine doubt that she was in love with her too? "Delphine. I'm in love with you."
"Non, Cosima. I mean forever kind of love. I mean the kind of love, I didn't know existed. I didn't believe in. It's illogical, it's unscientific, monogamy is not part of human biology. It's certainly not very French of me." Delphine's ranting was cut short by Cosima's mouth closing over hers. Cosima could still taste the coffee and maple syrup on Delphine's tongue. When she broke the kiss, she took Delphine's face in her hands. "Delphine, I love you. Forever kind of love. Came back from the brink of death for you kind of love. Mourned you because I thought you were dead and that my soulmate was lost to me forever because of my own mistrust. I don't care if its logical or scientific. It's real. And it's everything for me." Cosima brushed back a strand of blonde hair and looked into the hazel eyes which were currently the warmest shade of honey brown that Cosima had ever seen. "When I said I want you for Christmas, Delphine, I mean I want you. All of you. I've never loved anyone this way."
"Shay." Delphine nearly choked on the name.
"Was a rebound."
"You loved her."
"I cared for her. I liked her. I am in love with you. Even then. And she knew it. I tired to make something work, Delphine. I was dying and didn't want to die alone. But once I thought you were gone, I knew my love went with you. Suddenly dying alone wasn't so terrifying. After that, I think I only kept working on the cure because I wanted to save the other Ledas."
A loud thud against the side of the building interrupted their conversation. A second thud. Something had hit the building. A third thud knocked off a saw that had been hanging on an old rusty nail.
"What the fuck?" Cosima stood up. Delphine hurried behind her. When Cosima opened the shed door, she got a snowball in the face. Delphine peeked her head carefully around. The backyard had erupted into a snowball fight. Cosima had been the victim of Helena's dead perfect aim. Another white missile came barrelling at them and Delphine was just able to pull Cosima out of harm's way.
Cosima wiped her face and cleaned her glasses. "We can't let that stand, you know."
"Oh, I know. This is war!" Delphine nodded.
"But how are we going to get snowballs?" Cosima chanced a glance out the window. Helena had built a blind for her and Kira and they were pummeling everyone else from behind the safety of the snowmound. Felix, Cal, and Sarah were dusted from head to toe in snow but they had piles of balls that they were using to try and rout Kira and Helena. Colin watched from the safety of the porch, he'd been given baby duty. "Is there a back way out of here?"
They looked the tiny shed over. The front was their only out. "If we open that door to get snow, they are going to cream us." Cosima reasoned. "I'm smaller. You open the door, but stay hidden behind it. I'll go low and scrape us in some snow."
Delphine eyed the back wall. "I've got a better idea."
Cosima followed Delphine's eyeline. "My woman," she grinned. "Let's do it."
Sarah was tucked in behind a tree lobbing snowballs at Kira and Helena. Cal and Felix were trying to flank Helena's position while Sarah kept up a constant barrage. Kira struggled to make snowballs as fast as Helena could throw them. When they heard the shed door creak, they all turned to and made ready to fire at Cosima and Delphine. The door flew open, followed by the hum of small engines. Delphine came out pushing the snowblower and headed straight for Helena's makeshift fort. Cosima crouched low with the leaf blower, pushing the top layer of dust across the yard toward Sarah and Fe. Colin cheered from the porch. Within minutes, both factions waved their hands and were willing to discuss the terms of surrender. As Delphine watched Cosima negotiate with her sestras, she had to fight back more tears. Cosima's dreads were dusted with snow like powdered sugar. There was a time when Cosima out in the cold, playing with her sestras would have been a death sentence with her respiratory distress. Not anymore, Delphine smiled. Death was no longer knocking at every turn. Instead, Life spread out before them. Life. A life together. And Delphine couldn't have asked for a better gift for Christmas.