Chapter 12- Christmas Vacation Part III
Sam descended the stairs after Loki finally let go of Bobby. "Whats going on?" Sam asked.
"Bobby just gave us his permission!" He swooped her up in his arms and spun her around. "After this holiday, we're taking one of our own!"
Sam giggled from the excitement, then his words sunk in as he set her down, "You asked Bobby for approval for... us dating?"
He nodded vigorously, "Courting you Samanshine. Why are you so surprised when I follow human customs?"
"Because you live by your own rules?"
He threw his head back laughing, pulling her closer in the process, "Yes, but it is the hen that turns the rooster's neck."
She patted him on the chest. "You will never cease to surprise me," and smiled into him.
"Then I vow to continue to try my Samanberry." He said and kissed her temple.
Bobby cleared his throat, "Are we gonna eat or wait for the second coming of Christ?"
Loki and Sam finally pulled away from each other and Loki spoke, "Turkey is done, I'll carve. Side dishes are on the counter if you could put them on the table. There is milk in the fridge, otherwise the liquor cabinet is full."
Bobby headed towards the cabinet, he opened it and said, "A man that knows the good stuff in life is a friend indeed." He pulled out a bottle of merlot and brandy and poured them each a glass. Loki finished up the turkey as they had a seat and set it as the centerpiece.
"Looks great!" Sam said, Loki looked at her with a pleased look.
Loki asked, "Would anyone like to say grace?" Both Bobby and Sam looked at each other confused, Bobby raised an eyebrow, at least she wasn't alone on her confusion.
"Come on, just because I am god of mischief doesn't mean I'm a heathen!"
It was Sam who began to pray like she had as a young child, "Dear Lord, thank you for this bountiful meal and our company. May our brother Dean find peace though he is not with us. Amen."
Loki and Bobby both said Amen in chorus before passing dishes. A meal that was silent was a good meal indeed. Loki asked, "So do you guys do gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas day?" Neither of them had an answer because they hadn't celebrated Christmas in so long. "How about tonight then? Christmas day is usually reserved for the kiddies."
After dinner they sat around the tree, conversing about cars and then later about hunting while they strung popcorn on a string. They hung it among the lights but the tree was missing tradition. "I was told that Christmas decorations are a story. Since this is the first Christmas tree you've had in many years, I thought I would do the honor and create our first ornament." He handed over a globe that appeared to be painted. It was of Bobby's house the way it looked this evening. It said Singer/Winchester 2017. Bobby shook it in his hand and snow began to fall. "It's enchanted," Loki stated. Sam was happy to hang it on the tree after she took her turn marveling at it.
Loki handed out the first gift and gave it to Sam, "This one is from Vincent." It would tall and cylindrical, she could tell through the wrapping it was a little squishy. Next he handed a small box to Bobby.
Loki watched as they opened up their gifts. Sam knew it must have been the coffee mug when Bobby ripped apart the paper. She looked to him opening the cover and he chuckled when he pulled it out. "This is great. I didn't know they made such a thing." Sam just nodded her head in Loki's direction, "Thank you you guys."
Sam unwrapped her gift and it was a set of 5 tennis balls. When Vincent saw them he wagged his tail and barked. She took one out of the packaging and gave it to him. "Thanks Vincent, we'll get good use out of these, won't we boy." He grabbed it by his teeth and brought it to his resting spot to get it slobbery.
Bobby handed Sam asmall, long box, he also handed Loki a rectangualr box, both wrapped in newspaper. Sam said to Bobby, "You didn't need to."
"Open it," he replied. She did and it was a beautiful silver blade with a leather handle. "Oh Bobby, it's perfect!" She ran her thumb along the blade and it was as sharp as it should be. She got up from her chair and gave him a hug. Loki opened up his gift next and it was a hand carved wooden bead rosary.
Bobby said, "I wasn't sure who her friend was, but I figured any friend of Sam should have a good rosary."
"This is very nice, thank you. I'm assuming it's blessed?"
"What's the point of giving a rosary that hasn't been blessed?" Bobby said, with no malice in his voice. Loki then placed it around his neck and tucked it in his shirt. Sam thought this was peculiar, but wasn't going to call it sacrilegious, not knowing Loki's intent.
Loki then handed the next gift to Bobby, the book. He unwrapped it and stared at it in awe. " Well this is a rare one." He had done what Sam did and flipped it around in his hands. Careful of the binding. He then paged through it a bit and stopped and asked, "Where did you get this?"
Sam said it was a copy from Loki's collection. "This is a... MySpace page for deities… I have never seen some of this lore before…" He couldn't tear his eyes from the pages.
That is, until Loki spoke up, "There is a chapter in there on me. Don't judge me harshly when you get there though, I was a young kit." Bobby turned his head immediately. "You'll get there, so don't worry your scruffy face," and winked.
Sam scoffed. She can't put anything past him. Though, she wondered what was written on those pages.
Bobby closed the book and set it on his armchair, "Thanks Loki, you just remember our conversation."
"Next up! My Samanshine!" He handed her a slightly heavy box. She unwrapped it slowly to discover it was a brand new laptop.
"You have 3 terabytes of storage, tons of ram, and a built in cloud drive. It also has a separate processor to access the dark web should you need to access anything sinister from around the world."
"Wow Loki! Thank you! I would say this is too much, but I know you by now." She got up to give him a hug, but he merely pulled her into his lap.
"You're my lass. Nothin' but the best for you." She looked into his eyes and they were full of devotion. She kissed him on the lips. She felt a little trepidation, it was her turn to give Loki his gift. Sam turned to Bobby, "Does your piano still work?"
"Uh, not sure?" He replied.
Loki piped up, "Sure does! Is that my gift?" He asked excitedly bouncing her on his lap. "Are you going to play us a song?"
She bit her lip, "Yes." Sam knew Loki comprehended the significance of this gift, she was just as eager to play for him as he was to be an audience. She hopped off his lap and they followed to the library to find the piano in almost pristine shape.
She sat down and played a few notes to hear how it sounded. "Merry Christmas Loki." Her fingers started to play her favorite Cat Stevens song, she was a little shy at first, but found her groove...
"Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free,
'Cause there's a million things to be
You know that there are…"
Her voice was beautiful, and she didn't miss a beat. Loki stood a little straighter at the third verse.
"You can do what you want
The opportunity's on
And if you can find a new way
You can do it today
You can make it all true
And you can make it undo
You see, ah ah ah
It's easy, ah ah ah
You only need to know"
She finished and they clapped. Loki pecked her on the cheek, "Best gift ever. Thank you. Do you have another one in ya'?"
"I can manage one more. It's not a Christmas tune though."
"The night is long, I'll take care of those. Go on Sammy girl." She began to play 'I Don't like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats. Loki helped sing the back up vocals, Bobby tapped along enjoying the entertainment.
The rest of the evening went swimmingly. Loki ended up playing carols while his hunters butchered their way through basic Christmas lyrics. The grumbling in Joy to the World was laughable, and who knew Jingle Bells had so many cuss words in it. They did have a Merry Christmas Eve, and there was still one more day of cheer to spread.