The atmosphere in the living room was heavy. Tracy shifted uncomfortably, knees pressed together and back rigid. He'd been dreading this for weeks, since Rae had gotten off the phone and told him he was joining her and her family for Christmas. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to be there - quit the contrary, he was happy to be with her. It was her family that set him on edge. It wasn't much of a secret that her father was less-than-pleased with him Tracy couldn't blame him, honestly. He was concerned for his daughter, and the fact that she was living with a fairy who was somewhere about twenty five times her age didn't help matters. Tracy knew that he was a topic of concern in her family, and perhaps that's why Rae brought him.

But despite her good intentions, he was still terribly nervous about the whole ordeal. Rae sat next to him, a hand rested gently on his knee, rubbing reassuringly as she talked to her family; he sat and listened, not wanting to be obtrusive. Rae moved her hand, pulling him back to rest against the cushion of the couch, before settling back against him. That was all it took, her weight against him, to calm his nerves. He unfolded himself, stretching his legs out to a more comfortable position and letting the tension in his shoulders relax. He let and arm snake around her middle, holding her close.

It was a nice reminder that he was meant to be enjoying himself. He'd shared his holidays with her - perhaps not in full, as they remained on The Human Plane - and this was her trying to introduce him to her culture. He appreciated it, and was always eager, but he couldn't help but feel like a fish out of water. Christmas was a religious holiday for the humans, that much he knew. But that was the extent of his knowledge, and he felt her family saw it clearly in him. Rae's mother was unhappy for it, and her siblings told their young children to leave him be, though he would have been more than happy to entertain the, - he loved kids. He was a Tooth Fairy, for Mab's sake! But again, he couldn't blame them. He would be patient with her family and hope against hope that they accepted him as a part of it, as a part of her.

For the meantime though, he smiled nervously and watched as a book was passed across the living room, ending with Rae. It was a gorgeous blue book with gold-trimmed leaves and engraving. She opened the book, seeing to know almost exactly which page to flip to, and readily explained. "This," she said, splaying a hand across the thin paper, "is The Christmas Story. We read it every year. This is why we celebrate Christmas, Trace."

He shifted slightly, trying to follow over her shoulder as she read aloud. It was, admittedly, rather difficult to follow. Names of ancient cities and titles of lineage threw him off more than once, though he supposed all that had been cleared up and familiarized earlier in the book, as she was indeed quite far in. He supposed this book, their Bible, was most closely akin to the Fairy "Atros qi Clour Mab." Of course, the Atros qu Clour Mab didn't detail such fantastic miracles or the appearance of angels. In that respect, he was quite enamored with the story.

One would hardly say that fairies were primitive, but they still cherished their old creation myths. To Tracy, the beliefs held by the humans were endlessly fascinating, beautiful stories of creation.

"When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." Rae spoke the last line with a tone of finality born of a storyteller, and a hush fell over the living room.

"Trace," she said at long last, leaning further back and smiling up at him; he returned her smile, moving his free hand to brush her hair back. "I'm going to go start setting the table for dinner."

"Allright, luv." he said, pecking her on the cheek.

A beat passed; Rae didn't move.

"Trace?"

"Hmm?"

"I need to get up to do that. Let go?" She taped his hand, which was still held against the curve of her stomach. He jerked, releasing her and she stood, handing the book back to her mother and ruffling his hair as she passed into the kitchen.

The sound of clinking glass and silverware drifted from the kitchen like music, filling the heavy silence that had fallen over the living room. Tracy swallowed hard and readjusted himself, sitting straight up again.

"So!" Rae's father started suddenly, dispelling even the fine noises of the kitchen. "Tracy! You've got a solid job, a place in…?"

"The Lily District." he were six living districts in Fairy Land: Lily, Opal, Phoenix, Moon, Water, and Suns. Of course, this was of little meaning to her father, but it was polite conversation all the same. As Tracy spoke, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest, little Zachary climbed up on the couch next to him. The boy was no more than five or six years old, by human standards. Rae watched as her nephew climbed Tracy like a living mountain. She laughed quietly from the kitchen; it was cute.

"Right…" her father agreed thoughtfully. "Any plans for the future?"

The fairy sighed heavily. "Everything's still rather up in the air at the moment, with Rae still in school, my work…"

"Yeah. Yeah, it can be… hectic, huh?"

Tracy gave a snort of laughter. "No doubt. But it's nice, you know. Get to be with her, it's worth it." He reached up and removed Zach's hands from over his face. "Enjoying our time together."

"And, uhm… how old did you say you were? Rae mentioned it once over the phone, but I never really caught it."

Any semblance of a comfortable conversation was dashed when Tracy heard this. To say that there was a disconnect between his age and hers would have been an understatement. He was about four hundred years older, given the difference between standards. Even on a level playing field, he was still nearly twice her age. Of course, to them, it had never mattered. For her parents, however, he had a dreading suspicion that it did. "Uhm… Well, 382, sir."

Still, despite the man's disdain for Tracy and his culture, he was far from ignorant. "Well then, I guess I did hear right the first time. So, that's what? 38, for us?"

"About." Tracy forced the word out.

Rae's father leaned back and seemed to scrutinize the fairy, looking him up and down. "That's quite some time." he said, to agreement. It was a long time. Point of the matter was that fairies did live for a long time, and he let her father know that. "What's it been like for the past few centuries?"

"Sorry?" He was suddenly unsure; The panic rose in his chest.

"What've you been doing for the last three hundred years?"

"Spent… most of my career as a caseworker. Department of Dissemination of Disbelief. Worked with people - humans, mostly, though my colleagues are… are fairies—"

"So Rae's not the first human you've met?"

Tracy laughed, a nervous, shaky noise. "By Mab, certainly not!"

"And you never formed… bonds, with any of the others?"

He felt the blood rush, flushing his ears, cheeks and neck. "No," he said solidly. "Not like Rae." suddenly it made sense, and he knew where the conversation was headed. Her father wasn't the least bit interested in any of what he had to say. He just wanted to know that his daughter was going to be safe. Though he was mildly embarrassed and no little amount of uncomfortable with being interrogated.

Her father seemed satisfied with that answer, and prodded on. "Ever been married?"

The fairy's eyes went wider, the flush deepening, and he was so grateful that Rae hadn't been in the room to hear. He coughed absently into the back of his hand and began to stutter.

"Tracy?" Rae called from the kitchen.

Oh, thank Mab.

The fairy laughed and stood, taking the young boy with him some seven feet into the air. Zach laughed and flailed wildly, nearly clipping Tracy in the ear. He turned around and bent over, depositing the boy back on the couch as he shrieked with laughter. "Coming luv!" he called, and excused himself.

He and his honeybee met n the kitchen. He caught her around the waist and held her from behind, whispering a low thanks into her ear as they spun around gently. She laughed as the family looked on from the living room.

"Rae," her sister called. The couple paused, and she looked back to see her sibling pointing up at the ceiling, lips puckered and a smile in her eyes. Rae's laughter was contagious, and had him smiling the instant the noise reached his ears.

"You know, Trace," she said. "There's this other tradition, most people have. We hand little bushels of mistletoe from the ceilings, and when two people walk beneath it…"

He studied her face for a moment, trying to figure out her puzzle, to come to the conclusion that she wanted him to. He watched the corners of her lips turn up and smiled back down at her. "I give up." he said, low. He had a bit of an idea what came next, and he turned her around so that they were facing one another.

From the living room, Zach sounded his disapproval with a loud, "Don't do it! Gross!"

Rae giggled and pulled him closer, until they were nose-to-nose. "They kiss." she finished.

Tracy chuckled lightly, a deep noise that resided in his chest, as he closed the tiny space between them, kissing her gently, deeply, and supporting her as the sunk into him. He loved her; he was so content to simply hold her, to be close to her, even under the scrutiny of her family, and when they broke, he held her, nuzzling his cheek against hers. "Merry Christmas, Honeybee," he said.