Sorry, I was not trying to be a naughty author, I had a little health scare this week and my head was somewhere else. Don't worry, it's all cool, we dodge that bullet :)

On the bright side... IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!

I also broke this thing in two parts because the voting was almost unanimously 'all of the above' and it was getting too long.


Jamie opened his eyes and smiled. The old theatre's window was covered in beautiful frost patterns, hiding the fluffy snow adorning the ground outside. Written with a finger, a note:

SEE YOU OUTSIDE KIDDO

The kid literally jumped out of his bed and ran over to wake up his friends.

"Hey, guys! Wake up! Snow day! It's a snow day! C'mon, let's go!" he yelled, jumping around the shelter.

Mandy offered to look after the kids as they all headed outside and she realised Jack hadn't come alone when the little arms wrapped around several 'invisible' waists. A couple of minutes went by before the winter spirit freed himself from the eager arms and flew towards her.

"So... how did it go?" she asked. He answered with a toothy smile.

"Congratulations!" she said pulling him into a big hug.

She wanted to ask him more, but they were suddenly showered by snowballs.

"Jamie!" yelled Mandy in her best 'you're in big trouble' tone.

"What? You can't be angry standing next to uncle Jack!" he said winking at the hellion, who wasted no time blowing a shiny blue snowflake into the woman's face.

Mrs Bennett picked up a pile of snow and hit her son straight in the forehead smiling widely.

"Snowfight!" yelled North, chasing after the kids with an ice shotgun that apparently didn't need to be reloaded.

Jack chuckled as Monty hit Sandy's head with an oversized snowball and Tooth had to push the winter boy out of the way of Cupcake's attack.

"What the...?" said Gretchen, realising how quickly the fight had erupted and not really eager on getting snow on her fur.

"Yeah, Guardian of Fun, remember? C'mon, let's get Soph out of the way. Just wait till you meet her. She's the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. Don't tell Frostbite, but I'm head over heels for her. "

Gretchen didn't even know what to do with that information, but before she could get herself too worked up, he pulled her by the hand through the snowball fight, not so successfully avoiding the attacks. She saw Bunny grabbing something from the ground before turning around the ruined building, and she couldn't help smiling when she realised that the 'something' was a little girl wrapped in winter clothes way too big for her tiny body. Her messy blond hair was covering half of her face, but the Groundhog could still see her big smile as the toddler clung to her favourite Guardian.

"Uncle Bunny!" she said, her arms so tight around his neck that he could barely breathe. She assumed that if Jack was her uncle, Bunny would be her uncle too, and Bunny wasn't about to set that straight anytime soon.

"Sophie, there's someone I want you to meet." said the pooka pointing at Gretchen when he could finally escape the embrace. Sophie looked puzzled. "This is Gretchen. She's the Groundhog. Do you know about her?"

The toddler's eyes grew big as Gretchen appeared right in front of her and she ran to hide behind Bunny.

"Told ya' they would see you. Thanks to Jack and Jamie the Burgess kids believe in everything." said Aster smiling.

The Groundhog kneeled down next to Sophie.

"Hey, it's OK. I'm a friend." she said smiling kindly.

Sophie stared at her for a few seconds before reaching for her face.

"You're pretty!" said the little girl smiling.

"So are you" replied Gretchen smiling back. "Wait a minute! Are those fairy wings! I'm a fairy too!"

"You don't look like a fairy..." replied Sophie, skeptical.

"So I've been told... but I can prove it..." offered Gretchen smiling as many flowers started appearing around the little girl.

"You are a fairy! A real fairy!" said Sophie, throwing herself in the Groundhog's arms.

Bunny smiled widely before he heard it. Claws scratching the ground accompanied by low, menacing growls. Gretchen's eyes widened as she noticed the pooka's expression and her fears were confirmed when she saw him running away. Wait a minute! Running away? Leaving the two of them behind? Before she could make sense of what was going on, she heard Sophie yelling excited.

"Abby! Abby!"

The Groundhog chuckled as she saw the greyhound running towards her boyfriend and the little girl jumping and clapping.

"A dog? You... hahaha... are running away... hehehe... from a dog?" she said laughing uncontrollably.

"Yeah, bloody hilarious! You're a fairy, do something!" he yelled, running away from the dog who seemed to be catching up with him.

"Hahaha... I would... I just... hahaha...can't stop... laughing... hehehe... no problem chasing fearlings... but a dogie... hahahaha..." she replied tearful.


Almost an hour passed before the kids collapsed exhausted on the ground, laughter still escaping their lips as Jamie and the twins argued which team had won.

"We... are going to need refreshment!" panted North. "Twinkle! Get the provisions!"

The elf walked to the sleigh and brought with him a basket full of cookies and fruitcakes, as well as a big jug of piping hot chocolate.

"We actually came here today because we have something to tell you..." said Jack as the kids gathered around the food. All the eyes focused on him, curious. "Tooth and I are getting married." he continued, holding the fairy's hand "and we would like you all to be part of our wedding."

"Oh! That's so sweet!" said Cupcake excited.

"Congratulations!" said Pippa, hugging Tooth.

"That's awesome!" said Jamie. "Would that make you my aunt?"

"I... suppose so..." said Tooth smiling.

"Yey! The Tooth Fairy will be my aunt!" said Jamie, making his mom and the Guardians laugh loudly.

North couldn't help but noticed Monty's long face.

"Hey" he said, sitting on the snow next to him.

"Hey" replied the boy without looking at him.

"You know... I remember when I was your age. Long time ago, hehe." said North. Monty didn't laugh. "No matter. There was this girl... so beautiful I was sure I never see any girl like her again. She chose someone else, no? I was very sad..."

"Are you trying yo make me feel better? Because it's not working..." replied Monty.

"But, I learned that there are many fish in sea. There was actually a nice fish already hooked and I didn't see" said North winking and turning towards Cupcake.

"Oh. Ooh! Really?" asked the kid wide- eyed. "How do you know?"

"I feel it. In my belly!" smiled Santa.


The morning light caressed Gretchen's face, making her aware of her body, aware of the now familiar arm laying around her waist, making her feel protected. She was strong, she had magic, she freaking didn't need to feel protected and she certainly never enjoyed the feeling before. But now, there she was, more than happy to be protected in his strong arms.

They never really made it official and even they were not sure when exactly she moved in. She just woke up like this after he took her out on a date and she felt so... at home, like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. And judging by his smile and his kind hospitality he had felt the same. She stayed for one day, and then another day, and a couple more. She took a few things from Mother Nature's Palace to be more comfortable, and she kept taking all of her things one by one until Bunny's otherwise manly bathroom was adorned by flower shaped scented soap. If it bothered him, he never showed it. In fact, he seemed more than happy for the Groundhog to put her feminine touch around the warren. It was her home now, after all. Their home.

Her fuzzy brain was trying to tell her something, something important. She had this sense of urgency, as if she was supposed to be somewhere else right now. And then a smile adorned her face as she felt the wondrous lips playing with the sensitive skin of her nape, leaving a trace of goosebumps as they went kissing and biting. His arm moved from around her waist to join the party, caressing her neck, her chest, moving around her body possessively grabbing what belong to him, stealing moans from her sweet lips.

Her brain kept trying to tell her something, but it was so hard to think when his hands and lips worked together. He flipped her over so that her face was in front of him and his hands had access to her hips as his lips bit and sucked her wonderful skin, sending her straight to heaven.

"Bunny..." she whispered his name in his ear, like she always did in this kind of situations. He smiled and bit a little harder, causing her to open her eyes as little meow escaped her throat.

"Oh shit!" she said, looking at the clock, realising that they were getting really, really late.

But the pooka interpreted the cry somewhat differently and when she shifted her body to get up from the bed, he shifted his so that he was lying on top of her. She growled. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, but they really needed to go.

"We are fucking late!" she said, pushing him away.

"What?" he asked, before his own brain worked it out. "Toothie is going to kill us..." he whispered, but he pulled her back on the bed when she tried to get up. "I'm sure ten minutes won't make any difference..." he said winking, but she was having none of that. Maid's of honour had responsibilities.

"No way! You get in the shower while I make some breakfast." she ordered, getting up again.

"Sure, if I wanted to redecorate the kitchen after you burn it down. You get in the shower." he retorted, remembering her fist attempt at making them breakfast. She tried to fry some eggs and the pan somehow caught on fire.

"Yeah, right. The moment I step in the shower you will get yourself in there too and we are running out of time." she added.

"I promise I'll make breakfast" he said with a suspiciously innocent look on his face.

Gretchen should have known better than to underestimate how quickly a pooka can mix something up and put it in the oven.

She tried to protest when he stepped inside the shower, but when he pinned her against the wall she knew it was game over as his lips ravaged hers, making her loose all control over her own body.

The worse part? Breakfast was freaking delicious.
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