Chapter 172

Valkyrie woke slowly to little kisses on her neck. She smiled, feeling Nadia's hair on her bare chest, and turned over to pull her closer.

"Wake up," Nadia whispered. Valkyrie cracked open one eye just a little and saw she was grinning excitedly. "It's Christmas."

"Mmm, no, not yet," Valkyrie moaned turning the other way.

"Hey," Nadia said just a little louder. Valkyrie heard footsteps in the attic room above. "You can't just turn your back on me! It's Christmas!"

"No it's not."

There was a quiet moment and then Nadia practically dropped on top of her with a grin. "But I'm naked."

"No you're not."

"I am. See," she grabbed Valkyrie's hand and put it on her breast.

Valkyrie hummed, leisurely rolling her nipple between her fingers. "Still not getting up."

Nadia giggled and got off the bed. Valkyrie smiled and watched her walk around the tiny room to get her clothes from the suitcase next to the door. They had barely more room than that. "Do you want your presents?"

"No."

"Really? I got you a good one," she said with a sneaky look.

"Unless you're going to get on my face, I don't care," Valkyrie said, pulling a pillow over her head.

They heard a muffled laugh through the wall from Tanith, getting them to laugh as well. The house soon filled with movement. Valkyrie and Nadia got into the pyjamas right before Saracen barged into the room, followed up by Erskine who tackled Valkyrie onto the bed, breaking one of the slats underneath.

"Erskine!" She cried from under him. He rolled off laughing hysterically. Nadia took his hand and pulled him up – then shrieked when Valkyrie jumped up after him, picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. "Presents!"

Nadia laughed and shouted to be let down, so Valkyrie threw her onto the sofa. Erskine and Dexter came bounding down the stairs a few moments later, followed by the rest of the family at a more sedate pace. Valkyrie pulled back from Nadia in time to grab Erskine and stop him from toppling them both over onto the coffee table. "It's Christmas Val, we need to open the presents!"

"Dexter help!"

Dexter picked Erskine up from around the waist and moved him to the other side of the room. Anton arrived and patted Erskine on the shoulder, calming him down in an instant, and they all gathered around the minuscule living room. Erskine placed himself at Anton's feet next to the pretty tree he had decorated himself, in a way Nadia didn't like as she had made sure to tell Valkyrie – Erskine had a very haphazard way of decorating Christmas trees and Nadia preferred something more 'elegant' – and demanded they had presents immediately.

"Alright, let's see!" He said and snatched up the nearest. "This one is for Solomon, from Valkyrie. And this blue one is to Saracen, from Tanith…"

The presents were handed out quickly and they opened them as they came. Valkyrie got a book from Solomon on magical theory, Erskine got her and Nadia matching bracelets with a rainbow charm on them, Dexter bought her a collection of nice chocolates. Ghastly and Anton had gone halves and found a few tops and some new pyjamas for her to match her new height and build. She had a little chocolate snowman on a stick from Laila, Saracen surprised her with a really pretty photo album, and Fletcher gave a note to her and Nadia as a promise to chauffeur them to any locations of their choosing for a day so they could visit family, places or go on dates. Fletcher's was a surprise, but Valkyrie actually felt touched he'd be willing to give up his entire day to let her and Nadia enjoy themselves.

Tanith gave her a look and announced that hers was more personal and wanted to give it to her later. That got Valkyrie some looks, and Saracen tried to hide a smirk around his cup of coffee. Nadia, blushing, said she had done the same but followed it up quickly that it wasn't what it sounded like. She got some laughs too but that was just at her own expense. Valkyrie thanked her and handed her a 'fake' present, a chocolate reindeer the size of Nadia's forearm, so she wouldn't have to say the same about her own present as that was too embarrassing. She was sort of looking forward to it as well though.

After a lot of presents and photos just for Laila, the family moved onto cooked breakfast. Laila sat on Nadia's lap and played with her new crinkle books, rubber ducks, rabbits and other animals by either attempting to shove them straight into her mouth and then directly into Valkyrie's, or staring at them in fascination before dropping them to the floor as if they never existed. At closing in on three months in a few days' time, that was about the only play with toys she could manage. She would rather swat people's hands right as they tried to eat something messy anyway.

They spread out between the dining room and living room to eat. Valkyrie and Anton got to escape to the kitchen to prepare the turkey that Anton was having to precook as the oven was about half as large, and as powerful, as a normal one, and then they all had to be roped into peeling potatoes and cutting the carrots and parsnips for roasting. The brussel sprouts were prepared as well, and they were just using stuffing from a packet but they got it out so they wouldn't forget. Fletcher had bought it especially from Ireland so it would taste like a normal Christmas too. Someone washed the plates ready for their dinner and after all that, they got to spend some time to themselves.

Nadia wanted to get changed into something comfortable, so Valkyrie went with her up to their room.

"So, am I allowed my present yet?" Nadia asked with a little smirk.

"Am I that obvious?" Valkyrie asked sarcastically. "I'm a little worried you won't like it."

"I'm sure it's fine," she said, pulling out one of Valkyrie's old tops. It had fit her at the start of this trip but she had grown at least an inch inches upwards and a little around the shoulders and hips too. No action in the chest department, unfortunately. Nadia, with her gained weight, had developed wonderfully womanly breasts Valkyrie's hands just about managed to hold. She swallowed and ignored the feeling between her legs, as well as the anxiety Nadia's chest may have been larger than the cup size of her gift. She remembered Mrs Keena wasn't much bigger than Nadia, possibly smaller, but Nadia had a fairly different body shape compared to her mother so it was hard to know what size to predict she'd be left with. "I got you something too. Do you want it?"

"Me first," she said, and reached under the bed for her little present to Nadia. She took a deep breath. "If you don't like it, it doesn't matter. I just thought it might be fun."

Nadia gave her a little frown, but smiled as she took the gift anyway, wearing just Valkyrie's oversized top and shorts small enough to be pants. She stood in front of Valkyrie as she opened the paper and then tried to hide a smile when she opened the white, plain box lid and saw the lingerie. "What-? Did you get me underwear?"

"No, not exactly," Valkyrie rushed to say. "It's just a little something – I didn't want it to come off as weird or anything, and you don't need it – I just figured it would be fun –"

"Stop," Nadia said, pulling the dress out and throwing the box and white thong on the bed. She held it against herself. "It's actually really pretty." She swirled and held out the bottom corner like in a curtsy to see how the fabric swayed. "I like it."

Valkyrie relaxed into a grin. "I'm glad. I was really worried about it."

"I just hope it fits, it's kind of small." Valkyrie elected not to say she had tested the size on Tanith. Nadia gave Valkyrie a look that was practically smouldering. "Maybe I'll try it on tonight and we'll see."

Heat shot straight through her. "I'd like that."

Nadia grinned and folded the dress into the box in record time and hid it under Valkyrie's pillow away from prying eyes. "Want your present?"

"Yes please," Valkyrie grinned giddily.

Nadia pulled a book out from the behind Valkyrie's bedside table. It was in newspaper to protect it. "I know it isn't pretty, but I didn't get it when we were out."

Valkyrie took it carefully and pulled the newspaper off of it. It was a scrapbook, like the one she'd been gifted a few years ago. "I remember this, you gave me one when we'd been together for a year, at Christmas. I was fourteen."

"Yeah, I know. This one is from then until now. I started it months back," Nadia said, sitting beside her. "Open it."

Inside was photos, handwritten messages and little pull out cards with poems, songs and personal sentiments from Nadia to Valkyrie. There was a list of all their dates and the special moments they had together, and Nadia had neatly written a long letter over a double spread that said about their breakup and how much the time had changed them for the better and how she never stopped thinking of Valkyrie. It was a beautiful and personal piece that brought tears to Valkyrie's eyes. Sniffing a little, she continued on and saw some little hand-drawn pictures of house plans and lots of pictures of what Nadia wanted as their bedroom and little sentiments of what she wanted to happen in their futures. Spread in between were more intimate drawings and messages that reminded Valkyrie of when they were younger and just working those things out. Right at the end of the thick book was some sketches of New York City, a detailed log of the day of their engagement, and finally on the last page of the entire book, the simple words 'Merry Christmas'.

"Aww, Nadia," Valkyrie tearfully said, "this is really beautiful. Thank you so much for making this."

"It's okay baby. I remembered how much you loved the last one, so I had to do it," she smiled. They lent in and gave each other a small peck on the lips, feeling how special the moment was.

It was broken when the fire alarms went off and everyone downstairs groaned loudly.

Giggling to themselves, the girls got changed into clean clothes and went back downstairs. Valkyrie brought her book down with her and put it on the table. Erskine, Fletcher, Saracen and Dexter poured over it and made happy comments about how cute she and Nadia were and tried to embarrass Fletcher with some of the little intimate comments here and there. Laila was in a little elf onesie and got lots of attention from Valkyrie while Nadia helped Anton to get things under control in the kitchen.

"Hey, Valkyrie?" Fletcher asked from the other side of the room.

"Yeah?"

"How tall are you now?"

Valkyrie paused as she changed Laila's nappy and then answered. "I'm not sure, a bit over six foot now? Maybe?"

"Naa, it's more than that," Erskine nodded certainly.

"I don't think so," she argued, strapping Laila's clean cloth nappy on. Tanith ran off with the dirty one and the bag of other reusable nappies to wash – it was impressive how someone like Tanith, that being a fairly utterly anti-domestic, always on the go, ex-assassin type of women, could adapt to childcare and washing nappies so well. There was no rest from chores with a baby. "I think I'm about Solomon's height."

"Solomon!" Erskine called loudly. Laila screamed just as loudly in reply as her onesie got popped back up before trying to mash her knuckles into her mouth. "Come here!"

Solomon came through from the dining room a moment later. "Yes, Mr Ravel?"

"How tall are you?" Fletcher asked, frowning up at the man from his place on the floor. "In feet."

"Six foot and barely half an inch I believe," he said nonchalantly, taking a seat. "Why do you need to know?"

"Valkyrie thinks she's shorter than you but we think she's taller," he accused, turning to Valkyrie.

Dexter stood up. "Well, stand next to each other," he told them. "Then we'll know."

Signing, the two of them stood next to each other. It became quickly obvious that Valkyrie was the taller one.

"You're way taller!" Fletcher exclaimed.

"By how much?" She asked.

"A good two inches," Dexter said. "I'm pretty sure you're Skulduggery's height."

Solomon looked at her, then judged her up and down. "No," he said firmly. "She's six three. Skulduggery's six two."

"Oh god," Valkyrie muttered as Erskine and Fletcher stood quickly to check against themselves to see if they thought she was really that tall. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes!" They both said at the same time.

"You're too tall," Erskine told her.

"That's not true," Tanith said.

Erskine frowned. "Wait, how tall are you?"

"Five foot five."

"What about you," he asked Nadia.

"Err," she hesitated. "I don't know?"

Some arguments commenced and Ghastly's measuring tape was taken custody to end the fighting. Nadia was just barely five feet, five inches and a half. Just taller than Tanith by half an inch.

"Ha, Tanith's the baby of the family!" Valkyrie laughed, pushing the attention off of her.

Tanith's face soured as Erskine laughed and Fletcher tried to hide his mirth. Even Dexter and Saracen were laughing as they watched how annoyed Tanith became at the information.

"I liked you more as a kid," she told Nadia.

"Sorry," Nadia grinned.

Tanith gave her a calculating look. "I suppose you're only taller because Valkyrie rubbed off on you."

Valkyrie and the Idiots guffawed that that. Nadia went red and then flicked her hair. "Shut up, Tiny Tanith. You're just jealous because you'll always be the smallest."

"Hey, I still have time to get a girlfriend that's shorter than me," she rebuked.

"I thought you were never dating again? That insecure about your height? Or just getting lonely?" Nadia said with a twinkle in her eye.

Tanith had to look away to hide her smirk. "Your jokes are rubbish. And anyway, it doesn't matter what you say about me now because this is just the fuel I need to bring Valkyrie's present out here right now!"

Valkyrie wasn't sure if she went pale or red but she shouted to please god don't. A commotion went on, getting worse when Fletcher got butt-hurt over being just under six foot tall, until Anton came in and clapped his hands to get their attention. "Dinner… is ready."

They found stools, blanket boxes and all available chairs to squeeze around the small dining room table to eat together. They had a big spread with the golden turkey already half calved in the middle of the table and all the vegetables piled high together just to fit them in around all the plates. Valkyrie and Nadia had to share one plate and the same chair just so they could all fit. Sprouts, roast potatoes, gravy, broccoli, leek, roast parsnip and carrots, pigs in blankets and stuffing. They would of had more but there was no possible way of cooking it all. Anton got a big thanks from them all.

Valkyrie stuffed herself silly with roast dinner before sitting back in her chair. It was nice until Nadia, who was in her lap, sat back too and crushed her stomach. Having helped with a lot of the prep earlier and so out of having to clean, Nadia and Valkyrie went upstairs to nap.

It had been ten minutes and Valkyrie's eyes were just starting to flicker closed when Tanith's Cheshire grin poked its head around the bedroom door.

Valkyrie groaned.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic," Tanith laughed, coming into the room. Nadia covered her face with her hands but didn't move. "It's not even that bad."

"I don't want it," Valkyrie told her, throwing an arm over her eyes.

"Hmm, no, I think you do. You just don't want to say it out loud," Tanith smirked. "You don't have to even open it now. But when you get over yourselves, you'll be thanking me. I promise."

Tanith as good as sashayed out of the room, leaving the plain white bag with its handsome black straps at the end of the bed. She closed the door behind her.

There was a moment of silence in which Valkyrie could already feel sleep pulling at her but Nadia's curiosity was stronger. Valkyrie listened to the rustles of the tissue paper being removed and some silence followed by a box being opened. Nadia was quiet.

"What is it?" Valkyrie groaned quietly.

"…There's a book," Nadia said after a long moment. There was a loud pat on the bed as the book was thrown next to Valkyrie. She grabbed at it blindly and looked at it.

"Oh my fucking god," she whispered to herself and dropped the book.

"Yep. 'The Complete Guide to Strap-On Sex'," Nadia read very quietly. "Do you want to see the thing?"

"The thing – oh no," Valkyrie gasped, making herself sit up. "She didn't."

"She did," Nadia said through a quiet, embarrassed laugh.

"No!" Valkyrie opened the lid of the box. Inside was a sunflower yellow strap-on dildo. "Oh my god. Why did she buy that?"

"I don't know!" Nadia laughed, covering her mouth. They both stared at the dildo and then looked at each other and couldn't help but smile embarrassedly. "Is it too early to say I'm glad?"

"Nadia!"

"What? You can't say you haven't thought of this, can you?"

"No, I really haven't!"

"What?" Nadia grinned. "Weren't you curious about it?"

"About what? The thought of using a strap-on has literally never entered my mind," Valkyrie whispered to her defensively. It wasn't Nadia's fault, she was just embarrassed about the idea because it came from Tanith and she was sure Tanith was sitting next door trying to hear their conversation. "You've never said anything about this before."

"Well, we've never spoken about it, just the normal stuff," she shrugged. "Do you want to talk about it now?"

"No, I bet Tanith's listening in," Valkyrie said, putting the lid back on the box. "If anyone finds this our lives are ruined."

"No, they're not. You're meant to be the confident one, why are you getting upset?"

"I'm not upset, I just didn't exactly plan on getting a strap-on from my sister," Valkyrie said before bursting out laughing. "It's just so weird."

"But we'll talk about it later?" Nadia asked. Valkyrie promised they would. "Good. Because I have a few things I'd like to do with it."

Tanith 5'5, Nadia 5'5.5, Saracen 5'7, Erskine and Fletcher 5'9, Dexter and Ghastly 6, Solomon 6'0.5, Skulduggery 6'2, Valkyrie 6'3, Anton 6'5

Ahh classic Tanith! Well, maybe not, but it's hard not to laugh anyway!

I hope you like the choices on heights. This mostly came from a reader I will name Onion, since they keep changing their dang username, but honestly who doesn't love how damn tall Valkyrie is in the books? I just extended that slightly. And this is their final heights, no more growing for Valkyrie.

Lord Duck: Thank you! And yes, I am considering becoming a Doctor, but it will be in academics rather than medicine. I'd be going for something in the Theology and Ethics field as that is what my current undergraduate is in, and my Masters next year :) Not sure what in yet. My current dissertation is Media Presentation of Satanism versus Presentations from Satanic groups. I may follow that with other extremist differences between media and religion. It interests me a lot!