Day 25

Moffitt was still half-asleep while turning and pulling Vanora closer to him. He nuzzled her, then whispered, "Merry Christmas, darling."

"Merry Christmas, love," Vanora muttered. "Go back to sleep."

Moffitt kissed Vanora's cheek before snuggling up as close as he could. He managed to get one arm under her, so he could hug her. "I love you."

Vanora turned to face her husband in order to hug him as well. "I love you, too."

Moffitt kissed Vanora's forehead. "I thought you wanted to go back to sleep."

"You're actually warm for once." Vanora touched Moffitt's forehead. "You're not coming down with a fever again, are you?"

"For once, no. At least, I don't think so."

"Well, we have people coming over today, so you had better not get sick."

"I'll try. But you know I—ohh…" Moffitt gave a moan of contentment when Vanora reached into his nightshirt to gently run her nails up and down his spine. He flushed red before saying, "Anah's not in here, is she?"

"No, she's in Jules's room."

"Okay, good. Please, continue." Moffitt sighed quite happily when Vanora resumed scratching him. "That feels so wonderful. Oh… darling, I hate to be a bother, but could you please rub the space between my right shoulder blade and my spine? I've got a terrible knot there."

Vanora grinned before putting pressure on Moffitt's back. "Better?"

"Much better. If there's anything I can do in return, let me know."

"Maybe later tonight, after everyone's gone home and Jules is on his way to Wyoming to spend time with Troy and Antheia for a couple of weeks. It'll be just us."

"Perfect." Moffitt planted a passionate kiss on Vanora's lips. Everything about her was addicting, but he eventually let go. "I suppose we should get up, then."

"What time is it?" Vanora shifted out of Moffitt's hug to check the clock on her nightstand. "It's nearly eight."

"And Jules is still asleep, I suppose."

"Isn't it nice? Remember how he used to wake us up at five every Christmas morning?"

"I do. Still. He's got some good gifts waiting under the tree, including something from Antheia. I doubt he'll want to miss that." Moffitt untangled himself from Vanora to get out of bed, and put his robe and slippers on. "I'll go see if he's up."

"Do you want me to get tea started?"

"If you want." Moffitt was still tying the band of his robe as he left the room. He quietly opened the door to Jules's bedroom, and smiled when he saw Anah curled up with Jules. He almost didn't want to wake them, but still went over and touched the back of Anah's head.

The cobra's eyes began brightening as she emerged from sleep. She raised her head slightly to take more affection from Moffitt. "Good morning, dear."

"Good morning," Moffitt whispered. "Merry Christmas."

"Is it Christmas already?" Anah looked at the clock and the calendar, then sighed sadly. "I am not ready for this lovely time of year to be over."

"I know, but at least Christmas Day has just begun."

"That is true." Anah nuzzled Jules until he started to stir.

Jules stretched and grunted as he woke up, then muttered, "Anah, stop."

"It is Christmas Day, dear. Do you just want to sleep all day?"

"No. What time is it?"

"It is quarter after eight in the morning."

Jules gave another stretch before opening his eyes. "'Morning, Dad."

"Good morning. Your mother's making tea," Moffitt said. "Merry Christmas."

Jules waited for his father to take Anah before sitting up.

"Your mother and I were just talking about how you used to wake us up early on Christmas morning."

"Yeah. Now you're the one waking me up."

"I guess so." Moffitt turned to leave the room, then looked over his shoulder. "Do you want to do presents or breakfast first, Jules?"

"At the very least, tea," Jules said.

"Alright." Goodness, he is growing up. Feels like not that long ago, he was going bonkers to open presents while Vanora and I were trying to wake up. Moffitt left the room, glancing at Anah. She was more interested in nuzzling him and getting comfortable on his shoulders.

"Is Jules up?" Vanora asked.

"Getting there," Moffitt replied. "He's certainly growing up. Poor lad looked like he didn't want to get out of bed."

"Oh. Do you think he's about to have another growth spurt?"

"That wouldn't surprise me. He's certainly going to be taller than me if that's the case."

"And he's skinny like you are, which is odd because he eats better than you do."

"Yes, but he still has my bad habits of going out to tend to his horse before breakfast."

Vanora sighed, then looked over at Jules as he left his room. "Look who's up."

"Good morning, Mum," Jules said.

Moffitt handed his son a cup of tea. "Since it's Christmas, you can have biscuits in the morning."

"Thanks." Jules sat at the table.

Anah started making breakfast while Moffitt and Jules had their tea, and Vanora had a cup of coffee. Moffitt decided to have another cup of tea, but while his second cup was steeping, he looked over at Jules. "So, are you ready to open your gifts?"

"You and Mum and Anah got presents, too," Jules said.

"Yes, but—"

"You're still our baby, Jules." Vanora kissed the side of her son's head.

"After what happened earlier this year, I'm definitely not a baby anymore," Jules muttered.

"Yes." Moffitt looked down at the floor. "The… The magpies. At least that's over now."

"Yeah. We can focus on other things, and appreciate that we're all here."

"Precisely."

They gathered in the drawing room to examine what was under the Christmas tree. Vanora knelt by the collection of presents, and started dealing them out to their recipients. "Here's one for Jack… One for Jules… Another for Jules… One for Anah… One for me… Another one for me that's quite heavy."

Jules grinned a little behind his cup of tea. "I've been waiting for you to open this one, Mum."

Vanora passed another few gifts around before taking the heavy one. "You've been waiting, Jules? I'll open this first, then."

Jules kept grinning as Vanora unwrapped the Tardis-shaped candleholder. "Anah and I saw that at the department store and thought of you."

"Oh, my, it's lovely, Jules. Thank you. I know just where to put it, too."

"You're welcome."

Moffitt opened a particularly weighty box in his lap, and pulled out a bronze cobra. "This is very well-made." He turned the statue around to see if it had any markings on the hood, and saw the characteristic "spectacles" of the Indian cobra.

"I know it's just a decoration for your desk, but I saw that at an antique shop and thought of you," Vanora said. "I also got one for Jules, but his is a horse."

"Speaking of horses," Jules said. "Antheia got me a really nice saddlebag, and… what the bloody hell is inside it?" He opened the bag, finding a very large box of Cheerios, along with a note. He sighed after reading it. "Oh, of course."

"What is it?" Moffitt asked.

"Troy suggested adding the bloody Cheerios to encourage me to eat breakfast, and that the bag is for me to bring snacks for me and not Nightrunner."

Moffitt exchanged a look with Vanora. "Well, he's not exactly wrong. You do need to eat breakfast."

"I eat breakfast."

"Jules, just yesterday—yesterday—you passed out in the pasture because you didn't eat breakfast or lunch."

"You're a bit of a disaster in that department, just like your father," Vanora said.

"I've gotten better about breakfast," Moffitt mumbled.

"Have you? You have your days where you forget."

"Yes, and then I have to be annoying," Anah added.

"Anah, no offense, but you're quite often annoying." Moffitt smirked when he remembered the cobra's reaction to him kissing her at the Christmas party a few weeks ago, so he gave her another one, this time on the side of her head. "I still love you. Merry Christmas."

Author's Note: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This particular run of shorts was a blast to do. Might do it next year. Maybe. - Rabbit