Silver Seren/Our Time Together

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Our Time Together by ~silver-seren

Our Time Together By Silver Seren

The ornament jangled as it settled, attached to the branch above it. It was a small reindeer face with little fuzzy horns. I thought it was rather cute. I glanced down at the decorations box to find that it was empty. All done. Stepping back, I surveyed the expanse of my work that had taken me longer than you might think to complete. This year the tree had been extra-large, and prickly, so all the decorations had been used for once. The trick was placing them asymmetrically and, yet, still keeping them even as a whole. Not so easy.

"It looks great, hon," a voice spoke from behind me as arms wrapped around my chest. I smiled and leaned into Derek, rolling my head onto his shoulder. "That's one thing done for Christmas," I said with a sigh, "Only a million more to go." Laughing, he lifted me by the waist and carried me into the kitchen. I squirmed and giggled, pushing against his enfolding arms to no avail.

Gasping, I asked, "Where are we going?" He nuzzled into my neck as we moved before responding, "Onto the next item of business: Christmas dinner."

"Ah," I said, though rather confused because I had believed we were good to go, with the turkey being already in the oven, the sweet potatoes in the middle of being heated up, and the salad fixings in the fridge ready to be put together. I looked at the various supplies set out on the counter, "Cookies?" Thinking about it, I knew that I hadn't had the right things in the fridge or the pantry to make them, so where did this stuff come from?

I raised my head backwards to stare at Derek's chin. He turned his gaze to meet mine and gave a sly grin. The wolf! Stretching, I managed to plant a kiss on the underside of his muzzle before extricating myself from his arms with difficulty.

But he kept his hands on my shoulders as he directed me over to the counter, rubbing with his thumbs in an exquisite way down my back, "Since everything else is good, all that's left to make is the dessert food. Or semi-desserts, I guess. You had forgotten to buy anything for that." Indeed I had and Derek had fixed that problem quite admirably, remembering even that baking cookies was one of my most favorite activities. "The cookies are there, so get to it!" He licked my neck and gave me a little push.

Rolling my eyes, I began rearranging the items into groups and making sure all the right equipment was there. Derek, as I did so, returned his hands to my waist, holding me while I worked. I couldn't help but have my thoughts drift to him as I mixed the ingredients. My darling black wolf, with those beautiful white markings along his neck and back. He was always there for me, whenever I needed him. My very own angel, just like the one that adorned the top of the Christmas tree, with a star on top of it for good measure.

Wiping a hand across my muzzle, matting my fur somewhat, I pushed away the bow of ready-to-be-formed cookie dough. "What are you thinking, little wolf?" Derek whispered to me. Smiling, I hummed softly as I scooped out portions of the dough to place on the tray. There was a growl from behind me that gradually grew louder. It was easy to tell Derek's intentions and, without looking, I swung the spoon I was using over my shoulder. There was a yelp and the growling cut off. I diligently finished organizing the dough, finally turning around when I finished.

Derek was whimpering softly with flecks of dough splattered across his muzzle. The sight was so overwhelmingly comical and pathetic that I couldn't help but laugh. Derek stared with wide, would-be tear-filled if he could fake it, eyes. Finally choking off my amusement, I grabbed a rag and wiped his fur clean, kissing the tip of his nose afterwards. "I was just thinking about us and how we're so different, but we match perfectly," I told him.

He cocked his head and put his arm next to mine, his black offset by my white, "You mean how our colors are opposites?" "There's that," I replied, "but it's not like you're black everywhere now, is it?" I ran my hands down his back, making his shudder. As we leaned in close to each other, he murmured, "There is that."

Our muzzles were on the trip of interlocking when the doorbell rang with a loud gong. A flush ran brilliantly up through my fur at the sound. Grinning, Derek put his lips on the middle of my forehead, saying, "I'll get it, you just keep an eye on that turkey."I flushed evermore, turning to the cookie pan to hide my face. His chuckles echoed down the hallway as he got the front door.

Busying myself with checking the turkey, removing the now heated sweet potatoes, and taking out the salad fixings to put them together, I only faintly heard the exclamations of greetings from the front. Though it was easy for me to guess that it was the expected guests, my brother Ryan and his girlfriend and Derek's sister Jenna and her fiancé. I started counting in my mind, knowing just when it was going to happen.

"Hey, little bro, what's cooking?" Someone said behind me, right on cue. I glanced over and waved the utensil in my hand at Ryan, "I have a salad stirrer and i'm not afraid to use it!" Raising his hands in surrender, Ryan placated, "Fine, fine, I know how deadly you are with it." I narrowed my eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?" I gestured menacingly with the stirrer. "Nothing, nothing at all. I just know my little bro Mark pretty well," he responded in a casual manner.

That made me smile and push his shoulder playfully. "Go sit down already. The food will be out in a moment," I told him as I opened the oven, hand firmly encased in a protective mitten. Clapping me on the back, he headed for the dining room. I started humming again to myself as I pulled the turkey out, checking it for tenderness with a fork. It was practically perfect. The tray of cookies went in then and I reset the temperature and timer.

Suddenly, I felt someone nuzzling into my neck and I reached around to hug Derek. "Three minutes too long a time away?" I asked teasingly, ruffling his fur. He rubbed his muzzle against me as he said, "A second is too long away from you." Our embrace lasted a moment longer.

"The cookies will take a while to bake, but they should be done right after we finish eating. Here, take out the turkey," I handed him the plate carefully. The salad needed only a few quick stirs before it was done and the bowl with the potatoes was sitting on the counter next to me. Loaded with them both, I made my way to the table.

"Hello, everyone," I announced as I entered the room. Ryan, my grey older brother, was seated next to his girlfriend of two years, Milly, a manx, while Jenna, Derek's older sister was next to her fiancé, Michael, a bobcat. Derek and I continually teased our siblings about their significant others at any possible opportunity. More about their species choices than anything else. Setting the plates down, I sat next to Derek.

The conversation was already on the topic of Derek's latest batch of patients, though it was more polite to call them clients, and their wacky antics and situations. He had told me enough stories about them and they were always funny.

"So, Mark," Jenna turned her attention to me, "Your job's been going well too, I hear." I nodded in affirmation, "I got a new contract just the other day, a bigger one than the last. So i'm pretty excited about that." Ryan, who had been sitting to my left, punched my arm, "That's the brother I know, always heading up in life."

I was embarrassed a little at that and looked down, before getting him off-track by offering more food. Other topics came and went after that, interspersed with ferocious digging into the turkey and other delectables. Once time had passed and it seemed that everyone had gorged as much as they were able, I was full to bursting myself, I recommended that we should move to the living room for a movie or maybe a board game.

Everyone concurred wholeheartedly.

I started carrying the dishes into the kitchen, leaving them in the sink to be cleaned later. On the trip back to grab more, I ran into Derek, who had been standing just out of sight on the other side of the doorway. I leaned back so I could look him in the face, when something above him caught my eye and then I knew him standing there wasn't an accident.

I narrowed my gaze at him and he smiled, shaking his head, "I didn't put it there, I swear." I would have liked to disbelieve him, but if he told me right out like that that he didn't, then it was probably true. The mistletoe dangled innocently, almost mockingly in how small and insignificant it was.

"Jenna," I muttered under my breath, to which Derek laughed, nodding with the same conclusion. It was just like her to do something like this. "So..." Derek made the word drawn-out and almost southern, like a Texan saying "y'all".

Well... It's not like I wasn't amiable to the decision, but I really didn't like being coerced into it by someone else. Though, in the spirit of Christmas, why not. I wrapped my arms around his neck, whispering, "So what?" My voice was low and husky as the distance closed between us.

Time seemed to slow and, strangely, the entirety of the Christmas day flowed through my mind and the time I had spent with Derek during it. All the little touches, the looks, the things we said. It proved just how deeply I loved him and how he cared about me. Our time together proved that without a doubt.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered back and kissed me.