by L M Lacee
Patrycc after a few minutes of contemplative silence said softly. “What we must find out is. What is that one special wish each of our grandchildren have? The wish they have not voiced out loud to their parents or their siblings or friends. It is our job to discover and make sure Santa knows and can deliver every wish.”
Andre` paled. “How are we to do that, how am I?” Grace smiled at the distraught male. “That is why you are fortunate, you have us. Think about our young ones and try and remember over the last few months about what they have inadvertently mentioned or said wishfully that they most wanted. And you know they will talk to us, so what we cannot remember and confirm, we can weasel out of them. We just have to be…”
“Sneaky!” Rene` stated.
“Well yes I was going to say clever but in truth it is sneaky.” Grace agreed with a laugh. Verity smiled as she said. “Like Cara and her wish for pink hair.”
Patrycc nodded. “Exactly or Joy spending time with Axl.”
“Yes, now we will discover their wishes and make sure we can grant them.”
Andre` pulled on his bottom lip. “How do we do that? We cannot go against their parents’ wishes, unless Charlie has relented in her stance against Cara’s wish for pink hair?”
Verity smiled. “Dear Andre` it is Christmas, her mother will allow it and her father will agree. We know he will do anything for his daughters, plus we will promise that when Cara is tired of the color it can be reversed.”
“Very sneaky sister. So these are temporary wishes.” Andre` smiled as he thought of the argument Verity would place before Charlie to allow him to grant Cara’s wish. Grace nodded as she selected a small piece of cake. “Some wishes will be temporary, some will not.”
“Like Joy and Axl.”
Rene` agreed. “Exactly we will make it so he can be here for a period of time. In fact I think I know of some people who can help with that.”
Verity pulled out pen and paper. “I suggest we make a list of our young and then divide them up and investigate what it is they most want.”
Grace did likewise and said with pen in hand. “I will write our proposal for Reighn and Sage.”
Rene’ looked at the two males and asked. “Can anyone think of anything we have missed?”
“Yes! Where does one obtain a Santa suit?”
CHAPTER SIX
S torm sat at the table in what Hayden called the lunch room of Broadswords, ever hopeful for some peace. What? He asked his dragon, do we know about Christmas? It is for young ones.
His dragon told him. Christmas has snow and presents.
Right but we have to come up with something else you know Edee and June will have taken care of the presents.
His dragon moaned. Brother Reighn did not give us enough time to think of something.
I know, damn Reighn. Just then he stopped as he listened to feet thumping down the stairs and was not surprised to see Fin, Hayden and Lars arrive. Hayden looked around. “Where is Charlie? I thought she would be here.”
Storm grunted. “We came to an agreement.”
Lars threw himself into a chair, opposite his brother. “You tell her she was bossy?”
Storm’s frown lowered more. “No, I was more diplomatic than that.”
Hayden nodded as he said wisely much to the other two males’ amusement. “She has guns.”
“He has to sleep with her as well.” Fin smirked at Storm. Annoyed they were right about each point Storm snarled. “Why are you here, I don’t see your shadows?”
Fin grinned as he told him. “I am useless for June’s gifts.”
Hayden nodded as he said. “That was what Lars and I were told, we could not help.”
“So what the hell are we going to do?” Lars asked.
Storm shrugged as he leant back in his chair. “That was what I was thinking about, before you came in.”
“I like this.” Hayden grinned at the three males, ever since he had taken over for Fin at Broadswords he had found companionship and most of all friendship in the three males. Fin nodded. “We to, are glad you are with us, but we are no closer to an answer.”
Lars chuckled then said. “Come on, we are four intelligent male dragons who know weapons, we must be able to come up with something?”
“What?” Hayden asked with a frown on his young face.
Storm sighed. “That is the problem I could think of nothing.”
“And we only have to lunch time to decide.” Hayden reminded them.
“Not helping.” Growled Fin.
“Oh sorry… well what?”
Fin stood and started making them coffee as Lars rose and from a cupboard up high pulled down a bag of cookies. They all looked at him, “Ahh! Secret stash Harper has a sweet tooth.”
Hayden smiled as he agreed. “She really does.”
“So what are we going to do?” Storm asked once more.
Lars sighed. “This is stupid!”
Hayden reached for a cookie as he bit into it, his mind whirled with ideas. Fin came back with cups of coffee and sat. Reaching for a cookie he pulled one out of the bag and studied it. It was chocolate with a spiral pattern on one side. Storm looked at the cookie in his friend’s large hand, then lifted his eyes to Fins and saw the same knowledge staring back at him. “Can we?”
Fin shrugged. “Why not?”
Storm’s slow smile overtook his face as he said. “It could be fun, especially if we tweaked it with some dragon magic.”
Fin grinned as he slowly nodded. “It sort of would be. Designing our own would be a new tradition.”
“Oh, I never thought of that. Yeah imagine that, do we have what we need.”
Again Fin shrugged. “We could look up what we need.”
“What are you both talking about?” Hayden asked them both. Fin held the cookie up so he and Lars could see the swirling pattern. “This!”
“What cookies?” Lars asked as he and Hayden looked confused.
Fin grinned. “No, look harder.”
Hayden shook his head confused, as he studied the cookie. “I see a cookie, a very tasty cookie, but just a cookie.”
Lars finally understood and laughed before he asked the same question Storm had. “Can we do that?”
“Can we not!” Both Fin and Storm asked.
Hayden growled. “What…what can we do?”
“Fireworks. We make fireworks as our gift to celebrate Christmas.” Fin explained to the confused male who looked shocked for a moment then as the realization of what they were saying dawned. He jumped from his seat saying. “We need my tablet.” Within seconds he had left the room, they could hear him running along the hallway as they looked at each other, Lars asked. “Why do we need his tablet?”
There was no time to answer as Hayden hurried back in. He placed his tablet onto the table then started flicking through it. Scrolls of information flew by, then suddenly he stopped and pointed to a page “There!”
“There what?” Storm asked.
Hayden smirked. “There is all the information on how to make fireworks that we need.” All three of the older males looked at the page and heading that read, BOMB. Then they looked at him in confusion. It was Hayden’s turn to smile and shrug. “It is not much different to making bombs, but it is somewhat safer.”
“You are a very strange dragon Hayden.” Fin muttered as he leant over the tablet and started reading. Not offended Hayden agreed. “So I have been told but my Sparrow loves me so I don’t care.”
“So we are doing this?” Lars asked the other three, “Dragon fireworks!”
“Yep.”
Hayden clarified. “All over Dragon’s Gap.”
“Yep.”
“Oh wow!”
Just then a message came through from Ark, which made Storm laugh. Lars asked. “What has made you laugh there chuckles.”
Storm with a sour look at his brother read. “Am with Charlie organizing party. When you guys make your fireworks, make enough for the New Year celebrations.” They a
ll laughed as Hayden asked them. “How did he know?”
“Seriously! Us four, what else was there for us to do?” Lars mumbled around his cookie. Fin said. “Tell him yes, and I will write it up for Reighn.”
Storm grinned as his dragon chortled in delight.
Christmas goes boom. I love it!
CHAPTER SEVEN
O linda looked at the other three people sitting in her lounge. They had just sat through a short movie about Christmas, and several books lay open on the two male’s laps. “So what are we going to do?”
Ash sighed as he flipped through the picture book again. “No idea.”
Ace stared fixedly at the open book on his lap. “None.”
“Really! You just read the books and made me suffer through the movie, and you still have no idea?” Harper groused.
“Nope, you Ash?”
“None.” Ash replied to Ace.
Olinda sighed as she and Harper looked at one another. Finally Olinda asked. “Seriously where is your sense of wonder, excitement, and imagination?”
Ace looked up at her. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Olinda shook her head. “Well as it happens I have an idea but it will take unicorn magic to pull it off.”
Harper held the candy bowl close to her chest as she picked through it, looking for the ones with licorice in them. “That sounds good and better than what I was thinking.”
“Ooh, what was it?” Olinda asked.
“Nope! You tell me yours first, then I will tell you mine.”
“Okay…when I was growing up, my mother use to take me to a place that was a farm and the farmer had made a maze out of corn. It was so much fun, there use to be school trips there and I loved it.” A soft smile of remembrance graced her face as Harper smiled saying. “That sounds lovely.”
Ace nodded. “A great memory to have.”
“Our young would love that. I would like that.” Ash agreed.
Harper asked. “How do we grow a maze that fast and do we have to do it out of corn?”
“Magic. The unicorns can grow it fast, and we can ask them what to make it out of. This is a gift everyone can enjoy. I was thinking if the unicorns agree we should erect it from the first of December until the first of January. What do you think?”
“Fabulous.” Harper eyed Olinda as she said quietly. “We could do this every year.”
Olinda grinned. “I know, what a great tradition.”
Harper looked at the two silent males. “Sorry guys we really don’t need you for this!”
“What, why not?” Ash yelped as Ace with a frown, informed them. “Seriously we are dragons with our own magic.”
“But we have this, right Olinda?”
Olinda agreed with a small smirk on her lips. “Can’t really see why you would be needed. Sorry my love you are out!”
Harper looked at Ace and nodded. “Ditto! Bye, see you later.”
The two males shook their heads and rose from their seats, looked once more at their smiling shadows and left. Olinda and Harper could hear them both grumbling as they left the apartment, making Olinda burst into laughter as Harper grinned and said. “Loved doing that.”
“So what was your idea Harper?”
“Statues not very exciting.”
“Depending on the statues, I would think, but I do have an idea for them if you have enough?”
“That too depends on what you want them for.”
“Well think about it we, could use them as points of reference in the maze.”
Harper smiled. “The ones I have been working on will be great for that and if we are making traditions, we could store them away for Christmas.”
“Oh yeah that way they are only seen at Christmas. I like it.”
“I could always add to them, make new ones throughout the year.”
Olinda sighed. “Now that is lovely, so what are they of?”
“Well, I have been working on young ones, like small dragons, faeries, unicorns, bears, lions, bobcats. Basically every baby or child here. I had some vague notion of placing them around the town, but I like this idea better as more babies come into our lives we can add more.”
“Like pixies.”
Harper smiled softly. “Yeah like pixies.”
“How many do you have?”
“About twenty, they are only three foot high.”
“Perfect, we can do this. We can place them on a pedestal or something.”
“Yeah.” Harper with a soft smile still on her face said. “This is a good gift for Dragon’s Gap.”
Olinda reached for the pen and paper. “I know, imagine on the first of December a maze will appear and be gone by the first of January. A very happy traditional gift to look forward to each year.”
“Write it up Olinda, this is gold!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
A sh looked at his brother as they arrived at the medical center where they hoped to catch up with Sharm. “Really… dismissed before we even started. Your shadow is just plain mean.”
“And yours is all light and sweetness I suppose?” Before Ash could reply, Ace snarled again. “She told me I have no sense of wonder. Me I am a dragon. I am all about wonder and seriously what wonder do you need to make a maze?”
Ash shook his head. “Christmas what a frigging nightmare. Now what are we going to do?”
Ace sighed. “Why ask me, I have no idea. What is Ark doing?”
“I messaged him and asked.” He looked at Ace. “Not nice… not nice at all!”
Ace snarled. “We will pound him later, for now we have to decide on something. I do not want to be the only ones that can’t think of one friggin thing for Christmas.”
“Why is this so hard?” Ash grumbled as he looked up from his phone and watched George and Ivan, pacing out an empty lot across from the medical center. Ace watched the brothers as well. “I know right, we were made for that mission.”
Ash grunted. “Wounded.”
Ace mumbled as he squinted his eyes, trying to see what the brothers were pacing the lot for. “What?”
“I said I was wounded.”
“Oh right yeah… what the hell are they doing?”
“Don’t know, let’s go ask.”
“No wait there is Tayla and Krista let’s wait until they go.”
“Oh yeah, we don’t want to sound pathetic in front of them.” Ash nodded in agreement.
“We won’t sound pathetic.” Ace growled back.
“Okay, sad then.”
“Not that either.”
“Well what then?”
“Desperate.”
Ash sighed. “Oh yeah good point.”
Krista nudged her mate. “George go ask them.”
“Why do I have to?”
Exasperated Krista said sharply. “Just do it.”
“Krista why?”
“We heard Olinda and Harper kicked them to the curb.”
“Well, that was harsh.” Ivan agreed.
“It was.” Tayla just stopped the giggle escaping as she thought about the two giant dragons being kicked out by their shadows. “Apparently Olinda told them they were beyond help.”
“To their faces?” George asked.
“Yes.” Both females nodded. “Right to their faces.”
Ivan looked at his brother. “Now that is harsh, very harsh.” He shook his head. “Well George lets go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep! We can’t kick a dragon when he is down.”
“I suppose, they are family.”
Krista kissed his cheek. “George my mate, you really are a very nice bear.”
He waggled his eyebrows up and down and told her. “Remember that when it comes to cuddle time!”
“Oh, I will. Now go bring them back to the house for the strategy meeting.”
“Okay.”
Ivan looked at his mate. “Well?”
“Well what?” Tayla asked him with a confused look on her face. He said with ext
reme patience. “I am nice too.”
“Yep you are.”
“Seriously mate!” He growled at her, she laughed as she kissed his cheek much as Krista had done to her mate and whispered. “Needy bear.”
With a smile he nodded. “I am!” Then he and George sauntered across the street as their mates watched them, finally they shook their heads at each other and turned for home. Bears as well as dragons could not have a meeting without food… lots of food.
“Yo… George, Ivan. What are you doing?” Ash called out as they got closer to where the two dragons stood.
George nodded. “Ace, Ash what are you two up too?”
“Nothing, our shadows decided we were of no use to them.” Ash told them.
Ivan shook his head. “That is harsh man, want to join our team?”
“Yes, you have no idea how much we do.” Sighed Ace in relief.
George asked. “Want to know what we are doing?”
Ace shook his head. “Truthfully we do not really care.”
Laughing Ivan finally said. “Well, we are making a gingerbread house.”
“Oh, we saw one of those on the movie.” Ash told him, disappointed he had hoped for something larger, he asked both bears. “They are small why do you need our help?”
Ivan grinned. “Nah, we are making a life sized one, so the young ones can come and look inside. We will have lots of little things for them to taste or something.”
Smiling Ace said. “Like the candy bar, my Harper told me about?”
“Oh yeah, I like that.” Ivan told him. “See, you need to come with us. Our mates will write the proposal and then help us with the interior. Don’t forget that idea. Tayla will want to know about it. Let’s go.”
As the four strolled towards Ivan’s home. Sharm and Edith, who were standing inside the medical center smiled at each other as Sharm looked down at Edith saying. “That was nicely done my heart.”
She hugged his arm. “Not my idea, Claire thought it would work out well, now we are set, everyone is doing something and no one will be left out.”
“This is true, everyone will have fun. I have to tell you my Edith. I am coming to enjoy this Christmas holiday.”