~
Theo woke up slowly. He was warm and comfortable, inside and out, and it took his waking brain a while to realise why: he was lying half-curled against Remy's side. For a long while, he felt three again, but age caught up with him as the heavy sleep faded and, gently, he sat up. Remy murmured as Theo moved, but showed no immediate signs of waking, not even when Theo's muscles told him he had been still for a long time and he stretched compulsively, groaning as he did so. Still musty between the ears, Theo blinked at his world and realised he was in his own bed in the manor and he squinted out at a very bright light that was coming in through the windows. His legs were in need of some exercise, so, slowly, Theo pushed back the duvet and climbed out of bed. Blearily, he padded to the window and looked out.
Snow. The drive, the pastures to the side of the manor, the garden, all were clean, perfect white and reflecting the sunshine back up at his window. The sky was a crisp, unadulterated blue of a frozen morning and stunned, Theo just stared, taking in the still, silent beauty of it all. He was still staring when he felt the shift in his psyche that told him his twin was behind him and he murmured, "Wonderful, isn't it?"
"When did we miss this weather forecast?" Remy rumoured, joining Theo at the window, his profile saying he was just as in awe of it all.
"Don't you remember, it started when..." Theo began, but his mouth came to a halt as his thoughts caught up with what he had been about to say.
The memory of staggering back from The Elders, arm in arm with Remy, came floating back and he saw it re-emerging behind Remy's widening eyes as well. It was all a bit foggy, since he remembered a kind of celebratory weariness settling over him, which had grown weightier and weightier with every step back to the house. As though mirroring that fatigue, flakes of snow had begun to float down and settle on the earth, quietly covering it in a thin blanket by the time they had made slow progress to the back door of the manor. Theo sort of recalled them standing in the snow then, watching it fall and a childish fascination came back to him, but then cold and dropping eyelids had got the better of him and he only remembered Liz's voice interrupting their chilly reverie.
Turning away from the window, a little worried about what might have happened next, one thing Theo did not expect to see at the end of his bed was two brightly coloured socks stuffed with equally sparkly-wrapped parcels. Christmas stockings were a bit of fun Daisy and now, it appeared, someone else had always encouraged for adults and children alike, but, it wasn't Christmas for another three days.
"I think we missed something," Remy decided for both of them and headed towards the door.
However, as he approached the exit, the door swung in with its usual creak and Liz breezed in, wrapped in her dressing gown, hair in tinselled bunches and her arms full of a tray laden with delicious smells that immediately hit Theo's nose and his stomach growled.
"Oh, thank heavens, we were afraid you might sleep right through Christmas," the young woman announced lightly, putting the tray down on the sideboard and giving Remy a hug.
"Sleep," Theo checked, his thoughts still moving slowly.
"Yes," Liz told him, walking up to him and wrapping him in a very pleasant embrace. As she stood back and walked over to the tray, she carried on, "You two have been out since you came back from the Solstice Ceremony. I barely got you two up here before you were snoring and we were worried to start with, but I called Sid and he came over and did some checking and said you two just needed to recharge, so we stopped worrying, got you into your pyjamas and have been waiting for you to wake up."
Liz handed Remy a mug and a slice of toast and then brought a similar offering over to Theo and, smiling at him, added, "I was hoping a good Christmas breakfast might bring you two out of it, but you got there before me."
"Only just," Remy replied, chewing on the toast and wandering over to the second window to look at the scenery again.
Theo took a sip from his steaming mug: the flavour of spiced hot chocolate coated his tongue and he smiled gratefully back at Liz. Then he found himself glancing out of the window again.
"Oh, and it's been snowing non-stop since you two did your Rip Van Winkle impressions, anything you care to share?" Liz teased.
However, the twins swapped a look and Theo knew he was not alone when he voiced an instinctive opinion, "Think Blackwood needed to sleep as well."
The answer felt right, and, sipping his chocolate some more, he stared out at the peace of the world outside.
"We didn't have any of these dramatics with Daisy," Liz tutted, but her tone was amused rather than accusatory. "Anyway, there's more food where that toast came from down in the kitchen, your Mum and Dad and mine are all waiting for you, so eat up, get your dressing gowns on, grab your stockings and come and find us."
Liz disappeared without Theo really noticing, because he was still rather taken with the crystal blanket outside. He found Remy at his shoulder again, a very comfortable position and, munching through their taster, they stood surveying the way everything had been refreshed. It wasn't perfect, everything would have to return to shades of grey soon, but, for now, everything was white and Theo felt the joy of that deep in his chest. Man's calendar said New Year was still days away, but Theo had experienced Nature's clock, and a new cycle had begun for Blackwood. Warm, safe and content, Theo leant against Remy's arm and wished, "Merry Christmas, Little Brother."
####
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Afterword
About Wittegen Press:
Wittegen Press is a small independent publisher of eBooks based in the UK. We publish on many eBook sites. To see our whole catalogue please visit our website.
https://www.wittegenpress.com
About Tasha
Tasha was born and raised in rural Kent, England where she still lives with her husband Rob, just down the road from her twin sister and sometimes writing partner Sophie. Tasha has been writing since she was a pre-teen and chose to take it up as a full time career when her company downsized and made the whole software engineering department redundant. After setting up Wittegen Press with her sister as a brand for their books she has not looked back, publishing novels, novellas and short stories in a wide range of genres.
Before taking up writing professionally she was very active in the world of fanfiction and still believes it is a wonderful creative outlet, even though she doesn't have very much time to play anymore. She likes to maintain a lively presence online and welcomes new friends, readers and writers alike.
For more information about Tasha's books and where to find her at places like Twitter, please check out her profile at Wittegen Press, linked below.
https://www.wittegenpress.com/natashaduncandrake
About Sophie
Sophie was born with the writing bug in her blood, boring her primary school teachers with pages of creative writing and killing her first typewriter from over use when she was thirteen. She began publishing her work on line while at university where she discovered the internet and fanfiction. It took another decade for Sophie to realise her long-time dream of releasing her own original fiction.
https://www.wittegenpress.com/sophieduncan
Stockings - Two Haward Mysteries Christmas Short Stories Page 4