“They are amazing. I was wondering, if it wasn’t too personal, could you tell me what your tattoos mean?”
Ark grinned and stripped without another word. “We had better go lights out for this, but I have a flashlight. You touch a tattoo and I will tell you what it meant to me.”
She changed into a long chemise, and when the lights were out, he lay on the bed and she used the flashlight to highlight one mark at a time.
He had marks for his siblings, marks for his parents, marks for friends. None of them were words or faces, but it was obvious who the designs were for.
She spent hours slowly tracing her fingers down his back, buttocks and thighs, and then, she got him to flip over. His chest was done with mirrored patterns, ancient designs that seemed to live on his skin.
It was a fun way to spend the night when she was too sore for anything else. Her fingers trailing over him aroused him, but she didn’t quite know where to start, so she didn’t do anything. He didn’t seem to mind, and when her exploration was over, he pulled her against him, and they snuggled together until Christmas Eve was upon them.
Tyla had never spent an entire day eating sandwiches and playing board games, but she found that she had quite the talent for Monopoly. After she had won the game in an hour, she was stuck playing Operation and Mouse Trap.
It was amazing how many games the Talifors had that didn’t involve the accumulation of money.
When it was time for her to give her patient a rest, Tyla cornered Agnes in the kitchen.
“Agnes, I have something to ask you and you can say no. I won’t be offended.”
“That sounds serious.”
“It is. I want too much.”
Aggie gave her a concerned look. “What do you mean?”
“I want Ark, I want travel, but I want my niece, Tora, to live with me. I can’t leave her with them. If her talent manifests, and I think it will, they will lock her up just like they locked me up.”
“What about her mother?”
“Tian spends less than an hour per day with Tora. The rest of that time, she is with her nanny when they travel or me when they are home.”
“And if you sued for custody and you were travelling, you would be disallowed by a standard court.”
“Right. I would have to do this in the avian courts, and I am more than willing to, but would you and Andros act as guardians when I am off with Ark? I know it is a lot to ask. You just had me join your family, and this would be another mouth to feed. I can provide her with a large trust to pay all her expenses.”
Aggie gave her a quick hug. “Let me ask Andros. Does Arkenon know about this?”
“I have warned him already. Tora is the only part of my life that is still missing, and I don’t just want a child, I want her safe.”
“You want a lot, but this is doable.” Aggie winked. “Give me a few hours, and I will tell you what is what.”
Tyla hugged her and then returned to her patient. Drinking eggnog didn’t increase her ability to use the tiny pincers, but it did make the game more fun.
Windi asked, “So, you have access to all your siblings’ money?”
Tyla cocked her head. “It is trickier than that. I give them portions of the investment pool’s money. All the money is technically mine. And, of course, I also have my own accounts.”
“How much money do you have?” Windi blinked as Needin tossed a ball of tinsel at her.
“It is rude to ask that, Windi.” Needin was a little pious.
“More than I need. How about that?” Seventy-three million dollars was far more than she needed, but she had never spent a dime. It just kept collecting interest and rolling into carefully selected investments. She would tell Arkenon when he actually asked.
It was a surprise that she would like to ease him into.
Snowball fights needed more than two people, so it was good that there were six of them out and pelting each other. Chuck remained on the porch, cheering Ivy on as the girls vs. boys took a turn for the pink.
The losers had to do the dishes on Christmas day.
The flooring was pulled up and to the side so that the twelve feet of wood could get into the family room. The girls lit the fire, and the front end of the log caught and began to burn just as the sun cast a red light across the sky.
During dinner, Reginald gave her the lecture on how the Yule log was actually not a Christmas tradition, and she nodded wisely as he explained the origin of the log burning.
“So, what happens tomorrow morning?” Tyla asked it, and the entire table turned toward her with surprised expressions.
Ark grinned and patted her thigh under the table. “We get up at dawn and rush into the family room in our pyjamas. We open presents, have breakfast and make fun of each other while we try on the clothing that we got, and then, we go outside and fly around.”
Tyla blinked. “Oh. That might be a problem for me.”
Everyone at the table was staring at her, but Ivy had an inkling. “She hasn’t flown before. She never went out, remember?”
Out of all the things that they had heard from her in the last few days, that one thing put them all into action.
Aggie got her into her goose form and then opened the door for her as she waddled out into the moonlit, snowy night.
Ivy was the closest shape to hers, so she knelt nearby. “Flap your wings to see how much strength you have. We are born with our wings able to support us.”
Tyla flapped, and she rose up on tiptoes from the force of her wings. This just might work.
After a few more minutes of coaching, she took a run and flapped like a mad thing. She slowly lifted off the ground, and she kept pumping her wings and pushing the cold night air down and away from her body.
A blast of air under her and she was suddenly partially supported by the wind. She was flying! She honked her delight and kept climbing into the sky. A strange noise sounded on her left, and she turned her head to see a heron with its neck tucked in tight against its body. Arkenon was impressive in his shifted form, and he stayed next to her as she slowly circled the farm before slowly guiding her down toward the ground.
At the image of two rows of bright, twinkling lights in the snow, Tyla honked with laughter, but she aimed between those lines, changing the angle of her wings until she was nearly hovering in the air.
Arkenon landed next to the light strands and everyone broke into applause.
Surprised, she simply stopped flapping and dropped. She sat up, naked and shivering. “I think I did pretty well.”
Andros took off his coat and wrapped it around her. “You did very well.”
She beamed at him and reached out to stroke Ark’s feathers. The thick, slick feel of them was extremely pleasant. He poked at her with his pointed beak and pecked her into the house.
She laughed and shed the coat once they were inside his room and wrapped her arms around him as he went from two long legs to the elegantly decorated muscle that she was used to.
“I am so proud of you.” He hugged her back with a bone-cracking squeeze.
“I was impressed that I got airborne as well.”
“No, you tried. You took advice, and you tried to get up and out. You did something you haven’t been able to do before, and you did it with your whole heart. No holding back.”
She blushed and cleared her throat. “I think we should get dressed.”
He grinned, flicked his father’s coat out the door and locked it. “We need to get our sleep. Santa comes early.”
She chuckled and did a mental inventory. She was still sore, but she was looking forward to Christmas more than she wanted to admit.
Time to get some sleep in the arms of a man who just wanted her to be herself.
She was creeping around in the predawn light.
A voice hissed, “What are you doing?”
“I am looking for the pyjamas that I bought.”
“I put them in the dresser next to mine. Grab me a pair, would you?”
She heard his feet hit the ground, and she used the flashlight to locate his PJs. She slipped into her flannel PJs with the candy canes, and she put on some thick socks.
“Can we go out there now?”
“Bring your presents, and yes, we can.”
She grabbed the bags as quietly as she could and slipped Ark’s present in with the rest. Chuck and Ivy had come through, and she had put his gift together during the game day while the others were plotting against her in Monopoly.
They left their room and tiptoed down the hall toward the glowing light of the Yule log. Two feet of log had been consumed and there was plenty of it to bring the sun to life again.
Ark pushed the log more firmly into the fire pit, and then, they settled down to watch the sparks and embers.
When the family stumbled in an hour later, coffee had been made and the bacon was done. Breakfast was a third of the way done.
“Merry Christmas.” Was screamed, giggled, whispered and hugged out, and then, the presents took flight.
Everyone had a designated seating spot, and so, Tyla dropped bag after bag in the correct zones.
She was surprised to see a pile of presents in front of her spot. No one had known she was coming, really.
Ark cuddled next to her, and he urged her to open her presents.
Two pairs of goose socks, a sweatshirt, two purses, a hairbrush with an engraved T on it. She wiggled her toes happily and smiled.
Windi smiled, “Open mine.”
A card was at the bottom of the pile, so she opened it carefully. Tyla read it out loud. “Unlimited driving lessons?” She squealed happily and hugged Windi.
Argus nodded. “She’s a good instructor, and she had us get the beater ready so that you can drive around and smack into things while you learn. We still have the orange cones for training.”
When the family started opening her gifts, shouts of appreciation and thank yous were rung out. Needin laughed when he pulled out the burn kit. The rest of the men smiled at the Damascus blades that were included in their pouches.
Even Arkenon got one, but his larger present was waiting. He slipped it out of the bag, and his jaw dropped. “How did you do this?”
“Chuck made some calls, and thanks to digital imaging, he got them. I know there are some missing, but it is a fair representation.”
She watched him stare at the collage of tattoos that he had done on friends and family.
Tyla was going to continue, but the first cry of, “I am a winner!” rang out.
Each of the Talifors had a series of scratch-and-win tickets. If she had done her math right, it would be about forty thousand each.
Silence fell as frantic scratching occurred, and Ark shook his head, “You can’t do that all the time.”
“No, but I can do it once. I have gotten more than I imagined when I made that call.” She wrinkled her nose. “It is only fair to pay it forward.”
He sighed and kissed her. “You are truly a strange bird, love.”
“I know. You will get used to it.” She kissed him back and sat back to enjoy her first true Christmas. Presents aside, having a family was fun.
Epilogue
Tora squealed and ran to the pond, chasing her grandfather with her chubby legs pumping.
Tyla walked at a stately pace, enjoying the sunlight glittering off the pond. She was seven months along and waiting for Arkenon to return so that she could kick his butt for daring to buy her a new car.
“Mom! Come here, Papa is going to show me how he swims.”
“Papa doesn’t swim, he walks.” She chuckled. Tora was nearing five and enrolled to begin school the following September. Her first shift would happen any time now, so a supervisor always accompanied her when she went near the pond.
With the energy in the air, today was probably the day. Tyla had her camera with her.
Windi scampered up behind her, carrying her folding chair. “Do you feel that?”
Tyla nodded. “Yup. Camera is at the ready.”
It took about half an hour for Tora to splash into the pond, but the moment that she did, the powerful pulse of the first shift rippled across the pond.
Tyla was at the edge of the water, scooping out the gosling in a moment. “Hey, Tora. Relax. Breathe and chirp.”
The squeaky honks from the gold-headed gosling made her smile.
Tyla took a few pictures and cuddled her daughter to her. “Easy. If you want to go normal again, just think about hugging me.”
The fluffy creature looked at her, and it started shimmering. Small arms went around Tyla’s neck. “I was so scared!”
“I know. I was here though. Nothing happened. You are fine. We all go through this when we are your age.” She stroked the metallic gold hair.
“You did this, too?”
“Yup. My mom and pop dropped me into a tub and held me under until I changed.” It was not a favourite memory.
“That’s mean!”
“I know. Now, did you want to change again and go paddling in the pond? Papa will keep an eye on you.”
The crane dipped his head.
“Is it okay?”
“It is fine. Have fun. You should always have fun with your other form. For now, only with family who can keep you safe.”
“Okay. I am going try that again.”
She wandered back into the water, all pearl white and gold.
Tyla absently fished out the swimsuit and hung it to dry. Tora was a golden goose. There was no doubting it.
Tyla sat back and watched the crane take care of the little gosling, steering her with his beak and keeping her out of the reeds.
Tora was going to be taught control, generosity and wariness. She was going to grow up strong, confident and loved. There was no greater gift that Tyla could give her, except a brother or sister and that was on the way.
It was the present that Ark had given her last Christmas.
Author’s Note
Christmas Goose tells more about me than I would like to admit to, but it has a happily ever after and that is the best part. I included characters from Owl’s Fair, Lion Time, Poisoned Pen, Dragon Around (Teebie’s first mention), the location from Little Prick and Teal and Tony from all the other Shifting Crossroads books.
In 2014, I will continue this series with Lost Roar. A tale of a lioness who needs to find her inner strength at the expense of an adoring wolf. He thinks a little verbal abuse is a fair trade for the woman he loves. He’s a big guy. He can take it.
Thanks for making Shifting Crossroads my favourite series this year!
Zenina Masters
www.zeninamasters.com
And Zenina Masters now has a Facebook page, for those who want a sneak peek at upcoming books and new cover art.
About the Author
Zenina Masters was born in Canada and lives in Canada. She has a regular job and does nothing particularly exciting with her life. She enjoys fishing, silence and the ability to pick and choose friends she can trust. Life is too short to watch your back all the time.
Her writing life is a teeny bit of escapism, she would probably chicken out if confronted by three naked men and looks forward to one day finding out.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Author’s Note
About the Author
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