It had been decided that Luís, as both the smallest of the siblings and the one who had done most of the organizing, would be the one hunting for the presents under the tree. He was happily ensconced in the tree’s large lower branches, passing boxes out as he found them.
The gift for David from Gabriel and Luís was the largest box under the tree, while the gift that Elena and Cora had gotten for Sofía was much smaller. Cora was a little uncomfortable with that dynamic, but toys for two-year-olds were always so much bigger than toys for preteens. They had a lot more things for Sofía than they did for David overall. Plus, she knew that they would both absolutely love their gifts, and that’s what really counted.
Luís emerged with a gift bag that Cora recognized as one that they had given to Anton the year prior. She and Elena made eye contact across the room and smirked at each other.
“Okay! Here’s Mama’s gift!”
He handed it to her where she sat snuggled on the loveseat with Manuel. Cora loved how touchy they always were with each other. Even though they spent the whole day together, Manuel had his arms around María’s waist, and she had her head tilted towards him. It was just wonderful to see how in love but they still were even after so many years together.
Cora glanced at her own parents, who were standing in the doorway still. Even though they stood on opposite sides of the arched doorway, their hands were just barely linked together.
“Can we open them now?” Sofía asked loudly, realizing that not enough people were paying attention to her for her liking. Her parents laughed, and the rest of the room joined in.
“Go for it, but help your brother first,” Marianne told her.
She rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. She wasn’t about to disobey her mother after spitting brussel sprouts at her. She spread her fingers out like a cat’s claws and pulled them across the shiny gold-and-white striped wrapping paper, tearing it away from the box that was larger than her younger brother.
“It’s a truck!” David yelled in delight once he helped his sister pull all of the paper. “It’s a big truck for me!”
“Yeah, buddy! Tomorrow, you can ride it around in the yard! What do you think, David?” Gabriel asked.
“That is awesome! Can sissy ride with me?”
“I think so! But not until tomorrow, okay? And only outside.”
“Okay!” He pushed the box out into the hallway, making truck and vroom sounds with his mouth as he moved it. Marianne grinned at him from across the room.
“Now it’s your turn, Sofía,” Anton told her.
She ripped into her own gift box and looked up with a confused expression when she pulled out a banana-shaped cloth bag.
“What is this?”
“It’s a game called Bananagrams! You get a handful of letters and you have to make words out of it.”
Her eyes lit up and Cora smiled.
“That sounds fun! How do you win?”
Cora laughed.
“You have to make the most words out of everybody you’re playing with. It’s one of my favorites.”
“Can we play now?”
Her mother intervened.
“How about you, Papa, and I play when we get back to the hotel? It’s getting late for David to be up and you can play with Tía Cora tomorrow. How’s that sound?”
David interrupted, to Cora’s amusement.
“But Mama, I don’t wanna go to bed yet! I wanna see Santa!”
“Santa doesn’t come if you aren’t sleeping, David. You know that!” Sofía informed him haughtily. The room lit up with laughter, and he frowned.
“That’s right,” Anton told him patiently. “The sooner that you go to bed, the sooner Santa can come and give you the rest of your presents.”
“Then I want to go to bed now, please.” David unintentionally punctuated his sentence with the wide yawn that stretched his chubby face.
“We’ll go home soon, mi hijo,” Marianne explained. “We have to give Abuela her present first. Do you want to help her open it?”
His box abandoned, David scrambled over to where his grandparents sat and up onto María’s lap. She handed him the gift bag and he tugged the tissue paper out with the reckless abandon that only a two-year-old could find. He lifted a bright blue apron out of the bag and frowned at it with his entire face.
“¿Qué dice, abuela?”
María smiled down at him.
“It says ‘Kiss the Cook!’” she read with a laugh.
“Who am I to deny the apron?” Manuel announced, then pressed a kiss to his wife’s lips. She kissed him back.
“Gross! I don’t like kissing!” David shouted, and scrambled away from his grandparents. “We can leave now!”
The entire room burst into laughter. María and Manuel broke apart after a moment, both of their cheeks flushing just a little. Cora winked at them, and María mouthed back a thank you.
Chapter 5
Cora and Elena stood in the doorway of their home, watching and waving to their families as they loaded into the cars. They would be back in the morning, but their house was not large enough to host everyone overnight, so they were off to the hotel to sleep.
Both women have a long day and felt relief at the quiet that was all around them, aside from Lady Georgina’s energetic sniffing in the bedroom.
“It feels like it might snow,” Elena remarked, rubbing her hands gently up and down Cora’s cardigan-clad arms. Cora nodded, nestling closer against her. The three cars were pulling out of the driveway and headed for their hotels, and it was cold on the freshly shaved back and sides of her head. “Let's head back in before we freeze out here.”
“How do you feel about lighting a fire?” Cora asked hopefully. She felt Elena’s chest move with a quiet laugh.
The working fireplace had been one of the biggest draws for this house for the both of them, but it was Cora’s favorite. There was very little that she loved more than the sound of a crackling fire and the smell of cedar smoke in the winter.
She could happily curl up with the book and a blanket on the couch and be completely content for an entire evening.
“A fire sounds lovely, along with a glass of wine,” Elena said. “Come on. Let's get you back into pajamas like I know you want to be.”
She walked back inside, sliding her shoes off and leaving them at the door. Cora followed suit, closing and locking the door behind her. The floor was warm against her bare feet.
“I'm actually quite comfortable in this dress,” Cora told Elena. “C’mon. You get the wine and let the dog out here. I’ll get the fire started, and then I have a present for you.”
She raised a thick eyebrow at Cora, barely pausing in her way towards the kitchen.
“I thought you said that all of my presents needed to be opened tomorrow.”
“I lied. I've been known to do that from time to time, but only for a good cause.”
"And is this a good cause?"
Cora grinned toothily at her girlfriend.
"It is."
Elena shook her head at Cora, her dark hair cascading down her shoulders. A wide smile split her face as she walked into the kitchen to get the wine glasses and red wine we’d been saving.
Cora walked in the opposite direction, working to clear space around the fireplace in the living room. They had a policy of always leaving the fireplace ready to go - a fire starter made of dryer lint and a toilet paper roll, two or three logs and a little bit of kindling.
She lifted the long-nosed lighter from the mantelpiece and squatted before the fire. She laid the lighter’s nose against the firestarter. With a click, flame burst from the end and it caught with a whoosh.
Cora pulled the metal gates closed in front of the flickering flame, hoping to keep it where they belonged and everything else out of its space - particularly our new family member.
She heard Elena’s footsteps coming across the hall, her left ankle popping the third step, followed by shuffling patter of doggy footsteps. Cora
still couldn’t believe that they had a dog, especially this one. She had always loved small dogs, especially West Highland Terriers, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
“Hey, buddy,” she crooned, her voice several octaves higher than normal when the dog trotted into view in front of Elena. She shifted her gaze upward and saw a smile on Elena’s face. Her voice dropped to its usual pitch. “Hey, beautiful.”
Lady Georgina showed no hesitancy as she wandered around the room. She sniffed her way over to where Cora sat, her small pink tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth. Elena watched her carefully, making sure she did get into anything that she shouldn’t. That was when Cora noticed that Elena had the glasses and bottle of wine that she had sent her for. With a groan, Cora rose to her feet.
Elena set the wine glasses on the coffee table and began wrestling with the cork. Cora reached down and allowed Georgina to sniff her hand as much as she pleased.
Despite knowing the sound was coming, Cora jumped at the sound of the cork popping out of the bottle. They both laughed at her response. Elena poured the wine into the two glasses, making sure not to overfill them or slosh the plum colored liquid onto the soft white rug they stood on.
Cora couldn’t help but be amazed at how graceful she was.
“Let’s toast!” Elena said. “To our first family Christmas Eve being a success, and to tomorrow going just as well!”
“I’ll drink to that!” Cora answered cheerfully, clinking her glass against Elena’s gently. Elena leaned over and kissed her gently.
Cora licked her lips, savoring the taste of her girlfriend’s soft lips and the waxy residue from her warm red lipstick that remained on her own lips. They smiled softly at each other over their wine glasses and drank.
The 2015 vintage was fruity. Cora could taste plum and raspberry, with hints of something floral. It was lightly spiced, and it was delicious. Once Elena had swallowed her sip, she looked coyly at her.
“Now, you said you had a present for me.”
“Indeed I did!”
Cora set her wine glass on the coffee table, far enough in that she didn’t think the dog would be able to reach it. Her hands were starting to shake, and she didn’t want Elena to see just how nervous she was when she got down on one knee.
I really hope I’m not about to ruin Christmas forever, Cora thought desperately before pulling the small box out of her pocket.
“Elena MaríaMendéz, you are the light of my life. Every day spent with you is the day that I wouldn't trade for anything in any galaxy. I don't want there to be a part of my life that you were not in. ”
Elena gasped, but Cora kept going. She was already crying, but she hadn’t managed to get the actual question out of her mouth yet. She popped open the box to show Elena the three-banded rose gold ring that she had bought her. The hand that wasn't holding her wine glass flew to her mouth at the sight of it.
“Will you agree to spend this slice of eternity by my side and be my wife?”
She looked up at Elena, tears spilling down her face. Elena’s eyes were brimming with tears of her own, but her lips were spread in a wide, quivering grin.
“Oh, stay there for a moment. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
She set her wine glass down next to Cora’s, then ran toward the back of the house. Cora watched her go, utterly bewildered. That was not the response that she had expected when she proposed, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was a positive one.
She was, however, glad that she hadn’t put on any mascara or eyeliner. If she had, it would’ve been running down her face horribly. She wiped her eyes and opened them again to see Elena slide back into the living room.
She raised her hand and Cora saw that she held a box similar to Cora’s own in it. It was Cora’s turn to gasp as Elena got down on one knee in front of her.
“I had planned to do this tomorrow morning,” Elena said with a laugh, sliding the ribbon off of her own box and opening it. She couldn’t even look at the ring because of the joy radiating from her face. “Cora Elise Moss, I promise to love you for every single day that God allows us to spend together. I promise to always cherish you and our love above all else in this world, if you will do me the honor of being my wife.”
They knelt in silence for a moment, both crying and grinning before bursting into laughter and leaning towards each other.
“Yes, absolutely yes,” she told Cora.
Cora reached her arms out to Elena, wrapping them around the love of her life. She gave her own reply in a whisper.
“I will say yes to you every single day of the rest of my life.”
They stayed on the floor like that for a long time, until Georgina poked her cold nose into Elena’s thigh. Elena jumped, and both women giggled. Elena leaned back on her haunches, petting the dog lightly along its back.
“Well, let’s put these rings on, shall we, my love?”
ELENA
She could not believe how well tonight had gone. Elena’s heart was so full, and it raced so quickly that she thought it might burst out of her chest.
Cora held out the ring box to her, and she was gratified to notice that Cora’s small, pale hand was shaking as much as her own was. She also realized that she had been so caught up with her counter-proposal that she hadn’t even looked at the ring that Cora had proposed with.
Taking the box, Elena was stunned. It looked like someone had taken the lines of a sweetheart neckline and turned it into a ring. Three crystal-encrusted bands came together in the center with a gently-sloping V with slightly larger clear stones in them.
“Oh, Cora, this is beautiful!” Elena breathed. “What are the stones?”
Cora slid the ring onto Elena’s hand, and she was surprised by how warm it was.
“Oh good. Then you’ll like the one I bought you, too.”
Cora laughed quietly. Georgina had made her way over to the couch, climbed up and gone to sleep. The small dog snored lightly a few feet away from the two women.
Elena picked up the ring box she’d proposed with and held it out to her with a trembling smile.
“I will love you to the ends of the universe and back,” Elena told Cora, sliding the galactic ring onto her ring finger while the sound of the fire crackled around them.
She gasped at the sight of it. She clearly hadn’t really looked at the ring, either.
Elena looked into her face, which was just below mine her own, and realized that tears were spilling down her face again as she looked at her hand. Elena cupped Cora’s wet cheeks in her hands and pressed a kiss to her mouth.
Cora leaned into the kiss, and Elena felt her nip lightly at her lips. Elena was pretty sure that she would never get over how much she loved the feel of Cora’s lips on hers. Her heart begin to race, and she could feel from where one of her palms had slid down to her neck that hers was as well.
“I love you so much,” Cora choked out, before tears overwhelmed her. She wrapped her arms around Elena’s neck and collapsed into the larger woman. Elena slipped her arms around Cora’s waist, pulling her as close as was physically possible on the deep pile rug.
Neither woman could have told anyone how long they sat there holding each other. It was long enough that Lady Georgina woke up and came to join them at Cora’s feet, jolting them back into reality with her cool, wet nose.
“How about we head to bed, darling?”
Cora tilted her head back to smile at Elena.
“Bed sounds perfect.”
ELENA
Cora and Elena pulled all of the presents out of the office to make a big impact on the kids when they arrived. However, they were sure that the presents would not be the only things making an impact, and they weren’t disappointed.
Squeals of joy split the early morning air in our home when both of their families arrived for Christmas morning, just like the matching grins of delight that split Cora and Elena’s faces.
Cora’s mother burst into tears at the sight of the rings on their fingers.
Hugh wrapped Elena up in a bone-crushing hug that Victoria joined in on, turning her into a Moss sandwich.
“Welcome to the family officially, my darling.”
As soon as Elena was free from their crushing hug, Sofía grabbed Elena’s left hand in both of her tiny ones. She peered and squinted at the ring very seriously.
“It looks like a butterfly,” she declared. “I like it.”
Elena looked down at the ring on her hand and realized delightedly that she was right. The V in the center almost looked like antennas, and the arched rose gold bands could be mistaken for a butterfly’s wings.
“Go tell Cora you like it,” Elena told her. Lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, she continued. “And check out the one I had made for her. I think you’ll like that one, too.”
She let out a peal of laughter and ran over to where Cora stood in the kitchen with Elena’s parents.
“Tía Cora! Tía Cora! Lemme see!” Sofía
Elena looked up just as the little girl grabbed Cora’s hand the same way she had done with Elena’s. Cora’s giggle filled my ears from across the room, and Elena grinned.
She couldn’t have wished for a more perfect morning, and they hadn’t even eaten yet. Everything was perfect.
* * *
THE END
Cover: Ceillie Simkiss
Halloween is a holiday that is both loved and reviled by people all over America. It’s one of Cora’s favorite holidays. Unfortunately, it’s also a massive source of anxiety for Elena. Between the two of them, they get up to all sorts of hijinks and wind up falling even more head over heels for each other in The Ghosts of Halloween.
* * *
The Ghosts of Halloween collection is made up of three sweet slice-of-life short stories: Past, Present and Future. Each tells the story of a different Halloween that Cora and Elena have gone or will go through together.
The Learning Curves Omnibus Page 11