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technicallycleverdetective · 5 years ago

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Presenting my last OS for Christmas, this one using the prompt “If there’s magic, it’s only because of you” which was my favourite one on the list so I really wanted to do something with it. This is my attempt. I hope it’s a good read :)

“Time for bed” Fabrizio announced, to a reception of sighs and protests. “It's nearly 10pm. Santa won't come if you're not asleep.”

“Why not?” Anita demanded.

“Because he's doing his job and he doesn't want children in every house trying to talk to him and holding him back. Getting around the world is one night is a tight schedule” Fabrizio replied wisely.

Anita thought about that for a moment. “Like you when we go shopping?” she asked. “When the people stare at you and you pretend not to see them?”

“Um...Yes, I suppose it's like that” he agreed. His daughter nodded in understanding. “Well, I won't talk to him. I just want to see him” she said, and lay down on the sofa.

“You can't sleep here, sweetheart. He won't come unless you're in bed.”

Dark brown eyes opened and fixed him with an intelligent glare. “You said he'll come if we're asleep, and I will be,” she said. “And then he'll wake me up and I'll squint so he doesn't realise.”

He had to admire the amount of thought that had gone into this plan. “Alright love, good luck,” he conceded. “I'll get your pillow and blanket.”

“Thank you Papa.”

He turned to the other two people in the room and gestured for them to follow him upstairs. Ermal went directly to Anita's room while Libero stood in the doorway of his, watching curiously as the adults took her pillow, duvet and plush dinosaur back downstairs. Fabrizio tucked his daughter into her makeshift bed and kissed her goodnight, leaving Ermal to do the same and going back up to Libero.

“Remember when I wanted to stay up and wait for Santa?” his son asked.

The memory formed as clear as day, Christmas 2012 with his three year old son in his Captain America pyjamas, bouncing with excitement as he waited for Father Christmas to come down the chimney. Within an hour, that excited little boy had fallen asleep in his arms and he'd held onto him for longer than he had to before putting him to bed. It was a precious memory even now.

“Yes, I remember. I stayed up with you.”

“Yeah,” Libero smiled. “And then I woke up in my own bed and I don't know how I got there.”

“The magic of Christmas, I suppose,” his father suggested. “It put me back in my bed too.”

“Goodnight Dad.” Libero waved, stepped into his room and closed the door.

“See you in the morning” Fabrizio called through the wood, and went back downstairs. A check in the living room confirmed that Anita was still there, intently watching the fireplace, and he went to the kitchen where Ermal was waiting with two glasses of wine.

“You're a star,” Fabrizio said gratefully. He took one glass and toasted it gently against Ermal's. “Let's go out to the garden. We can't do any work until she's asleep and we can keep an eye on her through the window.”

They sat down at the patio table, Fabrizio switching on the heater and turning to see Ermal's smile illuminated by the orange glow. “You look happy” he remarked.

“I am. Thanks for including me so much” Ermal said. Fabrizio felt more surprised than flattered by the compliment. “Why wouldn't I?” he asked curiously.

“Well, I'm not really family, am I?” Ermal pointed out. “Even at my sister's house I feel like a guest, so being able to shop for the kids and wrap their gifts and cook means a lot. So thank you.”

“You don't have to thank me. I'm just glad you're here. You've made the Christmas season so much more enjoyable.”

“Because you don't have to cook Christmas dinner?”

Fabrizio chuckled and shook his head, gazing into his wine glass. “Because it's not all about making everything magical for the kids,” he answered. “Christmas these days is just a lot of stress and work, and in the end, the imaginary bearded man gets all of the credit. Is that a really bitter thing to say?”

Ermal smiled sympathetically and squeezed his hand. “I think it's reasonable. Christmas is for kids and you know that I never celebrated it then.”

“Papa!”

They sprang apart guiltily at the sound of Anita's stern voice. She was standing at the back door, arms folded and hair wild on one side. “Go to bed. Santa won't come until everyone's asleep” she scolded.

“You're right, darling. Let me finish my drink and I'll go right away. You run back to bed and try to sleep.”

She nodded, satisfied with the answer, and disappeared back inside. Fabrizio glanced at Ermal and pulled a face. His boyfriend raised his eyebrows. “I am suitably chastised” he said. Fabrizio laughed and rubbed his hand affectionately.

The alarm went off at 2am and Fabrizio groaned, rolling over and grabbing his phone from the table. He blindly jabbed his finger at the screen until he hit the right place to make the sound stop, and then turned onto his back and rubbed his eyes.

Ermal's groans sounded like a hibernating bear that had been disturbed. Fabrizio reached out and patted his curls which were everywhere on the pillow. “Sorry love, go back to sleep.”

Another grunt was his answer. Feeling like a corpse attempting to escape its grave, Fabrizio arose and staggered across the room. It took three tries to find the door handle and pull it open. He stepped into a cold, dark and completely silent hallway. As carefully as he could, he descended the stairs and slowly opened the living room door. Anita blended into the dark space, but he could see the shape of her duvet and hear her gentle deep breaths.

He approached and knelt in front of her, watching her face for any response, but she was deep in the Land of Nod. He picked her up with the duvet still wrapped around her and turned towards the door, seeing Ermal appear there. One hand was rubbing his eye sleepily, the other was already reaching for her pillow. He led the way back upstairs and Anita was safely deposited back in her bed. If anyone asked, Santa was responsible for her movement, and thanks to Ermal she would have no reason to doubt the story.

It was a treat he'd concocted for his niece a couple of years ago, and apparently her reaction had been worth all the hours of labour. Four bags of sugar had been purchased for this and now the real labour of the night began, making little white patches on the floor and then shaping them into footprints, all the way from the fireplace to the stairs and back to the tree before finally exiting in the place they'd come from. It took two hours to do it all even with two people working together.

It was with tremendous relief that Fabrizio collapsed back into bed, opening his arms for Ermal to fall in after him. “If we hurry, we can still get three hours of sleep” he muttered.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and have four” Ermal suggested. Fabrizio smiled at the ceiling and closed his eyes. “No,” he sighed. “It’ll be three.”

2 hours and 55 minutes later, Anita came barrelling into the room, grabbing his arm and pulling insistently. “Papa! Come and look at what Santa did!”

“What did he do?” he asked blearily, genuinely confused for a moment.

“He brought me back to my bed! Come and see!”

Fabrizio pulled out of her grip, struggling to sit up without groaning like a piece of old furniture. Finding him too slow for her liking, Anita climbed onto the bed and started shaking Ermal’s shoulder. “Uncle Ermal, you have to see what Santa did!”

“Okay, okay, I coming…”

“I’ll be back,” she warned, and jumped off the bed. Fabrizio heard her open the door of the neighbouring bedroom. “Libero, Santa’s been in our house!”

“Success” Ermal declared wearily. Fabrizio shushed him with a finger on the lips as Anita reappeared in the doorway, frowning at the sight of them still in bed.

“Get up!” “Alright, Little Miss Bossy. Calm down” her father retorted, throwing the covers aside and going to her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs. Libero had just emerged from his bedroom, rubbing his eye and squinting in confusion. His sister beckoned him to follow. The three of them descended the stairs until, about four steps from the bottom, Anita stopped them and pointed at the line of white footprints striding through the hall to the living room. Libero’s mouth fell open.

“What is this?” Fabrizio gasped. “Look at what Santa has done to my carpet.”

“He didn’t mean to” Anita protested.

Fabrizio huffed in mock-annoyance. “I hope he left the nicest presents in his sack to make up for it. Why don’t you go and check under the tree?”

Anita grinned and ran to the living room at once. Fabrizio turned to his son. “Maybe he left something for you as well.”

Libero kept looking between the footprints and his father, obviously not sure what to believe. At last it seemed that Fabrizio’s reputation for being ruthlessly house-proud won out, and he hurried after his sister to see what other evidence Father Christmas had left of his visit. Once they were gone, Fabrizio did a little celebratory dance in the hall and looked upstairs to see if Ermal was following. He was, albeit at a sloth’s pace and with his eyes still half-closed.

Fabrizio headed for the kitchen to turn on the coffee machine, but was waylaid by his daughter’s shrieks of joy. She rushed out of the living room holding the small jewellery box that contained her necklace. It had a thick silver chain and a heart charm with her name engraved on it.

“Look what Santa got for me! Can you help me put it on?”

“Of course, love.”

He knelt and undid the clasp to put around her neck, sensing Ermal walk behind him just before the bubbling sound of the percolator began. Anita ran away as soon as her new jewellery was on and started sorting through the gifts under the tree. It was always her job on Christmas morning to distribute the gifts to her family. Libero was already sitting in his assigned spot on the sofa, holding a new blue hoodie with Totti’s name and number on the back.

“Did you find anything interesting?” Fabrizio asked. His son looked at him and gave a brilliant smile, glanced at his sister’s back, and pointed at his father. Fabrizio shook his head and pointed at the kitchen. Libero’s mouth briefly opened in surprise and then he grinned again.

Ermal was already pouring coffee into two mugs as Fabrizio entered the kitchen. He got some juice from the fridge and poured glasses for his kids, and then threw an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders and kissed his cheek.

“It was worth getting up so early. I wish you could have seen their faces” he said.

“I could hear them,” Ermal assured him, smiling. “I guess they like the gifts too?”

“They love them. You would be so popular if your name was on the labels.”

Ermal shrugged and handed his mug to him. “If their Christmas morning is magical, it doesn’t matter who they believe was responsible. Just call me Father Christmas.”

Fabrizio shook his head and toasted Ermal’s coffee mug with his own. “I’m not giving the bearded man credit for this one,” he said. “If there’s magic, it’s only because of you.”

#metamoro #prompt #also this takes place during the same christmas as the 'that's my scarf' prompt :)

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pen-masta · 8 years ago

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Old Habits New Sparks

Just some cute fluff. Enjoy.

Mikey smiles over the counter at his little brother, Castel, playing with his friend of one year. They both lie on the floor, on their bellies, facing each other. Castel, the mini baby nerd he is, is reading his space book. While Joy on the other hand swings her feet back and forth in the air, humming loudly as she scribbles in her art book with her crayon—she’s actually got a lot of talent for a six-year-old.

Considering he won’t go back to school until February, Mikey has been babysitting his baby brother and Joy after they get out of school for the past few weeks. But today is Sunday and he’s not the only one watching after the two little tikes today. His mom sits on the couch watching her youngest son and his friend entertain themselves. Zack is helping their dad shovel the newly fallen snow from the driveway, while Mikey cooks up a warm lunch to have on such an icy day.

Mikey smiles and sprinkles in some more brown sugar into the bubbling creamy tomato soup, before flipping the sandwiches on his skillet. He’s glad Castel and Joy hit it off right away after they met that day in the park, Joy is the perfect counterpart for his dorky baby brother. Even at their young ages they each have shown so much personality and interests.

Joy loves art—finger painting, coloring, drawing, she even brought over a bunch of colored clay one time to model. She’s quite the quirky little tike, she’s silly and goofy, sweet and kind, a little bossy sometimes but she’s never mean. And even at her young age she seems to have a great sense of humor. She always tries to make you laugh—most of the time she’s very successful. Not only does she have a colorful personality she also has a colorful…everything else. She always wears mismatched clothes of all different kinds and colors; she looks like a little gypsy.

Even now as she draws in her art book she’s wearing a bright pink t-shirt, a lime green hoody, bright colored mismatched knee high socks, light up sneakers, beaded necklaces from their latest arts and crafts at school, a raspberry burette sits among her brown curly braid, and a big frilly rainbow tutu. Mikey chuckles a little at the splattered paint on her cheeks from their early morning finger painting project. And he smiles guessing her parents probably let her dress herself…and judging by the determination in the little sprout no one was going to get her to change.

He glances over his shoulder at his baby brother. An unruly mop of brown curls bounces ever so slightly when the boy turns his head to read the next page in his book. Dawning his favorite jean overalls with the little tiger on the front pocket, his favorite red flannel shirt, and his slightly muddy and untied red sneakers, the little boy lies on the floor next to a stack of books—each a reading level higher than the standard first grade books.

Castel wasn’t much for art on his own, although if it was something Joy wanted to do he’d join in. But he prefers reading over paint brushes. Castel also loves his Legos and his building blocks. He loves creating all kinds of things with his various blocks and connecting cubes. Even though he’s only been in school for a year now, his teacher has already seen a great deal of intelligence in him. He reads much faster than his peers, he has a great understanding and grasp on the information he reads, and he’s always the first one done his work—hardly ever having any answers incorrect.

After talking with his parents, the teacher decided to give Castel some second-grade work to see how he’d do. And to everyone’s amazement the work wasn’t hard at all for Castel, and since then she’s been giving him second grade level work and has let him borrow some second-grade level books from the school’s library. He had even asked their mom to teach him “that funny language she always talks in right before daddy’s cheeks turn red” as Castel had put it from his seven-year-old observations.

Castel is a sweet little boy and always has fun with Joy and his brothers. But when he’s alone he keeps to himself; engrossed in his book about cars, or computers, or dinosaurs. One thing that has grabbed the little boy’s attention is mysteries and monsters.

Often times when he and Joy go out in the yard to play he takes her around the yard scouring around for footprints of giants, or hairs of werewolves, or any signs of bats. But he always makes sure they go out with scarfs around their necks in case some stray vampire finds them. Joy doesn’t seem to mind the imaginary hunts; she always joins in helping him hunt around the yard following whatever trail he’s on.

Although most of their monster hunts come up empty—much to Castel’s dismay—they did however catch a creature one time. Castel has found some footprints in the dirt that lead to the garage where a greasy wrinkled monster was hunkered behind the opened door of the fridge. The two had screamed and charged the beast tackling him to the ground. Joy had thrown her sand pail over the monster’s head while Castel tied the beast’s ankles together with his jump rope. It wasn’t until everyone had run out into the garage that the two realizes the greasy wrinkled monster was Castel’s dad working on his car.

Mikey laughed at how disheveled their dad looked and how their mom teased him about how easily the big bad cop was taken down by two first graders. Mikey shakes his head at the memory as he cuts the sandwiches and puts them on their designated plates.

“Lunch is ready,” he announces as he takes the soup off of the stove.

Castel and Joy both spring up and race each other to the table while Mrs. Cubs goes outside to get Zack and Mr. Cubs. Joy kneels on the seat next to Castel and they both sit patiently waiting for the rest of the family. Once everyone is seated at the table Mikey brings over a stack of grilled cheese sandwiches and the pot of soup. He then brings over a green and orange plastic plates and bowls.

“Cheddar, Swiss, Mozzarella, ham, and tomato grilled cheese sandwiches with hot tomato soup.” He smiles and places the plates in front of Joy and Castel, “Cut into dinosaurs as requested.”

“Thanks Mikey,” Joy smiles a front-toothless grin up at him.

Joy goes to take her dinosaur shaped sandwich into her hands, but Castel grabs her tiny hand before she can. She looks at him a little surprised, but she quickly smiles watching Castel examine both of their sandwiches. Castel’s brow furrows in concentration and the little boy wiggles in his seat a moment and fidgets while he stares at their food. After a second he turns to his big brother and opens his mouth to speak, but Mikey beats him to it.

“Yes, I made them with garlic bread to keep away the vampires,” he chuckles down at his little brother.

Castel closes his mouth into a smile and nods. Mikey grins and tickles the little boy’s sides for a moment making the smaller male giggle and squirm in his seat—which in turn causes Joy to giggle as well and everyone else to smile. Mikey then places a kiss on top of the mop of curls before taking his seat next to his mom.

She puts her hand on his and smiles, “Thank you for cooking Michael.” She whispers to him, “He’s been so picky lately your sandwiches are among the few foods he’s willing to eat.”

Mikey smiles brightly, “It’s no problem Ma I love cooking. Especially for little Cassie,” he chuckles a little. “He’s very picky I know, but he’s my best customer.”

She smiles at her oldest son as everyone begins to eat. Castel picks up the warm sandwich with his chubby little hands, and bites into it. He smiles at how the cheese gushes out the sides as he does so. The table is quiet for all of ten seconds before Joy pipes up.

“Cassie and I are getting married!” She says smiling brightly.

Everyone at the table giggles and smiles at the two youngest of the group.

“Is that so?” Mrs. Cubs asks smiling brightly and folding her hands under her chin.

Joy nods, “Uh huh.” She grins and dunks her sandwich dinosaur’s head into the hot red soup. “See Mrs. Nikki gives the good kids a prize every Friday.” Joy explains and bites off the head of the now soggy dinosaur shaped sandwich. “You can either have a piece of candy from the candy bag or get a toy from the treasure chest.”

She swallows her half masticated mushed up cheesy meaty sandwich, before beaming. “Cassie always gets on the good list and he always gets a toy from the treasure chest. So when he gets a prize this week he’s gonna get one of those bubble container thingy-ma-bobs with the ring inside.”

She explains and dunks her sandwich again, “And I want to have one for him so I’m going to be extra good this week, so I can be on the good list.”

“You’re not on the good list?” Mr. Cubs smirks and raises a brow at the little girl.

Joy looks down bashfully and her cheeks turn pink, “Not always. Mrs. Nikki says I talk too much when I’m not supposed to.” Her smile brightens again, “But I’m gonna be good this whole week so I can get a prize for Cassie.”

“Another ring?” Zack asks stirring his soup.

“Nope,” Joy shakes her head popping her P. “Cassie likes ring pops so when Mrs. Nikki asks if I want candy bag or the treasure chest I’m going to say the candy bag. Then I’m gonna pick out a ring pop.”

“Sounds very thought out,” Mikey chuckles and bites into his sandwich.

“Where is the wedding happening?”

“At recess this Friday,” Joy says jubilantly. “It’s gonna be me and Cassie and my friends Jenny, and Bethany, and Holly, and Amber.” She bounces on her knees as she takes another bite of her sandwich, “We’re gonna get married under the jungle jim and Amber is gonna be the marrying person thingy.”

“Very thought out indeed,” Mr. Cubs chuckles. “So whose idea was all of this?”

“Mine,” Joy smiles. “Well mine and Holly and Jenny and Bethany and Amber’s…I guess it was all of us.”

“I see,” Zack smiles and nudges Mikey with his elbow. The two brothers giggle for a moment before they smile at their kid brother.

“And Cassie,” Mikey grins. “How do you feel about this?”

“Ready to not be single anymore?” Zack laughs.

Castel puts down his sandwich and opts to stir his soup. The little boy doesn’t take his eyes off his dalmatian puppy spoon as it circles around in his soup. But he does acknowledge his brothers’ questions with a shrug.

“You’re all set to get hitched?” Zack teases, “Eerr married I mean.”

Castel just shrugs again, “I don’t mind really.” He looks up at his brothers and his eyes sparkle, “I’ve been searching the playground for weeks and I’m almost positive I’ve found where the abominable snowman lives.” His little face brightens, “Everyone is gonna help me look after the wedding. They all promised. We’re gonna catch him!” The little boy says happily and slurps up his soup.

Mr. and Mrs. Cubs exchange a worried glance about the same time Zack and Mikey do. But then they all smile again and go back to eating their lunch. Joy starts singing aloud and dunks her sandwich in her soup continuously; causing waves to ripple through her bowl, splashing out of the bowl. Mikey chuckles and watches the two little kids eat their lunches. Castel slurps his soup watching Joy play in her soup.

Joy stops and holds her sandwich in the bowl until the bread starts to fall apart in the red liquid. Castel watches for a moment as her sandwich descending down into the hot liquid. Just before Joy’s fingers touch the soup, Castel grabs her hand and yanks it away from the bowl. Joy makes a surprised yipping sound before looking at Castel. The two children narrow their eyes at one another, both glaring at the other with their lips in the same tight line. There is silence between them while they stare each other down—the only sound is some light snickering from the rest of the family. After a moment Castel picks up his napkin and hands it to Joy for her hand. She takes it and cleans herself up, while watching him take her splatter painted spoon into his hand. Carefully he scoops out the huge chunk out of her bowl and plops the mushy, nasty glob onto her plate.

They look at each other again and after another moment of glares their faces brighten and Castel smiles at her. Joy grins, grabs the straps of his overalls, and pulls him towards her. She plants a big sloppy, wet, cheesy, tomato soup-y kiss on his cheek with a very loud and acute ‘mwah!’ sound.

Castel whines noisily and wipes his cheek clean, “Gross!”

Joy bursts into giggles along with the rest of the family. After they finish eating Joy and Castel decide to go outside for a while. After Mrs. Cubs makes sure they are both bundled up so much they can hardly put their arms down, the two disappear into the frozen wonderland that fills the backyard. Mrs. Cubs watches them play for a few minutes before her smile falters and she looks down at the floor.

“What’s wrong, Felicity?” Mr. Cubs asks seeing the worried look in her face.

She smiles weakly, “I’m just…” she sighs and looks up at her husband. “Cassie hasn’t made any friends other than Joy. He’s been in school for a year now almost two, and he is still alone.”

“He’s not alone,” Mikey chimes in from his spot at the sink. “He has Joy.”

“I know that bébé,” Mrs. Cubs sighs. “And I’m grateful he has her it’s just…Joy has so many other friends than just Cassie.”

“He’s certainly not the social butterfly you two were,” Mr. Cubs chuckles and looks at his older sons. He smiles back at his wife, “Don’t worry sweetheart he’s only seven.”

“He’s got his entire life to make friends,” Zack nods. “And for now he’s got Joy.”

“And she seems to be enough for Cassie,” Mikey smiles.

“He looks happy yes?” Mr. Cubs asks and looks out at the two children playing in the yard. They are chasing each other with snowballs and laughing when they both fall. Mr. and Mrs. Cubs both smile warmly at the sight.

“Yes he is happy,” Mrs. Cubs nods. “As long as he at least has Joy he’ll be fine.”

“Yes,” Mr. Cubs smiles and kisses her cheek.

“Well apparently on Friday they’ll be bound together for life,” Zack snorts. And the kitchen fills with laughter.

That Friday Joy had made it to the good list as she had been determined to and picked a blue raspberry ring pop out of the candy bag. Castel got the little toy ring from the treasure chest and soon the two were standing under the jungle jim for the wedding. They exchanged their rings and Castel wiped his mouth after Joy has pecked his lips with little kiss, followed by her signature ‘mwah!’ sound—similar to the way she kissed his cheek on Sunday. Castel didn’t mind humoring the girls in their marriage game. He’s played house with Joy before and he didn’t see that much of a difference—except this time they’d follow her game up with a monster hunt.

However, all of Joy’s friends disappeared after the wedding leaving Castel on his own for the hunt; breaking their promise. They tried to get Joy to come play some silly game with them, but she insisted that she would much rather go on a monster hunt adventure with her ‘husband’ than play some silly little game. Castel smiled when she took his glove covered hand into her mitten covered one and ran off with him.

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Joy smiles and chuckles a little to herself at the memory. The now twenty-five-year-old sits on the red shag carpet of the living room. It’s been about two years since Castel and Martha broke up; after Castel saw Martha’s true colors he was tore apart for several weeks. When Joy had found him he was curled up on the floor of his kitchen, his hair a disheveled mess, his clothes wrinkled, tear streaks stained his cheeks, and his eyes puffy and red. Very similar to how she’d find him after some girl rejected him in high school, or laughed in his face—except this time he had drunk himself silly. Which was a shock for Joy because Castel was no alcoholic in fact he hadn’t had more than a glass of wine since his twenty-first birthday.

Joy had stayed with him in the big empty house to make sure he could take care of himself again. After he was stable again she had planned to leave, but Castel had asked her to stay. She had her own wing of the mansion now, which was great since she had gotten thrown out of her apartment. Castel was happy to have his best friend with him again and now that it’s been two years since the horrendous break up he’s finally feeling like his old self again.

“What are you laughing at?” Castel asks and pokes her cheek.

She looks at him and it takes her a moment to focus on his face—the alcohol they’ve been drinking affecting her vision. She smiles at him loving how curly his hair has become again, his beard is nothing more than stubble lining his face, and his chocolate eyes are shinning bright again—though something tells her that sparkle is influenced by the alcohol in his system…but she likes to think it’s the happy sparkle that normally fills his eyes. She’s happy that Martha is finally gone, although she never said it so bluntly to him before she never really liked how Martha acted or treated him. She tried to change so much about him and Joy couldn’t stand it. If anything as far as Joy is concerned Castel got at least three things out of their break up. He’s learned how to say ‘no’—which is what caused most of their fights when Martha was being a diva. He’s so much more confident now, knowing he is worth more than the way Martha had treated him.

And finally he no longer has the food police in his house. Martha had always been on him about his body for the press and how he had to look like he just came out of a modeling ad. She was the definition of a health freak—no gluten, no sugar, no BPA, no MSG, no GMOs, no anything. Now free from his chains Castel was final able to go on not caring about what the press would say. He finally doesn’t look like a walking twig branch anymore, sure he always had his muscles but he was so thin. Now he’s got a fuller face and he looks like himself again physically; and Joy is so happy for that.

“Joy,” he chuckles and pokes her nose. “You here with us?”

Joy giggles, “I’m here.”

He grins and sways a little until he leans back against the coffee table. “So why are you laughing?”

“No reason,” she smiles and looks around at the scattered empty bottles of champagne, strawberry wine, and hard cherry sodas.

It’s New Years Eve and they had planned to have a big party with their families, but Mrs. Cubs insisted they have a party at their house. So the families had gathered and played games and danced and had fun, more fun than Joy could even remember having in a long time. After the ball had dropped they had their toast and everyone headed back to their own homes. When Joy and Castel had gotten back to the house they both felt��well happy. Neither wanted the night to end so Castel offered the idea to relax by the fire and break into his cellar. Joy had agreed and now here they sit in front of the roaring fire, her favorite soundtrack playing in the background from her Iphone, and both feeling slightly tipsy and yet comfortable.

Castel smiles, “Come on sharing is caring.” He chuckles his head starting to swim from the two bottles of soda and half…ok a little more than half the bottle of strawberry wine.

Joy smiles softly at him before she pushes her heels off to side along with her sweater jacket. She slides down onto the carpet and is a little taken back by how soft the shag material feels. Castel smiles and looks at the wooden clock that sits on the mantel above the fire place. It reads two thirty in the morning. He chuckles a little and shoves his dress shoes out of the way along with his blazer. He unbuttons his vest and loosens his neck-tie before lying on the floor next to her. The sweet tasting liquor pooling in his gut, the sweet tangy taste of the nectar slowly sliding down from his throat like sap on tree bark. He smiles and hums a little feeling very content where he’s at right now—not just his life but this moment right now. He feels happy and warm and so pleased to be here with Joy. It’s just them again, him and his best friend and he’s so grateful she’s still here with him after all this time she’s still his friend. A fun night with his loved ones, a warm fire, good music, sweet drinks, this amazingly soft carpet, and Joy laying next to him. This moment of bliss feels so…perfect.

They are both silent for a while listening to the soft melody of Someone In The Crowd and the faint crackling of the fire. Joy slurs out that it sounds like that rice cereal that pops. Castel agrees and grins as she sings, “Snap, crackle, pop!” And he finishes with, “Rice Krispies!” They both laugh for a while at that—probably longer than they should have, but neither cares.

Silence falls again but it’s comfortable, it’s always comfortable. The music changes and shift into A Lovely Night the quick upbeat tune filling the air between them. Joy sighs a little and she stares up at the ceiling, still feeling the bubbly tingle of the alcohol but a kind of bittersweet feeling gnaws in her belly.

“Do you remember when we got married?” She asks not looking away from the ceiling.

He chuckles and nods, “Yes I do.” He turns on his side and smiles at her, “Is that what you’ve been thinking about?”

She smiles and looks at him now, “Yes.” She giggles a little, “It was so silly you know.”

“Not really,” he shrugs. “It was kind of sweet.” He chuckles, “I remember you were trying so hard to get onto the good list so you could get a prize.”

She giggles and nods, “Yes I wanted to get you a ring pop instead of that plastic little ring. And then we stood under the jungle jim and traded the two. The plastic one you got and the strawberry ring pop I got.”

“Blue raspberry,” he corrects. She looks at him with a quizzical expression and he smiles. “It was a blue raspberry ring pop you gave me, not strawberry.”

She blinks at him before she smiles, “Oh my gosh you’re right! How could I forget?”

He chuckles and shrugs, “I also remember everyone promising to go on some monster hunt after our little wedding.” He shakes his head.

“Not just any monster hunt Cassie,” she grins and turns on her side facing him. “A hunt for the illusive abominable snowman.” Her face falls into a crest-fallen look, “They all left afterwards.”

“Yeah they did,” he shrugs and looks down at the carpet. “But you didn’t.”

She smiles a little, “That’s cause I loved going on adventures with you.” He looks up at her and her eyes seem to twinkle, “I thought you’d always be a monster hunter.” She giggles, “Have your own paranormal hunting shows.”

He grins again, “Well it’s still a passion of mine.” He runs his hand through his hair kind of sloppily due to the alcohol messing with his sense of direction. “I got so engrossed with my projects I nearly forgot all about those creatures…but I kept it as a side hobby.” He laughs loudly, “I mean if I could leave the business to Amy I would leave right now and head out to West Virgin.”

Joy smiles at how his face brightens as he talks about his love for mysteries. His eyes seem to almost turn into a light brown; filled with excitement. She loves that look.

“The first one I’d hunt down would be Mothman,” he chuckles and lies on his back. “Then the Sheepsquatch and then the Devil Dog and then…well those are my top three.” He says feeling a bit bashful at how nerdy and crazy he must sound.

But Joy smiles, “I hope you’re not planning to run off on these adventures without me.”

He looks at her and sees the kind smile on her face, the same one she always wore when he would go on rants about monster hunts and anomalies when they were children. The look in her eyes he can only read as excitement and awe. She’s serious. She would want to run off into the woods with him hunting down monsters from old folklores. And honestly…there’s no one else he’d want by his side.

She never once thought he was crazy or weird for liking these things, or having theory upon theory about how these creatures came into existence. Or how he can prove their existence, or anything. She would always listen and give input or help him piece clues together, she didn’t care about the weird looks the other kids would give them as they hunted around the playground in search of signs of monsters. She never cared about anything other than having fun with him. Even now years later she still gets just as excited as he does.

“You are so not Martha,” he blurts out smiling. He had meant it as a positive but the slight contortion in her face proves that it didn’t come out that way. “No no I mean I’m glad you’re not.” He says trying to backtrack. He sits up and rubs the back of his neck, “Martha would always tell me to stop going on about non-sense about monsters. She made me feel like I was a freak because I found it interesting.” He sighs a little the pain stabbing his heart, “She never really wanted to share in any of my interests. She only ever wanted to do what she wanted…we could never compromise.”

“Well then I’m glad she’s gone,” Joy says bluntly and sits up. She blinks realizing what she just said and looks at him. “I mean…I’m sorry you didn’t get the happy ending you were hoping for but—”

“I was never happy with her,” he says and smiles at her. “I know what you meant. It’s ok Joy.” He chuckles, “I’m kind of glad it didn’t work out, can you imagine how controlling she’d be if we were married?” He laughs loudly, “It’d be more of a nightmare than when we were dating!

Joy giggles joining in his mirth, knowing that although the pain Martha caused him to feel is still there slightly; he is healing. He’s moving on, he is happy without her in his life. He can finally be himself and not the person she was trying to force him to be. They giggle for a moment before each taking another sip from the almost empty champagne bottle. The giggling continues and soon neither can clearly remember what it is they are laughing about.

Castel smiles and shrugs as a silly thought pops into his head, “Hey maybe it didn’t work out because I was already betrothed to someone else.” He grins at her and winks.

She giggles and shrugs, “Maybe so I mean we were bound together for life that day.”

He chuckles, “You called me your husband for several weeks after that.”

Joy giggles and nods, “I did.”

He smiles as they lay back down , and he’s starting to feel like they are lying a lot closer together than they probably should. He doesn’t say anything though; he just stares up at the ceiling one hand lying on his stomach the other on the floor. He knows her hand is somewhere near his because he can feel the faint warmth it gives off. As they lie there in silence he thinks back to when he first started dating Martha, how he struggled to really love her. How he could never shake the other feelings he had for Joy, feelings that are still very much alive. He rolls through his memories from the time he met her until now, he’s always loved her more than just friends. But he never thought she would ever feel the same and he didn’t want to risk ruining their friendship. But now Martha is gone, she’s been gone for almost two years now and he’s the happiest he’s been in a long time.

“Did it bother you?” Joy asks not looking at him.

“Did what bother me?” He asks still looking at the ceiling.

Joy fidgets on the floor for a moment, “That I called you my husband.”

They both look at each other. The look in her face is cross between love and fear, her cheeks are pink and her eyes are wide. Although he doesn’t understand the fear he smiles a tiny little grin and shakes his head, “Not at all.”

The fear is gone in an instant and her face brightens as she smiles, “I always wanted to ask you if it did, but it just seemed so long ago it was pointless to ask.

He smiles softly and shakes his head, “It never bothered me. I really kind of liked it.” He says before he can stop himself.

Her eyes sparkle a little and her cheeks flush a little more, “So you liked the idea of…us?” She asks in a hushed tone, just above a whisper. And now it’s his turn to blush.

The look in her eyes is so full of love and the fire’s glow highlights her face, making her hair glimmer. She looks beautiful lying next to him and her voice is so soft. It’s so gentle and sweet it’s like a feather trailing down his spine. An electric tingle fills his body, goose bumps to spread over his skin, and his hand twitches involuntarily on the floor. In that one little move he’s managed to find her hand, his pinkie finger now colliding with hers.

His stomach is swirling like mad and his heart is pounding so hard in his chest he’s certain it’s going to burst. He loves the idea of them, he loved that game they played—even if it seemed a little silly to him at the time. He loved being close to her, he’s always loved being with her, he loves her. Could she love him? More than just friends? Could he tell her how much he loves her? He could do it…if he had enough courage to do so; putting their friendship on the line. He doesn’t have that much courage, even with the fair amount of liquor in his system wouldn’t help him out at all. He’s never had liquid courage, he’s only ever gotta the buzz no courage. He swallows a little, wanting to take her hand in his but he can’t seem to get his fingers to work. So their hands remain on the floor just barley touching. Just one step at a time Cubs, he thinks to himself.

He gives her a tiny smile as he manages to finally get his lips moving. “Yes I did.” He says.

Her eyes light up again and she giggles a little, “I did too.” She smiles, “I always wanted to ask you if you did but...”

“It was so far in the past?” He asks and she shakes her head.

“No I was scared.” She says through an airy giggle.

She was scared! She was afraid his answer would be that he didn’t like it! Why else would she be scared? Could she really love him back? He could ask. He wants to ask. But he can’t seem to form any words. Time feels like it has stopped as they lie there smiling at each other, the only thing letting them know that time wasn’t frozen was the soft melody of Here’s To The Hearts mixed with little crackles from the fire playing in the background. His heart hammers in his chest as he smiles feeling her fingers slide under his hand until he clasps her hand; their fingers intertwining.

He could do it! He could jump, he could risk it. He could do it! He can! He opens his mouth just ever so slightly to spew out the words that have been boiling in him since he was a teenager. How much he loves her, how he’s always loved her, even when he was with Martha he loved her. How she’s all he thinks about, how she’s the only one he wants, how if it was just them, just the two of them, the rest of his life and no one else at all he’d be the happiest man on earth. He could do it; he could say it all. But he doesn’t get the chance to because her lips cut him off. His eyes flutter closed as her soft warm lips press against his briefly. She hadn’t meant to kiss him first, but fueled by the alcohol in her tipsy giggly state she couldn’t stop herself. She realizes what she’s doing and her head screams that it was the wrong thing to do. She didn’t know if that’s how he felt to and jumping in like that was not the best way to go.

So she’s pulling away, preparing to see the shock in his eyes. But she doesn’t get to because she never gets away from his face. As soon as he felt her leaning and pulling away his brain went into overdrive.

Forget talking, forget confession, that can come later. Right now in this moment he can tell her how much he loves her without a single word. Before she gets too far away he captures her lips again. He moves his hand from his stomach to cup her cheek as he kisses her. Her naturally sweet taste now has a tang to it from their drinks, and he smiles at the mixed flavors of cherry, strawberry, and her own flavor.

He feels her press back against him, snaking her tongue into his mouth exploring and becoming reacquainted with the contours of his mouth. She smiles into the kiss as fireworks burst in her mind, flashes of millions of colors fill her brain as he devours her lips. Her heart is pounding so fast it feels as though it’s going to jump right out of her chest.

She loves him, she always has. When he was with Martha she forced herself to be happy for him, all she wanted was for him to be happy and if it wasn’t with her she would still be happy for him. She would always love him. And now Martha is gone, gone for good. And he’s hers.

He runs his hand through her hair until he finds her shoulder, where he rests his hand. He kisses her feverishly and deeply, holding her closer. Wow maybe he does have liquid courage. He feels her move her free hand to his shirt, gripping the material on his chest. He slides his hand down from her shoulder to her hip and pulls her close against him.

His heart pounds hard in his ears, and it’s becoming a real challenge to keep breathing steadily but he doesn’t care. His mind has gone into tunnel mode with his only focus on her. Several minutes have past before they break apart.

His cheeks are flushed just as red as hers. Her eyes almost have a dazed glaze over them as she smiles at him, her lips slightly parted as she breaths heavily. His eyes become lidded and smiles panting every so slightly, trying to catch his breath. The faint melody of City Of Stars plays in his ear as he chuckles a little, which causes her to giggle lightly.

“I love you, Joy.” He breaths out and he hears her breath hitch.

Her lips stretch into a wide smile before they are against his again. She pushes back against him kissing him again, before she lets out a breathy, “I love you too, Castel.”

He smiles and kisses her forehead, “Happy new year Joy.” He says before their lips are together again.

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