It was still and quiet in the main entryway in the Manor as Caroline gazed upon the massive, decorated tree in the center of it. She would have let out a sigh, but a kiss to her cheek got her attention before she could.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at the Barn already?” She asked as Carter snaked his arms around her waist and snuggled in close. He only hummed and shrugged in response so she lovingly nudged him for an answer.
“I decided to put it off for a day because I knew you couldn’t get off duty.”
“I don’t want you to miss out on time with your mom just because I’m on call.” She began to protest, but he just squeezed tighter.
“It’s fine, this way Parker and mom can have a girl’s night, plus I get an opportunity to give you your present.” Caroline was confused at that, having distinctly remembered already exchanging gifts with him on the Solstice.
“What do you mean?”
“Yes… but also I kept seeing the way you look at this tree.”
“Oh! That’s just because I wish it were a bit more like the trees back home is all.”
“The Norns right? I know you’re used to your trees a little more ‘au natural’.” He raised her hand and planted a kiss upon it before leading her out the door into the snowy grounds outside.
“Not to say that I think it’s ugly or anything,” Caroline continued, knowing by now that Carter wouldn’t let them be out in the cold long enough to bother them. “In fact I think the whole house did an amazing job with the decorations.”
“That they did, but this,” he said gesturing dramatically to an empty clearing in the nearby forest. “Is just for you.”
She was about to ask what he was referring to when she saw it; movement. The snow on the ground stirred and shifted as a sapling broke through. Tiny and delicate it danced out from the blanket of white as it grew at an unnatural pace.
Within moments, that felt longer than they surely were, a large Fir was before her. Not native to the region, and larger than any she had seen before (or likely would again), its raw and untamed beauty put even the shiniest Christmas tree in the Manor to shame.
“Oh my god Carter,” she breathed, afraid that if her surprise was too loud then it would somehow go away. “This is gorgeous!”
“Like the ones from home?” He asked in his boyish and hopeful way. She could have smacked him because of course it was and more! But then he reached down to take a handful of snow and gently blew- scattering it towards the tree and alighting it with twinkling globes of light.
“I know we’re past Yule and the Solstice, but I wanted to give you just a bit of the magic that makes you feel at home that you give me everyday.”
And it was there, surrounded by snow, she melted into him with a kiss.
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