âSansa? Sansa?! Have you seen my leg?"Â
"Have you looked under the bed yet?â Called Sansa from the bottom of the stairs. She wrapped the final string of lights tightly across the banner, signaling the end of their holiday preparation. Their own decorations had been tripled in accordance to Stark Christmas Regulation.
âAlready checked there! Is it on the sofa?"Â
â âfraid notâŠOH! Wait a second!- There we are- Lady took it to bed again!âÂ
Sansa stared down the husky, who currently looked quite content to keep the prosthetic as a pillow. A raised eyebrow later and Lady made her frustration known through a large huff, relinquishing the leg.Â
"Thank you sweetheart. We canât keep stealing daddyâs leg, can we? Then how will he take you to the park?â Sansa dropped a firm kiss onto the dogs head, before making her way to their bedroom.
âHere you go. One prosthetic leg, with a miraculous lack of chew marks."Â
Willas beamed at her, balancing precariously on his leg and cane.Â
"Youâre an angelâ he kissed her cheek before sitting down to attach his missing limb. âHowâs the house looking? Suitably Christmassy for the Starks?"Â
Sansa sighed, taking the time to fix her reindeer-antler hairband. Starks took Christmas very seriously, they always had. Back up north, hidden away in the moors, every Christmas had been full of snow angels and log fires. Her father used to dress up as Santa while Bran and Ricken would stay up late to catch him. Rob would invite Theon and Jon would invite Sam and their big family would become bigger.
But this Christmas would be spent joining Sansa and her boyfriend in Sussex. No snow for snow angels and the youngest Starks too old now for Father Christmas. But they had their over-sized tree and mountains of presents. They had the Tyrell family recipe book and a piano to sing carols around.Â
"Perfectly Christmassy. Nice jumper by the way. Love the bobblesâ Tyrells, apparently, thought ugly jumpers were the only suitable attire for December, half of their wardrobe was full of them. When Sansa received one from Olenna, it was the surest acceptance she had ever felt. Today, Willas had chosen a vibrant azure jumper with a little cottage in a (bobbled) snowstorm. âShall I pop mine on? United front on behalf of garish attire?"Â
Before Sansa could enjoy Willasâ look of outrage, he had reached forward, pulling her onto the bed, tickling her as he dropped kisses across her face.Â
"I will have you know that our jumpers are gorgeously garish and anyone would be so lucky to look as beautiful as you do in lime wool"Â
"You just want to take advantage of the mistletoe crochet"Â
"Can you blame me? It is Christmas after all"Â
Willas smiles at her and she is reminded just why she first fell in love with him. Honesty shines from him in every possible way. After lies and cruelty and Jeoffrey, Willas had smiled at her with boyish wonder and not a speck of dishonesty in him. Even at the very start, when Willas had near broken her heart with his worries of their age difference and his disability, he had never lied to Sansa.
It had been a balm to the broken girl she had been, for the physical and mental scars she had escaped with. Every night he kissed them better, and Sansa could feel them fade away.
"I love youâ She wispered, brushing a kiss against his lips âI love you so very much, Willas"Â
"As I love you dearestâ The tender kiss to her forehead brought a mist to her eyes, comforted by the soft touch and Willasâ fingers carding through her hair. âIâm afraid your antlers are a bit wonky, loveâ
âNever mind those. Just stay hereâ She wrapped her arms around him and buried her nose in the soft wool of his jumper. âLets just stay in bed for a while. We can get up when they arrive, but now-â
âWeâll stay here. Perhaps Lady will join us, then the whole family will be here.â And as though summoned by magic, the husky had made her way to them, snuffling into the back of Sansaâs back. âMerry Christmas Lady. Merry Christmas dearestâ
âMerry Christmas loveâ