Dragon's Gap: Set Includes Stories 6-7 Plus A Christmas Surprise

by L M Lacee

  Johner asked. “You were that sure you were to do lights?”

  Elijah shrugged. “Who else.”

  Stanvis nudged Johner. “He makes a good point.”

  Frankie sighed. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  B y lunch time every proposal had been submitted to Reighn. An hour after they had finished lunch, he sat behind his desk in his office. Sage sat opposite him, poised with pen and paper ready to note who was doing what for their first Christmas.

  Therefore making sure her mental list of what constituted Christmas was taken care of. “So what do they say?”

  Reighn grinned. “Are you not amazed at how quickly they came to decisions?”

  “Yes …yes amazed. Now what did they say.”

  He grinned wider at her impatient tone. “Alright let us begin impatient one.”

  With a quick smile she asked. “Who is first?”

  “My parents along with Andre`, Grace and Patrycc.”

  She wrote their names down as she commented. “So I am betting they are doing Christmas lunch?”

  He laughed. “Correct and also Andre` is to be Santa while papa and Patrycc will be flying dragons that pull the sleigh. Andre` will hand out presents on Christmas Day at the Santa den, which will be made for him to sit in and to have photographs taken with the young ones. It says here that they will do photographs for two hours every day from the tenth of December. Remind me to take the girls there.”

  Sage’s eyes went all soft as she thought of Andre` as the Santa and the joy the young of the Gap would receive. “Oh that is lovely, why is your father not playing Santa?”

  Reighn read the proposal, Grace had written. “Ahh it says Joy asked especially for Andre` to be Santa.” He looked up at Sage. “You know he will not turn his granddaughters down, and Joy is his granddaughter as much as the others are.”

  “Well of course she is. She adores him as much as Rene`.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Now who is making sure he has presents to hand out?”

  “Mmm!” Reighn quickly rifled through the small stack of papers. “Oh here it is, Edee, June and Claire.”

  Sage nodded. “Now that makes sense, Edith will know every child here, babies included. June will buy the presents and Claire will discreetly find out what it is they wish for.”

  Reighn was not surprised by her analysis. “It is a very good team. They will make sure none are forgotten. He will hand out the presents on Christmas Day before lunch.”

  “That is lovely, they will love that. I am sure.” Sage finished writing, then looked at Reighn. “Oh wow! So not all the bonded couples are working together?”

  Reighn nodded with a grin. “I heard Olinda and Harper kicked Ace and Ash from their group.”

  “Oh really… huh, I want to laugh, but I know I should not.”

  “Do not worry, I will laugh for you later, when I am sure they are around.”

  Sage shook her head as she said. “Oh Reighn!”

  “Do not, oh Reighn me. They constantly gang up on me at training.”

  “I am sure it is not constantly.”

  “Yes constantly!” He stated with a frown. Sage hid her smile and cleared her throat. “Well alright!” Sure she now understood his burdens he ignored the gleam of laughter in her eyes as he lifted the next piece of paper off the little pile.

  “It would seem that several bonded are not working together for instance. Conor, Johner, Stanvis and Saul are doing trees. Why must there be trees?”

  “I told you why, remember we decorate the tree with the girls.”

  “Oh the presents… yes, I remember.”

  Sage said thoughtfully. “We will need one for the castle’s foyer as well as the family room and for our apartment.”

  Reighn’s eyebrows rose with each tree she mentioned. “That is three!”

  “You are right we will need more. I will ask mama Verity to find out how many. I really think three will not be enough. Thank you my love.”

  “Sage I do not want a forest in the castle.”

  “Silly! A forest, that is funny I will remember to tell June that one.” She laughed quietly to herself as she wrote a note on her pad. Reighn thought about telling her he was not trying to be amusing but remembered she was carrying his twins and subsided, he would talk to his Dam she would see sense. Sage wrote the males names down with their gift. “Now who else?”

  “Well, it seems that Ivan his brother George as well as Tayla and Krista. Oh and this is where Ace and Ash ended up. They are constructing a life size gingerbread house.”

  “Oh, the young ones will love that.”

  “Can I eat it?”

  Sage had blinked several times before she asked. “Why would you want to, it’s a house?”

  “It may taste good!” She could see his dragon looking out at her through his eyes.

  “Umm… I have no idea. You will have to wait and find out.”

  Reighn’s dragon sighed. “I suppose I will. Did you mark it down?”

  “Done, now what else?”

  “Oh, this one says Olinda and Harper are having the unicorns grow a maze and Harper will place statues at differing points of the maze. Why will they want a maze?”

  Sage eyed her shadow as she asked. “Do mazes irritate you beloved?”

  “Yes they are very annoying, one must go round and round and are not permitted to make holes to get to the other side and if you do, it is just another round and round. Also if you set it on fire, everyone growls and you are banished to your room.”

  Holding her laugh inside Sage nodded and said with a dash of sympathy. “I see, well a lot of young like them as well as adults. Is it to remain all year round?”

  “No just for the month of December, which I find too long.”

  Sage sighed. “Well, you do not have to visit it, but you have to agree it is a good gift for the young to remember. How clever of them to gift something that only comes with Christmas. People will love it.”

  Grumpily Reighn retorted. “Again I say if you like that sort of thing.”

  “Yes well, moving on, who else. What are Storm and Charlie doing?”

  “This is a surprise!”

  “What… What is?”

  Reighn grinned at her, knowing she had not thought of this on her mental list. “Charlie, Ark, Sharm and Ocean as well as all the young and several others are creating a large Gap party to welcome the next year.” Sage stared at him without blinking for several long minutes. Finally, he said. “My love?”

  “I…I just never even thought about New Years. Totally forgot all about it!”

  Reighn told her gently. “It is not your fault. New Year’s Eve is all taken care of, let’s leave it to the ones who have taken control of the party for us. Sharm and Ocean did not forget and that is all that matters.”

  “Or Edee did not.” Sage said ruefully. Reighn, seeing her down turned face asked innocently. “Now my Sage, what is New Year’s Eve?”

  “Oh my, you do not know?”

  With a glint of humor in his eyes, he shook his head. Sage sat thinking of how to explain it to him when she finally saw the humor in his eyes. “Oh you.”

  “Indeed!”

  She grinned then asked. “So if Storm is not with Charlie. What is he doing?”

  “It seems he, Lars as well as Fin and Hayden are creating fireworks as their gift.”

  A little shocked with the casual way he announced what the four dragons were doing, Sage blurted out. “Fireworks!”

  “Yes, is there a problem with them doing so? I thought it was a wonderful gift, apparently they are to make enough for New Year’s Eve. The young will enjoy this immensely as will the adults, I am sure.”

  Sage squirmed on her chair as she replied. “Well sure we will love them, but Reighn are you sure they are the right four dragons for the job. I mean explosives are we ready for that?”

  Reighn laughed. “Sage, they are fathers and bonded not
hing tempers wayward tendencies more than that.”

  “Okay if you say so.” She wrote the four males names down and their gift. “So who else?”

  Reighn picked up a light green piece of paper. “It seems that the faeries have teamed up with Frankie’s group. They will be decorating the town with lights and ornaments. What does that mean?”

  As she wrote, she flippantly said. “Oh, you know.”

  “No my love I do not.” Looking up from what she was writing, she smiled at his genuinely confused look. “Oh okay, so they will hang garlands and wreaths with lots of lights and candy canes, reindeer statues, Santa’s and snowmen, things like that.”

  Reighn looked horrified. “They will cover men in snow?”

  “Oh no, they are pretend, like statues.”

  “Ahh… I see.” He said although he did not understand decorating, but as Sage wrote on her paper he refrained from asking. “Now Thorn and his singers are to learn Christmas songs and sing them. He requests we supply him with music and a list of songs we like. I will leave that to you my dear.”

  “Thank you. I will see to it today. What about Keeper and Ella have they decided on their gift?”

  “They are writing a Christmas story which will be the first of many. He has stated that every year a new story will be added by whomever wishes to write one. It is, he says just for the family. But if we disagree he will supply one to every family of the Gap. What do you think?”

  Sage thought about it for a few minutes then smiled. “They want to make a tradition for our family, who can say no to that. The young will love it. We all will. You know it is okay to be a little selfish and have something just for us. Tell them okay.”

  “I will see to it when we are finished here.” Sage’s whole being softened as she heard the pride and love in Reighn’s voice for his brother’s gift. Softly she asked. “Now that is lovely, so my love what are we to do?”

  “Nothing that requires magic.”

  “No, well okay there goes my thought of creating snow.”

  Reighn frowned at her. “No snow, we are holding the eve dinner, are we not?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, let us have Christmas dinner here as well.”

  “That is good I like that. I will organize it.”

  “So we are finished.”

  “Reighn, we need snow for Christmas!”

  “Sage?”

  “Not me but maybe the Dragon Lord could ask the Elementals to perhaps make it snow for Christmas morning.”

  “Why not from the night before?”

  “Well fireworks. Storm and the others may be disappointed as well as the girls if they cannot see the fireworks.”

  “Oh, I see, well after the fireworks.”

  “That would work.”

  “I will ask.”

  “Thank you.” She ticked that of her list. “This is so exciting. We have filled the shops with presents to be brought. Everything we need of Christmas is taking care of.”

  Reighn rubbed his hands together as he stood. “It is going to be a wonderful Christmas for my girls, what could go wrong!”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  O ver the next twenty-four days Reighn came to regret those fateful words as it seem many, many things could go wrong. The list was long, some problems were small, some large, all needed solving and not just by him. Feelings to soothe when a plan did not come out quite how the planners dreamed. He left that to his shadow, she was so much better at comforting the disappointed than he.

  His forte` was to solve practical problems. Reighn shook his head. His sweet shadow had not described all the things associated with Christmas. He snorted as he thought. Maybe she was wiser. If he had known what could happen, he would have definitely forbidden Christmas and that if he was honest with himself, would have been sad.

  As the advent of Santa visiting drew closer, the young, his own girls included woke each day in a frenzy of excitement. It seemed as though something happened over night. As each morning when they sat down for breakfast, Molly’s Santa list grew until her mother had gently said no. They had made a written list. Which Reighn thought was just as long as her verbal one. Even if Sage assured him it was not.

  His brothers told him their young were just as excited and their lists were as long. Conor was seen wearing a grim expression on his face, an unusual occurrence for the lion. Reighn finally asked him what had happened. The lion had demanded to know how he was to fulfil all of his daughter’s wishes.

  Thankfully Grace had overheard and gathered all the males together to explain father’s responsibilities during Christmas. She explained that Christmas time was for dreaming many exciting and wishful things. But their young would only remember, not that fathers had worn themselves out trying to fulfil every little wish on their list but what they actually received and gave.

  She also told them, that the males were to remember Christmas was about family first, and giving and receiving second. Very similar to what their mates and shadows had been saying, of course, Grace, Reighn decided had said it in a language the males could all understand. That was of course what he told his Sage when she asked why he believed Grace over her. And not that Grace had told them to stop acting like fools or words to that affect.

  Regardless after that the Gap seemed to take a breath and relax as the word was spread to parents who had never celebrated Christmas before. That was a week and a half ago, Reighn now sat before a roaring fire late the night before the day of Christmas Eve. Sage was tucked up in bed as were his girls, he needed time to unwind. Which is why at midnight he was sipping an aged malt whiskey and pretending to read a book that lay opened and forgotten on his lap. He let his mind wander back over the last few weeks.

  It had not all been plain sailing as the saying went, there had been minor problems and large ones, tempers frayed and comic relief prevailed. Reighn laughed as he thought back to the famous candy cane incident.

  Frankie, Ciana and Jacks had decided to have ten foot candy canes made to decorate and line the streets of the Gap. Along with strung garlands, wreaths and strings of lights. The three on the decorating committee had decided to bypass June, due to her having to shop for presents for the Gap. So Jack was doing the actual ordering of decorations.

  Frankie, Jacks and Ciana were contacted by the garden committee run by the Gaps matrons. They had demanded to be allowed to supply the garlands and wreaths as well as the labor to make said wreaths and garlands. He had heard Frankie had offered to buy the garlands and wreaths and had been severely shot down. Or so his mother told him with a great deal of amusement.

  It appeared Frankie had insulted unintentionally the affronted matrons who explained in precise detail to the three members of the decorating committee. That this was the matron’s first Gap Christmas as well and traditions were needed to be established. The decorating ladies had quickly offered apologies. So left with only decorations other than wreaths, garlands and lights the three women had thrown themselves into making the Gap a Christmas wonderland. Figures of Santa’s and Snowmen, reindeer's and basically anything related to Christmas appeared daily. Each day was a festival to the eyes and to top it all off, they had ordered ten foot tall striped pink and white candy canes to line the streets.

  Unfortunately the dragons who actually did the creating of candy canes were unsure of what they were to make, so went to a source for clarification. The Towers sisters, who told them that candy canes were indeed candy and yes they were to be eaten. Happy with that the dragons, overnight lined the streets of Dragon’s Gap with ten foot tall, edible candy canes. Much to the surprise and delight of the young and sadly some adults, who should have known better!

  By the time Reighn and Sage had rushed to the town after an urgent call from Ciana. They found many… so many children stuck to candy canes. Some young had even shifted to their animal forms and climbed the ten foot canes, whereby they too became stuck to the sticky canes.

  Of course that was not as disturbing as seeing drag
ons with their wings and tongues stuck to the canes high off the ground. The dragons had become so enamoured with the taste. They had in some cases wrapped their front legs around the canes and were hanging on as they licked the sweet treats much to Frankie, Ciana and Jacks dismay.

  Reighn had, to be honest, the sight had made him collapse to the ground and roll in laughter, much to his shadows disgust. Although he was not the only one to have done so. Sage had enlisted the aid of the witch sisters, to release the dragons and young from the clutches of the canes. Then with a small spell they turned the canes from sweet treats into wooden poles, to the horror of the candy munching adult dragons and young.

  Of course that was nothing compared to the case of the disappearing gingerbread house. Ash, Ace, Ivan and George toiled hard and created a masterpiece of delight a life sized gingerbread house made from, yes… Reighn laughed, only his people would do such a thing on purpose and actually create a house from real gingerbread. He did not want to know how they did it, he like everyone else, when viewing it for the first time was in awe.

  The four males had learnt from the candy cane incident and had the witches spell the house so no eating could occur. On the morning of the third of December, the house was officially opened to the public. The house which was a two bedroom home was entirely dedicated to Christmas. Along with a candy, cake and drink bar, it had elves and faeries handing out treats as the young visited. The opening day was a great success and loved by all that entered.

  The following morning the bear and dragon brothers went to open their creation and were horrified to discover it had been eaten down to its foundations. Flabbergasted, the witches were called. Sage and Reighn attended as Sage and her friends searched the area and discovered the spell had been negated.

  Frankie was called, she had no idea either. Conor arrived, he and his deputies investigated but sadly there was nothing to find. Every piece of evidence had been consumed.

  Mystified, the four males again erected the gingerbread house and restocked the contents and by lunch time it was once again ready for people to enter and be awed. The witches at Sage’s direction placed stronger spells on the house.