by Maia Starr
I looked at the sky to see what she was talking about. The night sky was beautiful with stars like glitter, but there was one that stood out from the others.
“It’s a special star, just like you,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek. She smiled.
We stayed there looking at the sky and enjoying the warmth of the boulder before finally making our way back to the cabin. It was an amazing night.
Chapter 19
Noelle Evergreen
This was the best Christmas of my life. Nothing could stop the magic that was happening between us. Being in the country setting in the snow was the best place to celebrate this holiday. I couldn't believe how lucky I was that I fell in love with a weredragon that allowed me to play with him like a toy, ordering him about in order to create a Christmas atmosphere in the cabin. He seemed to enjoy it. It shocked me. The Drackon weredragons were brutes, but somehow, I lucked out that the one I fell in love with was kind and gave into my desires. But in the back of my mind it still bothered me that he was married. I was the other woman. I kept suppressing the thought because I did not want to think about it. It made everything seem like a sham, and I was not ready to face that. Not now, anyway, not after the magical Christmas Eve that we had spent together.
I opened my eyes on Christmas morning. The sun was coming in through the window of the bedroom in the cabin. The fire was only burning embers. I rolled over and put my face on the chest of my Dragon alien warrior.
“Good morning. Merry Christmas morning,” he said.
“Merry Christmas, Gavonn,” I said.
“Is this the moment where you are supposed to jump out of bed and run to the tree to unwrap gifts?” he smiled.
“Usually, but it feels so good being against your body right now,” I said.
“Well then, I guess I will just take the gift I left under the tree for you away then,” he said.
“No!” I said jumping up and wrapping a plaid blanket around my naked body. Then I ran to the tree in the living room.
There was a small box wrapped in brown paper from the market bags. There was one of the red ribbons from the tree on it. I smiled.
“You did good for your first Christmas,” I said looking at it.
He came up and behind me.
“I am glad that you approve,” he said putting his hands on my shoulders. Then I moved to the old radio. I pulled out a gift and put it under the tree.
“You have been holding out on me,” he said.
“I wanted it to be a real surprise. I don't know what kind of amazing skills you have. X-ray vision for all I know,” I said playfully.
“I understand. Nothing ever surprises me, but this does,” he said.
“Here, open it,” he said grabbing my gift and handing it to me. I sat down on the floor and eagerly opened it.
“Oh, Gavonn! This is beautiful. But how did you…”
“I made it,” he said about the gorgeous necklace that I had in my hand.
“You did? What?”
“You don't need to know the details. But those moonstones are from the creek that we made love next to last night. Now you can have a piece of that creek with you always,” he said.
“I love it. This is the best gift I've ever received. Will you put it on me?” I said.
“Absolutely,” he said as he moved behind me. He grabbed the necklace and put it around my neck. I could not believe just how beautiful it was. I was astonished by the beauty of it. I could never make a gift such as this, but then again, I did not have his skills.
“Okay, now open yours,” I said as I got up and handed him the box.
“All right,” he said as he delicately opened the gift. I don't think he understood that you could just tear the wrapping paper, that it didn't matter. But it was nice to see him be so careful.
He opened the small box. Then he looked at me, confused.
“Here, let me show you,” I said as I grabbed the oval-shaped object. I opened it. There was a photo of me inside of it.
“It is what we call a locket. I found it here. It belonged to my grandfather. He had a photo of my grandmother in it. To keep her close to him always. I took the photo out and replaced it with one of me. Now you can carry on his tradition of having the woman he loves with him always,” I said.
“I love it, Noelle. Thank you. This is my first Christmas gift ever,” he said with the big smile. “It has such history, from your whole family. Such love passed down through generations. This is a truly special gift. I could not ask for anything better.”
“I am glad you like it,” I said.
“How can I not? Now I will always have you with me no matter what,” he said. “I am going to put it in my tool belt now. That way it is always there,” he said.
“I like that idea. I am going to put the coffee on and make some morning cinnamon rolls. You are going to love them. Then we can have breakfast. This is the best Christmas morning ever,” I said.
“I agree. The best Christmas ever; my first Christmas,” he said.
I laughed at his adorable way of saying that. He really was enjoying this holiday; my Christmas miracle had come true. I wanted to stay to last forever.
I made the coffee and cinnamon rolls and put a quiche in the oven. I wanted to have a light breakfast so that we could go for a morning hike later.
Minutes later we were enjoying coffee and cinnamon rolls. I could not stop looking at the necklace around my neck in the mirror. It was stunning. I knew that he must've melted this silver with his fire, and that was important to me. It meant the necklace around my neck was made from the very fire of his soul. The moonstones were from the creek where we had made love the night before. It was all so special, and I kept touching it. I was so happy with it. It truly was the best Christmas gift I have ever received.
We ate breakfast and then got dressed for a hike. I pulled on my boots and coat ready to enjoy the fresh air of the Christmas morning.
Gavonn zipped up his suit armor, ready to go.
“Let me grab some water for our hike,” I said moving to the kitchen.
“Wait,” he said.
“What?” I turned to look at him. He was frozen still as though listening to something that I could not hear.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Quiet,” he said.
I began to get nervous. I turned toward the window expecting to see a line of black cars driving up the lane. But I didn't see anything. I looked in the sky for a helicopter, nothing.
“We are not alone,” he said.
“What?” I asked. But before he answered me, he shifted into dragon form. It was always strange seeing this large beast of an alien with giant wings in the small space of the cabin.
Just then, the front door burst open.
“There you are!” Samara shouted.
I could not believe it. I froze. How did she find us? What was she doing on Earth? I stood frozen still. I was panicked. Everything has been going absolutely perfect; I should've known. I should have known that my Christmas miracle would have been a bust. This had happened to us once before when we thought we were going to be married, only to be separated. But this was dangerous.
“Samara, how did you find us?” Gavonn said stepping toward her.
“Because I am me. I am smart. Did you think I was going to let you get away so easily? No one humiliates me the way that you did,” Samara said. She was pissed off. She had every reason to be.
“What do you want from me?" he asked.
I was trembling. I did not know what to do. I didn't want to say anything.
“Is it true? The warriors told me that you were registered to marry this human female before I met you,” she said.
“Yes, it is true,” he said.
“Why did you not tell me?” she said.
“Because I thought she was dead. I didn't see any reason to tell you,” he said.
“You didn't? You were supposed to be married to a human, and you thought you would keep that a secret?
I had to learn from everyone else. Do you know what a fool it made me look like when I said that you took the human female by force only to learn that you were previously engaged to her?”
“I did not tell you to tell them that I took her by force. That was your own doing,” he said.
“What was I supposed to say? I wanted them to hunt you down. You deserve to be in prison for what you have done to me!” she shouted.
“I did nothing to you. I admit, I should not have married you when I was still in love with someone else. I thought that I could get over her. But you and I do not belong together, Samara. You know that as well as I do. Marriage is not supposed to be about forcing each other to do things you don't want to do,” he said.
“Enough! You have had your fun, Gavonn. Now get in the ship and come home with me. My father will make it so that you are pardoned, and this will all just seem like a misunderstanding. I can blame it on the human female. I could say that she was stealing information from me. We can pretend that none of this happened and move on,” she said.
“No! I will do no such thing! Get it through your head, Samara. You and I are over. I love her; I don't love you,” he said.
“I thought you might say that,” she said. And before I could even react, she pulled a blaster gun and aimed it at me.
“No. Don't,” Gavonn said calmly putting his hand up trying to calm her.
I was shaking now more than ever. All she had to do was pull the trigger, and I would be hit before I even knew it. I looked at Gavonn. I wanted to get one last look at him. If this was the end, at least I would be able to look at the alien weredragon that I loved.
“Put the gun down, Samara,” he said calmly.
“No. Don't you see this would solve everything? You married me when you thought she was dead. If I kill her then she will be dead and you and I can continue this marriage,” she said.
“No, that won't happen. If you kill her, I could never live with you. I would hate and resent you forever,” he said.
“Don't say that, Gavonn,” she said crying.
“It is true,” he said.
“What is that? What is that sound?” she said.
I could not hear anything, but judging by Gavonn's reaction, he could hear it. The Drackon had better hearing than humans, and they could hear something that I could not.
The sound grew louder and louder, and I knew what it was. It was a loud thundering sound. Samara turned toward the sound. The gun went with her. I took this opportunity of distraction to duck behind the kitchen counter.
“What is it?” she shouted hysterically.
The herd of deer pounding their hooves through the snow grew louder and louder, and the rumbling shook the cabin. They must be crossing the plane behind the house, I thought. But it was just a distraction that Gavonn needed. He jumped on top of Samara and easily wrestled the gun away from her.
“Get off of me!” she shouted.
Whack! It was a loud sound. I did not hear Samara shouting anymore. I crawled on my knees around the counter and looked. She was knocked out on the floor.
“Come on. We have to leave. It won't be long before she wakes up,” he said.
“Leave? And go where?” I asked getting to my feet and running toward him. I was trembling. I thought that we were going to die. The adrenaline was running through my body.
"Her ship is outside. That was what I heard landing. We cannot stay here. She will find us.”
I ran to the bedroom and grabbed my bag and stuffed it with a few clothing items and personal things that I could not leave behind. Then I ran to the door. Samara was still unconscious.
“Come on,” he said. He grabbed my hand and led me out onto the porch. I turned to see the herd of deer entering the forest. Thank you, my friends, I thought. It was their a distraction that saved my life, and probably Gavonn's.
We jumped into the waiting spaceship. It was small, almost like the one that we had arrived in. But this one was more luxurious.
“Get in; strap your belt,” he said.
Within minutes, we were flying straight up into the air. I looked around at the Earth below me, the snow-covered ground and trees. I knew that it would be the last time that I ever saw Earth, but I knew it was a sacrifice that I was willing to make. It was one that I had decided on long ago when I was supposed to marry him and move to Mooreah. Now, I was sacrificing Earth again for a future that was unknown.
The blue sky turned into the darkness of outer space. I watched as Gavonn quietly and calmly maneuvered the ship.
“Where will we go now?” I asked.
“I have an idea. There is a planet that I know of, but I have never been there. It is one where Drackon go when they don't want to be found,” he said.
“I understand,” I said.
“But first we need to stop on another planet, a trading planet. I will need to trade this ship in for another. Samara will be able to track her own ship,” he said.
“I understand the need for that. So we are really fugitives, now, aren't we?” I said.
“Yes, we are. I am sorry for that, Noelle. You don't deserve this. Being taken from one planet to another. Your Christmas is ruined,” he said.
“Hey, hey look at me. I am happy. I don't care where we live. I don't care if we have to change planets every month, as long as I am with you. If I can have that, then it is all that I have ever wanted for Christmas. I want you, Gavonn. You and I together. That is all I care about,” I said.
“Do you really mean it, Noelle?” he asked.
“I do. I really do. That will never change. And look, my first Christmas in space!” I laughed.
He began laughing too. “I love you, Noelle. I love you with all my heart.”
“And I love you, Gavonn, more than I can ever put into words,” I said.
“Then it is settled. Our first Christmas in space,” he playfully said.
“Yes, and our first together: our first Christmas together of many to come.”
A Year Later
Noelle Evergreen
I scooped our child up into my arms. I held him close.
“How is this?” Gavonn asked.
“It is perfect. I absolutely love it,” I said.
“I think this Christmas tree beats out last year's,” he said, giving me a wink.
“I think that you might be right. I have never had an alien tree as a Christmas tree,” I said looking at the large tree in our living room. It wasn't a pine tree, but it oddly had the same shape. The leaves were blue instead of green, and it was perfect because we had gone to find it ourselves in the forest.
“Here you are,” Gavonn said as he handed our son a piece of ribbon. We were in the midst of decorating the tree.
“No, he's going to put it in his mouth,” I said playfully.
“He's just curious, like his father,” he said.
“That is true,” I said. With the baby in one arm, I helped decorate the tree with the other.
Outside it was cold and snowing. We had made a life on the planet Yadox. It was far from Earth and very far from Mooreah. This was the planet that Gavonn said those fled to when they wanted to not be found. I could see why. There were no major cities on this planet. It was mostly a natural world, and I loved it. We even had seasons, and this winter season we created our own Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I didn't even know if it matched up correctly with Christmas on Earth because we had lost track of Earth time. But it didn't matter. I had learned a very important lesson. I had learned that Christmas was wherever I wanted it to be, as long as I was surrounded by those that I loved. I had Gavonn, my loving husband, and I had our son. I truly had a Christmas miracle. I would never take it for granted again to have this alien warrior at my side. He was everything to me. I was blessed. I had remembered what it felt like on the ferry boat, wondering if I would ever be able to have a child with Gavonn. I knew then that it was what I wanted. But I didn’t know if it would ever be possible.
“Baby’s first Christmas
,” he said.
“That is true. But it is our second Christmas together,” I said.
“But it is our first on this planet,” he said.
“And it is our first as husband and wife,” I said giving him a kiss.
“I have everything I have ever wanted for Christmas,” he said.
“I agree. This is my Christmas miracle.”
Then there was a sound that came from outside. Gavonn looked at me and smiled.
