With Finn's insightful words bringing comfort to my craving soul, I allowed myself to fall back asleep, dreaming about how Christmas would be with my friends, family, and seven Blessed Loves.
My first Christmas...
~NINE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS~
* * *
"Bibibi."
"Bru-Ree?"
"BiBo!"
"Bru..."
"Bi..."
The sensation of something crawling onto my back tugged me from my once-deep sleep.
It felt like someone was standing on my back, but that theory seemed impossible because the weight of a human would most likely break my back, not feel like a doll was resting on my body.
"BIBO!" a happy sound declared. "Momo win. Momo win!"
What did Momo win?
"Bru-Ree!" Arielle's chirp caught my attention before her voice ran through my mind. "Morning, Mistress! Momo was playing castle."
Morning...
I felt exhausted but knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep now.
My biological clock told me it must be late morning, and after struggling with my heavy eyelids, I finally opened them and noticed I'd been sleeping on my stomach and Finn wasn't in his side of the bed.
What time is it?
"Bru-Ree!" Arielle replied. "Almost lunch time. Momo's hungry but doesn't want to eat without you. We're playing castle in the meantime."
Oh. I'm assuming I'm the castle?
"BRU!" Arielle replied. "Yup. Momo conquered you ten times now."
I must have been deep in sleep to not feel the other occasions, but I felt more motivated to get out of bed, especially with the thought that Momo was hungry and waiting for me. I could assume Arielle was doing the same and I didn't want either of them starving on my behalf.
With a quick rub of each eye, I looked over my shoulder to see Momo, who was quietly standing there on my back, her swirling eyes looking happily back at me.
"BIBO!" she announced and went to her knees, crawling up until her head was next to mine. "Mommy!"
"Morning, Momo." I greeted her and looked to Arielle, who was resting on a little pillow to my left.
From the looks of it, Finn must have been here when she'd arrived and placed the pillow there for Arielle's comfort. "Arielle, you hungry?"
Now that I was awake, I could decipher Arielle's speech right away.
"Yes, Bru. The guys are waiting for me at the familiar dorm so we can eat together." Arielle admitted. "I can stay with you guys."
"No, it's fine. They probably miss you. You've been spending a lot of time here. It's almost Christmas, you should have some quality time with all of them. I'll be fine and if Momo misses you, she can just teleport over there," I said out loud, seeing no need to speak within my mind to her.
Arielle outstretched her wings and fluttered her feathers. "Okay. Just warn me. Last time was completely random, Bru."
"Last time?" I asked, looking at Momo, who was currently playing with my hair. "As in when she summoned you during that meeting?"
"No, Bru. Last time when she teleported out of nowhere in the middle of the night!" Arielle stressed.
"What's wrong with that?" I asked in confusion, while Momo began to climb onto my shoulders.
"She was interrupting, BRUREE!" Arielle stressed, her wings beginning to light up in blue and pink flames.
"Interrupting..." I must have been slow due to my sleepy mind, not getting what Arielle was implying.
"Never mind, Bru. Just give me a warning so I have clothes on!" Arielle mumbled and jumped off the bed to the window that was open wide enough for her little body to fit through. "Bye, Bru! I'll be back later."
"Bye, have fun," I replied.
Momo lifted her head before resting right against my left cheek, looking over to where Arielle was about to launch off.
"BIBO!" She replied. "Bye-bye, Ari mommy."
Arielle waited for a few seconds and nodded her head at Momo before she hopped off the window ledge. What she had previously said finally clicked in and I blushed, feeling sorry for the predicament Arielle must have been in.
She must have been having lovey dovey time...awkward...
"BiBo." Momo slid off me and began to crawl to the end of the bed. I rolled over to lie on my back and sat up to see Momo had gotten off the bed and was waddling to the door.
Ah, she's probably really hungry.
Momo paused at the slightly opened door, looking back at me as if she wanted permission to leave.
"Go ahead, Momo. Mommy's going to shower real quick and be down to eat with you, okay?" I suggested to her with a heartfelt smile.
“BiBo!" she replied with her hands up. "Okay! Bye-bye, Mommy."
I watched her slowly push the door, making a wide enough space for her doll-like figure to go through.
Without even thinking, I was up and at the door, peeking out to make sure she reached the bottom of the stairs in one piece. My ears picked up on Cairus’s voice.
"Hey, Momo. You hungry? Caio's making something." My smile widened as a wave of relief washed over me.
Closing the door quietly, I gathered a set of clothes and got ready for the day. It was funny thinking about how I'd essentially taken Momo on as my own.
Even though she was Odion's familiar, she needed all the love and compassion she could get. I knew my love wouldn't help her grow compared to Arielle and the other familiars, but Esme believed that because of my love, Momo was learning to trust in the other familiars and know she wouldn't be hurt like in her previous life before she was sacrificed.
The thought made my blood boil, but it reminded me how grateful I was that Momo had been discovered by Esme and eventually met Odion.
After a long hot shower, I took a moment to brush my hair, noticing the multiple purple and pink highlights that made my now-gold hair look extravagant. My hair had grown rather quickly, its length reaching my lower back.
I'd wanted to cut it, but Mother, Esme, and even Faelia had suggested I leave it until the Queenship had been dealt with and I had my official ceremony.
Faelia stressed that there were numerous hairstyles that could be done, and it was common for previous Queens to take advantage of their long hair for their Queen portraits. Yes, they still did portraits, apparently.
There was so much we didn't know and each day was another discovery. It would take us weeks to figure everything out, but I was ready to dive into it after the holidays.
I should be taking advantage of the time off to recover, especially with everything we'd gone through.
I was brushing my teeth when there was a knock on the door.
The brown door opened slightly and a head poked through the space. I grinned at the glorious orange eyes and the long brown strands that cloaked the sides of his handsome face.
"Morning, Celestia."
"Morning, Hunter," I greeted and gestured for him to enter with a wave of my hand inward.
Hunter slid through the space, closing the door behind him. He walked over to me, eyeing my body with an appreciative smile on his smooth lips.
I wasn't fully clothed yet, only wearing a white lace bra with little jewels and matching underwear. At least I'd gotten as far as putting my pair of short jeans on, but I hadn't buttoned the waist, so a good portion of the white thong still showed.
I turned to face him and lifted my hands up for a hug. His expression softened as he pulled me into his arms, hugging me right back.
"Why do I feel like we haven't seen each other for a while?" he mumbled against my hair, inhaling deeply. "And you smell so fucking good."
I giggled at his remark and hugged him tighter, missing how good it felt to have my body pressed against his.
"Because we've been busy recovering and learning all about the past we had no clue about," I replied. "And thank you. You smell like cinder. Did you go for a fly earlier?"
"Hmm, ya. Aaron came by and was being an annoying dick, so I had to chase his ass for a bit," Hunter admitted, leaning back to look at me. "He's so
bothersome."
"And you love it," I replied with a wide grin, knowing Hunter was most likely thrilled to have his brother back in his life, even though he tried to act like he didn't care.
"Hmph," Hunter replied, and I leaned up on my tiptoes to kiss him.
He groaned and responded back, while his arms wrapped around my waist, pressing me against his lower region.
"Momo's hungry. No teasing," I mumbled against his lips.
"When you kiss me like that, you know what's coming," Hunter countered and kissed me deeply.
I moaned into his mouth, unable to pull away after barely seeing him all week.
We hadn't slept together in one bed since last week and we'd yet to have a night together after our feverish union when I'd received my blessed mark from him.
As if he was thinking the same thing, one of Hunter's hands left my waist to trail down my back, following the lines of the large blessed mark and sending trembles through me.
"Hunter," I warned, unable to hide the need in my voice as I pulled back to glare at him.
He merely smirked, looking pleased with how sensitive my marks still were after all this time.
"I'll be good, don't give me that cute look," Hunter replied and moved to kiss my neck real quick.
After another swift peck on my lips, he pulled away and moved to stand behind me.
Pressing his hands on my shoulders, he navigated me to look in the mirror and gently took the brush that was still in my left hand.
"What hairstyle would my Queen like today?" he asked.
"Ugh, please no royal titles. I like Blessed Love better," I whined.
Everyone was trying to start getting used to the Queen title, knowing that it wouldn't be long before it would be a mandatory thing. I didn't know much about the laws and rules of being a royal, but being called Queen by my lovers all the time was going to be a pain in the ass. The trial of calling me that alone had proved as much.
Hunter grinned, my eyes catching his reflection in the mirror as he gathered my hair with the intentions of brushing it.
He moved the pink, purple, and gold strands out of the way and lowered his lips to my flesh between my neck and shoulder.
"Blessed Love, I missed you." Hunter's husky voice against my skin made my eyes flutter closed while I bit my lip.
"Me too,” I admitted wholeheartedly. "You okay?"
He nodded and rested his head on my shoulder, while his arms lowered from my hair to wrap around my waist.
"Still a bit tired," he admitted.
"All of you guys reached your limits...I—"
"If you're going to apologize, I'm going to leave a bunch of hickeys, so the others get jealous and bother you," Hunter interrupted.
I grinned before I exhaled. "I still feel like I should apologize."
"We'd risk our lives for you, Celestia. Just as you were willing to do that day. Don't you dare apologize. You're everything to us, and though we couldn't physically be present to fight alongside you, we certainly don't regret helping you through our bonds. It was the least we could do and it paid off," Hunter whispered.
"You know what scares me about this whole thing?" I voiced, my eyes meeting his in the mirror. "After the Christmas and New Year holidays, we're going to have to be in a position I feel we're not powerful enough to be in. Together, we are really strong, especially for our age, but we lack in many areas like wisdom about our pasts and what we've been hidden from. There are dimensions out there that we have no idea of and places we've never set foot in. Yet, we'd essentially rule them all. I don't know if I'm ready for that. I don't want to be a Queen when I know nothing about my people...and realistically, they know nothing about me." I let the thoughts that were running through my head out, knowing Hunter could help me untangle them and give me a bit of insight.
"No one said you have to rule immediately, Cutie Pie," Hunter replied, hugging me a bit tighter. "Your ruling is going to be a process. We're going to have to remind various dimensions of how it used to be, starting with Aslan, Versa, and other dimensions close by. It will be a bit easier with Alpha Pure's help, and I'm sure your family is willing to assist us. We'll take this a day at a time, but I don't want you worrying about that. I want you focusing on relaxing this holiday season and enjoying the rest you deserve," he concluded.
"I guess we did work hard for this," I whispered.
Hunter smiled and kissed my cheek, pulling back to return to my hair. He brushed it out and began to braid it, the thought reminding me of a fairy tale called Rapunzel. My hair wasn't as long, but the whole braid thing made me think of it. When he was finished, I turned to face him, giving him a wide smile. "Thank you, Hunter."
"You’re welcome, Blessed Love. Ready to go downstairs and eat something? Momo's waiting for you."
"Yes. I'm starving. Who's home today?"
"Everyone but Odion, I think. Aaron mentioned he'd be meeting up with Odion to give an update on the Dark World. He should be back soon," Hunter replied, slipping his hand in mine. I walked to the room and slipped my white V-neck shirt on. After buttoning my shorts and taking a good look at myself in the mirror, I nodded in approval.
I appeared a lot less tired compared to last week and most of my bruises from the fight had healed. Hunter was fixing his hair, pulling it up into a simple ponytail, when I turned to face him. "I look a lot better than before."
"You do. I'm glad your mana is rejuvenating, too. It shows since those bruises are now gone," Hunter complimented.
"Ya. I think Arielle remaining in her familiar form really helps," I admitted. "Hmm. How’s Momo able to stay in her form if Odion was pretty drained out?"
"I asked Aaron about that. The others were wondering the same last week. He said Odion has some small storage of energy just for Momo. I think it's something he trained his body to do, so when his body began to rejuvenate its mana source, it goes into that reserve first to fill it up and then works on the rest of the body," Hunter explained, walking over to where I stood.
"That's pretty cool. I think that would be something we should learn to do as well, especially since our familiars are pretty independent now," I suggested.
Hunter nodded. "Agreed."
He slipped his hand in mine and we moved downstairs. When we reached the bottom step, there was a loud noise.
"BOOOOOOOO!"
I frowned at the sound of Momo crying, and Hunter and I exchanged looks.
What happened now?
"Uh-oh." Cairus and Caio said together as we entered the living room to see Momo standing next to the cookie container, which was now upside down on the floor.
"See? This is why we should have hidden it to begin with." Finn sighed.
"Or Caio could have finished cooking already," Orion said, walking over to pick up the container.
Momo stared at Orion, who opened the container and took a cookie out. The cookie was broken in half and Momo stared at it for a long moment before she went back to crying.
"Maybe she doesn't want the cookies?" Hunter asked. I let go of his hand and walked over to Momo. Kneeling down to Momo's level, I reached out to pat her head gently.
"Momo," I said soothingly, and she opened her tear-filled eyes to look at me.
"BIBO! Bi..bi...BOOO!" She went back to crying, outstretching her hands out to me. "Hungry, Mommy. Cookie!"
I picked her up and smiled, noticing Orion's confusion when I turned to look at the curious group of men.
"Does she want the cookies?"
"Yes, but maybe not a broken one," I explained, peering into the container.
I noticed a whole cookie and reached for it. Picking it up, I offered it to Momo, who was still crying. "Momo, look."
She paused in her crying fit to stare at the whole heart-shaped cookie. "Did you want a cookie while we wait for Caio to finish up?"
"Bi..bo." She reached out for the cookie and began to nibble on it. The others sighed.
"See. Children are hard," Orion whined.
"I see your
previous point." Finn sighed.
"You guys were talking about kids?" Hunter asked.
"Yup. We have concluded that we're going to die if we have kids," Caio announced.
"You mean you're going to die because you suck. If you were done making breakfast, we would have been fine," Cairus noted.
"Ugh, baking bread and egg soufflé is a slow process," Caio whined. They both looked my way and beamed.
"Morning, Cutie Pie," Caio greeted.
"Morning, Dearest," Cairus welcomed.
"Morning, everyone." I smiled at each of them and looked at Orion and Finn, who had calm smiles.
"Morning," they replied in unison.
"Hmm, Odion's not back yet?" I asked, glancing around the kitchen and living room for Orion's double.
"He should be here in a minute," Orion replied and looked at the others. "Finn, weren't you going to tell us something?"
Finn blinked and slowly looked at me before glancing at the others. "Uh..."
The sound of the front door opening caught my attention, and Momo stopped nibbling on her cookie to start singing.
"BIBO! Bibibibibi," she announced and returned to her singing. "Daddy!"
Odion walked into the room, his hand covering his mouth as he finished yawning. He stared at the group first, not noticing I was standing to his left. "Why did Finn call me? I'm busy."
I glanced at Finn, who groaned. "Orion, do that communication thing."
Orion rolled his eyes and looked over at his brother. "Remember, Finn's in charge with the 'Plan'? We talked about this," Orion stressed.
Plan? What plan?
"BIBO!" Momo put her hand up, still holding her cookie as to get Odion's attention.
He slowly looked our way, blinking a few times before something seemed to click.
"Oh. Right..."
I tilted my head in confusion while Momo began to wiggle in my hold, her hands reaching out for Odion, who began to smile.
"Aren't you supposed to eat cookies after breakfast, Momo?"
"Bi....bo?" Momo replied. "Hungry...mine?"
Odion shook his head, picking her out of my hold before he swooped in to give me a kiss. "Morning, my Queen," he said with a gorgeous smile that made me want to melt.
CELESTIA CHRISTMAS (Unicorn Blessed Chronicles Book 5) Page 2
