Raydir and I were laying on the couch in our cabin in Darqua. We were under a blanket with the fireplace crackling in front of us.

"How about we listen to some music?" Raydir suggested.

"Mm, good idea." I tunneled further into his chest, not ready to move.

He cleared his throat and began to sing: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Raydir nipping  at your nose." He leaned forward and nipped playfully at my nose.

I laughed. "Those are not the lyrics, Ray."

He grinned. "All I want for Christmas"—he tickled my sides and pulled me into his lap—"is you."

"Good. Because I'm all yours." I kissed him, weaving my fingers through his hair. With the other hand, I traced my fingers along his jawline. "You're all that I need underneath the tree."

Raydir smirked. "I'm not sure there's enough room under the tree for us."

"Oh my god." I covered my face with my hands.

"Last Christmas I gave you my heart," he sang.

"And I've kept it close every day since." I grinned. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Raydir took this opportunity to pull me on top of him. He reached up to kiss me.

"Mm." I leaned my head back on his chest as he stroked my hair. "You know, I'll never get tired of this."

"Me neither." We stayed there cuddling for a while until Ray sat up and took my hand.

"I have a surprise for you," he said, leading me into the kitchen. "Do you remember when we were kids and Ginny made us that gingerbread? We spent hours constructing gingerbread houses together."

I nodded. "Yeah. You always made the coolest things."

"I was thinking maybe it could be a new tradition for us here in Darqua."

I smiled. "That's a great idea!"

We spent the next little while creating the gingerbread before constructing the pieces together. I managed to only burn mine a little but sometimes, crispy was just better. I used big globs of icing as glue, which seemed to hold pretty well.

When I glanced over at Raydir, he was in full concentration mode. His eyebrows were knit together in concentration and he chewed his bottom lip. He looked up at me and smiled when he caught me staring.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"Absolutely." I glanced at my gingerbread house. The wall closest to us fell over with a plop. "Dang it."

Raydir laughed. "You'd fall over too with that much icing on you."

I poked his sides. "Hey! That's not fair. Plus, you're the artist amongst us. Look at this!" I gestured to his creation. Upon further inspection, I realized it was a recreation of our favorite lake spot. He'd used the icing to delicately create the waterfall and pooled it on a piece of gingerbread to show the lake. He'd even used the green food coloring to dye a twizzler to use as a makeshift rope swing that was attached to another piece of gingerbread that he'd carved out carefully into a tree.

"Ray, you're a designing genius," I gushed. "Whereas mine—" plop. Another piece of my structure fell over. "—could use some work."

Raydir laughed. "It's all about precision. Let me show you." He walked behind me before reaching forward to guide my hand. He kept the other hand on my waist and his breath tickled my cheek. "First we need to get rid of the extra icing." He swiped his finger over the gingerbread, collecting the excess icing.

"So sad that icing is going to waste," I murmured.

He licked the icing off of his fingers then turned his head to kiss me. "Not anymore." His eyes twinkled mischievously as he covered my hand again. "Use the paintbrush to carefully apply the icing to the pieces then stick them together. Press and hold." His lips grazed my neck. "And release." He lifted our hands and stepped back.

Miraculously, the pieces stayed stuck together for more than a few seconds.

"You have a magic touch," I said in awe, trailing a hand down his chest.

He swiped a dollop of colorful frosting on my nose and I gasped in mock horror. "It just takes practice."

"Very true." I got him back, swiping more frosting on his face.

He laughed. "I think I have an idea for our next activity. Something we're both good at." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively."

I turned around in his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. "Hm, I think I like where this is headed."

Raydir lifted me up to wrap my legs around his waist and then he carried me into the bedroom.

There were just some traditions that were good no matter the time of year, and spending any time with Raydir was one of them.

Dedicated to: BloodR0se17