Page 59 of Scary & Bright

I could hear Holly’s voice in the kitchen alongside a few others, and as I turned the corner, it was like the universe had plucked an image from my own imagination and placed it before me. Holly was in a red dress that landed just above her knees with an embroidered holiday apron draped over top and tied over the small of her back. Flour was dusted on her palms. A few dolls stood on the counter beside her, working together to roll out a pie crust. Starlight was at her feet, as usual, and Mister was on the island in the center of the kitchen playing Go-Fish with several other plush toys.

“Hey, there, stranger,” Holly smiled over her shoulder flashing her classically beautiful smile. “I wasn’t expecting you so early.”

“Couldn’t sleep any more,” I admitted. “Besides, it’s Christmas Eve! I am absolutely not going to spend the day upstairs and in bed.”

I gave her a hug from behind and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. “What can I help you with?”

When it came to the kitchen, I was useless at best, unless it involved the manifesting of meals without any of the actual prep work. Holly was the star of the show every time and regularly gave me hell for wanting to just ‘magic a meal’ as she called it.

Holly turned around and took stock of the goings-on to find a place for me to be of some help. Anything she would ask of me, I would happily do—and not just in the kitchen. I’d told her before how deep my feelings for her ran, and now I struggled to come up with a way to convey it. Dinners and gifts were overplayed and didn’t say everything as sincerely as I wanted. Nothing seemed enough. Nothing seemed quite worthy, and with Christmas only one sleep away, I was running out of time.

“How confident are you when it comes to dicing vegetables?” she asked, gesturing to a glass bowl full of carrots, celery, and onion.

“Oh, totally confident,” I lied. I’d never diced a vegetable before in my life, but she certainly didn’t need to know that. “Consider it done.”

“Are you lying?” She smiled, immediately seeing through my charade.

“Nope!” I insisted, taking my position at the island with the cutting board.

I could feel the beginnings of traditions forming as we worked together with the toys on a huge feast that truly only she and I would eat. The kitchen felt alive with love as toys wandered in and out. Christmas music played over a speaker as comforting background noise.

Hours later, after some clever oven and stove rotations and careful eyes on timers, we had a feast fit for the castle we shared. The table was set in the dining room we were finally finding a use for, and Holly and I found seats opposite one another as the seats along the side of the table were filled with toys.

There was a ham stuck with pineapple rings and glistening with a sweet glaze, roasted winter vegetables that I’d done my best to cut evenly, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, dinner rolls with cherry and rosemary jam, a hearty clam chowder, and plates of every type of cookie one could want. While it looked and smelled amazing, the best part of it was that we’d made it all together with our own two hands.

As we ate and drank to our heart’s content, we went around the table discussing our goals for the upcoming year, and many of the toys shared stories from their previous lives. Even Holly opened up about her best memories, proving that she had grown as much as I had over the month.

“Ahem, if you don’t mind?” Mister Bear announced, talking over the dinner chatter as he climbed up onto the table itself. He swiped a butter knife off the table and delicately tapped on a wine glass with a clear, ringing sound. “Ah-HEM!” His voice rang out louder, causing an immediate silence to wash across the room as every set of eyes landed on his tiny plush form.

“Thank you,” he said in his regular tone, pleased that he was now the center of attention. “I thought it might be nice, on this night before Christmas, that we make a toast to this new way of life for all of us, but especially for our Krampus, or Loek, as he prefers to be called these days.”

He then turned himself toward me and Holly, and I could see that she had already begun to blush.

“Miss Holly,” Mister Bear continued, “the first time I met you, I have to admit, you scared the fluff out of me. You were harsh, cold, and ready to fight anyone and anything. Although I suppose you are still like that, sometimes.” He chuckled.

“Only when you deserve it!” She smiled, and a chorus of laughter erupted across the table.

“Oh, please, like I’ve ever done anything to deserve even a hint of sass from anyone, ever, at any time.” Mister winked before clearing his throat to get his thoughts back on track. “But as I was saying, I think all of us should give you the biggest thank-you for keeping an open mind and giving a chance to someone who needed just that—a chance.”

Mister began to clap first, his plush hands making a delicate thumping sound that encouraged the rest of the toys to join in. The round of applause sounded more like a series of wind chimes dancing in a breeze than anything else, but it sounded glorious just the same. I raised my wine glass toward Holly and tossed her a smile as we drank to Mister’s kind words.

As the evening went on, we decided to hell with cleaning up—that’s what magic was for—and we pushed the table to one side, turning the dining room into a dance floor. I spun Holly in my arms and took every opportunity possible to touch her, hold her, kiss her. I was beginning to understand why my brother had held this feeling in such high regard. If this feeling was at stake for the entire world, there was a good chance I would have been just as terrible to my own brother.

But then again, maybe not.

This Christmas Eve felt like the first one there ever was. Everything felt new and bright, and as the toys began to retire to their own corners of the castle to rest for the next day, I found myself not quite ready for the evening to end. I was like a child too excited to sleep. So, I thought, why sleep?

I pulled Holly into me and took her face in my hands, caressing the peak of her cheekbones with my thumbs.

“How would you feel about, perhaps, getting more comfortable?” I asked, moving my hands down her spine until I was able to get a grip over her ass with both hands.

“Yes, please,” she moaned excitedly.

I already had a thought in mind of where I wanted to bring her, and as I thought of it in my mind, I felt it appear in the castle. Perfect.

“Come,” I said excitedly, reaching for her hand to pull her out of the dining room. If the place I wanted to take her was anything like I imagined it might be, then I knew she was absolutely going to love it.

“Oh, Loek,” she gasped as soon as we entered the center of the castle. She slapped her free hand over her mouth with excitement, and I was rewarded with the exact reaction I so badly wanted. “I love this. I really, really love this.”

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