“Raph, did you seriously make this?” It was some kind of tofu breakfast casserole type of thing that was smothered in breakfast gravy. It smelled divine.
“Not exactly. Laz made the casserole—I helped a tiny, tiny bit yesterday—and we snuck it into the fridge last night when you weren’t looking. All I had to do today was pop it in the oven. I made the gravy, though… from a packet.”
I grinned as I grabbed my fork. “You asked Laz to help you?” That was so cute.
He nodded. “I asked him a couple weeks ago, so he actually tested out his regular breakfast casserole recipe with tofu last weekend. I wanted to wait to eat until he got here this morning since it’s really from him, too, but he insisted that I give it to you in bed since that was my original plan when I asked for his help.”
My heart kind of melted. For both of them. “That is the sweetest thing ever. Thank you, Raph.” I tried my first bite and moaned when the flavors burst on my tongue. “Oh my gods, this is so good. Have you tried it yet?”
“I tried his test batch.” Raph smiled. “You like it?”
“Mhm,” I hummed around my stuffed mouth. “So good.”
Raph chuckled and leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. “I’m glad. I’m going to go straighten up the kitchen and make myself a plate.”
I swallowed my bite before he could rush off. “You’re coming back up here, right?”
“Do you want me to?”
I nodded and patted the other side of my bed. “Yes.”
Raph grinned. “I’ll be right back.”
He was only gone for a few minutes before he came back with his plate and coffee, and the two of us sat in companionable silence while we ate. Christmas was off to a great start.
After we ate, we both got ready for the day, but there was a knock on the door while Raph was in the shower. A smile spread on my face as I opened the door, revealing Laz with an armful of presents.
“Merry Christmas!” I said, taking some of his gifts from him. “Wow, what’s with the huge basket?”
“Oh, that’s a bunch of treats and toys for Nadia and Jezebel. Merry Christmas.” He smiled at me. He got our familiars gifts? Sweetest human I’d ever met.
I shot him a soft smile. “How are you?”
“I’m good. What about you?”
I ushered him into the living room where our tree was set up. “Very good. Thank you so much for breakfast.”
He waved me off after setting his gifts down. “That was from Raph.”
“But you made it.”
“He helped.”
I bit back a grin. “Yeah, well, thank you. It was delicious.”
“I’m glad you liked it. It turned out better than I expected with the substitutions I used.”
“Seriously, delicious.” I stepped closer to him, and before I knew my intentions, my arms were already around his waist. For his part, Laz only hesitated for a split-second before wrapping me in a hug that could rival one of Raph’s. My eyes closed as I rested my cheek on his shoulder and sighed in contentment.
When we pulled apart, I noticed Raph standing off to the side of the room, staring at us with a strange expression on his face. He had our bond locked down tight, so I couldn’t get a good read on him, but he didn’t look upset or angry. In fact, he seemed happy. Peaceful, even.
He winked at me when I caught his eye, so I offered him a small smile before I stepped out of his boyfriend’s arms. I instantly missed the contact, but when Raph’s face lit up at Laz’s quiet, “Merry Christmas, charmer,” the warmth in my chest remained. Raph had been happier these past few weeks than I’d seen him in years, decades. All because of our sweet human. Er, no, his sweet human. Not ours.
If only…
My eyes widened at that random thought before I shook it off and made my way over to the couch to wait for their giggles to die down. Because not only had Laz made Raph happy, he was actually making him giggle this morning. Had Raph ever giggled before now? They were both being so cute, dorky, and adorable, that I found myself chuckling at the pair of them.
When they finally untangled themselves from each other, Raph asked, “Can we do gifts now?”
I rolled my eyes, but said, “Yes, unless Laz needs to eat or something?”
Laz shook his head. “I’m good. I ate before I came.”
Raph rubbed his hands together in excitement, looking like a cartoon villain. “What do we have here?” He dove into the pile of gifts, making me laugh as Laz made his way over to sit on the couch beside me.
“Oh crap, let me get Nadia and Jezebel real quick.” I hopped up and let our familiars inside from the back yard where they’d been running around. Both raced to sit on or beside Laz, then I sat back in my spot on the couch, absently petting Jezebel.
While Raph separated gifts, I knocked Laz’s winter boot with my bare foot, saying, “Get comfortable. Stay awhile.”
Laz laughed. “I got distracted by you guys and forgot. Be right back.” He walked to the door where we had a little wooden shoe rack and took his boots off before coming back.
When Laz sat back down, Raph placed a small, wrapped box on Laz’s lap and looked uncharacteristically shy as he said, “This one’s from me, but I’m not sure if you’ll like it. If you don’t, it’s okay, I won’t be upset, I just… well, open it.”
“I’m sure I’ll love it,” Laz said. “Why don’t you guys open your gifts from me? I don’t want to be the only one opening.”
“Okay,” I said, reaching for a small box in different wrapping paper than what I’d used to wrap all the gifts from Raph and me. There was one gift from Raph that he’d wrapped himself, but it was in the same paper I’d used.
Raph grabbed his gift as well, settling on the floor in front of the couch, and said to me, “There’s one for both of us from him, too.”
Laz blushed for some reason, so I only nodded and said, “Go on, open them, guys.”
Raph opened his first, and I grinned because I’d helped Laz pick it out—a new video game that Raph had been wanting. Laz had known he wanted to get him a video game they could play together, but he hadn’t known which ones Raph already had, so I’d helped him out.
Raph whooped and laughed, saying, “Thank you, baby. This is perfect. I can’t wait to kick your ass.”
“Glad you like it, but there’s no way I’m losing to such an old man,” Laz said, making me chuckle, and Raph give him a little laughing push.
Laz managed to open his next, and he gingerly pulled the leather bracelet out of the box. “This is really cool, Raph. Thank you.” The leather was braided in an intricate manner that made it seem eloquent. I’d helped Raph with that one, too, come to think of it.
Raph said, “It’s a spelled bracelet.” He started squirming a little. “It has a tracking spell that allows me to find you when I concentrate on it. It, uh, sounds kind of stalkerish, I admit, but it’s more of a safety thing. You’re human, which worries me a little—not that it’s a bad thing, obviously, I think it’s great that you’re human. For fuck’s sake, you know what I mean. Anyway, after what happened to Grady last year, I…”