5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

‘Shall we just dive in?’ Stan asked, his eyes eager like he was a kid and the presents were gnawing at him.

‘No, I want to see everything! We should go one at a time, oldest to youngest,’ Sidnee chimed in. Sig looked at her with maternal pride and I wondered if present giving had been done that way when Sidnee was a teenager.

‘Ah, come on!’ Stan grumbled. ‘We always do it that way!’ I guessed that it had.

‘So?’ Sidnee challenged him

‘Okay, okay, fine. We’ll do it your way, oldest to youngest – only who’s oldest?’

Liv slowly raised her hand. ‘I am, but I crashed the party, so…’

‘I have something for you!’ I said quickly. I did too; it was in my bag in Connor’s room. I had planned to drop it by her house the next day. I’d picked it up in Sitka on the one day I’d been able to shop during commander’s weekend. It had screamed Liv to me, and since I thought it might help her get over my actions I’d bought the silly thing.

I plucked the wrapped package out of my bag and hurried back to hand it to Liv. She looked at it like she didn’t know what to do and I wondered how long it had been since she’d received a gift with no strings attached.

She carefully unfastened the tape and peeled off the wrapping then her face filled with wonder. The snow globe was heavy and large and I’d had Sig enchant it so the snow would swirl without shaking it. Inside were the Great Pyramids surrounded by sand and there was even a tiny sphinx. The Christmas star embedded in the glass twinkled when you moved it. As Liv looked at it, a warm smile crossed her face. ‘Thanks, Bunny.’

‘It doesn’t snow in Egypt!’ Stan snorted.

Liv fixed him with a stare and quirked one elegant eyebrow, ‘And you’d know this …. how?’

Stan’s face warmed and he gave a one-shouldered shrug. ‘Well, everyone knows it’s a hot country.’

‘It is,’ she agreed in her usual dreamy voice. ‘But it does snow. Not often, only once every hundred years or so, but it does happen. And when it does, it looks just like this. The kids throw snowballs, and even the men build snowmen and dance in it.’ She grinned. ‘The camels hate it, though.’ Looking quietly pleased, she placed the globe carefully on her lap. I knew it was only a small, silly token but maybe to Liv it was something more.

‘Okay, who’s next oldest?’ I asked.

Gunnar and Connor looked at each other. I still didn’t know Connor’s exact age – nor did he, I suspected, but Danny had said he was one of the oldest vampires in Alaska so he wasn’t a spring chicken. ‘I am,’ Gunnar said.

Well now, that was interesting. I looked at Sigrid, who was looking at her husband with loving eyes. No surprise showed on her face.

Since Gunnar had a pile of gifts, he chose one and opened it. It was a joke gift from Stan, a jumper from Stan’s favourite American football team – a team that Gunnar didn’t like. ‘Thanks,’ he said flatly, though his eyes were amused and I knew he’d wear it.

Connor was next and he also had a pile of gifts. He opened Gunnar and Sigrid’s: a pair of hand-made mittens. They looked warm and thick. ‘Thank you,’ he murmured and gave them a nod.

‘Keep you safe from touching fisheye,’ Gunnar grunted, and suddenly the gift meant more than warm hands.

‘Thank you,’ Connor repeated, this time with a little more feeling.

After that the ages were obvious and we swiftly made it through our piles of gifts. I had a haul of lovely things that warmed my heart, but I was even more excited for my friends to open the gifts I had found for them.

Sidnee was the first. I’d wanted something to cheer her up because she’d been out of sorts since her ex, Chris, had destroyed her self-esteem. After that we’d had to defend ourselves from a secret joint MIB/black-ops group in Sitka, where she’d had to dispose of several bodies, so she’d had a rocky few months. I’d found something to make her smile, a silly T-shirt with a knock-off image of a Disney mermaid and the words: I want to go where the people aren’t .

She unrolled it and laughed out loud, then she pulled it on over her shirt. ‘Perfect, Bunny!’ She beamed at me.

It warmed my heart to see her laugh without the darkness behind her eyes. I couldn’t take all the credit because Thomas had done most of that with his gentle wooing. His gift to her was a pair of gorgeous fur-lined boots made by an artisan from his Inupiaq tribe up north. She was already wearing them.

Stan got my next gift. I’d got him two gifts, a gag one and a more serious one. I’d found this ridiculous faux-fur hat in the shape of a polar bear, ears and all, with little polar bear arms that dangled down into paws. He opened it and hurriedly covered it up again. He looked at me flatly. ‘I can’t wear this, Bunny! Come on!’ he groaned.

‘You have to!’ I insisted.

‘Why?’

‘Because if you don’t you’ll hurt my feelings.’ I gave an exaggerated pout.

‘Fine.’ He sighed, pulled it out of the box and shoved it on his head. He looked ridiculous – for one thing, it was made for children so it was balanced precariously on top of his head and the dangly arms barely reached his chest. Everyone cracked up.

‘It’s totally you!’ Sidnee howled, pointing at him as she doubled over.

He glowered at her. ‘Next present!’ he demanded, no doubt to get the heat off himself.

Sigrid opened my next gift. I’d had to pester Gunnar for months to find something meaningful to give her, something more than candles or soaps or creams. Her family was from Norway. She hadn’t been to visit them in a long time, mostly because she hated leaving Gunnar and he was so busy as the Nomo. I couldn’t change that but I could bring something from her home country to her.

Gunnar had told me that Sigrid used to have a hand-knitted sweater in the traditional style that she loved, but he’d accidentally taken the wrong box of clothing to the thrift shop. When she’d found out, it had already been sold and no one could locate the buyer. She’d been upset for weeks.

I’d sent away to Norway for a sweater and it had arrived while I was in Sitka. It was a beautiful thing, pale blue to match her eyes with flowers and vines all over it. It was made from thick boiled wool to keep her warm in the chilly winters.

Once she’d unwrapped it and held it up, her eyes filled with tears. ‘Thank you, so much, Bunny. How did you know?’

I pointed at Gunnar. Sigrid beamed at her husband and squeezed his arm in silent thanks. She clutched the sweater then looked at it again before folding it and laying it carefully back in the box.

Gunnar was next – and I really hoped he’d love his present. It had cost an arm and a leg, but he was worth it.