"Close enough." He tilted his head up. "Thank you for loving me."
"There’s no need to thank me." I ran my fingers through his hair. "You gave me everything."
We couldn't keep our eyes open, and I picked up my mate and stumbled to bed. For the first time in years, I fell asleep on Christmas Eve without setting an alarm.
I woketo Zale's warm body pressed against mine. The clock on the nightstand read 9:47 a.m. Nine forty-seven on Christmas morning. How had I slept so long?
I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept past six, let alone almost ten. My first instinct was panic because I hadn’t made any bread, and the orders must be piling up. There’d be customers banging on the door, but then I remembered. The bakery was closed. There was nowhere I needed to be.
Zale stirred. "Merry Christmas," he mumbled against my chest.
"Merry Christmas." I tightened my arms around him. "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a rock. You?"
"Best sleep I've had in years. But “I’m curious, how does a rock sleep?”
He elbowed me and giggled before propping himself up on one elbow. His hair was sticking up and there were pillow creases on his cheek. Gods, I loved him.
"So what do people do on Christmas when they're not working?" he asked.
"No idea. I've never had a Christmas off."
"Never?"
"Not since I took over the bakery." I ran my hand down his back. "What about you?"
“Ugh. We had a formal breakfast at eight, a gift exchange at nine and afterward, my parents would disappear to entertain important guests with my brothers and I'd be left by myself." He made a face. "It wasn’t exactly magical."
"Then we'll make our own traditions." I pulled him closer. "Starting with staying in bed as long as we want."
"I like that tradition."
We dozed for a while longer, and later Zale told me more about his family and the arranged mating they'd tried to force on him. There was constant pressure to be perfect, and they'd treated him like a bargaining chip instead of a person. I held him, trying not to let my anger at his family ruin Christmas.
"I'm never going back," he said firmly. "You know that. You’remy forever and they never loved me, rather they saw me as a possession. I haven’t heard from them since I messaged them saying I’d marked my fated mate."
In the same message, Zale had told his family he wasn’t returning. They responded with a final text saying they were cutting him out of the will and he was no longer part of the family. Despite how they’d treated him in the past, that final blow hurt him.
Around noon,we finally dragged ourselves out of bed. I made coffee while Zale rummaged in the kitchen.
"We don't have much food," he called. "You want to go out and see if anything's open?"
A town this small was quiet on Christmas with everything closed. But there'd be people out walking and enjoying the snow. We could do that together.
"Let's go for a walk first," I said. "Then we'll figure out food. I hear the local bakery might have leftovers but the owner is a grumpy so and so.”
He laughed and agreed.
"Hey, you’re supposed to say he’s not that bad and you could charm the pants off him."
"Maybe I can get his pants off later. But let’s walk and eat first."
We bundled up and headed out into the snowy afternoon. Every house was decorated with lights, and there was smoke curling from chimneys. We walked hand in hand down the main street. Mrs. Trent waved from her porch, calling out Merry Christmas. Our mayor was building a snowman with his neighbors in his front yard, and the Axley twins were walking their dog with their parents, and stopped to chat for a few minutes.
Everyone appeared happy to see us together holding hands. There were warm smiles and Mrs. Trent murmured, "Finally."
"That’s so sweet," Zale said after we'd moved on. "You've been feeding this town for ten years. They want you to be happy."
