“Mother Earth, your gifts are not nearly so grand!” I chuckle as I lead them inside.
Once Walt sets down the big box near the tree, he gives me a big bear hug. “Happy Yule, my sweet girl.”
Acton reaches toward me once Walt finally releases me. “Happy Yule, Ada. I cherish our tradition of observing the holiday together,” he says warmly as he looks down at me and affectionately pats a plush, mossy hand on my cheek.
Norrell joins us in the living room. “Happy Yule!” he wishes them, giving them hearty handshakes.
“The house looks beautiful, Ada! So festive!” Walt raves as he looks around. “Did you put up even more decorations than usual?”
“Mayhap a few more. Norrell did most of the work,” I admit. After Sunny came over to resize my stored decorations and festive tablecloths, we adorned the house in earnest. We added the white twinkling lights to the tree and hung several dried wreaths I’ve collected over the years around the house. My Yule altar candles and candle plates were set up in a few spots like the living room coffee table and the dining and kitchen tables. Sunny strengthened the enchantment I placed on them years ago preventing the cats from getting near the flame, the same one I also used to enchant the fireplaces to keep them safe.
We ended up purchasing more fresh trimmings and other festive items. We placed fresh evergreen garlands on the top of the fireplace mantels and along the stair railing. Mistletoe hangs above a few doorways. We also dressed up the Yule altars by adding evergreen trimmings, acorns, pinecones, dried citrus slices, and holly berries around them.
“Should we open gifts?” Walt asks enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together in front of him. This is his favorite part of Yule. He loves watching people open gifts.
We sit on the living room sofas and Norrell passes out the gifts one by one. “Open yours first, Acton,” I insist.
He smiles shyly as he carefully unwraps the small box. His face lights up as he pulls out several packets of rare heliconia seeds, a tropical flower he had talked about adding to the rainforest garden he’s still busy designing. “They will be a centerpiece in our garden. Thank you, truly,” he says delightedly.
“That’s not all!” I tell him as Norrell jogs to the salon. He comes back with two pots of a dark red variety of the flower.
“Ada, Norrell, this is a bounty of beauty. From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” he sputters, taken by surprise.
“You’re next, big guy!” Walt states, motioning toward Norrell. They’ve grown close again in the last few weeks. It’s been touching to witness the progress.
Norrell pulls his box from under the tree. His eyes light up, casting a surprisingly youthful look on his otherwise rough-hewn face. “By the bluest glacier, I love this text. It is an incredible historical account. I have not read it since the Academy. I never found another copy,” Norrell says thickly as he holds up a worn but intact copy of a very old book titledA Compleat History of Magicks in the North.
“We thought you might,” Walt responds with a burst of laughter. “I had some help finding it—not from Ada, I might add, she had no idea—but I’m glad I managed to get it in time before Yule. Expedited shipping straight from New York City. It was a close call.”
That gives me a very good idea of who helped him, though I don’t voice my guess while I beam at the three of them who continue to animatedly discuss the gift.
“Ada, that behemoth is yours!” Walt exclaims as he points at the oversized box. Norrell brings it over and sets it on the coffee table in front of me.
As I open it, Walt’s expression is practically euphoric. He lives for this. Watching him like this is its own gift. “Oh, Walt, Acton, you shouldn’t have,” I blurt out, shocked at the extravagant present. Pulling away the wrapping paper reveals a pricey looking stainless steel espresso machine with a milk frother.
“I thought you might have worked that little old coffeemaker to its last leg after hosting that large group. Time for an upgrade!” he delights.
“I will think of you every time I use it, meaning every single day,” I chuckle. “Thank you both so much.”
“Last but not least,” Norrell remarks brightly as he hands Walt his gift—several wrapped together.
“It’s like you read my mind every time,” Walt cracks up. “I’ve been thinking about upgrading these. How did you know?” He holds up the fancy waterproof camera and the water filtration system effective enough for survival situations but meant for off-grid camping, one of their favorite activities.
“I listen to your stories when you return from camping trips. I bought those over the summer!” I acknowledge, laughing at his genuine reaction.
“A star chart? Oh, that will make the nights during our trips even more special,” he says wistfully, unfolding the beautiful and detailed maps of the seasonal night skies.
Norrell and I agreed to exchange our gifts later, just the two of us, after we have the house to ourselves again. Now that we’re done gift-giving, Walt and Acton join us in the kitchen while Norrell and I continue cooking. Walt makes hot cider today. He calls itwassailbecause he says it sounds fancier for the holiday.Cider is an everyday drink, according to him.
In no time, the rest of the guests show up. Cara and Ben hand me a farro salad with apples and cranberries before they settle in the living room. Lillian, Nicolas, and Lucas are right behind them with their Bûche De Noël offering.
Sunny and Thea arrive together with a tray of immaculately iced gingerbread male cookies. They’ve been spelled with a little magick so their delicately iced faces wink and smile. I hope they don’t take Cara by too much surprise. She still gets adorably flustered by magick like this.
Clancy brings his joie de vivre and a sweet potato pie from Pearlhouse Pastries. He is many things, but not a talented cook, so I happily accept the conspicuous pink box. He also brings in his bench from Ben and Cara’s house, which Ben drove over in the back of his truck, so he has a comfortable seat at the long dining table.
When dinner is ready to be served, Norrell lights the Yule log in the dining room fireplace. After bringing it home from the woods near the graveyard, we gathered some fallen greenery from the lawn and used twine to wrap it around the thick piece of wood, binding some leftover evergreen twigs to it as well. We set it in the fireplace yesterday in anticipation of lighting it today.
As we sit around the table and watch Norrell, we all wish each other a happy Yule as the flames catch the tinder he put on the grate beside the log. Thea stands beside his kneeling form and whispers a quick spell so that log burns for an extended period.Warmth for comfort. Glow for beauty. Burn until the festivities end.I’ve always appreciated the practicality of her spells. It’s useful in her sometimes face-paced role as a healer.
