Before Magnus sets the hatbox aside, he pulls another box out of it. He reads whatever is written on the lid and opens it.
“What is it?” I ask impatiently.
Magnus sighs and holds up a tiny cowboy hat. “Why does Pete need one too?”
“I figured you’d want to match,” Cato says while I laugh.
“I thought my hat was supposed to be a bedroom thing.”
“There’s no reason you can’t wear it while you garden too, and then you’ll be happy to have matching hats,” Cato says.
Magnus sighs again, but gently puts the miniature version of his cowboy hat on Pete. Pete rubs his head, adjusting it, and resumes eating.
I gasp and stifle my giggles, not wanting to risk Pete’s ire. Now he looks just like I imagined him in the Big Tex books! That would make Magnus Big Tex, the perfect duo.
They look so cute in their matching hats, I’m pleased they keep them on while we open the rest of the presents.
Henri unwraps a remote-controlled car, another gift from Cato. It has a camera mounted on it that lets you watch the feed on your phone. Henri tests it out, driving through the piles of discarded wrapping paper and zooming across the room, eventually coming over to bump against my feet.
I smile and wave at it, and Henri shows us how good the video quality is on his screen.
“I thought you’d enjoy look at Hestia from that angle,” Cato says.
“That’s not—I’m not going to use it likethat,” Henri says, blushing.
I give Henri a secret smile. If he’s still embarrassed about watching me, I’m happy to keep it between us until he’s comfortable enough to share it with the others.
Finally, we’re down to the last few presents. Orion picks up his box, and I stop him before he opens it.
“I’d like for all of you to open my gift at the same time.You should each have a box with gold wrapping paper and a red bow,” I say and wait as they find theirs.
“I know I got you other things too, but this is the main gift I wanted to give you. I hope you like it,” I say shyly, and gesture for them to go ahead.
“I’m sure we’ll love it,” Charm says while Cato tears into his present.
The others rush to catch up.
“Did you make this?” Orion asks, holding up his knit sweater.
“Yes. It should fit okay, but if not, I can fix it. I based the size on your other clothes since I wanted to keep this a secret,” I ramble nervously.
“This is amazing. The mountains look exactly like the Fossfells. You even included the waterfalls and stars falling in the sky.” Orion pauses and looks closer. “Does this little heart mark where our station is?”
“It does. I did my best to replicate the mountains, I’m glad you could tell,” I say.
“They’re perfect. This is such a thoughtful gift,” Charm says.
“Thank you, pet,” Cato says, and kisses my cheek.
He pulls his sweater on, which is easy enough because he’s only wearing sweatpants. They’re nicer than his usual ones in honor of our Yule festivities, red velvet with a white faux fur trim.
“I love it, thank you. Wait, did you make one for yourself? We should all match,” Henri says, pausing with his sweater half over his head.
“That’s right, it’s a pack sweater, you need to have one too. I can learn to knit and make you one,” Magnus offers sweetly.
“Thank you, but you don’t have to do that. I had enoughyarn left to make myself one. I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with matching though…” I say shyly.
“Of course we need to match,” Charm says.
