Chapter Thirty-Four
Arabella
The alarm went off at four o’clock Christmas morning, and Ajax made me walk to the downstairs den. I managed it, but barely. Actually, I skipped my way past the last locked door, once there were no more barriers. I couldn’t help myself.
The tree had so many presents under it, we’d put up another tree a week earlier. Not only was the area under the trees full, but the space between them was as well.
I’d already received the one present I wanted more than anything, though. We were now an official family. No one could rip me away from them. I belonged to Ajax, and Ajax served Kieran and Gwen. We were a unit.
But it was Christmas morning, and I couldn’t wait for the others to open their presents.
Lots of gifts were silly and happy. I’d chose matching pajamas for all of us. Not that the vampires needed soft, fluffy, warm jammies, but they got them anyway. Mine were pink, Gwen’s were burgundy, Ajax’s were black, and Kieran’s were a deep eggplant.
Ajax loved his suit, but I think he may have liked some of the t-shirts better.
I asked Eric to help me choose new smartphones for Kieran and Gwen, and they loved the ones he’d told me to get.
He’d already set everything up for them, and he’d arranged for someone to come by later in the day and swap out the cards inside that would make them work on the cellular network.
I cried my eyes out when I opened my present from Gwen. A trip to Italy, to shop! Heaven!
And then I cried again when Ajax opened his present from her.
At first, I couldn’t figure out why he had a little toy helicopter, but then we found out she’d bought him the real thing, along with lessons to learn to fly it.
He loved driving us around, and I knew he’d love flying us around just as much.
Ajax bought me platinum collar and cuffs.
They were called permanent, but that didn’t work so well with a swan shifter, so the ones he’d bought looked like a single, unbroken circle, but he had a tiny little key that could open and lock them.
He put them on my ankles and wrists, and finally, he placed the collar around my neck.
Each of the five pieces had a small, thin platinum circle hanging from it.
They were beautiful, but they were restraints.
Cuffs. I could be restrained to anything, at any time.
All he needed was a carabiner or a clip. Or a lock.
“I love them. How did you know?”
“How did I know what?”
“That I wanted a symbol of us. Of what we are to each other?”
He pulled me into his embrace. “You’re mine. Even before Sophia let us make it official, you were mine. It’s my job to know these things.”
He also bought me sexy panties, silly house slippers, and so many other small little gifts, I couldn’t begin to list them all.
Ajax bought our vampires new super-thin gaming laptops, which apparently were more powerful than their desktop units.
And then he sent them upstairs to open two presents I’d seen delivered in giant boxes, but I had no idea what was inside.
The vampires had no idea they’d been delivered to the garage.
It turns out, they were huge chairs with monitors attached to them from an overhead arch.
They looked more like an airplane cockpit than a desk or a chair, but I could easily see how this would make their jobs easier.
They hadn’t known such a thing existed, and they were thrilled with them.
Finally, we went back to the trees, and Kieran passed out envelopes and boxes. I didn’t want to open my envelope. I didn’t want Christmas morning to be over.
But, I couldn’t risk insulting him, and he wanted me to open mine first.
I stared at the photo, uncomprehending, until he explained.
“It’s a pond with a solarium around it. Both will be installed just off the patio next week.
I’m arranging for duplicates to be installed at Ajax’s home in Fairbanks as well, so your swan will have a safe, warm place in the sunshine when she wants her very own bird-time. ”
I hugged him and cried happy tears — again. He hugged me back and told me how happy he was to see me pleased with his gift.
Kieran had one hundred gallons of maple mead made just for Gwen, and the label proclaimed it to be Gwen’s Maple Mead.
She opened a box with a single bottle, and he assured her the rest were in cold storage and not far away.
Since alcohol isn’t changed by human digestion and is the same in the blood as it is in the bottle, vampires can digest alcoholic beverages.
I loved eating maple foods so she could have a treat, and Ajax did too, but this was a super thoughtful gift from Kieran.
Just as I had, she threw her arms around his neck to thank him. She didn’t cry, though.
And finally, Ajax opened his envelope, and stared at it a good ten seconds before he looked up. “It’s a waterfall. On my property. There wasn’t one there before.”
“Your acreage is fenced in. You’ll be able to change to wolf and hang out in your own woods. This gives your wolf high ground to hang out on, and water to play in.”
Ajax, too, walked to Kieran, and the two men embraced in a tight bear hug. Ajax told him, “I can’t thank you enough. It’s perfect.”
When there were no more presents under the tree, Kieran pointed the tv remote to the unit on the wall. “Abbott asked us to watch this once we’d opened all our gifts.”
Abbott appeared on the screen with Spence beside him, and the two looked, as always, perfect together.
“I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but this will have to do. With Kendra and Sophia both signing off on the four of you as good for everyone involved, the plan I put into motion last year has finally come full circle.”
He patted Spence’s arm and smiled at the camera.
“Kieran and Gwen, you were given a werewolf to try to help you find a way back to peace with each other. It was clear you still dearly loved each other, but I worried you’d had one argument too many, and things had been said you couldn’t get beyond.
Ajax was my gift to you, but it went both ways.
You were also my gift to Ajax. He needed a family.
He needed people to protect. To defend. To watch over.
At the same time, he needed you to need him.
Becoming your nourishment helped him feel a part of you.
“This was my plan. I hoped it would be enough, but I’ll admit, I had a few worries.
” He flashed a big smile. “And then Arabella came along, and it’s as if she was the glue that made everything work.
I gave you Ajax, but providence gave you your little swan.
All of you have been bestowed the most important gift of all.
Family. Belonging. Loved ones. As a group, you’re in possession of the power of three plus one.
I know each of you appreciates this, bathes in it when you’re blessed with the energy, and will never take it for granted.
You’ve been given the biggest gift of all.
“Each other.”
* * * *
Kieran
Abbott was right. Gwen and I had been on the road to dissolving our marriage. We’d had a long run, but we both felt we should let each other go before things turned sour. Or rather, more sour.
The plan was for us to make the decision when Gwen returned from France.
Ajax was gifted to us Christmas night, but he couldn’t move in until New Year’s Day, and she was gone by then.
The plan was for us to see how things were when Gwen returned from France, but we were both certain we’d need to figure out how to continue our business as partners, rather than as husband and wife.
But with Ajax in the house, everything worked again.
I looked around the room, dipped into everyone’s head, and considered the relationship we each had with the others.
Gwen and Arabella shopped together, played with each other’s hair, and watched stupid YouTube and TikTok videos about how to get just the right makeup effects.
I wasn’t sure when I’d started seeing our Arabella as a person and not a thing, but words can’t describe the joy she’s brought into my life.
Some of this is because she thinks of tiny details to make my life easier, but mostly, she brings me sunshine.
For a vampire who lives in darkness, she’s brought me energy and life force I never thought I’d have again.
I can’t really explain my relationship with Ajax.
He’s bodyguard, brother, son, lover, and a tiny bit slave.
He’s my best friend, despite our age difference.
We spar, we talk about cars, we go to car shows, and he takes hidden video of gun shows so I can see them when he arrives home.
He’s shown me some new guns I didn’t know existed.
And he taught me to enjoy video games.
Once, I’d have been jealous of the relationship between Gwen and Ajax, but I love them both and I’m happy they love each other.
Ajax tops her when she needs it, and bottoms to her when she needs to boss him around.
He takes care of her. When he drives her somewhere, I don’t worry about her safety.
I know he’d die before he’d let anything happen to her.
Part of me is jealous of the daytime relationship between Ajax and Arabella.
Or perhaps envious is a better word. I’m glad they have it.
I don’t want to take it from them. Not at all.
In some ways, we’re two couples — the nightwalkers and the daywalkers.
Mostly, though, we’re a family of four. I can’t explain why it works, but it does.
And on this Christmas Day, Abbot was right.
Family is everything.
* * * *
Ajax
I’d been a slave when Abbott had first set eyes on me. A bodyguard, sure, but still, a slave.
And I’d been terrified of the new Master. Everyone spoke of him with such terror, and now that I know him, I understand why. He kills evil. He doesn’t talk to it, doesn’t ask it why it’s chosen the dark side. He cauterizes it from the earth.
Gavin had swept through the Master’s home, killing evil without mercy, and he’d done it on Abbott’s orders.
He hadn’t killed me. I don’t have to ask how he’d known I wasn’t evil. He’d been able to see inside my head, of course. I’d been required to do some evil things by my former master, but I hadn’t been given a choice. Abbott saw that, and when he arrived, he made it clear I was forgiven, and why.
And now, I belong somewhere. I no longer felt like a guest in this home.
I’d bonded with Kieran right away, but it took longer with Gwen. When it finally happened, it’d been like a key clicking in a lock. I loved these three people more than I could ever explain. We all shared the same life force, but it was more than that. So much more.
Abbott hadn’t merely given me the gift of a family, he’d given me the gift of life. Of freedom. Of happiness.
No, that wasn’t quite right. I had to find my own happiness. Abbott couldn’t give that to me, but he put me in a position to find it. It felt a little like I’d been a seed when he found me, and he’d planted me in a garden where I could thrive, if I chose.
Arabella had somehow been planted in the same garden. The same house.
And we’d both chose to thrive.
We’d been given the best gift of all. The chance to decide what we want out of life, and the opportunity to go for it. Abbott put me here, and allowed Arabella to stay.
Kieran and Gwen had given us rules, boundaries, guidelines, and love.
Now, it was time for us to pop a little surprise on our vampires, though I was certain they’d already scented it.
“In case the two of you want a little snack before you retire, I loaded Arabella up with maple syrup on maple waffles last night, and I had a few pounds of bacon.”
The looks on their faces told me they knew, and that we were going to be well rewarded for spoiling them with their favorite meals.