Boreas woke up early to the sound of his son sneaking back into his house, rather than out of the house. He went downstairs and caught his son Jack and Jack’s best friend Pandora in the kitchen, setting down a tray of cinnamon rolls.

“What the Hell are you crazy kids up to?” asked Boreas, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “You know there are no flying sleighs here, right?”

“Just wanted to give you your invite to my dad’s brunch in person,” said Pandora. “Also…I had something to give you.”

“You already gave me a gift yesterday,” said Boreas.

“No – that was a decoy,” said Pandora. “Krampus came by, told me to give that to you, that I’d understand why…and when I saw you were with Ginny, well, I understood. He didn’t want me to spoil the surprise.”

“What surprise?” asked Boreas.

“Every year, every bad boy gets what they want, what they need, or both – except for last year, but that was an exceptional year,” said Pandora. “This year…well, I think it’s time for a return to tradition.” Pandora clapped her hands, and a present appeared. It was small, a plain black box with the texture of sandpaper on the outside. She passed it to Boreas.

Boreas opened the box – as it was Christmas, after all – and inside that sandpaper box, there was another box, white as snow. He popped it open.

“Alright, alright,” said Boreas, trying to grumble but unable to contain his smile. “But…you know I’m a private man, so this might end up making me want to spend the day in, rather than go out.”

“That’s a really long, weird way of saying thanks,” said Jack.

Ginny woke up to the smell of cinnamon. At first, she thought it was her mother’s famous cinnamon rolls. Her mother would bake a batch for the family every Sunday morning

Then, she realized she wasn’t in Los Angeles.

She was a lot further north.

A lot.

She rubbed her eyes, and her lids fluttered open. She looked around the room. She was in Boreas’ place, in his bed. The room was sparse, but the bed was warm, with fluffy, white sheets that kept her warm, even though the goose down duvet looked just like a cold snow bank.

Ginny got up and went to the dresser. Avery had dropped off a set of clothing for her, and one of Boreas’ elementals had put it away for her while she was busy helping out at Santana’s Workshop. Luckily, Ginny and Avery were similar sizes. Ginny got into a pair of warm sweatpants and a big loose long-sleeve shirt with a Christmas tree design on the front.

Ginny brushed her hair in the mirror. That’s when she realized she was wearing the new pendant, and it held the pearl that Boreas had harvested just for her. It was on a white gold chain that flowed over Ginny’s skin like grains of sand, or perhaps, lines of ice water melting off of a glacier. She smiled. Boreas must’ve put the necklace on her when she was asleep. She was sure she’d never take it off because that necklace was one of many bookmarks in the romance novel that was their love story.

Ginny made her way downstairs. Boreas was downstairs, with two cups of tea, reading over a piece of paper.

“Darn,” said Ginny, sitting down across from Boreas.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” said Boreas.

“Merry Christmas,” said Ginny, getting up to give Boreas a kiss on the cheek before sitting back down. “I smelled cinnamon and thought you made cinnamon rolls.”

“Yeah, it’s too bad I didn’t,” said Boreas. “But, Pandora and Jack did.” Boreas pointed to the counter, where there was a tray of golden-brown cinnamon rolls. Their centers were filled with brown cinnamon sugar, their tops, glazed with frosting and topped with powdered sugar.

That was only a half-truth. Pandora had dropped off something else – what she called a ‘stocking stuffer’ for Boreas. Inside the stocking stuffer for Boreas was a stocking stuffer for Ginny.

Ginny had no clue about that. She was focused on the tasty treats which had an aroma that filled the entire kitchen. It reminded Ginny of one of the trips she’d taken with her family, to Death Valley in the winter. There’d been freak weather during their visit, and the dunes had become covered with snow. The golden dough was like the plain dunes, the cinnamon like the swirls of colorful sand swished around by the wind, and the icing and frosting like, well, the ice and frost.

“Those look heavenly,” said Ginny.

“Well, before you dig in, I suppose I should tell you…you’ve been invited to brunch at the Claus house,” said Boreas.

“I what now?” asked Ginny, who had already taken in a mouthful of cinnamon roll, her fingers holding the sticky cinnamon roll as it dropped icing on the kitchen floor.

“The Claus family has invited me to brunch, as they do every year — and this year, an invite has been extended to you, as you are my mate,” said Boreas.

“So it’s not because I frikkin’ saved Christmas?” asked Ginny, raising an eyebrow.

“You know, that might have something to do with it,” said Boreas.

“Well, do you want to go?” asked Ginny.

“Not particularly,” said Boreas. “I can hardly stand Santana.”

“Is the spread any good?” asked Ginny. “What’re we talking here? Dinky potluck? Big fancy shindig?”

“Couldn’t tell you,” said Boreas. “Never gone.”

“You’ve never gone to brunch at Santana’s?” asked Ginny. “Okay, we have to go!”

“I told you, I can barely stand the guy,” said Boreas.

“You’re going to have to learn to get along with him,” said Ginny, crossing her arms. “Befana and I are friends. Our boyfriends have to be friends. Plus, Pandora’s gonna be your daughter-in-law one day! And Jack’ll be Santana’s son-in-law. That means you’ll be seeing a ton of each other.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll go,” said Boreas. “But, I’m only going because you want to go.”

“What’s the dress code?” asked Ginny.

“You’re fine,” said Boreas.

“Really,” said Ginny, crossing her arms. “What should I wear?”

“You know how beat you feel right now? After a long night of working the night of The Ride?” asked Boreas. “Everyone else who is there is also going to feel that way. Tired. Groggy. Grumpy. Nobody will care what you wear.”

Boreas finished his tea. Ginny finished her cinnamon roll and washed up. She had managed not to get any icing on her clothing. They put on their shoes and headed into Boreas’ garage. They got into his SUV and started the drive toward Santana’s house.

Although Santana was the ‘head honcho’ of The North Pole, his house looked like the many other houses inhabited by the Christmas elves and other magical beings that called The North Pole their home. His house had brown walls, a brown roof, and stained-glass windows in jewel tones that looked good enough to eat, in cherry red, apple green, and berry blue. Icicle lights were hanging down from the roof, glowing cool white. The paving stones leading to the entrance were circular, with white and red circles.

“What a cute house!” said Ginny.

“You’re joking, right?” asked Boreas, raising an eyebrow. “Ginny…it’s a frikkin’ gingerbread house.”

“No it’s n — wait,” said Ginny, scrunching up her eyebrows and scrutinizing the house. “Well…when you’re right, you’re right.”

The brown walls and roof were the same color as gingerbread.

The stained-glass windows looked like melted hard candies.

The icicles hanging from the roof looked like icing.

The paving stones were the same shape and coloration as peppermints.

Ginny walked up to the front door with Boreas and rang the bell. Nobody came to the door at first. She reached up and chipped off a piece of the peppermint candy canes framing the door. Just as she put it in her mouth, Befana opened the door.

“Ginny!” said Befana. Before Befana pulled Ginny in for a hug, she realized what her friend was doing.

“Uh, Ginny?” asked Befana.

“Yes?” asked Ginny, licking the shard of candy cane.

“What the heck are you doing with my door frame?” asked Befana, a hand on her hip.

“Look, you can’t just have a door frame made of peppermint and sugar and not expect me to eat some,” said Ginny.

“That’s just decorative,” said Befana. “That’s ceramic or plastic or something. It’s not real candy. What, did you think the walls were really made of gingerbread too?” Befana knocked on the walls.

“Boreas!” hissed Ginny.

Befana plucked the piece of candy cane out of Ginny’s hand and tried to fit it back onto the candy cane. At first, it stuck on, glued to the door frame with Ginny’s saliva, but then, it fell down.

“I’ll just say Boreas did it,” said Befana cheerily. “Come on. Let’s get some brunch in you.”

Ginny noticed Befana was wearing very soft clothing too. She was wearing a pair of soft, loose pants, some loafer style slippers, and a tank top with a witch’s broom on it.

When Ginny saw the spread, she nearly believed that she was meant to have a ménage, rather than a one-on-one relationship.

After all, how else could she be in love with Boreas and the spectacular spread of Christmas food?

There was every Christmas food imaginable. There was eggnog French toast. There were gingerbread biscotti. There was a plum pudding and Christmas tea. There was a pile of Christmas themed candy near a pan of roasted chestnuts. There was even a roast goose, being carved up by none other than Santana Claus.

“Well, well, well,” said Santana. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

“I’m not a cat,” said Ginny, crossing her arms.

“Sorry — look what the bear dragged in,” said Santana. “Ginny, I’m so glad you two could come. You really helped save my ass — and save Christmas.”

“No sweat,” said Ginny.

“No sweat, but, yes goose?” joked Santana, holding up a plate of sliced up bird.

“Heck yes goose,” said Ginny, taking the plate.

Ginny loaded her plate up and mingled with everyone. Everyone important to Boreas — whether Boreas realized they were important or not — was there. Of course, Jack and Pandora were there, helping set out dishes.

Ginny left them to their own devices. It was funny to think that they both knew about each other’s powers…and yet, they hadn’t told each other how they felt about each other. Yet, Ginny and Boreas had the opposite problem. They’d confessed their feelings, but not the truth about their powers.

But, if Ginny had learned anything that Christmas season, it was that people needed time to say what they needed to say, and sometimes, they said it in ways the only ways they could, like helping each other set up a buffet table for brunch.

Krampus and Avery were in the kitchen, squabbling about when demoncraft was appropriate to use in the kitchen.

Avery turned to face Ginny.

“Hey…this is weird, but, I was wondering if…” started Avery. “You know what, never mind.”

“What?” asked Ginny.

“I don’t know if it’s rude to ask this, but, would you mind scorching the crème brûlées for everyone?” asked Avery. “Krampus burned the last batch.”

“No problem,” said Ginny.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” asked Krampus.

“Says the man who nearly blew up the house!” hissed Avery. “Besides, hon…the true meaning of Christmas is having fun, isn’t it?”

“Well, if my time at the resort taught me anything, it’s that you’re absolutely right,” agreed Ginny. “Christmas is about kicking back, letting loose, and just having fun.”

Ginny took the opportunity to not only scorch the puddings but to torch them in such a manner that the tops of the brûlées resembled portraits as if they had sepia photographs of the party guests overlaid on top of the desserts.

Everyone sat down at the table to eat, to talk, and to eat some more. As the brunch became a lunch which became afternoon snacks, and the conversation came to a lull, Boreas pulled out the items he’d brought from his house. There was a decanter and two crystal cups. He’d manage to sneak the ice wine into the fridge and took it out, pouring it into the decanter, and pouring a glass out for both himself and his fated mate, his Ginny.

Once the decanter was empty, Boreas stood up.

“Claus, I have to give it to you — there might just be something to this Christmas brunch thing,” said Boreas.

Everyone roared with laughter.. Santana slapped his knee.

“And Ginny…I have to give you this,” said Boreas.

Boreas pulled his chair out of the way and got on one knee. He pulled out the stocking stuffer – a ring box — right out of his jacket. The ring box was bright white, like freshly fallen snow. He popped open the ring.

Inside the box, there was a ring. It had a giant diamond, faceted into a classic solitaire cut. The band was made of white gold, dimpled and lightly textured to resemble powdery snow — or perhaps, white sand.

“Boreas…it’s beautiful,” said Ginny, wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s like a piece of ice…”

“…Filled with a fire’s flame,” said Boreas. “A bit of fire, in a bit of ice, bound together, for eternity. Just as those two elements are bound, will you bind your life with mine, and become my wife?”

“I don’t think that’s how elements work,” Krampus whispered to Avery, who promptly elbowed him.

“Boreas, I don’t know what to say,” said Ginny.

For a second, Boreas’ heart skipped a beat.

“Do I say yes? Or, do I say heck yes? Of course, yes? Yes, you big goof, you don’t even have to ask?” mused Ginny.

“How about all of the above?” asked Boreas.

“Yes. Heck yes. Of course, yes. Yes, you big goof,” said Ginny, as Boreas slipped the ring on her finger. “You didn’t even have to ask. I only have one question…is this what you were saving the ice wine for?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” said Boreas, lifting Ginny up into his arms and giving her a tender Christmas kiss…right beneath a ball of mistletoe that neither had noticed dangling above their seats.