Chapter 31
Aileana
Time had flown by since the night Kendrick shared his information with her about the extended lifespan of Selkies and their life mates. She guessed nature had to devise a way for a non-Selkie life mate to share the extra time their Selkie mate had on this planet. Her seanmhair knew all too well, there were no guarantees in the world of Selkies or humans. You needed to enjoy each day you’re given and try to bring happiness to others.
She and Skye decorated a Christmas tree for their home. The tree gleamed with all seanmhair’s beautiful ornaments she’d made or collected over the years. They’d put the tree up a week ago. They enjoyed a fine bottle of wine with crackers and cheese as they decorated the pine tree.
Skye gave Aileana some history on each of the ornaments. The oldest ornament on the tree was one Skye made of clay while in grade school. She told Aileana the whole class in primary school made an ornament they cut from rolled-out clay. Hers was in the shape of her pet duck. There was a small hole at the top of duck ornament with a ribbon attached to hang it on the tree. The duck ornament was at least sixty-five years old.
She also showed Aileana one which Iain her father made when he was in primary school. The teachers must have carried over the same tradition for the little ones from one year to the next. Her father’s clay ornament was a seal he painted dark gray. The small seal ornament made perfect sense for the son of a Selkie.
Aileana enjoyed hearing the stories behind the ornaments, passing along stories and enjoying the time spent with family; it was part of what made the holidays so special. She had given a lot of thought into what she purchased for her family and Kendrick. She hoped they’d be pleased with her choices.
She sent her parents tickets for an Alaska cruise. They always talked about how much they wanted to make the trip but had never booked it. Now they would go at the end of the summer after their annual trip to Scotland.
For her sister, Aileana sent a beautiful dress for her to wear on New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. Adaira planned to go with her girlfriends to all the hottest nightclubs in town which they all enjoyed. It still amazed her that Adaira got her degree with excellent grades with all the clubbing she did.
For her seanmhair, she purchased a beautiful shawl of Sutherland plaid and a new pair of wellies for her to wear while she worked in the garden.
Aileana thought long and hard for the right gift for Kendrick. She’d placed an order a month back and just received the shipment a day ago. She purchased a surfboard so they’d be able to enjoy the waves together in human form. That didn’t mean she wanted to give up her Selkie rides—that wasn’t going to happen now. It was just too much fun to pass up now that she knew she could swim with the seals. But she wanted him to be able to enjoy surfing as much as she did.
The final gift to Kendrick was wrapped and under the tree at her seanmhair’s cottage, waiting for him to open it after they ate their Christmas dinner. She looked forward to him joining her grandmother and her for the holiday dinner. This was her first Christmas in Scotland, and she enjoyed the festivities around town. Her only regret was not having her parents and sister here to celebrate the holidays with her in the highlands.
At least she would see her sister after the New Year. Aileana hoped whatever job Adaira interviewed for, it would work out for her. She liked the idea of having her in the same country as herself.
Christmas morning held the promise of turning into a beautiful day. She gave the roast Christmas goose it's final basting. The cut up apples and oranges that filled the bird’s cavity gave the house a wonderful scent. She had just placed the goose back in the oven to continue roasting when she heard a knock at the front door.
“Aileana, I’ll get the door,” Seanmhair called from the living room.
“It’s Kendrick, I’m sure,” she replied.
Aileana overheard the greetings from the living room, Seanmhair wishing Kendrick a Merry Christmas. She couldn’t catch much of their conversation. But she could hear her grandmother teasing Kendrick, and she could hear their laughter.
Kendrick stood in the kitchen doorway with two bottles of wine, one in each hand. He walked right up and wrapped his arms around Aileana. He pulled her in close to his chilled body for a wonderful, passionate kiss, still holding the bottles.
“That is the best way to warm a body up after the cold brisk walk here.” He smiled at her with that wicked grin of his.
“I’m glad I am able to be so helpful!” She laughed.
“Merry Yule, mo luaioh,” he said.
“Merry Christmas, Kendrick.”
“Let’s open a bottle of wine and have several of those tasty appetizers yer grandmother offered me as I walked in.”
Aileana grabbed three wine glasses, along with a corkscrew, and followed Kendrick into the living room. He and her grandmother sat on the sofa facing the fireplace, which had a warm fire burning to keeping the cottage cozy. On one side of the fireplace was the Christmas tree with its colored lights glowing and the ornaments that brought thoughts of happy memories.
Kendrick poured their glasses full of the fragrant, full-bodied, old Bordeaux; a delightful red wine which paired well with the roasted Christmas goose. They sipped the wine as they sampled the smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers on toast points. Aileana put together a Holiday Brie en Croute loaded with dried cranberries and tasty apricot preserves. The pairings went well together; every sip and bite was tastier than the last. Her grandmother enjoyed the light hearted teasing Kendrick was giving her. Skye had met her match in the teasing department and there she’d thought she was the master. Aileana thought those years in Kendrick’s long life must have made him the master of the fine art of lighthearted wit.
They cleared the dinner table and put away the leftovers. Afterward, they sat around the tree and opened packages. Skye opened her package from Aileana, carefully removing the silver ribbon that was wrapped around the flat box covered with red flocked paper.
“Aileana, the shawl is lovely, and the cashmere is velvety soft. I love that ye found our plaid. I will truly enjoy wearing the shawl,” her grandmother said.
“Seanmhair, there’s one more under the tree for you, from me.”
“Which one is it, mo brèagha?” she asked.
“The large white wrapped package with the printed red bells on the paper,” Aileana said.
“Aileana, ye shouldn’t have bought so much! The shawl was more than plenty.”
“Seanmhair, don’t worry. This is our first Christmas together, and besides, I had fun shopping!”
“Och! Wellies! I needed new ones and these are so lovely and practical. I love the navy color with the flower print. They are perfect fur working in the garden. Yer such a sweet ban-ogha.”
Seanmhair reached below the branches of the tree and pulled out a small package. The gift was wrapped in red paper with Santa Claus pictures embossed in white on the paper. She carefully placed the gift in Aileana’s hand. She removed the ribbon and paper from the package. The gift was an old, worn, leather-bound book of Selkie tales. Seanmhair had subsequently told the story of the old book of Selkie legends. She had first received the book from her new husband, Mackenzie, on their wedding night. Her Mackenzie used the book to help her understand the story of his Selkie clan. He thought the book would be a way to help her with the knowledge he planned on sharing with his new bride.
Aileana had tears in her eyes that threatened to leak out at hearing such a beautiful story of her grandfather’s love. Her seanmhair stated she wanted to pass the book down to her, now that she had her own Selkie love.
“I brought a gift fur ye, Skye,” Kendrick said.
“Och! Ye shouldn’t have, balach,” Skye said.
He handed Skye a small wrapped package. She removed the ribbon and wrapping paper with care and beheld at a gorgeous book of Scottish folktales. She beamed at him and said she truly loved it. She told Kendrick the book happened to be one she didn’t own and would make a wonderful addition to her collection.
Aileana told Kendrick to close his eyes and keep them closed until she told him to open them. He laughed and asked if his gift was too big to be under the tree. She told him to just keep his eyes closed and let her go get what Santa dropped off at their house for him. She went to her room and carried his gift with the big red bow on it back to the living room.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
“A surfboard fur me? Now I will be able to enjoy the waves more than one way,” he said.
“We can go out together and surf. The surfboard will be for the times I don’t take Selkie rides.” She laughed.
“Aileana, as ye would say, I’m stoked, that stick is totally sick.” He gave her his wicked grin.
“We’ll have lots of fun together playing in the waves, Mr. Selkie,” she said. “I have one more gift for you under the tree. It’s that small box, the one with the green foil paper and the silver ribbon.” She pointed to the one close to where he sat.
“Weel, that doesn’t look like a wetsuit.” He smiled.
“Silly man, Selkies don’t need wetsuits.”
He picked up the box and gave it a slight shake. It made a slight rattling noise as he shook it one way and then the other. He made silly guesses of what might be in the box. None of his the guesses were correct.
“You will just have to open it and see,” she told him.
He tore the paper off in a flash and opened the black velvet box, only to stare at the pendant necklace she designed and had made up at a goldsmith’s shop.