Sleigh Duty Page 4

  “I’m going to go disappear now, so I don’t have to explain my sudden appearance. Are you going to be okay?”

  Sammy nodded. “Yes, and this time I won’t tell anyone about what happened Christmas Eve.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How do you know my brother?” Sammy asked before Dashiel reached the door.

  “We were supposed to go to dinner on Christmas Eve, but I had to cancel because I got called for sleigh duty.”

  “Then you weren’t out at a party?”

  “No. I’m not a big fan of them.”

  “Will we see you again?”

  Dashiel shrugged. “I guess it depends how much of your brother’s memory has gone. If he remembers me calling to cancel our date, he might not want to see me.”

  “I bet he would.”

  “We’ll see, now I really have to go. You take care.”

  * * * *

  Stuart frowned as he tried to remember what he had been saying, or who he had been saying it too, or why he was standing facing the door.

  “Sammy, I thought you were in your room?” he finally managed to say.

  “I was. I came downstairs for something from my selection box, remember?”

  Stuart shook his head. “I guess my memory must be going.”

  “Mine too,” Grandpa said. “I don’t even remember driving over here.”

  “Me neither,” Grandma replied. “Maybe we’re all coming down with something.”

  “I’m okay,” Sammy announced. “So, can I have a chocolate?”

  “Sure.” Stuart picked up the box and held it out to him. “Just one, or you won’t have room for dinner.”

  “We already ate dinner,” Sammy replied. “Don’t you remember?”

  Stuart glanced at their grandparents. “I honestly can’t remember eating. Do you?”

  “No, I don’t,” his grandpa said. “Everything for the last few days is really fuzzy. I know what we must have done, because we’d planned it all out, but I don’t remember doing any of it.”

  “I remember,” Sammy said brightly as he picked up a bar of chocolate and opened it. He took a big bite and went back upstairs to his room.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” his grandmother asked.

  “I remember my date cancelling on me, but everything after that is a blank.” He sat in his chair and tried his best to recall anything about the last two days, but nothing was coming to mind. Obviously, the presents had been opened, they’d eaten Christmas dinner, and Sammy appeared to be enjoying the holiday. He just wished he could remember anything about it.

  * * * *

  Dashiel waited another day before attempting to contact Stuart again. With the recollection of his phone call on Boxing Day fresh in his mind, he decided a text message might be the better option this time.

  He sent a quick message asking if he was okay to talk and waited.

  Stuart phoned him around twenty minutes later. “Hi Dashiel. I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”

  “I suppose not,” Dashiel replied. At least it answered his question about whether Stuart remembered him breaking off their date. “I was hoping for a second chance.”

  “Why?”

  Dashiel sighed and leaned back on the sofa. “Because I like you and I want to get to know you better. I know I screwed up by cancelling our date, but I swear I didn’t sleep with that guy you heard.”

  “Really? I thought he wanted you to get naked.”

  Dashiel crossed his fingers and prepared to spin Stuart the fictional yarn he had come up with over the last twenty-four hours. “He’s an ex. He showed up out of the blue wanting to talk. He was in a bad way and I agreed to let him stay. He took it the wrong way and that’s what you heard. I promise you that nothing happened.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a crap liar?” Stuart asked.

  “Yeah, pretty much anyone I’ve ever tried to lie to. Which is why you should know I’m telling you the truth, when I admit I’ve not had sex with anyone in over six months.”

  “Six months?”

  “Yeah, because that was when this guy started working at my company and I realised I liked him and wanted to get to know him better. So, how about it?”

  Stuart chuckled. “Okay, you got your second chance, but if you cancel on me again, remember that I don’t believe in third chances.”

  Dashiel fist-pumped the air. “Tonight?”

  “Better make it tomorrow. I need to check with my grandparents that they can come and sit with Sammy. They live out of town.”

  “Tomorrow it is.”

  Dashiel had his second chance and he didn’t intend to waste it.

  One Year Later

  Dashiel stepped into Stuart’s arms and sighed with contentment. “Now, what were you saying about my present?”

  “I wasn’t,” Stuart replied. “I swear you’re worse than Sammy about wanting to know what you’re getting for Christmas.”

  Dashiel chuckled and twisted round in Stuart’s embrace. “Maybe we should gang up on you until you tell us?”

  “I could always change my mind about you moving in here.”

  Dashiel grinned. “Okay, I’ll stop whining.”

  “Good, now what did you want to talk to me about?”

  Dashiel shook his head. “It’s just something you should probably know about me, but it can wait until after the holidays.”

  Stuart gave him a dubious look. “Is this something that most people would think I should know before they move in?”

  “Probably, but I’ve been putting it off.”

  “Is it something that I’m going to be mad about? Did you peek into the presents?”

  “No, I didn’t peek, and I hope you won’t be mad. Shocked maybe, but I’m hoping you won’t faint on me.”

  “Have you ever known me to be prone to swooning?”

  “No, but there’s a first time for everything.”

  Sammy ran into the room with a wide grin on his face. “Dashiel, this just came for you.” He waved the green, red and gold envelope at him.

  “Oh no,” Dashiel muttered. “Are you kidding me? Two years in a row! How is this possibly fair?”

  Stuart stared at him in confusion and Sammy’s face fell.

  “I thought it might be from Santa,” Sammy said.

  Stuart rolled his eyes at Dashiel before turning to his brother. “Sammy, Santa doesn’t write to people, he only gets letters.”

  “But it appeared out of nowhere,” Sammy replied. “One minute it wasn’t there, and then it was. It’s a magic letter from Santa. It even says North Pole on the back.”

  “I’m sure it’s just someone playing a prank,” Stuart insisted.

  Dashiel held out his hand and took the envelope. Sure enough, the jingling of bells sounded the moment he opened it. Stuart frowned at the noise, but there were lots of bells around the house that Dashiel knew could account for the ringing if Stuart was searching for an explanation.

  “Sleigh bells,” Sammy crowed. “I knew it.”

  Stuart shook his head fondly at Sammy. Dashiel had already had the lecture from Stuart about not crushing Sammy’s dreams about Santa. At ten years old, he was probably the last kid in his class who still believed Santa was real. Of course, Dashiel was well aware that Sammy knew the truth. Stuart, however, was living in ignorance, and he was about to have his reality turned upside down.

  Dashiel had been working up to telling Stuart he was a reindeer shifter, but he hadn’t planned on bringing up the whole Santa aspect. It was a huge secret and only those who had to know were told. With the arrival of his second summons, Dashiel knew that Stuart had just fallen into that category. “Here, you should probably read this too,” he said.

  Stuart read the letter, which was identical to last year’s, over Dashiel’s shoulder. He chuckled twice. “Did you two set this up to prank me?”

  Dashiel shook his head and pressed the letter into Stuart’s hand. “Here, you have to see this for yourse
lf or you’ll never believe it. This is what I was going to tell you after the holidays, but I can’t ditch you on Christmas Eve for two years running without an explanation. I couldn’t tell you last year, but now it’s different. It’s not just breaking a date.”

  “Dashiel, what are you rambling on about? And why are you undoing your shirt?”

  “I’m taking off my clothes. Sammy turn round.”

  “Why do I have to turn round and not Stuart?”

  Dashiel gestured for him face the door. “Because your brother has already seen me naked. Now don’t turn around until you hear Stuart squeal.”

  “Why would I squeal?” Stuart asked. “Seriously, Dashiel, just put your clothes back on.”

  Dashiel kicked off the last of his clothes and shifted. Stuart’s reaction was fairly predictable, though he didn’t faint.

  “That was definitely a squeal,” Sammy said. He grinned at his brother. “Isn’t this cool?”

  “Cool?” Stuart croaked out the word and waved helplessly at Dashiel.

  “Your boyfriend is one of Santa’s reindeer,” Sammy said. “You should see the sleigh and the workshop. It’s just like in the pictures.”

  Dashiel could tell things were about to get complicated. He shifted back and grabbed his shirt to cover himself. “Stuart, are you okay?”

  Stuart staggered to a chair and dropped onto it. “I’m not sure. My boyfriend’s a reindeer and apparently my brother already knew. So, which one of you would like to go first with explaining all this?”

  Dashiel reached out to take Stuart’s hand, but his fingers didn’t make contact. “Oh fu-fudge. Sorry, guys, I’m afraid once the summons is opened I don’t have long before I’m called away. I’ll see you sometime Christmas Day.”

  “And now my boyfriend has vanished into thin air, while naked,” Stuart said. “I’m losing my mind.”

  Sammy patted him on the shoulder. “I saw him too.”

  “You already knew,” Stuart repeated. “Care you explain how?”

  “Promise you won’t be mad or call the police or anything?”

  “Why would I call the police? What would I tell them?”

  Sammy chewed on his lip and Stuart recognised the habit as one of his own. “You remember last Christmas?”

  “The only thing I remember about last Christmas is that I don’t remember anything about it. Now, how about you start talking and fill in some of those blanks for me?”

  Sammy sat on the bed. “I’m not sure how to tell you this, but Santa is real.”

  Stuart looked at the letter, still in his hand. “After what I’ve just seen, I’m open to the possibility. And how would you know this?”

  “I might have tried to run away last Christmas Eve, but I met Dashiel and Santa and rode in his sleigh and saw his workshop. I was supposed to keep it a secret from you, but I didn’t and you were going to call the police, so Santa gave Dashiel some magic dust to make you and Granny and Grandpa forget.”

  Stuart shook his head, not sure what to make of his brother’s explanation. He had seen Dashiel change into a reindeer with his own eyes, right there in front of him. It wasn’t some magic trick, easily performed on the stage. He hadn’t hidden behind a curtain or in a box. One minute he was human, the next he wasn’t, then he was human again, and then he’d vanished.

  Sammy appeared calm, but it seemed he’d had a year to get used to all this.

  “You really rode in Santa’s sleigh?”

  “Yeah, it was so cool. Mrs Claus made me porridge too.”

  “And Dashiel is one of Santa’s reindeer.”

  “Yes,” Sammy replied, even though that wasn’t a question.

  “Why didn’t he tell me before this letter arrived?”

  “He was going to tell you, but I don’t think he was expecting the letter. He told me that there are a lot of reindeer like him, and different ones are called each year. I guess since he was called last year, he didn’t think he’d be doing it this year too.”

  “He was going to tell me in the new year,” Stuart said.

  “About being a reindeer shifter,” Sammy clarified. “I don’t think he was going to mention all the Santa stuff because most grownups won’t believe it.”

  “Well, he’s certainly right about that.”

  “But you believe us, right?”

  Stuart smiled. “Yeah, I believe you. So, we can expect him back on Christmas Day?”

  “Yes, but he’ll be really tired. He told me last year that he slept right through to Boxing Day afternoon.”

  “He did?”

  “Yeah. Maybe we could have our Christmas when he’s back?”

  “That’s really thoughtful of you.”

  “I know Dashiel was looking forward to our first Christmas as a family.”

  “Yes, I know.” Stuart gave Sammy a firm nod. “You’re right. We’ll save the presents and Christmas dinner and everything until Dashiel gets back.”

  “All the presents?” Sammy asked. “Even the big one?”

  Stuart laughed. “Yes, even the big one. I know Dashiel is as eager as I am to see your face when you open it.”

  Sammy stuck out his lower lip but didn’t put up an argument.

  Christmas was being postponed until Dashiel could join them.

  * * * *

  Dashiel wasn’t sure what his reception would be when he arrived back home, or if it was still his home. Stuart could have packed his bags for him, ready to send him on his way.

  He yawned as he let himself in the back door with the spare key from under the plant pot.

  “Merry Christmas,” Stuart said as he wrapped his arms around him, taking him by surprise the moment he walked in.

  Dashiel could only yawn again.

  “You really are exhausted, aren’t you? Come on, let’s get you into bed.” Dashiel let Stuart help him up the stairs and into their bed.

  “Go to sleep, babe. Christmas will wait for you to wake up.”

  “You should get some sleep too,” Sammy said from the doorway. “You were up all night worrying about him.”

  “So were you,” Stuart said. “Why don’t we all go back to bed?”

  Sammy yawned and nodded. “Sleep well, Dashiel,” he called as he went to his room.

  “Sweet dreams, Sammy,” Dashiel mumbled. Already half-asleep, he snuggled into Stuart’s arms as he climbed into bed with him. “Stuart, how mad are you?”

  “More pissed about the erasing my memory than the fact that you’re one of Santa’s reindeer.”

  “I’m sorry, but you’d jumped to all the wrong conclusions and things were getting out of hand.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

  “You’d never have believed it, and you know it. I promise that Sammy was totally safe last Christmas Eve. I’d never let anyone hurt him.”

  “I know. Just promise me that you won’t wipe my memory this year.”

  “I promise.”

  “And no more secrets.”

  “No more secrets.” Dashiel yawned again. “Merry Christmas, Stuart.”

  “Merry Christmas, Dashiel.”

  * * * *

  Dashiel woke up feeling refreshed and energised. A glance at the clock told him that he had slept through Christmas Day for the second year running.

  The moment he stepped outside the bedroom he caught the delicious aroma of Christmas dinner coming from downstairs. Such a difference to last year’s holidays.

  His recollection of arriving home was a little sketchy. He remembered expecting to have to deal with the fallout of his revelation to Stuart, but instead being taken care of, tucked into bed like a child, and then held as he’d drifted off to sleep.

  He showered and dressed before heading downstairs to face the music.

  “Merry Christmas!” Sammy jumped up from the sofa and ran over to hug him. “I thought you’d never get up.”

  Dashiel hugged him back and looked around for Stuart. “Merry Christmas to you too, though I seem to have missed the big
day again.”

  “No you haven’t,” Stuart said as he appeared from the kitchen.

  “Huh?”

  “We decided to have Christmas today, so you can enjoy it with us. It was Sammy’s idea.”

  Dashiel’s eyes watered. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  Stuart kissed him briefly on the lips. “If anyone deserves to enjoy Christmas, you do. After all, you’ve been busy making sure Christmas presents are delivered all over the world, right?”

  Dashiel nodded. “How mad are you about my not telling you?”

  Stuart frowned. “I thought we went through this when you got back.”

  “I can’t remember much about that. I was pretty tired.”

  Stuart chuckled. “Dead on your feet would be an accurate description. I’m not mad that you didn’t tell me. I understand why.”

  “Are you freaked out?”

  “Maybe a little, but I’m sure I’ll get used to the idea of my boyfriend being some kind of supernatural creature. Sammy seems to cope with the idea pretty well.”

  “Then you aren’t going to break up with me?”

  Stuart pulled him into his arms. “Never.”

  “And you’re really not angry with me?”

  “Just promise no more secrets and definitely no more memory wipes.”

  “I promise.”

  “And now, how about we open some presents, otherwise Sammy might burst with excitement.”

  Sammy was bouncing up and down on his toes. “Finally!”

  “You didn’t have to wait for me to open the presents,” Dashiel told him. “But it was a very kind thing to do.”

  Sammy blushed and sat on the floor. He pulled the first present from under the tree. “This one is from Grandma for you, Stuart.”

  Stuart took the present and bent it easily. “I wonder what this could be.”

  Sammy laughed. “A scarf and hat.”

  “I guess a jumper,” Dashiel suggested.

  They had already figured out that it was clothes during their earlier shaking, prodding and guessing of the various parcels.

  Stuart opened it and found they were both wrong. “New bedding. She did make some comment about how many times she comes round to find we’ve been washing the sheets these days.”