Advent Calendar Day 14 (Fiction by Natasha Chesterbrook!)

 

OOH. Something delicious this morning. A coda from our good friend Natasha Chesterbrook featuring two of my favorite non-series characters! 

What a nice start (or finish) to your day, eh? 

Until We Meet Once More Coda 2022

Vic & Sean

 

The snow crunched beneath their boots echoing off the crystal-lined pine and aspen in the dense woods. Soft rays of early morning sun caressed the skeletal branches, trees clad in soft winter coats standing in silent regard.

“Can we talk about this?” Vic tried again although he was pretty sure Sean still wasn’t listening. Or maybe he was but held his tongue out of … spite? self-preservation? the cat really did get it?

A hawk flew above on crisp air currents reconnoitering their slow trek through the woods. Its cry broke the airy quiet like shattering glass, whether in outraged offense at the interlopers or in harsh disgust for their disruption of its morning hunt. Vic couldn’t say but he could sympathize.

Their footfalls broke through the outer layer of ice covering the frozen deadfall beneath, the sounds like suppressed gunfire. Vic watched Sean’s back rise and fall in graceful arcs as he navigated the tricky terrain. The light picked off amber highlights in the curls peeking out beneath his woolen cap. His stride was purposeful, his pace determined, only a hint of the limp Sean had worked hard to erase. And he sensed not just anger – that was definitely there – but moreover disappointment.

Vic knew better than to antagonize a man carrying an axe but since when did he ever played it safe with former Navy SEAL Sean Kennedy? Insurgent gunfire, RPGs, the Taliban had nothing on the assault to his heart this man had launched.

Sean scrambled up a large fallen tree trunk covered in snow, the athletic movement making for a graceful ascent. He stopped atop the natural rampart and turned to look down. Raising the axe he carried to one shoulder, his face was a mask of stoic calm that Vic knew well hid a whirlwind of emotions ready to burst forth like a Howitzer.

Into the eerie hush he spoke. “What more is there to say?”

Vic huffed. “I’m not saying never just not now.”

He recalled when this conversation had gone off the reservation. Yesterday, they’d been on-line looking at houses, considering neighborhoods, pricing mortgages, crafting a future. But when Sean zeroed in on a large, five-bedroom farmhouse sitting on several acres of land, Vic had thrown the brakes.

“It’s not like we’re gonna have a bunch of kids and a couple dogs,” he’d said. And it wasn’t meant to say never just not something he’d considered.

The look on Sean’s face had been too reminiscent of that day years ago the first time Vic had shot down his dreams of their future. Needless to say, last night had been a frosty one both outside and in. He’d hoped it would have blown over by this morning but apparently it was going to take more than logic to get Sean to see reason.

Now Sean let out a sound that could have been a laugh or a snort but sounded like sniper fire and felt like it too. Then he disappeared over the other side of the massive trunk. Vic heard boots moving off and scrambled to follow.

He caught up to Sean standing in a clearing breathing hard the axe braced in both hands. A patch of brilliant blue sky had opened overhead, and the conifers glistened with frozen dew. They were surrounded by an army in suspension waiting for Spring before bursting back to life.

A childhood memory flooded Vic of a similar time and place. An uncle and a couple of cousins had taken him out early one frigid morning in search of the perfect Christmas tree. That holiday had been spent embraced by warm family celebration, laughter and smiles. So very different from his own parent’s chilly traditions. He remembered realizing it was what he wanted all his future Christmases to be like.

“Well?” Sean turned toward the large, at least seven foot tall, beauty he stood beside.

“We can, I don’t know, make a plan. I’ve never thought about this before. I didn’t expect – “

“I’m talking about the tree, Stoney.”

Later, after they’d hauled all seven and a half feet of Douglas Fir back to the cabin they’d rented for two weeks, after they cut off about a foot of trunk just to get it through the door and stood up with only a few inches of headroom, after Vic built a roaring fire that raised the cabin’s temperature to sauna levels, after Sean strung hundreds of tiny lights through the branches risking a second cabin fire, did they finally relax on the worn but very comfortable couch.

Vic massaged Sean’s leg because he noticed his limp had worsened as the day wore on. It occurred to him that Sean’s next physical therapy session was probably long overdue, and he was about to mention it when Sean spoke first.

“You want to know what I saw looking at that house?”

“Tell me.”

“You, me and a whole lot of possibilities. Maybe it’s a bunch of kids or we find that one special one. Maybe we adopt a passel of dogs. Or llamas or… hell, I don’t know.”

Sean started laughing, and flames from the fireplace lit up his smile. Vic never wanted to give him another day of doubt, but he swore he’d always be honest.

“I don’t know what I want other than to be with you. I won’t make promises,” Vic breathed out, “but I can be open to possibilities.”

“And a big farmhouse?”

Vic chuckled because Sean was never one to back down. “Yeah, maybe so.”

Twinkling fairy lights reflected off the darkening windows. The room suddenly seemed so much brighter.

Sean sat up and leaned into Vic. “Imagine family dinners with your parents.”

Vic grunted. “Maybe we could invite that second cousin twice removed of yours? You know, the big shot in the FBI.”

Sean laughed, “No way. Someone would end up shot.”

Eventually Sean said, “I guess we’ll be moving next year.”

Then added, “But let’s not mention that to your mother until after the holidays.”

They clinked the glasses of whiskey they were drinking as quiet settled on the cozy cabin.

“Llamas?”

Sean laughed again, “You could take up knitting. I read they have great wool.”

“Don’t make me call your cousin.” And Vic kissed him.