Christmas Eve, or Julaften as she called it in her native Norwegian, belonged to Tora. She had everyone running around to get the dinner ready, even sending Hal off to set the table with the good dishes. Kyle was given the task of keeping an eye on a huge pot of rice porridge that would start off their dinner.
He was doing his best to keep out of the way of everyone else running around the kitchen, munching on a gingerbread cookie to keep his stomach distracted from the smell of the goose roasting on the spit in the fireplace. The letter from Alan had him thinking about England. This was the first Christmas spent away from his family’s estate, but he didn’t miss it at all. The Christmas celebrations his father hosted had always been extravagant affairs, but they had none of the warmth and love that was present in this house.
Tora came over to check the porridge. “That looks about right.” She scooped some out into a bowl and topped it with a fork-full of butter. “Anna,” she said, turning to her eldest daughter. “Why don’t you take Uncle Kyle to give this to the nisse?”
“Yes, Mum.” Anna took the bowl in one hand and Kyle’s hand in the other. She tugged him towards the door that led out to the yard.
“Where are we going?” Kyle asked as they went down the back steps.
“Out to the barn,” Anna said, skipping up the stone path that led to the small barn. “We have to leave porridge for the nisse on Julaften, or it might steal the cow.” She opened the lock on the barn door and went inside.
“What is a nisse?” Kyle asked, looking around warily and wondering if it was one of those giant snakes that Soranik had told him about, the kind that could eat a whole person. “It’s not a snake, is it?”
Anna giggled and started to climb up the ladder that led to the hayloft. “No. It’s a Norwegian ... gnome, I guess,” she said. “The nisse watches over your farm, but you have to keep it happy by giving him porridge on Julaften.”
Kyle nodded. So it was a mythical creatures, like the brownies that his mother had told him stories of as a child. “Why would a Norwegian gnome be living on Tortuga?”
Anna set the bowl in the straw and climbed back down. “That’s what Papa always says.” She giggled again. “Though, the porridge is always gone in the morning.”
Kyle looked around the barn. There were various holes around the base of the walls, and he thought he saw the glitter of beady eyes staring back at him from one of them. “It’s probably the rats that are eating the porridge.”
“We know,” Anna said. “But Papa said Mum still likes to do it. It reminds her of home. She misses Norway sometimes.”
“I can understand that,” Kyle said. There were some things he did miss about England: fresh food and drink, fireplaces, baths, a floor that didn’t move. But it wasn’t enough to make him want to leave the Emerald Dawn. Or Hal.
Back in the house, Tora was serving out the rest of the porridge into bowls and passing them around. “There’s an almond in the porridge,” Tora said as she handed Kyle his bowl. “If you get it, you win a prize.”
The porridge was good, nowhere near as watery as it was on the ship. Fresh butter and some cinnamon made it even better. But there was no almond in his bowl -- that honor went to Soranik, who was presented with a small marzipan monkey with a curly tail that Kat had made.
“I get to bite its little head off,” she said gleefully. “Revenge for all the times I’ve been bitten by a monkey!” Kyle and Kat both shot her a dirty look. Soranik just smiled and popped the sweet into her mouth.
Dinner itself once again reminded Kyle of what he had missed all his life. Unlike the prim and proper holiday dinners he’d had to endure as a child, the table here was boisterous and loud and nobody got yelled at for having elbows on the table or slouching in their chair.
When they were all full to bursting, they moved out to the parlor to open their gifts. The girls treated the crystal pendants as if they’d just been given the crown jewels, each one holding her small treasure up to the light before helping each other put them on. Then they sat in a circle and compared the small portraits Kyle had made for them. Little Johnny was enthralled with his book of animals -- his very own book! -- and excitedly pointed out the page that had a picture of a monkey like Mona.
Following tradition, Hal gave John, Guy, and Soranik money, a bonus the rest of the crew would receive once they returned to the ship. And then it was time for Kyle to open his gift from Hal, which turned out to be a big roll of canvas and a wooden box filled with new brushes and jars of paint. He was glad to get it, because he had used the last of his canvas on Hal’s gift.
Hal opened his gift from Kyle, a painting of the Emerald Dawn under full sail, and smiled broadly. “How did you paint it without me seeing it? ”
“I worked on it in the sick bay,” Kyle said, sharing a conspiratorial smile with Soranik. It had been an easy excuse, as Soranik was also teaching him about medicine and healing,so she would have more help if the need arose. He had kept it hidden under a sheet behind her chest of medicines, working on it whenever he got the chance.
“Why don’t you play us some music, Anna,” Tora said once the gifts were done.
“Yes, Mum.” She got up and went up the stairs.
“Are you sure about that?” Guy asked after his daughter was out of earshot.” Last time I heard her play it, it sounded like cats fighting.”
Tora smiled and shook her head. “That was months ago. You will be surprised.”
Anna came back and Kyle understood why Guy had been worried. The girl had a violin, beautifully decorated around the edges with a knotwork design and a dragon’s head carved just above the pegs. Anna lifted the instrument and Kyle automatically cringed, remembering what Jennie Scott had sounded like when she was learning to play, but rather than the expected squawks and screeches, Anna played a pretty melody that had a strange echo to it.
“That was beautiful, sweetheart,” Guy said when she finished the song, beaming proudly at his daughter.
“Thank you, Papa.” Anna blushed nearly red enough to match her hair, then started playing another song, this time a dance tune.
Kyle retrieved his sketchbook from the pocket of his jacket and leaned back against Hal to sketch the people who had become his new family. Anna with her violion. The other girls playing with the wooden toys their fathers had gotten for them in Havana. Johnny sitting on his father’s lap to read the book together. Soranik, Kat and Tora sharing a bottle of wine and giggling even more than their daughters. Guy rocking the baby to sleep, starting to doze off himself.
Hal wrapped his arms around Kyle and kissed his ear. “Come for a walk with me?”
They excused themselves and went outside. The moon was up and it was getting dark. Kyle started heading down the road that led to the wharf, but Hal caught his arm and pulled him the other way, around the house and out to the barn. “A little late to be milking the cows, isn’t it?” Kyle teased as they went inside.
“I suppose I’ll need to find some other way to keep my hands busy then,” Hal said. He pushed Kyle up against the wall and kissed him hard, fingers fumbling with the buttons on Kyle’s breeches. “I’ve been wanting you all day,” Hal growled. He dropped to his knees and took Kyle in his mouth.
Kyle groaned and slid his fingers into Hal’s hair while Hal sucked him. Hal put his hands on Kyle’s hips to pin him to the wall, preventing him from moving, which proved to be both frustrating and arousing. When he came, Kyle gritted his teeth to keep quiet, then leaned back against the rough wall of the barn while Hal buttoned him back up. “Need me to return the favor?” Kyle asked.
Hal smiled and got to his feet. “What do you think?” He leaned back against the wall and yanked his coat open, revealing the bulge in his breeches.
Kyle grinned and went down to his knees. He pulled open Hal’s breeches, releasing his cock. Kyle grasped it, squeezing a little before sliding back the foreskin and taking him in his mouth. Kyle flicked his tongue over the velvety skin. He knew exactly what spots to tease to make Hal moan and writhe with pleasure until he grunted and came in Kyle’s mouth.
Hal sighed and combed his fingers through Kyle’s hair. “You are incredibly good at that,” he panted.
Kyle chuckled and started buttoning up Hal’s breeches. “I’ve been getting a lot of practice.” He finished the last button and stood up, then wrapped his arms around Hal’s waist. “Happy Julaften,” he said, trying to imitate Tora’s pronunciation.
Hal took Kyle’s face in his hands and kissed him gently. “Happy Julaften.”