A Christmas Story Continued

So with the holidays approaching and so much to be thankful for over this past year, I thought it was about time I shared a little bit with all the readers and friends who have supported me in all I’ve accomplished. I havewn’t done it alone. No matter what people say about writing being a solitary occupation, (and yes, the actual act is. No one can write my stories but me), the fact remains, I cannot keep this up without all the help and encouragement of the friends I’ve made and the readers who keep buying my stories, so thank you all 🙂

With that in mind, I thought a continuation of an old Christmas story might be a nice way to share and celebrate.

A few weeks ago, I revamped and posted a little story called Sanata’s New Line. You can read it  here: http://dontkickmycane.livejournal.com/146309.html

 What follows is what happens when Cody gets his new gift home. I have a thought that I might continue this little tale as Christmas gets closer and make it a real happy ending for this pair. Hopefully 😉

 Not Your Everyday Christmas Elf: Part One

 What had felt like a perfect ending standing there in the street, lips and arms locked on this new miracle seemed just slightly mad as Cody unlocked his front door. He paused, forehead pressed to the cold wood, back to his guest. How foolish was this? He was letting a perfect stranger, an impossibility, into his home.

 “Second thoughts?” Kriss asked, his voice low, comforting.

 “Uh…I just…”

 “Don’t know me.” Kriss’s hand settled on his back. “I understand. I’ll go–”

 “No!” Cody whirled, grabbed at the hand that had just rested on his back and was falling back to Kriss’s side. “No. It’s cold out. Where would you go?”

 “I’ve been wandering a long time. I’m good.”

 “No.” Cody found a smile and managed to share it. He stepped aside, and held the door open for his guest. Kriss smiled as he stepped forward, those warm eyes glowing, and all Cody’s doubts dissolved in the warmth.

“Um.” Kriss had stopped on the threshold, his toes just nicking the lintel.

“Um?”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

“Go inside.” Kriss gestured toward the warmth of the house. “You have to invite me.”

“What?” It took Cody a moment to process that. “I thought that was vampires.”

Kriss frowned slightly. “Vampires don’t really exist.”

“Yeah. Neither do Christmas elves.”

 “I am not a Christmas elf!”

 Kriss’s vehemence took Cody by surprise and he stepped back a step. “Oaky. Well. I don’t really know what you are, do I?”

“No,” Kriss conceded quietly, taking a step back and shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. “No, I guess not. I’ll go.” This time, he turned and started walking away.

“Please!” Cody hurried after him, shot out a hand to keep him from stepping outside the square of light shed from the open doorway. “Please come inside. I don’t know how you got a note I wrote fifteen years ago and stuffed in a cardboard box in the mall. I don’t know how you knew where to find me after all this time and the distance I am from that mall now.” He took a step back toward the open door. “But I can’t leave you out here. It’s cold. It’ll snow tonight.” He glanced at the sky. “Please come inside, Kriss?”

For a long minute, Kriss held his gaze. “I don’t know what I am, either, Cody. I’ve been like this,” he waved his hands up and down his body, “for fifteen years looking for you. I haven’t aged. I don’t get sick. I was never a kid like you, growing up lonely, I–”

“Kriss!” Cody smiled and took a firmer grip of his hand. “Come inside. Whatever you…are,” his felt his smile slip and firmed that up, too, “we’ll figure out together, okay?” 

Kriss nodded. “Okay.” He nodded again and his fingers, slightly chilled, curled around Cody’s. “Yeah. Okay.”

 Together, they stepped over the threshold. Cody held on tighter when Kriss gave a little shudder as he passed through the door. “You okay?”

Kriss nodded. “It happens every time, but…” he met Cody’s eye. “I don’t feel so good.”

Cody barely had time to step up and catch him. Kriss toppled, face pale, a dead weight Cody could only lower gently to his welcome mat. He sat, Kriss’s head cradled in his lap. “Well.” he tilted his head, watching colour slowly seep back into Kriss’s face, though the man’s eyes remained closed. Cody raised a hand, let it hover, then lowered it to stroke fingers through the blond, silky hair.

Kriss sighed, a soft sound that prompted Cody to lean down and plant a kiss on Kriss’s forehead. “This is different.”