It was still autumn according to the calendar, but nothing said could have convinced her it wasn't winter. Snowfall was periodic, but the stinging chill of the wind against her skin was constant. With every passing December day, her sleeves grew longer, and her petticoats multiplied; her bed, covered in a mountain of blankets and quilt, could attest to her dislike of the cold, but less so than the permanent tight-lipped frown she wore.

Staying at Jamie's was not even an option some nights; with a masculine pride like his, it was not uncommon for him to be wandering around with a weightless shirt on in his igloo of a house. Getting him to admit he was cold was even more difficult, though she'd seen him with goosebumps—(even his body was crying out for warmth!)—during meals.

He'd not spoken once of Christmas since December began, leaving Bella in a precarious situation. She could assume it was on his mind, or she could assume it wasn't. Bella decided she'd be spending Christmas Day with him either way; they'd either be at the MacFusty mansion with the others, or she'd be nagging him here about blowing off yet another family gathering.

"I heard Immie's getting her children a pig for Christmas," she offered, a gateway into the subject. Straightforward may have been Jamie's way, but Bella preferred to skirt around issues until someone called her bluff. "I told her I never might be able to read Izzy the story of the Three Little Pigs in the same way, not with us having wolf pups here." The two pups, who spent most chilly afternoons seeking the warmest spot in the house, were now under her feet—and much larger than they'd been when she and Jamie had first picked them up.

---

Jamie had never been a type that enjoyed holidays overly much. He wasn't a complete Scrooge but he still could never quite understand what all the excitement was about. But, despite his thoughts on the holidays, he never missed Christmas at the MacFusty Mansion. He'd never hear the end of it if he did and he really preferred not to have his mother hammering down his front door.

He gave a non-commital sort of grunt as Bella mentioned Mac's kids possibly getting a pig for Christmas. Then a slight chuckle as she mentioned not being able to tell the story to the kids the same way anymore. "They'll not have to worry about these two," he finally ended up answering her.

---

Nose scrunching in amusement, Bella glanced down at the two pups piled together on the floor. They were built to survive the winters, but it didn't stop them from seeking warmth. "No, I suppose you're right," she said. Frideswide was blind and Arawn had never shown any sign of aggression despite his species; while not domesticated, it was highly unlikely they'd ever survive in the wild. "But I'm still curious as to what would prompt Immie to consider a pig as a present. A pig!"

Pigs were farm animals, meant to be baked and eaten, not to be kept as pets! And poor Izzy—she'd never be able to eat bacon again after realizing what it was made of! "Surely there's something else the children would want. Toys? Books? A trip to Podmore's Zoo?" If she, a twenty-year-old woman, could not see the allure of a pig, surely a seven-year-old girl wouldn't!

"Speaking of Christmas..." she began, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she glanced towards him. "... do you have any plans?" She would have asked him about presents, but he'd surely say he wanted nothing. (Except for sex and food, but that wasn't a real present!)

WC: 198; 11 x 18

---

Bella was greeted with another shrug and non committal sort of front again. Who really knew why Imogen had decided on such a present. Jamie had learned long ago not to ask why women did the things they did, it wasn't likely he'd ever understand anyways. And, when it came to any of his brothers' wives, he really knew not to question. It took a special sort to want to be married to a MacFusty man after all. Not only were they all large and loud but the majority of them were dragonkeepers. It wasn't exactly the safest profession for ones husband to have.

"Just the usual," he started to say in response to her question of his plans though realized she likely wouldn't know the usual, "Spend the night at the house with everyone Christmas Eve for games and whatnot. Then all the Christmas festivities through the next day. Depends how much I've had to drink whether I stay that night again or head back here." Suffice to say, he typically spent two nights with the family at the house.

---

The usual. So far she'd deduced that, even if Jamie was a career isolationist who avoided his family's home whenever possible, he didn't believe Christmas was a skippable occasion. Still, he mentioned being drunk, which was a mildly amusing yet sadly believable idea.

"What does your family do? I know there's so many of you." He had nearly a dozen siblings, and some of those siblings had wives and children of their own. There was still a question of whether they all gathered under the same roof or stayed somewhat divided; the former was a daunting idea to Bella, who still didn't know every single MacFusty family member.

"My family decorated the home and had gift unboxing and a dinner on Christmas night. We didn't do much else though." None of that "games and whatnot", surely. "Does everyone stay the night, or is it just you?"

---

Jamie chuckled at her remark of there being so many of them. There were indeed a lot of MacFustys. There were even more than his immediate family, too. The dragons at the Hebrides were very much a family business. One they were born or married into. It had always been that way as far as Jamie knew and he didn't really think that would ever change.

"Christmas Eve is typically spent playing games and having a meal altogether. If there's decorations still needing put up, we all join in on that as well," he explained, a slight smile to his features as he clearly reminisced in his mind some about past holidays, "And most everyone stays at the house for that night. That way we can all witness the youngins' excitement over their St. Nic surprises." There were plenty of young children coming into the family now and it was always fun to watch such things.

"Then we have quite the breakfast altogether. There's usually some napping that happens after that," he continued, shrugging slightly, "The rest of the day is a bit of a free for all and depends how everyone is feeling." Sometimes that would be it. Sometimes they'd fall into the same routine as the previous evening and sometimes everyone simply went home. There was no really predicting the outcome anymore.

---

Jamie's description of the MacFusty family Christmas celebrations felt far more traditional than she'd expect from a group of otherwise nontraditional people. In fact, it almost sounded so traditional that Bella was beginning to rethink her assumption that she'd even be invited to come. She was not, in fact, a MacFusty - nor was she really a guest on paper. She was an employee; a mere few steps above a maid, and certainly with a poorer reputation than the ones who staffed the main MacFusty home.

"I'm sure you'll have a good time," she said softly, smiling up at him before she dropped her gaze. He would have a good time; the way he spoke of it, despite his frequent insistence that he hated spending time with people, made her think he was actually looking forward to it. "You need to spend time with your family. I hate to watch you isolate yourself all the time." And isolate himself he did. Bella thought one of the reasons she was so attracted to him was because of his loneliness. Although... whereas he intentionally isolated himself, Bella was alone by circumstance. It was quite different, yet it made little difference to Bella, who was just pleased to have company sometimes.

"I'll have a gift for you, of course, but I'll leave it here so you can enjoy it when you come back." She'd gotten him a bottle of whiskey, but it was strong enough - and experimental enough, she thought - that she didn't want him downing it in front of Isobel and the other MacFusty children.

---

Jamie nodded. He was certain it would be a good time. Any time all of the MacFustys got together was sure to be a good time. Whether it was a good time that others were accustomed to or not, however, wasn't really known. At least, not by him. He had a feeling most families didn't function or act the way they did. There was a reason they had a bit of a reputation, after all. They liked their drink and it tended to make people do things that weren't considered wholly proper.

He raised a brow at her remarks though, not sure quite how to take it. He'd kind of expected she'd be getting him something, she did things like that, after all. But what caught him off guard was they way she talked. Almost as if she wasn't planning on being there. He knew she didn't have anywhere else to go and he would be surprised if Mac and Imogen didn't invite her along. He would have if he had thought it wouldn't raise a bunch of questions they weren't really able to answer. Or shouldn't really answer.

"You'll be there, no?" he asked, skimming over the topic of her leaving him a gift entirely.

---

He didn't question her further on the subject of his gift, and though she would have given away no further information, she almost wished he'd pressed her further on that subject than on her Christmas plans. She couldn't directly say whether she would or wouldn't - not when she was beginning to doubt herself. She could be worrying over nothing, with Immie and Mac assuming she would join them, but they could also be under the impression that she was capable of finding her own plans. The former sounded much more like her bosses, but who knew? Christmastime was for family. Her own biological family had said as much the many Christmases she'd tried to escape family obligations in favor of isolating herself in her bedroom.

"Well..." she said, clearly uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat, "I don't know if I'll have plans yet that day. I've not committed to anything." Because she hadn't yet had anything to commit to, but she wouldn't say that. It was the first Christmas in a long time that the prospect of being on her own disappointed rather than excited her, and yet there was still a question of whether she'd be alone or not.

---

Jamie hadn't really expected that sort of response and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. He didn't think she'd go to her family, didn't think she could even if she wanted to. But then that made him wonder if perhaps there was someone else she would spend the time with. Hopefully not another man. He found himself bristling at the thought. But, what right did he have to those strange feelings that seemed almost like jealousy. They're arrangement or whatever it was had never set any strict limitations in that regard.

"Where else could you have plans for?" he found himself questioning even if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

---

Bella wasn't sure how she was supposed to take that. She might have been offended, but despite Jamie's general brutishness, he rarely intended to cause offense - at least with her. He knew better. It was a fair question really, but it dawned on her that his knowledge of her life outside his shack and Immie and Mac's home was limited. He might have been isolated, but not so isolated that he could still be unaware of the events that brought her to the Hebrides; furthermore, his reaction might simply because he assumed her to have no outside connections. He didn't know about Gemma or Lucille or Mr. Langley. He didn't know because those weren't the sort of things they talked about.

Even considering her other friendships, she couldn't use them as an excuse. She might be the one to cause offense if she suggested that she was waiting to spend Christmas with them - which she wasn't. All Bella could do was sigh.

"Well, since Mac won't be doing research over the holidays, I thought I might get some chores done," she offered, a poor answer if she'd ever given one. She did have chores - cleaning, organizing, everything she hadn't done on the days she spent with Jamie - to do, but non one expected to her to do them during Christmas.

---

Jamie chuckled and shook his head at her response. One, because it was a ridiculous excuse. Two, because clearly his own stupid jealous concerns were invalid. It was crazy that he'd even been worried about such a thing. Jamie MacFusty did not worry about such things. He didn't have to. Or, at least, that's what he'd keep telling himself.

"Ye think they're going to leave ye behind to do chores?" he asked, another bit of a chuckle accompanying his words, "From the way you've talked, I'm sure they'd want to make sure you're there celebrating with 'em all."

---

Bella's lips fell into a defeated, almost teasing sort of pout. "They do need to be done, though," she pointed out, brows arched. "And I never get time to do it when I'm working with Mac." Her mind was usually filled with new information whenever she sat down with her boss, leaving the untidy scribbles from old information unedited and incoherent upon second read. "And besides, it would be presumptuous of me to show up without invitation." And she couldn't just ask - her cheeks flushed red just at the thought!

---

Jamie chuckled again, not at all buying into her excuses. There was obviously something more to it. And then she mentioned not having an actual invitation. That made his laughter increase. He was sure she'd have an invitation, probably even a blanket one, to any MacFusty function. She'd managed to stick it out around them longer than many others did, after all. That practically made her family.

"Do you really think you wouldn't be invited?" he asked once he'd recovered from his bout of laughter, "If Mac and Imogen don't invite you, I'm sure Ma would in a heartbeat." After all, Ma MacFusty had a way of taking in all sorts of orphans. And, as far as he was aware, she was pretty close to being one even if she was an adult.

---

Bella felt terribly silly for fretting over something some minor and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. "I hope you don't think I'm fixating over a party," she said, emitting a quiet, embarrassed chuckle. "It's not that, I promise. It's just... it's Christmas, and I love you all very much, and I've never - well - I've never been in this position before." On her own. Lonely. Without a family, and without the core friend group she'd spent many holidays with. Christmas was like many other holidays; its reason for celebrating, while a source of happiness to many, could be a source of melancholy to others.

---

Jamie's mind went instantly blank at the one single l word she uttered. Sure, it wasn't directed at him specifically but his family as a whole, but it still made everything feel like it had gone suddenly very still. He didn't know what to say anymore and he found himself clearing his throat as a result. "Well," he said, not really sure what to say but not able to stand the silence he felt falling, "Just come be with our family then. Surely most already view you as family in a way."

---