This is a short story set at Christmas after Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers. If you haven’t read that yet, you can find it at all major book retailers, including Chapters Indigo.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
Friday the 27th of December, 2002 – Parry Sound, Ontario
“Did you bring the ring with you? What does it look like?”
“It was my mother’s,” he said again. He listened, and finding complete silence, he fashioned shadow into a delicate ring. “It looks like this, with an emerald.” He twisted it in front of her eyes before letting it vanish back into nothing.
Lilah looked impressed, although he wasn’t sure if it was for the ring or the display of shadow manipulation.
Jason finished his sandwich and drained his glass of milk. “I’m actually feeling a little more tired now,” he said, surprised. He got up and took his dishes to the sink. “Maybe I just needed to talk. Thanks.”
“That’s what mothers are for.” Lilah stood as well, putting her bowl with the leftover fruit in the fridge. She touched his arm lightly. “I would never try to replace your mother, but I hope you will think of me as a mother figure in your life.”
“I already do,” he admitted. He shook water off his hands and wiped them on the hand towel hanging off the oven. “Sleep well.”
They crept up the stairs together, Jason feeling weird about using the shadows and leaving Lilah at the bottom. He cringed at every creak, but nobody else poked their heads out of their rooms, so he assumed they weren’t as loud as they felt.
Lilah continued up the next set of stairs and he slipped back into Kennedy’s room, closing the door behind him. She had rolled onto her stomach and was splayed out across the entire bed. Jason huffed a laugh as he stripped. With a practised movement, he rolled his girlfriend just far enough to slip in behind her, spooning up against her warm body.
She hummed sleepily and wrapped her fingers around his arm as he draped it over her.
He yawned, gave her a gentle squeeze, dropped a kiss on the back of her head, and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
Saturday the 28th of December, 2002 – Parry Sound, Ontario
He woke up slowly, stretching carefully. Eyes still closed, he felt around in the bed beside him. Kennedy’s spot was cold. He groaned and cracked his eyes open, blinking as the room came into focus. The door was closed, so he rolled to sit on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He stretched again, hearing his back pop. He eyed the pile of clothes on the floor, abandoned from the night before, and scooped up his pyjama pants while hunting through for his boxers and shirt. They were missing. He smirked. She wants a show? I’ll give her a show.
He slipped into his pants and headed for the kitchen after a quick stop to relieve himself in the bathroom. There were multiple voices echoing over each other, teasing and asking for dishes to be passed down the long table. A high-pitched screech from Arthur, the toddler, played like a descant above the adult voices. Good. I didn’t want to wake him.
“Kennedy!” he shouted before he reached the door, and every voice went silent, except for a tiny squeak from his girlfriend. He stood in the doorway, arms crossed. “Where is my shirt?” he asked, voice deceptively calm.
A fork clattered to the plate of one of the twins; he thought it was Eliza. Kennedy shot to her feet with a gasp, wearing his purloined garments. She glanced at the far door, eyes sparkling with amusement, and he grinned. “Going to run for it?” he asked, challenging her.
She backed toward it, and he stalked her movements, loosening his wrists and stretching out his shoulders as he walked. She ran and he chased after her, catching her two rooms away, just inside the living room. A laugh burbled out of her as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. “If you wanted to show me off to your family, you could have just asked,” he murmured in her ear.
“I honestly thought I’d be able to return them before you woke up,” Kennedy replied, just as quietly. “I wanted to grab a quick bite before I showered.” She spun in his arms and gave his lips a quick kiss.
“Mmm, don’t distract me. I want my shirt back.” Jason slid his hands up under it, encountering nothing but bare skin. “Shall I make you walk back to our room topless?”
Kennedy giggled and pulled away, slipping around him to run for the hallway and the stairs.
Jason gave her a head start and then jumped through shadow to the top of the stairs just in time to catch her. He’d counted all the family in the kitchen and knew no one would see him.
She squeaked and slapped his chest. “Don’t do that!”
He peeled his shirt off of her and flicked it at her ass when she headed for the room. “Mmm, that view!” He wolf-whistled.
“Go eat.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “And try not to imagine me naked in the shower.”
Jason groaned. “Too late.”
Read Part 6 Dec 23, 2022