Yule Tied Up (Verona Falls University: Christmas Story)

2. Kirill

CHAPTER 2

Kirill

The Hideaway Cabin might be pretty enough, but I don’t fucking like the dark all around us.

As we walk back to the car to drive down to the market, the reality of just how oppressive this level of darkness is hits me. It’s like someone threw a blanket over the world, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.

I definitely want us to drive to the nearest big town so I can get a weapon or two. I have a very good fake ID and won’t have any trouble purchasing what we need.

I didn’t think of the remoteness as a bad thing when Nataniele told us he’d booked this place. I was all for the remoteness because that meant we had Mackenzie all to ourselves.

No one for miles and lots of opportunities for depraved outdoor sex.

I think we’ve all been saving up some twisted fantasies. We aren’t vanilla, and thank God, in Mackenzie we’ve found someone who matches our dark tastes perfectly. Our very own doll. But life back home has changed. Domenic is stepping more and more into his father’s role as dean of Verona Falls University. Nataniele still runs the college with an iron fist, but he's delegating more to Dom as time goes on.

I’m finding you can make crazy stupid money sourcing and selling high end, rare luxury items, and Tino, well, Tino is the best and most committed baby daddy out of the three of us. We all love our little girl more than life itself, but Tino is the one who never seems to get bored with caring for her. He wants more kids; he told me one night when we were sharing a smoke and some beers. Lucy was with Nataniele, and Dom had taken Mackenzie out for a date night, just the two of them. Once a month, one of us gets a night out with her. Not sex, just a date somewhere. And he’d taken her to watch a movie. Tino and I had kicked back, and we got a bit extra chilled, what with the beers, the smoke, and the snacks. He told me he wanted more babies with Mackenzie, and he’d love to have a son.

I’d like more kids, too, but maybe not as fast as Tino is thinking.

I’m grateful when I’m back in the driver’s seat, and not standing outside with the woods all around us, with the only sound the wind and the occasional screech of an owl. I shudder and start the engine.

Driving down to the markets is easy. There is snow, but we’re prepared. There are blankets, snacks, and water in the trunk, in case we need them. Nataniele did all that. Not for us, no, for his precious daughter-in-law. He’s almost as protective over our kukla these days as he is his granddaughter. Maybe because she’s given him his first grandchild or perhaps because she reminds him of her mother so much.

When we reach the market town, Mackenzie leans forward, her eyes wide, and claps her hands in glee.

“Oh, my word, it’s so pretty. Look at it.” She swivels to look at me, Tino, and Dom in turn. “ Look at it,” she demands.

“Yeah, it’s cute,” Dom says.

She sighs. “You’re all so unromantic. This is beautiful. Oh, wow, the stalls, the decorations, and the lights. The town is gorgeous too.”

She’s not wrong, it is gorgeous. A bout of melancholy hits me as I recall Christmases back home in Russia, but I shake it off. I’m here with my new family, the one I chose, and that’s enough for me.

“Oh, look, reindeer,” she giggles. “I need a photo with them. And a sleigh.”

“At this rate, you’re going to tell us you want to sit on Santa’s lap,” Dom scoffs.

The asshole is still an asshole, but somehow our Duchess loves it about him, and instead of trying to murder him in his sleep every night, she just sends him soft smiles when he’s sarcastic.

“She can sit on my lap,” Tino says. “I’ll pretend to be Santa for you, Kenzie.”

She glances at him, and as I flick my gaze at her, I bite back my laugh. Her eyes are narrowed, and she’s glaring.

“You will not make this about sex,” she says. “Not the damn markets. I won’t have it.”

“Challenge accepted,” I murmur.

She slaps my leg lightly.

Dom points through the windshield. “There’s an empty spot. It’s tight, but you should make it.”

“ Dah . I’m so glad I have you backseat driving,” I shoot back. “And I’m an expert at getting into tight spots.”

Tino snorts. “I need to find a Santa outfit. Dress up as him and have Kenzie sit on my knee.”

I park the car, and we all clamber out. The cold hits my face, and I turn up the collar of my jacket, burying my face into the material. I’m used to cold winters in Russia, but I think my time spent in the States has made me soft.

Dom plants his hands on his hips. “What first?”

“I want to look around the stalls,” Mackenzie says. “I have gifts to buy. I need something for your dad, and Camile. Then maybe a horse drawn wagon ride?”

“That’s so touristy,” Dom says.

Tino rolls his eyes. “Yes, asshole, and we’re tourists.”

“Fine, so, stalls, wagon ride, then what?”

The mouth-watering scent of fried onions is coming from somewhere, and I’m sure I can smell fried donuts and gingerbread too. “Snacks,” I say.

“We’ll be eating when we get back,” Dom points out.

I shake my head at him. “Fucking hell. Who made you the Grinch? Fine, snacks now, as we walk around the stalls, and then the ride.”

Mackenzie beams. “Sounds great.” She’s got a light dusting of snow in her blonde hair already, and it makes her look extra pretty.

We head from the parking lot and along the snow-covered main road to the town square where the market is being held. This town is one of those places you occasionally find in America where you could honestly be in the early 1900s.

The markets are bustling with people, all wrapped up in scarves, with woolen hats pulled down over their ears. Cheeks and tips of noses are red from the cold. Many carry armfuls of brown paper bags, most likely containing gifts or Christmas treats, while others warm their hands with hot cups of chocolate. Everyone is smiling and seems to be enjoying the festivities.

The market stalls are individual huts, the roofs crested with snow and draped with garlands. A huge Christmas tree takes pride of place in the center of the market, its boughs heavy with baubles and outdoor lights. At the farthest point is an outdoor ice rink, and the squeals and laughter of those on the ice drift over to us. On a bandstand, a choir sings Christmas carols.

“I love snow,” Tino says, sticking his tongue out like a big kid. “Don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.”

The delicious scent of roasting chestnuts hits my nose, and my stomach growls. Damn, I’m hungry. I follow my nose, with Dom, Tino, and Mackenzie trailing behind me. As we reach the first stalls, I see that this end of the market is mostly food and drink. I presume the far end will be things like decorations and gifts.

“Bratwurst?” Dom points to a stall selling massive sausages. “Bet you’d like to wrap your lips around that.” He waggles his brows at me, and I laugh.

“Nah, thanks.” I kind of do like the way it smells, but if I eat a massive German hot dog, I won’t want to eat tonight, and Mackenzie went to a lot of trouble making food for this trip. “I’m saving myself.”

The next stall has marzipan, and there’s a plate on the counter with free samples. I’ve never tasted it before, so I take one and bite into it.

“Good?” Tino asks as we walk by to the next stall.

I grimace. “Jesus, it’s too sweet.”

There’s a mulled cider stall across the way, and Tino grins. “That’s more like it. Mulled cider, anyone?”

I shake my head. Mackenzie does the same. But Dom goes and gets one with Tino.

As we walk side by side, I bump Mackenzie gently with my arm. She grins and bumps back. I know we share her, and I know deep down she loves us all the same, but there’s a tiny part of me that likes to wish-cast us having a special connection because of what happened.

It’s something only the two of us share. No one else can understand the depths of torment we went through, or the way we helped each other.

We approach another stall, and her blue eyes light up. “Ooh, hot chocolate. I’m getting one. Do you want one?”

I shake my head. I’m thirsty, and a can of Coke will do me.

She orders her hot chocolate, topped with cream and marshmallows, and I look around. A few stalls down I find what I’m after. The chestnuts. I wait until Dom and Tino join her, always aware of her safety, and then wander away to order some. They aren’t the same chestnuts that Americans used to eat, the ones that are sung about in that famous Christmas song. The American chestnut tree was practically wiped out by disease, so these are imported. We learned this at the college in our first year when we were taken to a local Christmas Fair. I order some now, my mouth watering. They sell drinks too, so I grab a Coke.

An arm links through mine, and I turn to see Mackenzie standing beside me, hot chocolate in her other hand. Dom has his arm around her shoulders and Tino has disappeared.

“Where is he?” I ask.

The other two know who I mean without me having to say.

“He’s winning me a stuffed animal,” she says with a giggle.

I grin and suddenly feel so full of love, for her, and Dom, and Tino, and our tiny baby girl back home with her grandfather. Life is good.

We eat our snacks and wander the stalls. I sense how we attract attention from the locals. I guess it’s hard not to stand out when you look like the four of us. Even Mackenzie is tall, at five feet nine, but I tower over her at six-three. People probably think we’re just a group of friends hanging out. They’d have no way of knowing the truth behind our relationship.

Mackenzie goes on a buying spree of stuff she doesn’t need, and Tino holds the massive stuffed polar bear he won her. As we near the end of the stalls, Dom turns to Mackenzie, a wicked glint in his eyes.

“How about that horse and wagon ride?”

“Oooh, yes,” she breathes.

He hooks his arm around her neck and kisses the top of her head. “Come right this way.”

What the hell is he planning?