The Fox’s Tale

The last time I woke up this excited for a Yuletide morning I was in elementary school. I hadn’t had a great deal of time to shop for Ellery’s gifts, but I was pretty damn proud of myself. We’d picked out gifts for our parents and her extended family together, and had set a limit of five gifts each for one another.

I felt pressure to impress her, not just because it was our first holiday together, but also because she had years of information on my personal tastes and habits, so I knew whatever she got for me would be perfect.

I nuzzled her awake. “Happy Yule, Ellery.”

“Mmm.” She rolled over and snuggled into me. “What time is it?”

“Uh, six thirty.”

“Six thirty?" She groaned. "Alexander, are you crazy? It’s the holidays.”

“Crazy about you.”

She snorted with laughter and came fully awake. “Smooth, my love.” She looked up at me and grinned. “You’re about to burst out of your skin with excitement, aren’t you?”

“I am. Come on. Let’s go celebrate.”

Ten minutes later we were settled in front of our tree, both of us consumed with excitement and a degree of bashfulness. Ellery eyed her gifts from me, trying to decide which to begin with. When she reached for one of the mid-sized ones I stopped her.

“You need to start with the big box.”

She pulled the large, square box towards her and then said “Alright then, you start with the biggest of yours too.”

I dragged what looked like a large, deep shirt box out from under the tree. “What the hell is in this? It weighs a ton.”

“You’ll see. Shall we take turns or open at the same time?”

“You go first. I want to see your reaction.”

“Okay.” Ellery bit her lip as she tore off the paper and pried the box open. She peeked inside and burst out laughing. “Alexander!” She looked at me with a mixture of gratitude and amusement.

“Take the stuff out Ellery, come on.”

She shook her head and giggled as she began to pull items out of the box. Out first was a fox phone case, then a pair of fox slippers, and then a copy of the book The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Finally she pulled out a mug that read ‘Oh for Fox’s Sake’ on it and inside of the mug was a tiny velveteen fox toy. “You cheated, you sneak. Thank you, I love all of it.” She leaned over and kissed me.

“Of course I was sneaky. I am a fox,” I replied. “I’m glad you love it. Now, let me see what’s in this box.” I tore into it and Ellery pulled her slippers on while she watched me. Inside was a black jacket unlike anything I had ever seen before.

It looked like leather, but didn’t feel like any I had ever touched. I lifted it out of the box to get a better look. The craftsmanship was out of this world. “Ellery,” I gasped. “This is incredible.” I turned it over to check out the back.

“Do you like it?” she asked, seemingly unsure.

“Hell yeah I like it. What’s it made out of?”

“Dragon hide.”

That dragged my attention away from admiring the jacket. “Excuse me?”

“It’s made from dragon hide. When baby dragons hit puberty they shed their softer layer of hide and grow the one that will be covered in scales. The material is highly coveted not just for its beauty, but also because of how protective the hide is.”

She moved closer to me and opened the jacket to show off the lining. “I sewed it with unicorn hair instead of thread so it will never tear, and I embroidered protection sigils into the lining as well. Nothing will be able to harm you while you wear it.”

“Wait a second. You made this?” I looked back at the jacket in amazement.

“Not all of it. I mean, I had the buttons crafted by the dwarves and the hide itself was made into the necessary pieces to assemble the jacket by the royal tailors of House Sinclair, but other than that, yes, I made it.” She blushed and hid her face.

“Babe.”

“What?”she asked, not meeting my eyes.

“How long did this take you to make, Ellery?” She mumbled a reply, but I was able to hear. “A few years?”

“Dragon hide doesn’t like to be sewn, Alexander. It doesn’t like to be crafted at all. I-”

I stopped her protests with a kiss.

“Thank you. I love it. Help me put it on.” She helped me slip the jacket over my tee shirt and I marveled at the difference in weight once it was on.

“Wow, it’s so much lighter.” I lifted my arms and moved all around and the jacket didn’t pull or feel tight in any way. “How did you know what size to make it if you began years ago?”

“Ah, that’s the thing about dragon hide. It doesn’t like to be crafted, so it has to be enchanted first. It will always fit you, no matter what.”

“You astound me.” I kissed her and took the jacket off. “Thank you.”

We moved onto the next gifts; a cashmere scarf and a book on Faerie Lore for me, and a pair of silk pajamas and some massage oils for her, and then burst out laughing when we opened our next gifts. We both bought the other tickets to the same outdoor concert scheduled for June.

“At least I know that our last gifts won’t be the same,” I said as I pulled hers out of my pajama pants pocket.

“That looks suspiciously like a ring box.”

I grinned in response. “Open it,” I urged, knowing that what lay inside would produce the best reaction of all. “You’re a hard woman to shop for Ellery,” I said as she removed the paper.

“You’re complex and quite frankly can buy or magic yourself anything you want.” I stopped talking as she lifted the lid of the box and gasped.

Inside was a ring I had designed specifically for her, with one black pearl and one white, hugged together by gold and highlighted by four small diamonds.

“You said on our first day back at school that you weren’t supposed to exist and that gutted me. Ellery, you’re perfect, just as you are. You are who you’re meant to be, Princess. Never forget that.” I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger as she gulped back her tears. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful.”

“You like it? I had them use a pearl that belonged to each of your grandmothers.”

“You had it made?” she asked, incredulous.

“Of course! Can’t have any old run of the mill ring on my wife’s finger can I?” She crawled into my lap and kissed me until my head spun. When I had enough air to speak I managed to gasp out “shall we finish this make out session on our bed?”

“Finish it here,” she said as she pulled me to the floor in front of the tree.

Before I realized it we were both naked, and I suspect magic was involved. Not that I was complaining. The sight of my gorgeous mate riding me, completely nude, with the tree’s lights twinkling behind her would easily rank in my top ten favorite memories.

Our love making was fast, but not frantic. I brought Ellery to climax twice before letting go myself. Then we snuggled and kissed until we got chilly. The scent of pine was going to be an aphrodisiac for the rest of my life after this.

Afterwards, I realized that Ellery hadn’t been completely naked. Her new slippers were still on and I burst out laughing as I got dressed again.

“I’m glad you like the slippers, but you’re creating quite the picture.”

Ellery was stretched on her stomach, wearing only the slippers and admiring her ring. “What was that, Alexander?” she asked as she tore her eyes away from my gift.

I gestured to her appearance and she too burst into a fit of giggles when she realized they were still on.

“They’re terribly comfortable.” She slipped her pajamas back on and then reached under the tree for the last gift. “I hope you like it.”

I eyed the box with curiosity. It was roughly five inches square, no deeper than an inch, and suspiciously heavy for its size. I removed the paper to discover a dark green velvet jewel case. I frowned. “Ellery, I don’t really go for jewelry.”

She patted my knee. “Just open it, please.”