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Tally’s grip on the payphone receiver tightened as she waited nervously for the call to be answered. The ringing continued on and just as Tally had given up hope a tired “Hello?” replaced the dial tone.
“Hi mom,” she said carefully.
“Tally?”
She took a deep breath. Her mom hadn’t hung up the phone the moment she heard Tally’s voice. That was a good sign. “Yeah mom, it’s me.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. College is great!” Tally couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice. “I’m learning so many amazing things.”
“That’s nice, sweetie,” her mom said, but Tally knew she didn’t mean it. It had been almost a year since conscription day and her mom still hated that Tally chose Fort Salem over her.
“Well… um… it’s Yule soon and I will go on break next Friday, so I thought I could fly out Saturday?”
There was movement and then the sound of a door closing. Tally wondered what her mom was doing. Did she have company she needed to avoid to have this conversation? Tally felt her stomach tighten and a lump formed in her throat.
“I don’t think that will be a good idea.”
“Saturday doesn’t work for you?” Tally asked even though she knew that wasn’t what her mom had meant.
“I don’t think you should come back for Yule this year.”
“Mom,” Tally choked out.
“Goodbye Tally.”
And with that her mom had ended the call and Tally was left with an echoing silence and tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t move for a long time. She just stood there with the phone handle pressed to her ear while she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened.
“Craven?” Said a voice behind her.
Tally quickly snapped into action. She hung up the phone and as discreetly as possible wiped the tears from her cheeks before turning to face General Alder and her biddies. Alder moved closer, but her biddies didn’t follow behind her. Instead they turned and walked back down the corridor with heavy steps.
Alder lay a hand on Tally’s shoulder. “Are you okay,” she asked.
“I’m fine,” Tally said, but she knew her still tear filled eyes told another more convincing story than her words. Alder didn’t push her for the truth. She simply stayed quiet, and with her hand still on Tally’s shoulder and their eyes locked together Tally felt like Alder was looking directly into her soul.
A tear slipped from her right eye. “My mom doesn't want to see me,” Tally said, her voice barely above a whisper. And then it really hit her; like a kick in the gut. Her mom had told her not to come home. She didn’t want to see her. Tally could hear people walking down the corridor but there was no way for her to stop the tears now. She covered her mouth with both hands to quiet her sobs. It was bad enough Alder was seeing her like this, she didn’t want anyone else to see as well. But before whoever was walking towards them could round the corner, Alder wrapped her arm around Tally’s shoulder and led her through the door right beside the payphone.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind them Tally let go of all the emotions she had been holding in. Sobs wracked her body and tears streamed down her face. She could barely breathe and when her legs buckled beneath her two strong arms wrapped around her, keeping her from falling to the ground. Tally couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t think. All Tally was in that moment was the grief gripping her heart.
After many long moments Tally’s sobs turned into hiccups and the world around her came back into focus. And that was when she realized she was no longer standing on her own two feet in the hallway closet but was instead sitting in Alder’s lap on the floor. Tally had her back pressed firmly against Alder’s front because of the two arms that were wrapped tightly around her. The feeling was grounding but now that Tally wasn’t lost in her grief then she didn’t know what to do with herself. She wanted to stay right where she was, but she couldn’t because the person holding her was General Sarah Alder!
“I’m, umm, I’m sorry,” Tally stammered as she clumsily got to her feet. She turned just in time to see Alder much more elegantly raise from the floor.
Tally was just about to apologize again, but Alder held up her hand. “You are allowed to have feelings, and you are allowed to feel those feelings even if they catch you by surprise.”
Tally nodded her head frantically. “Okay. Right. Of course. Thank you,” she said and then pulled a face when she realized she was rambling. “Sorry.”
Alder took Tally’s hand in hers. “Would you like to talk about what just happened?”
Tally’s first thought was no. She didn’t want to bother the general who spent her days saving the country with her newly abandoned. But the feeling of Alder’s hand holding hers made the refusal turn into acceptance. Tally took a deep breath. “I have never spent a Yule celebration away from my mother, but this year she doesn’t want to see me. She’s still angry and ashamed of me choosing to come here.”
As tears began to form in Tally’s eyes again Alder let go of her hand and instead cupped her cheek. “You made a brave choice.”
“But I’m all alone,” Tally said and a tear slipped from her eye but Alder’s thumb caught it before it could make its way down Tally’s cheek.
“What about your unit?”
“They are all going home to their own families.”
“You are their family, too.”
“I know,” Tally said, but it wouldn’t be the same. Her sisters were her family - her heart - but she barely knew the people they were related to or who they considered friends outside of Fort Salem. Spending the holiday in a room full of strangers would probably be worse than spending it alone. Tally could feel the sadness and grief crawl its way around her heart. The lump in her throat was coming back, but Tally didn’t have the energy to cry again. She pulled away from Alder; straightened her back and brushed nonexistent dust off her uniform jacket. “I better get back to the dorm.”
Tally could sense that Alder had more to say, but she stayed quiet and Instead gave a simple nod of approval. With that Tally turned on her heel and walked out the door.
Sarah watched as Craven left the dim lit hallway closet. She had a strange feeling of inadequacies because she hadn’t been able to take the cadet’s pain away. But the feeling didn’t make sense to her because it wasn’t her job to do so. Yes, Craven was her responsibility, but only in a professional manner. It wasn’t up to Sarah to fix Craven’s relationship with her mother or to knock some sense into Collar and Bellweather so they would include Craven more in family matters.
But still Sarah felt that she had failed the heartbroken cadet. She understood where May Craven was coming from. Sarah remembered each of the Craven sisters with fondness. They had been remarkably witches just like their niece was now. What May might not remember now after years of loss was that all of her sisters had been proud of their work, just like Craven.
Sarah ran her hands over her face and tried to shake the thought from her head. This wasn’t hers to fix.
“But you could fix it.”
“And how do you propose I do that?”
“We have so many ideas.”
Of course they did. But before Sarah could tell her biddies to stay out of it the door before her opened and there stood all eight of them.
“There is something very metaphorical about you coming out of a closet.”
Sarah chose not to comment on that. “We are staying out of this,” she told them as she walked out of the closet. The biddies fell into line behind her and with steady steeps the nine of them walked through the snow covered grounds of Fort Salem.
There was still a week left of class for the cadets in war college, but Sarah could already sense the happiness and excitement for their well deserved break. She knew most of them were traveling home to spend Yule with their family or friends but undoubtedly it wouldn’t be all of them. Surely Craven would have friends to celebrate with here or in the more likely scenario Bellweather or Collar would insist she go home with one of them. They wouldn’t leave her to spend Yule alone. Would they?
The week passed and Sarah would never admit to it but she had been keeping an extra eye on Craven. They hadn’t talked and for the first few days Craven had turned her gaze to the floor the moment she noticed Sarah walking her way. Sarah didn’t take offense to it. She knew it had been an emotional moment that Craven had never planned to share with her, but things seemed to have picked up. Craven looked less sad now whenever they ran into each, which only her biddies knew was never the coincidence that Sarah made them out to be.
So when Sarah saw the cadet help Callor and Bellweather carry out their bags, but didn’t carry any of her own, saying she was surprised would have been an understatement. Sarah watched them as the bags were loaded into the car. They were all laughing and hugging, and when it came time to say goodbye Craven stood happily on the curb waving them off, but the moment the car was out of sight her smile dropped.
“You didn’t tell them,” Sarah said, startling Craven and making her jump slightly.
“Good afternoon, general,” Craven said nervously and then ran her hands down the front of her jacket as if to straighten it, but she seemed to realize she wasn’t wearing her uniform and instead stuffed her hands in her pockets. She leaned to the side and looked around Sarah. “Hi.”
The biddies all nodded their heads at her, and Sarah could feel their appreciation for the thoughtful cadet. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“They never asked me what my plans were for the Yule break, so I didn’t tell them that I didn’t have any anymore,” Craven said, looking down and then she added in a mumble, “I don’t want to be an afterthought.”
“We know you don’t want to fix this, but you have to fix it.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to fix it, I just don’t think she will want to spend Yule with me.”
When Sarah didn’t get a reply she turned around and saw all eight biddies looking at her like she was stupid. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“What’s going on?” Craven asked, and Sarah saw that the cadet had crossed the distance between them and was now standing right in her personal space. But Sarah realized that she didn’t mind at all. When did that happen?
“Did you ever mind?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“I feel like there’s a conversation going on that I’m not a part of,” Craven said and instead of looking annoyed or upset then she simply smiled.
Sarah cleared her throat. “Sorry about that.”
“I don’t mind. Even though it was only for a short time and over six months ago now, I still remember what it was like,” Craven said, shrugging her shoulders and biting her lip.
She looked embarrassed by her confession, but Sarah only felt gratitude for her word. “Thank you.”
Craven tilted her head to the side and smiled shyly. “What for?”
“For understanding,” Sarah said simply.
Craven’s cheeks reddened. If it was from the December cold or the conversation they were having Sarah didn’t know, but she found the sight endearing either way. Craven pointed over her shoulder. “I better get back inside. Even if I will be spending Yule by myself then I still want to get a Yule log carved and decorated for tomorrow.”
Sarah nodded and then once again watched as Craven walked away.
“Fix it!”
“Tally!”
The cadet stopped abruptly and spun around. Her cheeks were now even redder than before. “Yes?” she asked, her voice holding so much hope that even if Sarah’s heart had held any ounce of doubt that she was doing the right thing then it would be gone now.
“When it comes time for you to burn your Yule log then you’re welcome to do it in my office.”
Tally’s face dropped a bit. “Oh okay. Thank you.”
“Do better.”
“I mean,” Sarah cleared her throat and took Tally’ hand. “We can burn your Yule log together.”
“Really?” Tally asked, her eyes shining brightly.
“Do even better.”
Sarah nodded and gave Tally’s hand a squeeze. “You can even come by in the early evening if you like. Then we can make some of the Yule preparations together.”
Tally waved a couple of fallen snowflakes from her face. “You don’t have something more important to do on Yule?”
“I do, but you are important, too,” Sarah said as she wiped away the snow that had landed on Tally’s cheekbone. “If you come by my office at 6pm then I should be done with everything and we can do whatever you like.”
“Okay,” Tally said, letting out a shaken breath, and that was when Sarah realized they were barely standing a foot apart. She must have unconsciously moved closer to Tally when she had brushed the snow from her face.
They were standing so close Sarah could see all the colors of her eyes. So close that it wouldn’t take much more than a tilt of her head to kiss Tally… Now that the thought had entered her mind it wouldn’t seem to leave again. It would be so simple yet mean so much.
Tally’s eyes fluttered shut as Sarah learned closer, but she didn’t kiss the cadet’s mouth. Instead she let her lips linger shortly on Tally’s soft cheek. Sarah wasn’t ready for whatever a real kiss would mean, but this was enough for now. And by the deep sigh Tally let out when Sarah pulled back then it was enough for her as well.
Sarah moved a string of hair behind Tally’s ear. “I will see you tomorrow.”
Tally smiled. “At 6pm,” she said and when Sarah nodded her head in confirmation then Tally once again turned around and walked back inside.
Tally felt like she was on cloud nine. She felt like she had taken salva and was floating all the way back to her dorm room. The last week had gone by in a blur. Her sisters had happily discussed their plans for the holiday break. Tally had tried to be excited on their behalf but she was hurt that they hadn’t noticed she hadn’t joined in with talk of any plans of her own. She knew it wasn’t completely fair of her. She was the one who didn’t tell them, but still.
Tally shook her jacket off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor as she sat down on her bed. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She had more important things to do; like freaking out because Sarah Alder had asked her to spend Yule together! Tally squealed and flopped back on her bed. Was this really happening?! Had Alder really asked her? Tally sat up abruptly and her hand flew to her cheek. Had Alder really kissed her…?
When Tally had talked to her mom last week she had never expected this was where she would end up. Especially not after her complete meltdown. Goddess, Tally had been so embarrassed for days afterwards, but the general hadn’t shown any signs of it affecting her view of Tally. Alder hadn’t started avoiding her, she had actually seemed to seek Tally out more. She wasn’t proud to admit it to herself but that had made Tally avoid Alder. At least for the first few days until she had tamed her embarrassment.
But now everything was different!
Tally jumped off her bed and went to her closet for the box of Yule things she had gathered and collected since realizing she would be alone for this year’s celebration. Tally pulled the box off the top shelf and sat down on the floor with it. She picked up the fresh evergreen wreath she had woven a few days ago. It still needed to be decorated with dried orange slices, pine cones, holly berries and ribbons, but she had everything ready and there was lots of time for her to do that tonight. Tally put it aside on the floor, moved the decorations and candles around in the box until she found the carving tools.
This had always been her favorite part of Yule. Tally took hold of the small sharp awl, got back on her feet, grabbed her jacket and then she was back out the door. She needed to search for the perfect log to carve.
Tally hurried down the corridor and didn’t pay much attention to the few people she ran past which unfortunately made her collide with someone.
“Where’s the fire, Craven?”
“Sergeant Quartermain!” Tally exclaimed as she found her footing again. “I’m so sorry.”
“As you should be, but don’t worry about it,” Anacostia said. “What are you doing there? I thought you would be off to Sacramento by now.”
“Yeah, umm, plans changed,” Tally stammered out and before Anacostia had time to ask more questions she continued, “so now I’m off to find a log I can use for tomorrow!”
Anacostia narrowed her eyes and Tally could clearly see that the sergeant was debating whether to ask what was going on, but she didn’t and for that Tally was grateful. Instead she asked, “Do you want company?”
Tally smiled brightly. “I would love some company!”
It was time! Today was the winter solstice. Tally was dressed in a comfortable but nice dark green A-line dress, and she had curled her hair so it ran down her back in pretty waves. Everything was ready, everything was perfect, it was 6pm and Tally was so nervous she could barely hold on to her box of Yule decorations because her hands were shaking so badly.
“Deep breaths,” Tally mumbled to herself and then took a couple of calming breaths that did absolutely nothing to tame her nerves. “I can do this.”
Tally balanced the box on her left hip so she had a free hand to knock on Alder’s office door with, but the knock went unanswered. She could feel the anxiety take a grip on her heart. She knew it had been too good to be true. Tally knocked a second time because she just didn’t want to accept that no one was going to open the door. She was about to knock for the third time when she heard hurried steps walking towards her. Tally let her arm drop and was almost afraid to turn around because what if it wasn’t Alder?
But it was her.
“I’m sorry I’m late. There was a last minute meeting I needed to attend, and we just finished now. I didn’t think it would look proper if I ran here. I mean, what would people think?” Alder said with a smile.
The anxiety that had been holding onto her heart had now been completely replaced by happiness. “They would probably think you had somewhere very important to be.”
Alder tilted her head slightly and a small smirk spread across her face. “Then maybe I should have run.”
Tally's face instantly reddened. She couldn’t find a single proper thing to say because Alder had just insinuated that she was important. It was the second time in as many days that Alder had done that. It meant more to her than she would ever be able to describe in words.
“Let’s head inside,” Alder said. Tally nodded her head and grabbed the box with both hands and walked with Alder inside her office.
Tally’s jaw almost hit the floor as she took in the sight before her. The room was covered in candlelight. There must have been hundreds of white candles spread all around the office. Suddenly the four red ones Tally had in her box didn’t feel sufficient enough. She shook her head and looked around the room in awe as she made her way to the fireplace where pillows and blankets were laid.
“I told the biddies to stay here and prepare the office for Yule when I went to the meeting, but I hadn’t expected all of this.”
Tally loved it, but at the mention of the biddies she looked around and realized that they weren’t in the office like usual. “Where are your biddies?” Tally asked, sitting the box on the floor.
“They are off to do whatever they like,” Alder said as she crossed the office and stopped in front of Tally the box. “What do you have in there?”
“Yule decorations,” Tally said, lifting her now finished evergreen wreath from the box between them. “So does that mean you don’t know what they are up to tonight?”
Alder gave her a skeptical look
“Of course.” Tally suppressed a laugh and saw a small smile appear on Alder’s face. She liked this side of her. It wasn’t something she got to see often, but ever since Tally had given up her youth to save Alder then it was like they were connected to each other in a special way. Even after the bond that had tried them together was properly severed. Some parts of it Tally still missed it, but she didn’t miss the dreams that had almost killed her more than once. She took a deep breath and then turned her attention back to the decorations. “Is it okay if I hang this?”
“Go ahead,” Alder said and Tally could feel her eyes watching her as she crossed the office and walked back to the door. It was supposed to hang on the outside of the door, but Tally figured the inside would be fine too.
“Can I?” Tally asked, holding up a small needle. Alder nodded and then bent down to look through the box. As Tally hung the wreath on the door, Alder started hanging the garlands of dried orange slides, cinnamon, star anise seeds and evergreen up on the fireplace. The second the warmth of the fire reached the garland the classic smell of Tally’s childhood Yule filled the office. She smiled to herself. This was just what she needed.
Tally walked back to the fireplace and sat down on a pillow next to Alder. For a moment they just sat there, enjoying the quiet and the warmth from the open fire.
But then Tally’s stomach growled.
Loudly!
Embarrassed, Tally put a hand on her stomach. She hadn’t thought to eat anything before she got here and to be honest she couldn’t remember if she had even had lunch. She had been so nervous the whole day. When her stomach growled again, Tally pulled a face. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, and I do have food for you,” Alder said and motioned to her desk. “If you’re hungry then there are lots of things for you to choose from.”
Tally smiled. “Thank you!” She quickly stood and headed for the desk and the food there. With the room being bathed in only candlelight and long shadows then she had completely missed the selection of food and drinks spread across the tabletop. There was much more than Tally could ever eat but it all looked so good. She filled a plate with food, and got two glasses and a bottle of something with elderflower that looked very interesting. While trying to figure out how she would carry everything in one go Tally suddenly felt a hand on her lower back.
“Here, let me get that,” Alder said, her voice against Tally’s ear, and then Alder reached around her and took the bottle and the two glasses.
Just as quickly as Alder had gotten there then she was gone again, and Tally had to take a moment to get her breathing under control. Alder had been so close Tally could feel her body heat against her back and her breath in her ear. It made her stomach do somersaults and suddenly she didn’t feel very hungry anymore. But she needed to eat and Alder was waiting for her in front of the fireplace. That small fact seemed almost unbelievable, but it was turn. Tally turned around with her plate of food in her hand and there on the floor between the two big armchairs sat Alder. She had opened the bottle and was now filling their glasses.
Tally realized that while she had been getting food then Alder had taken off her jacket, and was now just wearing a black t-shirt. As Tally stood there watching, Alder also removed her boots and then the elastic from the end of her braid. She ran her fingers through her hair so it fell loosely down her back as she turned to look at Tally. “Are you going to stand there or come sit down and eat?”
Tally’s cheeks instantly turned scarlet. “Right!” And then she hurried back and sat down with her plate in her lap.
“How are your classes going?” Alder asked as she handed Tally a glass.
“Thanks!” Tally took a quick sip before putting the glass down next to her. “Umm and my classes are going fine.”
Alder tilted her head and looked at Tally with a small smile. “Just fine?”
“Well most of them are going great. I quite like everything, but I’m still really bad at mothertongue. Especially compared to my sisters. Raelle kind of just got it installed in her brain with the witchbomb, and Adil is teaching Abigail,” Tally said, shrugging her shoulders. She took a bite of a baby carrot and looked down at her plate.
Alder leaned forward and put her hand on Tally’s wrist. “I could get someone to help you out.”
It took everything in Tally not to drop the fork she was holding, but she did gather up enough courage to look up at Alder. “You don’t need to do that, General.”
“Okay,” Alder said, pulling her hand back and taking a sip of her class.
Tally gave her a quick smile and then looked back at her plate. She pushed the food around it with her fork for a bit but didn’t pick anything up to eat.
“You aren’t eating,” Alder commented.
No she wasn't because she couldn’t concentrate on eating with Alder sitting so close to her - looking at her and touching her. If Tally was to relax and enjoy the evening then she needed for them to be on the same level. They couldn’t continue to be general Alder and cadet Craven when they were sitting on pillows in a room full of candles. She knew this wasn’t a date but they were celebrating an important holiday.
Tally fidgeted with her fork. “Can I call you Sarah?”
“If you want to,” Alder said, sounding surprised by the question,
Tally let go of her fork and looked at her. “I do because I don’t feel like I’m sitting here with General Alder. I feel like you are just being Sarah right now,” Tally said, her heart beating fast! Oh Goddess how she hoped she hadn’t over stepped.
Sarah nodded. “I feel that I am, too.”
“Okay, so right now we are just Sarah and Tally,” Tally said and she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “I like that.”
“I do, too,” Sarah said with a smile. “Does this mean you can eat your dinner now?”
Tally let out a small laugh. “Yes it does!”
They made pleasant small talk while Tally ate and even though she was the one eating then she was also the one who did most of the talking. Sarah asked questions and sipped her elderflower cider, but mostly she just enjoyed watching how happy Tally seemed to be. It had been difficult for her to get the image of a heartbroken Tally out of her head.
This helped.
When Tally was done eating she put her plate aside and pulled her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and leaned her head against the chair behind her. Sarah had a hard time wrapping her head around just how beautiful Tally looked sitting there happy and placeful bathed in all the flickering lights.
“Thank you,” Tally said with a shy smile and that was when Sarah realized she had said it out loud. She hadn’t meant to do that, but she meant it just the same, and her words seemed to make Tally shine even brighter.
“What’s your favorite Yule tradition?” Sarah asked, stretching out her legs and crossing her feet at the ankles.
"Carving and decorating the Yule log!” Tally said without hesitation and then added after a bit of thought, “and… burning it in the evening.”
Sarah leaned her head against the chair behind her and relaxed in her seat. “Did you ever have any Yule visions growing up?”
Tally shook her head. “Not that I know of, but I also didn’t know then how to use my sight. And as you can imagine my mom…” Tally stopped talking.
Sarah didn’t want to push her but she also knew that Tally had to talk about it if she ever wanted to move past it. Maybe one day Sarah would take her own advice. “Your mom wasn’t very supportive of training what abilities you might have.”
Tally shook her head. “She didn’t want me to be special in any way that would be of use to the army in case that would put a dispensation for me in jeopardy.”
“So you became special all on your own,” Sarah said, hoping that Tally knew she meant it wholeheartedly because she was special.
“I guess so,” Tally said with a small smile. “Do you have a favorite Yule tradition?”
Sarah cleared her throat. “This is actually the first time since my sister was killed that I have celebrated Yule.”
“Oh,” Tally said simply and then she stretched out her legs, her booted feet almost touching Sarah’s. When Tally noticed this she quickly removed her boots and let the side of her foot rest against Sarah’s. It was a small gesture but quite sweet. As if Tally wanted Sarah to know that she was there for her if she needed it.
“It was her favorite holiday so it just never seemed right to celebrate it without her,” Sarah explained.
“Then why did you decide to celebrate this year?” Tally asked, very puzzled, which almost made Sarah laugh out loud because she thought it was obvious.
“Because of you.”
Even in the dim light of the room Sarah could see that Tally was blushing. “You did it for me?”
“I’m doing it for myself as well, but yes, I didn’t want you to miss out on a holiday you clearly like,” Sarah said and added in her head just because your mom and sisters are assholes.
“You’re right about that!”
“I thought you would be staying out of my head for the night.”
“We were just checking in. Seeing if everything was fine.”
“Everything is, so you can leave now.”
And they did, but Sarah had been so deep in thought she hadn’t realized Tally had moved until her body collided with Sarah’s. But that wasn’t all. Tally moved so she was straddling Sarah’s lap and she ran her fingers softly over her cheeks. Sarah could feel her breath on her face. “Thank you,” Tally said breathlessly, looking from Sarah’s eyes to her mouth.
And then she kissed her.
And Sarah immediately returned it.
It was soft and tender until Sarah lifted her arms and placed one hand on Tally’s hip and the other in her hair. That made Tally move. She slipped her hands from Sarah’s cheeks and circled her arms around her neck, pushing them closer together.
“Sarah?” Tally breathed out between kisses.
“Yes?” Sarah asked, but Tally never asked a question instead she slid her tongue into Sarah’s mouth, making her moan. Their tongues moved together, and Sarah’s hands shifted from their earlier positions and started running up and down Tally’s back. Oh how Sarah was wishing right now that Tally wasn’t wearing a dress so her hands could go under the hem and touch Tally’s warm skin.
As if Tally could read her mind she leaned back and fumbled with the skirt of her dress until she could slip it over her head, leaving her in just her black stockings and bra. “Is this okay?” Tally asked nervously, but Sarah was too stunned to respond. The silence seemed to make Tally even more nervous because she lifted her arms to cover herself.
Sarah quickly caught her wrists and pulled her arms back down. “Don’t,” she said in a husky voice. Tally bit her lower lip and relaxed her arms, so Sarah let go of her wrists and instead placed her hands on Tally’s thigh. A shaking breath left Tally’s mouth as Sarah began trailing her hands up her body, moving from her thighs all the way up her sides until they reached her shoulder blades. Sarah pushed Tally flushed against her and started kissing along her right cheekbone. Her hands didn’t stay still.
“This is really nice,” Tally breathed out.
“But?” Sarah asked.
Tally pulled back and Sarah searched her eyes for any signs that she had overstepped Tally’s boundaries. “But I’m not ready for this to lead to sex.”
Oh it was just that. “Can I keep kissing you?” Sarah asked with a smirk.
Tally grinned and nodded her head eagerly.
So that was what they did. They kissed and touched and talked until it was almost midnight and Tally suddenly remembered her Yule log that they still needed to burn. Tally crawled over to her box and got the heavy log out and placed it in the still roaming fire. When the flames had caught on to it Tally crawled back and sat herself down between Sarah’s legs, resting her back against Sarah’s chest.
Sarah wrapped her arms around Tally and pulled her closer. “Do you see anything in the fire? Maybe something interesting that will be happening in the year to come?”
Tally giggled. “More kissing?”
Sarah smiled and kissed the side of her head. “I think we can make that happen.”
Tally woke up before the sun. For a moment she was confused about where she was. This definitely wasn’t her bed. It wasn’t even a bed at all. Tally opened her eyes and slowly took in the sight of Sarah’s office and then it all clicked. She smiled to herself and rolled over. Sarah laid with her elbow tucked under her head still fast asleep. She looked so peaceful. It might be the most beautiful sight Tally had ever seen. And to think she now got to kiss her.
Tally raised up on her elbow so she could lean over and kiss Sarah’s bare shoulder. She stirred in her sleep but thankfully didn’t wake. The last thing Tally wanted to do was disturb her. Tally quickly kissed her again and then rolled over and got up from their makeshift bed on the floor. She couldn’t see her dress anywhere, so she instead picked Sarah’s black shirt off the armchair and put it on.
The room was more lit than Tally expected, so she anxiously checked the clock on the mantle to see if she missed it. Luckily she hadn’t. It was only 6:55am so she still had a few more minutes until the sun rose.
Tally put on her boots and then tiptoed over to the balcony doors. She opened them as silently as she could and slipped outside. Tally instantly felt cold but she didn’t care. The horizon was clear and full of colors. It was going to be a gorgeous day. She waited and waited and then it happened. A smile marked her face as the first rays of sunlight spread over the sky.
“Happy Birthday, sun,” Tally said and wrapped her arms around herself to keep from shaking.
It really was freaking cold.
Just as Tally couldn’t take the cold anymore she heard the door open behind her and saw Sarah standing there, holding out a blanket for her.
“Thank you!” Tally said, rushing into her arms so Sarah could wrap the blanket around her. It wasn’t enough to keep the cold out, but it would hold it at bay for a few minutes longer so Tally could watch the sun rise completely.
They stood side by side in silence at the railings edge for a moment until Sarah started humming.
Tally turned to look at her surprised. “You know The Beatles?!”
Sarah laughed. “I don’t know them personally, but I do have a fondness for civilian music,” she said and wrapped her arms around Tally from the back so they could both still see the sun rise.
And then Sarah started singing.
Little darling
It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.
Little darling
It feels like years since it’s been here.
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo
Here come the sun
And I say, “It’s all right.”
Tally turned in Sarah’s arms and pressed her face to the crook of her neck. Sarah kissed her cheek and pulled her close. This - right here - was everything Tally needed.
And everything would be alright.