'Why is Moth so upset?' 'I helped!' yelled Moth. 'But Hava is mad at me! It's not fair!' 'Moth is suffering from a guilty conscience,' I said crisply, 'because she knows she did not do what she was asked.' Giddon's eyes were suddenly mild, and maybe a little amused. 'A taste of your own medicine?'
“What are you thinking?” I asked as the bells died away.
“I was remembering how the village celebrated Saturnalia when I was a child. There were not many Christians, apart from my parents and a few other families. On the last day of the festival—the twenty-third of December—Philippe went to every house, pagan and Christian, and asked the children what they wished for the New Year.” Matthew’s smile was wistful. “When we woke up the next morning, we discovered that our wishes had been granted.”
“That sounds like your father,” I observed. “What did you wish for?”
“More food, usually,” Matthew said with a laugh. “My mother said the only way to account for the amount I ate was hollow legs. Once I asked for a sword. Every boy in the village idolized Hugh and Baldwin. We all wanted to be like them. As I recall, the sword I received was made of wood and broke the first time I swung it.”
“And now?” I whispered, kissing his eyes, his cheeks, his mouth.
“Now I want nothing more than to grow old with you,” Matthew said.
Matthew was a nuisance, too, picking at the dish of nuts I’d whipped up from Em’s recipe. At this point if any of them lasted till dinner, it was going to be a Christmas miracle.
“Just one more,” he wheedled, sliding his hands around my waist.
“You’ve eaten half a pound of them already. Leave some for Marcus and Jack.” I wasn’t sure if vampires got sugar highs, but I wasn’t eager to find out. “Still liking your Christmas present?”
I’d been trying to figure out what to get the man who had everything ever since the children were born, but when Matthew told me his wish was to grow old with me, I knew exactly what to do for his present.
“I love it.” He touched his temples, where a few silver strands showed in the black.
“You always said I was going to give you gray hairs.” I grinned.
“And I thought it was impossible. That was before I learned that impossible n’est pas Diana,” he said, paraphrasing Ysabeau. Matthew grabbed a handful of nuts and went to the babies before I could react. “Hello, beauty.”
…
Matthew showed off the half dozen strands of gray hair that had resulted from my Christmas spell and explained happily that every year I’d give him more.
"no we're on the planet" literally one of my favorite Veth moments but also I do love how the pirates arc is just everyone being like "ok the responsibility for improving the mood is on me specifically" except for Fjord who is like "the responsibility for everyone's survival is on me specifically."
most brother thing my brother has ever done is stayed up until 2am to make sure i got home safe, made fun of me when i got home drunk, and then pretended he didn’t actually wait up for me when my parents asked about it the next day
