Birds twittered in the yard. The morning wind blew the curtain and I snuggled further into Angus and the blankets. I was having the nicest dream about England, visiting Maude and Brett and touring different towns and the countryside. We ended up travelling all the way up to Scotland where the band was playing a few shows. It had been such a nice dream...

Angus stirred a bit, mumbling something unintelligible. He tightened his hold on me and sighed. The neighbour's dog barked his morning salute. Sleepy and out of it, Angus opened his eyes and looked at me. His hair covered half his face. "Mornin', Hannah," he mumbled. 

More barking. I smiled. "Good morning, Ollie."

Angus pulled away from me slightly, eyes suddenly wide and wide awake. "Who's Ollie?"

I laughed. "That's the dog outside," I said. Angus turned his head toward the open window and listened as Ollie sang his basset hound blues solo. Angus relaxed and snuggled back into me. 

"Oh," he muttered, sleep taking over again. Ollie sang us a lullaby, the birds joining in for the chorus. My eyes fluttered closed, allowing myself to be taken back to dreamland...when I suddenly remembered. 

"Angus," I whispered. He snored. I gently shook him. "Angus McKinnon...."

"Huh?" he asked blinking and rubbing his eyes. "What is it?"

"It's Christmas," I said with a smile. Angus gave me a goofy grin in return and closed his eyes.

"That's nice," he mumbled before starting to snore again. I giggled to myself and relaxed in his embrace. 

Both of us sat up in a hurry when something banged on our window. "What the fuck was that?" Angus asked yawning. Wrapping the blanket around my shoulders I crept up to the curtain and pulled it back, revealing a magpie quickly taking off at our appearance. Angus squinted from the sun, looking around the yard. "What was it?"

"A magpie," I said. "Probably saw his reflection and thought it was another bird."

"Another bird comin' to steal his woman?" Angus asked with a smile. "Well..." Angus laid back down and pulled the covers over his head. "Wake me up tomorrow...." I thought I heard him snoring again when the magpie rammed into the window, banging on it like an intruder. Angus groaned and sat up pulling the covers off. I blushed a little and wrapped the blanket tighter around myself. "Fuck, already, we're gettin' up!"

**********

I carried the pile of sheets to the washing machine, watching out for curious kittens trying to escape. Figured I may as well do some laundry while waiting for breakfast to cook. I was making us some eggs and hash browns. The coffee maker poured some black coffee into the pot filling the room with its delicious smell. When I came back inside Angus was laughing. "Hey, come look at this," he said waving me over. 

I walked over to see him holding the broom, attempting to sweep the floor. Ivy lunged at the bristles, batting them and leaping about a foot in the air. Magnolia watched too, wiggling her bum before pouncing on Ivy. The two of them attacked the broom and Angus couldn't sweep properly. 

"What on Earth are you two doing?" I asked laughing. Ivy did a whole acrobatics stunt before batting the bristles again. Magnolia's grass green eyes were as wide as saucers and Ivy's ice blue eyes were sparkling. 

Angus held onto the broom for support as he doubled over laughing. "This is ridiculous," he muttered with a smile. 

The eggs crackled in the pan. I grabbed a spatula to stir them with and Angus put the broom away. He grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee, bringing them over to the table. After plating the food, I joined him for a nice breakfast.

**********

"Okay, there's been a slight accident," I said handing him his glass. Angus took it and frowned.

"What happened?"

"I'm illiterate," I said sitting on the bench across from him. We had just finished our work in the yard and took a break under the tent, sitting at the picnic table. Garden watered, fresh produce picked and washed, grass cut, branches trimmed. I had shrugged off my white, cropped sweatshirt and left it next to me. I stirred my drink. "I thought the spoon said teaspoon, not tablespoon."

Angus took a sip. "So..."

"I put in a little extra chocolate by accident," I said. He shrugged.

"Nothin' wrong with that," he said drinking his chocolate milk. "The more the better." I drank mine with the spoon.

It tastes better on a spoon.

"It tastes fine," I agreed. "I'm just a bit particular about my milk to chocolate ratio." Angus stared at me. "Sometimes there's too much chocolate." He blinked.

"Unless you backed up a cement truck and poured the chocolate in that way," he said and I started laughing. "What do ya' mean 'too much'?"

"Did I-did I stutter?" He smiled and shook his head.

"Unbelievable."

**********

"I love you," he said placing careful kisses on my neck. I wrapped my legs tighter around him, trying to bring him as close to me as possible. 

"I love you too," I whispered. We made love in his bed that night deciding it was easier than making the trek back and forth. The grumpy teddy bear had fallen off the bed and lucky for us because he did not like what he saw. I closed my eyes and sighed, enjoying the feeling his warm lips left on my skin. 

The sheets were damp. We left the covers off and sufficed with only the blanket to cover us. I ran my fingers through his wet hair, combing out the tangles. He cradled me in his arms, being as gentle as possible like always. Crickets chirped outside. A few dogs barked. We stayed as quiet as we could, only making noise when it hurt to hold them in. 

He left a trail of kisses from my jaw to my shoulder, his breath hot against my ear. "Ang..." I whispered, attempting eye contact. He looked down at me with an almost sleepy expression. "I love you."

He kissed my lips. "Love you too."

**********

The next day, after watching endless Christmas specials making one last appearance before disappearing completely for a year, Angus took up his guitar while I took to my book. I kept a watchful eye on the kittens who were batting at low hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree. Once in a while they'd knock one off and I'd get up to fix it, putting it a little higher than their reach. Magnolia tried jumping on the train, going for a spin around the tree. Eventually I just turned it off before someone's tail got caught on the tracks. 

Angus played a song that looked very hard to replicate. His fingers were strumming the neck incredibly fast. I flexed my hand. Just watching him made me feel sore. He didn't seem to mind and even enjoyed the challenge. I could only smile in admiration. 

**********

We made love again.

**********

I tossed and turned in our bed. There was no clock for me to stare at and maybe that was a good thing. I didn't need the added stress keeping me awake. I sat up, the covers falling to my lap. I held them up against my chest and sighed. 

I sneezed.

I sniffled.

My head throbbed.

My nose was blocked and my eyes watered. My allergies were acting up and Angus got a front row seat to the gross, snotty entity that was me. He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep," I said taking a long sniff. 

"Catch a cold, or somethin'?" he mumbled.

"Allergies," I said coughing into my elbow. After a rather extensive yawn and an even bigger stretch, he reached over the side of the bed and pulled up his guitar that was resting in the corner. Unhooking the strap he let it drop to the floor and plucked a bit. 

"Havin' a rough night myself, now that you mention it," he said feeling the strings for the right chord to play. It still amazed me that he could play by muscle memory. A musician I was not. "I'll play you a song if ya' want."

I lay back down, my allergies getting even worse. Without medicine or tissues I'd have to tough it out. Having Angus awake with me made it a bit more bearable. As he played his guitar I started to sing.

Well..."sing".

"I can't breathe and I can't sleep...I'm about to fucking weep..." Angus started laughing a little bit and kept playing. "My nose is running, full of snot....the world is sleeping and I am not...." Both of us erupted in laughter and I tried to come up with more lyrics quickly. "Did I mention I have allergies...so pass the nose spray if you pleeeeease...."

After another fit of giggles I quit singing and let Angus play. I sneezed again. "Bless you," he said.

"Thanks," I sniffed.

"That song goin' on the album?" he asked. "Comin' to a record store near you?"

I smiled. "Yeah. I think I'll sing a duet with Ollie. You can play the music for us."

"Be happy to," Angus said and started up on a Who number.

**********

And again.

**********

"Ivy, get out of the sink!" I said hurrying over. Picking her up and setting her down, I sighed in defeat as she raced around the counter and jumped on the bar stool. Soon enough she was headed for the sink again. "You naughty little kitty," I said picking her up and setting her on the floor. Her little heart thumped rapidly against my palm. She trotted up to her empty bowl and started meowing.

I grabbed their food canister from the top of the cage and filled the bowl. She closed her eyes, folded ears twisting around as she crouched down to munch. Magnolia sat under the table, grooming her face.

Angus had gone outside for a quick smoke. He said he didn't want to leave too many traces behind for my family to stumble upon. I brought out my record player, hoping the kittens wouldn't think the cord was something to nibble on. Miss Ella Fitzgerald sang while Louis Armstrong provided the music. I made sure the volume was not too loud and the kittens seemed content with it. 

After polishing her plate Ivy gave herself a quick bath and jumped on the bar stools again. I caught her sniffing the pat of butter and pawing at the loaf of bread. Magnolia followed her up, giving her sister's tail a swift bite. 

"Naughty little kitties," I smiled. 

**********

And again.