It had been a nice afternoon and evening, Nora had to admit to herself as she and Eric left Clelia in the square at half past ten. The three of them had managed to sell most of the reasonable number of books Clelia had brought for the last night of the market, she only had a couple left which she would stuff in her handbag and carry with her to church where she was going for the Midnight Mass, she told them. They were free to go home.

They both hugged and kissed her, then watched her join Mary and a handful of other people heading for the church, while they said goodbye to Richard and his very loud and jovial group of friends who all seemed to know and like Eric just as much as Clelia.

Then they finally walked across the square teeming with people and flooded with softly playing Christmas music in the direction of the castle, and stepped into the snowy coldness of the night filling the world beyond the circle of warm light emanating from the square, under the thickly grown trees of the park.

The sound of music morphed slowly into the whisper of the never freezing fountain and the murmur of their footfalls on the snow-buried gravel. Nora pulled the hood of her coat up, noticing how her clothes were permeated with the scents of vanilla and cinnamon, of Clelia's biscuits and even the hot chocolate the two had talked her into making in the end. She smelled of Christmas, and she loved it; she wished she could have shared this afternoon with Martin and Daniel. It would have been perfect then.

But it was Eric who walked by her side now and laced his arm promptly around hers when she slipped on the ice hiding in the crevices among the cobble stones as they climbed the castle hill.

"Good night, Eric," she said as they reached the drawbridge, content to walk the rest of the way home on her own. It had been a pleasant but a very long day, and she hadn't had an alone moment to think.

"No way I'm leaving you to walk home alone. That meadow is dark and full of snow and wild animals..."

"Silly Eric," Nora said, smiling at him. "You just see your wind mills everywhere..." She saw his eyebrows drawing together in thought, so she continued before he could ask what she meant, "I walked up that meadow at least once a day since I returned almost a month ago. There are no wild animals around, apart from some deer and a couple of foxes, and most of them are on friendly terms with Daniel and your brother."

"Well, I don't think my brother would thank me for allowing you to walk home alone. Come on, you won't make me change my mind." He started walking towards the stables, taking her with him.

She sighed, recognising a lost battle even without fighting it. They walked slowly up the snow-covered, sloping meadow, guided by Nora's knowledge of the place rather than their sight. The sky above their heads was overcast with black clouds and the snow flakes grew in size gradually as they climbed the gentle hill, and it was Nora's turn to steady Eric as he stumbled a few times on the path which apparently hadn't been cleaned since the morning.

"Well, thank you," Nora said once they reached her cottage, bursting into a fit of giggles as an owl hooted somewhere in the encroaching forest, making Eric's hand fly to his heart. "I had a nice time."

"But... you won't invite me in, and you won't even even tell me what you were supposed to tell me, I guess."

"Well... exactly," she said. She didn't feel like doing either of the things now. She wanted to take a shower, go to bed, and just be alone. "I'll see you at Clelia's tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night, Nora. It was wonderful seeing you again," he muttered on a sigh.

She ran up the porch steps and found her keys, then turned around, suppressing another giggle at seeing Eric descending the hill carefully, his phone in his hand illuminating the path unfolding under his feet. He didn't have Martin's ability to navigate through the darkness... Goodness, she missed Martin...

It was midnight precisely-- the sound of bells reaching her cottage all the way from the town's square informed her-- when Martin called her.

"Hi," he said, his voice sounding like a stranger's, coming from the phone. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas to you and Daniel," she said, feeling awkward, unused to talk to him on the phone. She pulled a chair from her desk towards the fireplace in her room, feeling the heat of the flames seep through the damp strands of her hair and the soft fabric of the dressing gown she had wrapped herself in after the shower.

"How was your day?" she asked as he stayed silent for too long.

"The usual," he replied, "I can't wait to be back and see you again tomorrow. I miss you, Nora."

"I miss you too," she admitted in reply, wishing he was there with her. She missed his smile, his kisses, his touch...

"What have you done today?" he asked as it was she who stayed silent for too long now.

Somehow, she was absolutely certain that he was asking her about Eric. Well, even if she didn't tell him, Eric would.

"I spent the afternoon with Eric. First at Clelia's, then in the market. He walked home with me only half an hour ago," she admitted. "I didn't talk to him, not about that," she added quickly. "Did you get a chance to speak to Victoria?"

"No," he muttered. "But I will. I miss you, Nora. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sleep well. And drive safely tomorrow. I miss you both. Say hello to Daniel, please."

"I will. Good night."

"Good night..." It was the hardest thing to put the phone down.

"Nora..."

"Martin... Good night," she repeated, feeling young and silly. She was thirty, for goodness sake.

"Nora, I'm so sorry about last night..."

She was, too. But there was nothing to be done about that now.

"It changes nothing between us. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Sleep well," she assured him, then put the phone down before he could say anything else. She was bad with phone calls, she would prefer talking to him in person.

In the morning, she got up with the first wintry light seeping into her room through the gap in the curtains. It was only eight o'clock, but she had things to do before she would go down to Clelia's. Her godmother wanted them all present at one, and, from what Nora had heard about her Christmas dinners, no one would leave before seven. And they were supposed to bring the presents there, presents that she hadn't wrapped yet.

She donned her dressing gown and opened the window in her room, then ran downstairs, made herself a cup of coffee to accompany a couple of ginger bread biscuits she nibbled at while she gathered the presents she needed to wrap by the sitting room's fireplace.

She walked back upstairs then, brushed her teeth, got dressed and made her bed, checked that the window was shut and everything was in order, knowing that she wouldn't come up here again before the evening. She really hadn't had much time to spend in the cottage so far, she mused, descending the stairs again, forgetting about the thought the moment she spotted the pile of presents by the fireplace, the lively flames reflecting off the rolls of shiny wrapping paper.

It didn't take too long to put the matching gloves, scarf and hat she had chosen for Martin, made of the softest light grey cashmere, into a silver gift bag after she kept the warm wool pressed to her cheek for a long while, revelling in its softness, recalling the night when he told her that he didn't have a hat.

It took her longer to wrap the Harry Potter book set she bought for Daniel, in a bookstore in town rather than Clelia's shop so her godmother wouldn't spoil the surprise by a chance slip of her talkative tongue.

Only a few moments were sufficient to fold and wrap the long, purple, fake fur lined night dress and the matching dressing gown for Clelia, the same colour as her godmother's favourite coat.

Then it was the turn of the ginger bread biscuits and chocolates she had made in her free moments over the previous week just in case that she might need a last moment present, and now divided them in cellophane bags labelled 'Eric', 'Maglena+Family', and, her fingers trembling slightly as she wrote, 'Lily+Mum'.

It was only eleven when she placed her presents in a large denim bag and cleared the sitting room, too early to go to Clelia's now-- her godmother had made it clear that she didn't need any help preparing the meal today. Strangely, the biscuits Nora had had for breakfast didn't satisfy her hunger today... at least she made herself believe that, as she realised that Martin and Daniel might come to pick her up, and they would be hungry after the journey. There was enough time time to put together a tray of spinach, ham, and cheese brunch muffins...

She set to work without overthinking the thought and was just walking back toward her cooling muffins after having banked the fire in the sitting room when someone knocked on the door.

Feeling the silly smile pulling the corners of her lips towards her ears, she swerved towards the front door and gathered Daniel in her arms even as he ran at her. Nora hugged him tightly, caressing his golden curls, whispering how much she missed him in his ear when she became conscious of being watched.

She let go of the boy, the sound of him removing his shoes reaching her from the margins of her consciousness as she straightened up, facing Martin and Eric. They didn't look so similar standing next to each other, she noticed before Martin reached out for her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely, feeling only the tiniest pang in her heart at hearing Eric's sigh as he followed Daniel inside.

"I missed you, Nora. Sorry, he insisted on coming with us," Martin muttered as they pulled away for breath. "I wasn't sure if I may kiss you in front of him, if you would mind..." he trailed off, pulling her closer as she buried her face in his jacket, her cheeks burning with embarrassment at her very public show of emotions. Both Daniel and Eric saw them...

"I missed you," she said, pulling away from him finally, leaning into his touch as he caressed her warm cheek with the back of his hand.

"I'll talk to Lily and Victoria today, after Clelia's dinner," he promised solemnly even as Daniel's voice and his hand, tugging at the sleeve of Nora's cardigan, disturbed them, only allowing her to nod in reply to Martin.

"May I have a muffin, Nora? Uncle Eric wants one, too!"

"Of course you can. Just be careful; the tray might still be hot. And make sure to leave one for Daddy. Come and have a muffin before we go down," she added as Daniel hopped off, turning back to Martin, letting him kiss her again before they followed the other two inside.