"Rhea, I've decided to train under Elara" Harvey announced during breakfast. He had been thinking about it for a while. It would be better if he learned how to care for women more, at least if Rhea ever got sick, he wouldn't be so helpless like last time. 

Rea looked up from her breakfast, her eyes searching his face. "You'll join the healer's guild?"

He nodded. "I'll be gone till the evening most of the time, but you just have to wait for me to come back. I'll tell Winston to keep an eye on you while I'm gone." 

She nodded. "That's ok; I don't mind being alone, I can take care of myself." 

She wouldn't stop him from doing what he wanted; he wasn't her pet. But now that he was gone, what would she do?

The silence after he left that morning was deafening. This was the first time she had been alone since she was in this world. She always had Curtis, Harvey, or someone around, It felt strange. 

"I should make something useful," she muttered to herself, looking around the room. Her eyes landed on some fabric they had traded for recently and set out making the Christmas presents for the year. 

Rhea had never made clothes before, it didn't occur to her that she could actually measure people's sizes, so she just eyeballed from memory and started making a Roman inspired cloak for Harvey with a soft fur lining. They were all adjustable so she wouldn't have to ask them for measurements anyway. 

Time flew by, and she barely noticed the hours slipping away. Her arms started to cramp as she was sewing, so she decided to take a break to warm up lunch. 

In the early afternoon, there was a knock on the door. Rhea looked up from her work, slightly startled. "Who could that be?"

She opened the door to find Dali standing there, smiling brightly. "Rhea! I hope I'm not disturbing you. You promised to visit, but I thought I'd come to you instead."

Rhea's face lit up with joy. "Dali!" She hugged her tightly. She had completely forgotten she promised to visit; Dali must have been waiting for her. "Come in, come in. Is this your mate?" She asked, pointing at the wolf male standing protectively behind her with a baby girl in his arms.

"Yes! This is Nobel, and our daughter Lilly."

"What a lovely name! She's so cute too!" Rhea gushed, looking at Lilly; she had beautiful black hair in two cute pigtails and chubby cheeks with her mother's black eyes. She had a beautiful beaded necklace on her neck, which Rhea recognized as one of hers.

Rhea brought them in and cleared her dining table, which was covered in fabrics.

"Are you making clothes, Rhea?" Dali asked curiously.

"Yes, we'll be celebrating Christmas together, so I'm making presents!"

"What's Christmas? Is it like a festival?"

"It's an old tradition in my tribe. Everyone gets together to have a feast and we exchange gifts. Do you want to join us?" Rhea asked excitedly.

"We'd love to! I'll bring my mates! It should be fun. Do you want me to bring anything? We have lots of wine."

"That would be perfect!"

The both of them talked idly. Dali caught Rhea up with the recent gossip, and Rhea shared her lunch with them. The room was filled with laughter and chatter, making Rhea feel less lonely in Harvey's absence.

"Is it okay if I carry Lilly?" Rhea asked.

Dali looked at her mate, who handed Lilly over. The baby was so cute, and she smiled brightly at Rhea.

"She's so smart! She doesn't even cry with strangers," Rhea said, laughing as the child grabbed her fingers.

"She's very naughty. Just yesterday, she refused to go to sleep till late at night, keeping her father up," Dali said with a sigh.

"Wait, let me get her something." Rhea slipped off and came back with a gold bangle she slipped on Lilly's hand. "Here, a pretty accessory for a pretty princess."

Dali and her mate smiled as they watched Rhea interact with their child.

"Are you also going to have children, Rhea? It's almost spring."

Rhea paused for a moment. She hadn't wanted children, and she had already almost died because of an egg, so she didn't know. "Maybe? I don't really know. I'm a bit scared of having children," she admitted. It would be nice to have a little Curtis and a little Harvey around, but still...

"It's scary for everyone. When I had Lilly, I thought I would die from the pain, but I don't regret having her."

Rhea watched the child play with the gold bangle in her hand. Then Lilly reached out for Rhea's braids, tugging on them gently.

Rhea laughed, letting Lilly play with her hair. "She's so sweet. Maybe one day, I'll be brave enough."

Dali smiled encouragingly. "You'll be a wonderful mother, Rhea. Just take your time."

They continued to chat and play with Lilly until the afternoon light began to fade. Nobel stood, cradling Lilly in his arms. "We should get going. Thank you for having us, Rhea."

Rhea nodded, hugging Dali again. "Thank you for coming. Come visit me soon!"

.

Harvey got back after dusk, opening the door to see Rhea setting the table. 

"Welcome home Harvey!"

Her smile was so beautiful, he was stunned for a second. 

This woman was his. 

"Hmm, I'm back." 

Harvey went in to wash up and came out to see that Rhea had dished out her cooking for the day. He watched her rush about in the kitchen and felt content, they both sat down to eat. 

"This is delicious," Harvey said between bites. "I missed your cooking."

"Dali visited me today." She said telling him about her day. "She has a really cute daughter, her name is lily."

"I'm glad she's doing well, her males must be pampering her after getting her back." Harvey said laughing.

Rhea stopped as if she wanted to say something. 

"Is everyone ok?"

"Do you want children Harvey?"

"Hmm, well.. females tend to love their males more if they give her children." 

Rhea chuckled, "really? If you make me give birth and rip my vagina, I might kill you out of frustration."

"Then no kids." Her words sounded too threatening for him to admit to wanting kids. 

"But I want one now."

"Wait. You do?"

She nodded cutely. 

Harvey didn't know what to say. Curtis was still hibernating; if he got her pregnant, how would he feel?

"Should we have a child?" She asked again. 

 How could he say no to that?

. 

Christmas came quickly, that morning the snow was especially beautiful. Rhea woke up with enough energy to lift an elephant. She had spent the past few days preparing, and now everything was coming together.

Harvey took the day off to help her with the final preparations. Together, they cooked a variety of dishes, trying to replicate traditional Christmas foods as best they could with the ingredients available. 

"Do you think they'll like it?" Rhea asked, tasting the stew one last time.

"They'll love it," Harvey reassured her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You did an amazing job, as always."

As the evening came, their friends began to arrive. Bai Qingqing and Parker were the first to show up with Parker carrying a large slab of meat over his shoulder.

"Merry Christmas!" Bai Qingqing called out, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "We brought some meat for the feast!"

"Thank you so much!" Rhea said, hugging her. "Come in, come in. Everything's almost ready."

Shuu arrived next, holding a small, wrapped package. His eyes lit up when he saw Bai Qingqing. "Merry Christmas, Qingqing. I brought you a gift."

Bai Qingqing blushed as she took the package. "Thank you, Shuu. That's so sweet of you." Rhea couldn't help but laugh; he was cute and so obvious, Parker looked like he wanted to kill him. 

Rhea gathered everyone around the table, and they all exchanged gifts. She handed out her carefully made clothes to each of them.

"Winston, this is for you," she said, giving him a set of new clothes.

Winston looked genuinely touched. "Rhea.. thank you." He said as he felt the soft fabric in his hands. He wasn't the best at making clothes so he wore what he could, he didn't think she would notice, he felt a bit embarrassed. 

Harvey received his gift next, and Rhea urged him to change into it. He returned, looking dashing in the new outfit, a smile on his face. "It's perfect, Rhea. Thank you." 

Muir and Shuu were equally happy with their gifts. Rhea treated Shuu like a little brother, ruffling his hair affectionately. "Merry Christmas, Shuu."

Shuu grinned, holding up his new clothes. "Thank you, Rhea. I love them."

Bai Qingqing opened Shuu's present, inside was a beautiful piece of jewellery. "I hope you like it," he said, blushing.

Bai Qingqing's eyes widened with delight. "Shuu, it's beautiful. Thank you so much."

Dali and her mates arrived shortly after, with little Lilly in tow. They brought a beautifully wrapped gift for Rhea.

"Merry Christmas, Rhea," Dali said, handing her the package. "We hope you like it."

Rhea opened it to find a glowing pearl. 

"Oh wow! Where is this from?" She asked curiously. 

"It's from the mermaid tribe, I thought you'd like it." Dali said with her chest puffed up proud. 

Rhea was geeking out; mermaids were real! She made up her mind to go see them this summer.

Harvey then presented Rhea with his gift, a small wooden box. Inside was a set of figurines carved from wood. 

"Harvey is this.."

Harvey smiled sheepishly. "Winston helped me, I hope we got everyone."

The figurines were her family, or how she described them to Harvey, all standing there with smiles on their faces, like in her memories. 

Rhea's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the tiny figures. "Harvey..." She choked on tears, speechless. Harvey hugged her tightly, and she hugged him back. 

Winston watched quietly, wanting to comfort her as well, but held back, reminding himself that it wasn't his place, as long as it meant a lot to her, he was satisfied.

After she had calmed down, Rhea was distracted by Lilly tugging on her dress. 

 "Come on up, Lilly" She said, picking up Lilly and holding her close. The little girl giggled, her tiny hands reaching for Rhea's hair.

As they drank their fill, the cold winter night seemed a little less harsh.

There's something about that night that felt magical. The world was a bit kinder and nicer. 

Rhea would always hold that day dear to her heart. 

.

That night, when their house was quiet again, Rhea had Harvey sitting on the floor while she sat on a wooden stool, braiding his hair. 

She had always felt like doing his since his hair was long, today was her chance. 

"If it hurts, just tell me." She said as she partitioned his hair. For someone who had never used shampoo or conditioner, his hair was too soft. 

"Hey Rhea, thank you." 

"For what?" she asked absentmindedly. 

"For coming into my life."

"Really? That's all?" She teased, laughing. 

"Hmm, that's all." 

"Alright. Harvey, thank you for begging to follow me. I don't think I'd have the opportunity to be this happy if you didn't."

"Hey, I was a coward but I couldn't let you just slip away like that." He said, laughing. "You know, you're pretty amazing." 

"Right? I'm awesome." 

"And humble too." 

"Haha, very funny. When Curtis wakes up, we should all have a day out somewhere, just the three of us." 

Harvey hummed in agreement and he relaxed as her fingers ran through his hair. 

They sat in silence, enjoying each other's company. 

"Hey Rhea." 

"Hmm?"

"I love you." 

"... Thank you, Harvey."

.

Please.

.

Please.

.

Harvey, please.

.

Don't go.

.

No..

.

I'm Sorry..

. 

I love you. 

...