Snow fell gently to the ground outside Gabbie’s kitchen window. The full moon and colored lights strung around the edge of the roof gave the snow a certain, lovely glow and seemed to add a cheerfulness to the stark white. Inside, the kitchen was lit with the warm glow of a couple of Christmas candles and the hanging lamp over the table. And piled atop the table were rolls of tape, various wrapping papers and mounds of gifts. She’d even baked some cookies and dug out her aunt’s Dean Martin’s Christmas Carols CD just to complete the festive atmosphere.

Nibbling on a cookie as Dean warbled about Rudolph, Gabbie studied the pile, pondering what to attack first. She’d already wrapped and labeled her aunt’s gifts. So... Cordy first, then Khalla, then the boys. Clearing herself a small workspace, Gabbie selected a roll of wrapping paper that she’d bough just for Cordy’s presents. It didn’t have the wild colors of designs of some of the other rolls, but the lovely, deep shimmering purple was perfect for her friend. And since she was doing presents within presents, she started with the smallest of the gifts first. One by one, a couple of gift certificates to a local spa were wrapped, that a gift basket full of lotions and shower gels, a particularly cute knit cap with a little raven feather tucked into the band, a cute little tree frog hoodie (Gabbie grinned to herself), various little accessories, a beaded bag and the crowning glory, the ballgown that Cordy had looked so wistful over the other night on patrol. Gabbie had to giggle and hug herself once that lovely thing was boxed up and wrapped. Just as quickly, she carefully put them all inside a bigger box, sealed and wrapped that and stuck a silvery-purple bow on top.

Satisfied that Cordy was well provided for gift wise, she moved on to Khalla’s gifts, many of them identical to Cordy’s. Except the hoodie was of a white kitten, the cap was replaced with knitted mittens and the ballgown replaced with a gorgeous knit shawl in various shades of gold, white and cream. All of Khalla’s gifts went into a box wrapped in pale gold paper with a white bow.

And so it went as the night dwindled. Oddy’s presents were wrapped in rainbow splatter paper, though his gifts weren’t sealed into the larger box. Not yet. After all, Cordy had to add her own contributions to that box. But privately, Gabbie thought that Oddy would enjoy his penguin hoodie, straw cowboy hat and the truly eye-raping rainbow bolo tie she’d managed to find. It was the same for Hammie. Into his blue and green plaid paper wrapped box went a grey bunny hoodie, a new kilt and a dagger she knew he’d been coveting from Museum Replicas.

All too soon, or so it felt to Gabbie, the wrapping of presents was over and the table cleared of gifts and scraps of wrapping paper. With a soft sigh, Gabbie snuffed out the candles, boxed up the cookies and put them in the freezer. Then, with a last, satisfied look at the wrapped boxes stacked neatly beside the table, she turned the lamp off and went to bed.