Christmas approached rapidly. None of them was keen to visit home, so it wasn't really a question that Jenna and Robert would spend the Holidays together. This was Jenna's very first Christmas living with someone, and she was nervous about it, especially because they agreed that they would host Robert's mother on the 25th. Naturally, Jenna was much better with dads, on those rare occasions when she met someone's parents (mostly not in a proper way but while sneaking out in the morning after a fun night): she always had a way to make men like her. In her limited experience, mothers were much harder to charm, but Robert's seemed like a nice enough lady, so she definitely wasn't freaking out. Or so she said that to herself. 

Christmas Eve was only theirs, without any guests or responsibilities. They decorated the tree while Munin bombarded them with a lot of trivia about the Holidays, carefully choosing only the boring ones. After that the spirit animal got bored himself and left, stating that he had no real interest in "silly old superstitions", as he had put it. Jenna didn't mind. She still couldn't get along with the talking raven that well, and she also had plans for the evening that only required two participants. At least this time.  

So they cooked and ate and laughed and drank a lot of Christmas-y drinks, then tried to watch a movie to set the holiday mood and ended up having sex more than one time instead. It was the best Christmas Eve Jenna had in a decade or more. For one evening even the little voice repeating "you don't deserve this" over and over again, stayed silent.  

The next morning they woke up late, with a slightly dizzy head in Robert's case. 

'Man, you can not hold your liquor,' Jenna shook her head, as she made a mug of coffee for him.

'Well, I did drink a lot,' he said with a croaky voice, sitting up in the bed. He wore sweatpants and put on a t-shirt as he spoke.

'We have very different definitions about what counts as a "lot",' Jenna grinned and she gave the mug to him. He murmured something that could have been “thanks” and started to drink the coffee as if his life was depending on it.

Jenna glanced at their nicely decorated red and golden tree and the two wrapped boxes under it. She bit her lower lip. 'So… Are we going to give presents to each other now?'

'That's the general idea, yes,' Robert nodded, taking another sip. 'Are you ready?'

She was not. She didn't know what to expect. Did she choose a good present? What if it was too personal? Or not personal enough? Sure, Robert wanted it, he said it himself, but what if he changed his mind since then? Or what if a mere gesture simply just doesn't count as a present?

Jenna's racing thoughts were cut off by the box Robert put into her hands. It was square and flat and neatly wrapped. Her first Christmas present from her boyfriend. It felt weird but in a good way. She tore the paper and opened the box. For a moment something very unusual happened: Jenna had no words.

'It's beautiful,' she whispered then. 'Put it on me, please!'

It was a necklace, made with tiny silver links. The pendant was shaped like a teardrop, and barely visible lines made a powerful defending spell on it. It wasn't fancy, there were no stones or unnecessary shiny things, only pure magic. Simple but beautiful. Jenna loved it. It proved that Robert really did know her.

'I figured that I cannot ask you to stay away from danger, but I can make sure you are protected,' Robert said. Jenna picked her hair up so he could put the necklace on her. Then she turned around and put her arms around the man's neck. 

'I… I don't know what to say. Sorry. I love you,' she said and kissed him. She tried to tell everything else she couldn't by words with that kiss. It lasted for a few minutes; she had a lot to say.

The box Jenna gave to Robert was a tiny cube, the kind people usually put rings into. The man raised his eyebrow as he looked at the girl.

'Do you have something to ask from me, Jenna?'

'Just open it, you moron,' she smiled, one hand unconsciously playing with the pendant of her new necklace. She watched Robert nervously as he removed the lid of the box. Inside there was a single key, laying in red velvet. Robert picked it up and looked at it puzzled.

'You are not the kind who would say something like "this is the key for my heart",' he said slowly. 

'No, I'm not,' scoffed Jenna. 

'It's certainly too late for you to give me a key for your apartment, too, given that we live together,' Robert added. 'So what does this open?'

'It opens my house,' Jenna said. 'Well, our house.'

She saw that he was almost there. The shadow of understanding sat in his blue eyes.

'You mean…?'

'Well, I promised you I will think about it,' she shrugged. 'And I did. Actually, the more I was thinking about it, the more I liked the idea. The key belongs to a small house, barely a cabin, really, in a small village in Italy. It was my grandmother's, we used to spend summers there. I'm not sure if I can leave here entirely, mind you, but I figured I wouldn't know if I won't give it a try,' she spoke faster and faster, and even her accent became stronger. 'It's a leap of faith kind of thing, I guess. So I was thinking maybe we could go there, I don't know, for a few weeks at first, see how we feel… If you still want that,' she looked up to him now, with an anxious face. 'What do you think?'

'I think you are the most amazing woman I ever met…' Robert started.

'Careful, Montgomery, you know I don't respond well to emotions. And I doubt you have one more turn in you after last night, old man…'

'I love you, Jenna,' he said. His voice was a little too deep, full of feelings. 'I love you.'

Jenna sighed and wrapped her arms around Robert's neck again. 

'Well I guess we'll see about that one more turn…' she whispered and pulled him down on the bed kissing. 

After some loud, but talkless time and a shower they ate the leftovers from the evening and started to get ready for dinner. Jenna was the one who cooked, obviously.

'I can help, you know,' said Robert after Jenna sent him away for the second time.

'I know you believe that,' she smiled sweetly. 'But we want your mom to like me, remember? Giving her food-poisoning would make that much harder.'

'I'm not that bad...' he murmured but stayed out of Jenna's way for the rest of the afternoon. Munin stopped by to give them a long speech about unevolved human beings and their ridiculous need for food until Jenna made a promise that she would make the spirit-bird part of the menu. She really didn't need a know-it-all raven to annoy her right now.

'I'm not sure you can cook a spirit,' pitched in Robert. 'However, Munin, if I were you, I'd be very, very careful. Jenna likes to prove me wrong when it comes to things I thought to be impossible.' 

Looked like the totem wasn't sure about whether he could be cooked or not either, because he became uncharacteristically respectful, and didn't have any more snarky comments for the rest of the afternoon. Jenna was okay with that: one way or another, every man ended up doing what she wanted them to do. 

The evening came, and with it their guest, too. The mood was much lighter than Jenna would have imagined. Even though she had met Lady Elizabeth before, she was afraid that this time it would be different. But the lady greeted her with a smile and a big hug, then she complimented the Christmas decor.

'That's a very unusual pet,' she said, looking at Munin who was sitting on the armrest of the couch, turning a page in a book with his beak. 'Do crows usually, erm, reading books?'

'He is a raven, Mom,' corrected her Robert, as he hung her coat next to Jenna's leather jacket. 'Also, he isn't a real animal. He is a spirit-guide or totem if you will.'

'It's a pleasure to meet you,' said the bird, looking up from his book. 'Don't mind me, I'm just catching up on some quantum-physics here. You, humans, are adorably wrong about most of it.'

'You know, I kinda miss the times when I still would have found this weird,' sighed Jenna. 'And I hunt demons for a living. Anyway, who is hungry?'

Jenna made lasagna and a traditional Italian Christmas pastry called panettone for desert. Even though Munin made a point earlier about the stupidity of eating, now he happily accepted pieces of the cake. When Jenna pointed this out, the raven made a movement that was probably the bird equivalent of a shrug. Jenna threw a crumb of panettone at his head. 

After dinner, they sat on the couch with some Port that Jenna picked up the day before. Robert had to sit at his desk, leaving the couch for the women. Munin continued to read, now moved on the desk, eating a crumb or two every now and then.

'How is your… I mean, can you do…?' Lady Elizabeth hesitated. 

'Magic?' asked Robert a little too casually. 'I get by. I was studying different kinds of magic, there are some interesting areas, but it seems like I won't be using Runes anymore. It's not that bad, actually,' he added, seeing the sad face of his mother. Jenna didn't know what to say, as per usual: for her, the idea of losing magic was still terrifying. She couldn't even imagine how Robert made his piece with it. Shamanism or not, he was still robbed of something very important. Jenna was sure that she couldn't stay so positive if it would happen to her.

'I'm happy you see it this way' Lady Elizabeth said. 'We were worried about you. Your father, especially, was very concerned.'

'I imagine he was concerned about what people will think if they find out that one of his sons wasn't a real sorcerer anymore,' said Robert darkly. 

'You are being too hard on him,' shook her head Lady Elizabeth. 'He actually was worried about you.'

'He wasn't worried enough to come and see him while he was in a coma,' said Jenna dryly. The others looked at her, and even Munin stopped reading. 'I'm sorry, I don't want to… Not my… Sorry.'

'It's all right,' said the older woman sadly. 'You are right. Patrick always had a hard time communicating his emotions.'

Robert scoffed.

'That's one way to put it…' he murmured. 'Anyway, have you been at the clinic? According to the doctors, Benjamin is doing great. Rose is with him every day, I think.'

'Yes, I met her the other day. Are they dating now?' Lady Elizabeth asked.

'God knows,' Robert sighed. 'Possibly. Relationships are a very strange topic when it comes to our family, isn't it?'

'It's not your fault,' said Munin from the desk. 'You are only human beings, so your intelligence is very limited. You cannot see how things actually work, and you constantly miss the obvious. You cannot even understand simple things like magic, the meaning of life, or the way the universe works, one cannot ask you to understand the dimensions of love.'

'Thank you, Munin, this was nice,' said Robert sarcastically. 'Remind me to introduce you to a man called Luther. You two will hit it off.'

'Is he always like this?' asked Lady Elizabeth from Jenna.

'Which one?' asked back Jenna. 'Robert has his moments. The bird is a pain in the ass. And not in the… Actually, never mind,' she turned a little red and hid her face behind her hair. 

'Anyway,' raised his voice Robert, giving a little eye-roll to Jenna. 'I think Benjamin is going to be okay this time. Now that he has something to change for, it seems to me he really means it.'

Jenna looked at Munin, ready to curse the bird if he happened to have something to say about the ability to change, but the raven stayed quiet this time. Good, Jenna thought. She wasn't sure what she was thinking about the whole thing, either. People hardly ever changed. On the other hand, she did become a mostly functioning girlfriend, and Robert became less of a snob asshole, so maybe change was possible after all. Either way, Munin remained uncursed and the mood mostly unaffected. 

With the flat being only a studio apartment, they couldn't offer a room to Lady Elizabeth to stay, but she wouldn't do that anyway: she stated that she wanted to go home and check on her husband before bed, maybe even had a night cup with him. Jenna saw on Robert's face that he didn't think such normal things involving his father would be possible, but he didn't say anything. Lady Elizabeth gave a long, warm hug to Jenna before she left.

'I think it's safe to say that you charmed her,' Robert said, sitting down on the couch.

'Yes, you humans are really easy to manipulate, and I am a unique, interesting and altogether adorable creature,' said Munin.

'You realise, of course, that I wasn't talking to you, right?

'Feathery little bastard,' added Jenna, sitting down beside Robert. 'Do you really think she liked me?'

'I'm positive, yes,' nodded Robert, hugging Jenna's shoulder. 

'Well,' she said. 'I'm glad. I think I like her, too. Now we just have to make my father like you at his party, and we are good to go…'

Munin gave a sound that most likely was a derisive scoff, and Jenna couldn't blame him this time.