There were 2 members of father's family that had birthdays in the fall: Mark and Beverly.
Although mother raised Mark since mistress Lily's death, which occurred when he was a child, he regarded her as a nanny rather than a mother. He didn't treat us, his beast-kin half-siblings, as family, and celebrated his birthdays only with his human family and friends. He wasn't hostile to us like Trevor was. He was just...distant.
As for Beverly, we held her birthday party as usual. I gave her a sweater I had knitted for her, with orange and white stripes to match the pattern of the fur of her tail.
"Thanks", she said wryly with narrowed eyes.
"Why don't you try it on?" I suggested with false innocence.
With encouragement from Emma, Martin, and Phillip, she eventually surrendered and put the sweater on. As expected, it made her look like she was covered in fur, making her look even more like a large and sulking cat than usual. We all had a laugh, and even our usually-serious father chuckled.
"I'm going to remember this for your next birthday", Beverly threatened with mock severity, eliciting even more laughter.
As the days grew shorter and shorter the time for new year's celebration grew near, as the holiday would start on the night after the winter solstice. The winter solstice was the shortest day of the year, and thus signified the death of the old year. The following day was when the days started to get longer, thus signifying that a new year had been conceived and was starting to grow. It also marked the official beginning of winter.
Liliana's and master Trevor's families decided to celebrate the holiday together again, like they did last year. Neither side wished to miss the opportunity to spend the holiday with the baby, and since sir Andrew's house was closer to Master Trevor's he won the right to be the host. They didn't want Liliana and Henry walking all across the village in the dark of night, in the middle of winter, while the village was covered in snow.
Liliana tried to carry Henry herself, but relented and allowed me to take him after I reminded her that as a cat-kin I was far less likely to fall. My senses of balance and coordination were far superior to those of a regular human, I could see clearly by the dim light of the stars and the tiny sliver of the moon, and Liliana had still not returned to her normal condition.
I handed Henry to Liliana when we arrived at the door, and stood back while the families greeted each other. Liliana's parents crowded around Henry, talking in high pitched voices and making exaggerated expressions at him. He laughed and tried to grab their faces.
I followed them into the house and made my way to the kitchen. I would be expected to help serve the meal later, and it was also where I would be eating my own meal, hopefully together with my own family. Liliana's sisters Renata and Angela were there, chattering away while putting the final touches on the feast that was about to be served. They paused slightly to greet me before resuming their incessant talking. Since there was so little left to do I would be more of a hindrance than a help, so I settled down on a chair by the kitchen table to wait.
By the time father arrived all the preparations were already complete. To my delight mother and all of my siblings arrived. Nobody was going to be left out. Mother quietly but quickly took charge of the kitchen, sending Renata and Angela out to join their families.
We too enjoyed our time together, until finally the humans were ready to sit down for the meal. Then we began the usual cycle of serving them each course, sitting down to eat ours before they finish theirs, then getting up to clear away the dishes before serving the next course while washing the dirty dishes and storing away the leftovers, then sitting down to quickly eat our next course. The food was the same. The difference was that the humans got to take their time to enjoy their meal while we had to eat quickly and work. Still, it was nice to be with my family for a holiday meal again. I had missed it during the harvest festival, which took place immediately after Henry was born. Trevor and Liliana chose to commemorate alone it at home, since Liliana had to rest, and I of course had to stay and help.
It was only after serving dessert that we could finally relax. There was no rush to clean up when the humans finished, since they tended to snack until it was all gone, and there was no following course. We could take our time enjoying our dessert and talking, all the way until close to when our masters were ready to go home. Then we hurried to clean up the sitting room and dining room.
Angela's children, as well as Phillip and Henry, were fast asleep by then. I got to carry Henry all the way back to master Trevor's house. His little body kept me warm, and I felt a little sorry for Liliana for stealing him away from her, but she had master Trevor to lean on. He wrapped his large coat around her and embraced her shoulder with his arm. I wished I could marry and have a man, a family, and home of my own, but the best I could hope for was a lover whom I won't be forcibly be separated from, and for my children to not be taken away from me when they were still small. I embraced Henry a little more tightly.
On the following morning the temple held special services. All the villagers, even those from the furthest farmsteads who rarely attended, came to give sacrifices, pay tithes, and participate in the special ceremonies and prayer services of this holy day. The temple worship started at sunrise, but didn't end until it was nearly noon.
When it was nearly time for the services to be over I left the house to wait for my masters outside the temple, and I wasn't the only beast-kin to do so. When the main doors opened a crowd of hundreds of humans poured out. It was rare to see such a large sea of people, and even with my keen senses I might have had some trouble finding my masters, if not for my collar pointing the way to Trevor.
When I found them they were standing with father, and we all walked together to his house for the holiday's midday feast, where mother was waiting for us. It went much the same as the meal at sir Andrew's house, except that sir Andrew and his family were absent, as they chose to spend lunch with their other in-laws.
