The Writers' Block Anthology

Miracles

My heart hammered against my chest as my hands reached and turned the knob of the front door. I led Will into the house by our clasped hands, turning to give him a reassuring smile which he returned. The snow had left a dusting on his blonde hair and his emerald eyes gleamed with excitement.

I let out a sigh of relief, he was excited. He was excited to meet my peculiar family and excited to spend Christmas with us. Excited, not afraid. He knew about me and my family. He discovered my secret when he caught me practicing magic in a study room. Before, he thought my pointy ears were from cosmetic surgery, but afterward, with the help of a little research, he figured it out. I then told him about my family and he said he wanted to meet them.

We stopped in the foyer, Will closing the door behind us as we became aware of the hustle and bustle of the house. There were tables covered in foil-enclosed hot pans and presents. A woman with long curly brown hair in a billowing dress rushed after two teen boys passing a ball of fire between them. An elven man sat at a dining table forming toys from nothing. Another woman carried more of the foiled hot pans to the tables. And snow-white birds flew frantically away from a black dog the size of a Great Dane as it plowed down the hallway toward us. I smiled, letting go of Will's hand as I knelt down for the dog to barrel into my arms.

"Hi, Daisy!" I laughed as Daisy peppered my face with licks. She backed away and gave several barks, announcing our arrival.

"Her eyes are glowing red," Will said.

I looked up at him. His eyes were wide as he stared at Daisy. I took a moment to look at his posture, he was freaked out but not in danger of running. Yet.

"She's a barghest," I said, giving an apologetic smile.

"A barghest," Will repeated, more to himself than to me.

"Vala!" I was engulfed by a pair of arms, pulling me into an uncomfortably tight embrace. "I'm so happy you're home! We missed you so much!"

My mom released me, pulling us both to our feet before paying attention to Will. He smiled awkwardly and held out his hand, "Hello, Mrs. Magrel. I'm Will."

She considered him for a moment and I felt the tightness in my chest again. My mother was the one most against me pursuing a relationship with a human. I relaxed as she took his hand in a hard shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Will," she said. "My daughter has told us so much about you. She must trust you a lot. Do well to not break that trust."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Make yourselves comfortable." With that, my mother gave me a kiss on the cheek and walked back down the hall to the kitchen.

"Your mother is terrifying," Will breathed. "What is she again?"

"She's a witch and my father is an elf."

"An elf? You don't look that short."

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. "Not that kind of elf. Think Lord of the Rings."

"Well, you do have a supernatural beauty about you," Will said with a smirk, his blonde hair falling into his eyes as he tilted his head to one side.

I felt a blush creeping to my cheeks and looked down at the ground where Daisy waited patiently for more attention.

"So what is all of this stuff?" Will asked, gesturing to the tables.

I took his hand and led him over to them. Daisy followed, taking a seat beside Will when we stopped. "Every Christmas season, my family has a tradition. Most humans call them miracles."

"Miracles?"

I pointed to the hot pans. "These are for those who can't afford food. We take them to shelters, homes, camps, and anyone we can find on the street." I pointed to the toys. "We help Santa with making toys--"

"You help Santa with making toys? You mean to tell me that Santa is real?"

I turned to him, not bothering to hide the surprise on my face. This man--Santa not real? "Of course, Santa is real!"

"What do you mean 'of course'? Everyone finds out that Santa isn't real! Oh, that's right," Will laughed, "you were homeschooled until college."

"But he is real! He's a family friend. You'll meet him tonight!"

"Okay, okay," he chuckled, "what else do y'all do?"

I have him a smack on the arm before continuing. "We have cherubs that go to the city park to bless people and make magical moments, especially for couples. My aunt and her two sons will sneak into hospitals with their birds to heal everyone they can. It takes a lot of energy and the birds have to wait until the sun rises to burn up the diseases so they can only heal so many. Then my dhampir cousin hunts vampires to empty their blood sacks and gives the blood to blood banks."

At that moment I knew from Will's face I had lost him. "I'm sorry, I've confused you."

"No, no, I'm sure I'll learn as we go," he chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, giving me a kiss on the forehead. "Are we going to help?"

A grin tugged at my lips, resting my head against his chest and wrapping my arms around his torso, "Yeah, we will get separated into teams to go around the city when my other cousins get here."

"To think I managed to find such an angel in this God-forsaken world," Will whispered.

"You're not scared?"

"Oh, your family definitely terrifies me," he laughed. "But I would love to get to know them better and I can't wait to spend this Christmas with you and your family."

I breathed a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. "Thank you."