Ho! Ho! Ho!

Chapter 2

Mal:

"Mal! Mal! Wake up!" Ben says, shaking me.

"What?" I sit up and grab my phone from mine and Evie's bedside table. For Hades's sanity I did not move in with Ben just yet. Instead, since I did not want to live alone, I moved into E's starter castle."It's just 4 in the morning! That's way too early! Also, why are you here? And where is E?"

"Evie already left and told me to wake you up!"

"Why though?"

"It's snowing!"

"But, it's so cold! I wanna sleep!" I say in a whiny voice.

Ben just looks at me mischievously.

"Ben, what are you doing?" I say starting to get worried.

He says nothing but lifts me up bridal style, all wrapped up in my warm comforter, and carries me outside to his car (just pretend Ben owns a royal Blue SUV).

He puts me in the passenger seat, buckles me up, and starts the car. He looks back and puts his hand on the back of my headrest.

He pulls out.

"Ben I'm cold"

He says nothing but turns up the heat in the car.

"Will you at least tell me where we are going?"

"Nope," He says, popping the p. Ben moves one hand off from the steering wheel and clasps my hand with it.

I slowly drift off to sleep.

"Hey, Mal, we're here." Ben says, pointing to an isolated cabin in a snowy forest.

"How long was I asleep?" I reply groggily

"Around an hour," Ben says, bopping my nose.

I open the door and put one toe gently on the snow but pull back when I realize that I am barefoot.

"Need some help?" Ben says laughing.

"This is your fault! I hate you!" I say pouting

"I love you too" He says, hooking his arms under my knees and arms and lifting me, once more, bridal style.

He sets me down on a porch chair and opens the door to an angry Evie.

"Benjamin Florian Beast! I thought I told you to give Mal her coat so she would be warm" The blue-haired fury says crossing her arms.

"I-I may or may not have forgotten and left them in your car?" Ben replies with an frightened look on his face.

Evie may look all sweet and actually is but, you never want to get her angry. Once Hades accidentally set her sewing machine on fire and he still gets nightmares about what happened.

"I will deal with this later. " She pulls me in from the cold and hands me a warm mug of hot cocoa. She pulls me up the stairs and into a bedroom. It has a king-sized bed, an attached bathroom, a fireplace, a small closet, and full size glass doors that lead to a wooden balcony filled with snow.

"Ben put together this surprise at his parent's cabin. We are staying here until New Year's. It's going to be so much fun! You are staying in here with Ben. I am in the room right next to you with Doug if you need anything. Love you M!"

She leaves out the door before my tired brain can even piece together what she said, let alone reply.

Ben comes into the room carrying my comforter. He puts it on top of the loveseat next to the fireplace.

"So, how do you like it?" he asks with a hopeful smile.

"It's amazing!" I smile but it quickly falls upon a realization." But, what about clothes and other things like toothbrushes?"

"Everything is in the bathroom. Evie packed it."

"But, what about clothes?"

"There are snow pants and a warm jacket in the closet." He says calmly "I'm not going to let my little dragon get cold"

I throw open the closet doors and see a dark purple knee-length snow coat with dark blue buttons and brown faux-fur lining at the hem complete with a hoodie with a brown faux-fur outline. I also see purple snow overalls with a black dragon on the front pocket Tucked in the corner are purple ankle boots, a woolen purple beanie, purple gloves, all with the same faux-fur lining as the coat. There are also a few other t-shirts, pants, and pj's "Let me guess, also Evie?"

"You know it!"

I walk out catching a glimpse of the grandfather clock which tells it's just 5:30 in the morning.

I climb into the bed with a yawn and gesture for Ben to join me. He crawls in and cuddles me to his chest. Moments later I hear soft snoring coming from my fiance. I kiss him on the nose and slowly drift to sleep.