“…And it’s snowing.”

Her voice made Logan look up from the hypnotic embers just past the end of his well-worn boots and drink in the sight of the young woman lounging against the mantle. The glass of red wine held casually in her hand and the touch of holly behind one ear lent a festive air to her demeanor, but he wasn’t fooled – He was the only one who knew she did not drink, since it might affect her ability to control her skin, and the holly adornment painfully impaling her scalp was made of plastic and placed there by a sleepy student not wanting to surrender to her pillow. She'd get rid of both, now that they were the only ones awake. Sure enough, she pulled the holly out of her hair, losing a few strands in the process, and placed it on the mantle, along with the untouched wine glass. Even without the adornments, even four years after meeting her, she still touched a part of him deep within his core that sent aftershocks rumbling through his heart. It was better than smelling fear in a fight, which was saying something.

“You aren’t listening to me, are you?”

She was so pretty when she pouted. Beautiful when angry, too. He withheld his sigh of contentment, knowing she’d misunderstand it, but if he could’ve, he’d have purred. His scent was all over her. She was his mate. As much as he still didn’t understand Christmas, and giving, and families, and Santa, and all of that, he finally understood about giving his heart to someone and getting her love in return. They had come to this mansion years ago. Neither had left. The students, the X-Men, the Professor had all become part of their lives. As lethal as he was, as much of a loner as he still could be, they had accepted him - she had accepted him - and he was finally getting used to it.

“It’s a seasonal thing, isn’t it?”

He frowned. Had he missed something? She moved forward and crawled awkwardly across his stretched out legs. The winged-back chair creaked warningly but held as she finally curled up across his lap with her legs stuck out over the chair arm, and one of her arms snaking around behind his shoulder and back.

“Do you miss being out on your own?”

Her green eyes were clouded with a tinge of doubt, and he felt his cheeks crease a little with one of those infrequent smiles he seemed to share only with her. Her response was instantaneous.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’.”

Logan nuzzled her neck and she shrieked and shoved him slightly. Unfortunately, a slight shove from her was the equivalent of a nudge from an elephant. The chair protested with an ominous creak and shifted. She quickly looked around and stifled a giggle of guilt.

“God help me, I’m going to break another chair and it’s all your fault. I wish you’d say something. Are you happy to be here or not?” She ruffled his hair. “I know a lot has happened this year. You can take a break and skip out if you want to. I’d understand.”

And she would; he could sense it. That was probably why he’d stayed - because he didn’t have to. He squeezed her tightly to him and slapped her rear for fun, just so she’d squirm a little more.

“Did you leave the milk and cookies out for Santa?” he asked gruffly.

“I did.”

“Then let’s go play in that snow you mentioned, Mrs. Logan.”

She fairly glowed. “I believe we should, Mr. Rogue.”

And they did.