Married to Krampus - Marina Simcoe Page 0,54

stare at him, too.

“No. He cancelled it.”

In fact, Grevar had cancelled it for him. Father had been planning to come for a visit with the intension of meeting his new daughter-in-law, of course. Grevar had no doubt his dad would’ve loved Daisy the moment he met her. Then, if Grevar allowed her to leave him as he’d promised her he would, he’d have to face a severely unpleasant conversation with his father, in addition to everything else he’d be dealing with.

More pressure on him when he already was under a lot of pressure as far as Daisy was concerned—his shoulders ached with the strain. Not to mention the torture that his cock had been enduring ever since she’d moved in. With her around, he’d been in a state of constant arousal, no matter how often he made himself come at night.

“Was your dad planning to visit?” Daisy tilted her head with interest.

“It didn’t work out,” he muttered quickly. “He had other plans.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” She gazed at him with those huge eyes of hers, the colour of the lilcae flowers.

He had ordered some planted in his office, too. Not because he needed another reminder of Daisy during the day—his thoughts were on her constantly anyway—but because having lilcae around somehow made him miss her just a little less. And he did miss her at work—a lot. He even had her application picture framed last week. It was now it on his desk in the office.

What the hell was he supposed to do when she left to go back to Earth?

She couldn’t leave. That was the only answer to that question.

“Can we go to grandpa’s house, then?” Zun asked.

“No,” Grevar bit off, tossing a glare Lievoa’s way, annoyed at her for bringing it up.

“What time would be better for him to visit?” Daisy started planning. “Do you think the next weekend would work for him? It’d be great for everyone—the children will be here. And it’s Christmas that weekend, which is a big family holiday on Earth. Not that it matters on Neron, of course...” Her voice trailed off as a shadow moved over her lovely face.

“A holiday?” Zun bounced in his chair.

“Let’s do a party!” Olvar slapped his brother’s shoulder excitedly.

“Do you have a big party to celebrate Christmas back on Earth?” Lievoa asked, with interest.

“Well, mostly just a family dinner.” Daisy put down an untouched smocked meat roll, a warm expression shining in her eyes. “Often, the entire family gets together—uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents. It’s a great time to catch up with everyone. People also exchange gifts, eat a lot of desserts, and...well, generally have a good time.”

“Oh, it’s like the Victory Day?” Olvar shouted in delight. “Right, Dad?”

“Right,” he replied flatly. “Minus the military parade and the tribute to the war fallen.”

“Well, yeah, but aside from the parade, they’re similar,” Lievoa argued. “Voranians get together in the outdoor parks and have family picnics, with desserts.” She turned to Daisy. “The Victory Day is in the middle of summer, the weather is usually nice and warm, then.”

“Christmas is in the winter, when many countries have snow. Like here,” Daisy explained.

“I love snow,” Zun declared. “Especially building a fort. Can we do it again?”

Olvar snorted a laugh. “You didn’t even like fort building.”

“I did too!”

“Do you miss home a lot?” Grevar asked Daisy, catching her wistful expression.

“I do,” she said, making his heart sink. “But it’s not just that. I also miss the Christmas celebrations we used to have when Grandma was still alive. With her, the entire Christmas season was one huge celebration. The two of us would start decorating a month ahead. Every room in her house was decked out with pine branches and ornaments. In the living room, we built an entire Christmas city, with porcelain houses that had real lights inside. Oh, and there was a railroad, with a train that ran on electric rail tracks. It could even whistle.”

He watched her face light up as she talked. Propping her head on her hand, Lievoa gazed at Daisy, too, as she spoke. The kids had quieted down, listening to the tales from another world with rapt attention.

“Grandma would take me Christmas shopping, every year,” his wife continued. “There was an outdoor market in her town each weekend in December. Even now, whenever I smell hot chocolate I think of those days. We would buy handmade presents for everyone. Then, we would decorate Christmas trees. We always had two, one in her house and one in