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that?”
    “Kestrel is her own person.”
    “And that means what?”
    “That my sister is insane.” Sky removed his hand from the turkey and turned to face Derek. “I mean, come on, she married a guy named Kendrin and then gave all of her children ‘K’ names. She’s a freak.”
    Derek shook his head in amusement. “So, I guess I got the normal one in the family.” He abandoned his fridge approach and stepped into his lover’s arms, pressing a hand against Sky’s cheek and marveling once again at the contrast of his mocha skin against Sky’s pale complexion. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips, pulling away when he felt Sky relax. “I definitely got the better kisser.”
    “Ass kisser.”
    “You know it.” Derek placed one more kiss on his lover’s lips then finally made it to the fridge to get the milk for his cereal. He froze when he opened the door. “Um, babe?”
    “Yeah?”
    “There are seven pies in here.”
    “Sounds about right.”
    “And one of them is yellow.”
    “That would be the lemon meringue pie for Kristy.”
    Derek cast his mind back over his memories of his mother making a lemon meringue pie. “I thought meringue was white?”
    “Kristy will only eat food that is yellow.”
    Derek nodded to himself. That explained the two bottles of yellow food coloring on the counter that he had been too chickenshit to ask about. “How are you going to make the turkey yellow?”
    “I haven’t figured that out yet.”
    “So what’s with the other pies?”
    “I have two apple, one pumpkin, one cherry, one pecan, and one blueberry. I figured that would cover what everyone would like. I also have ice cream and fresh fruit. Oh, and I think I’ve got stuff for chocolate fondue in the cupboards, plus the chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer from when we had the Indiana Jones marathon.”
    Ooo, Indiana Jones cookies. Those were good. “Babe, what time did you get up this morning?”
    “I don’t know, like four, but I got a lot of prep work done yesterday.” With that said, Sky turned back to his food preparations. Derek dug around behind the numerous pies and managed to pull out the milk. He placed it on the small amount of counter space that was clear of Christmas dinner ingredients, got a bowl from the cupboard and poured himself some Lucky Charms. Sky’s lips twitched in a small grin. “All the food sitting around here and you’re eating Lucky Charms?”
    “Hey. I figured if I tried to touch any of the other food you’d kill me, so I’m sticking to cereal. Plus, I like Lucky Charms.”
    “I know. It’s one of the many odd things that I love about you.” Sky walked over and stole a kiss. Derek opened to his lover’s questing tongue and threaded his fingers through the silky brown hair. He gave the strands a tug as Sky pulled away. Sky licked his lips. “You taste like candy.”
    “It’s ’cause I’m sweet.”
    “No, I think it’s the cereal.” Sky gave him one last peck before heading back to his cooking endeavors. Derek settled himself back against his chair, cradling his bowl to his chest. Christmas was shaping up to be an amazing day.
     
    *  *  *
    Sky mentally went over his dinner plan as he scanned his nearly spotless kitchen. Everything seemed to be prepared and cooking on schedule to be ready by the time he planned to serve dinner. He just needed the guests to arrive on time, which tended to be a problem with his family. The very thought of the guests arriving late made all the nerves that had finally fled from his body start to creep back. Just as he felt himself beginning to tense to the point of discomfort, strong arms wrapped around his waist.
    “You panicking yet?” Soft lips pressed against his neck.
    “Maybe a bit.” Sky relaxed back into the body holding him close.
    “Then it’s time to calm down. Come on. I’ve got a present for you.”
    That perked Sky right up. “I like presents.” He turned around still within the circle of