Ehd reaches over and runs his hand from my waist to my hip.
“Doesn’t take much, does it?” I snicker as Ehd begins to push the furs off my body.
Ehd guides me to my hands and knees, and I ignore the rough feeling of the grass mat below me as he positions himself between my legs and gently enters me. I moan as he strokes slowly in and out, leaning over to touch his chest to my back.
I close my eyes and just let myself feel his rhythmic movements until pressure builds up, and I cry out as he reaches for my clitoris and rubs gently. I tense and explode, feeling him fill me shortly afterward.
Ehd sighs and pulls out. He sits back on the ground and pulls me into his lap, smothering me with kisses until I giggle and push him away.
“No time for that,” I tell him. I kiss his nose and jump up to retrieve my fur clothing. “Cuddling can wait until later. It’s time for presents, Ehd!”
Taking his hand, I lead him over to the tree.
“This is for you,” I say with a smile and hold the fur-wrapped cup out to Ehd. He takes it tentatively from my hands. “Open it!”
Ehd turns the package over in his hands and sniffs at it. I laugh.
“Open it, silly!”
He glances at me and tilts his head to one side. Slowly, he takes the piece of fur off the cup and turns the clay over in his hands. He runs a finger over the letters.
“That’s your name,” I tell him. “E-H-D. That spells Ehd. At least, that’s how I’d spell it. I thought about writing just E-D, but it just doesn’t quite fit you.”
Ehd stares at my mouth as I speak.
“Ehd,” I say again.
“Beh.” He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls my head to his. He runs his nose over mine and inhales deeply.
I point at the letters on the side of the cup again, and repeat his name. Ehd continues to glance at me with a look in his eyes that says he thinks I have totally lost my mind. I just smile back at him.
“It’s Christmas, Ehd!” I say. “Well, at least I think it’s close to Christmas. There’s snow, and that’s good enough for me! It’s time to celebrate!”
Ehd leans over and wraps his arm around my waist. He holds the cup with his other hand, running his thumb over the letters. A thought occurs to me.
“You know, I guess it can’t really be Christmas anyway. I don’t think we’re even close to the archeological periods of ancient civilizations or anything like that at this point. I mean, is anyone working on the pyramids yet? I’m thinking not.”
The idea weighs heavily on me. I move to sit in front of the fire and pick up a stick to poke at the coals. Ehd crawls over beside me, tentatively reaching to my cheek and stroking my face. He wipes away a tear I didn’t know was there.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Sometimes this is just all a little too overwhelming.”
Ehd moves closer, pressing his thigh up against mine. He lays his head on my shoulder and strokes my neck with the tip of his nose. I close my eyes and swallow against the lump lodged in my throat. I wonder what my parents are doing right now. Did they decorate the tree without me? Did they bother to go Christmas shopping? Are there presents under the tree with my name on them? Or have they given up on me completely?
None of that has even happened yet.
But it will.
Someday, there will be a Christmas at my childhood home, and I’m not going to be ther
e. Many, many Christmases. I knew it from the day Ehd broke the first piece of clay pottery I made. I saw the pieces, recognized the jagged edges of the cracked clay from my mother’s archeological dig, and knew my fate.
There were two skeletons found at the sight. One of them was Ehd, and the other one was me.
Is me.
Will be me.
There is nothing I can do to change that.