December 24, 2000
For the past 2 weeks, whenever Coralis was off the flyball field, she was sent on cases in London and Montreal. She was supposed to fly that night to the Fullemons for their upcoming End-of-Year celebrations, but Frank wanted her to come to his family for Christmas Eve. Wanting to spend some time with him, Coralis agreed to go and told the Fullemons she'd fly there the following day.
During the evening, Coralis spoke a lot with Audrey, Frank's cousin. She couldn't figure out why, as she was only 8 years old, but there was something about Audrey that intrigued her.
Stephanie, Frank's sister, was intrigued by Coralis. She was there the night Coralis fought against four guys to save her mother. A week after the incident, one of her werewolf friends got her to start working at Healing Moon, a trauma clinic owned and managed by werewolves near Mirabel. Stephanie wondered if Coralis was a werewolf, but knowing about the secrecy of their world, she didn't know how to ask her.
"Is she coming tomorrow morning at Mom's brunch?" said Stephanie to Frank, as the evening was about to end.
"No, she's taking a flight to the UK tomorrow morning, she wasn't supposed to come tonight."
"Oh… well, I kinda like her, so I was hoping to talk to her more tomorrow."
"To be honest, I was hoping to spend time with her tonight, but it seems that Audrey won."
Coralis' pager beeped. She silently cursed and apologized to Audrey. She walked up to Frank, who was still with his sister.
"Mind if I borrow your phone for a minute? Need to call work."
"But it's Christmas Eve," said Frank, pulling his phone out of his back pocket.
"Yeah, but most slimy people don't care about that."
She grabbed his phone and walked outside. Frank followed her. Stephanie became more convinced that Coralis knew about werewolves, and probably was one, but didn't know how to ask her to find out.
Not wanting the person paging her to have Frank's number, she typed in a code before dialling the number on the pager's ping. She knew that Frank struggled with the secrecy surrounding her work and that she would eventually have to tell him about her world, but tonight was not the night, so she reminded herself to be cautious of what she'd say over the phone, knowing he stood behind her.
"Yes… seriously?... Okay, I'll be on my way."
"You really have to go?" said Frank, sliding his phone back into his pocket.
"Yes, it's related to a case Eva and I started at the Côte-des-Neiges cemetery."
"The one you were heading to when Mark and I saw you on the bus?"
"No, it's a different one."
"Does that mean you won't be able to take your flight to the UK tomorrow morning?"
"I don't know about that, but if it's not tomorrow, it'll be the next day. I've been going there every year for the past 9 years, it's my tradition."
"That's not fair. I barely get to see you and spend time with you, while they get to live with you. Can you miss it just this year?"
"What do you mean? I don't spend more time with them than I spend with you. Do you think there is something between me and them? Are you jealous?"
She stood on the side of the house, by the shadows. He was pacing, but was careful not to yell.
"I never met them, so I don't know. All I know, is that you live with three guys that I've never seen, and you're going to spend Christmas Day with them instead of me. I'm really serious about you, but I barely know anything about you."
She grabbed his left hand with her right one to get him to stop pacing, and she brought him closer to her.
"I'm sorry, it didn't occur to me that you could get jealous of them. Yes, in the UK, I live with three guys, but it's really not like what you seem to think. Gus likes males. Erik and Henry are brothers to me. Their parents had tried to adopt me when we were in High School, but bureaucracy is complicated and they couldn't. By the time the paperwork would have gone through, I'd have been an adult, and I told you that I'd been emancipated at 15. You can't make me choose between me and them, that's not a fair choice."
Frank realized he'd been overreacting. Victoria had told him that they weren't any threat to him and warned him against getting jealous, but he couldn't help himself. He held her face between his hands and pecked her lips, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"No, I'm sorry luv, I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just, I know so little about you, that sometimes I catch myself looking too much into the little you give me."
It didn't escape Coralis the nickname he used on her: luv, and she decided not to fight it. She sighed.
"I told you that one of my works was kind of related to extreme sports, right?"
"Yes, I remember you saying that, but you also added classified to it, and I know that both of your works relate to national defence."
"Erik and Henry also work in that field, but uh, for a different branch. In February, they are supposed to come here, for some kind of gathering. If you want to, I'll introduce you to them when they're in town."
"I'd like that, yeah."
She brought a hand behind his neck and pulled him closer to kiss him. Neither of them had a jacket on, and both chose to ignore the cold temperature creeping on them.
"I'm sorry if I can't tell you much about work and such, but don't you worry, I'm not seeing anyone behind your back."
He kissed her back and didn't want to break it. At that moment, Frank just wanted to take her back to his place, and made sure that she knew she was his.