24nd December

Maia woke up very early and was awake instantly. She was very excited and went for a shower when Derick still crawled out of the bed.

It was not only that this evening it would be Christmas eve and she was excited to celebrate it with everyone, but today also was the wedding of her and Derick. After she showered and put her pajama on, Derick entered the bathroom.

"Good Morning." He yawned. Maia hugged the naked fox boy and placed a kiss on his muzzle. "Good Morning Derick." She replied and caressed the base of his tail. "I am sooo excited." She whispered into his ear. "Me as well." He replied, and she felt his paw on her tail base as well, caressing it lovingly.

This moment lasted for a few minutes until Maia let go of him and entangled from his hug. "Hurry up and come to breakfast." She giggled and gave him a clap on his hind. Derick just grinned and entered the shower, when the girl crossed the door. A look behind her, when he entered the shower, showed that his member was crawling out of his sheath and she had to smile when she went down to the kitchen to help Sophie, who was there already, to prepare the breakfast.

This day, Maia was too excited to stand still. After the breakfast she and Derick put on some warm clothes and went on a stroll around the city, greeting everyone on their way. The others were very busy to prepare for the evening.

Maia knew that she would not get much rest this day, because after the walk with Derick, she would have to go to Mrs. Riley, where the women would meet to prepare a wedding dress for the girl. At the same time, Patrick went to the city to borrow a suit for Derick from one of his friends.

Derick and Maia waved to Dorothe, who played in the snow in front of their house, when they passed, and Maia put her head on the shoulder of Derick, held his arm very tight and sighed. "I wish it was evening already." She spoke softly, and Derick caressed her head without responding.

When Maia looked up, she saw that the boy looked into the distance and when she followed his gaze, there was nothing. Just the forest and the snow.

"What is the matter Derick? Aren't you excited?" she asked, not knowing why Derick had such a absent gaze when he was with her. It took a few seconds for Derick to turn his head to her and place a kiss on her forehead before he led her to a bank on the side and sat down with her in his arms.

"I am excited. That's not it." Derick seemed like he had something on his mind that made him sad. "What is it then? You don't want to marry me anymore?" she asked, and a bit of fear and uncertainty crawled into her heart. Derick just pulled her head against his chest, kissed her ear and caressed her arm.

It took a minute until he found the words. "You know, it has nothing to do with our wedding or me not loving you. It is the other way around." She winced. "What do you mean?" she asked, while his paw moved over her belly and caressed the vessel that carried their cub.

"Hearing you talking about this evening made me realize, that tomorrow is your flight back to America." He sighed. "It reminded me, that by tomorrow evening, you will not be here anymore and that kind of made me sad."

Maia was shocked that she had not thought about it. It was true, that her vacation would end the next day and she would go home. Even though she was happy that she would see her parents again, her heart also felt the same sadness as Derick, when she thought about being parted with him at the next morning.

"But we have each other now. And maybe I can come to visit really soon." She whispered, and he caressed her cheeks with his paw and turned her head to kiss her muzzle. "You are right." He whispered back and smiled at her, which made her smile back.

Sophie found the cubs sitting on the bench when she went over to Mrs. Riley for the meeting regarding the dress. "Derick, you father wants to go to the city now. He was looking for you." At first the couple did not react but slowly the arm around Maia loosened and he got up. "You can directly come with me." Sophie said and caressed the cheek of the girl.

"Did he make you cry?" was the question of Sophie, when Derick was out of sight and they walked over to the house of the Riley's. Maia just noticed, that her cheeks were wet from tears and she shook her head, still in her thoughts about the next day. Even though they smiled at each other, they had sat there, and she had pressed her head against his chest while he caressed her shoulders. They had not spoken much afterwards but just enjoyed the warmth of each other and their touch and embrace.

Tears flew out of her eyes again and Sophie stopped. "What is wrong Maia? Does something hurt?" she shook her head. "It is just, that I will have to leave tomorrow, and I don't want to." She sniffed, and the older women embraced her and pushed her head against her chest, just like Derick before.

"Oh Maia, I know it is hard, but we promised to talk to your parents, right? I am sure they will allow you to come back to us in a few months. Let's not think about tomorrow but about this evening, okay?" and she placed a kiss on the forehead of Maia. Maia cried a few more minutes into the chest of the women until she recovered, and the excitement of her wedding returned. "I am already super excited about the dress." She giggled, and they continued their way and soon stood in the living room of the Riley's, where all women already were waiting for her.

The wedding was very exciting for Maia. When she was led into the chapel by Sophie in her white wedding dress and her eyes fell upon Derick, who looked gorgeous in his black smoking.

Maia looked like she was glowing from the inside. There was no contrast between her white dress and her white fur and the white tail swishing back and forth excited while she slowly went down in the middle of the seats towards Derick. Her brown eyes were yet hidden behind the veil, but they were slightly visible as darker dots in the else bright figure.

Maia only had looks for Derick when she stood next to him and held his hand. She only heard half of the words of pastor Park. Here and there she suppressed a giggle from the happiness inside her dwelling up and she felt warm and wonderful inside.

Her senses only returned to the pastor when Derick turned towards her and the part of them giving their word to be with one another came. Before Maia knew, she had said yes to him again, a ring around her finger and then she joined in a long and deep kiss with her loved Derick, while the rest applauded.

She did not hear the applaud when she closed her eyes and just sank into the kiss of Derick. It was a good thing, that she totally forgot about her surrounding, because just a minute later, when they lifted their kiss, she suddenly felt embarrassed, realizing that she had kissed him in front of everyone.

They sat down in the first row, and Derick put an arm around her. She only followed the rest of the Christmas mass absentminded, because she leaned her head against Derick, who was just as occupied with her next to him and closed her eyes in happiness.

After the mass, everyone congratulated them, and Maia was full of energy, giggling and thanking all of them, shaking hands and get hugs and all the time smiling bright. Without a doubt this was the happiest moment in her entire life.

When everyone went home to celebrate Christmas Eve, Maja snuggled into the arm of Derick and he lifted her and carried her home while she just had eyes for him and enjoyed his touch, the warm feeling against her side and the feeling of being connected to Derick deeper than anyone else could.

At the family celebration of Christmas Eve, Maia slowly calmed down and started to talk with Patrick and Sophie as well, when they had their meal. It tasted wonderful, even though she had to eat very slowly, because she held the hand of Derick the whole time, wanting to be connected with him every second that they had left.

"To make sure you feel the connection with Derick when you are back home and not get questions about your wedding ring..." Patrick introduced their present for her, "... we have bought you something that you can wear instead of the ring when you go to school."

When Maia opened the small package, she held a wonderful black collar in her hands. Her name was on the outside of the collar with blue sapphires that sparkled just like the eyes of Derick.

"Look at the inside as well." Asked her aunt and when she turned the collar to look inside, she saw silver stitching that formed the name "Derick". Maia was overwhelmed and first threw herself into the arm of Sophie and then Patrick, crying in joy.

Derick later became a similar collar, just that his name was made of white diamonds and her name was stitched inside. They directly put on their wedding collars and Maia promised to not put it off until they saw each other again.

"I would remove it for showing though." Her aunt said, and everyone laughed. The rest of the evening was a fun and enjoyable party of the family, singing songs and talking about a lot of different topics.

When Maia lay in bed with Derick next to her, feeling his slow breathing rhythm and the beat of his heart, she thought: "This was the best Christmas ever!"