Chance Encounters of the Canuck Kind

It had been 4 hours since Ralof left to go on his mission to save Christmas, the evidence of his plight plastered all over his face upon his return.
“I’m back!” he called feebly amongst the rustling of paper bags, the sound of a large vegetable (later discovered to be a turnip) hitting the floor and rolling down the hallway.
Hearing Ralof struggling, Jacob appeared from the kitchen and began to take some of the burdening bags away from him.
“Thanks, bud.” Ralof said appreciatively. “Where are the girls?”
“Juliette is in the kitchen setting everything up for the marathon food prep session. Suze is upstairs I think. Hey, leave those bags there and go take a load off on the couch, you’ve earned it, man.” Markstrom replied.
With a smile, Ralof kicked off his boots, unzipped his parka, hanging his coat by the door, and headed into the lounge where he plopped himself onto the couch with a grunt. Jacob dutifully began transferring the food into the kitchen.
“Wow! You bought a lot of stuff, Ray” he called.
“I figured we’d do a Christmas mash up. Bit of everything, you know?” Ray shouted from his spot, feet outstretched towards the fire, delighting in the warming sensation on his frostbitten toes.
“Hey!” Juliette exclaimed. “There’s langoustines in here… Oh my! Are we having Humarsúpa?”
She bounded through into the lounge and threw herself at her brother, who instinctively outstretched his arms to receive the giant hug. He bundled her close to him and squeezed her tightly, pressing a light kiss to the side of her head. “I figured you could do with some comfort food, Monkey.”
“I haven’t had this since we were kids when we went to visit Grams in Iceland for Christmas. I can’t believe you managed to get all of this stuff.” Juliette replied softly.
“And that’s not all” Ralof continued, directing his attention to Markstrom who appeared in the doorway. “I also thought we could inject a little Swedish festivity into the mix which is why I bought the stuff to make gubbröra – Marky, you’re on glögg duty.”
“You got it.”
“This is too much, Moose” Juliette whispered. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“That’s where you’re dead wrong, Jules. This is the first Christmas in forever that we’ve had the chance to spend together and this is what families do. They eat shit loads of food, drink shit loads of booze and tell each other how much they love each other. We’ve had a shit ride, you and me, but we have a hell of a lot to be thankful for. I have a hell of a lot to be thankful for – seeing my baby sister grow up and become an amazing woman, knowing she has a good guy looking out for her. You had every reason to go off the rails, but you didn’t. You knuckled down and worked hard. I’m sorry I wasn’t around and you had to go through so much on your own, but that’s all going to change. I’m home now, for good and you deserve every bit of this.” Ralof hugged Juliette tightly as the first sniffle escaped her, stroking her hair to soothe her.
“I’m not crying. I’m not crying…” she chanted, willing the tears to stay contained as they threatened dangerously to spill over the dam of eyelashes keeping them at bay. “Thank you.” She mumbled into her brother’s pullover.
“Now, as much as I’m happy to let you hug me forever, we’ve got a lot of food to prepare. Where’s Suze? We could do with the extra pair of hands.”
“She’ll be down in a minute” Juliette replied quietly. “She broke up with Will a couple of months ago, she’s really going through it right now.”
“Oh. That’s uh, a shame. A real shame. Is she okay?” Ralof stuttered out.
“She will be. We just need to be there for her and she’ll be just fine.”
“Shall we get started?” Jacob interjected, sensing the mood change and noticing Ralof’s thousand yard stare.
“Absolutely” Juliette replied, lifting herself off the couch and taking Markstrom’s outstretched hand. He pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles and pulled her close to his body, slinging his arm about her shoulders as they walked side by side into the kitchen.
Hearing them laughing caused a smile to creep onto Ralof’s face. His sister’s happiness meant everything to him and he was so thankful she’d found someone amazing to share her life with, but what about his own happiness? Juliette’s revelation about Suzanne sent his mind spiralling into frenzied thought. All those years of pining, of yearning. Of wanting what he thought he could never – no, would never have. This is what he wanted to happen, right?
‘No, not yet. She needs time.’
Suppressing the tidal surge of thoughts, he rose slowly from the couch, stiff from the exertion of his earlier shopping and joined Jacob and Juliette in the kitchen who had already set about preparing the potatoes for the mash.
“So we’ve got humarsúpa, mashed potatoes and gubbröra. What else is on the menu?” Jules enquired.
“Uh, just a couple of things.” Ralof answered as he began placing the langoustines in a pot. “I thought I’d try making dádýrakæfa, brúnaðar kartöflur and some berjasósu for the turkey – just for a change from the usual cranberry. Also there is also some cranberry sauce for the resident Canadian.”
“I think you forget” Juliette teased. “That I am also Canadian.”
“No you’re not! You’re a strong Viking woman who just happens to love poutine.” Ralof mock protested.
“Did someone mention poutine?”
The three of them turned to the source of the noise to see Suzanne lingering in the doorway, leaning lazily against the doorframe and looking slightly dishevelled, eyes red and face blotchy.
“Yeah, Ralof won’t let us have poutine for Christmas dinner.” Juliette joked.
“It is a heart attack on a plate and I will not allow it. Honestly ladies, your arteries will thank me for it.” Ralof declared.
“I dunno, Ray. I think you’re missing out – poutine is pretty good.” Marky offered with a chuckle.
“You’ve changed, man.”
Suzanne chuckled lightly at the exchange and walked towards Ralof, putting a hand on his bicep causing him to tense slightly.
“What can I do to help, then? There looks like there’s a lot to do.”
It wasn’t very often that Juliette saw her brother get flustered, he was always the epitome of cool and collected, especially around the ladies. He was no stranger to female attention, on account of him looking like the absolute embodiment of strong Viking man, and yet here he was bristling at the touch of her friend. Juliette shared a brief, yet knowing glance, with Jacob who returned the look with a small shrug.
“There’s uh, the uh… shit, uh… if you wanna make a start on uh… maybe peeling some er carrots.” Ralof was almost sweating at this point.
“Uh, yeah, sure.” Suze replied, giving Juliette a confused look and mouthing ‘what’s his deal?’
All Juliette could do is respond with a wry smile and a small shake of the head.

After a solid couple of hours of preparing the following day’s Christmas feast, it was all starting to come together and resembling something that looked like Christmas dinner.
“Well, I’d say that about does it, don’t you think guys?” Juliette announced, admiring their handiwork. “Why don’t you all go and relax in the living room with a glass of glögg? I’ll finish clearing up and be right on through.”
“Don’t do it all yourself, babe.” Markstrom said as he picked up the aluminium foil off the counter top and returning it to its drawer. “Let me help you.”
“Honestly, I’m fine. Go on, go sit down.”
“Inte en chans” he insisted. With an exasperated sigh, Juliette handed Jacob a tea towel and he set about drying the dishes. “Go on through, guys. We won’t be long” she motioned to Suze and Ralof.

The pair looked at each other awkwardly before Ralof broke the tension:
“Come on, let’s leave the lovebirds to it. Besides, you haven’t said anything mean to me all day, I’ll let you have a full half an hour to get it all out of your system.”
“And it was going so well until you opened that mouth of yours.” Suzanne bit back causing Ralof to smile coyly.
“I don’t want you getting complacent.”
Juliette watched as they disappeared into the lounge, still teasing each other.
“What are we going to do with those two?” she sighed.
“I think a bit of alone time could be good for them.” Jacob offered. “Speaking of…”
He placed the plate he was drying down onto the countertop, laying the towel on top, and snaked his arms around Juliette’s waist, nuzzling his face into her neck, his scruff tickling her and causing her to erupt into giggles.
“Babe!”
He placed a gentle kiss on the base of her neck and allowed his hands to meander under her t-shirt in search of the soft skin he so desperately craved. Fingers found their mark and began to trace small circles above the waistband of her jeans causing Juliette to sigh softly.
“I know your game, Marky.” She smirked.
“There’s no game. I just needed to feel you, just for a minute. Then I promise I’ll go back to drying those dishes.”
“What if I don’t want you to?” Juliette remarked staring over her shoulder at him, eyebrow cocked.
“Now who’s playing a game?” Jake replied, voice hushed. He gripped her waist and spun her round to face him, causing her to squeak in surprise and dishsoap suds to fly into the air.
He surveyed her hungrily, those steely blue eyes making contact with her own ashen coloured orbs, his grip on her waist remained stalwart. Slowly, purposefully, Juliette moved her hands up his strong back, tracing little shapes up his neck and wound her fingers into his hair causing him to hum deeply. He closed what little distance there was between them, pressing himself against her and pushing her into the counter, lips hovering dangerously above her own. Sensing an opportunity, Juliette gently took Jacob’s bottom lip between her teeth and pulled achingly slowly; her actions drawing out a soft moan from her lover’s throat.
“You’re walking a fine line, snygging.” He growled quietly into her ear. “A very. Fine. Line.”
Giving Juliette a taste of her own medicine, he nibbled gently on her earlobe before pulling away. His actions lit the touch paper, Juliette pulled Jacob’s lips against her own and kissed him fervently. His tongue moving past her lips to taste her, dancing together in a way only they knew how to do. His hands found their way to her rear, cupping the soft flesh before lifting her up onto the countertop, lips never parting. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer to her as he deepened the kiss, their hands scrambling across each other’s bodies, gripping flesh where it could. Feeling overwhelmed by his own desire and remembering that they were not alone, Jacob pulled away before things could escalate, lips swollen and panting slightly.
“Why did you stop?” Juliette whispered, the whine evident in her voice.
“Because if I didn’t I’d have done things your brother would kill me for if he walked in…” he rasped.
Juliette let out a sigh and moved her hands so she was now cupping Jacob’s face.
“Fine…”
He leaned down and rested his forehead against Juliette’s while they both caught their breath.
“You’d better believe we’re continuing this later though” she grumbled.
“Oh I don’t doubt you for a second, älskling.” He moved aside so she could hop off the counter, giving her ass a small tap for good measure. “Come on, we should join the others. The rest of the dishes can wait for now.”
Taking her hand he led her out of the kitchen towards the lounge, which was eerily quiet.
“Guys?” Juliette called out only to slam into Jacob who had stopped abruptly and without warning.
“What’s up Ja- OH!”
Juliette’s sudden outburst shocked Suzanne and Ralof who jumped so far apart it looked as if they had been electrocuted. Both with tousled hair, plump lips and looking sheepish.
“Huh? What?!” Ralof exclaimed, trying to look as inconspicuous as he could while Suzanne, red-faced, cast her eyes to the floor.
“Were you tonsil tennis-ing my friend?!” Juliette interrogated.
“Who? Me? No! Right, Suze?” Ralof spluttered.
“Him? No. We were just… uh…” Suze almost choked on her words as she tried to force them out.
Jacob stood watching amused.
“God, guys! Get a room!” remarked Juliette, rolling her eyes.
“We had a room before you barged in here, thank you very much.” Ralof retorted.
“WELL GET A MORE PRIVATE ROOM!”
“MAYBE WE WILL!” Ralof bellowed, taking Suze by the hand and leading her out the room before frog marching her upstairs. “IS THIS BETTER?!”
“YES! IT IS! THANK YOU!” she yelled back pointedly.
This exchange had rendered Jacob incapable of formulating words on the account of him holding his sides from laughing so much. He plonked himself on the couch in order to recover.
“I don’t know what you’re laughing at” Juliette shot at him. “This is your fault.”
“My fault?” he laughed.
“Yeah. If you hadn’t have stopped back there we wouldn’t have walked in here and I would never have seen my big brother making out with my best friend.” She countered, whacking Jacob in the chest as she flopped down next to him. He lifted his arm so she could snuggle in and as she nestled herself against his side and rested her head on his chest he placed a chaste kiss into her hair and rested his chin on top of her head, his fingers moving lazily against her ribs through her t-shirt.
“What are you so worried about?” He said softly.
“You mean other than me hearing them both having sex?”
Her remark caused Jacob to snort.
“You don’t think they would?”
“There’s 4 years of pent up sexual tension there, babe. It wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
“You wanna stay at my place tonight?” Markstrom offered.
Juliette paused for a moment. “No.” She said, albeit hesitantly. “It’s Christmas Eve, we should all be together.”
“We could always try out-sexing them” Jacob joked, eyebrows wiggling.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear you say that…”
***

Notes

So I did a little bit of research and made sure to include dishes that are traditionally eaten at Christmas in Iceland and Sweden :)
Not sure if the formatting is right on here - it looked a little weird and after spending ages trying to sort it out I kinda gave up!