Kiss Me, Connor Kenway

Season's Greetings

"Connor we have to!" I threw my arms up in the air. We were in the kitchen, preparing our dinner. We were going to make a nice rabbit stew. I was cutting carrots and he was cutting the meat. We were standing side by side.

"You should put the knife down at least before you raise your arms like that." Connor warned me. I let out a sigh, becoming agitated by his comment. I went back to work on cutting the carrots.

"Connor, seriously. I think we should! I haven't decorated for Christmas in a long time. We have to at least decorate a small pine tree!" I begged him. Christmas is a fun and special holiday, and I would love to celebrate it with Connor. Back in Italy, it is also a very serious holiday due to religion. Though I am back and forth on religion, I believe it is still important to celebrate Christmas.

"Christmas Eve is tomorrow too. Please, let's celebrate. Prudence invited us to come to the tavern tomorrow evening to drink and be merry with everyone." I pleaded with him. Connor let out a sigh, giving in.

"Fine, if it will make you happy. What do we need to do to decorate the manor? What are some of the customs?" Connor was now being cooperative and I could tell he was becoming more interested in the holiday.

"Well we're going to have to get a pine tree just small enough to fit in the manor. We decorate it with maybe some pine cones, candles, little trinkets that you would like to put on the tree. We can maybe make some garland and hang it around the railing of the steps. Oh! We can make a pie tonight! Let's see, we can use pumpkin or sweet potatoes. Which one would you rather have?" I was in a train of thought, my mind racing a mile a minute.

"Pumpkin." Connor replied smoothly.

"Okay so we can do that. We can maybe even knit a nice sweater. I still have some yarn left over. It just might be enough. Oh! There's this tradition in Italy where we make this delicious bread called panettone! It's really good! We can make that with the pie tonight. Oh and-"

"One thing at a time, Miss Fields. Let's start with the pine tree and the baking." Connor cut me off, stopping me from any more frivolous talk.

"Ah, alright." I finished cutting up the carrots and placed them into the pot of broth. Connor did the same with the rabbit meat.

"Now, explain to me some of the customs. Forgive me, for I am not familiar with your holidays. What is the origin of Christmas?" Connor took the pot and hung it over the fire, everything slowly cooking together. It won't be for at least another hour until the soup is done. Before I began to explain the story of Christmas, Connor and I went into the living room to sit down and relax. I gently sat down on the couch and Connor did the same, but sat right next to me.

He sat right next to me? This is strange. He usually sits on the other couch in front of me and we talk face to face. But now he has suddenly decided to take his seat right next to me. In my mind I smiled. Good, he's comfortable with me now. He's not as manorly in his actions.

"Christmas is the holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, in Catholic religion, the Son of God. As you know, I'm not always too sure on religion, but that is it's origin and why it's celebrated. There's also a man named Saint Nicholas and he brings toys and presents to those who have been good that year. He's commonly known as Santa Claus, but he doesn't actually exist. Santa is just a cute little figure for children to believe in. The adults just give each other little presents on Christmas Day and we just have a good time with each other and enjoy the end of the year." Connor was looking directly into my eyes. He seemed to be intrigued by the holiday.

"What is the representation of the pine tree?" He asked. I sat for a moment and thought about it.

"Well, the pine tree is representing how in the dead of winter, the tree still lives while the others shed their leaves and go into hibernation. It represents Christ and his endurance of living, his spirit living with all of us." Connor nodded his head.