Winter was half over when Shelly started to think about Christmas. She finally told the guys the truth about where she was from. One day she was sitting by the fire and said, "When is this cold season going to be over?" Harvey said, "It is about halfway over, so in another month." Shelly said, " Where I am from we celebrate the middle of the cold season. It is called Christmas." Three sets of different colored eyes stared at Shelly with interest. She thought I guess it's story time.
She said, "I need to confess something to you guys. Is there anyone around?" Winston listened for a moment and released some of his beast energy. He said, "No one is close enough to hear us." Shelly nodded and said, "I'm not really an Ape female. I'm not even from this world. I am a human from Earth. I fell into this world and I'm not sure how." She didn't tell them they were in a story because she didn't want to shatter their world. Shuu tilted his head and asked, "What is a human?" Shelly replied, "On Earth, we don't have beastmen. We have our 2 legged forms, but no one can transform into a beast. We are all born in our 2 legged form and the males are almost the same strength as females. We are called humans. We also have animals that we either eat or keep as pets." Winston asked, " What are pets?" Shelly responded,"Pets are animals that we love to keep but do not eat. We pet them and they cuddle with us." She pet Shuu's head to demonstrate. His tail wagged. She said," Some people keep dogs, they are kind of like wolves. Some people keep cats. I had one orange male cat and one black and white female cat." Harvey looked pleased that she had an orange cat. It showed she really liked him. Winston looked confused that she had a miniature female version of him. She petted each of their heads and told them, "Don't worry, you guys are much bigger than my pets and you are my mates. I don't think of you as pets." Any more, she added in her mind. She definitely couldn't think of them as pets anymore. Not after mating with them and the way they took care of her.
She said, we have a different society. On Earth males and females are almost equal and they only have one mate." All three males looked at each other with a little concern. She was quick to add, "On Earth we have invented things to make our lives easier and don't need to hunt for food. We also have laws to keep everyone from killing each other." Winston seemed interested in the laws. He asked, "What are laws?" Shelly tried to think of a way to explain. "They are rules that everyone should follow and if someone breaks the rules they are punished by someone in charge. Like how if someone harms a female they are exiled, but for both males and females." Shuu looked in disbelief. He said," Why would a male be worried about being harmed by a female?" Shelly smiled and said, "Females can be dangerous too. Some women kill people and the laws are to keep everyone safe." Harvey asked, "What is Christmas?"
Shelly thought back to her original thought that started this discussion. She said, "In my world we have holidays that we celebrate kind of like the banquets you have here or the tradition of the wine on the first snowfall of the season. Christmas is in the middle of the cold season that we call winter. It is a time of year where people give gifts to each other and hang out with family." She thought of telling them about the religious version of Christmas, but thought it might be too much for them to understand. Plus, they believed in a beast deity. She did not want to risk religious persecution or crusades.
She said, "I would usually go see my mom and my family for Christmas. We would all eat a meal together and exchange gifts. The houses are decorated with lights and we bring in a tree and decorate it with pretty things." Harvey seemed the most interested in the tree decorating. Shelly continued, "We have special Christmas songs that we sing together and listen to." Shuu asked, "Can you sing a song for us?" The rest nodded and looked like hopeful children. Shelly laughed at their enthusiasm and nodded. She thought of a good song that would translate to their world. She started to sing White Christmas since it was currently snowing outside. "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow, the snow." Shuu asked "what are sleigh bells?" Shelly said, "A sleigh is a wooden ride that is pulled by Reindeer. They are like bigger deer with antlers. The bells on the sleigh are little round balls that make noise when they move." They guys nodded and listened to her finish singing. Next she sang Winter Wonderland.
Winston was awestruck at her voice. He had never heard such beautiful singing. He only knew of mermaid sirens and birds songs. His female was very special. He would have to protect her if anyone found out her secrets. Harvey was in bliss after listening to her sing. It was almost hypnotic. He felt his heart flutter. Shuu was thinking about reindeer and sleigh bells. Shelly tried to teach the guys to sing, but Winston and Harvey sounded like cats meowing while Shuu just howled. She sighed and said, "How about you just say, bu dum bum bum after I stop singing." They did and she showed them how fast to say it. It was great with their naturally deep voices. She started to think of other duos with deep male voices. Baby it's cold outside came to mind. She spent the rest of the evening teaching them the lyrics and explaining what the new words meant.
After the music lesson, They had dinner. After dinner Shelly took out her phone from her bag and powered it on. Surprisingly it still had a little bit of charge left. It only had 18%, so she knew it wouldn't last long. She told them "this is a phone." Harvey had already seen it, so he took it gently and showed it to the other 2 males. They saw a picture of Shelly with her family wearing different brightly colored clothing. She explained, "This is my mother, my brother, and his kids. The big guy next to me is my husband." She looked at them as they studied the picture. Harvey asked, "Is this the mate you told me about when we first met?" Shelly looked a little sad and said "Yes, he was working when I fell into this world. I don't know if he knows where I am and how to reach me." They looked at each other and thought I hope he never finds her. We won't let him take her back. She had opened their eyes to a whole new world and they were not going to lose her. Their lives would seem so boring without her.
Winston seemed interested in what the phone was made from. He used his nail to tap the hard surface. Shelly said, "Please be careful, it is very breakable and I don't know if I can fix it if it breaks." He looked apologetic and cradled it like a newborn female. She chuckled and said, "It's ok." She scrolled through her photos and explained them. She showed them her pets Pepper and Simba. They looked confused at how small the cats were. Harvey asked,"Are they cubs?" Shelly said, "I got them when they were kittens and they fit in my hand. Now they are fully grown adults. I told you pets were smaller than you guys." They nodded in agreement. When the photos came to the inside of her house, Winston took note of the details. He vowed to himself to build a better house for Shelly so she would never want to leave them. He thought that he would build her a castle and make her a queen. That way she would have more guards and be better protected.
As he was making plans for their future, someone else was making plans to ruin Shelly. Rosa was trying to think of ways to force Shelly to leave the city. She could not stand the idea that Shelly stole her 4 striped male and the title of favorite mate of the queen's cubs. She thought if she harassed Shelly enough that maybe she would leave in the middle of the cold season and freeze to death. The thought made her smile. She started to make plans with her mates. Bart seemed excited to mess with his brother and his brother's mate.