Merry Midwinter by Aprilertuile

Carols and Singing

As always, after sorting out the old house decorations, the crafters of the family all went their own way to replace what needed to be replaced.

Curufinwë and Fëanáro in the Forge, Nerdanel with clay sculptures, Carnistir with yarn work…

Makalaurë and Maitimo had both strategically disappeared, leaving Tyelkormo alone with the Ambarussa.

Tyelkormo had sighed, but took a look at the twins who were doing their best impression of being absolutely innocent, which all their brothers knew to be a lie on principle alone, and decided on the spot that they’d bake midwinter cookies.

That’d at least keep them busy enough.

As he was mixing the dough, and the Ambarussa were busy tasting the pieces of dried fruits and jams they wanted to add to the cookies, Tyelkormo started to hum.

He couldn’t help it, and if asked, he’d claim that it was entirely Makalaurë’s fault.

Soon enough however, he heard his younger brothers’ voices join his, singing a song of the winter:

“Midwinter night coming with wind and cold,

Snow on the peaks of old Taniquetil,

Falling on the plains of the tired world,

…”

It was fun and warm to bake midwinter cookies with his littlest siblings, singing songs of the festival.

His little brothers’ voices weren’t the best, none of them were Makalaurë, and yet, it was fun, it was warm, and none of them cared about how they sounded.

When he came back in from wherever he went to hide, Maitimo’s voice joined theirs, and as the rest of the family started to trail in, their appointed tasks probably finished, they all started to join them in singing songs of good cheer and silent snow, of cold wind and hot drink.

The cookies would soon be done and shared, with hot drinks at hand and teasing aplenty.