Free The Mistletoe Experiment by Serena Yates

suitcases into
    the trunk and turned around to say goodbye.
    This was it.
    Lance embraced him, kissing him within an inch of his
    life.
    “I love you, baby.” Lance stepped back, forcing himself
    to let go.
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    “I love you, min älskling .” Magnus got into the taxi,
    rolling the window down before he closed the door. “I"ll be
    counting the days till we see each other again.”
    “Me too.” Lance smiled.
    He held his heart as he waved at the departing taxi. He
    watched a waving Magnus get smaller and smaller, until the
    car went around the corner and took Magnus away with it.
    He had never felt more alone.

    MAGNUS was sitting in the communal room at the station,
    pretending to read a book. He hadn"t been able to stare at
    his own four walls of the cell-like, tiny room for another
    second. So he"d joined his colleagues, or at least those not
    outside on some research mission, to try and bide his time
    there. Sunday mornings seemed to last forever since he"d
    moved here.
    He"d looked forward to the call since last Sunday. The
    weekly calls with Jakob and Lance were often the only thing
    that kept him going. He had e-mail exchanges with Lance on
    an almost daily basis, and Jakob sent him the occasional
    message, but it wasn"t the same as hearing their voices and
    seeing their faces via the webcam. Of course, holding them
    in his arms would have even better, but there were a few
    weeks yet to go until that would finally happen again.
    The work at the station was interesting enough, even
    though the measurement of glacier dynamics could get a bit
    boring after a while. He"d realized that fieldwork, the way he
    remembered it, was a lot more exciting than the reality.
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    Maybe he just wasn"t cut out for making meticulous
    measurements and keeping detailed records. His colleagues
    came from all over the world, though, so exchanging
    information and experiences provided at least some
    entertainment.
    And yet, time seemed to be passing at a less than glacial
    pace.
    He missed Lance more than he"d ever thought possible.
    The man had brought so much joy into his life, making him
    laugh and reconnect with other people, making life fun just
    by being his own irrepressible, exuberant self. He missed the
    intimacy he shared with his fiancé, the closeness and love. It
    was worse in the evenings and at night, when he tossed and
    turned in is narrow bunk bed, fighting to find the sleep he so
    desperately needed to stay awake and alert during the
    daytime when he went outside. Mistakes could be life
    threatening in this climate, and ice and cold were very
    unforgiving opponents.
    He also missed Jakob a lot. In the two years since
    Magnus had taken over the responsibility for raising the boy,
    Jakob had become as close to him as if he"d been his own
    son. One thing he had realized, being away like this, was
    that he needed to make sure that Lance would be able to
    take care of the boy, should anything happen to him. Even
    their wedding wouldn"t solve that part of the problem, so he
    was going to talk to Lance about adopting Jakob. Anything
    to avoid another battle over custody if someone wanted to
    fight the provision he"d made in his will. And it would be a
    lot more difficult for Lance, as a non-relative, should it ever
    happen.
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    “Is it time for your call yet?” Fumio grinned as he looked
    up from his book. “I know you"ve been waiting for it since
    you hung up last week.”
    “Almost.” Magnus didn"t mind Fumio"s friendly ribbing.
    “Good. You"re always in a much better mood after the
    call.” Fumio winked and returned to his book.
    Better mood, indeed! It was his lifeline.
    He went back to his room fifteen minutes ahead of the
    call time, just to make sure the laptop was switched on and
    he was connected. Two p.m. couldn"t come quickly enough.
    When he"d put on his headset and had logged