Epilogue
Willy
Nine months later
I wrapped up the last of the family Christmas presents. It was early, very early, but I wanted everything done before the baby came. Based on what the midwife had said, that could be any day now. Based on my size, it should’ve been weeks ago. I was ginormous.
“Gumdrop, Snowdrop. Let me just put these away, and we’ll go find Daddy.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking when I said, Hey, I’m pregnant, let’s get another dog. I loved Gumdrop a lot, so did Snowdrop, but she had some energy to her. She was already racing to me and back to the door again, over and over as I put the last of the presents in the Christmas closet.
Nick had laughed at me when I told him that we wanted a cabin with an extra closet for my “Christmas” closet. And I suppose it is ridiculous to have a closet just to keep things I wanted for Christmas Day, but I did, and here it was.
I wasn’t like my brother-in-law and his mate.
I didn’t keep my house decorated for Christmas all year long.
Well, I did, but not to that extent. There were some things that were special just for the holiday.
That was why I needed my Christmas closet.
It had nothing to do with pregnancy hormones making everything feel a thousand times bigger than they were. Nope. Couldn’t be that.
I grabbed my coat, not even bothering to try and button it, because that was a fool’s errand.
It had been two months since I’d come close to being able to get it closed.
After putting the leashes on the two dogs, the three of us left our small cabin and walked around back to the stable that Nick had designed for Campbell’s horses.
The North Pole wasn’t the natural habitat for horses, but this was North Pole Village, not the wilderness.
There was enough magic here that it was warm enough, and the stables and arena he and Campbell built were spectacular.
So far, they’d adjusted well, and my mate had taken to giving some of the young elves horseback-riding lessons.
Campbell did an amazing job last year getting all the gifts where they needed to be last Christmas.
He said it was because he had my gift to look forward to, but I knew it was that he took his responsibility seriously.
But as great as he had been at it, the workshop wasn’t where his heart was—the stables were.
“Let’s see if Daddy’s almost done.”
I never needed to know where he went on the property.
The dogs always just led me straight to him.
It was pretty handy, actually. When we found him, he was brushing the colt.
It was the first colt born to them since he moved up here, and her name was Miracle, because obviously it must be a Christmas miracle, even though she wasn’t born at Christmas.
But I went with it because it made me smile.
She was the pride and joy of all the kids who came in for lessons.
“I didn’t expect to see you here today.” He put the brush down, crossed over to me, and kissed my cheek. “I’m glad you are. I was just finishing up.”
“I guess I’m just feeling clingy.” It had been really bad the past couple days.
I didn’t like being away from my mate for more than an hour or two.
Work was awful. I still had about a week to go before my paternity leave started, and I was about ready to call it quits already.
Nick had offered, but I was stubborn. My job was important, and we might be on track now, but that didn’t mean we’d stay that way.
My duties changed a couple of months ago, and I was strictly office work at this point, which was good, because smelling anything in the Lube Lagoon was just too much for my pregnant tummy to handle.
“Did you want to go somewhere or just back home?”
“I don’t know. I’m feeling kind of weird today, and not just the clingy weird, but like everything has to be done for the baby today weird.”
“Okay, well, tell me what needs doing and we’ll get it done.”
He took my hand, and we walked back inside. I showed him my list, the one I created on a spreadsheet that was three printed pages long. Every single item was checked off except for the Christmas presents, which I was able to tick off now.
“Nothing. We’re ready.”
“Perfect, that means we get a little quiet time before our little one comes.” He went to put his hand on my belly and then pulled it back. “I need to take a shower because I smell like the stables. I’ll be right back.”
He walked into the bathroom, and less than two minutes later, I decided I needed to join him. I climbed into the shower right behind him. It was crowded, especially with my belly, but there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
“Do you need your hair washed?”
He knew how much I loved being pampered like that.
“I just needed to be near you. But I’m not turning down a hair washing.”
We stayed in the shower longer than we should’ve, my fingers all wrinkly. We laughed at my pruny hands, but I felt better than I had in a while. I hadn’t realized how sore my muscles had been.
“I think I’m gonna take a nap.”
“Sounds good.” He tugged me into bed, and I closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.
When I woke, it was to the smell of sugar cookies.
They’d been a staple during this pregnancy…
only right now, I didn’t think I could eat one.
I pushed myself to sit, and my stomach hurt.
It was tight and hard. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to puke or go back to sleep and hope it was gone in the morning.
I called my mate.
“Yes, my love. You’re awake.” He sat on the edge of the bed beside me.
“I don’t feel right.”
“Describe what you’re feeling.” He was calmer about this than I was feeling.
I started to explain, and he held up his hand and said, “Wait a second. Let me call Percy.”
He put Percy on speaker. “Now tell him how you’re feeling.”
I went through it again, adding more detail. Percy squeed and said he would be right over.
“I think I’m missing something,” I said.
“I think we both did.”
Percy must have run all the way here, because he was walking through the door only a few minutes later, jumping up and down and announcing that it was baby time.
I didn’t believe him at first, but as the rest of the afternoon wore on and my cramps started getting worse, I saw that he was right. I didn’t have a stomachache. I was in labor.
When I first asked my bestie about how bad labor was, he told me it “wasn’t that bad.” Percy lied.
It was awful. I was in a constant state of not knowing if I wanted to be sick to my stomach or to curl in a ball and beg for sweet death. Minutes turned to hours, and it was the middle of the night when Percy finally announced it was time for the midwife.
Poor Campbell looked dreadful. I knew he wished he could do something for me, but he couldn’t. This was just how it was.
And then we got the news no pregnant omega wants, the midwife was on vacation. Apparently, my brother-in-law wasn’t the only person they’d found not taking their leave, and they’d been staggering vacations throughout the year.
“What are we supposed to do? What are we supposed to do?” I was panicking, but how could I not. It wasn’t like I could wait for them to return.
Campbell sat beside me, holding me in his arms. “It’ll be fine. Elves have been doing this for as long as time. I’ve got you.”
Percy swore he’d be able to guide me through, and thankfully, everything went quickly from there. I wasn’t even sure how long it took… time all blurry, pain going from strong with breaks to constant and intense.
Finally, Percy was telling me to push. I pushed, and I pushed, and I pushed so hard I saw spots. I didn’t think I could do this.
Campbell kept telling me how amazing I was and how he couldn’t wait to meet our little one. Without him by my side… I refused to think about what would’ve happened then.
And finally, just when I thought there was no hope, our dear sweet daughter was born. She was perfect with ten little fingers, ten little toes, eyes that were just as brilliant as her father’s.
When she snuggled onto me for the first time a sense of peace and love settled over me.
“Would it be too cliché if I called her Noelle?”
Campbell looked down at her face, beaming. “I think it’s perfect.”
I leaned into his side. “Absolutely perfect.”