Epilogue
SPIKE
Christmas Morning
One year ago, a blizzard brought Tyler crashing into my life. The omega I'd been waiting for without even knowing it.
Now, I couldn't help but marvel at how completely my world had transformed since he joined it.
The bed was warm with Tyler curled against me in our nest of blankets.
And in the room I added just a few months ago, our daughter slept in her hand-carved wooden crib.
Missy was the sweetest three-month-old you could imagine. A perfect blend of both of us.
I'd been alone for so many Christmases before Tyler that I had assumed I always would be.
Holidays were just another day to let my reindeer run through the forest to escape the silence of my empty cabin.
And I certainly never bothered with decorations when I was alone. But Tyler had changed that too.
From the moment I found him half-frozen in that snowbank last year, I knew my life would never be the same. We had the kind of connection people waited lifetimes to find.
The clock on our bedside table read 5:38 AM. It was earlier than we needed to be up, but I couldn't sleep any longer. Not with excitement humming through me. I carefully extricated myself from Tyler's arms.
He made a small sound of protest but didn't wake. Pregnancy had been hard on him, and even three months after Missy's birth, he needed all the rest he could get.
My first stop was always to check on the baby.
Missy's crib was positioned where the first morning light would touch it, though on a stormy day like today, there wouldn’t be much light for a while.
I leaned over the rail and admired the miracle Tyler and I had created together in our first hours together.
"Merry first Christmas, baby girl," I whispered softly so she wouldn’t wake up.
The cabin smelled of pine from the enormous tree that dominated our living room. There was also a sweet scent of cinnamon from the ornaments Tyler made by hand. He was so creative, and when let loose with a hot glue gun and glitter, he could do just about anything.
I made my way to the kitchen so I could get coffee ready for when Tyler woke up. Once I started it brewing, I pulled out the ingredients for the Christmas-morning breakfast Tyler requested. Cranberry orange muffins.
Before him, I ate the same protein-heavy meals day after day. But Tyler loved sweets and introduced flavor into my life in more ways than one.
As I mixed the batter, my mind wandered back to that first day when I'd carried him, shivering and barely alive, back to my cabin. A simple Christmas Eve storm had trapped us together for the best night of our lives to that point. We were just two strangers who quickly became anything but.
By the end of that first night, I knew I never wanted him to leave.
Thankfully he didn’t.
"You're making muffins?" Tyler's sleepy voice came from the doorway and pulled me from my memories.
"I wanted to surprise you." I crossed the kitchen and pulled him close enough that I could bury my nose in his hair. His scent was more grounding to me than even a run in the woods could be. "Merry Christmas, sweet omega."
"Merry Christmas, alpha." His words were murmured against my chest as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "I can’t believe Missy is still asleep."
"I'm sure she'll be up soon enough to see what Santa brought her."
Tyler laughed and grabbed a cranberry from the bowl. "She's three months old, Spike. She’ll be happy with wrapping paper and empty boxes for at least a few years."
"Doesn't matter. I got her actual presents anyway." I'd gone overboard with the baby gifts, but how could I not? This was our first Christmas as a family. It was special in a way nothing else ever would be.
A tiny cry from the nursery broke the peaceful moment.
"I'll get her." I was quick to get to her. Just like always.
"Bring her Christmas outfit," Tyler called after me. "It's hanging in the closet."
The nursery was my favorite room in the cabin.
I'd built most of the furniture myself during Tyler's pregnancy, channeling all my nervous energy into creating the perfect space for our baby.
The walls were painted a soft green with a forest mural that Tyler spent weeks perfecting.
Animals peeked out from between painted trees, with the papa reindeer watching over everyone.
Missy was fully awake now with her little legs kicking at the air as she worked up to a proper cry.
"Good morning, little fawn." I lifted her to my chest and hugged her. "Are you ready for your first Christmas?"
She quieted immediately at the sound of my voice, her big eyes focusing on my face. I changed her diaper while telling her about the presents waiting for her and the special day ahead.
The Christmas outfit Tyler had picked out was ridiculous and adorable. The red velvet dress had white trim and tiny reindeer leggings. There was even a headband with antlers attached. I laughed as I dressed her, but she was the cutest little thing I’d ever seen.
"Look who's ready for Christmas." I carried her into the kitchen where Tyler was pulling the muffins from the oven.
He turned and his face lit up. "Oh my god, the antlers! I knew she’d love them." He put down the muffin tin and reached for Missy. As always, she made a happy gurgling sound at the sight of him. "Good morning, sweetie. Merry Christmas!"
We ate breakfast with Missy in her bouncy seat, a bottle on the table between us, watching us with her curious gaze. The storm continued outside, but we were warm and safe…and happy.
"Should we do presents?" Tyler asked when we'd finished eating. His excitement was palpable and contagious.
"Yep. Let's go see what Santa brought." I picked up Missy while Tyler cleared our dishes.
The living room was a Christmas wonderland compared to anything I'd ever had before.
The tree touched the ceiling and was decorated with a mix of store-bought ornaments and the handmade ones that Tyler spent so many long evenings by the fire working on.
Lights twinkled throughout, and a pile of wrapped gifts spilled out from underneath.
Three stockings hung from the mantle—one for each of us.
We settled on the floor near the fireplace with Missy on a blanket between us.
“You first.” Tyler pushed a small box toward me. "This one."
Inside was a watch. It was simple but obviously expensive. On the back was an inscription. To my alpha, who gave me everything. Love, Tyler.
"Tyler..." I was at a loss for words, and my throat tightened with emotion.
"Do you like it? I just wanted to give you something that you’d always have with you…so you never forget how much you mean to me."
I cut him off with a kiss. "I’ll never forget, and I love it."
“Now you.” I gave him a silver chain with a pendant of a hoof print that matched the one I wore. I’d made it between customer orders and he seemed genuinely surprised.
"It's beautiful." He looked at every detail in awe and then immediately put it on. "I'll never take it off."
We took turns opening Missy’s gifts after that.
She got a lot of clothes and toys and books.
Tyler had gotten her a silver bracelet with her name engraved on it for when she was older.
And I surprised him with a cedar chest I’d built and filled with letters I'd written to Missy throughout Tyler’s pregnancy and during her first months.
When we were done, the three of us cuddled in front of the fire, just content to be together.
Missy fell asleep against Tyler's chest as we watched the storm through the big picture window. The snow showed no signs of letting up, but it didn't matter. We had nowhere to be and nothing to do but enjoy each other and our first Christmas as three instead of two.
Check out these other holiday mpreg books by Aria Grace…
Two men. One room. Zero vacancies.
Davey wanted nothing more than a quiet Christmas alone at the Winter Wonderland Wilderness Lodge.
Cozy meals, no family drama, no pressure.
Just peace. But when he arrives and discovers his room double-booked, his holiday plans go up in smoke.
Now he’s stuck sharing with a stranger—an impossibly tall, ridiculously handsome alpha who looks at him like he’s the only gift under the tree.
Michael hadn’t planned on company either.
Ready to turn back in the middle of a snowstorm, he offers the room to the stubborn omega and plans to bail.
But the sweet man worries it’s too dangerous for him to leave and sharing is the only option.
Though Michael could survive running all the way home through the snow, he has no desire to argue.
Not when fate has just dropped someone so tempting in his path.
The moment the two men settle into their suite in Room 7, every instinct roars to life. The pull between them is undeniable. The storm outside only fans the heat building inside.
Maybe this Christmas, a miracle will deliver exactly what they both need.
Wolf Beneath The Wreath is a steamy mpreg Christmas romance features a possessive wolf shifter, a cautious human omega, forced proximity, snowstorms, instalove, a sweet baby, and a happily-ever-after that glows brighter than the holiday lights.
Double-booked for the Holidays is a multi-author mpreg shared setting Christmas series.
Each book can be read as a standalone but why not grab all these sweet and sexy holiday shifter with forced proximity stories.