Chapter Seventeen
Kendrick
February
I knew I had been acting like a complete baby since my parents' news. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known it was coming, but it had still rattled me. It was one thing when my brother had introduced us to Nik, told us he was The Santa, he was pregnant and moving to Santa's Village.
We’d been able to visit, and even though no one would remember Keegan existed here, my parents had still been here. Just a few blocks away from my apartment. I’d been able to drop in to see them anytime I wanted.
Now they were going to be gone. That realization had hit me hard when they had made their announcement, and I hadn’t handled it at all like I thought I would.
I was going to be here, alone, and no one would remember them. Not their friends, colleagues, or anyone else. No one I knew would remember anything about my parents, or my brother, and it made me feel sad and alone.
Then there was the whole ass complication that was Balfour.
We’d gone from enemies to friends to…lovers. Something beyond that word.
I had feelings for him. Big, huge feelings, and he clearly…did not.
He hadn’t even kissed me good-bye when he had brought me home. He hadn’t said anything, really. Hadn’t asked me to stay. Hadn’t said he wanted to be more than friends.
It was like my heat hadn’t even happened, and was just a wild fever dream I had.
Two weeks later, he had texted that he had told everyone we had broken up. It was exactly what we had talked about, exactly what I had agreed to when he had hatched this plan of his.
So why had it hurt so much?
My gut had clenched, then felt like a brick landed in it. My heart had squeezed so tight, my chest had physically hurt. I’d felt sick, sad, and had cried for an hour in my bed after our conversation.
And I’d had to answer all my texts from my brother, Nik, and my parents, and act like it was no big deal. It just hadn’t worked out, but we were still friends.
Did anyone actually stay friends after a break up? Or was that just a lie you told yourself and your friends, so neither of you felt so bad or like the asshole in the scene?
How was I supposed to go back to being just friends with Bal?
After the way his kisses had set me on fire?
After the way he had taken me through my heat, starting a passion in me I had never experienced with another alpha?
After the way he had cuddled me, taken care of me like I was something special, and even made sure I had some of my own Christmas traditions?
Rolling over in my bed, I stared at the snow globe sitting on my nightstand.
I should put it away. Put it where I couldn’t see it.
Where it couldn’t taunt me, and remind me of peppermint mocha kisses, and strong hands, and tenderness.
Where it couldn’t remind me of things I wanted that could never be.
“Ugh!” I sprang up from the bed as a wave of nausea came on me so fast my head nearly spun with it. I barely made it to the toilet, before I was throwing up what little was in my belly.
This was getting old fast.
Once done, and sure I wasn’t going to hurl again, I flushed the toilet, then rinsed my mouth.
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I grimaced. Sticking my tongue out at my too pale face, dark circles rimming my eyes, I muttered, “Happy fucking Valentine’s Day to me.”
Turning to go back to bed, where I could wallow for another hour before I needed to get up and face a room full of children, ready to celebrate a holiday of hearts and candy, the plastic test stick glared at me from the garbage can.
How was I going to tell Bal I was pregnant?
Well, I wasn’t. That much I had decided. At least, not yet.
Sure, he would find out, but I wasn’t about to trap him into something he didn’t want. With someone he didn’t want.
I wasn’t going to do that to him, or me, or the tiny life we had created, despite the precautions we had taken.
My baby deserved better. They deserved parents that wanted them. If that meant they only had one, me, so be it.
Better Bal never knew this child was his.
And if this baby had any elfin traits, well…I would just cross that river when I came to it.
For the moment I was deep in denial and that was exactly where I wanted to stay, thank you very much.
My phone rang, the one from Santa's Village, and I sighed. Yesterday, when I had told my parents and Keegan about the baby, I had lied my ass off. Because apparently, lying was coming easier and easier for me.
After being met with stunned silence at my pregnancy announcement, my dad had cleared his throat, then made some squawking nonsense about Balfour stepping up and doing the right thing. Whatever the fuck that meant.
And my mouth had opened, and smooth as silk, the lies continued.
“It’s not his baby,” I had declared, sounding very sure of myself. “It’s my baby. I mean, the alpha dad isn’t going to be involved.”
Keegan, who had been with my parents when I had called and they had promptly put the call on speaker, said, “But Bal will want to know. He has a right to know, Kendrick.”
“It’s not his baby,” I repeated sharply. “Look, this is embarrassing, but Sadie and I went to a party on New Year’s Eve. I got a little drunk and hooked up with some random alpha. It was nothing.”
“Well, it’s something now,” Dad barked.
“Weren’t you and Balfour still seeing each other then?” Mom asked quietly. “I’m sure he told us you broke up the next week.”
Fuckity fuck, did my parents have a timeline of Bal and my relationship on the wall somewhere? Now I sounded like a cheater, and my mom sounded disappointed with me.
“Well, officially, yeah, but we knew we weren’t working out right after he brought me home. Too different, too far away. All that.”
Silence met my rushed explanation, and I was thankful my family couldn’t see my face.
“And you’re keeping the baby?” Mom asked, sounding hopeful but also like she was bracing herself for more disappointment.
“I am,” I told them. Because that was one thing I was sure of in my mess of a life.
Now, I stared at my ringing phone, seeing it was my mom, and debated answering or not. I was exhausted, all the time, and I wasn’t sure I was up for more questions from my family. Still, I answered, because it was my mom.
“Morning, Mom.”
“You haven’t left for school yet, have you?” Mom asked, then I heard the phone clatter down on something, her muttering, and the echo telling me I was on speaker phone. Great.
“Who else is there, Mom?” Because I did not need for them to ambush me with Balfour, Goddess forbid. I was fairly sure I had done a good enough job selling them my alpha hook up story.
“Just me, son,” Dad’s gruff voice said. “Your mother and I wanted to talk to you together. We’ve been talking and…”
“Just tell him Merv,” Mom urged. “He might not even want it. We need to not push him, especially right now.”
Blowing out a breath, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Tell me what?”
“We’d like to gift you our house,” Dad said, and I was stunned.
“What?” I couldn’t keep the shock from my voice.
Last I knew, they were planning to list the house and bank the profits.
Since Santa's Village didn’t require money, and Nik had provided them with a cottage to retire in, they really didn’t need the money.
They were planning to travel a bit, in the human world, so they would use it for that.
“That one bedroom apartment of yours is no place to raise a baby,” Dad declared matter-of-factly. “The house is paid for, and it has plenty of room for you and the baby.”
“But,” I stammered, “you were going to travel. You’ll have your retirement pension, but how does that work if no one will remember you?”
Mom laughed, “Oh, that’s easy, we took it as a lump sum. It’s already in the bank, so once we officially make the move here, next month, we’ll bring the money with us. We want to do this for you, Kendrick.”
I was stunned and didn’t know what to say. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, because it was all too much. The last few weeks had been so many emotions and then finding out I was pregnant; I could do nothing but cry. Which was annoying to say the least.
“Thank you,” I finally managed. “I appreciate it more than you know.”
I hoped I would be as great a parent as my own were.
Kendrick
Past…
Me: One of my students asked me during reading time today, why I wasn’t mated.
Grumpy Elf: What did you tell them?
Me: That alphas are icky and have cooties, of course.
Grumpy Elf: Of course. Did they buy that story?
Me: LOL I didn’t really tell them that. I said I hadn’t met the right alpha for me, but someday I would.
Grumpy Elf: Sooo….you lied.
Me: Of course I lied.
Grumpy Elf: I’m putting you on the naughty list.
Me: Do what you need to do. Just remember, I have an in with Santa.