11. Sparkle
ELEVEN
SPARKLE
“I might be pregnant.” Tears spilled from my eyes and bounced over my cheeks as I stood by the bed and shook Dan awake. “I probably am.”
“Hmmm… what?” He blinked and sat up, the bedding falling around his waist.
He was so yummy, but I had to focus.
“Did you hear me, Dan?”
“Mmmm… come back to bed.” He outstretched his hand and pulled me close, but I wriggled out of his grasp.
“Pregnant.”
His brows shot up so high they almost reached his hairline.
“That was fast.” He checked his watch. “Didn’t we have sex for the first time a few hours ago?”
“Yes and yes.” I explained it was a quirk with some but not all elves. “I should have mentioned it before we fell into bed.” I sniffed and wiped the tears away with my upper arm.
“Okay.” He patted the mattress, but I couldn’t sit, and so I paced back and forth at the end of the bed, my bare feet sinking into the carpet. “That’s sooner than I imagined, but I’ve always wanted to be a dad.”
Sushi, who’d been asleep on her bed in the corner, lifted her head and woofed.
“Sorry, my darling girl. Silly me. I am a dad, and I look forward to being a dad to a two-legged baby.” He peered at Sushi as if searching for approval. “How’s that?”
She barked and curled up with her toys.
“Oh, you are.”
Was he talking to me or the dog or his wolf? There were a lot of people in this family, one of whom I couldn’t see. I waited, figuring he’d fill me in.
“My wolf says you are.”
I was still confused. “I am what?”
“Pregnant.”
Wow, wolves could sense a baby inside an elf? That was a skill he should put on his wolf resumé.
“He can scent our little one.” Dan put his face against my belly and kissed it. “Hello in there.”
He was adorable, but I gnawed at what was left of my nails. “And how would you feel if the baby is an elf?”
Dan shoved pillows behind him. “I will love our child if they are an elf.” He tilted his head and beckoned me closer.
But I continued to pace. “What about part elf and part shifter?”
Dan folded his arms, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Gods, I adored this man, but I was so wound up, I almost wanted him to be upset and for me to present him with a situation that was so horrifying, he’d cry with me. How fucked up was that?
“But what if I disappear or become a figurine or just vanish into thin air?”
Okay, that wiped the smugness off his face, and his brow furrowed into rows of wavy lines.
“Can you tell me more about your past and why this happened?”
“I work for Santa. Not all of them, just number one.” I puffed out my chest. “Santa #1 was the best Santa in my opinion.”
Dan narrowed his eyes. “Okay, it’s like this.” I told him about the Santas and how I made toys, and the trick that had Santa toss me out.
“Wow! Wow! I had no idea.”
I rambled on about Santa as I was getting dressed, not wanting to be late for my second day of work. “He would never do this. He expects everyone to do their job, but he wouldn’t turn me into porcelain.”
Dan pulled the covers up to his chin.”So there’s magic afoot?”
I sniggered, despite my worries. “Maybe even a-knee.”
He squinted and his lips trembled before he burst out laughing, and I joined in.
When I recovered, I said, “I think my friends’ desire to help me messed things up.” I didn’t go into detail because I didn’t know one hundred percent or even ten percent.
“Then let’s forget the past and look to the future. You, me, the baby, Sushi, and my wolf. One big happy family.”
I had to tell him, and I ran through what I recalled: elf, figurine, mate, but if not, destined to search forever or remain a figurine. I specified it was an old tale and many of the details were unclear.
“But we’re mated now.”
I cut him off. “What if that’s a big fake and my life is doomed?”
My mate leaped out of bed and sat me on the curved window seat that overlooked the back garden.
“Let’s do something about it. We can call Santa or send him an email.”
I shook my head, tears springing from my eyes and onto Dan. Being fired, I no longer had access to the North Pole, Christmas Village, Santa, Dasher, or any of my friends and co-workers. Besides, I suspected this wasn’t Santa #1’s doing.
My shrill voice bounced off the walls as I became more frantic, no longer thinking about myself but about the baby I was carrying.
“What have we done, Dan?” I wiped my damp face on his PJs. “We shouldn’t have mated. What was I thinking?”
Dan stilled my shaking with his hands on my shoulders. “Sparkle, breathe.”
“I am!” I snapped and regretted it, burying my head on his chest and sobbing. “Sorry.”
“First, we’re going to find out why exactly this happened and to make sure whoever did it has stopped playing their games with your life.”
“Okay.” I said that to make him feel better, but I was at a loss as to how to make it happen. Maybe I was already suffering from baby brain. And there might not be a “who.” How did one describe a curse?
He put a finger under my chin and tilted my head so we were staring at one another. “There’s nothing that would stop me loving you and any children that are nestled in your belly.”
Tears leaked from my eyes. “Thanks.” I managed a grin. “For making me cry again.”
“But know this. If we only have three weeks, three days, or three minutes together, I won’t regret one second of it. I will do everything in my power to make it a lifetime.”
Dan hugged me so tightly, he almost squeezed the air out of me.
“I feel sick.”
My mate pulled away. “Sorry.”
It wasn’t Dan squishing me that was making me nauseous. For sure, I was pregnant. My omega dad, grandpa, and great- grandpa were the same; they all got pregnant after having sex the first time with their mate. Not that they had a wolf mate.
Now we were mated, there was someone I wanted to meet; Dan’s wolf. But today was only the second day at my new job and I couldn’t be late.
“There’s someone with four legs and fur that I’d like to say hello to.”
Dan raised one brow. Gods, he was so damned cute. I kissed his forehead, his nose, and his lips.
“I think she’s asleep.” Dan leaned over the side of the bed. “Yeah, she’s snoring.”
I giggled, and while we laughed together before and after we’d mated, this was different. A weight had lifted from my shoulders, and I was thinking Santa had done me a favor. But there was still that niggling worry that I might not be free of the curse, but for the rest of the day, I was celebrating my pregnancy.
“Not Sushi. Your beast.”
“He would love to meet you.” Dan explained he and his wolf had doubted I was his mate. “All because I couldn’t scent you.”
“Maybe it was better that way.” I always wondered when fate intervened and the choice was taken out of our hands. A mate for life should be someone we like and get to know and fall in love with. But I had no doubt about how much I loved this man, my mate.
Dan had fallen for me, and while it wasn’t over weeks or months, he’d decided I was the one before fate agreed. I kinda liked that.
“It was difficult because my wolf and I argued, while I was certain you were the one. And my wolf now says he sensed you were our mate the whole time,” he whispered. “I’m not sure he did.”
I giggled and bounded up, not wanting to be late for work. We arranged to go outside town this evening and my mate would shift so I could bond with his wolf.
Considering I worked as a tailor, as of yesterday, I only had one suit, a shirt, and a tie, plus the underwear, coat, and boots I’d bought. But Arnold had gifted me another suit and leisure wear, and Dan had presented me with outdoor gear in my size.
When my mate dropped me at work, there were already people milling around outside, though the closed sign was on the door. Today would be another busy day, and I dived into making suits, jackets, pants, and casual clothes, pleased I could make customers happy.
As an elf working for Santa, I created toys that I hoped would last a lifetime or more and be handed down the generations, but I never witnessed the children enjoying their gifts.
Here at the store, I watched customers’ faces light up when they tried on their clothes.
Arnold was a dear when I said I’d be living with Dan and I asked if I could still use the room as “me space,” and he agreed.
After work—and Arnold had extended the store opening times by an hour—Dan picked me up, and we drove around the lake, the street lights twinkling in the darkness, creating magic on the water.
In the woods outside of town, the dark sky and the crisp white snow created an eerie atmosphere. I wished there were fireflies lighting the way, but they hibernated during winter. Dan took my hand, maybe sensing my trepidation.
“Are you going to freeze your ass off getting undressed out here?”
“My ass is yours, babe. I’d never let it freeze.”
I whacked his butt before he removed his clothes, shivered for a second, and shifted. His wolf was more beautiful than I imagined, and the moon appeared, shining through a break in the clouds. His wolf was dappled in streaks of gray, black, and white, and as he stood in the snow, surrounded by fir trees, I admired his majestic beauty.
“Hello.” I put a hand on his head, and he nuzzled me. The warmth of his body stopped my shivering, and I kissed his head. How lucky was I that I had a ready-made family who loved and accepted me, even if I had been a naughty elf?
But while I didn’t reveal my inner doubts to Dan, not wanting to worry him, there was that constant niggling in my head, wondering if I’d ever be free. Would I disappear or become a figurine again and lose Dan and my baby?
And that reminded me I’d forgotten to tell my mate something important.
After he shifted and we got in the car, I told him, “Elf pregnancies are never nine months, some are as short as three weeks.”