14. Dan
FOURTEEN
DAN
It was two days before Christmas, and Sparkle was on paternity leave.
It was wild, but he’d only had a job for… what was it… a little more than a month?
Shifters who found their one true love usually mated quickly—instantly if they were both shifters, longer if one was human or an elf who’d been transported from the North Pole.
It was hard wrapping my head around there being more than one Santa or that my mate made many of the toys Santa gave out. But even more mind-blowing was that Merry Elf Toys produced the toys Santa #1’s elves didn’t have time to make. So in a small way, I too worked for Santa #1.
Sadly, I couldn’t tell anyone.
Lou and Arnold had not heard back from Santa #1, though both had sent a memo. Sparkle and I assured each other we’d ended the curse and were free to live our lives, but anxiety hummed just beneath the surface. I could almost taste it.
A noise from the nursery alerted me that Sparkle was in there and probably Sushi as well. She followed my mate everywhere now, possibly sensing the birth was near. Arnold had agreed to look after her while Sparkle gave birth, but I suspected that much like his sewing speed, our baby would be born quickly.
“Watcha doing?” My mate was lying on the couch, holding a notepad and pen. “Making a shopping list?”
Sparkle pressed the pad against his chest. “Not exactly.”
Lifting his feet, I sat and placed them on my lap, massaging them, as they were a little swollen.
“That’s nice.” He lifted his head and peered over his huge bump. “I’m writing a letter.”
“Not a memo,” I joked.
My mate didn’t laugh. Not even a grin or a hint of a smile.
“No.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s a what-if letter.”
Oh, I got it. What if you fell for someone and they didn’t love you back? That was what sorta happened to me and Sparkle, thanks to my congested sinuses.
“That’s cool. Our little elf shifter will love reading those as they get older.”
Sparkle outstretched his hands. “Help me up, love.”
I got him into a sitting position, and Sushi jumped up and snuggled between us. “It’s in case I’m not here to raise our baby, and it’s things I want to tell them. I’m thinking of all the mistakes I made in life and want to help our little one avoid them.”
“Hey.” I pulled him in close, inhaling his intoxicating aroma. “You aren’t going anywhere.” I closed my eyes, and sent a Christmas wish into the universe, begging Santa #1 to respond before Christmas Day. Yes, he was kinda busy tomorrow, but my mate had paid a huge price for his mistake.
“Maybe.”
Tears dribbled over my cheeks into Sparkle’s hair, and I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
“I’m holding you tight, and I’ll never let go.”
Anyone who wants to take our mate needs to get past me .
“And my wolf is on guard for any funny stuff.”
Sparkle’s eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, studied my own. “In the unlikely event that you vanished, the three of us, or four counting Sushi, would spend every second looking for you, and we would never give up.”
“Oh, my darling, I would wait until the end of time.” He sighed and grinned and rubbed his belly. Sushi sat up and sniffed my mate’s bump as Sparkle wriggled his butt and moaned.
“Can’t get comfortable?”
“It’s not that.” He heaved himself off the sofa and toddled into the main room. Sushi followed, and I raced after him.
“What is it?”
“The baby.” He filled the electric kettle and flicked it on. “I’m making tea.”
Anything ginger soothed nausea, and peppermint eased gas pain and aches. I’d learned that in the short weeks since we’d been mated.
“I’ll do that. You sit or lie down.”
“No, I’d prefer to walk. It’s more comfortable during the contractions.”
Contractions? As in the same contractions that pushed a baby into the outside world? Those contractions? I must have misheard.
“Ummm, are you talking about the owie cramps that make your tummy hard and cause an omega to pant and yell?”
“The same.” He put two spoonfuls of tea leaves into the pot and poured in the boiling water.
“Are you experiencing them now?”
“Oh yes.”
Who was this person and what had they done with my Sparkle? He was so calm and… unhurried.
I led him to the living room sofa, beside the Christmas tree where gifts were wrapped and tied with ribbon and the lights twinkled on the branches.
“Are you saying you’re having the baby now?”
He nodded. “This is my first time, but it appears so.”
I closed one eye and opened it, before closing the other one. This was my mate, and he had a baby in his belly, and the baby was due any day. Where was the pacing, the squatting, the groaning, the digging of his nails into my palm? There was none of that.
“Please don’t tell me this is a prank.” While my mate loved teasing and he enjoyed comedy on TV, he vowed his pranking days were over.
“Nope. I’m in labor.”
How would I know if he didn’t tell me?
“My family has traditionally had very quiet labors. It’s a contrast to their usual behavior.”
“Tell me what to do.”
He shrugged. “Hold my hand and talk to me, tell me your thoughts when you first met me. Anything to keep my mind off what’s happening to me.”
“Riley was the one who first saw you.”
“Yeah, and he tossed balls at my head.” He grimaced. I wasn’t sure if that was a Riley grimace or a labor one.
“You were a little green-and-gold nugget in the snow.”
“Glad you didn't say blob.” He laughed but screwed up his face and bowed his head.
His tea was untouched in the kitchen, so I placed the mug beside him.
“Maybe I need to get undressed.” He caught my eye and grinned. I let out a chuckle, and Sparkle guffawed. We were so caught up in his labor, we forgot he had to take his clothes off.
“Oh, that’s better.” He rubbed his belly. “Not so much the clothes but the laughter.” He took my hand and placed it on the bump. “The laughter was just what I needed.”
That made sense. My mate was all about laughter, or he had been. Since he’d arrived, he’d been sad I wasn’t his mate, worried he’d vanish or maybe revert to a figurine again. Laughter had sustained him in his previous life; it was time to bring that laughter back and light up his new life.
“It’s time to push, babe.”
I yanked all the sofa cushions onto the floor and grabbed towels to cover them. Never having been present at a birth, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As an omega, he had a baby in his belly and babies made their way into the world. Yes, we’d watched some videos, but my mate had only been pregnant for a few weeks and so much had happened in that time.
After helping my mate onto his hands and knees, I went to be by his top end so I could look at him and encourage him, but if I squatted at the other end, I could witness the birth of our child and catch them. Oh yeah, I had to catch the baby.
Sparkle groaned, a sound that came from deep inside him. He gripped the towels, he grunted and pushed.
“Deep breaths.” I’d heard alpha dads say that in the birthing videos we’d watched. But as my breathing sped up, maybe that instruction wasn’t for the omega.
“Baby’s coming.” He grunted, his big belly brushing over the cushions.
Something was happening. Gods, a baby. There was a baby. Was that hair?
Yes, it’s a baby . My wolf was as excited as I was.
Hair the same color as Sparkle’s. He pushed again and shoulders appeared. More pushing as I held my trembling hands close to him, waiting to hold our child.
A little girl slid into my waiting arms, and I wrapped her in a towel—why didn’t I get a baby blanket from the nursery?
My mate eased himself onto his back, and I placed the baby on his chest. Her tiny little fists were curled so tight.
Sushi who had buried her head in her toys came over and sniffed the new arrival.
“Hey, this is your new sister.” She lay down at Sparkle’s shoulder, her gaze fixed on the new arrival.
Not wanting to leave my mate and child but wanting them to be warm, I tore into the bedroom and got the quilt from our bed. Then I grabbed cheese, crackers, and water. But as I passed the kitchen window, I froze. The sky was clear, and there were stars… stars at random positions, but they spelled out a message.
I’m sorry to everyone I hurt in Christmas Village. There was a sparkly star, brighter than the rest at the end.
Oh my sweet, adorable, darling mate. What a way to apologize where the whole world could see it. But he couldn’t do magic, could he? I’d puzzle that out later.
I strode toward Sparkle and our newborn, but I sensed something behind me. Back to the window I traipsed. There was a blob in the back garden.
“Sparkle, how would you describe Santa #1?” I pressed my face to the window.
“When he’s in his office, on vacation, or when he’s dressed for delivering presents?”
I checked my phone and it was after midnight, it was December 24. “I’d say on Christmas Eve.”
“As you would expect. Red suit, cap, jolly smile, unless the reindeer are messing about or the elves have misplaced a gift, and then he’s a little grouchy.” Sparkle was feeding our daughter. “Why?”
“I think we have a visitor.”