Chapter 2
This first week had been amazing. And not just because it seemed nearly every day a footman stopped by with a load of gifts that had been sent from citizens across the North Pole. Life as a mom was just the best.
I kissed JJ’s sweet head and laid him in his crib, careful not to wake him. Spider and Sugar were on the changing table, watching intently.
I pressed my finger to my lips and quietly said, “No talking. Baby’s sleeping.”
“Spider knows, Mama,” Spider whispered back.
Sugar just stared at JJ as if he was some magical new thing that needed watching.
“When does his fur grow?” Spider asked.
“No fur,” I said, barely containing a laugh. “He’s a human baby, not a cat.”
“Oh.” Spider sounded disappointed.
I could only shake my head.
Since the arrival of JJ—a nickname we’d quickly decided suited his personality and made things easier with my dad also being named Jack—I’d spent a week doing nothing more strenuous than eating, feeding him, and recovering by napping when I could.
And answering numerous questions from Spider and Sugar.
They were endlessly fascinated with JJ. In fact, they would probably watch him sleep until he woke up. Or they fell asleep, which happened frequently.
Which was what I should be doing. I was trying to nap when he napped, that sort of thing, and since I’d just put him down, I should be closing my eyes, too. And I would be. Just as soon as I had a little snack.
I had to keep my strength up and all that. What better way than with sugar?
During the day, I’d usually have a visit from my parents, my aunt and uncle, and Sin’s parents, who’d arrived four days after he was born.
They tended to bring me little gifts of food, but there was also a steady supply of my favorite snacks in our royal apartment, most of which were sent up from the kitchen and bakery on a regular basis.
I perused today’s arrivals. No surprise as to what was in the boxes because I requested the same thing every day.
Three small layer cakes with vanilla cake and Dr Pepper buttercream.
In all honesty, those would not last the day.
They were light and delicious, and I could have eaten all three in one sitting, if not for some of the other confections that had also arrived.
The fourth box held an assortment of smaller pastries: chocolate tarts, petit fours, cupcakes and so on.
I grabbed a fork, went back to the first box, and started on cake number one.
In addition to the bakers, the candymakers were outdoing themselves with their daily deliveries. They’d created Dr Pepper-flavored licorice just for me. It was so good and so portable. I’d taken to carrying packages of it in the pockets of my cardigan.
I’d also really taken a liking to the night and day chocolate truffles they were sending me. Those were white chocolate ganache coated in dark chocolate and vice versa. I mean, they were amazing if you just wanted a real chocolate hit. Which, quite often, I did.
Lastly, I had a good supply of my aunt’s eggnog fudge, dropped off on her last visit. Just thinking about that made me want some. I turned around and grabbed a square out of the tin before going back to the cake.
My mom assured me that my surging sweet tooth was nothing to be worried about, not that I was. But she said it was pretty normal for a winter elf to crave extra sugar after giving birth.
Half the cake was already gone, but it was only six inches across. Wasn’t like I was eating an entire sheet cake.
I paused. Maybe I should ask the bakers to skip the mini cakes and go right for the sheet cake instead. I took another bite of cake to help me think.
Sin was amused by the whole thing, but then, my appetite often made him smile. He was out at the moment, showing his mom, dad, and Aunt Zinnia around the main area of town.
They’d been to visit Uncle Kris at the toy factory. Uncle Kris had asked Sin’s dad, Anson, to give him some input on a new magic kit R&D was working on. Anson was tickled pink to be asked and worked it into most conversations as soon as he found the chance.
Anson was a conjurer and illusionist and the headliner of his own show in Las Vegas, called Dead Sexy.
Sin’s mom, Lila, was an actual zombie and Anson’s assistant in the show. The show was often billed as an amazing display of magic with a little Walking Dead flavor and some mystical vibes.
Of course, regular folks had no idea the magic was real or that Lila’s status as a zombie made it possible for her to endure things no ordinary human could. They just thought it was legitimately the best magic show they’d ever seen.
And it was. I’d seen it with Sin and some friends from Nocturne Falls, Birdie Caruthers and her boyfriend, Jack Van Zant.
I was bummed they weren’t going to be able to make it for JJ’s Naming Day, but Birdie and her boyfriend had recently taken some ballroom dancing lessons, and it hadn’t gone well.
As in, one of the instructors had showed up sick and infected the entire class.
Even with Birdie’s werewolf genes and Jack’s avian shifter DNA, the flu had knocked them down. I knew all of that because I’d already talked to her twice since JJ had been born, sending her a bunch of pictures and a video of him.
Obviously, neither of us wanted to risk JJ getting sick, so she and her beau were staying home and focusing on getting better. They had an open invite to come up as soon as they were cleared by a doctor.
My cake was gone, and I was eyeing up a second one but figured I ought to nap while I had the chance, although I wasn’t that tired. I put my fork in the sink, grabbed another piece of eggnog fudge and went to check on JJ.
Spider and Sugar were now in the crib with him. Sugar was curled up at the foot, sleeping, but Spider was sitting up straight, head tipped to one side, watching JJ. Almost like he was standing guard.
It was incredibly sweet. Even sweeter than the fudge I was eating.
He looked over and saw me.
I smiled at him. “Good boy,” I said softly.
He slow-blinked at me. I slow-blinked back, then went into the bedroom to lie down. I was just about to kick off my slippers when I heard the door to the apartment open.
I went back out and saw Sin sneaking in, moving slowly in what seemed like an obvious attempt not to make any noise. “Hey.”
He turned and frowned. “I was trying to be quiet. I thought you might be resting.”
“You were being quiet, and I was about to rest. No harm done. JJ’s sleeping, though. Did your parents and aunt have a good time?”
He nodded. “They did. Aunt Zinnia wants to go back to the Sugar Shack for milkshakes again.”
The Sugar Shack was a new ice cream place that had opened up since we’d been traveling. I wanted to go there myself. I was disappointed I missed the trip with all of them, but I didn’t begrudge them the family time. “What kind of milkshakes did you have?”
“I had a scoop of toffee ice cream with dark chocolate sauce, my mom had a mint chocolate chip milkshake, my dad had a tin roof sundae, and Aunt Zinnia had a breakfast milkshake.”
I blinked in uncertainty. “What’s in a breakfast milkshake?”
“Coffee ice cream, coffee cake, and a cinnamon crumb topping.”
I thought about that for a moment.
Sin laughed. “I know, you really want to go now, don’t you?”
“I think their creativity merits a trip.”
“Just say the word and we’ll go. By the way, pretty sure my dad wants his own crawler. I let him drive on the way back, and he was grinning the whole time.” Sin came over and took my hand.
“They are pretty fun.” Crawlers were one of the main modes of transportation here in the North Pole.
They were a sort of car-snowmobile hybrid and could handle any amount of snow and just about any kind of weather.
They were also fast and fun to drive. “But I don’t think he’d get much use out of one in Las Vegas. ”
“No, but I’m going to talk to the transportation office to see if there’s one he can use while my parents are visiting. Then they can go into town or wherever they want without waiting for one of us or a driver to take them.”
I nodded. “That’s a great idea.”
He kissed me. “How are you?”
“Good. Full of sugar.” I lifted the half-eaten piece of fudge still in my hand.
“That explains why you taste so good.” He chuckled. “Need anything?”
A sudden realization hit me. I nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think I need to get out of the apartment for a while. Start getting back out into the world. Do something more than binge-watch shows, eat, nap, and look after our son. He probably thinks his mother is the most boring woman in the world.”
His brows rose. “I doubt that.”
I shrugged. “I love being home with JJ, but there’s no reason he couldn’t come with me. With us. I need to do something.”
“Well, your mother did mention that LeRoy Bonfitte had a few dresses that you might like for the Naming Day festivities.”
LeRoy Bonfitte was the royal couturier who’d designed my wedding dress, although he’d initially listened a bit too much to my mother and aunt. That had resulted in the initial dress being a nightmarish monstrosity of all things bridal.
If my mother was involved in the dress selection, I might be in trouble again, but I did need a dress. “You know, that would be the perfect thing for me to start out with. I can put JJ in his carrier and head over there tomorrow. I’m sure LeRoy would love to meet JJ. And I do need a dress.”
Even with my metabolism, the baby weight wouldn’t be off by Naming Day.
Sin nodded. “That sounds great. You want to go alone?”
“You mean you want to come with me?”
He grimaced. “No, I meant do you want your mom, my mom, or my aunt?”
“I love them all, but—”
Smiling, he lifted his hands. “Say no more. You want to go alone, that’s fine with me.”
“Just for this first meeting. Just so I’m not overwhelmed by all their … help. Once I settle on a dress, they can all come with me to the final fitting.” That way, I wouldn’t end up picking a dress just to make one of them happy.
He zipped his pinched fingers across his lips. “I won’t say a word to any of them, then.”
I put my arms around him. “My hero.”
He laughed and pulled me close. “I’d do anything for you. Even keeping secrets from my mother. Which reminds me …” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small black box.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and see.” He was grinning so hard.
I opened the box. Inside was a gold necklace with a diamond-encrusted initial J. Hanging next to it was a smaller, ruby-studded J. I knew instantly what he’d done. The big J was for me. The little J was for our son, the rubies because he’d been born in July. My heart. “Oh, Sin. I love it.”
I turned around and held the necklace out. “Put it on me.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He fastened the clasp.
I turned back around, leaned up, and kissed him, all while trying not to cry. Post-pregnancy hormones were a very real thing. “I love it so much, I’d even share my cake with you.”
He mocked being over-the-top-surprised, even clutching at his chest. “Wow. That is love.”
I playfully punched his arm. “Never mind, I take it back. Get your own cake.”
He laughed as he pulled me back for another kiss. “There’s the girl I married.”