Chapter 16
HART
I don't know what I expected my two-hundred-plus-years-old mate to do with his money, but he shocked the hell out of me when he told Melvin we could pay cash for our home. I had a nest egg, sure, but nothing like what Silver had stashed away.
"Gold and I split the costs and profits for the bakery." He was so adorable when he blushed. "It's nothing."
"You've saved more than I expected to make in a lifetime," I said. "Granted, I only work one day a year, and you work six days a week, but still." My tone veered into snarky territory, which I hated, but Silver laughed.
"I work hard, and the bakery is doing well. You also work hard, and you've paid your fair share."
We'd split the cost 30%/70%, which hurt my pride more than I wanted to admit.
"And you'll be home with the babies half the year," he reminded me. "That's so much more important than money."
Was it, though? I was a Comet. Under pressure, harsh criticisms still flowed off my tongue, especially as Christmas neared. I wasn't as mean as Bopp, and I tried not to insult my teammates, but I had so much to unlearn. Could I take classes, or read books, something to reprogram my brain?
Laurie had the answer for me. As a spider fae, she too had learned predatory techniques to survive in the fae realm. When one of the Santas invited her to come to the human realm, she'd agreed to stop preying on others.
She guided me to online resources to help me build my emotional intelligence.
They even had practice bots who graded my responses to their simulations and offered ways to improve.
She also recommended audiobooks I could listen to while practicing, thanks to my new headphones that sat inside my reindeer ears without blocking out the noise.
When Donner called for us to bank left, I followed his instructions, all while learning new skills for combating bullying and standing up for others.
The weeks flew by until I pranced in the hangar on Christmas Eve, waiting for Rudolph's signal to fly. Donner called out our flight directions, but Rudolph coached us through take-offs and landings, since he could see the ground better than we could.
I left my headphones at home. This was the big event, and I didn't want to mishear a single command.
As we stood on the tarmac, awaiting our signal, I nudged my row mate, Marty Cupid. We couldn't talk to each other, but he vibrated with nervous energy. I nodded my head and scraped my hoof against the packed snow, my way of telling him, "You've got this," in my reindeer form.
He nudged my shoulder with a soft nicker that sounded a lot like "Thanks."
Rudolph brayed twice, our signal to take off. Once we reached the human population, his signals would switch to flicks of his white tail, but for now, we followed his audible signals and ran as fast as we could.
This time, I wore my protective mask to prevent my breath from coating my fur with ice.
I wouldn't need a dragon intervention, but my thoughts drifted to Silver as we flew.
In one week, we would move into our new home together.
A few weeks after that, Silver would lay the eggs that would hatch into our children in five months.
It seemed so sudden, but so did Christmas Eve when it rolled around each year. Yet here we were.
I could do this. As passionately as I trained to deliver presents each year, I would prepare to be a father.
I rushed to Silver's apartment the moment we landed, wanting to wake him with a kiss. Instead, he greeted me with a plate of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls topped with icing and a cup of hot chocolate with a peppermint candy cane stir stick. When he kissed me, I could taste mint on his tongue.
We sat at his small dining table, sipping our drinks and eating the entire pan of rolls. Even after all that sugar, I felt like a zombie. When Silver pulled me to my feet, I toppled into him. My reindeer needed sleep, but I couldn't let Christmas morning pass without exchanging gifts.
"Merry Christmas, Mate." I pulled a delicate wrapped box from the pocket of my sweats and tucked it into his palm.
"Merry Christmas!" He stepped out of my embrace and ran off to the bedroom, returning with a large box topped with a red satin bow. Then, he dragged me to the couch and bounced on the seat beside me. "Open it."
"At the same time?" I asked. Anxiety overwhelmed me. Gold had helped me pick out my gift, but I worried it wasn't enough.
Silver nodded. A ribbon held the lid to his present, and he slid it to the side. I snapped the two pieces of tape holding the lid to my box, and we raised them at the same time.
Inside my box was a stack of boxes. "That's not fair," I whined.
"Oh, Hart." Silver lifted the emerald-cut amethyst from the box. The loose stone glittered like a million stars as it reflected the tiny lights strung around the living room. "It's beautiful. Thank you."
"Gold said amethysts are your favorites."
"They are." His cheeks flushed crimson, and he cuddled me to his side. "Open your gifts, and I'll show you the rest of my hoard."
Gold had explained that a dragon's hoard was often hidden away, though sometimes in plain sight, and that a dragon rarely showed it to another. "I'd be honored," I said. Even though we were fated mates, I hadn't expected Silver to show me so soon.
"Open your gifts." Silver nudged my knee with his and released my waist so I could bend over to grab the first box.
Inside was a beautiful purple suit coat with three buttons down both sides.
When I slipped it on over my t-shirt, it fit perfectly.
The next box had a white dress shirt, a bowtie and long tie matching the purple jacket, and a purple vest with vertical black stripes.
Another box held two pairs of pants, one purple and one black.
At Silver's insistence, I stripped out of my sweats and into the purple pair.
When I twirled, his eyes seemed to glow in the low light, a sign his dragon hovered beneath the surface.
In the largest box at the bottom, I found a pair of black boots. "I can't wait to wear these," I said sincerely. "Thank you!"
"I noticed how you envied my gray suit," he said. "Even reindeer need to dress up sometimes."
I laughed. "I didn't realize house hunting was such a formal occasion. Now that we have the perfect house, when will I wear it?"
"Your parents invited us for dinner this evening," he said. "I'll dress up if you do."
"Sounds wonderful." Granddad had insisted we dress up every Sunday, and to go all out for Christmas. "Did my parents put you up to this?"
He grinned so big, his eyes were slits above his apple cheeks. Instead of answering, he pulled me to my feet. "Come see my hoard!"
He dragged me to his bedroom and kneeled beside the large trunk in the corner.
A key appeared in his hand, as though by magic.
He shoved it into the lock beneath the lid, turned, and it clicked open.
A light in the lid shone down on its contents, making the gold and gems sparkle like a treasure chest. "Were you a pirate before you came north? "
"We're the reason their maps said not to wander too far from known shores." He winked. "Here there be dragons."
I yawned, my need for air so powerful it cracked my jaw and swallowed up my witty retort.
Silver placed my gift on the small top shelf that raised and lowered with the lid. The flawless amethyst looked at home between an emerald-cut diamond and a pear-shaped amethyst. "Thank you so much," he whispered. "I didn't have one of these yet."
"Gold said you wouldn't mind created amethysts."
"I've been slowly replacing all my jewels with created stones.
They have fewer imperfections." He closed the lid, locked the chest, and the key vanished into thin air.
"Some dragons think humans are wrong for creating stones in labs, but they're so pretty, and they save the environment from mining. "
"The price isn't bad either." I'd been so surprised by the cost, I'd ordered two emeralds, which would be our babies' birthstones, according to Gold. I'd asked her to hang onto them for me until the special day came, when we would meet our little ones in person.
Though I protested, Silver ushered me to his bed and tucked me in. "Sleep. We'll have time to play before we have to dress for dinner at your parents' place."
Before he turned off the light, I swore I heard him say, "It's time to build a vault."