Chapter 23
SILVER
Our babies' first Christmas was small and relaxed. We had breakfast together and opened presents when Hart returned home, and then we napped until it was time to visit his parents at their house. Gold and Laurie joined us there, and we had a wonderful time with our small, blended family.
This year would be more of an ordeal. Encke and Norris had reconciled with Hart's granddad, Hale, and were hosting the extended family at their house for Christmas dinner.
"He won't be around much longer," Encke said when Hart outright refused to attend.
"He's a horrible influence on impressionable minds." Hart covered Biela's ears when he spoke.
Encke laughed. "You're doing a great job raising them. They're smart enough to make their own decisions about their nasty, mean great-granddad. Right, honey?"
Biela laughed. "No." That was her favorite word, and on some days, her only word.
"That's right," Hart teased. "You tell him no."
Chiron wriggled in my lap. He wanted down to play with Encke and Norris's dog, Buster, a rescue they'd adopted earlier in the year.
They were the reason we had a rescue puppy coming home with us the first week in January once she'd had all her shots.
Our yard was perfect for a dog, and Hart had six months off to train her.
I usually loved Christmas, but this year, I dreaded it. I'd never met Hale, but his reputation preceded him. If he was anywhere near Bopp's asinine behavior, we would probably butt heads.
"We will kick him out if we must," Norris said. "He promised he would be on his best behavior."
"He doesn't even know what that means." Hart sighed and met my gaze across the table. "What do you say?"
"I'll try anything once." I usually reserved those words for food, but meeting unpleasant family seemed an appropriate risk to take when our children were still too young to remember.
The Christmas season passed so quickly, there was barely time to enjoy it.
We took the kids to the tree lighting ceremony, and they each got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted, which was silence.
They were both too shy to speak to Santa.
He touched his finger to his nose and whispered in their ears, and they both lit up with smiles before running back to us.
"What did Santa say?" I asked Chiron.
"Don't ask him that," Hart said. "It's a secret!"
"Ee-krit!" Chiron repeated.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know." There was so much I didn't know about the Santas, and Christmas.
Having a flying reindeer for a mate meant everyone invited us to Christmas Village festivities, including a party on Christmas Eve eve.
Gold came to our house to babysit, and we walked to the party at the hub.
Instead of looking for a quiet locker room, we danced until my feet ached and Hart looked like he would fall asleep standing.
Once home, we sent Gold back to her apartment above the bakery and tucked the kids into their beds. "We don't party like we used to," I teased when we lay in bed facing each other.
"We could build a locker room in the basement. I could drag you down there for sex."
"That's why we have a daybed in the vault," I reminded him. We'd moved it back to the basement and increased its size, since it was soundproof.
"True." He snuggled closer, resting his head on my chest. He hadn't opened his eyes since lying down.
I kissed his forehead. "Big day tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm."
My body still vibrated from the dance floor, but my mind raced with every possible outcome of our Christmas dinner with the Comets.
I tried to enjoy Christmas Day, but thoughts of the evening ahead still raced in my mind. Nap time led to nightmares. Even the children seemed cranky when I woke them to bathe and dress in their fancy sweaters. Despite my worries, the result was adorable.
When he came down the stairs, Hart looked so handsome in his purple suit coat and black pants.
I'd dressed in my new emerald suit to match my new emerald earrings and the gorgeous double emerald, amethyst, and pearl ring Gold had made for me.
Together, we looked like the two shining jewels in my ring.
Hart kissed my cheek. "Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." I forced a smile.
Hart scooped up the box of treats I'd made for the family.
Taking the kids' hands, I followed him down the lane to the subway station.
The kids sat on our laps for the short ride, and I carried them the two blocks to his parents' house.
My energy flagged with the exertion, but they were overjoyed to see their grandparents, and most of all, Buster.
"We'll bring him over for play dates with your dog," Norris said. "When do you get her?"
"The second," Hart said as his papa ushered us inside.
"You'll never believe who showed up," Norris whispered under his breath.
"Who are these little ones?" The most annoying voice at the North Pole called from the kitchen. "Is my cousin here?"
"Bopp?" Hart rolled his eyes. "You let him stay?"
"He said he wanted to apologize, so yes."
Someone knocked on the door, and Norris left us to make our way to the kitchen without him.
We found Bopp holding Biela with a huge smile on his face. "Hey, Cuz! Nice work on these little ones. They're adorable." He glanced at me, and his smile dimmed. "Um. Hi. Silver."
"Bopp."
Biela shouted after the dog. Bopp set her down, and she took off running.
"Walk!" I called after her. She hesitated a step before darting after the dog again.
Bopp offered his hand. "Hey. It's great to have you as part of the family. My Santa told me what a great job Hart's done since he joined Santa 30's team, and your kids are so cute." He glanced down as Buster ran past, followed by Biela and Chiron.
I sighed. I was a welcome addition to the family because I helped my alpha partner do well at his job and gave him beautiful children. What else had I expected him to say?
"Silver's a wonderful partner," Hart said. "He runs one of the best bakeries at the North Pole. The Santas picked them to bake cookies for this year's tree-lighting ceremony, and they're not even in the village proper."
"Silver and Gold's has the best cinnamon rolls, too," Norris said. "Silver, why don't you come meet Hale and Vincent?"
Hart's grandparents kept their greetings to, "Pleased to meet you," and "Where are these delicious cookies everyone raves about?
" I thought that would be the end of it until after dinner, when Hale raised his glass to the table.
"I hear congratulations are in order once again.
Hart won the time trials for fastest reindeer three years in a row. "
Hart's beard hid most of his blush, but he raised his glass with the rest of us. "Thank you. It's an honor."
"You make me proud, boy. You're not only the fastest Comet, you're the fastest reindeer. That's better than I ever did, or your dad and uncle."
"I could beat him." Bopp probably said the words to himself, but he didn't have an inside voice.
Even Vincent, who was hard of hearing, scoffed at him. "Prove it."
"What?" Bopp glanced at Vincent, and then he scowled at Hart. "Look at all that hair on his face. He's obviously not at his peak ability right now."
I glanced at Hart, and we both grinned. He hadn't shaved his beard since before our babies hatched. Bopp was in for an unpleasant surprise.
"Right now," Vincent said. "Outside. Around the block. It didn't snow today, and the streets are bone dry. First one around the block wins."
Hale winked at Vincent, who nodded. Together, they rose from the table, and the rest of us followed outside. It took me a moment to bundle the kids into their coats, hats, and mittens. By the time I joined them at the curb, Hart and Bopp stood at the line for the crosswalk in their reindeer forms.
"It's not a flying race?" I asked Encke.
"It does them no good to be fast fliers," he said. "Reindeer fly at the pace of the team, so individual speed doesn't matter in the air. Sprinting matters, though. Strong sprinters get the sleigh up to speed faster."
"And strong means fast when there's no sleigh attached," Hale said. "I was always fast enough to hold our row, but fastest reindeer is something else."
Norris walked into the middle of the empty intersection with an air horn raised over his head. "On your marks."
Hart and Bopp lowered their large heads so their necks formed a line with their backs and their antlers angled forward.
"Get set."
Hart didn't move, and Bopp scraped the concrete with his hoof.
"Go!" A loud blast on the air horn accompanied the word, and they sprinted down the first block before turning onto the side street.
Hart already had a commanding lead. We walked to the other side of the yard and waited for them to turn the final corner.
Hart rounded it first, breath streaming from his nostrils, but then he skittered on his hind legs and turned back.
"What happened?" Bopp's father, Arend, ran down the street toward them. Encke scooped up their parkas and followed.
We must have looked ridiculous, all standing in the street, watching two naked guys limp around the corner toward the finish line. Bopp had his right arm slung over Hart's shoulders, and he hopped on his left leg, putting no pressure on the right.
"Hip sprain," he said when Encke helped him pull on his coat and zip it up to cover his nakedness.
"I think you broke it." Hart buttoned the bottom of his parka and worked his way up. "You went down pretty hard."
"Who can I call?" Arend asked.
"Team doctor," Bopp said. "His number's in my wallet." He tried to put his foot down and winced. "This sucks. I knew you were going to beat me, but this is fucking embarrassing."
"I didn't beat you," Hart said. "Haven't crossed the finish line."
"Yeah?" Bopp's grin looked more like a grimace, but his gaze carried equal measures of hope and pain.
"Let's cross it together."
"Together." Bopp's laugh ended in a groan, but there was no good way to pick him up without risking further injury to his hip. It was a slow limp to the finish line. When they crossed together, we cheered loud enough to draw the other families out of their houses, too.
"Looks like it's a tie." Hale's dark scowl was loud enough, but when he opened his mouth to say more, Vincent stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"They both won."
"Hart should have finished the race," Hale said. "Ties count as a loss."
"Not in this family," Vincent said. "Not anymore." He bent over and picked up Biela, who had been digging in the snow at his feet. "We're all winners because we have such a wonderful family."
Hale's frown softened when Chiron tugged on his pant leg. He picked up our son and balanced him on his hip. "Yes, they are." I followed his gaze to find Hart helping Bopp up the stairs and into the house. "All of them."
"That was a really sweet thing you did for your cousin," I said after we put the kids to bed.
I still wore my suit to make hot chocolate on the stovetop, but Hart had changed into an old pair of sweats and a tight t-shirt at his parents' house.
He looked absolutely fuckable, sitting at the kitchen table, while I was still dressed like a spy.
"The dumbass overran and tripped himself." Hart shook his head. "It was the least I could do."
"No, the least you could have done was finish the race like your grandfather expected." I waited until he met my gaze to continue. "You were never like them."
"No," he agreed. "Did you hear Grandpop today? Not only did he call Bopp on his bullshit, but he also stopped Granddad from saying anything mean about the tie."
"When one person stands up to a bully, it gives others the courage to do the same." My grandma had always said that in her thick Welsh accent. Gold had been my first example. When I had been timid and tried to hide in the background, she had always been bold and scrappy.
"You stood up to me." Hart grinned. "It hurt like hell, and I'm so glad you did."
The hot milk was ready. I poured it into our cups and brought them to the table. "You were brave, too," I reminded him. "You kept coming back."
"Of course I did! You're my mate!"
I rubbed my leg against his beneath the small table. "Merry Christmas, Mate."
"Merry Christmas."
"Fancy a trip to the vault before bed?"
He laughed at my slip into formal language, thanks to my formal attire and Welsh upbringing.
"I very much fancy."
We clinked our cups together and drank the steaming liquid as quickly as we could. We had hotter Christmas plans ahead.
THE END