Epilogue
Boris
A month later...
I put three cups of hot cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows on the living room table. Ira is buzzing with excitement as he looks at the presents underneath the Christmas tree.
Simon, on the other hand, looks confused. His gaze jumps between the presents and me, and a small crease forms between his brows. "Boris?"
"Yes, love."
"Where did all the presents come from?"
I give Ira a wide-eyed look, then blink with one eye. "Must be the letters we sent to Santa."
Ira giggles.
"The letters we sent to Santa?"
"Yeah, you remember, the ones Ira brought to his teacher."
Simon looks at Ira, his eyes narrowing.
"Now, are we gonna open them, or are we heading to Mom's first?"
"Open!" Ira bounces up and down on the couch.
Simon sends me a look that promises retribution. I only grin. He can try to intimidate me all he wants, but we both know who'll win in the end.
"I guess we may as well open them since it's gonna be late when we get back." Simon sounds way too reluctant. It's presents. Who doesn't love presents?
Ira rushes over to the tree and reads one of the tags. "Simon."
He hands the present over to Simon, who looks at me. "Do I open it, or do we hand them all out?"
I shrug. "How do you normally do it?"
"Open." Ira gestures at him, beaming.
Simon peels off the tape and unfolds the paper. Then he looks down at the three rolls of duct tape we got him. "Oh, duct tape."
"Did you ask Santa for duct tape?" My voice is a little too excited.
"You know I did. You claimed I stole the idea from you."
I grunt. "And he gave it to you."
Ira giggles and grabs another present. "For me." He tears it open. "Glow-in-the-dark pens!"
"You're both stealing things off my list!"
Ira laughs and lunches for another present. "Simon."
Simon gives me another look, and I grin. He opens it, and inside are socks.
"Socks, really? Did you ask Santa for socks?"
Simon pokes his tongue out and throws a pair of them at me. I catch them and put them on the floor.
The next present, Ira doesn't lift. Instead, he pushes it over the floor to Simon. I know what's inside, of course, but I do my best to keep a straight face.
When he pushes the paper off the box and looks at it, he makes a sound, then he stares at me. "A Ninja blender."
"Would you look at that. I didn't know you asked Santa for one of those."
"Boris." Ira holds up a present for me, and I do nothing to hide my surprise. I hadn't expected to get any presents.
"For me?"
Ira nods, and I accept the present. It doesn't take me more than a second to rip the paper off the..."Fuzzy socks! Amazing."
Simon smiles and shakes his head.
"Thank you." I blow Simon a kiss.
"It's from Santa." Ira gives me an unimpressed look.
"Yes, of course."
Then he hands me another present, which I tear open and stare at the hot pink jar of slime tumbling out into my hand. I grin. "Yes!"
Soon, all presents are opened. Both Simon and I have gotten what was listed in our letters to Santa, apart from Simon getting a gift card to the shoe store instead of winter boots. Ira got art supplies, a book on how to draw animals with a wolf on the cover, and some clothes.
Everyone is happy, and Simon snuggles close to me on the couch as we drink our cocoa. "You shouldn't have. Those blenders are expensive."
I kiss his temple. "Nothing's too expensive for you."
He snorts but smiles at me.
"I have one present for you, Ira." I untangle myself from Simon, step into my shoes, and run across the street to my house.
I think I'll be selling it shortly. I tried to get Simon to move in with me instead of me moving in with them, since I already own my house, but he did not want to pack an entire household.
I get it. I've only lived there for three months.
It's easier for me to move my stuff over to him, and I have no emotional attachment to the house.
I moved there to be close to Simon. It wouldn't have mattered what it looked like, I'd have bought it anyway.
I unlock the front door and reach inside for the enlarged photo Zahrah wrapped for me.
It's of me in wolf form sitting next to Mom in her human form.
It's not the kind of photo Zahrah can sell.
No one would believe a wolf sitting as close to a human without there being something weird going on, but for us to have in our home, it's perfect.
I walk back to Simon's house, where Ira is waiting for me in the hallway. I hand over the framed photo, and he opens it with way more care than he did the presents underneath the tree, most likely feeling the glass through the paper.
When he reveals it, he gasps. "Zahrah took this?"
I nod.
"It's the wolf that's her best friend."
I nod again, and Simon comes closer to look at it. His eyes widen. "It's...eh...gorgeous."
I preen since we both know I'm what makes it gorgeous. Simon rolls his eyes. "Maia looks amazing."
Ira nods, but his focus is on the wolf--on me.
I pull Simon close and nuzzle him. "I can give you a photo too." I wiggle my eyebrows.
All he does is sigh. He loves me.
As if he can read my mind, he leans closer and kisses me. "I like the real version better."
"Oh, I'll give you the real version all night long."
He groans, and I knead his ass. Ira is occupied studying the photo anyway.
"I can't wait."
He hums. "Me either, but first we have to visit your mom."
Right, Christmas celebrations first, then make love to my mate. "It'll be a long wait."
The grin he gives me makes my heart swell and my jeans shrink. I love my life.
THE END