Chapter Seventeen – Noelle #2
She leans over her chair and wraps me in another hug, and I close my eyes and let her. I don’t tense up, don’t try to pull away. It’s a nice hug, one that warms me up and comforts me in a way I’m unfamiliar with. An omega’s hug, full-body, with everything she has behind it.
The woman is surprisingly strong, too.
“Now,” Jessica says when she pulls herself away from me, “do you have any questions for me, dear? Anything at all? I’m an open book. Everything you’re going through right now, I went through years ago.”
I shake my head once.
She pushes some of my hair off my shoulder with a smile.
“All right, well, if you ever think of anything, you can come to me, day or night. I’ll make time for you.
You’ve always been a part of the family, but now…
” A sigh leaves her. “Now it’s official.
Are you going to want a wedding? Or a pack ceremony?
I know they’re old-fashioned, but it might be the only time you’ll get to see those boys in suits—”
She starts talking about weddings and pack ceremonies, and for the first time in my life, I let myself daydream about said things. Walking down the aisle, wearing white, seeing my three mates waiting for me. They would look drop-dead gorgeous in suits.
“Maybe,” I eventually say, “but I want to talk to my parents first.”
“Of course, dear.” Jessica smiles. “Now, unless there’s anything else, I believe I saw a few gingerbread houses in the kitchen. I’d love to get a tour.”
“Thank God,” Miranda huffs as she stands. “Yes, let’s end this stupid talk already.”
“Miranda,” her mom hisses. “Be nice.”
The look she gives her mom after that tells me she’s holding back from saying something mean. I love Miranda, but sometimes she can be a brat—a very omega-like trait of hers.
The three of us venture to the kitchen, where we show her mom the gingerbread houses we made. Jessica actually giggles when she sees mine, then she rubs my back and tells me, “Don’t worry. There’s always next year.”
While we’re on the guys’ houses, the men venture down from upstairs.
Their dads come for me, each of them giving me a hug and telling me that they’re happy to have me in the family, congrats, and all that jazz.
When the last hug ends, I spot my guys standing off to the side on the other side of the island, watching.
We meet eyes, and I go over to them. The moment I’m surrounded by them, by my alphas, I’m instantly calm.
“Wow,” Mike says, bending over to inspect the gingerbread house with trees. “Licorice trees? Why didn’t I ever think of that?”
Felix grins, while Nico claps his hands and says, “Now that everyone is here, maybe we should vote and make the winner official. Miranda wouldn’t let us do it because she thought we’d all vote for Noelle’s, but you can clearly see Noelle’s is the worst—and I mean the worst—”
Matt moves to my house and studies it with his arms folded over his chest. “I actually kind of like it. It’s charming, like what a gingerbread house is supposed to be—messy, haphazard, not like she was planning on what to do for weeks before she built it. She just winged it. I vote for Noelle’s.”
Jessica grins. “I vote for hers, too.”
Andrew and Mike also vote for mine, and when they do, Nico’s mouth drops open like he simply cannot believe what he’s hearing.
Miranda, for once, is on her brother’s side, asking, “What the hell? No way you guys are going to vote for Noelle’s!
Is it because she’s new to this? Because you feel bad or something?
Come on, hers is terrible. The whole reason we waited to vote was so she wouldn’t win by default—you know, since she’s sleeping with three of the other contestants—”
I blush instantly, and Jessica narrows her eyes at her daughter. “Miranda, don’t be a sore loser.”
“Says the worst sore loser of all time,” she huffs.
“Dads always let you win, too. It’s totally not fair.
” She marches over to her gingerbread house and rips off part of the roof, stuffing it in her mouth and chewing with an attitude.
When everyone continues to look at her, she says, with a full mouth, “What?”
“Guess it’s time to pack it in and give up,” Nico says, shoulders slumping. He goes to his house and tears off some of the candies lining his house’s roof.
It turns into a free-for-all after that. Everyone nibbles on the houses, everyone except Jessica. She says loudly, “While you enjoy your snacks, I’m going to grab the food from the car and start dinner.”
Mouth full, Matt mumbles, “That’s our cue, guys.” The three of them walk behind their omega and disappear into the garage shortly after to bring in said food, which leaves Matteo, Nico, Felix, Miranda and I in the kitchen, surrounded by our decimated gingerbread village.
Miranda still can’t let it go. “If I was an omega, I would have given you all a run for your money.”
“You got too much attitude for an omega,” Nico says, reaching over to her and messing up her hair, much to her chagrin.
“Shut up,” she mutters, ducking away from said hand. “Omegas are all attitude—except Noelle. She’s way too good for you guys.” She purses her lips and drags her eyes between her alpha brothers. “Don’t fuck it up, meatheads.”
Felix wraps an arm around me, pulling me into his chest as he answers her, “We won’t.” When I lean my head back, he bends his tall frame over and plants a gentle kiss on my lips—and even though it’s a sweet kiss, it still causes my toes to curl.
Miranda acts like her eyes are burning, and she holds her hands up and blocks the view of us kissing. She gives us her back and goes to take another chunk off her gingerbread house.
I end up going to shower, while the guys help their parents unpack all the food they brought—they didn’t bring much, since they missed most of the week. Still, it’s Christmas Eve and Jessica wants to make a good meal for us tonight and a nice feast for tomorrow.
It’s all so… normal. I’m not used to it.
I absolutely love Christmas, but my parents never made a big deal about the entire week.
Since they usually worked and I was off school for the holiday—and Miranda and her family always came up here to this cabin—I usually spent most of the days leading up to Christmas alone, in my pajamas, watching whatever holiday movie I could find.
This? I’m not used to this, but I could be. I want to be.
Maybe next year my parents could come up here with us. That would be fun.
I still don’t know how that conversation with my parents is going to go.
Since they’re betas, I don’t know that they’ll be as understanding and excited for us as Miranda’s parents were.
I hope, since I’m their only kid, they’ll be happy for me finding my own pack, but I won’t know for sure until we’re sitting across from them having the conversation.
Just have to get through the next few days. Have Christmas here and then head back home to celebrate the new year with my parents. I shouldn’t waste any time overthinking it or worrying about it.
Alas, what I should do and what I actually do are two very different things.