Chapter 20 #2
Mr. Wythe looked startled for a moment, then laughed and shook his head. “We’ll work through all the apologies for years of misunderstandings later,” he said, shifting so he could thump Shawn’s arm, then rest a hand on Walt’s shoulder. “I believe I have a lot to make up for.”
Boy was he ever right. I wasn’t going to make things worse by pointing that out, though.
At least the Wythe family was back on the right track.
It wasn’t the full-on Christmas miracle it could have been, but there was still time.
And I noticed that when he got up, Walt stepped over to Dr. Brendan’s booth to take the card that had been offered and to chat with the alpha for a few minutes.
“I hope this is the start of something,” I told Shawn as we headed over to the event hall’s main doors. I was supposed to be helping at the registration table, after all.
“I definitely think it is,” Shawn said. “I’ve never seen my father like this before. Dare I say it, but I think you’ve made a huge impact on this family.”
I shrugged as Shawn opened the door to the noisy lobby and let me walk through first. “I dunno. I think you had all reached a boiling point without me. You would have worked things out eventually. It might not look like it at first sight, but you’re all really good people.”
Shawn huffed as he helped me over to the seat at the registration table that was designated for me. “I’m not so sure about that.”
He kissed my cheek after I sat, then returned to the event hall and the task he was meant to be doing.
I didn’t know if he wasn’t sure about his family being good people or whether they would have sorted things out on their own, but it didn’t matter now.
The Wythes were on the right track, and I was there to help them. And maybe Dr. Brendan, too.
I didn’t have much time to think about it. The job fair portion of the Christmas Eve event was more than ready to get started. After a few last checks to make sure we were ready, the doors were opened and the event that I’d staked everything on began.
And it went well. At least, from my end of things.
“Here’s your badge and a questionnaire for you to fill out for our employers and service advisors,” I told each person who came up to check in with me. “There is also some card stock in your envelope so you can make your own business cards.”
“Is there an arty table in there so I can decorate mine?”
I glanced up, surprised to find Amy standing at my table, Erica by her side.
“Hey!” I said, getting to my feet and edging my way around the table to throw my arms around her. “Where have you been?”
“I should be asking you the same question,” Amy said, hugging me back. “It’s been weeks since we’ve hung out.”
“You’re looking good,” Erica added, nodding to my belly. I wasn’t really showing yet, but I appreciated the notice all the same.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said, stepping to the side so we weren’t blocking the table. “As you can see, I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, I forgive you,” Amy said. “As long as you don’t forget about me after this is all over.” She winked for good measure.
“And if you help the two of us find better jobs, we’ll love you forever,” Erica added.
I laughed. “There are all sorts of options available. There might even be some internship positions available at the Wythe Foundation.” I grinned and winked back at Amy. I would absolutely hire Amy and Erica to work with me if this event was a success and I was given other things like it to plan.
“That would be the best Christmas present ever,” Amy said with a smile. “Even though I’m really hoping someone donated a nice pair of boots to the whole gift exchange thing.”
I laughed, but the statement was a good reminder that both parts of the event were a good idea. Finding jobs and training were desperately needed, but sometimes you just needed someone to give you that Christmas gift that you’d always wanted.
I told Shawn as much as the fair portion of the evening wound down and people started to take their seats for the supper, which the Pullman Center’s staff was already rolling out.
“So you think charitable gifts are a good idea after all?” Shawn asked as we stood to one side, surveying the results of all the work we’d done in the last few weeks.
“This doesn’t feel like charity, though,” I said, sliding an arm around his back and plastering myself against his side. “This feels like a great big family Christmas party, and we’re just giving presents to all our friends.”
“That’s how it should feel,” Shawn said.
He caressed my jaw, then tipped my face up to him so that he could kiss my lips. The kiss was borderline too sensual for a room crowded with people, but I didn’t mind. My alpha could have whatever he wanted from me.
He grinned at me, and I could feel his lust through our bond as well as his affection. “Would it be too cheesy to say that you’re the best Christmas gift anyone has ever given me?”
I laughed. “Yes, that’s definitely cheesy,” I answered. “But considering the fact that I’m now a hundred percent certain that Caden Kuhl and Hamish Farrow set us up for the auction event, it might just be accurate.”
“Remind me to send them the biggest basket of Christmas pears and chocolate ever,” Shawn said.
“They’d probably prefer a basket filled with ropes, fetish-wear, and ball gags,” I snorted.
Shawn laughed. “They probably would get a kick out of that.”
I would have said more, but we were interrupted by one of the photographers covering the event, who said, “Could we have all of the Wythe family members over by the Christmas tree for a portrait?”
“Go on,” I said, stepping away from Shawn and nudging him. “Your family needs you.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked. “You’re part of the family, too.”
My eyebrows jumped up, but I guessed he was right. He had just proposed to me, after all, and I’d said yes.
We headed to the Christmas tree, where Mr. and Mr. Wythe were already waiting.
They weren’t just standing there like it was their job, though.
Anthony stood up against Tristan with his arm around Tristan’s back, and Tristan had a protective arm around his husband’s shoulders.
They invited us in, and Mr. Wythe clapped a hand on Shawn’s shoulder, like he was proud of him.
“Are you sure you want me to be in this picture?” Walt asked as he waddled toward us, accompanied by Dr. Brendan, I noticed.
“Yes, of course,” Anthony answered. “Come and stand next to me.”
“I can hold a present or something, if you don’t want it to be obvious that I’m, you know, carrying a bastard child,” Walt said, a hint of his old sourness in his voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mr. Wythe said. “Your child isn’t a bastard, it’s a Wythe.”
Walt nearly tripped as he shifted into place. “Really?” he asked, sending his dad the most hopeful look I’d yet seen from him.
“Of course, son,” Mr. Wythe said, his smile loving, but also apologetic and a little sad. “I was wrong to ever think otherwise.”
“Thanks,” Walt said, his eyes going glassy and his lower lip wobbling.
“You look great,” the photographer said, gesturing for us all to stand a little closer together. “Now say ‘candy canes’.”
“I will not,” Anthony muttered, as if that was deeply beneath him.
That made me laugh, though, which made Shawn smile, and everyone else, too.
The camera clicked a few times, and even though I wouldn’t see the pictures until later, I was a hundred percent certain the portrait that had just been taken of us all was a hundred times better than the one on the cover of the orientation materials at Wythe Industries.
They were a family now, and soon they would be growing.
I could already feel the love that I was now a part of, too, softening and expanding.
And that was what Christmas was all about.