Delivered to My Elves (Mail-Order Matings #18)

Chapter Nine

Aerin

I woke up with the sun because how in the world could I sleep when Misty was on her way.

She was beautiful in her pictures, but in person? The pictures didn’t do her justice.

With my hands behind my head, I lay in bed for a few minutes, thinking about her. Her voice echoed in my thoughts, a melodious sound that calmed me even over the video chat.

We’d booked her train tickets for the next day but thinking about it now, we should’ve made the trip ourselves and picked her up. That would’ve been the gentlemanly thing to do. Still, she was an independent woman, and we didn’t want her to think we were being possessive.

Possessive wasn’t really in our agreement.

Still, something inside me stirred. I already liked her and no matter the contract, there would be a connection beyond the parameters of baby making.

A knock at the door stirred me from my overthinking. “What is it, Callon?” I asked since there was no one else in the house.

“Let’s get going. I already called Dorothy to come in and clean this afternoon. We have shopping to do and things to prepare!”

He sounded like an elf, but the ones on the TV assisting Santa, not like our true selves. Humans and television had gotten it so wrong. Well, mostly wrong.

“I’m up. Let me shower, and we can go. Make the list.”

Callon did nothing in this life without a list. And on the off chance we left said list at home, he would drive back to the house and get it, no matter how far along we were on the trip. I’d finally convinced him to take a picture of the list or make the list on his phone, but there were times he forgot that as well.

“I already made the list—on my phone before you ask.”

“Good. Then make the coffee. Ten minutes.”

Our guest room hadn’t been touched for a while. Sometimes a friend or one of our siblings would come and visit and stay in there, but the purpose of that room had always been for a bedroom—our mate’s bedroom.

Now it would be Misty’s. She would need somewhere to get away and have her own space.

Especially since we wouldn’t be mated.

Shower completed, I went to the kitchen where Callon already had coffee in a to-go cup and was tapping his toes on the floor.

“Anxious, are we?” I teased, taking a long drag of the coffee. Good thing he didn’t douse it with creamer like his surely was.

“Yes. This is…different.”

“Explain while we get in the truck.”

Once we were on the road, he turned to me. “I know you felt it too. She’s coming here to have a family with us, yes, but there’s something more.”

“There is. She’s amazing,” I confessed out loud even though the thought had crossed my mind many times while we were talking with her and in the aftermath.

“She is. I know she’s not our fated, and she’s not an elf but…maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.”

I laughed loudly. “Again? I think we both are. This is going to be a delicate situation. I think it’s healthy for us to grow to feel for her and care for her. Even though she’s coming here for the purpose of starting a family with us, I would never want my children to see her feeling unloved or neglected. They need to see their mother loved and adored.”

“You are absolutely right. Does it seem fast? Too fast?”

“Because we only met her a few days ago? Yes and no. I wouldn’t choose to sift through other matches. I’d rather find who we desire right off the bat. That app is a sure thing, apparently. Okay. What’s on the list?”

“I want to get her all new linens and a comforter. I want her room to be welcoming and somewhere she can be comfortable. I am not sure if bears are like wolves. Do they nest?”

I shrugged one shoulder and pulled onto the highway, heading toward the city. We had a lot of things made right in the elf colony, but linens and a new comforter, things like that, would take some time to sew. We would probably order one to be made for her but, for now, store-bought would have to do.

“Don’t bears have dens? To prepare for birth? Doesn’t matter. We can change things if she wants. Hell, I’ll…” I was about to reveal too much, even to my best friend.

“You’ll what?”

We pulled into the parking lot after a long pause in conversation. “You’ll what?” Callon repeated.

“I’d build her a new house if she wanted something new.”

He nodded. “Me too. Let’s go get our girl some things that will make her never want to leave.”

A few hours later, we came out of the store with mountains of new things for both her room and her bathroom. We went with a pale-green theme after I called her on speaker and we asked about a million questions about her taste.

She told us thank you for our effort. Sweet female. This was only a small part of what we would do for her. She was giving us a chance—a chance at a life we had all but given up on.

We went home and the place smelled new. Our scents were present, of course, but underneath the natural cleaning products Dorothy used when we asked her to clean on occasion.

“Now we need to get to the market. I already placed an order.”

“From the elf market?” I asked.

“Of course. Misty deserves the best.”

He wasn’t wrong.