Naughty Elf: Mistletoe (Santa’s Naughty Elf Mates)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

RYAN

I might have been a touch embarrassed to tell Ellie. Okay, a lot embarrassed. How was I supposed to tell my eight-year-old I still hadn't told my fated mate I love him (though I caught feelings far deeper than I expected so soon), but I had knocked him up? On top of that, we now needed a bigger house before the baby arrived.

We took Ellie out to her favorite fast-food place with the excellent chicken tenders. I waited until she'd put the first one, dipping sauce and all, in her mouth before sharing the news.

"Miz is having a baby!"

She stared at Miz, and then at me while she chewed her bite and set down her chicken like a prim and proper schoolteacher.

"Did you talk to Dru about it?" she asked. "If you don't want the baby, she has things she can do."

"I very much want the baby," Miz said, and the corners of my eyes stung. I was so happy to hear him say it aloud.

"Is the other father from the North Pole? Do you have to go back?" The first question caught me off guard, but now I understood. Ellie didn't want Miz to leave any more than I did. She also had a vivid imagination, but she hadn't figured out the timeline. I hid my smile behind a napkin.

"No," Miz said. "He's right here. You're going to be a big sister."

Her eyes rounded to disks as she stared at him, and then at me. "Me? Sister? Daddy's going to be a daddy again?"

All I could do was nod as my vision blurred with happy tears.

"Yay! I always wanted to have a baby brother or sister! Or maybe they'll be nonbinary!"

"They can be whatever they want to be," I said, finally finding my tongue.

"Healthy," Miz said. "That's all that matters."

"But you're sick," Ellie said. "Will that make the baby sick?"

He laughed. "I'm sick from the hormone changes. It happens. They'll even out and I'll be fine."

She frowned at him, her chicken tenders long forgotten on the tray before her. Then she turned to me. "You aren't married."

"We're fated mates," I said. "See?" I pointed to the bite mark visible above the neck of Miz's t-shirt and showed her mine.

"Papa didn't have a bite mark." Her eyes welled with tears.

"We got married instead," I said. "I loved him so much. I didn't care if I found my fated mate, and neither did he. And then we had you, and everything was perfect."

She sniffled, and her head swiveled toward Miz. With the swift-changing gears we both expected by now, she asked, "Are you going to die?"

"Not any time soon," he said. "Elves are more like shifters than humans. We don't suffer the same diseases." I worried we would both outlive Ellie in her old age, but I reserved those thoughts for far, far in the future.

She looked like she wanted to say more.

I pointed at her plate. "Eat your chicken before it gets cold."

We all dug in, and the conversation returned to the usual questions around dipping sauces, napkins, and refills. When we finished eating, Miz took his and Ellie's cups to top them off before we left, giving me a chance to check in.

"What do you think?"

"I thought you would get married again." She folded her arms over her chest and glared at me.

I couldn't bear her disappointment. Her opinion mattered more to me than anyone else's, even Miz's. As her surviving birth parent, I couldn't let her down. I wanted her to respect me.

Sure, looking back on our whirlwind romance, she might forgive us for not getting married at some far-off future date, but what if she didn't? My little girl deserved a family again, and this was one way to reassure her we would always be there for her.

That's how Ellie and I ended up planning a surprise for Miz's birthday.