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

Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

RYAN

The week between Christmas and New Year, I spent much of my time painting the twins' room with nontoxic paint. Nontoxic wasn't scent free, and both Miz and Ellie were bothered by the smell. I sent them to stay with Dru during the day so I could air out the fumes.

When they returned on the second day, I showed them the finished product before I started building the crib.

"It's perfect!" Miz's voice was barely a whisper. "Where did you learn how to paint a mural?"

"It's a stencil," I said. "I followed instructions."

"I love it." It was a farm scene with cows, sheep, and goats milling around a pond. Chickens pecked at the dirt path, and fish leaped from the water in giant arcs.

Ellie touched a sheep and grinned. "I like it. Can we do something like this in my room? Do they have a unicorn princess?"

"I thought you were getting too big for unicorn princesses." She'd said so only the night before at dinner.

"Miz and I talked about it before my bedtime story." She grinned up at him. "I'll never be too old for unicorn princesses. I don't want to be like those kids at school who tell other kids how to play, or what to play. I like what I like, and that's okay, too."

Miz pulled her to his side for a hug, and I came around her other side to box her in. Instead of groaning and shoving us away, which she'd been doing with me for the last year, she accepted the hug. She even hugged me back. When I pulled away, I noticed tears in her eyes.

"You'll still love me when the babies come, won't you?"

"Of course!" I picked her up and Miz supported some of her weight with his shoulder. "Love isn't pie. There's more than enough to go around."

"You've heard the saying, 'the more the merrier?'" Miz asked.

She nodded.

"When the twins get here, there will be even more love, because we will always love you, and they will love you, and you will have even more people to love!"

Miz tickled her to emphasize how much love she would get, and she giggled.

"We love you so much, Ellie," I said. "Miz is right. We'll get to love even more about you. We'll see how awesome you are as a big sister and love you even more than we do now."

"But what if I'm not a good big sister?" She frowned and tears slipped down her cheeks. "What if I'm really bad at it?"

"You've already been gentle with my belly," Miz said. "You warn people in the store because you know I don't want them to touch my baby bump. You're already a great big sister." He kissed her temple.

She nodded. "I am! I'm going to be the best big sister they'll ever have!"

"The only big sister," I said, laughing, "but yes."

"Daddy! Why do you have to ruin everything?"

Ugh. That was her new phrase, and I hated it. Hugging her at school after the winter program had "ruined everything," too. I hoped that trend passed quickly.

"Clarifying and telling the truth are always good things," Miz said, sticking up for me the way Ellie had for her friends. So that's where she'd learned it. She certainly hadn't learned it from me. I used up all my diplomacy skills when I was running the temporary team at the office.

"They are," Ellie admitted. "I guess you're okay, Daddy."

She was eight going on eighteen, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. I squeezed her tight and gave her a few more tickles before putting her down so we could reheat the dinner Dru had sent home with us.

Miz was still a few weeks away from his due date when he called me from my home office with a startled cry. It was the beginning of March, and Ellie had one more week of school before spring break.

"I think my water just broke!"

I got him settled on the couch, lying on his side, and we waited for Dru to arrive.

And waited.

And waited.

"How can she do this to me?" Miz squeezed both my hands through his contractions. They were coming faster and harder, and still no Dru.

"She's probably got another patient," I reminded him. "It'll be all right."

Finally, the doorbell rang, and I rushed to let her inside.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "Today's the day for twins. I just delivered another set on the other side of town. We're lucky this is your first pregnancy."

That was all the apology we got before she started barking orders. It was my second experience with Dru ordering me around. This time, I didn't give her my bull moose attitude. I brought her everything she needed to make Miz comfortable on our bedroom floor on his hands and knees.

"You're sure you don't want a water birth?" She asked. "We still have time to get you up the street to my house."

"No. I don't want them to drown!"

"All this time and you still don't trust me," Dru chided. "They wouldn't drown."

Another contraction hit, and Miz dropped his head to his arms, leaving his ass in the air. I still loved his naked form, but he was too uncomfortable in his own skin. It was time for our babies to meet the world.

"Okay, it's time to push."

"You'd better catch them!" Miz growled, growled at me. His pointed ears and slightly sharper teeth suddenly seemed menacing. Worse, I liked it. My cock wanted to take notice, and now was the worst time. We'd have to explore that dynamic of our relationship later. Much later, if I remembered anything about raising a newborn.

Miz pushed through two more contractions before our precious little boy entered the world. I caught him in both arms, cradling his head at my elbows while Dru helped the afterbirth along and cut the umbilical cord. She wiped the excess fluid out of his mouth with a gloved finger, and he started crying, the first healthy cry. My cheeks were wet as I held him close to my bare chest, and then Dru took him away to wipe him down and swaddle him.

Miz howled when the next contraction hit.

"Sorry, hon, you've got one more to go," Dru reminded him.

"I know, but why is it so soon?" Giant tears rolled down his cheeks. He only sobbed harder when Dru showed him our beautiful baby. Then, she handed him to me. "Help your mate hold him."

"Don't I need to catch the next one?"

"There's still time."

I balked, the stubborn moose trying to take control.

She smirked. "Trust me. You have time."

She hadn't steered us wrong yet. I gently lifted the swaddled baby from her arms and carried him the few steps around Miz. He rested his head on top of his arms as he breathed through another contraction, but he sat back on his haunches when it let up.

Together, we held our little boy between us, his pinched face reminding me of Ellie's when she was a newborn.

"He's already got a full head of hair." Miz stroked a hand over his head.

"He's beautiful."

Miz started shaking from another contraction, and I moved away, taking our as-of-yet unnamed baby with me.

Miz resumed the position with his head down on his arms. "I want to kiss him," he said, motioning me closer with one hand.

I kneeled before him and gently cradled the baby on my arms within Miz's reach. He puckered his lips and kissed his cheek and forehead. "He's so precious."

"This one will be, too," Dru said. "Almost here. Push."

With her gaze, Dru pointed me toward the double basinet. I lay our little boy down on the left and returned to wait for the other twin.

"A girl," Dru said as I caught her in my arms. I cradled her to my chest while Dru cut the umbilical cord and swiped the gunk out of her mouth. Her hair was little more than stubble on top of her head, and it had a reddish cast to it. Instead of crying, she sang a happy note into the air and blinked up at me with the darkest blue eyes, much like Miz's. I wondered if they would stay that blue, or if they would deepen to brown like mine.

"Ellie's going to be so happy," Miz said between sobs. "One of each!"

"You called it," I said with shaky breath.

Miz had insisted we had one of each since he first learned they were twins, but Ellie was always quick to remind us that they could be nonbinary or trans, too. Time would tell. For now, we would dress them in yellow and green onesies so we could tell them apart, but beyond that, no clothing differences for our twins.

Dru ran a bath for Miz while we lay with them on the bed, removing their onesies to let them get used to the feel of our skin on theirs while they fed. Miz looked completely wiped out, but his smile brightened the room.

"He's a moose," I said, sniffing our boy's hair when he was finished eating and we'd traded babies. "I can smell it."

"She's an elf." Miz dropped his fingertip on the point of her ear while she suckled. "One of each."

"Will she be called to Santa's workshop?"

"If a Santa wants to extend an invitation, it won't be until she's twenty-five or so." He swallowed hard. "I think Santa 30 wanted to spare me the hardship of finding my fated mate at the wrong time, like when you were already married to someone else. They can see the future, or one of them can. I wasn't happy at the North Pole, but it would have been even worse if I was out in the world, alone and unloved."

"You had friends at the North Pole, right?"

"I did." He grinned. "Holly, who made the creepy elf figurine you hate so much. Some of the other elves. They didn't know me the way Dru and the Taylors do, though, and now Lettie. They didn't love me like you do."

Our little girl finished with her meal and fell asleep on his chest.

"I'm glad," I said. "I'm sorry it was so hard for you, but I'm glad you're here now."

"Me too."

"All right, Miz," Dru said, her no-nonsense midwife voice still in full force. "Let's get you to the bathtub for your sitz bath."

I balanced both babies on my chest, making sure their airways were open before staring intently at them. I couldn't wait for Ellie to meet them.

The Taylors picked Ellie up from school while Miz was busy giving birth in our bedroom. They waited for the all-clear from Dru before they brought her home. Thankfully, they left Ellie with Dru and didn't come up to see us. I was exhausted from the day's events, and I hadn't given birth!

Miz and I lay on top of a freshly laundered comforter on our bed, but this time, we wore sweatpants, at least. The babies had been rooting around for their next meal. I was sad to disappoint them, but Miz had plenty of milk for both.

They were both eating when Ellie entered the room. She looked a little disgusted by it, but then the wrinkles in her forehead smoothed out and she smiled. "They're here! What are their names?"

"We haven't named them yet," I said. "We wanted their big sister to approve first."

She blinked. "What? Me?"

"You." Though I would object if either was named princess or unicorn.

"Oh, Daddy, really? I'm not good at naming things."

This child who had been naming her toys since she could talk wasn't good at names. I shook my head. "If you don't, I guess they won't have names."

"Daddy!" She stamped her foot, but then her face went soft. She gazed at her baby brother and sister. "His name is John, like Papa, but we'll call him Jack."

"That's a wonderful name, Ellie," Miz said. My throat had closed for business. I slid to my knees beside the bed, holding my arms out to her, and she rushed me with a tackle-hug that sent me back into the nightstand. I hit my head hard enough to see stars, just like the morning Santa dropped Miz's statue on my head.

"What's her name?" I finally asked between sobs.

"Princess Ana, with one N."

"Ahem."

"Just Ana, then." She laughed and kissed my cheek.

"Jack and Ana, my sweet babies." Miz kissed them both on their foreheads where they lay asleep on his chest. He wasn't far from sleep, either.

"Let's give Miz a chance to rest," Dru said from the doorway. "I've got dinner in the oven for you."

It was nice to have a midwife who cooked dinner. Funny, I didn't remember her doing that when John gave birth. Miz had bonded with Dru immediately when he arrived. He may not have had friends in Christmas Village, but he had wonderful friends here, along with more family than he knew.