The Merry Moose’s Mates (Male-Order Mates #16)

Epilogue

Briar

I slid out of bed and slipped quietly out of the room, hoping not to stir my mates. It was still dark and early in the morning and there was no need for all three of us to be up. Noelle was starting stirring, the rustle of her moving and the change in her breathing coming over the baby monitor.

Gifting my mates an extra hour or of two felt like a great way to start the day. It was Christmas morning, still dark outside, and Alice would be up soon enough. If they were going to have any time to sleep, it was now.

“Hey, sweet girl.” I reached into the crib, picked her up. She was still half asleep but gave me that little smile—the one that said she was glad I was there. She was such a happy baby. “Let’s get you all ready for Christmas.”

I changed her, putting on the brand-new Christmas elf dress Alice had picked out. She saw it while we were out shopping for new shoes and said it was made for her sister. It looked too big at the time, but was the only one they had. Turned out, Alice was right. A growth spurt later, and it fit Noelle perfectly.

I snuggled on the couch with Noelle as she nursed. It was nearly five in the morning, the entire woods around us sound asleep. I loved this time of day, and, somehow, on Christmas, it was extra magical.

The room was decked out in all things Christmas. If someone wandered in, they might think they were transported to Santa’s home at the North Pole. Fine, it wasn’t quite that over the top, but it was close.

We had a full Christmas tree with ornaments and lights this year. The stand even rotated when we turned it on. But it wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t think it was anyone’s favorite. That honor went to the one in the corner— the old fake house plant slash tree filled with the homemade ornaments we’d made the year before and a few newly made ones from this year. That tree was where Santa had delivered all the presents—and boy, were there presents. It was safe to say Alice was a wee bit spoiled.

I set Noelle down on her tummy-time mat with her favorite rattling stuffie and made myself a cup of tea. Then, I pulled the cinnamon rolls from the fridge to let them come to room temperature before baking. We’d learned our lesson at New Year’s Eve not to get too fancy with the design, so today, they were simply shaped like bells—or close enough to bells.

Tea in hand, I joined Noelle on the floor and sang Christmas songs to her and made her stuffie dance along to it, loving the way she giggled. It wasn’t long before Alice joined us.

“Santa came!” she squealed.

“Sweet girl, remember the rule.”

“I know,” she sighed. “No presents until after breakfast, even if I’m not hungry.” We’d made that rule after last year. She peeked around me. “But I can look, right?”

“You can…after you get dressed.”

“Pajamas are clothes.”

“True, but pajamas don’t make you look like a little elf.” The outfit we bought her didn’t match her sister’s, but it was just as adorable.

She bolted to her room.

As quiet as we tried to be, my mates joined us a few minutes later. Together, we baked cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and sang Christmas songs of Alice’s choosing.

Then came presents time. Alice’s favorite part—but also mine. I loved seeing the joy as each new item was revealed. This year she loved the extra “job” of helping her sister open her gifts, too. Helping being less than accurate—she opened them all. Noelle didn’t care about them at all, more focused on making faces with Shay. The two of them were adorable together.

“I think it’s time,” Shay whispered in my ear.

He didn’t need to tell me what it was time for. The three of us had been planning this for over a month. It was our big gift to Alice—to the family, really.

“I think so too.”

Austin gave me a nod, letting us know he had heard us.

“Hey, sweet girl,” Austin said, crouching beside Alice. “Why don’t you and your sister and I go see if we can find any reindeer tracks?”

“They fly, Daddy.”

“They do. But I think we should look anyway. Maybe they wanted some of our moss.” Did magical reindeer even eat moss? I had no idea, but that was enough to have her ready to go.

They bundled up and went outside. The second we saw them round the corner, Shay and I slipped out as well. Instead of wearing our winter gear, though, we wore our fur and took the back way to the ice rink we’d created for our sweet girl.

We’d been working on this for weeks, clearing the area, putting the new bench in place, and even adding a little fire pit we might use another day for s’mores or keeping warm. And because it was Christmas, there were bows on the trees. The only thing missing was fairy lights, and we couldn’t figure out the logistics for that.

Shay had crafted a sleigh for Noelle so she could join in on the fun, and the weather had been perfect to create what we’d dubbed the Christmas Ice Skating Festival .

Shay and I were ready and waiting when the three of them arrived. Alice’s face lit up when she saw her brand-new ice skates sitting on the bench. It took her a second to realize that Shay and I were even there.

“We’re going ice skating? For real?” She’d been wanting to go all season, but until recently it had been too warm and then it took time for us to get it ready.

“For real.” Her skates were red-and-green glittered, perfectly matching her bright red coat with white faux-fur trim—very elfin, like her outfit underneath.

Shay and I spun around the ice in our beast forms while she skated between us, laughing and laughing. Noelle giggled from her sleigh as Austin pulled her along the ice. And then, as if Mother Nature knew exactly what we needed, big, fluffy snowflakes began to fall—not enough to accumulate, but enough to be beautiful. It was as if we’d been transported into a Christmas wonderland.

Alice tilted her head back, trying to catch them on her tongue, her laughter echoing through the woods.

It was the perfect Christmas morning. Who would’ve thought my meddling brother could’ve made all of this possible with one little app.