The Omega’s Beary Special Christmas (A Bear Under The Christmas Tree)

8. Hugo

EIGHT

HUGO

“Awww, it looks so pretty.” Ferris sat on the sofa untangling Christmas lights, and I stood back and admired how we’d decorated the tree.

All my Christmas tree ornaments were bear-themed. I had bear claws, bear faces, carved wooden bears, bears dressed as Santa, and ice-skating bears. There were papa bears, baby bears, and grandparent bears.

Our friends were helping us decorate our tree.

“There are a lot of bears.” Charlie examined one of the baby bears dangling from a branch. He looked at the adult bears and the three chairs beside them and the three beds. He swung around, trying to get Ferris’s attention. But my mate was concentrating on the lights, so Charlie sidled over to him and jerked his head toward the tree.

Ferris lifted his head and his mouth gaped as he counted the bear family ornaments. Charlie nudged him and whispered, “Told you.”

Both humans were newly mated and might have forgotten shifter hearing was ten times more powerful than humans.

Hector and I shared a glance. He shrugged, and I was as confused as he was. Ferris cleared his throat and caught my eye. He scratched his neck and opened his mouth to speak, then closed it before asking me, “Is that bauble a reference to the fairy tale about the three bears?”

“It is.” And it was one of my favorites.

“Ummm, but isn’t that an awful story because Goldilocks destroyed the bears’ furniture and ate their food?”

“It’s treated as a huge joke in the bear shifter community.”

Hector chimed in with, “The bears would have scented her the first time she came and ate their food. They would have never allowed her back in.”

Ferris titled his head and pointed under the tree. “We don’t have any presents.”

“It’s a little late.” Charlie checked the time on his phone. “The shops will close in a few hours.”

Ferris heaved himself off the couch. “I vote we go shopping in pairs.” He held up a hand to shush me as I opened my mouth to speak. “Not mated pairs. Either I go with Hector or we pair humans and shifters separately.

We all agreed to do one human and one shifter so each person could advise the other one on what their friend liked. We capped the price of each gift at $10.

I drove to the closest mall, and we rented a wheelchair for my mate.

“We have one hour.” Ferris tapped his watch as Hector steered his chair in the opposite direction to where Charlie and I were going.

I stood with Charlie while my mate and friend turned a corner, wanting to catch the last glimpse of Ferris.

“Sixty minutes isn’t long.” Charlie tucked his arm in mine. “They’ll be back before we know it. I miss Hector already.”

It took all my strength not to run after Ferris.

Charlie pulled me into a store that had a display of honey in the window. “Bears like honey, right?”

“They do.” I didn’t say how much because other than Ferris and my bear, honey was everything. But I told him Hector had a pantry of honey.

Charlie picked up a packet containing a bear head cookie cutter. “Hector’s a chef, so he must do a lot of baking.”

I nodded.

“Shame I can only buy one because of the ten-dollar limit.”

“He’ll love it,” I assured him.

“Right, that's my gift chosen. Now you have to find something for Ferris.”

Charlie dragged me into another store. His enthusiasm was infectious, and I was eager to find my new mate the perfect gift.

“These are cute.” Charlie picked up a pair of socks with bear images dotted over them.

“They are, but the bears were poking out their tongues and making funny faces and my beast objected. I didn’t care for them either.

Ten dollars was really limiting, and I dismissed puzzles, water bottles, books, cards, slippers, and gloves. Charlie studied the slippers. “Good you didn’t pick these. Living by the beach, Ferris doesn’t really wear slippers except for the ones he bought for this holiday.”

That had me pause, and I didn’t like the sadness that kindled in my chest. My mood deflated, and I was close to tears thinking Ferris and I would be separated, because even if I went to live with him on the coast, it would take time to sell my place or rent it, pack, and wind up my affairs.

Charlie nudged me. “Hey, if Hector and I can make it work, so can you and Ferris.”

“Maybe I should go back and buy the socks.” I hadn’t found anything I liked.

“That teddy is adorable.” Charlie picked up the toy and cuddled it.

The teddy was nothing special, especially at 9.99. It might fall apart before we got it home. My bear was annoyed, saying it looked nothing like him.

It’s not supposed to look like you . But that gave me an idea. It wouldn’t resemble my beast, but I could get it to look like me.

It was the perfect gift.

We met up at the place where we’d parted, and Charlie fell into Hector’s arms. I bent over and kissed my mate, wishing I could twirl him around.

“What did you get?” he asked, eyeing the bag I was carrying.

“You’ll find out tonight.”

We’d agreed to exchange gifts this evening, Christmas Eve, as Hector’s and my family always did presents the night before Christmas, and our families had Christmas dinner on the 24 th as well. That was our tradition.

But for Ferris and Charlie’s families, the big day was the 25 th , so we compromised. Presents on Christmas Eve and the celebratory meal the following day.

While we’d eat together tomorrow, we were spending the night with our respective mates. I loved Hector like a brother and was growing to love Charlie, but newly mated couples needed a lot of alone time.

I pulled a meal I’d cooked and frozen from the freezer, as I’d be spending heaps of time in the kitchen tomorrow. Hector, being a chef, had said he’d provide the food, but I told him I’d been cooking for myself for years and had never starved.

“My house, my food.” I was hoping to impress Ferris with my cooking prowess. “Except I need your turkey.”

I could tell by Hector’s expression when we parted that he wasn’t convinced.

Ferris hobbled to the tree and turned on the lights. “It’s magical.” He explained at the beach, he used to get driftwood and fashion a Christmas tree, so having a fir tree was very new to him.

“Do we do this now or after we eat?” He was jiggling with enthusiasm.

“There are no rules. This is our first Christmas together, so everything is new. We can create our own traditions starting right now.”

“Let’s eat first.” He put down the gift bag containing the present he’d bought for me. “No, maybe we do it now.” He handed me the bag and snatched it back. “I can’t decide.”

“How about we eat in front of the fire and you can see the presents under the tree. If you change your mind, we can open them mid-meal.”

“Okay.” He didn’t look convinced, but there were only two options.

We chatted about past Christmases with our families, and he said he’d have to get in touch with his folks and tell them about me. “But the wifi on their ship is lousy, so I’ll wait until they reach the next port.”

When we finished eating and I cleared away the dishes, Ferris was bubbling with excitement.

“You open yours first.” He gave me my gift, but I didn’t look inside, wondering if he was going to change his mind. “Or we can do it at the same time.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

I gave him the gift bag I’d taken from a pile in the pantry.

“We count to three and do it.”

“On three or after three?” I didn’t want to mess it up.

“After three. Let’s rehearse. One, two, three, open. Does that work?”

“Sounds good.” He was so adorable like an Energizer Bunny wrapped up in chocolate and marshmallows.

“Now for real.” We yelled in unison,” One, two, three, open.”

He pulled out the teddy I bought, but I’d stuck a pic of my face on it. Ferris sobbed and smothered my photo face with kisses. “I love it. I can cuddle him when we’re separated.”

A pang of disappointment niggled at me. I hated the idea of being away from my mate.

“Your turn.” His body jiggled despite his injured ankle.

I pulled a coffee mug out with a pic of a rooster on the side, accompanied by the words, “I love your cock.” I took his hand and placed it on my crotch.

“Merry Christmas, mate.” I placed my mouth on his and captured his bottom lip with my teeth.

Ferris giggled. “Maybe we can forget the dishes and you can show me what you have in your pants.”

“Best idea I’ve heard all day.”