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

10. Hugo

TEN

HUGO

My mate was leaving tomorrow, and because of his ankle, we’d left the making of a snowman until today. He no longer needed crutches, but he still limped, and he tucked his arm in mine as we trudged through the snowy backyard.

“I did some research.” He looked so proud of himself as he flipped through the images on his phone of how to build a snowman.

“One big one, one medium, and a small baby one.” He giggled, and we shared a glance. “That reminds me of Goldilocks.” I tugged his woolen cap over his ears. “Are you sure the author of that tale wasn’t a shifter?”

“Maybe.” Anything was possible.

I rolled the snow into balls, and Ferris helped me put them on top of one another. I plopped an old hat on the snowman’s head, and my mate wrapped some ivy around his neck instead of a scarf.

“Should we use rocks for his eyes or maybe a pair of old sunglasses?” Ferris peered around the yard, but the snow made it impossible to find any rocks.

“I have a surprise.”

He slapped his mitten-clad hand over his mouth and chuckled. “Let me guess. You’re going to use bear-shaped cookies for his eyes and an empty honey jar for his mouth.” He tilted his head. “But wouldn’t birds eat the cookies?”

“Neither.” Though I hadn’t thought of the cookies. Maybe next year. I pulled out a bunch of shells from my coat pocket. “I found these shells in the attic. We can use these for his eyes and mouth, even his buttons. If you want.”

Ferris planted a huge kiss on my lips. “That’s so sweet. If we have Christmas at the beach next year, we can use seaweed instead of ivy.”

We added large twigs I’d collected in the woods for the snowman’s arms and stood back to admire our efforts. Ferris, who wanted to record everything about our first Christmas, took photos of us with our arms draped over the snowman’s shoulders.

“I’ll look at these pics when I get lonely and want you with me.” His voice cracked, and I hugged him close. Neither of us was looking forward to him leaving.

The original plan had been to sell my place, but I couldn’t. It held so many memories, including where my mate and I met. I could rent it out to holiday makers, but I wanted it for us whenever we decided to come back.

I would follow Ferris to the coast in about two weeks from now. Fourteen days wasn’t long, but being away from my mate even for an hour was an eternity. As we trudged back to the house, he rested his head on my shoulder and I inhaled his scent, imprinting it in my mind.

“Here.” We were in the downstairs bedroom. We’d never made it upstairs because of my mate’s injury. “I want you to have this three bears’ Christmas bauble.”

He pressed it against his chest. “Are you sure you want to part with it?”

“I’m not. I’m giving it to you to keep safe until we see one another again.”

At the beach? My bear was eager to go for a swim in the ocean and had been badgering me about whether he needed swimming trunks.

Yes. It won’t be long before we’re there .

“I’ll wear it next to my heart.”

“That might be a little uncomfortable. Also, how will you explain to your clients why you have a three-bear ornament on your chest?”

Our eyes locked on one another, and Ferris bent over, laughter bubbling out of him, and when he stood up, his eyes were filled with tears. “I just pictured me on the beach with this.” He held it up. “Stuck to my bare chest.” He snorted as another round of laughter shook his body. “Bare chest.” He put a hand over my heart. “This is also a bear chest.”

I gulped and looked away, not wanting Ferris to see how emotional I was.

“Hey, look at me.”

I lifted my head.

“It’s okay to be sad at the idea of us being apart. Me too. Please don’t pretend because you think it’ll upset me.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. “Humans might keep secrets, but from the little I know about shifters, they’re straight shooters.”

“Yes, unless we’re hiding our true identity from humans.”

With each item Ferris packed in his suitcase, my outlook became more gloomy, imitating the weather outside. While it was fine to pine after your mate, I had to overcome my sadness or at least manage it in order to wind up things here, put the house to bed, and get to the coast.

“I think that’s everything.” He glanced around the bedroom and did a reconnoiter of the living area.

“In case you get hungry on the plane.” I handed him a bag of goodies and pictured him devouring the contents as he flew farther away from me.

I slid my hand under his sweater and shirt and ran my fingers over the mating mark. “That mark is a part of me so I’m with you always.”

He nodded, and I cradled him in my arms.

I wasn’t great at goodbyes. Ferris on the other hand prolonged ours until the last possible minute at the airport.

“I’m really going now.” We kissed and hugged and he waved goodbye. Instead of turning away, he walked backward. People around him smiled and took some photos.

“One more kiss.” He puckered up and flung his arms around my neck. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I love him too. My bear was urging me to either get on the plane with Ferris or make him stay with us. Two weeks meant little to him.

“One last kiss.” Ferris outstretched his hand, our fingertips touching until they didn’t. “Nope, gotta have one more.”

We’d attracted a crowd, especially as my mate was clutching the three bears’ bauble. I didn’t care if people were filming us and putting it on their social media, and Ferris didn’t appear to notice.

He blew me a kiss and the guy closest to us clutched his chest and murmured it was so romantic.

One final wave and he was gone, but I refused to leave the airport. We texted until he had to turn off his phone, and I waited until his plane took off.

Despite being surrounded by people wheeling their luggage and passengers running to catch a flight, I was alone. The rest of the world was just noise and none of it mattered.

I sat in the car, not wanting to return to an empty house. Hector messaged and invited me to dinner with him. Charlie had gone home a few days ago, and the pair was still negotiating how they were going to live their lives. But I refused. I wanted to sit with my pain, feel every inch of it because at the root of my sadness was my love for Ferris.

When I opened the front door, Ferris’s scent welcomed me, and I blinked tears from my eyes. Toeing off my boots, I ignored my bedroom upstairs and headed into the one my mate and I had shared. Wrapping myself in the quilt, I got the phone and tracked my mate’s flight.

Ferris texted me when he landed and when Charlie drove him home. It was the early hours of the morning when he got into bed, but he posted a pic of his nightstand. The teddy with my face on it, the bears’ bauble, and the jar of honey I’d given him.

We messaged until he fell asleep, and I calculated if I could wind up my life here in less than two weeks.

But as the days passed, it was obvious I’d been too ambitious and I couldn’t finish everything in two weeks. We were both disappointed, but we messaged constantly, except when he was working. Phones and sea water weren’t great companions.

And I was a little jealous of Hector who’d found a new job on the coast at a small restaurant up the coast from where our mates lived. And he didn’t have to pack up his house as his sister was moving in. She’d sold her place, and they’d agreed she’d stay in the house for six months, and after that, Hector would decide to sell or rent it to her permanently.

My distress at being away from my mate was affecting my work. Everything took longer than it should have, and I had to rewrite press releases because they were so muddled.

It was while I was away for three nights, accompanying a client on a press junket, that I made a decision. When I got home, I’d take a week off and fly out and surprise Ferris. And I wouldn’t tell Hector because he might tell Charlie, and that guy couldn’t keep a secret. I wanted to surprise my mate. Maybe I’d rent a surfboard and sign up for lessons. And when I sauntered onto the beach, wearing my sexy boardshorts, he’d fall into my arms.

Yeah, that was a good plan.