The Scent of Christmas

by Leyla Hunt

  Once he was back on the couch, this time with some paper and crayons, I made a pot of tea. I was going to call my mom, and I had no doubt the conversation would take a while. She was talkative under normal conditions, and I had no doubt she’d go into overdrive upon hearing about my pregnancy.

  I checked on Will—he was still sleeping like a baby. I grabbed my mug of tea and sat at the kitchen table.

  She answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

  “Maman! How are you?”

  She’d been bugging me about practicing her English, so I made it a point to not slip into French when speaking with her.

  “Good, merci.”

  We spoke about her day for what seemed like a good five minutes, and then she asked how I was.

  “Mom, I have some news.” I was clutching the phone so hard I thought I’d crush it.

  “What is it? Did you find a regular job?” she asked, her voice full of hope. She’d always been reasonably supportive of my perfume business, but I knew it wasn’t what she’d had in mind when it came to my future.

  I sighed. “No, Mom. Something much more important.”

  “What could be more—wait a minute, are you coming home?”

  “No.” It was time to put her out of her misery. I took a sip of tea. “I’m pregnant, Mom.”

  “What?” What followed was gushing, all in French, all very glowing predictions for the baby’s health and prosperity. After her monologue, she paused. “Who’s the father? You’ve never mentioned anyone.”

  “My mate’s name is Will. You’re going to just love him, I know it.” I knew I sported a goofy smile, but didn’t care. “He’s handsome, kind, smart...I could go on but I won’t. He’s simply unbelievable and I can’t wait for you to meet him. He’s an arctic wolf shifter.”

  “A wolf, huh? Got yourself a tough guy predator!” She chuckled on the other end. “In any case, get ready because we’re coming!”

  “You’re what?” My jaw dropped. “When?”

  “Well, as soon as I talk to your dad, we’ll make arrangements. I can’t have you there all pregnant on your own, Son.”

  “But I’m not alone, I’ve got Will.”

  “Don’t be silly. Alphas are more helpful in the home these days than in the past, but it’s not the same as having your own father or mother there with you. And what about the little boy you found? How’s he doing?”

  “Lupo’s okay, Mom. He’s settling in really nicely. You’ll love him.”

  “I’m sure I will. By the way, I’m sure you’ve already checked, but your gestation will only be around two months. See, you’ll need all the help you could get with not one, but two children!”

  My jaw dropped. Of course, somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, I knew how long our gestation periods were, but I’d never thought of it in concrete terms as it related to my pregnancy. Just a little over two months! That was right around the corner!

  The phone nearly slipped out of my moist palm. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ve missed you, and you’re certainly welcome here. I just don’t want you to inconvenience yourself. You’ve been enjoying your retirement—”

  “Shut that little mouth right now! Don’t make me come over there and...well...I would never smack my pregnant son, but you get the point.” I heard her telling Dad how ridiculous I was being, and I chuckled.

  “All right, Mom. Let me know if you need any info for booking your flights, okay?”

  After convincing her—or trying to convince her—that I didn’t need anything special from back home, I bid her farewell and hung up. Well, that was that. There was no point in trying to convince her not to come, because that’s the way Mom was. Once she got an idea into her head, especially if it had anything to do with me, there was no stopping her.

  Will

  Waking up at Nico’s was always a treat. I’d get to see his face first thing in the morning, and he always made a delicious breakfast. Normally, I’d hang out in my boxers and have a quickie in the morning, but today was different. Today, I slipped into my pants and pulled a t-shirt and sweater over my head.

  Lupo was probably up, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to hang out half-naked in front of the child. I took a couple of quiet, tentative steps down the stairs. I heard footsteps headed closer to me and stopped, waiting to see who it would be. Judging by speed at which the steps approached me, it had to be Nico. Lupo was probably resting on the couch.

  Nico appeared at the bottom of the stairs. I shrugged and put my hands up to indicate I wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Come on down. He’s in the washroom.” He waved me to join him. “I have to go back there to help him but I’ll be right out. Are you hungry? I’ll make another omelet.”

  I went down and gave him a kiss. He looked so hot in his casual sweats and the t-shirt version of the ugly Christmas sweater.

  “Don’t make anything just for me, I’ll be fine.”

  Nico made a face. “Don’t be silly. It’ll take no time at all. The only reason I didn’t make it earlier is because it’s best fresh.”

  “Fine, hon. Thanks, you’re the best.”

  “Don’t you forget it,” Nico said before disappearing down the hall.

  I strolled into the kitchen and noticed my place was already set. My heart swelled. Nico was always so thoughtful of others. It was a huge reason why I loved him so much. I had no doubt he’d be the best father my offspring could have. My wolf howled with anticipation. I couldn’t wait to see and hold my little cubs! Assuming of course, that they’d be wolves at all. There was just as good a chance that they’d end up being cats, and specifically Norwegian forest cats, like their omega father.

  I realized I’d been thinking of them as twins, but for no particularly good reason. We’d have to see whether my hunch was right.

  I sat down at the table and smeared some jam onto a slice of French baguette. I practically moaned as I inhaled the damn thing. I hadn’t known what I’d been missing before Nico. He always had great food and drink, and was always generous with sharing everything that was his.

  “Hi,” a small voice called out to me, making me look up. It was Lupo, and I was struck by the change in him. Okay, so he wasn’t exactly as happy as a cheerleader, but he looked a lot better than a week ago when I’d last seen him at the hospital.

  “Are you staying here, too?” he asked innocently.

  I messed his hair with one hand.

  “No, big guy. At least not yet.” I gave Nico a meaningful look. “But I’ll be here a lot to help Nico out. And my mom might come by, as well. Speaking of which, I have to talk to Nico. Excuse me for a second.”

  “Lupo, are you all right to settle in on the couch on your own?” Nico called to him as he hobbled toward the couch on his crutches.

  “Yes!” he replied, somewhat annoyed. He was probably itching to get back to his normal self.

  Kids were amazing. If that was me, I probably would’ve moped around, feeling sorry for myself. But not this boy. He was a real fighter.

  I took Nico by the elbow and led him to the kitchen. “Who’s going to watch Lupo during the fundraiser later?”

  Nico looked up at me with wide eyes. “Shit. I hadn’t thought of that yet. There’s no way he can come with us, that’s for sure.”

  “You don’t say,” I said, a little sarcastically.

  He nudged me in my side. “Ha! What do you think we should do?”

  “Actually, I thought maybe my mom can come over. In fact, I can go pick her up right now so Lupo can get a little comfortable with her before we take off. What do you think?”

  Nico scratched his head in that adorable way he was apt to do.

  “That’s a great idea. Although, maybe you can bring her after lunch, instead. There’s still plenty of time until we have to leave. What time are we starting?”

  “All the announcements I made said it was starting at nine o’clock. I have to go in around eight, just to make sure that everything is going smoothly.” I put an ar
m around him, my hand on his lower back. “But you can come a little later, if you prefer. We should probably say a few words around nine-thirty to start off the evening.”

  Nico give me a kiss. “Good plan. I’d always hoped I’d fall in love with a smart man like you.”

  The ride back to Nico’s with my mom next time to me was nothing short of god-awful, mostly because I wanted to blurt out that Nico was pregnant, except that it would have been awkward to share that sort of news during a car ride. I bit my lip and figured I could do that at Nico’s place. I did tell her about Lupo, and she thought adopting him was a wonderful and generous idea.

  “Do you think this fundraiser will help?” she asked, clutching her handbag in her lap.

  “Absolutely. Or at least I hope so,” I said, winking at her. “Otherwise, we’ll have to sell the place.”

  She smacked her lips. “I wouldn’t allow that. Don’t you worry, Son, everything will work out just fine. I won’t let my baby sell his nest egg.” She smiled at me fondly.

  “Thanks, Mom. Look, here we are.” I pulled into Nico’s driveway. “I think it’s your first time here, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It’ll be nice to see his place, and even nicer to see him again.”

  Mom and Nico had met for the first time at my place a few days ago. I’d been a little nervous about it, since I knew that Mom had very exacting expectations of any mate of mine. It had all gone well, luckily, without any awkward silences. Nico had been charming in every way—she had no choice but to love him.

  Inside, Nico and Lupo were sitting at the kitchen table, having a snack of fruit and cookies.

  “Hi, Margaret!” Nico got up to give her a hug as I gave Lupo a high-five.

  “Hi, Nico. Oh, I love your place. Look at that Christmas tree. It’s simply marvelous!” She looked at Lupo and bent down to his level. “Hello, young man. How are you? Doing okay? Good, glad to hear it,” she said in response to Lupo’s nods.

  Lupo seemed to take to her, which was a relief. The last thing I wanted was for Nico to miss the fundraiser. I wanted him by my side all day and all night.

  I was dying to tell Mom about our big news. Finally, when Lupo went to his room for a while, I made us tea—except for Mom, who wanted egg nog—and sat on the couch between her and Nico.

  I took Nico’s hand in mine and turned my head to face Mom, taking a deep breath. I wasn’t overly worried about her reaction. After all, I was a grown man and used to making my own decisions. However, I wanted her to be happy and excited about it. Wouldn’t everyone feel the same?

  “Mom, we have some news.”

  She looked at me, pushing her glasses back up her nose before taking a sip of her egg nog.

  “What is it, Son?”

  I exchanged a nervous glance with Nico.

  “Nico’s pregnant. We’re going to be dads!” I squeezed Nico’s hand so hard that he squirmed and squeezed back.

  “Pregnant? That’s great news, boys! Come here, let me give you a great big hug.”

  She practically smothered Nico, who laughed and hugged her back. It was a beautiful scene—two of the most important people in my life showing their love for each other, all against the backdrop of a festive Christmas tree.

  “Thanks, Mom. Just don’t mention it to Lupo. He doesn’t know yet. We’ll tell him before we leave tonight, okay?”

  “All right. You’d better, because I can’t wait to tell the girls from the bridge club—”

  Nico gave me an imploring look.

  “Mom, please don’t tell anyone for a few weeks, okay?”

  Mom’s eyes widened. “But why not? It’s such happy news!”

  “I know, but we want to keep it quiet until we at least get confirmation that everything’s okay with the baby, know what I mean?”

  Nico nodded at me appreciatively. Turned out I’d said the right thing, somehow.

  Mom sighed and pursed her lips. “Very well. I’ll keep it to myself. For now. But you’ve been warned, as soon as you have that first ultrasound—which will be perfect, by the way—I may go and brag to some close friends.” She shrugged, indicating she wouldn’t promise otherwise.

  Before leaving, we sat with Lupo in the living room, watching the Dora Explorer show, or whatever it was called, and told him we were going to have a baby. Surprisingly, it was mostly a non-event. He looked at us and smiled, looking genuinely happy.

  “For real? That’s nice. A little baby?”

  Nico nodded, smiling gently at the boy.

  “Will it be a boy or a girl?” Lupo asked with wide eyes.

  “I don’t know yet.” Nico leaned forward. “We’ll find out from the doctor once we go there. You’ll be the first to know after we come home, I promise.”

  Lupo’s smile widened. “So, I’m going to be a big brother?”

  I let out a breath and made eye contact with Nico. He was obviously in a tough spot. Lupo’s permanent adoption hadn’t been confirmed yet, so we couldn’t promise him anything. But not saying anything might dampen his spirits. Personally, I thought we should just be straightforward and explain the situation truthfully. He was six years old, and a smart and resilient boy—I had a feeling he could handle the truth.

  Nico took a deep breath. “We don’t know yet whether you will stay with us forever. Of course, we want you to.” Nico took his little hand. “We’re hopeful that they’ll let us all live together. But you can be his big brother even if we don’t end up all in one house, okay? Deal?”

  Lupo nodded. “It’s a deal. I’ve always wanted to be a big brother.”

  I felt a lump in my throat and squeezed Nico’s hand. There was a lot more riding on the adoption decision than we’d first thought.

  The fundraiser was a success beyond our wildest dreams. Rosemary hadn’t been kidding! We were running out of standing room. The dance floor was packed with moving bodies, the bar was hopping…I’d even had to jump in to help my bartenders when they got overwhelmed by the sheer volume of customers.

  “Wow, Will, this is amazing! I’ve never seen it this busy!” Nico had to shout in my ear to be heard above the music.

  I leaned against the wall and nodded as I glanced at the crowd. “I know. Looks like the marketing and Rosemary’s help really worked. I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about, sweetie. We’ll have a nice savings fund for Lupo’s treatment.”

  Nico squeezed my arm. “Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me.”

  “Don’t mention it. You deserve all this and more.”

  I stood at attention when I spotted Rosemary Vale making her way through the crowd right toward us. Groups of people in her path split to let her through. That woman commanded great respect, and it was all well-deserved.

  “Well, congratulations, Will. Looks like the night’s a success!” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

  “It’s all thanks to you, Rosemary. Thank you so much for your help. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  She looked down and smiled slightly. “I hardly had to do much work. As soon as people heard it was for the little orphan, they were eager to help. I think most people have heard his story.”

  “Yes, and I’d like you to meet the man who rescued him. This is my mate Nico. He found Lupo and brought him back to Vale Valley.” I glanced at Nico and my chest puffed up with pride.

  “Pleased to meet you, Nico.” Rosemary extended her hand, which Nico shook.

  “The pleasure’s all mine. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  Rosemary chuckled. “Well, don’t believe half of it. Only the good stuff.”

  She complimented me on the bar’s new drink and took her leave. Nico watched her as she walked away.

  “I love this place so much. To think that in the rest of the world we have to hide who we are, yet here, we’re free to be who we are. Better yet, shifters are in important positions. They’re leaders. This is unbelievable.”

  I saw the look of pure appreciation on his face, and it made me r
ealize I’ve been taking everything for granted.

  “Yes. I’m lucky to have grown up here. And our baby’s going to be just as lucky.” I gave him a kiss before some friends of mine joined us. We may have been surrounded by hundreds of people, but we might as well have been on a deserted island, because we only had eyes for each other.

  Nico

  It was Sunday night and once again, Will’s mom was coming over to watch Lupo. Will had been acting very mysterious all day, and I knew he had something up his sleeve. Unfortunately, he was good at keeping secrets, so I had no idea what it was.

  All he told me was to dress warm, so I did as he had asked.

  “How do you like dinner, sweetie?” I inhaled a fork full of stuffed pepper and glanced at Lupo to see his reaction.

  “I love it. It’s so good.” He continued chewing and eating without stopping, so I was confident he was telling the truth.

  He was in good spirits, relatively speaking. The only time I’d seen him visibly upset was when saw other kids sledding or running around in the snow, but I reassured him that pretty soon, that would be him.

  His physiotherapy sessions would start the following week, and we couldn’t wait. Thankfully, Will’s fundraiser had been a huge help, and the amount we raised will probably help pay for about ten sessions with a physiotherapist. It was a huge weight off my shoulders.

  “Lupo, Will and I are going out again, so Will’s mom Margaret will be staying with you. Is that okay?”

  He nodded, his mouth still full. “Yes, I like her a lot,” he said with a shy smile after he swallowed.

  “Oh, I think that’s them now.” I heard the familiar rumble of his engine stop in front of the house and went to greet them at the door.

  “Margaret, welcome!”

  “Nico! It’s great to see you again.”

  I looked past her, searching for Will.

  “Where’s Will?” He’d disappeared just as quickly as he’d arrived.

  “He’ll be back soon,” Margaret said as she shrugged out of her coat.