Chapter 10

ten

?. . .?

Nick

Resting my unconscious elf on the exam table, I tuck a pillow behind his head and kiss the tip of his pointed nose. “Are you sure he’ll be okay?” I ask Doc as I caress the side of Pepper’s cheek.

Doc clasps my shoulder. “Yes. It’s a mild sedative. It won’t last long. Now I get what you mean about the sex drive.”

“He almost punched you.” Never in a million years would I expect Pepper to show any form of violence, yet here we are.

“Yes,” Doc hums. “But he wouldn’t have meant it. Now, let’s check something out, shall we?”

Rolling over the same ultrasound machine we used last time, Doc pulls up Pepper’s shirt, squirts a clear jelly onto his belly, and presses a white probe to the skin. Pushing it around, he continues humming as blurs of black-and-white images fill the screen until he pauses low on Pepper’s pelvis and snaps a few pictures.

Turning to me, wearing the widest grin that reaches his wrinkled eyes, Doc points to the television. “Congrats, Papa.”

What?!

“What do you mean?” I squint at the monitor, trying to determine what he’s pointing at. It looks like a tiny blob with a flickering in the middle.

“Pepper’s pregnant. See.” Doc moves the probe and angles it differently to get a clearer image.

“No. No, he’s not.” I don’t see anything in there. That can’t be a baby.

“Yes. He is.” Doc chuckles, snapping even more pictures with the click of a button. “When you said you could smell him and he you, and with his excess lubrication, it makes sense. The same thing happened with your parents when they were pregnant with Holly. You were sent to live with an elf couple, and a different group of elves were placed in charge. Because…”

“Because of what?” I gesture for him to get on with it.

Cheeks pinkening, Doc waggles his brows. “They were enthusiastic about each other.”

Oh. Great.

“For the entire pregnancy?” I ask, hoping that’s not the case.

“Yes,” he confirms. “I examined your mother every other week, and before we were done with the ultrasound, I left the room to let them handle things.”

Dragging a palm down my face, I sigh. “Sooo… I’m screwed. ”

“No. You’re in love.”

“We’re possessed.”

“What’s the difference?” Doc volleys, and he’s got me there.

“How am I supposed to be Santa if this is our… whatever this is… for the next nine months? It is nine months, right?” I check, needing to know all the facts.

With the whole elf and human, both males mix, it could be more than nine months. Sure, we’re built similarly with almost the exact DNA, but elves are magical beings. When the Easter Bunny found his partner, who is human, their pregnancies produced multiples, and they were only pregnant for four and a half months. It’s in the Legendary tome. I checked it last week.

“Yes. It’s nine months,” Doc confirms with a nod. “You’ll have to take him with you. You take breaks. Then you carry on.”

“So there’s nothing we can do?”

“Nothing you should want to do. I know it’s inconvenient, but I promise it’ll improve once your son or daughter is born.”

“And if it doesn’t?” I counter.

“It will.” Doc pats my arm. “His hormones are heightened, and so is his scent. Your desires feed his desires. It’s a cycle.”

“And somehow, neither of us is ever sore.”

“You’re Santa,” he announces, as if that somehow explains everything.

There’s not a single human on Earth capable of having the sex Pepper and I do. Anyone else would be in pain, they’d stop producing cum, and their dick’s might even fall off. But not us .

I nod along, not knowing how else to respond. “Right. I am.”

“And now you’re gonna be a dad.”

Fuck.

How did we get ourselves into this mess? We haven’t even been together, officially together, for more than a little over a month. I’ve met his parents once. No. Twice. I’ve met his parents twice. How are they gonna take it when we break the news? Sorry. I knocked up your son. It was an accident.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I inhale deeply, hold it for a moment, and blow it out.

I’m going to be a dad.

When I took over for my father, I never thought I’d find a Mrs. Claus to bear my children. I figured I’d serve alone. Now look at me.

Santa.

A husband.

A father.

Swaying on my feet, I use the exam table to hold me up. “This is a lot to take in.”

Wiping Pepper’s stomach clean, Doc tucks his shirt back down. “I know it is. But you’ve got this, and you’ve got each other. I’ll send Pepper home with prenatal vitamins and book him checkups like I do with all my patients. Everything’s going to go splendidly.”

That’s easy for him to say. He’s not about to be a dad after becoming Santa and getting a partner.

Standing upright, I tug the hem of my shirt and smooth the cotton across my chest. “You sound so sure.”

Doc hums. “Everything happens for a reason, and I did warn you that this would happen.”

“I know. ”

He did say if we didn’t take precautions, we could end up pregnant.

We did.

It couldn’t be stopped.

Blowing out an emotional breath, I trace the contours of my handsome elf’s face.

Right on time, he blinks up at me as if coming out of a dream, and I smile down at him.

“Nick?” Pepper’s voice is adorably groggy

I brush across the bow of his lips. “Doc gave you a sedative.”

Tears well in Pepper’s eyes. “I almost hit him.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t mean it.”

Overflowing with joy, Doc stands on the opposite side of the exam table and pats Pepper’s shoulder. “It’s okay.” Then he turns around, rips off the string of pictures from the ultrasound machine, and offers them to my elf.

Looking awkwardly confused, Pepper inspects the grainy photos. “What’s that?” He points to the little blob.

“That’s our baby,” I explain, hoping he takes the news well.

“That’s our, what?!” he shrills.

Not missing a beat, Doc carefully explains what’s on the photos and goes over the same sexual phenomenon with Pepper as he did me. Scents. High drive. The works.

“We’re having a baby, and I won’t be able to stop having sex with my husband for the next nine months?”

“Eight-ish months, but yes,” Doc confirms as Pepper struggles to sit up. Grabbing his biceps, both Doc and I help him upright .

“What about Christmas?” He looks between us both, seeking an answer.

I rest my hand on his knee. “You’ll ride with me to deliver the presents. I’ll have the elves build a cozy bed in the back of the sled for you to rest.”

“And we’ll…”

“Stop whenever we need to have sex.”

“On the sled in front of the girls.”

“They’re reindeer. They’ll understand.”

Pepper’s face scrunches up. “ But what if they don’t?”

A laugh bubbles out of my throat. “We’ll talk to the elves and see what they can come up with.” They’ll be more than accommodating. They’re elves. That’s what they do. There’s not a problem they can’t solve.

“You’ll tell them about our… you know…” Pepper’s cheeks flame as he motions between us.

“We probably should, considering it’ll last another eight months, and we don’t need them to worry.”

“Everyone will know,” he whisper-hisses.

“Yes. But they’re getting a new baby out of this, and you know how much elves love new babies.”

Pepper nods. “They’re going to freak.”

He’s not wrong.

“Yep, and they’ll spoil the heck out of you and our child.”

“We’re going to be parents,” he states as if that little nugget is finally soaking in.

“We are.”

Cupping his belly, Pepper stares down in awe. “There’s a baby growing in there.”

I cover his hand with my much bigger one and kiss his temple. “Yes, sweetheart, we’re going to be parents. ”

A lone tear treks down Pepper’s cheek, and he dashes it away. “Dads,” he mutters.

Yes.

Dads.