Chapter 2

two

?. . .?

Pepper holds the frosted glass door to Doc’s medical office open from the inside and waves me in from the cold. As with most things in Santa’s Village, he booked the appointment and prepared everyone for my arrival. It’s not every day you see Santa in this part of the village. Like celebrities in the human world, I’m treated similarly here. But it’s not for things like autographs or selfies. The elves love wishing me well and always want to shake my hand or offer assistance. While I’m blessed to have thousands of willing helpers, I hate being the center of attention. I know that’s not the best way to feel when you’re Santa. That’s just another difference between me and my father. He basked in the attention that fueled his ego when all it gives me is anxiety.

Inside the simple office is exactly how I remember it as a kid—white walls, red floors, matching red plastic seats, a tall Christmas tree covered in edible candy canes, and a small collection of toys in the corner for children. When you’re Santa’s child, you get the star treatment, but nothing compares to becoming the man himself. The chairs hugging both walls are filled with elves, a dozen or so. They smile and wave in greeting. I do my best to return their kindness as I follow Pepper through the space, past the red reception desk, and into one of the two exam rooms—my exam room. The one reserved for Santa and his family.

In his signature white coat, Doc mills about, humming to himself when we arrive. Pepper shuts the door in my wake and places himself in front of it to block any nosy nellies as I sit in the only chair made for a man my size. It’s red like those out front.

When Doc turns from washing his hands in the sink, he shakes my hand and smiles, as he always does. It’s genuine, well-aged, and full of crooked teeth.

I smile back—mine also real.

“What brings you in, Nicholas?” There’s an openness to how he articulates my name and a grandfatherly essence that sets you at ease. His salt-and-pepper hair and wire-framed glasses don’t hurt either. I can’t think of a time I’ve ever seen him without them or his coat.

Pepper clears his throat roughly from his station at the door and glares at Doc, who returns the elf’s subtle hint to use proper etiquette with an eye roll and then winks at me. “I know who he is, Pepper. Needn’t worry about that,” he replies, not bothering to look the elf’s way.

I wave off the whole Santa thing, knowing that’s what Pepper is pissy about. To his credit, it is his job to remind people that I’m Santa and no longer Nicholas. That’s what everyone called me as a child, and Holly still does. Only Pepper gets away with Nick. I like Nick with him. It’s less formal, like a secret we share because of our special bond.

My head elf grumbles a low and unpleased, “Now, Nick,” rebuttal that I pretend not to hear when I address the physician. “Ignore him. You can call me Nicholas, Doc.”

There. Problem solved.

More grousing arises from Pepper.

“Good.” Doc dusts his hands together. “Now that those silly formalities are settled. What brings you in?”

“We have a problem?—”

Again, my head elf, who may not be head of anything when we’re done here, makes a noise—a snort. You know the sound I’m talking about. The you’re-full-of-crap sound people make when they’re too polite to say it aloud.

Fine.

“ I have a problem,” I rephrase to satisfy Mr. Grumpy, who got a solid four hours of sleep in my office, unlike me, who still hasn’t slept a wink.

Doc scratches his chin, bobbing his head in patient understanding as if I’ve said something important, and he gets it. “Uh hmm… Uh hmm. Go on. What kind of problem?” He gestures for me to continue.

Not sure how to say it without sounding stupid, I grip my knees for comfort and nod at Doc before I blurt the truth. “I can’t sleep.”

“He hasn’t slept in over four days. Not even a cat nap,” comes from Mr. Grumpy, who can’t keep quiet.

More head bobs and chin scratching ensues. “Oh dear, that’s not good.” Doc’s bushy brows knit in the center.

“That’s why I’m here. To figure out why.” I glance from Doc to Pepper and back again, growing more uncomfortable by the second. I’m not much for doctor’s visits. Ones related to sleep sound silly when you think about it. I’m sure there are more pressing complaints in the waiting room. I believe I saw Crystal holding a rag around a cut that may need stitches. She’s a chef here and cooks the best roasted duck. She probably hurt herself cooking it. The faster we get this done, the quicker she can be seen.

Doc’s face scrunches in deep thought as he stares at the tiled floor for quite some time. When he’s sorted the puzzle in his head, he looks up and asks, “You two aren’t fighting over the bed, are you? Has there not been enough sex to tire you out?”

Bed. Sex. Huh? Is he speaking a foreign language?

My knee bounces up and down. “Excuse me… What?” I sound like a pre-pubescent teen.

Not a peep comes from Pepper, for once.

Doc then asks, “You are sleeping in the same bed together. Yes?”

A ball of tinsel knots in my stomach as I repeatedly shake my head, staring at the physician. “N-ooo.” The drawn-out ‘O’ forms on my lips and freezes like a cartoon character.

Is it hot in here?

I tug at the collar of my shirt, which Pepper picked out. Stupid collars, stupid shirts.

Sweat beads on my forehead. I wipe it away with the back of my hand.

My other leg begins to jiggle.

Oh, fudge sticks.

Not noticing my discomfort, Doc keeps talking. “Then there’s your first mistake.” He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat.

“I don’t understand.” Yes, I do. Sex. He said sex .

“Didn’t your father explain how this works to you?”

Most definitely not! I scream inside my brain.

“No. Explain what? How what works? The workshop? How I deliver presents?” I reply out loud .

Doc chuckles at my naivete or my convincing version of it. “No. No, dear boy.” Kind eyes rimmed in wrinkles seek mine. “When the Christmas Giving Tree picks your second, and you both eat the golden sugar plum, your souls bond permanently as the magic of this world intended.”

That much I already knew. On the day the fruit ripens and glows, a new Santa is chosen, and with it, his second. A leaf with a name falls from the ancient tree. Pepper Minstix fell that day. Thus, this set off the chain of events that led us here. Before then, I’d never met Pepper. Nor did I know he was the greatest painter in the village until Father told me of his artwork covering most of the workshop walls and many buildings throughout the Pole. Even my favorite mural of dancing candy canes is Pepper’s.

“Okayyyy… And that means?” I ask.

“You’re united.”

“We’re what?” I croak as a frog lodges itself in my throat. When I try to swallow it down, it grows three sizes.

“Married. Mates,” Doc clarifies. “We’ve never had Santa mate a male elf, but that is who the Christmas Giving Tree chose for you.”

“He’s my… I’m his…” The words squeak out.

“In layman’s terms, husbands. Yes,” Doc supplies, far too calmly for my frazzled nerves.

“But I’ve never been with a guy before,” I blurt.

“Yes, and Pepper has never had sex with anyone.”

What?

“He hasn’t…” I glance over at my head elf, eyes wide. “You haven’t?”

Pepper wrings his fingers together. “No. I… Doc’s been seeing me for my suppressed libido since I hit maturity. We co uldn’t figure out why I’ve never been able to get an erection.”

“You’re getting them now, aren’t you?” Doc asks with a knowing smile.

My head elf nods. “Yes. All the time.”

“See, Pepper, destiny had other plans for you.”

“I’m… This is…” He’s getting erections now? He couldn’t get them before? Destiny? Fiddlesticks, fiddlesticks, fiddlesticks.

I close my eyes and count to ten. It does little to erase the ticker tape scrolling behind my eyelids of Pepper. Of his…

“There’s not much to it, Nicholas. I’m still surprised your father didn’t explain it. You and Pepper will soon learn the longer you’re apart from the other, the more agitated you’ll become. The sleeping and the sex I’ve already explained. And you already know about the one-sided emotional connection, so he can always feel and sense you. It’s Pepper’s job to help ease the burden of all you must do to fulfill your place here,” Doc explains.

“I’m still stuck on the part where he’s mine.” I point to my head elf.

No, I’m stuck on the part where he is getting turned on now and wasn’t before. Why can’t I stop thinking about his penis?

Doc removes his glasses and cleans them on his coat. “Didn’t he already feel like that, even before you knew this?”

“Yes, in some ways,” I lie. He’s the real reason I can’t sleep. Nobody else knows that but you.

“You dream of him,” Doc states, wearing the biggest smile I’ve ever seen as he slides his wire-rimmed spectacles back into place.

I gasp. “How did you know that? ”

“Isn’t that why you work harder not to sleep?” Doc guesses, hitting the nail on the head.

“I can’t help the thoughts,” I admit aloud for the first time. A shiver of guilt crawls across my skin as I turn to my head elf. “I’m sorry, Pepper. I don’t mean to think that way. I fight them off.”

“It’s okay, Nick. I do the same,” he admits, and the traitor in my pants twitches.

“You dream of me?”

Pepper twiddles his thumbs. “I feel you every day, all day. I think of you when I’m asleep and awake.”

I cup a hand over my groin to keep them from seeing the evidence. “Do you get…”

“Erections?” he whispers.

“Yes. Those.” My voice cracks.

“All the time when I think of you… and other things happen, too.”

“What other things?” I ask, afraid to know the truth.

“My…” Chewing his bottom lip, Pepper looks to the floor. “This is… um… personal. It’s… I…”

“Please. I need to know,” I beg, desperate to hear more.

“I know you do. I can feel you’re…”

“Turned on,” I tack on for him, so he doesn’t have to say it.

Pepper nods shyly. A lock of hair falls across his forehead. “Yes.”

“Does it gross you out I’m not female?” I ask, hoping with everything in me, it doesn’t.

“No. Not at all. Does it bother you I’m not?”

“No. I know it probably should, but it doesn’t. You’re handsome, and you smell amazing.” Too amazing. But he doesn’t need to know that. It’s weird, given our unusual situation.

“Oh. Ha.” He laughs awkwardly and tugs at the collar of his shirt. “Um. Thanks?” Nibbling his lower lip, Pepper rocks back on his heels. “So…” He clears his throat. “Does your… um…” Those golden-green eyes tilt back to look up at the ceiling. “Bottom get wet when you’re aroused?”

“My bottom… you mean my asshole?” I check to be certain.

“That. Yes.” Pepper’s cheeks turn as red as my Santa suit. “Does it… like…”

“Self-lubricate?” I guess.

“Yes! That!”

“No. But I’m part human, so that’s probably why.”

“Oh. Yeah. Um. That makes sense.” Pepper nods, then looks at Doc for guidance. “Do you know? Is this… normal?”

“That your anus self-lubricates when you’re aroused?” Doc replies.

“Yes. Yes. A lot.” Pepper smiles awkwardly, then winces before continuing. “So does my penis. It gets very wet—the tip. You know, from the hole. Not from anything weird. I am normal down there. I promise.”

Doc chuckles warmly, and I smile because a flustered Pepper is one of my favorite versions of him. It’s adorable when his face gets redder, and he wrings his hands together in front of his obvious arousal. The best is the chewing of his lip. It’s plump and juicy, and when he nibbles the meat, it gets redder and swollen. I think about it. When I shouldn’t. When I should be working and doing my job as Santa, not fantasizing about it—him.

“The penis precum is perfectly normal,” Doc explains. “Males of our species are like humans in that regard. Some of us produce precum. The anus part I’ve not heard of before, but I could examine you if you’d like. Maybe run some tests. Though I’d say, it’s most likely tied to your pairing with Nicholas. He will need heirs at some point. Unlike normal elf relationships, who must seek a magical plum from the Christmas Giving Tree to become fertile, you both ingested the golden sugar plum, which, in the past, has never needed further magical aid to conceive.”

Pepper’s eyes round to the size of Christmas cookies. “Meaning I’m a freak?”

“No.” Doc’s firm. “You are one of a kind.”

“I’m male and female now?” my head elf shrills.

“No, Pepper. Of course not.”

Pepper rubs his flat stomach. “I have a womb. That’s what you’re saying. To carry mini-Santas.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Doc placates and gestures to the exam table. “Why don’t you hop up, and I’ll do a simple ultrasound of your abdomen to see if anything has changed in there.”

“Nick.” Pepper begs me with wide, terrified eyes to do something, anything. But I can’t. I don’t know any more than they do. We need answers, and Doc is the most qualified to help.

“Go on,” I encourage him. “Let’s see. We both need to see. Okay?”

“Sure. See.” His voice quivers. “I can’t believe we’re...” Pepper squeezes his eyes shut briefly before opening them again and blowing out a harsh breath between cherry-red lips. “Is it…Is it crazy I wanna touch you right now?” He fidgets at his spot by the door as a stain forms on the front of his pajama bottoms. I try hard not to notice, but I’m far too aware of Pepper to miss the spot .

To ease Pepper’s concern for both of our sakes, I wave the nerve-ridden elf over. “Come here. Let me hold you for a minute while Doc gets things set up. Does that sound good to you, Doc?”

“Yes. Yes. Fine by me. Take your time.”

As if powered by Christmas morning joy, Pepper dives into my arms and wraps his around my neck. He buries his face in the side of my throat, legs straddling mine as he latches on. Our chests connect, breathing intertwines, and heartbeats sync. It feels good. Too good. Like resting on silk sheets, naked, drinking a mint hot chocolate after a long, relaxing shower. Perfect.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, his entire body trembling against mine.

Me. I’m oddly steady. No longer frazzled by the news. His body against mine eases the nerves and gives me balance—a purpose—a home.

This is my life now. We ate the fruit. He became my second. I get to venture into the unknown with Pepper by my side. Or on my lap, in the moment. Strangely enough, I’m okay with that. Doc’s explanation has somehow fit all the pieces of a puzzle I’ve been trying to slap together for months. Now that the picture is clear, I see what I have. I’m content. Happy, even. Albeit nervous, considering I’ve never touched another male sexually before or even wanted to until now. There’s bound to be bumps along the way, but we got this. We can take our time. There’s no rush.

Shaky fingers play at the nape of my neck. “You’re calm. How are you so calm?” Pepper whimpers.

“We know why we’ve been having these problems. The mystery is solved.” Had my father sat me down and explained how this works, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Much like parents have the birds and the bees talk with their children—our Christmas Giving Tree picking life mates would have been a good thing to know. When I write a Santa Handbook, like my father should have done hundreds of years ago, in case of an emergency, I will be certain to explain and add this—both the male and female versions —to avoid any confusion.

“We have to sleep together and have sex,” Pepper whispers, as if it’s a sin when it’s anything but.

I pat his back in reassurance. “I know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

“That the tree picked me as your… partner. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t.”

I trace my fingers up and down his spine to comfort him. “I’m glad it did.”

“You sure you wouldn’t have wanted a girl elf?”

My heart aches that he even thinks I’d ever want anyone else. “Over you? Never. Why would I want that?” The tree chose him for a reason, and while I may not know why, it’s not my place to question it.

“I don’t know,” Pepper mumbles.

“Do you wish you weren’t mine?”

“No.” He shakes his head against my shoulder. “I just feel these things all the time… and I don’t know what to do with it all. Then I get upset, and I blame you.”

“And turn into Krampus,” I tease.

“Yes,” he half-laughs, chest vibrating against mine. “I wish I’d known. It’s my job to take care of you, to make your job easier.”

“You have made my life easier.” For months, he’s taken my toy plans to the elves and ensured I had lunch. He’s kept my cocoa supply filled and made sure nobody bothered me when I was in the zone. He’s been incredible.

“Nick?” Pepper whispers.

“Yes?”

“I… I… can you…”

“Can I what?”

“Before Doc comes back… can you… I… Ugh. I n-ne-need you to…touch.”

Does he mean what I think he means?

A ball of nervous energy rolls in my gut. “Touch?”

“Me.”

“Where?” I sputter out.

“In my pants.”

“Pepper, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not here.”

“Please. I want you to touch it. I need you to touch it now that you know. Please.”

“Your hole? Is that what you’re talking about?”

“Yes,” he croaks, shivering. “Please.”

I can’t do that.

Not here.

Not now.

“You’re killin’ me here, Pep.” I sigh and squeeze his side.

“I need you. I need you,” he begs, his warm breath bathing my neck. “It aches. It aches so much. All the time. Please.”

“Shhhh. Shhhh. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” I rock him in my arms, wanting to take his pain away.

Giving Pepper what he desires without question, I glide my palm down his back, and he shudders. A needy whimper vibrates below my ear. I drag lower until my hand covers his ass in the middle, closer to where he craves to be touched.

Pepper’s hips push back, desperate for more .

Powerless to deny him, I slip into his stretchy bottoms to find he’s not wearing any boxers. Skin lands on hot, silken skin. Before I chicken out, I press a finger to the top of his crease and descend between supple cheeks to the hidden treasure. The glide is wet as it perfumes the air in vanilla—his scent. I relish in it, eyes slipping closed in my version of pleasure, as I groan, loving this far more than I should allow in Doc’s office.

I travel lower.

Breathe.

Feel.

Commit the moment to memory.

The instant I caress his hole, Pepper’s nails bite into my shoulders, and his hips thrust forward to rub his erection against my stomach. Again, I let him. I give in. I do whatever he needs because he’s mine. This is my room. This is my elf. If he needs me to play with his hole, I’ll play with his needy hole. Anything and everything I can, I’ll give. Whenever he needs it, however he needs it done.

Around and around, I circle his slick rim, getting a feel for the foreign place. In the center, there’s an opening that quivers before expanding the tiniest bit, as if hungry and needing fed.

“Inside,” Pepper pleads, and I comply. Pressing through his muscles is easy. They give away, desperate for me to enter. And I do. Not tentatively. Not like some shy man. I don’t treat him like the virgin I know he is. I finger my elf’s tight pucker in and out like he deserves, and it sucks me back in like a velvet-lined mouth.

“Nick,” he sobs.

“I got you.”

Convulsions consume the elf in my arms. “So good. ”

“You like me inside you like this?”

“Yes. More. Don’t stop.”

I pick up the pace, screwing him with a single digit. It’s enough for his body to take and feel but not hurt.

“Nick.”

“You wanna come?”

“I… I need.”

“Tell me what you need.”

He claws at my shoulders. “You. I need you.”

“You’ve got me.”

“Your. I need your… Please.”

“I can’t give you my dick here, sweetheart.”

“Want your cum.”

“That’s the hormones talking. You just gotta let go.”

“Can’t. Need. You.”

“No, sweetheart, you don’t need me inside you. I’m already in there. Feel me?”

“Yes,” he cries out.

“That’s me, fingering your sweet hole.”

“It’s not enough.”

“It is. Reach between us and jack your cock, Elfie. Wrap your hand around it inside your pants and screw into your fist. Get yourself off. You can do it.”

Pepper does as he’s told. When I feel his hand around his rod, part of me is proud of him for trusting my guidance, while another is jealous of him touching his dick when I haven’t gotten a good look at it yet.

“That’s it,” I encourage as he grunts and groans, pushing his ass back to impale himself on my finger.

I add a second for good measure, and Pepper’s head thrashes backward as he screams loud enough the entire building can hear .

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” I pause, concerned I might have gone too far, but Pepper’s hole grips me in a vice.

“More,” he sobs. “Please. Cum. I need your cum.”

“No. You just need to keep going. You’ll get off.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes. You can, sweetheart. Come for me. I want you to come.”

Pepper’s tiny body stiffens and detonates on my command. Asshole sucking around my fingers, he sinks his teeth into my neck and unloads ropes of cum into his fist. The sexiest whimpers I’ve heard in my life reach my ears. One’s that speak to me… To the virile man I forgot I was when I took my place as Santa.

It’s everything.

He’s everything.

On instinct, I continue to massage Pepper’s hole as his high calms, and he melts into a pile of goo on my lap. The whimpers cease when I extract my fingers to taste. Both enter my mouth with a groan, and I suck the juices clean. Sweet and salty, like I’d expect cum to be, with an undertone of vanilla. It’s unlike anything I’ve tasted before, and my body craves another sample.

I reenter his supple hole with the same digits. Pepper mumbles his contentment. Hot air bathes my neck as he sprinkles the tiniest kisses there.

Again, I savor his unique essence.

I moan.

My hard cock throbs in time with my heart. Yet, I’m content.

Doc reenters the room at some point. Neither of us notices as I stroke up and down Pepper’s back and over the curve of his ass in featherlight touches. He snuggles me in return— arms curled in front of him, pressed to my stomach, cheek resting on my collarbone, lips grazing my throat, applying tiny kisses whenever the mood strikes.

I refocus on our surroundings long enough to catch Doc’s eye. We share a private smile before he pats the table and motions to the ultrasound machine for Pepper’s examination. Not wanting to rouse my elf, I stand from the chair with him in my arms. He’s light as I carry him across the space. Not wanting to let Pepper go, I climb onto the table and rest him on my lap—legs draped across my thighs, head on my chest.

Doc doesn’t say a word when he lifts the hem of Pepper’s shirt and rolls a probe with jelly across his abdomen. On the screen, my elf’s insides show up.

“Mmm. Mmm. I see,” Doc mumbles to himself as he snaps pictures.

Pepper remains motionless, voice nowhere to be found.

“And?” I ask.

“He is all man in there. Except here.” On the television, Doc points to a spot the size of a tangerine.

Pepper shudders, burying his nose against my pec. I kiss the top of his head in support, knowing this can’t be easy for him.

“What is that?” I tilt my chin toward the blip on the screen.

“If I had to guess, it’s a sac to carry children.”

“Does this make any sense to you?” I ask, curious if he has any further theories because this is a first in the Pole.

Doc shrugs. “Yes and no. When you were busy, I did a quick skim through the ancient texts. Nowhere does it say a female shall be given to Santa. But it does say the magic from the fruit gives fertility and virility to Santa and his chosen. You cannot carry your own young. Therefore, as I suspected, Pepper was given the ability.”

Pepper clutches my shirt as he emits a broken noise, cracking my heart in two. He doesn’t want this. And… It hurts. A lot. More than it should.

Crooking a finger under Pepper’s chin, I force him to look up at me. “I can try to get you out of this, Pepper. I’m sorry. We don’t have to have children. I can find another way.”

Blinking at me, his eyes rimmed in red, my elf doesn’t respond.

“Nicholas, the tree chose,” Doc reminds.

“I know. But it could also give fruit to a female to bear my children, could it not?” If the tree is magic, then it can do anything it wants.

Doc hums. “I do suppose it’s possible. But Pepper is yours. You are his. This is a gift—a unique and rare gift.”

“I know.” It is a gift, but nobody should be forced to endure this… me , if they don’t want to.

Turning his attention to Pepper, Doc pats his patient’s knee in support. “May I further my examination?”

My elf nods and whispers a tiny, “Yes.”

Smiling at Pepper, Doc clasps his hands together. “Great. You’re doing so well.” To me, he says, “I think it would be best for you to lower the back of his pants.”

To give Doc better access, I adjust Pepper in my lap so that he straddles me and do as instructed—bear Pepper’s bottom to the physician. Gloves on, Doc parts Pepper’s cheeks, and I don’t have to guess what he’s doing when my sweet elf cries out in mortification.

“Hmm. Hmm. This is… Yes.”

“I’ve got you, sweetheart.” I rub Pepper’s middle back as Doc palpates inside .

“There’s a small opening here.”

Pepper bites my shirt and squeaks the littlest noise.

“You, okay?” Nails embedding into my chest, Pepper tries to claw into me—through me.

Doc hums to himself again. Then I feel it, wetness soaking through my shirt. My poor elf is crying. We can’t do this anymore. Enough. We’re done here.

“No more. Please remove your finger from him,” I request.

Without question, Doc complies, removes his gloves, and tosses them in a nearby receptacle. His face is the picture of happiness and wonder when he returns to my side and lays a hand on my shoulder. “Everything will work out, Nicholas. Sleep together. In bed. Have lots of sex. But I’d advise you, since we don’t know how this works, that you be careful and not ejaculate inside of Pepper. Unless you’re ready to be parents soon.”

I nod in understanding, even though I have no intention of having sex anytime soon. “Thank you, Doc. I’ll take that under advisement.”

“You do that.” The older elf grins. “It was great seeing you both. Come back any time. Day or night.” With a final squeeze on my shoulder, Doc leaves us to our privacy.

Pepper sits back on my lap, eyes still rimmed in red with blotchy, tear-stained cheeks as he looks at me. “I can carry babies.” His bottom lip wobbles, and as much as I shouldn’t find it adorable, I do.

A lone tear trickles down the side of his nose, and I dash it away with my thumb. “Yes, sweetheart. It seems so.”

“I always wanted to be a dad.” He cracks a watery smile.

“Then you will. Whenever we’re ready, I’ll put a baby in you.” With my cock, inside his hole. Fuck, I don’t know how any of this is going to work. In the human world, I had anal sex a few times, but the appeal wasn’t there. Sex itself was good enough to take the edge off but never enough to drive me to want it more than once with the same person. It also took forever—hours sometimes for a mediocre orgasm.

Pepper visibly swallows and brushes the messy strands of hair off his forehead. “We need sleep first. I need a lot of sleep.”

A chuckle bubbles out of my chest, followed by a soft smile. “I know we do. Why don’t we finish here and go back to the house?”

“Santa’s house?”

“Our house,” I correct.

“I’ve only ever been inside once.”

Well, that’s about to change forever.

Dabbing another bit of moisture from his face, I ask, “Where have you been sleeping?”

“There’s a storage closet outside the painting room in the workshop. I live there now.”

I sigh. “Pepper.” That’s not where he should be staying. That’s no place for any elf, let alone mine.

Chewing his lip, he shrugs. “I didn’t know what else to do. I can’t be away from you. It physically hurts.”

Oh. My sweet. Sweet. Elf.

This can’t happen again.

I brush my fingers across his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

He toys with the cotton of my shirt, rubbing it between his fingers to give them something to do. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Nick. You didn’t know about any of this.”

That’s not good enough.

“Now that I do, we’re staying at our home. According to Doc, we need to sleep in the same bed to actually get sleep. The other stuff we’ll deal with later.”

“Okay.”

And that’s that.

Setting my elf on his feet, I wrap an arm around his shoulders.

It’s time to go home.

It’s time for sleep.