9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Percy

Two Days Before Christmas Eve

“Oh, Percy, we need you in here!” Chester’s sing-songy voice startled me out of the package I was working on. None of the items coming down the conveyor belt compared to the real thing, but I could see their appeal. I was sure there would be days when Nick and I might want to play with toys such as these. Then again, if I had the real thing, why would I ever want a substitute?

I couldn’t help but smile as I leapt out of my seat and went down the hall to where Chester was. All the items coming out of Whipsy Lane were labeled, wrapped, and ready for delivery, so everyone normally stationed there was helping wherever necessary.

I found Chester at the Lube Lagoon.

I also found a big mess. My eyes widened as I took in the sight: an enormous vat of purple lube had spilled onto the floor, coating the surface in slippery goo. Mixed in with the lube were individual strips of ribbon. No… not ribbons.

“Are those silk ties?” I asked. Not ties like the ones you wore around your neck, though a person could, I suppose. These were restraints. “Tell me they aren’t supposed to be going out in two days’ time.”

Chester nodded. His expression wasn’t one of concern about how we were going to meet our deadline. No, it was defiant. He folded his arms over his chest and lifted his chin.

“What are you going to do about it?” And just like that, any sympathy I had over his distress flew away like a sleigh.

“Me?” I squeaked. I was new to the department, and even if I wasn’t, I was in charge of nothing. I barely knew my job.

“Yeah, you.” He looked down his nose at me, a snarl growing on his face. He liked this far too much. What a Krampus wannabe! “You’re the second-in-command, aren’t you? Santa’s mate. Mr. Claus.”

Oh, sugar plums. I was all of those things, but I assumed I would ease into the role slowly throughout the year, rather than being thrust into it in the middle of our busiest time. Still, I would not let this mess go to someone else. It had to be dealt with, even if Chester found my distress pleasurable. I’d worry about him later. We had Christmas to get ready for.

“Okay, here’s what we do. What items that were destroyed are necessary to be shipped out on Christmas Eve?” I feared it was all of them, but maybe they were surplus? At least then all we had to do was clean.

Jimmy, who was doing his best to keep the lube from spreading even further, spoke up. “The lube was supposed to be bottled into sample sizes and put in with our sample kit.”

“Right. Okay. Do we have anything else we can swap it out with?”

“We have some excess of the pink, but then the kits would have two similar flavors.” He stopped mopping and leaned on the mop handle. “I suppose, given it’s pink cotton candy that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen. People love the tingle.”

I filed that information away for later.

“I think, for this situation, similar flavors are better than missing a flavor.” If they had asked for a sampler, it meant they didn’t have a preference, right? “And all of this is contaminated, so it will need to be destroyed.”

I wasn’t even sure how you destroyed lube. This was so not my department.

“Can you go make arrangements to swap out the flavors and see if we can put a sticker or something on the package to correct the labeling, please?”

“Of course.” He handed me the mop.

“Thank you.”

Once he trotted off, I turned my attention to the container and the mess on the floor. “What are the landscaping crews doing right now?” I wasn’t sure if the idea would work, but trying something was better than standing here with a mop, which at best was a stopgap.

Chester shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?”

I looked around for someone who could be helpful since Chester seemed burnt-cookie-bent on creating chaos and not solving anything. “Harry, can you go see if we can borrow a few shovels from the landscaping crew and some large barrels—anything we can use to shovel this up and scoop it into?”

“When it spilled, it splattered all over the satin restraints. Those have to go out tonight, this Christmas, because there’s nothing you can substitute for them. Silk is silk.” Chester smirked and stared at me with a challenge in his eyes.

I glanced over at the rack where an arrangement of silk wraps was hanging. Many of them had drops of lube on them.

“Right, let’s move this to the cafeteria, where we can lay them all out.”

“Why the cafeteria?” Chester asked.

“We can use baking soda and hot water to get these stains out. They’ll be as good as new in a couple of hours.”

“You can’t get lube stains out of silk,” Chester countered.

I winked at him. No way was I letting him see how he was getting to me. Sugar plum that.

“Trust me, I have a favorite pair of silk pajamas, and I had to get several lube stains out of them just yesterday. This will work.”

Chester’s jaw dropped. He attempted to school his face and rolled his eyes, but I saw it and he saw that I did. He was not winning whatever pissing match this was. He must’ve realized that because he immediately got to work.

“It took all afternoon, but we did it! All the restraints looked good as new, and we had them packaged up in time. Sure, the sample sizes would have a pink cotton candy flavor instead of bubble gum, but all in all, it was a good day.” I settled onto the couch next to my mate, and Nick wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I let out a contented sigh. “We really ought to be getting to bed.”

We had little time to lounge around. He needed his sleep if he was going to head out in just under 36 hours. And after the day I’d just had, I needed some sleep too.

He kissed the side of my neck. “That’s amazing, Percy. I’m so proud of you.”

“It’s one of the first times I’ve realized I can do this. I can be helpful to you and the whole workshop.” With a side bonus of irking Chester. I felt horrible for finding joy in that, but so be it.

“Of course you can, love.” He kissed the top of my head. “Not for a single second did I doubt that.

He placed a hand over my lower stomach. “I just hope you’ll take it a little easier once the busy season has passed.”

I looked up at him, craning my neck. “Why?” There was also the part where he’d told me he was ready for a family, but one question at a time.

He tapped the side of his nose. “Just because.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you know?”

He chuckled. “Love, you went through a heat. I claimed you as my mate. We’ve dedicated our lives to one another. You and I both want children, right?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Well, we’re going to have one.” His gaze fell to my middle. “A child of our very own.

My eyes widened, and I looked from him to his hand on my stomach and back again. Could it be? Could I really be pregnant already? Wow! How many things changed in a week. I went from single and far too innocent to be working in my department, to in heat accompanied by my mate, the most wanted Santa at the pole, to fixing a workplace catastrophe, to discovering I was pregnant all before the week was up. It was so much to take in, but also, it was absolutely perfect.

“You’re sure? It’s so soon.” I’d be crushed if I wasn’t, but it was best to know right away if I’d misinterpreted his comment.

He nodded. “I am very sure, love. It is inevitable, and the tingling in my magic tells me it is so. I can’t think of a better gift I could receive this holiday season.”

“Me neither.” It was the best Christmas present ever.