19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Ailin

I could tell Seb was up to something and that he was nervous about it, but I pretended not to notice since I knew it had something to do with my gift. I had absolutely no idea what in the world was making him feel that way, but I was excited to see it.

Whatever it was, I had no doubt it’d be interesting and likely something I’d love since my viramore was really good at gift giving.

So when he came back into the yard with Emrys in tow, carrying a gigantic box wrapped in Solstice paper, I didn’t hesitate to jump up and head his way.

Seb could barely see over the top of the box, but when he caught a glimpse of me, he said, “Wait! Go sit down. I’m bringing it to you.”

“But—”

“No, A, go sit. Please.”

I sighed but complied since I didn’t want to mess with his whole plan. He’d never forgive me if I messed up the surprise after all his sneaking around.

When he came over and started to pass me the box, I hesitated and asked, “It’s not a doll, is it?”

A burst of laughter came out of him, and I glared, but then I noticed the box wiggle… as if reacting to the sound.

My eyes widened. “Holy shit, it is a doll.”

He kept laughing. “No, it’s not. I promise.”

I could feel the truth in his statement, but if it wasn’t a cursed doll and the box was wiggling…

My eyes widened. Holy shit. He didn’t, did he? He couldn’t have… Mother of All, did he get me a…

I quickly took the box from him. Only when I had it in my lap did I realize the top of the box was completely open. I peeked inside and about died on the spot.

There were two… black and brown puppies inside.

Puppies!

Holy fucking shit. My viramore got me not one but two puppies to baby to my heart’s content?

Never in my life would I have guessed he’d gotten me animals .

“Mother of All!” I let out a sound that was definitely not a scream of delight. “Puppies? You got me puppies?”

“Hellhound puppies, to be exact.” He sent me a cautious smile.

My eyes widened further. “Hellhound puppies? But… they… they could be with us for a really long time… like hundreds of years, or maybe forever.”

“I know. That’s why I got them. I knew you’d fall in love with them, and I didn’t want you worrying that they’d… you know, not be here in a decade or two.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

“But… they’re gonna get huge.”

“Oh, I know.”

I looked up at my viramore with a huge smile on my face. “You got me hellhound puppies! Where did you even find them?”

“I went to the supe shelter. They had a bunch of different creatures, but I thought you’d like these two the best since they like to cuddle.”

“I love them. I love you.” I reached into the box and picked one up—a girl, from the look of it. “Hi there, cutie pie. Oh my Mother, you are so damn adorable.” I gave her a kiss and hugged her to my chest, and the little cutie licked my chin. I saw some of her flames erupt around her body, and I was relieved when they didn’t burn me.

Hellhounds had hellfire, but most were able to control whether or not it actually harmed someone. It was almost like they had to actively think about harming someone with them. They also didn’t always have flames, usually only sprouting them when they were fighting once they were old enough to control them. Being a baby, she wouldn’t have control quite yet.

Since I wanted to give the other one the same treatment, I glanced around to find someone else to hold her. My gaze landed on Ker, who sat beside me, so I passed her over to him.

“Uh… I don’t know what I’m doing with a puppy.”

I smiled at him. “You’re used to kids. Puppies can’t be harder than that.”

He looked unsure but still hugged the cutie to his chest.

So I turned to the other hellhound and picked him up. I double-checked, and yep, he was a boy. “Hi, baby boy.” He immediately started licking my chin. “Oh my Mother, you are too sweet and cute.” I gave him a kiss and a hug, and before I could do anything else, all the kids were coming over to give the new puppies pets.

Seb said, “I already warded the yard so they can’t run into the trees. You can put them down if you want.”

I sent him a smile, surprised I hadn’t noticed the extra wards on the yard, but then again, we had a million people here today, so I was a bit distracted.

I kissed the puppy, and before I set him down on the ground, I said to the kids, “Give him a little space, okay? Let the puppies come to you. Don’t chase them, or you’ll scare them.”

I got a chorus of okays back, and Ker and I set the puppies loose and watched them tumble around with a horde of children laughing and calling them and wanting to play. I watched for a long time, making sure the puppies didn’t seem too overwhelmed or stressed from all of the people, but they both seemed like they were having the time of their lives.

“What are you gonna name them?” Seb asked me a little while later. He reached over and laced his fingers with mine, offering a smile that I returned.

“Fifi and Foo-Foo.”

He paused and stared at me. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Ailin, I’m not standing outside, yelling Foo-Foo come inside . No. Just no.”

I chuckled at that. “You don’t mind Fifi, though?”

He sighed. “I… guess not.”

“Fine… Fifi and Fuzzlet.”

He was silent for a beat. “Fuzzlet?”

“Yep. It’s the perfect name. Look at how fuzzy his little butt is.”

He stared at the puppy that did a little somersault as he dove for a rope toy someone had thrown. “Fuzzlet.”

I held in a laugh. “Yes. Fuzzlet.”

“Are you… are you sure?”

“Positive. Doesn’t he look like a Fuzzlet?”

Seb snorted. “Uh, sure. They’re your dogs, so… Fifi and Fuzzlet it is.”

He must’ve been in a really good mood not to argue with me over their ridiculous names. I’d thought for sure he’d put up a fight, and I’d end up having to name them something normal like Spot and Freckles or something. I absolutely didn’t think he’d just… let me get away with Fifi and Fuzzlet.

I stared at him, squinting my eyes, wondering if he was doing this on purpose to try and get me to admit I was being ridiculous. But… the man just sat there, not even hinting at joking.

Well, joke’s on him because I sure as shit wasn’t backing down.

Fifi and Fuzzlet it was then.

I paused and stared at the puppies.

Okay, maybe the joke was on me… because, well, Fifi and Fuzzlet it was.

Sigh .

After running around for an hour, the puppies made their way back over to me, obviously tired and somehow already knowing I was their dad and that I wanted to take care of them.

So I stood to scoop them into my arms, and when Seb patted his lounge chair in invitation, I sat in front of him and leaned back against him, cradling two wiggle worms in my arms.

With the puppies snuggling against me and my back against my viramore’s chest, the two of us watched our family milling about the yard, laughing, teasing, playing, and chatting together. Sometimes I honestly couldn’t believe how much time had passed and just how large our family had grown.

My viramore and I were the luckiest people in the world to have such an amazing family.

“I love you, Ailin.”

“I love you too, baby.” I twisted around to give him a soft kiss. “So fucking much.”

He sent me a soft smile and hugged me tighter around the waist.

Then Fuzzlet wiggled around, climbed my shoulder, and started licking the crap out of him.

I laughed, and Seb sighed, saying, “This is my life now. I’ve done this to myself.” He shook his head at me. “You’re a chaos gremlin.”

That made me laugh again. “You love it.”

“Uh-huh. Sure, I do.”

I smiled to myself and hugged the puppies tight, still surprised and so damn happy that Seb had actually gone out and bought me these cuties. They started wiggling around, already bored of napping on me. So I set them on the ground, and Fifi jumped on top of Fuzzlet, and the pair went rolling around in the grass, leaving burnt spots every now and then.

Seb tightened his hold on me and rested his chin on my shoulder. “I’m not gonna say you can’t bring them in our bed because I know you’re going to, no matter what I say.”

That was true, so I didn’t deny it.

He huffed. “But I have one rule.”

“What’s that?”

“ You are the one that has to take them out to potty in the middle of the night. I’m not doing it.”

That made me grin. “I suppose I can do that.”

He waited a beat. “I heard a but in that sentence.”

I snorted. “ But I know you’re going to end up doing it with me anyway, so I don’t even know why you’re bothering.”

He sighed. “You know, sometimes you’re a real asshole.”

“Yep.”

He chuckled and buried his face in the crook of my neck. “You wanna know why I got you the puppies?”

“Because you love me.”

“Yes, but other than that.”

“Uh, I have no idea.”

He paused. “Because I knew you were gonna try to convince me to adopt more kids after you played Santa, so I figured this would stop you.”

I burst out laughing. “Having hellhound puppies is going to be nearly as bad. They’re seriously big, giant babies and way more needy than a regular dog. They stay puppies for longer too.”

“Yeah, I’m seeing that.”

I hugged his arms across my belly. “Nice try, though.”

“Thanks.”

After a few minutes, I asked, “Soooo… do you think you might want more kids in the future?”

He groaned loudly. “Whhhhyyy do I do this to myself? Why the fuck did I bring it up?”

I laughed and patted his hand. “I’m only joking… mostly.”

“Ailin?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not allowed to adopt anything or any one else while we have puppies in the house.”

“What about when they’re all grown up and officially out of the puppy stage?”

He sighed like he was very put out. “We’ll… talk about it then, but it’s not gonna be actual children. But maybe a… bunny or a cat or something like that.”

That meant I had a few years to convince him. I could totally wear him down by then. “Fine.”

“Hm. Didn’t expect you to agree like that.”

“What can I say? You got me puppies and put me in the best mood ever.”

He laughed and kissed my temple. “Glad you’re in a good mood because you better go grab that little guy before he hops up on the food table.”

I looked at the food table with wide eyes. “Oh shit!”

Pulling out of Seb’s arms, I ran for the little hellhound while my viramore laughed it up behind me. And when he started cracking up because I had to chase the little booger around the yard because he had a paper plate in his mouth, I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

A lot of the kids laughed too.

What a perfect way to celebrate the holiday with the love of my life and our very big, very awesome family all together and filled to the brim with love… and lots of laughing at my expense.

I couldn’t have asked for a better holiday.

T hank you so much for reading Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe ! I hope you enjoyed visiting with the Ellwoods as much as I did.

If you’d like more Seb & Ailin adventures, check out my Patreon .

And if you’d like to read the beginning of Seb and Ailin’s story and read many of their kids’ love stories, you can find the Ellwood/Brinnswick reading order HERE .