I grab the television remote and put on a movie while Ibustle around the kitchen, making breakfast. Gabriel and Clara ask if they can help, but I shoo them away.
This is my time to shine.
I whip up some eggs, toast, bacon, and a couple of yogurt parfaits. Simple, not impressive, but it’s a start. As we eat, I struggle to focus on the conversation at hand. My mind is spinning with the tasks I want to accomplish tonight so we are ready for Christmas morning.
As much as I love getting presents, that’s not what Christmas is about for me. I love the togetherness and the traditions that come with it. And for this, our first Christmas as a pack?
I need it all to be perfect.
After we clean up breakfast, I get to work on Christmas Day preparations. I make a massive breakfast casserole that can sit in the fridge, ready to be popped in the oven as soon as we wake up, and mix up dough for rolls. Once that’s rising off to the side, I start peeling apples for pie.
“When did you go grocery shopping?” Clara asks, looking over my shoulder as I lean into the fridge.
“I had it delivered yesterday,” I say, intentionally backing up to where my body presses against hers.
I can do that now. I get to touch her as much as I want.
She wraps an arm around my waist and kisses my cheek. “Well, put me to work!”
“Nope! You and Gabriel can sit there and keep me company. I don’t need help!” I shoo her away to the couch, where Gabriel is reclining, watching me with amusement. “How do you typically spend Christmas?” I ask my Alpha. “Do you have any traditions I should know about?”
He laughs and picks up his coffee from the table. “Whatever you have planned is great. I never much cared what my family was doing as long as we were doing it together. The only thing that was always consistent was newpajamas. We’d all get a new pair on Christmas Eve so we could match.”
“Oh, I love that!” Clara says. “That sounds like fun.”
“We don’t have those!” I say, spinning around. “We need pajamas. Clara, call Hazel and see if she can bring us pajamas.”
“Or I can go pick some out,” Gabriel offers, pushing to his feet. “Since it is my tradition and all.”
The idea of Gabriel leaving, going out in the cold, being away from me, has a whine building in my throat. I try to swallow it, but I can’t. He lowers himself back down, his gaze softening.
“Hazel would pick out some great ones. Clara, I think you should ask her if she could get us some.” Gabriel asks. The knot in my throat loosens, and I spin back around, my focus on the pie crust renewed.
“Do you want to build gingerbread houses?” I grab the box from the top of the fridge and hold it out to Gabriel. “I got us a kit. Or I could make one from scratch. I should make one from scratch.” I move to throw the box away when he jumps up and snatches it from me.
“Are you okay, Felix?”
“I just need everything to be perfect. I have you both, and I never thought that would happen. I want this to be the best Christmas ever.”
My Alpha leans down and places a soft kiss on my mouth. “It already is, Felix. We could order Chinese food and it’d still be the best I’ve ever had.”
“We’re not ordering Chinese food,” I snap. “I have a prime rib.”
He holds his hands up and takes several steps back. “You’re right, that sounds much better.”
“Hazel said she’ll see what she can find last minute, but that she wants an invite to Christmas dinner for her trouble,” Clara calls out from the couch. “Is that okay?”
I don’t love the idea of someone else being part of our first Christmas together, but I hate the thought of not having those pajamas more, so I agree, forcing myself to adjust to the idea of having another person here.
“We could invite Mitchell,” Gabriel says, leaning against the counter. “I think his family is leaving around lunchtime. That way it’s not just Hazel and us, and she doesn’t feel out of place.”
“That’s a good idea,” Clara agrees.
It’s a good idea, but it’s also an awful idea.
I don’t want two more Alphas in my space, around my pack. This is our first Christmas together!
But I don’t say anything.
