I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I walk forward and Nash wraps his arms around me from behind, steady and secure.
Then Theo and Grayson join, creating this cocoon of pack warmth and scent and love.
We stand there for a moment. Just breathing together. Being together. Being pack.
This is real. They're real. This pack is real. No matter what Kael claims or what strangers online say or what happens in court tomorrow, this is real and true and mine.
After a long moment, they release me from the group hug. Nash takes the star topper carefully from its box, examining it in the light. The photos inside shimmer and shift as it moves, creating this beautiful kaleidoscope effect.
"Ready?" Nash asks, positioning himself behind me again. He's tall enough that he can easily reach the top of the tree, but he's clearly planning to lift me so I can place it.
"Wait!" Theo pulls out his phone. "I want to record this. For the memories."
He starts filming as Nash hands me the star and then wraps his strong arms around my waist. He lifts me easily, raising me high enough that I can reach the top of the eight-foot tree.
"It's not straight!" Grayson calls out from the side, squinting critically at my placement with his author's eye for detail and perfection. "Angle it more to the left. No, your other left. No, that's right, which is wrong. I mean—just rotate it counterclockwise! There! Wait, now it's too far. Back the other way slightly."
"Grayson!" I laugh through my happy tears. "You're not helping! You're making this harder!"
"I'm providing valuable constructive guidance!" he protests with a wide grin. "This is important! This is going in every Christmas photo we take for the next fifty years!"
"You're being an obsessive perfectionist," Nash counters, his deep chest rumbling with laughter against my back where I'm pressed against him. "It's a star. It looks fine."
"Fine?! FINE?!" Grayson sounds genuinely offended. "It has to be perfect! This is our first Christmas tree as a pack! This is going in our family photo albums! Our children will see these photos someday!"
Children. He said children. Future children. Pack children.
"It's a star with five points," Theo points out logically, still filming with his steady military-trained hands. "Mathematically speaking, stars have rotational symmetry. From any angle it looks essentially the same. Your perfectionism is geometrically unnecessary."
"That's not how geometry actually works in practical application!" Grayson argues passionately. "That's theoretical geometry! This is real-world physics and aesthetics!"
"You’re a soon-to-be published author, not a mathematician or physicist!" Theo shoots back with amusement coloring his usually serious tone.
"Exactly my point!" Grayson says triumphantly. "So trust me on aesthetics! I literally create visual scenes with words for a living!"
I'm laughing so hard I can barely keep the expensive delicate glass star steady in my shaking hands.
"Can you three please focus for thirty seconds?! I'm going to drop this very expensive custom-made glass star if you don't stop arguing about rotational symmetry and theoretical physics!"
"Right, sorry, you're right," Grayson says immediately, though he's still grinning widely. "Okay. Deep breath. Move it just a tiny bit clockwise. Tiny! Minuscule! Microscopic! Perfect! That's it! Don't move a single muscle!"
I carefully settle the star onto the top of the tree, making sure it's secure on the highest branch. The metal base slides into place with a satisfying click. It holds.
Stable and beautiful.
Nash lowers me gently back to the ground. My feet touch the hardwood floor. He keeps his hands on my waist for a moment longer, steadying me.
The four of us step back together, standing in a line, looking up at the completed Christmas tree.
Theo reaches over and flips a switch.
The rest of the tree lights up—hundreds of tiny white lights twinkling like stars, reflecting off the ornaments and tinsel and creating this magical glow that fills the entire living room.
The holographic star topper catches all the light and refracts it into rainbows. The photos inside seem to come alive, shifting and shimmering.
Our memories. Our story. Our beginning.
Absolutely perfect.
