And the man standing next to her in a plaid shirt, jeans, and suspenders with a long, cottony beard was Santa Claus.
She called me their mate.
They were reindeer.
Only a week or so ago, I was complaining about my boring, blank-piece-of-paper life and thinking I was destined for more, but this? This wasn’t in my scope of imagination.
It’s me. I’m losing my mind.
“Are you okay?” Blitz came over after Santa and Mrs. Claus made their excuses and walked away, hand in hand.
“I have questions,” I choked out.
“That’s fine. We’re ready to answer anything now that you’re here. Our cabin is right down Candy Cane Lane. Let’s go get you warmed up.”
Candy Cane Lane. This was true. “Yes. Thank you.”
We walked as a group down a street whose cobblestones were red-and-white striped. Several people waved. One man approached us and man-hug-slapped my men on the backs. “I was wondering when you were going to come up again,” he said. He turned his gaze on me. “And who is this?”
Dash squared off his shoulders. “Jake, this is our mate, Aideen. This is her first time up here.”
Jake smiled and extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. It’s about time these three found their mate.”
Oh, we were so going to have a talk about this.
“Nice to meet you, Jake. You’re not an elf.”
Jake and the others laughed. “No. I’m the fix-it man up here. Always something breaking. Speaking of, I’m only one check mark done on my list. I’d better get moving. Welcome to the North Pole, Aideen. Make sure these three treat you right.”
We moved on and before getting to the cabin, several more people made their introductions.
“Here it is. Welcome to our home up here.” Blitz opened the door to the cutest log cabin that ever existed. It had lights on the outside and white trim that made the wood look like a gingerbread house.
Inside was a Christmas-lover’s dream.
I gasped and reached out for the first solid object which was Comet’s arm. “You live here?”
“We do. Do you like it? We felt so bad for not having any decorations up at the other house, but we are surrounded by decorations for a good part of the year. I’m sorry we didn’t have it done up for you.”
“I love it.” There wasn’t an inch of space that wasn’t decorated. The outside theme of a gingerbread house bled inside. The tree was decorated with bright lights and ornaments that looked like cookies and candy. I turned around, taking it all in. Even the kitchen towels hanging on the stove had gingerbread men on them. “I take it you three love gingerbread?”
They chuckled and took off their jackets. Comet helped me get my giant one off. “It’s our favorite.”
A fire roared in the fireplace. Fresh-baked cookies were stacked in perfect rows under a clear cake stand.
“Can we talk?” I asked.
They shared a look. “Of course we can. Please, sit down. Make yourself at home.”
Because if I was their mate, and I thought I was, then this was my home too? More questions.
“You told everyone but me that I’m your mate,” I said, sitting down on the love seat. Dash rushed to sit next to me.
“We actually told Mr. and Mrs. Claus only and the Mrs. was supposed to keep her lips shut, but apparently she didn’t. We’re sorry about that. We were going to tell you up here. Since the first time we saw you, we knew—our reindeer knew—you were our mate.”
Wow. I recalled what I’d read about mates before. It meant they thought I was destined to be their partner for life.
“Okay. And I have to be mated and marked for that to be solidified, right?”
