“I’m donewith the girls’ gifts,” she says without looking up. “I know they won’t open them until they’re home in a few weeks, but I’m not sure I’ll have time to wrap them once the babies come. Plus, they’ll look pretty under the tree.”
“Almost as pretty as you.”
“Come help me with the rest of these.” She gestures at the mountain of children’s books stacked nearby that are destined for my thirty nieces and nephews. I groan. Why are my brothers sofecund?
“Are you sure we need to wrap them?” I settle down beside her, careful not to jostle any of her piles. She’s organized everything by age group and reading level, because of course she has. “They’ll rip through the paper in two seconds anyway.”
“Unwrapping is the fun part.”
“I know I like unwrappingyou.” I tug the hem of her flannel, threatening to pop the buttons.
She giggles, swatting my hand away before passing me the scissors. “You cut, I’ll tape.”
I lean over and press a kiss to her temple. “You got it, pretty girl.”
This is my idea of heaven. An evening by the fire, preparing for the holidays with my mate, anticipating the birth of our pups. Tomorrow we’ll head to my parents’ place for the big gathering, all my brothers and their mates and their families, chaos and loveand wadded-up wrapping paper spilling out of every corner. But tonight is just for us.
Well. Almost.
I’ve been keeping a little secret, and it’s been killing me. Every time Julia gets that wistful look in her eyes, every time she checks her phone hoping for a message from Christmas-Day-already Korea, I want to spill everything. But I’ve held strong. The surprise will be worth it.
“Can you cut this here?” Julia asks, holding a length of ribbon out to me.
As her faithful scissors-minder, I dutifully snip where she indicates and then watch in awe as she ties a perfect bow on the package. “You’re so good at this.”
“Twenty years of wrapping birthday presents and Christmas gifts for two kids.” She grins at me and sets the package aside. “This is fun for me. I miss it.”
There it is. That shadow crossing her face.
“You’ll see them again soon,” I say carefully.
“I know. It’s just hard, being apart during the holidays.” She picks up one of the picture books we shopped for together and idly flips through the pages. “Matthew came home from college last week, and Nicole and Heidi have been spoiling him rotten.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It is.” Julia’s smile is tearful. My mate has such a tender heart. “I’m happy for them. I just wish...”
She doesn’t finish the sentence, but I know what she means. She wishes she could protect her kids from any bad feelings or circumstances. I feel the same way about her. That’s how it is with the people you love.
“Your girls understand,” I tell her, pulling her gently against my side. “They know you did what you had to do.”
“I sent their father to jail, Ian. Right before Christmas.” Her voice cracks as she leans her head on my shoulder. “Right after he was in their ear about me being unfaithful. What do they think of me?”
“That you’re a woman who was protecting herself from a man who was hurting her.” I nuzzle against her hair, breathing in her scent. “Richard made his choices. He’s facing the consequences. There’s no blame to be placed on you.”
She’s quiet for a long moment. Then she takes a shaky breath and sits up straighter. “You’re right. I know you’re right. It’s just hard to shake the mom guilt, knowing that they’re affected, too.”
“If they don’t understand now, they will down the road.”
She leans over to kiss me, soft and sweet, and once again, I have to fight back the urge to spill my secret when she reaches for her phone to check her text messages again.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” she says, putting it back down. “Mako called about the case against Richard while you were bringing in more firewood.”
I suck in a breath. Things have been complicated since he was arrested. His bank accounts were frozen pending the investigation, and that has caused some issues with tuition for the girls’ next semester. “Good news or bad news?”
“Good news. Really good news, actually. Apparently, Richard’s parents set up trust funds for the girls years ago with specific provisions for educational expenses, and because they’re not in Richard’s name, they’re exempt from the state’s asset seizure.”
My tail starts to wag despite my efforts to control it. “So their education is protected?”
