Page 25 of Temporary Santa's Knotty Workshop
It was finally Christmas Eve day. We were T-minus one hour from liftoff. Apparently, I had to give a speech or something to all the elves before I took off. Shit was getting real. It didn’t matter if every single item was made, wrapped, and labelled if I messed up delivering them.
No pressure whatsoever. Nope. None.
I went to the stable where the sled was all set up and ready to go. I’d been spending time with the reindeer in preparation for the big night. I loved them, but they weren’t horses. That was theonly part of my old life I missed, but Nick said we’d figure out a solution when he returned, and I was happy about that.
The elves were all working diligently, getting every last detail ready. The whole place truly was a well-oiled machine. The bag was packed, the sleigh polished, the reindeer were ready for liftoff. They were just waiting on me.
Before I knew it, I was climbing into the back of the sleigh, where I gave the shortest Santa speech known to elf kind. There was no need for an hour-long babble about how much I appreciated them, not when everyone present understood that I needed every second possible if I was going to succeed.
Speech over, we went out into the town square. Willy and the rest of the elves were there for the huge send-off. Afterwards, they’d all have some sort of big party, and then we would all sleep for the next month. At least, that was my plan. It was all pretty contingent on me getting my job done.
Nick was coming back in a week. I’d never been more excited to see my brother. I could go back to my regular life or at least figuring out what my regular life looked like now that I was a mated man. I’d need to move my things from my home to here, but that really wouldn’t take long. Nick was helping with the horses. Perhaps Willy and I might stay at my old home for a little while as a sort of vacation. Snowdrop would love it there.
I stood in the back of the sleigh with all the elves looking up at me. Apparently, it was a two-speech kind of event. I kept this one just as short and sweet.
“Thank you all for your hard work and putting up with me. I promise, at least I think I can promise, that this won’t happen again. Next year, you’ll have your regular Santa. But it has truly been a privilege to help this year, and I’m glad that my brother has this amazing crew working behind him each and every day of the year to make sure we keep all the naughty adults in the world happy with the amazing toys that we make them. You all should be proud of yourselves.”
There was plenty of applause.
Willie came up to the sleigh. “I have something for you, a Christmas gift,” he said.
“I thought we were gonna exchange our gifts tomorrow?” I’d bought him a fancy collar for Snowdrop and for our new pup, the present being the puppy he’d been wanting. I had no idea what he had for me, but I knew that it was wrapped and under the tree and bigger than he could hide from me in his pocket.
“Here. I formulated it especially for you.” He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a small bottle with a white liquid inside.C.C. Lube.
“What is this?” I grinned, because I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what it was.
He shrugged. “Well, I’ve been working a few extra hours in Lube Lagoon, and I think I got the consistency right. I know I got the taste right.” He winked and then grabbed the bottle from my palm.
“Wait, I wanna—”
“Nope. I just want you to know that tonight, when I’m alone and missing you while you’re at work, delivering all these naughty toys, I’ll have this. I’ll be stroking myself using lube that tastes and smells just like you. I might even grab one of those butt plugs and use that while you’re away.”
Arousal flared in my gut. I groaned. “You’re going to make me deliver all these toys while I’m achingly hard thinking about you.”
He nodded. “I am.”
“Candy canes. I love you,” I said.
He grinned. “I love you, too. Have a safe trip. I’ll be there when you get home. Plugged in, ready for you.”
I nodded. “I guess I better work quickly.”
And off I went into the night.
Epilogue
Willy
Nine months later
I wrapped up the last of the family Christmas presents. It was early, very early, but I wanted everything done before the baby came. Based on what the midwife had said, that could be any day now. Based on my size, it should’ve been weeks ago. I was ginormous.
“Gumdrop, Snowdrop. Let me just put these away, and we’ll go find Daddy.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking when I said,Hey, I’m pregnant, let’s get another dog.I loved Gumdrop a lot, so did Snowdrop, but she had some energy to her. She was already racing to me and back to the door again, over and over as I put the last of the presents in the Christmas closet.
Nick had laughed at me when I told him that we wanted a cabin with an extra closet for my “Christmas” closet. And I suppose itisridiculous to have a closet just to keep things I wanted for Christmas Day, but I did, and here it was.
