Page 128 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas
Of course she did. I couldn’t think of a single moment when Jeannie hadn’t looked like an ethereal creature gracing the earth with her presence. And that wasn’t what I was worried about. No, I was eager to jump into the next phase of our lives with both feet. I didn’t know exactly what it would bring, but that was half the fun.
I shifted from foot to foot as Jahmoni took her place, and the music transitioned into Max’s theme. He emerged from the tent, holding a tray with two shining cloches, flowers and vines surrounding each dome and trailing off the sides. He looked very sharp in the emerald suit we’d picked out together. It was similar to mine in style, but with a bow tie and no cummerbund. It made us look like we truly were father and son. Because he was my son. Our skin color might be different, and we didn’t share a lick of DNA, but none of that mattered to me.
He paused slightly, and I had a brief spike of anxiety that something was wrong, but then his gaze locked with mine, those hazel eyes so much like his mother’s brimming with emotion.
Fuck, I was going to cry, wasn’t I?
I didn’t want to be a snotty mess before my bride came into view. I breathed deeply through my nose and out through my mouth, which helped stave off my tears.
Max did the same, then marched forward. He was such an amazing kid, and I couldn’t wait to see who he was going to grow up to be. And now that I was taking his mother’s hand in matrimony, I was going to get to.
I was pretty sure that I was the luckiest man alive.
He made it to the end of the aisle, only sniffling a couple of times before assuming his spot to the side. I gave him a thumbs-up, which he returned with a grave nod he must have picked up from Addy. It was funny to see what little idiosyncrasies they’d adopted from each other, firmly uniting the three as a certified trio through and through.
But then the music was shifting again, and my daughters stepped into view, Addy in a dress of gold—our other wedding color—and Eva in one of green.
Goodness, my eldest daughter was growing into a young lady. She’d shot up two inches—she’d gotten my height in the gene pool—and was quite graceful for what was usually the most awkward growth stage of a person’s life. As I watched her reach into her basket and drop flower petals on the ground, it felt a bit like I was watching her walk out of her childhood into her burgeoning adulthood. She still had a long way to go, but she was taking her first steps so elegantly.
And then there was Eva. My littlest wasn’t so little anymore. She was eleven, officially a preteen, and really coming into her own. She was still her sister’s number one cheerleader, but she had her own things now. And although Miss Belle Savannah Caroline Scarlett Genevieve the Third and the death pit was gathering dust now, she still had that wild imagination that led her and her siblings on some wild adventures.
Emotions continued to build within me, and I was sure I would be a real mess once my darling walked out of that tent. I could practically see it in my mind now: her face flushed, her eyes teary as my parents and in-laws escorted her on eitherside. It wasn’t exactly orthodox, but what about us had ever been? Early on in our planning process, we’d decided that they wouldn’t be giving her away so much as they were walking her into our family. Although our clan had already unofficially adopted her, this solidified those bonds in both our world and hers.
The girls were nearing the end of the aisle, and I readied myself for seeing Jeannie. Suddenly, Addy stumbled forward. My head jerked in her direction, away from the tent, and the more logical side of my mind said that she just tripped on an errant rock.
She grimaced slightly, but did regain her footing, and I felt that same swell of pride again. One lesson that I had always taught her was that it didn’t matter if she ever fell or messed up, the important thing was that she picked herself up again.
However, that platitude vanished from my mind when she swayed, her feet nearly tangling together, and she doubled over as she held her middle.
Something was wrong.
“Addy!” I said urgently, rushing to her. She was on her hands and knees, shaking like she wanted to throw up.
“Addy? Are you okay?” Eva cried, dropping her flower basket and kneeling next to her sister. “Addy?”
“I’m s-s-sorry,” my eldest groaned, tilting her head up to me. “I don’t know…”
Her teeth were much pointier and wider, especially her canines. The greens of her iris were also expanding and rapidly turning golden brown at the edges.
My daughter wasshifting!
“Is this what I think it is?” Ana said as she knelt beside me.
“What?” Addy rasped, her voice sounding less human and more like an animal. At this point, everyone was standing, and I heard yet another gasp after a tent flap opened.
Glancing to the end of the aisle, I saw Jeannie holding her wedding dress up above her knees as she sprinted toward us. Her veil was half out of her hair, blonde curls flying in the wind.
“Addy! What’s wrong?” she panted as soon as she was close enough, and God, she lookedbeautiful.Even with her eyes wide with worry and her hair mussed, she was a vision. And perhaps she was even more so because of the concern etched into her features for my daughter.
Wait,ourdaughter.
“She’s shifting,” I answered, gently rubbing Addy’s back, which was just beginning to buck and extend.
“I thought that this was supposed to happen a bit later, like fifteen or sixteen for girls and seventeen or eighteen for guys.”
“She’s early.”
“Fuck.” Jeannie crouched, dropping her skirt, and covered Addy’s rippling hand with her own. “I don’t know if you can hear me, sweetie, but we’re all right here for you. Everyone. Your whole family.”
