Page 5 of Gifts of Fate (Kindred of Arkadia #7)

Felix

“Was that made-for-TV perfect or what! I felt like I was watching a Hallmark Christmas special.” Felix couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

Claybourne was driving them back to their home after dropping off the unneeded medical supplies at the clinic.

It had been a long time since he was able to celebrate Christmas.

This year seemed to be kicking off wonderfully.

“You are a goof. The mother and both babies are healthy, that’s all that matters.” Claybourne yawned. The delivery had taken them into the next morning.

“Why do you think we were ambushed by Rebecca at the clinic? She wasn’t happy until she took our pictures,” Felix said, turning on the radio to a Christmas station.

Seconds later in the middle of White Christmas, Claybourne turned the radio off.

Felix sighed. His mate had been a huge Ebenezer Scrooge ever since Thanksgiving.

If he didn’t know better he would say the man hated Christmas.

“No telling with her. I know that she was relieved to hear that everyone was okay,” Claybourne said, pulling into their driveway.

From the outside you couldn’t tell it was four days until Christmas. There were no lights, no garland. No dancing snowmen or flashing candy canes. Felix had mentioned once and only once that maybe they should get some decorations for the house and that idea had been shot down.

“We’ll just have to take it down again in a few weeks, it’s a waste of effort.”

Maybe his mate did hate Christmas.

“All I want is to lie down for fourteen hours.” Claybourne parked the car and got out, slamming the car door shut.

Frowning, Felix watched as his mate, seemingly forgetting he existed, unlocked the front door, opened it, walked in and closed it behind him.

He crossed his arms and waited, tapping his foot.

After ten minutes he came to the realization his mate had truly forgotten him and was probably asleep in bed.

He got out of the car and walked to the front door.

He turned the knob to discover it had been locked.

Staring at the knob in shock he reached for his wallet and pulled out a single key.

He unlocked the front door and marched right into the master bedroom.

Sure enough, there was his mate in his lounge pants, face down, out like a light.

Motherfucker!

He debated waking his mate up but rejected the idea.

Claybourne had worked hard last night bringing two new souls into the world, and he deserved a rest before he got his ass chewed out, and not in the good way either.

Suddenly, feeling like a stranger in his own bedroom Felix grabbed the pajamas he had left draped over the chair and walked out.

He headed to the den and sat down on the sofa. He couldn’t get the soul-searing love he had seen between Kate and her mates out of his mind. Had his own mating fizzled already? Would having a child bring back that fire? That need to be with your mate more than you needed your next breath?

He sat cross-legged on their sofa and hugged the pillow to his chest. What could he do to bring back their passion?

Maybe Claybourne was simply tolerating him.

He couldn’t lose his mate. Not now. He looked around the house and realized that there was nothing of him in any of the rooms. If he packed up all his clothes and left, no one would ever know he had lived here.

Disgusted, he threw his pajamas on the sofa beside him and stood up.

Claybourne was his mate and this was his home, dammit! If he wanted to celebrate Christmas, hang mistletoe and dance naked to “ Good King Wenceslas ” then he was going to. Grabbing the car keys, he headed out the door.

“Thanks for the help, Rian, Sebastian,” Felix said, putting the last box of decorations in the car.

“Thanks for taking this stuff off my hands, it doesn’t really go with the feel I’m trying to portray.” Rian waved his hand at the princely way the pride house was decorated. It looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens .

“I can’t believe you guys didn’t have any decorations.” Sebastian frowned.

“Hey guys, I gotta go check on my baked gingerbread ornaments. If you need any advice just text me a picture,” Rian offered, and ducked back inside.

“That man is a genius when it comes to decorating. Hey, quick question, did Rebecca make you pose for pictures?” Felix asked.

It was a good thing Rian had over-ordered, as that meant more free, high-quality decorations for him. Lucky!

“Yeah, she got most of the pride in the diner this morning, she has been all over town like a tiny camera Nazi,” Sebastian shook his head smiling before he eyed Felix.

“Is everything okay?” Sebastian asked.

Felix looked at his extremely pregnant best friend and decided now would not be the best time to share that he thought his mating was going down the toilet.

“Yup, I’m going to surprise Claybourne with a festive house when he wakes up. Maybe even bake some pie or something,” Felix said.

Sebastian’s frown deepened. “You? You want to bake? Okay, what is going on?” Sebastian demanded, crossing his arms.

“Nothing, just getting into the Christmas spirit,” Felix said cheerfully.

Sebastian smiled, nodded, then jumped up and put Felix in a headlock, raking his knuckles over his friend’s scalp. Not wanting to hurt the baby, Felix didn’t fight back.

“Ow fucker! No fair, you’re totally playing the pregnant card to avoid getting your scrawny ass kicked,” Felix yelled.

“Damn right, bitch. Now spill!” Sebastian said, tightening his grip.

“Fine! I think Claybourne is sick of me and doesn’t care if I’m there or not,” Felix yelled.

Sebastian released Felix and stepped back. “That’s not true. That man loves you to pieces,” Sebastian protested.

“He forgot me. Today, he forgot I was even in the car with him. He went into the house, locked the door, changed into his pajamas and went to sleep,” Felix mumbled.

“I am so going to kick his ass,” Sebastian growled.

“Kitten, are you okay?” Liam asked, opening the front door concernedly.

“I’m fine, hun. Be right in.” Sebastian smiled up at his mate.

Liam looked at Sebastian a second longer and then dubiously shut the door.

“Seriously though, do I need to beat some sense into him?” Sebastian asked.

Felix wiped at his eyes. He should have known his best friend would be on his side. “No, I need to do this for myself. Thanks for the offer though, Shamu,” Felix joked.

“Har har. Just wait until it’s your turn. This shit is not fun. I don’t know how normal human women do this. Rebecca is a damn goddess in my opinion.” Sebastian grunted.

“Let’s get my mate remembering I exist before we plan babies, okay?” Felix rubbed Sebastian’s belly.

“I am not a Buddha statue, stop it.” Sebastian batted Felix’s hand away.

“Okay hun, I gotta go blow his mind with Christmas decorations, then blow him, before I allow him to blow me.” Felix wagged his eyebrows.

“Onward, horny soldier!” Sebastian gave a salute.

“Love ya.” Felix called, getting into the car.

“Love ya back. Oh and Felix,” Sebastian yelled.

Felix stood back up next to the car. “Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too.” Felix got in the car and waved as he drove off.

Felix was just putting the finishing touches on the tree when he heard his mate behind him.

“What in the hell is all of this?” Claybourne demanded.

“It’s Christmas decorations. I couldn’t sleep and realized we didn’t even have a tree, so I went out and got one.

Of course the stores are picked clean, it’s a good thing that Rian had ordered too much, in his effort to overthrow Martha Stewart.

” Felix put the empty ornament box on the coffee table.

He had put up a pre-lit Christmas tree, a garland on the fireplace, and all kinds of Christmas knick-knacks around the room. He had even found two stockings at the grocery store that were perfect for them. One had a stethoscope around it, the other a thermometer.

He decided that pie was beyond him, but he got a tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and they made the house smell heavenly. There was even eggnog waiting for him later in the fridge.

“Take it down. Take it all down.” Claybourne’s fists shook beside his body.

“What?” Felix whispered.

“Take it down! It’s gaudy and tacky and, and messy!” Claybourne exploded.

“No! Do you know how hard I have worked to make this special for us? It’s our first Christmas together, we should celebrate,” Felix protested, feeling a ball of ice form in his stomach.

“Did you ever stop to think about what I would want? The tree and the garland are littering needles all over the place. The little snowman is just clutter that I’ll have to move to clean since you don’t feel like you have to.

You just created more work for me!” Claybourne ground out from between his clenched teeth.

“What? What!” Felix couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He couldn’t stop the wave of nausea that crept up the back of his throat.

Pushing past his mate, he ran to the guest bathroom and locked the door.

He had just enough time to raise the lid and his stomach emptied all of the candy he had been snacking on all morning in fits of nervousness.

“Felix! Felix open the door! Are you all right? Let me in!” Felix could hear Claybourne’s frantic yells.

“You forgot me,” he whispered. The pounding on the door stopped.

“What?” Claybourne asked.

“This morning you forgot me. You locked the door behind you and went to bed. When I came in, I looked around and realized that there was nothing of me in the house. That if you got rid of my clothes I would disappear from your life.” Felix panted and fought back another wave of nausea.

“That’s not true,” Claybourne whispered.

“It’s my first Christmas out of that cage. For years I didn’t get to have Christmas. I wanted this to be special. I wanted to be special to you. I can’t do this anymore.” Felix wept and threw up again.