Page 31

Chapter

Twenty-Five

X avi shook his head as he looked around the room, which had exploded with Christmas prep. “Look at all of this shit. It’s crazy.”

“Colton went a little overboard.” Sebastian grinned and shook his head.

The third floor was filled with boxes and wrapping paper and tape, along with the furniture that Colton had been bringing up, a piece at a time.

“But what was I supposed to say? No? This is his first Christmas with his daughter. Hell, it’s his first Christmas with me.

I’m surprised that everyone isn’t leaving to go home to their, you know, families. ”

Xavi and Xander both still had their parents here in town, but none of the guys seemed in a big hurry to leave, not even Gent, really, who had family not too terribly far away. Rumor was Gent’s family was coming to them.

“I think everybody’s feeling the love.” Xavi winked at him and started sorting presents.

“I don’t know.” Sebastian shook his head and settled on the low couch. Scissors, labels, and tape were on the low table. “I do know that it’s fun, though. We have parties planned and lights up, and that part’s fun. Are you guys not having fun?”

Should he worry about his friends feeling left out?

“Oh, stop it. This is so much nicer than when you were pregnant before. You’re almost done being sick. I mean, I even made bacon and you didn’t barf.”

“Still, let’s not talk about barfing.” Sebastian was feeling way better this time, and it felt normal, easy-ish.

Not like a huge trauma, but something fun.

He’d been down to Secret Springs to chat with Devon and Raven at the birthing center, and all was going well.

The baby was due in late August, early September.

So that would be great. A little Virgo baby to go with his little Scorpio baby. That was a match.

Colton was over the moon. In fact, right now, he and Abby were out making snowmen together, so that they could at least start to get a handle on wrapping some of this stuff that Colton had brought in for Abby. “He really did kind of go overboard, didn’t he?”

Xander snorted. “You think? Still, she is the daughter of a rich man. Let him spoil her a little bit.”

They were laughing and wrapping and labeling and laughing more. He wished he could have a beer or a glass of wine with his buds, but he did have an amazing strawberry shake that Xavi had brought him.

Nothing was tasting as good to him right now as strawberries were. He could just devour them.

Xavi glanced up from where he was trying to figure out how to wrap a ball. “What did you get Colton?”

Sebastian shrugged, a little embarrassed.

“I got him…well, it’s silly…but I got him a big picture of him and Abby together to hang up on the wall.

You know the wall that I have with all the family pictures?

I found as many as I could of Colton when he was a kid, and I’m getting them framed, but I got a big one of him and Abby together.

I mean, I got him other little stuff, but that’s his big present. Is it ridiculous?”

Xavi shook his head. “Are you kidding? That’s adorable. He’s gonna love it, and if he doesn’t, I’ll kick him in the balls.”

“You are my best friend.”

Xander glared.

“What? Okay, he’s my best omega friend. You could be my best alpha friend.”

That seemed to satisfy Xander, who winked.

“So who’re going to be the godparents of the new baby? And we’re the godparents of Abby, so I’m assuming that you’re going to go with Colton’s people.” Xavi didn’t seem as worried.

“I don’t think we have to pick just one or two.

But yes, I think that Colton will absolutely ask Gent, just like I’ll ask the two of you.

It may be, though, that he asks his entire crew, and that this baby has all the godparents.

” It didn’t really matter. Love wasn’t pie. They didn’t have to just pick two.

Xander grabbed what looked like a puzzle. “Abby seems like she’s really into the new baby.”

Sebastian nodded. “The one thing she asked for is if she could have a baby doll of her own so she could practice. So we got her a little baby doll, and then of course, Colton had to get her a cradle to go up in her room and a stroller so that she could walk the baby around. But, I think she’s excited. ”

“Does she want a brother or a sister?”

“A sister, no question. She’s already told me that if it’s a boy, I have to take it back.”

Xavi cracked up. “Oh, well that might be a problem if it’s a boy.”

“Who knows? I mean, Colton made a girl before. There’s nothing to say he’s not going to make another one, but I don’t care. I want ten fingers, ten toes, everything working. That’s what I want. I don’t care what. If it’s a boy, a girl, an alpha, an omega, I just don’t care.”

“Of course not. What do the cards say?”

“They just say yay baby. That seems to be the consensus of the ghosts, too.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” Xavi flipped back into a pile of paper shreds and started making a snow angel.

He stared, then cackled at his friend. It was truly out of control.

“I think I taped myself to myself,” Xander murmured. He wasn’t as crafty as him and Xavi, but he was such a good cook it didn’t matter.

“Are you going to stay and make soup and bread, Xander?” He didn’t want to wheedle his friend but…

“Yep. Tori is going to make lasagna out of the freezer if anyone up at the hotel wants anything, but?—”

“But it’s a ghost town up there,” Xavi said. “There are a few bookings over Christmas weekend, but that’s it.”

The snows up on the passes really kept the tourists away at this time of year, and most people would stay at Secret Springs’s Grand Springs Hotel if they were coming for the holidays. Since its remodel, it was just a better bet, and it had the hot springs pool.

Hot Springs Junction had a few private springs tubs here and there, but mostly the facilities were privately owned.

He could use a soak, but he really wasn’t allowed to until after the baby. “You guys should all go to Mr. Halvorson’s hot springs hut at some point. Like all of you. Indoctrinate Gent and Colton and the guys.”

Xavi and Xavier exchanged a glance as they all cleaned up, then burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, that would be hilarious,” Xavi murmured. “I’ll call Mr. H today.”

“Cool.” He chortled. Mr. Halvorson had been the maintenance man at the Junction’s K-12 school for like, thirty years. He had an amazing hot springs pool that he’d built a little building over. It had benches and lawn chairs and was decorated in pink flamingoes.

It was so awesome. And Mr. H. would tell tall tales about all the families in town. And their kids. And their ghosts.

Colton and Abby came tumbling into the kitchen door just as they got downstairs.

“Woo! It is cold out there,” Colton said, stepping out of his boots.

“It is cold out there,” Abby parroted, taking off her hat. “Daddy, we made snows mans.”

“Did you take pictures, my baby girl?” Sebastian asked, putting the kettle on, because he would make them some hot chocolate. Colton also needed his heat pack for his leg heated up in the microwave.

“Uh-huh. Papa Colton said he might fall over soon.”

“Oh, no! Well, we don’t want that.” He winked at Colton, who gave him a bright, happy grin. He would swear his husband looked five years younger than he had when he’d first arrived to scare up Sebastian’s ghosts.

He just seemed so solid. So real.

Sebastian had never loved him more. God, what was he going to feel like in a year? Or ten?

He might just explode by then.

“What’s for lunch, Daddy?” Abby asked.

“Xander is making us some soup and he brought some bread.” All Xander had to do was heat everything up.

“I like soups.”

“I know.” Xander came to lift her up to rub noses with her. “Brrrr.”

“I know!” She reached up to touch her nose. “So cold.”

“But we had fun.” Colton took the heat wrap from him with a grateful expression, then put it on his leg when he sat. “I appreciate lunch, Xander.”

“You’re welcome. Is Gent home? He’s welcome to come.”

“I’ll text him.” Colton raised an eyebrow at Sebastian, and he shrugged. Xander had never gone for other alphas, but he had a feeling he and Gent were becoming friends. They had a lot of common personality traits, honestly.

Xavi snickered, and Sebastian squinted at him. He just rolled his eyes and mouthed, “Christmas.”

Ah, so Gent and Xander were working on some kind of project together? Interesting.

Colton pulled out his phone, and Xavi settled with Abby after she ran to the bathroom and washed up. It was like he’d always wanted his house to be, and he hoped he got to be the hub for all the kids when Abby was a teenager too…

“So, did you get anything good at the Merchante building the other day?” Xavi asked Colton. “I know they always talk about the ghost there being a champion of omegas.”

“I think we did, yeah. I’ll run it past all you guys when Gent is done editing the footage.” They were Colton’s test market these days, which was wicked cool.

“Sounds good to me. Hank’s made an entire career out of Secret Springs.”

“They’re doing way more than that now. Although he doesn’t want to be on camera very much, he likes doing the podcasts. That seems to be his jam.” Sebastian was happy to have stopped fighting with Hank. It was the last thing he needed.

“Unlike Mr. Famous here, the guy in front of the camera,” Xavi teased, and Abby giggled and mimicked.

“Camera! Papa, am I going to be on the camera?”

Sebastian shot Colton a look. His little girl was not going to be on the ghost-hunting show. Maybe when she was old enough to make informed decisions, but not now. No one should have to grow up on camera.

“Maybe we’ll get you a camera of your own, and you can practice being on camera. But when you’re a grown-up, you and Papa can be on cameras together. Okay?”

“Okay, Papa!” That seemed to work for her, and even better, it did work for him.