Page 30 of Naughty Elf: Merry

“Me? With a baby in my belly? How is that possible?”

Hernan gasped. “Do elves get pregnant differently from humans and shifters?”

“No.” I said that without thinking, but perhaps we did. “No, I just never imagined myself with a dragon baby.”

“Is that bad?” My mate turned my head so our eyes were locked on one another. “The baby might be an elf.”

“The opposite. I’d be toasty warm inside during my pregnancy, but having a baby wasn’t part of the plan. I was supposed to get a job and earn money so I could contribute and be part of the Hernan and Merry team.”

My mate peppered kisses over my cheeks and brow, ending with a peck on my lips. “And do you think carrying eggs, laying them, watching them hatch, and parenting our children is not contributing?”

“Backtrack.” My mind was buzzing with the information he was feeding me, and my thoughts were bounding ahead, leaping forward in time. “Eggs?” I gulped. “I have eggs in my belly?”

“If the baby or babies are dragons, yes.”

I was an elf, a teenie-tiny guy who barely reached Hernan’s shoulder. How could I carry a clutch of eggs?

“What if I can’t?”

“An omega’s body can perform amazing miracles and adjust to an egg or eggs, a shifter or human baby.”

“How do I find out what I’m carrying?” What if I jiggled and broke the eggs?

“I’ll take you to a shifter midwife. It’ll be so much fun building a nest.”

I was an elf who enjoyed comfort. No way was I sitting in a bunch of sticks. There would be no owie nests in my future.

Chapter 22

Hernan

“Merry Christmas,” I whispered, rolling over to kiss my mate on the shoulder where the mating mark rested.

A crash from the other room startled me.

“Holly,” I groaned. She had a habit of playing with the Christmas tree ornaments, and from the sound of it, she’d found one—or so I thought. Next thing I knew, she was climbing onto my hip.

“Holly, you’re in here?” Another crash. “Fuck.”

I jumped out from beneath the covers, ready to handle whatever was happening. My dragon stirred, ready too. If I needed to shift in the house to protect my mate, so be it. Sure, there would be structural damage, but that was better than a single scratch on my mate.

Only, when I opened the door, I found myself standing there, completely naked, with Santa in the living room picking up an ornament. Santa. The freaking man in red—or at least one of them.

“Hello?” My voice came out more as a question.

“Ho-Ho-Ho! Oh, sorry about this.” Santa held up an ornament he was putting back on the tree. “It was a long night. I guess I got a little clumsy.”

“Santa… you’re here?” I asked, still processing.

Merry came up behind me. “Hey, Santa. This is my mate, Hernan.”

Santa nodded, looking at me with a soft smile. “I thought you’d be ready for this. Looks like I’m right.”

“Ready for what?” Merry and I asked in unison.

“Didn’t you open my card?” Santa’s gaze shifted to Merry.

Merry looked to the floor. “I didn’t open it, Santa,” he admitted. “I was afraid if I did, it would say I had to come home. And... I’m pregnant.”

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