Page 23 of Santa's Knotty Workshop

“Are you ready?” he asked.

I threw on my coat. “Whenever you are, mate.”

I laced my fingers into his, and we left my suite, making our way through the building and out into the square. It was quiet now that Christmas had come and gone. Of course, it was still decorated like Christmas was tomorrow, and it always would be for the rest of eternity. This was Christmas central, after all.

There weren’t as many elves running about—just a few of the younger ones playing in the square, enjoying the new snow. There were also a few reindeer who were frolicking and having a good time as we walked through the crisp, snowy air.

“Did you bring your list of questions?” I should’ve asked before we left, but there was still time to go back, if need be.

Every time Percy came up with something he wanted to talk to the doctor about, he wrote it down. He had an entire interrogation ready for the poor healer. I had a feeling he was neither the first nor the last elf to do so, either.

“Yes, I finally typed it. It’s on my phone. I sent him an email before we left, just so he has a copy as well.”

“That’s smart.” And far more efficient than the writing it on whatever scratch paper was available at the time method we had been using.

I couldn’t help but smile. My mate was hyper-preparing for this magical event of ours. I wished I could do more—make the time go faster or make things more comfortable for him. So far, it was mostly fatigue that he dealt with, but I knew other symptoms would eventually appear.

The healer’s office, like the rest of the town we lived in, was decked out in Christmas garland wrapped around the edges of the lobby. A single receptionist, who also doubled as a nurse, waited for us.

“Welcome, Santa,” she said. “Let me take you back. How are you feeling, Percy?”

“Fine, so far.”

“That’s outstanding to hear. Dr. J is really looking forward to seeing you. I’m just going to grab some vitals.”

She got us settled in the room and took his blood pressure, pulse, and other measurements. I assumed if anything was wrong, she would say something out loud, but she quietly charted it all down. Meanwhile, my mate’s leg bounced uncontrollably.

She smiled kindly. “Dr. J will be just a minute.”

Thankfully, the doctor didn’t keep us waiting long. He came in with a broad smile on his face. Sensing the urgency, he got right down to business.

“Why don’t we go ahead and get this ultrasound done so we know what we’re working with? Then you can ask all your questions, Percy. I did get a chance to go through all of them, and I can assure you, all of your questions are normal. I get this sort of thing a lot.”

That seemed to set Percy at ease. He laid back on the bed as the doctor pulled out the portable ultrasound. With a squirt of warm gel and a wave of the wand, it was like Christmas magic.

There, on the screen mounted on the wall, was our baby’s picture.

“Aha! Looks like you have a little one in there, which we already knew, and they’re growing quite well,” the doctor said.

“He?” Percy asked.

“Oh, that’s just me speaking generically. Do you wish to know the gender?”

Both Percy and I shook our heads. “We want to be surprised.”

“Then ‘they’ it is,” Dr. J said. “They are growing well, tracking along nicely. You are due in September. Did you know the weekof September 10 has the most common birthdays in the world? Seems that your activities this December weren’t unique to you two,” he added with a chuckle.

I laughed. “That makes sense. ‘Tis the season, indeed.”

“Now, here is their heartbeat—running normally,” the doctor continued. “Do you have any questions that you didn’t email to me?”

“No,” Percy said, his voice soft. “I’m just happy to see that everything is on track.”

“It is indeed, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on you. I want to see you monthly for now, and then around six months, we’ll change that to every two weeks. By eight months, it’ll be every week. Okay?”

Percy nodded. “Okay.”

“Now let’s go through the rest of your questions so we can ease some of those nerves you’ve built up.”

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