Page 37 of Donner

Crap. Back to the hallway I went, closing the door behind me. A few minutes later, a blond elf already decked out in a red Christmas sweater and a candy-cane-striped stocking cap brought me a cup of hot chocolate. "It's customer service week," he said in apology when I pointed at his sweater.

I didn't know what Christmas sweaters and hot chocolate had to do with customer service week, so I shrugged. I took my first sip and he grinned at my hum of delight. "Here. This one is for your mate when Santa is finished with him." He handed me a second mug. I rested it on a plant stand beneath a painting of an ages-gone Santa and a sleigh hauled by nine reindeer.

"All right, Donner," Santa said as he stuck his head around the door and motioned for me to join them. "Beau and I have worked out the details of his property sale. Everything has been transferred to his new bank account at the Christmas Savings and Loan. Now we need to talk about the babies."

"The what?" I almost dropped the two mugs of hot chocolate.

Santa motioned me to Beau, who rose from his chair behind Santa's desk to steady me. He took the mugs from me and set them on the edge of Santa's desk. "Are you all right?"

"Did you hear what he just said? Babies!"

"That is how mating works," Santa said with a wink as he closed the door behind him. "It's unusual for one of my reindeer shifters to come back from a two-week vacation having met their mate and already pregnant, but that's what happened here. I considered not mentioning it, but you should be cautious with your first."

"I'm … pregnant?"

Santa's belly laugh filled his office. "Only a week along, and a lot could change. We're going to make sure you aren't overstressed between now and Christmas Eve."

"You're firing me?"

"Donner." Santa planted his hands on my shoulders.

I met his gaze, though it was hard to see him through the blur of unshed tears. Before I met Beau, my career had been everything to me, and so much was riding on my ability to continue doing my job, even while mated and pregnant. If Santa fired me, I returned to being the worthless reindeer my dad always said I was.

"I'm not firing you," Santa said. "I'm telling you to take it easy. That's what this vacation was all about. You're too stressed. You're one of my best strategists, but you've been in survival mode for the last two years. It's time to share some of your burden, not only with Beau but also with your team."

I nodded. Beau had said the same thing when we'd talked about my job. I knew Santa and Beau were right, but stepping back and letting my team take control would be the hardest thing I'd ever done. I hoped I was up for it. If I was pregnant, my child, or children, as Santa had hinted, needed me more than Santa did.

"Babies?" I asked again as I sank into the second chair beside Beau's.

"Twins. Were you a live birth, Beau?" Santa asked. "Or an egg?"

I hadn't even thought about the possibility of laying eggs. Beau was an eagle shifter, after all. I'd heard of some of the rarer shifter species laying eggs instead of giving birth, but those tended to be dragons and gryphons, and not mixed pairings.

"Live birth," he said. "My mom was in labor with me for twenty hours. She never let me forget it, either." The corners of his mouth lifted whenever he talked about her, even though his voice sounded sad.

"I've arranged for you both to meet with the team doctor next week."

"We've talked about going to Norway, to the shifter research center," Beau said. "Now that we know Jax is already pregnant, I'd like to do that as soon as possible."

Santa leaned against the front of his desk with his legs kicked out between our two chairs. I couldn't read his expression as he glanced between us.

"I agree, they might have more information on any mating rituals specific to eagles. You're our first golden eagle here at the North Pole, though we do have a mated pair of bald eagles working as hand painters. They're very skilled at small detail work." Santa leaned toward Beau. "You're more skilled as a protector, a healer. I think we can find you a job you'll like that will also allow you some down time with Jax." I shivered at how strange it was to hear Santa say my first name, when before he'd always called me Donner. "I'll email you a list of job openings. You can look them over tomorrow morning, after you return from Norway."

"After we what?"

I lost Beau's voice to the rush of air, and then we were seated in another office, this one stark white compared to the dark wood paneling of Santa 30's workspace. A wave of nausea hit me, but it passed quickly. I was pregnant! I hadn't felt sick since the day I thought I had food poisoning, but Santa knew best.

"Hello!" A white woman with thick glasses and a thicker accent beamed at us across a metal desk topped with glass. "You must be Jax Donner and his mate, Beau Reed. Santa said to expect you around this time. I'm Doctor Haugen. I specialize in bird shifters." She reached across the desk and shook first Beau's hand, then mine. "Other researchers wish to speak with you, but we decided I would be the best person to start with any questions you have about your mating situation."

Our chairs were closer together in this new office, and I reached for Beau's hand, grasping it in both of mine.

"I have questions about my eagle, in general," Beau said. He glanced at me, and I gave him what I hoped was an encouraging nod.

"We have a book with everything we've learned about golden eagle shifters," she said, patting the large tome sitting at the corner of her desk within Beau's reach. "I put my number inside the front cover. If you have any questions, call me."

"Thank you." Beau's throat worked with unasked questions, and then he laughed. "I know so little about my eagle, I don't know what to ask."

She bowed her head with a small smile. "I know the feeling. I was abandoned as a fledgling and grew up among a pack of Artic wolf shifters. That's why I gave you my number."

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