Page 12 of Christmas Heat
She smiles, sleep-heavy, but forces her eyes open with a yawn. "Okay, okay, I'm watching."
She's not sure how or when but the movie has somehow ended up in a Scottish castle with tartan and poinsettias everywhere. Julius and Tenor are back and have snuggled into bed with them. Tenor is reading a book on Luke's other side and Julius is snuggled up against her, looking at his phone and pointedly ignoring the movie.
"I just want to thank you," she whispers, but she knows they can still hear her clearly over the sounds of the TV. It's like their ears are tuned into whatever frequency her voice is at. "For taking care of me," she clarifies. "Even when I was gross and whiny."
"You're never gross and whiny," Luke sounds put out. Julius agrees, snuggling her into his chest and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
They soon move on to watching the Muppet's Christmas Carol and Tenor and Luke start aggressively debating whether Miss Piggy is an omega or alpha. Julius argues she could be a beta just to start shit and Eden closes her eyes again, the warmth from the room and the warmth in her chest joining into something perfect as the snow continues to fall outside.
Fifteen Days Until Christmas
Julius
Julius wakes before dawn, as he always does on workdays. He slips carefully from the warm tangle of blankets and bodies, pausing at the edge of the bed to watch Eden's sleeping form. She's curled tight between Tenor and Luke, the two of them automatically shifting closer to her in his absence.
She has one hand fisted in Tenor's shirt and her breathing is soft and easy, but he can still hear a slight wheeze that shouldn't be there which tells him that she's still not back to 100%.
He hates leaving when she's like this, but bills don't pay themselves, and the mine never sleeps. Besides, he can't deny the satisfaction that the work gives him. He was never an idle man and doing nothing would likely drive all of them insane.
He puts a pot of coffee on and then pads into the bathroom, brushes his teeth and shaves and swills mouthwash, all in silence so he doesn't wake his mate.
Outside is cold and dark, but the thermos of coffee in his hand warms him up and there's a foil-wrapped breakfast sandwich that Luke left in the fridge for him. Julius makes a mental note to thank the big bastard when he gets home. Eden usually packs his lunches, at her insistence, despite him telling her it's not necessary, but she hasn't been feeling herself, so Luke took care of it.
It's still pitch black when he drives the familiar route to the mine. He parks in the same spot he's claimed for the last year and his boots crunch through the crusted snow as he heads inside. The place smells like gas and metal and sweat, same as always. The overhead lights flicker, humming in the early quiet.
The night crew nods at him as they trickle out, the day crew shuffling in around him. Julius checks the schedule, checks in with his men, then heads to the small office to check his emails. But he can't concentrate and he finds himself glancing at his phone every twenty minutes, heart skipping every time he sees a notification, only to deflate when it's not from Eden.
By lunchtime, his patience is wearing thin. He sits with his coffee in the break room, the men around him talking about the game last night, and all Julius can think about is his mate, tucked away in her nest, sick, without him there to look after her. He wanted tofix things.To take care of her.
He checks his phone again, scrolling through his texts. Still nothing. He types a quick message to her.How are you feeling?He stares at it for a moment, then deletes it and types again.Drink some tea. Don't overdo it. Love you.
He can imagine her reading it and smiling in that shy way that she does when they tell her they love her. Fuck he misses her.
The afternoon drags on. The mine is loud with the thrum of machines and it reminds him so much of the metal shop at the prison, where Eden had snuggled into that shitty nest in the corner and hidden from all the monsters outside. Where he had protected her. Where he'd fucked her for the first time. Where she'd had her first heat spike.
He can feel himself getting short with the crew, snapping at a rookie who loads the grinder wrong. He forces himself to take a breath and fucking focus. His mate is fine. Luke and Tenor are taking care of her.
On his afternoon union break, he calls Eden's phone. Tenor answers, sounding amused. "She's fine. She's watching a movie with Luke and fussing about the flavor of the cough syrup still. You want to talk to her?"
Julius feels his tension ease a little. "Yeah. Put her on."
There's a rustle, and then Eden’s voice. It's still hoarse, but better than it was yesterday. "Hi daddy. Luke's making me watch Elf. How's your day?"
He closes his eyes, just for a second. "Long. I miss you. You still sound like the fucking Blair Witch with that voice."
She croaks out what he thinks might be a laugh. "Thanks, I feel about as good as I sound. I miss you more. You'll be home soon?"
"Yeah, baby. I'll try not to murder anyone," he says.
"You better not. I'm not going back to prison again to drag you out."
"Too fucking soon to joke about that shit," he grumbles. "Okay, I'm gonna' get back to work. Bye baby, love you."
She says bye, and Julius hangs up. He squares his shoulders and heads back out onto the floor.
The rest of the day passes in a blur. When the whistle blows at the end of the shift, Julius can barely wait for the night foreman to get there before he's out the door.
He sees a department store he passes every day and, for once, he stops there, thinking of that massive empty tree Luke had dragged into the house. They didn't have any decorations, and he thinks Eden might enjoy that. She deserves to celebrate the holidays, deserves to make happy memories. He wants to give her everything she's been denied.
