Chapter 38

~ The Day of Christmas Eve ~

"Are you sure," I asked into the receiver as the car turned a corner for the last time; from now on Everett only had to drive straight ahead.

"Yes, Riley, I'm sure," Keri patiently replied to what I'd asked her several times today. "She is thousands of miles away with a squad of Sentinels hot on her trail."

She.

It was still difficult for me to comprehend that a woman was responsible for those gruesome acts. And on her own. Not a gang, not a gigantic, muscled man, but a woman of average height and built.

Were all shifters capable of such strength?

I sighed.

At least she was away from us now and that was comforting. It would've been more comforting if the Sentinels had caught her months back when one of them had had a vision of the culprit's whereabouts, but it was already winter and she still managed to evade them, her intentions and her identity unknown to us.

For all we knew, she would be back to torment us at the first opportunity that arose.

"At least she's far away," I repeated, this time aloud, and it was only when Keri spoke that I remembered I was on the phone.

"Indeed. No killings, no new sightings of unknown white wolves... I do believe we are going to have a peaceful holiday."

"I hope so," Everett, who had apparently been listening in on our conversation - not that I minded - spoke up. "Lisa needs her rest."

I smiled, remembering the bulge on his wife's belly. She was six months pregnant and Everett was already on edge; he was constantly reminding her to rest and eat well, he'd asked her to take time off her job - she'd told him she would when she was closer to giving birth - and he kept buying her sweaters to keep her warm. In fact, a new one was lying in the back seat of his car.

Perhaps he was panicking too much, but then again, how could he not?

They'd prayed for a baby for years. Neither Rhys nor I could give birth, but I was sure we'd be just as anxious when it was time for us to adopt.

"Kelly's back; I have to go," Keri said.

"Don't forget to come over for coffee tomorrow," I reminded her and she chuckled.

"When have I ever forgotten to take a dose of caffeine? Besides, I have to bring over your presents."

"You are so gonna love what I got you," I was already grinning; her gift - a huge mug with a Smart is Sexy written on it - was all wrapped up next to Lisa's sweater.

"See you then."

"Yeah, bye," I replied, swiping my finger across the screen to end the call just as Everett parked in front of my home.

"Thanks for driving me."

I still wondered why Rhys had sent him instead of coming to pick me from work himself.

"My pleasure." He smiled and raised his hand in greeting.

I turned around and saw my boyfriend on the porch, waving back at his brother.

"See you at dinner," were my parting words as I grabbed a bag of presents and got out of the vehicle. I received a nod in reply before Everett drove off.

"Hey, baby." I lifted myself on my tiptoes and pecked Rhys on the lips. "I like your brother, but you better have a good excuse as to not coming to get me yourself."

He smirked and opened the door, nodding for me to walk in first. I took off my coat, placing it on the hanger and was putting the bag with presents on the floor when a few unfamiliar objects pinned my gaze to the corner of the hallway.

"Are we having guests with kids?" I asked, looking at the two identical pairs of white velcro-fastened baby shoes with small roses as decoration.

"No." His grin became bigger and he grasped my hand and led me into the living room.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the very large, heavily decorated Christmas tree, done in tiny flashing lights and a plethora of ornaments, some of which hand-made. My eyes traveled down to the mountain of presents and amidst that mountain was...

"Oh, my God! Is it mine?" I literally jumped in the air when I saw the smooth golden fur move up and down with each breath the puppy took.

"No, she is ours."

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Was what I kept repeating, covering my mouth with my hands to muffle the sound and not awaken the precious little creature.

"Why a female?"

"I figured that if our kids want dogs, then it will be best that they get her puppies; that way her children also stay in the family."

"What if our kids want a cat?"

"No kid of mine will want a cat."

"But they will also be my kids and I like cats." I wrapped my arms around his neck and tried to lower my voice to an alluring purr. "Come on, Rhys, let's let the kids have a cat."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Riley Rivers, are you trying to seduce me into buying a cat?"

"Yes." I giggled.

"Well..." Rhys' arms encircled my waist just as our puppy yawned.

"She's awake!" I squealed and ran to her. Kneeling down, I picked her from the floor and placed her in my lap. She sniffed my nose then licked it, making me laugh.

"What happened to seducing me?"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Rhys crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can do that later," I replied just as the pup attempted to lick me again. "She's our first baby, Rhys; she needs me now."

"For what?"

"To hold her and love her, and spoil her. Oh, yes, she does; oh, yes, she does," I sing-songed. My hands ran over her body ruffling the silky fur and her tail wagged amain.

"So this is what it's going to be like raising children with you." He shook his head.

"Well, duh! I'll be the daddy who spoils them and you'll be the tough but fair daddy."

"Why don't I get to spoil our children?" Rhys set next to me on the floor. The newest addition to our family turned her head towards him, bringing her moist nose to his palm before he pet her.

"We can't both be the spoil-the-children daddy; they'll never learn anything that way. Besides, you are more disciplined than me so you get to be the serious daddy. And I'll be the daddy who buys them everything with the other daddy's money. And when we get home from shopping and they get upstairs to their rooms, you'd go," I changed my voice to a more masculine one, "'Stop spoiling the children so much and stop wasting so much money'. Then I'll be," I carried on with my normal voice, "'But they really wanted it' and then you," I went back to the tough-guy tone, "'You can't give them something just because they want it, Riley'."

The puppy stretched on my lap and I carried on with my real voice.

"Then I'd go 'But, Rhys, you should've seen the smiles on their faces when they got it!' And then we'll argue, but then the children will run in chasing after their puppies and we'll snuggle them and laugh with them and we'll forget about fighting and kiss and make up."

"So the kids are having puppies and not kittens?" He asked as soon as I was finished.

"That's all you got from my narration?" I nudged him with my knee and he returned the gesture before leaning towards me and giving me a peck on the lips; the pup licked our chins as he did.

"Let's go buy our first baby some antlers," Rhys suggested, getting up. I put the pup on the floor and stood up as well; she jumped, begging for me to bring her into my arms so I leaned down and rubbed her head.

"What are we going to call her anyway?" Rhys asked from the hallway.

"Luna." I stepped out of the living room just in time to see him poking his arm through the right sleeve of his jacket and reaching for the left one.

"You know that werewolves don't always..." he readjusted the thick jacket so it would fit him better, "... give their children names that have to do with the moon or wolves, right?"

I took my coat and allowed our pup to sniff it before I put it on.

"I mean, Rhys is a pretty ordinary name. So are Kennedy, Carter and Everett. Actually, Everett has a Germanic origin and has something to do with boars," he added, squatting and taking a hold of the puppy before attempting to put on her the tiny white shoes.

"Really?" I sat next to him and held her to make the task easier... Well, as easy as it could be when you are dealing with a wiggly Golden Retriever baby.

"Mhm." Rhys nodded, successfully donning on shoe number two.

Two more to go!

"But I like Luna." One more shoe was on. "Do you like Luna?" I turned to the pup in my hands and she barked enthusiastically.

"See, Rhys? She likes Luna."

"Alright, alright! Luna it is." He consented, "But we are not naming our human children Moon or Silver Tooth."

"The last one is a good name for a dog." I said getting up; Rhys opened a drawler of the small cabinet we had in the hallway and took out a pink leash. I watched him bring the object to Luna's nose before he put it on her.

The three of us walked outside. I turned around to lock the door to our house and Luna took the opportunity to sniff our porch. Rhys had cleaned it so there was no snow apart from that I'd brought with the soles of my shoes.

The snow had been falling gently throughout the whole day and had covered every surface it touched. I looked around the Silver Bullets' neighborhood and found it just to my liking; snowmen - Rhys and I had created one ourselves just the day before - were proudly displayed in every yard; the trees and roofs were covered in multicolored lights; children were laughing and having snowball fights in the streets...

"Can we adopt werewolves?" I asked taking the steps down the porch and onto the snow-covered ground. Rhys followed with Luna who took one sniff at nature's white comforter, then jumped into the nearest pile of it.

"Most of the packs are like a family. If a werewolf is orphaned, he or she will stay within their pack." His face had a hardened expression. "I don't even want to think about anyone from the Bullets becoming an orphan."

"Riley, heads up!"

Before I could determined where the sound came from, a snow ball hit the back of my head. I turned around to a grinning Kennedy.

"Hey, I gave you a warning." He shrugged.

"You should've given him more time to react," Mira stood next to her friend. "Riley is only human after... Oh, my God! Is that a puppy?" She dropped the handful of snow she'd been shaping into a ball.

"It's so adorable!" Jizelle squealed, reminding me of how I'd reacted to Luna earlier.

Before we knew it, a group of teens was gathered in our yard, all of them trying to get their glove covered hands on the soft pup who wagged its tail ecstatically.

"Oh, look she even has tiny shoes." Jizelle pointed at them.

"What's the name?" Ivan asked.

"Luna." Rhys and I replied in tune and he leaned down to release her from her leash, giving her more freedom of movement.

"Riley's idea?" Kennedy raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with Luna?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I think it's a great name," Jared commented, scratching her ear; he had taken his right-hand glove off to get a better feel of the smooth fur.

"Okay, skedaddle, you little rascals; go back to your war." Rhys lifted our pup into his arms and she immediately swirled around to lick his chin. "Riley and I are taking her for a walk. Alone." He added, extinguishing the hopeful flames in a dozen pairs of eyes.

"Can we walk her sometime too?" Mira begged and I smiled.

"Sure, just not now. It's our first walk with the new family member."

"I'm also a part of this family," Kennedy noted.

"But what is your legion going to do without you?" His brother jested.

"Laugh all you want, but my team is winning the Snow Wars. And I am the one leading it." The boy grinned proudly at the two of us then addressed to his companions. "You heard the Beta; scatter!"

The teens left our yard one by one.

"So, you gave them an order and they stayed here, then Kennedy tells them to buzz off and they leave." I turned to my boyfriend with a teasing smile. "Seems like someone's losing their authority."

"It wasn't an order, Riley," he defended himself, a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.

"I think it's Luna. Let me hold her; puppy-free, you'll appear tougher."

"Nice try." He grinned. "But you don't want to wake her, do you?"

I looked at the baby in his hands; she'd closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"I think it's the excitement of meeting so many new people," Rhys commented, walking towards our vehicle. "We should let her sleep in the car; that way she'll have strength for a brief walk around town after we get her the antlers."

"Can we get her ones that jingle?" My voice was low so that I wouldn't wake the furball in his hands.

"She might not like them; the ringing will be too close to her ears."

I opened the backseat door for them and Rhys put her inside, quietly closing the door.

"We'll let her decide," I suggested, wrapping my arms around his neck. I gazed straight into his eyes. "This is going to be the best Christmas ever."

Rhys leaned down and kissed me.

*****

A/N: So what do you think?

Please VOTE to support the chapter!