Chapter 87

December rolled in quickly and the air was filled with joy and Christmas music.

Brooke would play it all day long. She had decorated the interior of the house with Christmas lights and had gone to a store to get little knickknacks to put everywhere.

Christmas had now become Raphael's favourite season. Because everyday his mate had a smile on her face.

She would make cookies and was always dancing around the house and she sang. Every second of every day she would sing a Christmas hymn, carol, anything.

It made Raph's heart soar.

She was also forcing him to "learn" how to do things. She was teaching him how to cook, how to bake, how to clean and organize, and last but not least, she was very set on teaching him about pop-culture.

He knew the basics of most of these but not a whole lot on pop-culture.

The first movie, since it was Christmas, was A White Christmas. She was horrified by all of the movies and shows he hadn't seen. But they'd just never interested him.

What he enjoyed from watching television with her was her reactions. She would beam or roll her eyes, sigh or squeal. Giggle and laugh and sing along to the musicals.

The Pack had an annual Christmas party at the Alpha's house. There was snacks, music, dancing and a play area for the kids.

Brooke was helping the Luna with it and had prepared some delicious cookies. He'd tried one against her orders. They were brownie cookies with candy cane and mint m&ms in them. They were very rich though.

On the day of the party Brooke had been over at the Alpha's house for most of the day. She'd rushed in to grab her dress then rushed back out, saying, "I love you, don't be late! And Ooh, don't forget the cookies." Then she shut the door in a blur of brown hair and red fabric.

He smiled and shook his head.

For the party Brooke had chosen his outfit, she was a bit of a control freak but he wasn't complaining. The outfit was comprised of a white dress shirt with a black jacket and dress pants.

He put on thick winter boots and a heavy winter coat and brought indoor shoes. He styled his hair and chose cuff links for his jacket. He didn't wear a bow tie because he was already late as it was.

He packed the cookies and his shoes then headed out the door into the cold, not before calling Duma to remind him that he should get to the party soon.

He walked through the powdery snow and could see more was falling. He got to the door and could hear music and voices. The Luna opened the door and smiled. Her belly was growing every day and was now a little more prominent. She was wearing a green sleeveless dress with floral patterns.

"Brooke's by the children's area." She said with a smile while hanging up his coat.

He nodded and walked to where he could hear children's laughter.

His heart stopped when he saw her.

She was wearing a Christmas red and green tartan dress that draped to her feet, over top of it he supposed to provide some warmth was a red lace shrug. Her hair was let down, wavy from her braid, she had two braids starting from her temples then tied in the back and draped down to the small of her back. Her lips were painted with a gloss and her cheeks were dusted with golden glitter.

He swallowed.

She had a toddler sitting on her hip and she had her arms wrapped around him, holding him in place.

She was chatting happily with a female Lycan, the mother maybe.

A song lyric drifted past his ears, "I see you're smiling face, like I've never seen before, and even though I love you madly it seems I love you more."

He took a step forward and she looked up, he then noticed that her eyes had been lined with a black rim that made them look larger and her eyelashes had mascara on them, they stood out just fine on their own but with the mascara they seemed impossibly long and attractive.

He moved his focus from her eyes and back to her face. Her expression hadn't changed since the moment she saw him. Her glossed lips parted and then she shook her head slightly and blinked.

"Raph, well don't you look dashing." She said smiling, her hands still holding the small boy.

For some reason he loved seeing her with a child in her arms.

"And you look heavenly." He said putting his heart in his words.

She blushed and looked down biting her lip.

She looked back up and cleared her throat, "Uh, well. Did you bring the cookies?"

He held up the platter.

"Great!" Then she turned her face so she was looking in the toddlers eyes, "Josh, you wanna go show Beta Raphael where the treat table is?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah! Okay." Brooke said excitedly. She put the boy down and he ran on his chubby legs. Raphael walked after him with his much longer strides.

"Here you go." The small boy said, his head barely coming to the table that was decorated with sweets.

"Thank you." Raph said then ruffled the little guy's hair.

"Your welcome Beta." The boy looked up at him smiling.

Raph chuckled.

"Hey Josh, hi baby." Brooke's clear cheery voice rang out, "Why don't you go back to the playroom."

"I don't want to." The small child by his knee said.

"You don't want to?" Brooke asked standing in front of them.

The boy shook his head, "I wanna stay with Beta." And he reached out and hugged Raph's leg.

He looked at Brooke and shrugged.

"Hmm, you want to stay with Beta, eh?" She said as she walked closer to them.

"Well, he is a pretty fun guy to be around."