I woke up on Christmas morning, and smiled at the sight of Rafe stretched out beside me. Deciding that he needed a special Christmas wake-up, I wiggled down under the covers and took his bare cock in hand.

I pulled back the foreskin before licking the hypersensitive flesh beneath. He grew hard in my hand while I teased him with my tongue. I loosened my jaw and took him deep into my mouth, sucking harder with each jerk of my head. A large hand came down and rested on my hair, as Rafe let out a loud groan.

Smiling, I hummed in the back of my throat as I sucked. His muffled curse was all the encouragement I needed. I rolled his balls in my palm with my free hand, while I used the other to stroke his cock in rhythm with my sucking. In no time at all, his balls were tightening in my hand as his hips erratically jerked against me.

I swallowed every drop that flooded my mouth, savoring the flavor before licking him clean and crawling up to kiss him good morning. I knelt over him, my hands braced on either side of his head.

He looked up at me with a wide smile and shining eyes, “Good morning, baby. That was a hell of a wake-up call.”

I smiled back at him as I lowered myself for a kiss. “Good morning, my love. Merry Christmas.”

We were mid-kiss when Rafe easily flipped me over onto my back, taking control of the situation. His lips never left mine as his hand roamed down my body. He stroked my baby bump a few times, before moving down to grasp my dick. I was so turned on from the blow job I'd just given him that it only took a few quick strokes of his firm grip before I was shooting spurts of cream across my belly.

Rafe broke our kiss, and turned around. He licked me clean. Every. Single. Drop. “Damn, Rafe. I never knew you were such a dirty alpha.” I said teasingly. He lifted back up and kissed me again.

After passing a serving of my own nectar to me with his tongue, he pulled back and grinned at me. “Yeah, but you love my dirty alpha ass. Right?” His eyes searched mine, as if looking for an answer.

I smiled lovingly at him, but blushed as I said quietly: “Yeah. I definitely do.”

He seemed to get whatever he was looking for with that because his eyes lit up. He hopped up and stood by the bed, holding a hand out to me. “Come on, dirty boy. Let's go get cleaned up before Tom and Ian get here.”

I groaned, thinking of all the cooking that still needed to happen. And I also wondered how I was going to break it to Rafe that I'd invited Kent and his older brother to join us for dinner as well. I smiled to myself as I followed Rafe into the shower.

“What are you smiling about, babe?” Rafe asked as he pumped some soap into his hand and began to soap up my chest.

“Umm. I'm just picturing the look on your face when I tell you that I invited Kent and his brother, Christian, to dinner today.” Rafe's head jerked up from where he'd been smiling at my baby bump.

“Seriously? That little dumbass is coming here?” Rafe rolled his eyes but leaned in to peck my lips. “That's okay, babe. If they don't have anywhere else to go, then I'm glad that you included them. The holidays can be lonely.”

I nodded. “Thanks, hon. I'm glad that you understand. I don't know their story, but I do know that it's just the two of them. Christian is a mechanic, and well, you know Kent already. They're nice kids though. Trust me.”

“I do. And hey, maybe the brother has a complete brain cell, huh?” Rafe grinned as he continued washing my body. It was cute the way he loved to take care of me.

I looked forward to the day when I lived here with him, and we could shower like this every day. But I wasn't about to rush Rafe. He'd let me know when he was ready. I mean, we were having a baby in a few months, so obviously he would ask me at some point in the near future.

After we were bathed and dressed, we went downstairs. I dragged Rafe into the kitchen to help me get the food started. Before long, everything was going according to schedule and we were able to take a break.

Rafe led me into the living room. I was heading to the couch to put my feet up, when I saw the red croquet ball sitting on Nana's chair. I gasped and covered my mouth with both hands as tears filled my eyes.

Rafe pulled me over to the couch. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap sideways so that my legs were stretched out beside him. “Wanna tell me what's going on or is it the pregnant emotions thing again?”

I batted at his chest as I rolled my eyes. Then I put my arm around his neck and leaned into him. “How did you know?” I asked quietly.

“How did I know what? I'm sorry, babe. But I'm totally lost here.” Rafe looked at me curiously.

“The red croquet ball! Whenever we played, it was always my ball! I refused to use any other ball, because I said that the red one was special. My father used to tease me when I was little, and hide it to make me pick another color. I'd just go on a treasure hunt until I found it.” I smiled at the memory. “He called me his little red ball after that.”

“After Father died, we didn't play croquet anymore. But Dad would leave that ball for me to find in random places. He said he wanted me to always remember that I was as special as the red ball, just like Father had always said. My dad told me once that when I grew up, I would find my own red ball of an alpha like he'd found with my father.”

Rafe looked at me with a stunned expression. “Baby, I know that you swear that this house isn't haunted, but remind me sometime to tell you about my own experiences with that damned red ball.” He grinned suddenly as he leaned in for a kiss. He spoke against my lips as he said: “And Milo? You're totally my red ball, babe.”

“You're my red ball too, Rafe. But just know, if we ever play croquet? I'm always the red one.” I giggled as Rafe nuzzled my neck and his goatee tickled my sensitive skin.

The doorbell rang before we could talk any more. I bounced up to get it. Despite my growing belly, I was still light enough on my feet. Rafe was right behind me as I threw open the door.

“Merry Christmas!” I laughed when I saw that Tom was dressed as a naughty elf. He was wearing red and white candy cane striped tights, green booty shorts, and only a leather harness over his otherwise bare chest. The look was completed by green leather peter pan boots, a jaunty elf hat, and kohl eyeliner.

Rafe shook his head when Tom flounced in and said: “What, no lip gloss?”

Tom turned to Rafe and said: “Tom was wearing the perfect shade of peppermint flavored red gloss, but Ian decided it looked better on an alpha's face.”

I looked over at a smiling Ian, whose face was covered in red lip-prints. I nodded speculatively before saying: “Yeah, it kinda does, Tommy-boy.”

Ian carried a big Santa bag over his shoulder as we led them in to see our tree. Tom insisted that we all sit down so that he could pass out our gifts. Rafe and I snuggled on the couch, while Ian took the recliner that sat at an angle to the couch.

We had fun opening our gifts while Tom danced around delivering them all. The best gift though was right here around me. My make-shift family and the baby in my belly were all I needed. I thought we'd opened all our gifts when Rafe turned to me and said that he had one more thing to give me.

He turned and knelt down in front of me, gathering my hands in his while he blinked away the suspicious dampness that filled his eyes. Once he was ready, Rafe blew my mind with what he said next.

“I got some good advice from my friend Aggie that I keep telling you about. She told me that there are loves that come into our lives for a season, and then there are forever loves. And when we find our once in a lifetime love, we need to grab it with both fists and never let go.” He paused, looking down at our joined hands as he gathered his thoughts before continuing.

He looked back up, stunning me with his emerald green eyes that glowed with love for me. “Milo, you're my once in a lifetime love. I almost lost you once, and I don't ever want to risk that again. Will you marry me, and let me be your forever love too?”

Not gonna lie, I was totally shocked right now. I nodded happily. “Rafe. You already are my forever love. Of course, my answer is yes! I will definitely marry you! And not just so that I can beta-read all your books either,” I added with a giggle as he leaned in and pressed his lips tenderly to mine.

He pulled back and dug into his pocket. “I almost forgot! I have a ring! Aggie gave it to me, but I was supposed to lie and say that I found it in our favorite cabinet up in the attic.”

I looked at him with confusion as he pulled a familiar ring from his pocket. I lost my breath for a second as the room spun around me. As Rafe was busy sliding the ring onto my finger, I finally found my ability to speak.

“Rafe. I need you to tell me more about this Aggie person. I thought that you were making her up with her mysterious visitations to you when you're here alone, but now I'm starting to freak out, babe.” Rafe's face clouded with concern as I started to tremble.     Tom had been edging in to congratulate us. He saw my face and grabbed at my hand to see the ring. His already pale face went three shades lighter as he gaped at the ring.

Tom turned to Rafe and said in a reverent voice so soft it was almost a whisper: “Rafe, that's Milo's Grampa Miles' ring. Nana Agatha wore it around her neck until the day she died! Milo's dad was gonna bury it with her, but it got lost somehow.”

Rafe's eyes bugged out of his head as he asked incredulously: “Nana Agatha? Did her friends call her Aggie?” When I nodded, his eyes fluttered back in his head as he passed out cold.