"Come on Corey, you need to get your ass out here now, or we're gonna be late!" Ethan called to him from the living room.
Corey didn't want to do this. He couldn't believe Ben had talked him into it in the first place. Corey looked at himself one last time in the mirror. He had to admit he didn't make a halfway bad Santa. The suit Ben had delivered to him two days ago was of excellent quality. The suit was a deep, almost burgundy colour. The fluffy cuffs and jacket edging were white as snow. His thick black belt was polished, the buckle gleaming in the low light from the room. Corey's black boots came halfway up his legs.
There'd been a worrisome moment when he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get the boots on because his feet had swollen. But he'd succeeded in the end, and here he stood.
A cushion had been placed on his already distended belly and strapped into place to make him look like a jolly old fat man.
There was nothing Corey could do about his thick, bushy black eyebrows, but they didn't detract from the overall look too much, so he wasn't all that worried about them.
The long white beard he had in place would certainly take some getting used to.
"Move it, mate of mine, before I come in there and drag you out. The kids are waiting!" Ethan sounded a little stressed. Corey didn't blame him.
They had to put on a good show for the town and the government for the next two weeks in the lead-up to Christmas. If the government suspected anything about Corey, they were fucked. It was hard enough trying to hide their pregnancies before, but now that the whole world knew about them, it was even harder. They were under microscopes these days. It seemed the government was waiting for anything they could get their hands on to try to justify putting them into labs to be studied.
That wouldn't happen as long as Ben was alive, but Corey didn't want to take a chance and mess things up. His child's life might very well be on the line.
Corey took a last deep breath, secured his red-and-white hat on his head, and opened the bedroom door.
The look on Ethan's face as Corey stepped into the living room was one Corey would never forget.
His mate looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to bend over laughing or jump Corey's bones. It was an odd mix, to tell the truth.
"How do I look?" Corey asked, holding his arms out wide.
"The kiddos will love you."
Ethan walked over and placed his hands on either side of Corey's even larger than normal belly, then bent down and placed a gentle kiss to the suit.
"You behave for daddy today, okay, darlin'?"
Corey grunted as the little one placed a sharp kick to the underside of his ribs.
"There'll be none of that today, you hear me?" Corey admonished as he rubbed at his chest through the layers of padding. "Do I look okay? I don't look like a pregnant man trying to disguise his baby bump too much?"
Ethan chuckled, then shook his head. "You look like Santa, babe, nothing else."
"Okay." Corey sighed in relief.
"Come on, we better bust a move. The others should all be there by now."
Ethan drove them to Atherton Square, where the Christmas wonderland had been set up just in front of the Woolworths grocery store.
Corey thanked Christ the shopping centre was air conditioned, as he was already starting to sweat in the suit, and he'd only been wearing it for twenty minutes.
The last thing he wanted to be was a gross, disgusting Santa that dripped sweat all over the kids as they sat on his knee.
Ethan drove the car around the back of the shopping centre and pulled up in a loading zone. Tommy was standing by a side entrance, a massive grin on his face.
"You head on in. I'll go park properly and come in to say hi to everyone. I can't stay long though. Work to be done."
"It would look a little creepy if you and the rest of the guys hung out all day, hovering at the edge of the grotto," Corey acknowledged.
Ethan leaned over and placed a quick kiss to Corey's lips. He pulled away spluttering, grabbing at his tongue.
Corey laughed as Ethan grabbed a stray hair that had somehow ended up in his mouth and disposed of it.
"So, no beards in our future, then?" he asked teasingly.
"Nope. I much prefer you the way you usually are."
Corey could see the heat starting to rise in his mate's eyes and figured he better get the hell outta Dodge. Otherwise, he'd soon be a Santa sporting a stiffy, and that wasn't good for anyone.
"You look good," Tommy said as Corey made his way over. Tommy gazed down at his belly before once again meeting Corey's eyes. "You did exceptionally well covering up," he continued, this time in a much lower voice.
"Thanks. How does everyone else look?" Corey asked.
Tommy bit his bottom lip momentarily before bursting into laughter.
"That good, hey?" Corey asked as Tommy opened the back door and led Corey inside, the Alpha mate still chuckling as they walked.
"Just you wait. I've already got photographic evidence."
"Good job, Tommy." Corey couldn't wait to see this.
Tommy paused at the end of the passage, his hand pressed against a wooden door with a little window pane in the middle.
"There are already families lining up, wanting their picture with Santa. So just remember that as soon as you step through these doors, you're Santa."
"Got it." Corey nodded.
"That means no laughing at the others where the customers can see you." Tommy grinned back at him.
"What?" Corey asked, aghast.
"The little kiddos can't see you making fun of your elves," Tommy reminded him.
"Damn it!"
"Come here and have a gander. Get it out of your system before you head out there."
Tommy moved to the side, and Corey stepped up beside him, peering out the small glass panel.
Corey caught his breath before he broke down in laughter.
Ten large, fully decorated Christmas trees stood aligned in a gentle arc. In front of the middle of them sat a large throne in deep blue, big enough for two, possibly three people, in a pinch. Bright-red sacks filled to overflowing with presents sat in front of each of the trees. Corey had a stray thought that Gizmo would look amazing standing guard over all those presents.
Next to the entrance, a camera sat mounted to a tripod with a laptop and lighting stand next to it.
The clock hadn't yet ticked over to nine a.m., and there was already quite a line-up of parents with their young children, all dressed in their finest clothes, ready for their picture with Santa.
The area was surrounded by a little red wooden picket fence with red plush carpeting covering the floor.
What had Corey in stitches was the sight of his Alpha, his fellow beta, Liam, and their friend Damon, along with their pack mate, Melissa, all dressed in their Santa's helpers outfits.
Green hats and jackets, trimmed in white fur, red knee-length pants, white-and-red striped stockings, and black shoes with curled toes had Corey finding it difficult to breathe.
Corey didn't think he'd ever seen his six-foot-six Alpha look more ridiculous in his life. At least he wouldn't scare the kids away. The man looked too funny for that. Samual had obviously drawn the short straw and was the first of the four of them to shift. His large wolf body sat quietly next to the throne, waiting for the horror of the day to start.
"You… sure… you... got… pics?" Corey asked Tommy, around gasping for breath.
"Oh yeah. I wasn't letting the opportunity pass me by without capturing this for all eternity."
"Good. The world needs to see this!"
Tommy winked at him. "I may have posted it to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter already."
"Perfect." Corey no longer thought he'd gotten the raw end of the deal. Clearly, he was much better off than everyone out there already.
Although Melissa pulled off her outfit beautifully. She was a stunning, curvy woman. The red-and-white striped tights covered her legs, the red skirt puffed out with a few layers of tulle underneath it, and the fit of the jacket accentuated her breasts nicely without it being too over the top.
"You ready to go out there and join the others?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah, let's get this party started."
Tommy reached down and picked something up off the floor, where it had sat against the wall. A light jingling sound reached him as Tommy stood back up.
"Here you go, Santa."
"Thanks," Corey said as he took hold of the brass bell with a well-worn wooden handle.
Damon and Liam looked very uncomfortable in their get-ups as Tommy opened the door, and Corey got a good look at his friends. Hopefully, they would relax as the day went on.
Corey took a deep breath and rang the bell, the sound loud in the enclosed shopping centre.
"HO, HO, HO. Merry Christmas!" Corey called out. He continued to ring the bell as he made his way slowly over to his grotto.
Every little kid stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Santa. Many parents were pointing his way. The cry of "Santa, Santa, Santa" was nearly as loud as the bell's ringing.
Corey gently pinched a few cheeks and ruffled a few heads as he made his way inside his grotto.
"Welcome, Santa." Ben's voice carried to everyone in the vicinity.
"Thank you for having me."
"Let me show you to your chair."
Ben led Corey to the plush throne.
"Not a god-damn word," Ben hissed under his breath at Corey, low enough that Corey and the other wolves would be able to hear but the kids and parents wouldn't.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Corey whispered back, his eyes twinkling.
In a louder voice, although still not his normal one, Ben told him, "We have plenty of water and snacks should you get hungry or thirsty. We'll stop for a ten-minute break after an hour and a half, then take a half-hour lunch at twelve thirty."
"Sounds doable," Corey agreed.
Corey took his seat in the centre of the throne and glanced out at the crowd. He zeroed in immediately on his mate, who stood off to the side, a wide grin on his face. Ethan blew him a kiss before he waved, then turned and headed off. Corey wished he could kiss his mate, but that wouldn't go down too well, he didn't think.
After all, Santa wasn't gay.
Corey reached down and ran a gloved hand over Samual's head and down his neck, giving him a light scratch as he went.
"Ready Santa?" Damon asked him.
Corey placed his bell down on the small table beside the throne, then patted his belly. "Santa's always ready to greet some kids."
"Awesome. Well, Santa, this here is Rebecca," Damon said as he walked beside a young girl, possibly two years old, and her mother.
The mother eyed Samual cautiously. Rebecca, however, screamed "Doggy" and raced to hug Samual.
To his credit, Samual didn't flinch or shy away. He patiently sat as Rebecca wrapped her arms around him before her mother carefully extracted her.
"Do you mind if I'm in the picture as well?" the mother asked.
"Not at all." Corey patted the seat beside him, and the girl's mother sat, placing Rebecca half on her knee and half on Corey's.
"Hello, Rebecca," Corey said, smiling down at the little girl in the pretty lavender dress.
"Santa!" she said, her eyes wide as she stared up at him.
"Have you been a good girl this year?"
Her nod was very enthusiastic.
"And what do you want for Christmas?" Corey asked.
Rebecca leaned in and whispered to him. "A pony."
"A pony? Really?"
She nodded again. The mum just smiled indulgently, like she'd heard the very same thing a million times. "Well, we'll just have to see what we can do about that," Corey told the little girl.
Melissa stepped forward then, a little clicker button held in her hand. She reached out and tickled the little girl in the belly.
"Ready for your photo?" she asked.
Rebecca giggled as Melissa continued to tickle the little girl.
She glanced up once, happy with the picture, then pressed the little button in her hand.
"Wonderful," she said, then stepped back to grab a small ticket and handed it to Mum. "Your photos will be ready for collection tomorrow."
"Thank you."
Ben stepped up holding one of the giant sacks of presents and passed one to Corey. Corey leaned forward and held the gift with two hands as he handed it over to Rebecca, who eagerly took it from him.
"Merry Christmas, Rebecca."
"Fank you, Santa."
Rebecca's mum took her by the hand, thanked them, and walked out of the grotto.
"One down, about a million left to go," Ben whispered beside him.
Damon brought the next sacrifice/child forward for their pictures, and they started the routine all over again.
By the end of the day, Corey had been drooled on, thrown up on, screamed at, kicked, hit, and even had one kid knee him in the balls as he enthusiastically tried to climb onto Santa's lap. That one had taken him a minute to recover from. Right now, Corey was actually thinking that being in shifted form with sticky fingers running through his fur would have been preferable to his day.
Corey said goodbye to the last child, waving as the boy and his dad left the grotto. When they were gone from sight, Corey slumped back in his seat, absently rubbing his belly.
"I think that went rather well," Ben said as he came over and collapsed on the throne next to Corey.
"That's because you didn't have your nuts pulverised by a six-year-old. If you had, you'd be singing a different tune."
Ben laughed. "Yeah, glad it was you and not me."
Corey lightly punched Ben on the arm.
Damon and Liam wandered over, Damon collapsed on the other side of Corey, Liam gingerly sat on the armrest beside Damon, and Samual remained lying on the floor in front of the large chair.
"How many more times do we have to do this?" Liam asked, sounding bloody exhausted.
"Three more times," Ben replied. "Tomorrow and then next weekend as well."
Damon groaned beside him, then leaned his head down on Corey's shoulder.
A flash startled all five of them. They glanced up to see Melissa with a massive grin on her face.
"That one is being sent to the entire pack!"
"You wouldn't dare," Liam threatened.
Melissa cocked an eyebrow at the five of them. "Watch me!"
Her fingers flew over the keyboard of the laptop for a second before she turned back to them seconds later, a cocky grin on her rounded face.
"And… done!"
"I hate you. I hate you so much right now," Damon groaned.
Melissa blew him a kiss. "Love you too. Now come on, guys. Let's get this place put to rights so it's all ready for tomorrow. Then we can head home for the day."
As one, they all moaned as they stood. Corey's ass was numb from sitting all day. It felt good to get up and stretch his legs, walk around for a bit.
He spotted Ethan waiting just outside the little picket fence, watching him intently.
"God, it's good to see you," Corey said as he made his way over to his mate.
Ethan opened his arms, and Corey kinda fell into them, holding his mate close. The familiar scent of Ethan and home washed over him, calming him immediately.
"How was your day?"
"My highlight was when Declan dropped off lunch for us."
"That good, eh?"
Ethan chuckled a little.
"Can we not have kids? I really think I'd like not to have kids after today."
Ethan's quiet chuckle turned into full-on laughter. He took Corey's face in his hands and grinned up at him.
"It's a little late for that, babe," he whispered, then winked at Corey.
Corey rubbed his belly absently. Yeah. Even with seeing how spoiled and ill-mannered some children were, Corey hadn't meant what he'd said. He couldn't wait to meet his and Ethan's child.
"Just promise me our child will be well behaved and know how to say thank you?"
"Now, that I can promise."
Corey sighed.
"Come on, Santa, how about I take you home and rub your feet?"
Corey wasn't responsible for the moan that escaped him. "That sounds like heaven."
Melissa had her camera case in one hand and a laptop bag slung over her other shoulder.
"Brilliant photo, Mel," Ethan told her. He held both thumbs up, and the grin was as wide as Corey had ever seen it.
Melissa laughed. "Thanks. It was just too perfect an opportunity to pass up."
"Completely understandable."
A sign was placed at the entrance to the grotto, letting the public know that Santa and his gang would be back at nine thirty tomorrow morning for more photos.
They all said their goodnights, and Corey followed Ethan out the back of the shopping centre, retracing his steps from that morning.
As much as he'd love to get out of the Santa suit before he left, it wasn't possible. He just had to wait until he was at home.
They climbed into the car, and Ethan squeezed Corey's hand. "You did good today."
Corey leaned his head back against the seat; his eyes closed of their own accord, exhaustion overwhelming him. He wasn't sure why he was so tired. Hell, he'd sat down the entire day.
"Rest. I'll take care of you," Ethan whispered as he started them toward home.
Corey didn't doubt for a second that Ethan would do as he said. He was safe in his mate's hands. Corey breathed deeply and relaxed.