Chapter 117 - My Rebellious Luna

JORDAN POV

TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER

Christmas every year keeps becoming a more meaningful time for us. Now that we all had kids, we wanted to show off our traditions. Teach them what the holidays are really about, family and friends. There were plenty of gifts but that wasn’t what we wanted the kids to focus on. For Luke, Celia and myself it was easy to embrace our mates’ traditions.

They had all once been human and although Becky and Jerry had similar traditions. They all had something unique to bring to the table. Just like we did. I would never admit this in front of them, but I used to hate the holidays. It was the music… people always start Christmas music too early for my liking. November hasn’t even started and people are jingle belling all the way.

Now, it has a whole new meaning for me. Seeing my son Devon help his little sister and brother write their letters to Santa is priceless. He’s only five but he made sure he learned to write the few words he needed for those letters. Melanie is now three and our youngest Christian is two. We wanted our kids to grow up together, so we didn’t really take much of a break in between.

As a pack we all celebrate Christmas Eve together. On Christmas day, everyone does their own thing with their families. Since all I have here are my parents, we celebrate with Luke and Becky. Sometimes my parents join us and sometimes they visit my sister Olivia.

Olivia sometimes visits, but her pack is on the east coast, where her mate is from. So it’s rare when she comes down to visit. Most of the people who attend are Becky’s family, her parents and brother, along with his family. Then there is Jerry’s family from Wyoming, who also know about us. It’s a little alarming how many humans we have visiting our pack almost every other month.

It was very interesting to watch Becky’s family wear down Brian. They have this way of spotting the odd man out and making it impossible for him to hate them. He and Becky still have the whole frenemy thing going on, but I think they both enjoy it. He’s also warmed up to Jerry, a little, and only because he gave her a granddaughter that looks just like Celia, except for her eyes are brown like Jerry’s. Brian loves both Robbie and Celia but treats that little girl like his own.

“Jor! Help me get your son dressed, he is being impossible.” Lilimar huffed, chasing after Christian, who had his shirt on but no bottoms. He’s going through this naked faze… hope it’s a faze. Running by me giggling, I manage to scoop him up. “Da-Da-Da!” He squeals while grinning at me. “Come on buddy, let’s get you dressed.” He looks so much like his sister, caramel brown skin, brown curls on top. His eyes are hazel just though.

Devon is the only one who is dressed and patiently sitting on the sofa. My little carbon copy. According to Becky, the only difference is he's cute. She says that about all boys who look like their fathers. As I carry Christian to our room where Lilimar hands me his underwear and pants, my little doll Mel is sulking on the bed.

Lilimar sits next to her and takes a deep breath. “Mel honey… I know your upset with Robbie but we can’t give him coal for Christmas. I’m sure he will apologize to you if you explain your upset.” I almost messed up and chuckled. I didn’t need to end up on both Mel’s and Lil’s naughty list. “He know! He push me!” She grumbles and folds her hands in front of her.

My little doll is dressed up but the frown on her little chubby face is comical. She and Robbie are only a year and a half apart, but she likes to follow him around. He thinks she’s a baby, so he tends to get frustrated with her. “Well hon, he’s a boy and they are rougher than girls. Play with the girls instead.” Lil replies softly. “He malo (bad).” Mel huffs and jumps off the bed.

At least my kids will be bilingual. Even though Lilimar is half Latina, it was on her father's side. She didn’t really learn any Spanish and is just now picking some up. Luke and Becky, along with their kids, speak it so often that everyone has picked up on the more common phrases.

Noticing we were ready, I picked up Christian, who was now fully dressed. Pulling Lilimar to my side, I gave her a soft kiss. “Eeeww!” My little man squealed, scrunching up his nose. This is the one that conveniently wakes up when daddy is helping mommy "relax". I can’t even be mad at the little trouble maker.

BECKY POV

I never truly appreciated everything my mother did for the holidays. Now that I am in charge of hosting it nearly every year, with help, I’m in awe of her. Don’t get me wrong, we helped her back home. We had no choice. That doesn’t take away from everything she did to organize and get everything done on time. She showed up a week early to make sure I was on schedule and to help the kitchen staff.

We have everything on the menu every year. EVERYTHING! From Roast, Ham and Turkey to Tamales, Pozole and Fried Chicken. All the pack members helped in one way or another. In order to feed over eleven hundred pack members, everyone had to pitch in. The good thing is, no one minded and everyone had something different to bring to the table. Hence the diverse menu. Yum!

Even my kiddos did their part. Right now, all four of them are in the kitchen with Nana Clara and Nana Rose making cookies. My little Winona acts as Supervisor, being the eldest at almost five. Alexander Matthew eats more than he produces, but that’s to be expected from a two and a half year old. It’s amazing how Winona has a lot of my features, except her nose. Her skin and hair are also a little lighter than mine. While Alex looks just like his father, not a pinch of me in his features.

Then there’s my two little tornadoes, Luke Jr and Leia. Don’t get me started on the names. Apparently, Alpha Liam is a huge Starwars fan. They are the only two that have light brown hair and light brown, almost golden eyes. Their skin is also fair, like Liam’s. When I found out I was having twins, I suggested we close the baby factory. Luke agreed but that doesn’t stop him from trying to trick me, Alfa tramposo (cheating Alpha).

Jerry keeps telling me and Lilimar to stop popping them out because Tia Vero keeps insisting he catch up. Robbie is barely two and a half and Angela is one in a half. They finally gave her a girl to fuss over and she’s getting greedy. Tsk tsk. She already has another four grandbabies from my other cousins. I think she wants to start her own country. From what I can see, they aren’t planning on giving her anymore.

Jason and Alice finally had their little boy, Frank Jr, last year and decided two kids was enough for them. It didn’t help that Alice had a hard time with that pregnancy, she was sick all the time and hardly kept anything down. So now they have Evangeline, who is five and looks like her mama, and Franky, who is one and is the cuter version of my brother. Yeah…. We are currently outnumbered by kids. Scary.

Yet when we all got together around the bonfire, I remember why I kept letting Luke convince me to have one after the other. Everyone is smiling and watching the kids sing Christmas songs. I’m sporting my yearly food baby bump like a champ. Then I notice Luke talking to Jordan. He looked too serious for my liking. I walked over to them and Lilimar followed. We can both sense this isn’t them arguing about who’s going to be Santa Claus this year.