Santa' Wayward Elf (25 page)

But while Derek might be a hero, he was a lousy patient.
Despite knowing he was supposed to rest when he’d gotten home from the
hospital, he still tried to get out of bed every five seconds. Sosie had to put
her foot down more than once, and when that hadn’t had the desired effect,
she’d taken all of his pants over to Ben and Mabel’s apartment. She’d figured
Derek would be less likely to try and go anywhere without his pants. She’d been
right.

Of course, sitting around for days on end without any pants
had made him randy as a white snow minx. But she’d refused to take part in any
form of sex until the doctor assured her they wouldn’t tear out his stitches.
The moment the man had given them the okay, Derek made love to her in every way
imaginable. He even handcuffed her to the bed a few times. Now,
that
was
way more fun than she’d ever imagined. After that, she’d decided it was safe to
return his pants.

Looking back on it now, she probably should have kept a
closer eye on him because the minute she’d given his clothes back, he’d
disappeared on her. She’d been frantic with worry and on the verge of calling
Aaron and Tony to ask for the department’s help to find him when Derek walked
in the door. When she’d asked him where the fig he’d run off to, he’d pulled
out a little, blue box with a gorgeous diamond ring inside it, gotten down on
one knee and stunned her by asking her to marry him.

Of course she’d said yes. Then she’d lectured him about
running off without telling her where he was going.

Derek wanted to get married right away, but Sosie’d wanted
to wait until he was completely recovered. He’d grudgingly agreed to give her
two weeks. After learning exactly what went into a traditional BP wedding, however,
she’d told him she would need more than two weeks to plan everything.

Those plans had come to a stumbling halt when Derek told her
they had to apply for a marriage license, something that was impossible without
some official form of identification. Luckily, Derek’s job put him in contact
with a lot of unsavory characters, including people who were good at creating
authentic-looking fake identifications. Finding the right person to do it
hadn’t been as difficult as she’d thought. The man had even given them a good
discount in return for Derek’s help with some parking tickets.

The hardest part about the whole thing had been choosing a
last name. She’d wanted to use Derek’s last name, but he’d explained she was
going to need a maiden name to put on the marriage license. After doing some
research on BP surnames, she’d finally decided on Alfus because it was Latin
for elf. The forger had made her a complete set of identification, including an
American passport and a social security card. Getting the marriage license
after that had been a snap. Then all they had to do was figure out where to
have the ceremony and the reception.

Sosie wanted to have both in the apartment’s common area
where they’d held the Christmas party the year before and Derek had kissed her
for the first time, but his mother insisted they had to get married in a
church. After finding out how small the common area was in relationship to how
many people were coming to the wedding, Sosie had finally agreed. Since they
couldn’t hold the reception in the apartment building, either, Sosie’d
suggested the nightclub where she and Derek met. Derek hadn’t been too keen on
the location, saying the man who owned the place probably wouldn’t go for it,
especially since he didn’t moonlight there or at any other club anymore since
meeting her, but to please Sosie, he’d asked the man anyway. To her delight,
the club’s owner had graciously agreed to close the club for their reception.

Although planning the wedding took up most of her waking
hours, she still found time in her hectic schedule to work with Ben on the
day-to-day repairs around the apartment building. She told Derek she wanted to
use the money she made to take him some place nice for their honeymoon, like
Alaska, but he insisted on paying for the whole thing himself. That seemed
silly to her, especially since she had the money, but she got the feeling
paying for the honeymoon was important to him, so she’d agreed. Going to Alaska
had been quickly vetoed when the last of her elfness disappeared, since the
cold weather bothered her a lot more than it used to. Even the air conditioner—which
she’d finally gotten around to fixing—gave her the shivers. With Alaska out of the
running, she and Derek decided on Hawaii instead.

Sosie studied her reflection in the mirror again, wondering
if she had the veil on right. She reached up to adjust it when Tracee and Linda
rushed into the room in a swirl of red and green satin.

“Derek is waiting for you at the altar,” Linda announced
excitedly. “He looks so handsome in a tux, I could melt.”

Sosie was pretty sure it was impossible for the other woman
to actually melt, regardless of how handsome Derek looked. On the other hand,
the thought of her hunky fiancé all dressed up in one of those tuxedos she’d
seen in the bridal magazine was enough to make her pulse quicken so she
supposed it might be possible after all.

“You look beautiful, Sosie,” Tracee said.

“Are you sure?” She turned back to the mirror, plucking at
the filmy material covering her long hair. “I don’t know about this veil. Are
you sure I have to wear it?”

“Yes, you most certainly have to wear it. It’s tradition.”
The redhead reached out to fuss with it. “Here, let me straighten it for you.”

Sosie obediently stood while Tracee lifted the ends to cover
part of her face with the see-through material. On the other side of her,
Linda’s eyes filled with tears as she watched.

“I still can’t believe your pointed ears are gone.” She
sniffed.

Sosie’s mouth curved. Her ears had been round for a while
now, and yet Linda still cried every time she saw them. Sosie turned to give
the dark-haired woman a hug.

“Pointed ears or not, I’ll always be an elf in my heart,”
she assured her friend.

Sosie would have hugged Tracee, too, but Ben came in before
she could.

He smiled. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

Her brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Am I?”

“You are indeed.” He laughed as if what she’d said was
funny. “Everyone’s waiting. Are you ready for me to walk you up the aisle?”

At Sosie’s nod, he offered her his arm. “I hope you planned
for a few extra people with the caterer, Sosie, because some more people showed
up from your side of the family,” he said as they followed Tracee and Linda
down the hallway.

“They did?”

Other than the friends she’d made in the neighborhood and
those in the apartment building, she didn’t know anyone else in the city well
enough to invite them to the wedding. Maybe that was Ben’s way of telling her
some of the people who lived in the apartment building had decided to surprise
her by sitting on her side of the church so it wouldn’t look empty.

By the time they stepped into the vestibule a few minutes
later, Sosie forgot all about who was sitting on her side of the church. She
only had eyes for Derek. He was standing at the altar with Aaron and Tony
beside him, and looking more gorgeous in his tux than she’d imagined. Linda had
been right—he was enough to make a girl melt.

As Ben led her down the aisle, she caught a glimpse of
exactly how many people were sitting on her side of the church, or more
precisely, how many elf-sized people were sitting there. She blinked as she
recognized her fellow elves from the North Pole. They were all dressed in BP
clothes as if trying to disguise who they were. It must have worked because no
one was looking at them oddly. She couldn’t believe they’d come all the way for
her wedding. She hadn’t realized they knew about it. Then she spotted Santa and
Mrs. Claus, and she realized he must have told them. Her eyes misted with tears
as he gave her a wink.

When they reached the altar, Ben placed her hand in Derek’s,
then took his seat beside Mabel. Sosie hadn’t understood the whole concept of a
wedding when Tracee and Linda had described it to her because elves didn’t take
part in an official ceremony when they got married. Over the past several
months, she’d come to understand the deep significance of the ritual and as
Derek smiled down at her, she couldn’t help wondering if her mother had gone
through this ceremony with the man she loved so much. She hoped so.

Derek leaned in as they turned to face the priest. “Is that
who I think it is?” he whispered, jerking his head toward Santa.

Sosie nodded. “It is. So, don’t mess up your vows like you
did at the rehearsal or you’ll be getting coal in your stockings for years to
come.”

Derek chuckled.

His vows, like everything else, were absolutely perfect, and
an hour later, she was Mrs. Derek Clayton.

After the ceremony and the requisite pictures, a limousine
whisked them off to the club for the reception. Thanks to Derek, they were both
a bit disheveled by the time they got there, but Sosie didn’t mind. In fact,
she was tempted to ask the limousine driver to take them around the block again
so they could make out some more, but the man was already opening the door for
them.

During the reception, Sosie got a chance to catch up with
her friends from the North Pole. She hadn’t realized how much she missed her
fellow elves, but talking with them brought back all the things she’d loved
best about Snow City and Santa’s workshop. Not that she would ever trade her
life with Derek to go back there, of course. It was just nice to see them.

The other elves filled her in on everything that had
happened since she’d left. Santa and Mrs. Claus had implemented quite a few new
rules, which resulted in a lot of changes up at the workshop. The so-called
efficiency experts—otherwise known as slave drivers when she’d been living
there—had been reassigned to new jobs and things were slowly going back to the
way they’d been so many decades ago. Along with a set schedule of hours and
time off, the elves now had the opportunity to take vacations and visit the BP
world as well, as long as they kept their identities secret. According to her fellow
elves, it was all a big hit.

While the male elves seemed content talking shop all night,
their female counterparts were more interested in pulling her aside to find out
about what it was like living with the BPs.

“Are they dangerous?”

“Are they violent?”

“Are the men good in bed?”

“Are their candy canes really that big?”

“Can we take a few of them back to the North Pole with us?”

Sosie laughed and tried to answer all their questions as
best she could, though she was pretty sure Santa would probably frown on the elf
girls taking some of the men back to the North Pole.

Still laughing at the idea, she glanced over at her husband
to see him talking with Santa. The serious look on her husband’s face sent a
surge of panic through her. What if Santa changed his mind and was telling
Derek she had to go back to the North Pole with the other elves? But when Derek
reached out to shake Santa’s outstretched hand, she knew they hadn’t been
talking about that at all. She was still curious about their conversation and
was about to go join them when Derek walked over to her.

“Ladies.” He flashed the elves with her a grin. “You don’t
mind if I borrow my wife for a dance, do you?”

They shook their heads, letting out a collective sigh when
Derek took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. He took her in his arms
and smiled down at her.

“So, Mrs. Clayton, are you having a good time?”

Sosie felt her heart do a cartwheel at her new name. “A very
good time.” She looped her arms around his neck, swaying against him in time
with the music. “I noticed you talking to Santa. What were you and the big guy
chatting about?”

“He wanted to make sure I’d take good care of you.” Derek’s
smile disappeared to be replaced by that same serious expression he’d had when
she saw him talking to Santa. “He also wanted me to know how much you gave up
to be with me. He told me how old you really are and how much longer you would
have lived if you’d stayed up in the North Pole. It wasn’t only your pointed
ears you gave up, was it, Sosie?”

She didn’t answer. When she’d told Derek about her life in
the North Pole she purposely left out the part about elves living hundreds of
years because she’d been afraid he’d blame himself if he knew what she was
sacrificing.

She went up on tiptoe to kiss him gently on the mouth. Even
in high heels, she was still a foot shorter, but she barely noticed the height
difference between them anymore. “No, that’s not all I gave up to be with you,
but it was worth it. I’d give up anything to be with you, Derek.”

“And I’ll be eternally grateful for that, every day of my
life, sweetheart.”

She thought she saw tears shimmer in his eyes, but he pulled
her close to rest his chin on the top of her head before she could be sure.

“I’ll never forget how fortunate I am that you came into my
life.”

Sosie’s eyes misted with tears of her own and she clung to
him as she blinked them back. She would have been content to stay in his arms
right there on the dance floor all night, but then a thought occurred to her.
She lifted her head to look at him.

“You don’t mind being married to an older woman, do you?”

His mouth twitched. “I think I can handle it.”

She laughed and kissed him again. “Speaking of handling
things, what do say we find a back room and disappear for a few minutes so you
can handle the incredible urge I’m feeling to have you inside me?”

He groaned as she pressed against his rapidly hardening
erection while they danced. “I think we might be able to find someplace to go.
Though it might take more than a few minutes to get you out of that dress.”

“Who says I have to take it off?” She gave him a playful
smile. “There’s no reason I can’t leave it on while we make love.”