Jingle Bears: A Pacific Northwest Bear Novella: (Shifter Romance) Read online

  Jingle Bears

  A Pacific Northwest Bear Novella

  Moxie North

  Wicked Whims Publishing

  Contents

  Jingle Bears

  Contact the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Awesome Reader’s Holiday Recipes

  Connect with Moxie

  Pacific Northwest Bears

  Pacific Northwest Cougars

  Copyright

  Jingle Bears

  Pacific Northwest Bears

  “Mama!” Micah yelled, banging his spoon on the counter.

  “Baby, spoons go on plates,” Sophie crooned. She scooped up a bite of blueberry, and her little man ate it up.

  “You going to spoon feed me too,” Cage rumbled in her ear.

  “Maybe later. I have a special treat for you,” she purred back.

  “Seriously, food, kitchen, people eating,” Wyatt complained from the table.

  “Don’t mind him, the girls kept him up last night,” Jinger said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Naughty babies, only getting coal today,” he grumbled.

  Contact the Author

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  Copyright ©2015 Moxie North

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Design by Jacqueline Sweet

  @moxienorthbooks

  moxienorth

  Chapter 1

  The short lull of noise was so unexpected that Edward Rochon dropped the newspaper he was reading and glanced over at his wife Connie with his eyebrow raised. It took her a moment to realize why he was looking perplexed. Then her eyes got wider as she realized there was no noise. No talking, no yelling, nothing crashing to the floor, no tiny cubs growling and roaring, no babies crying. The house was silent. It hadn’t been silent for years.

  “I’m afraid to talk,” Connie whispered.

  “Are we actually alone?” Edward asked her.

  Connie did a mental checklist figuring out where all of her boys, their spouses, and their children were at the moment. The clock said ten in the morning, but that didn’t mean the house wasn’t usually hopping by now.

  “I think we’re alone. What should we do?” she asked in an excited whisper.

  “Run into our bedroom, lock the door and screw?” he suggested.

  “Honestly, Edward Rochon, are you ever going to change?” Though there wasn’t even a hint of actual reprimand in her voice. She actually thought it was a great idea, but didn’t want to come across as easy.

  “Nope, my wife is smoking hot, and we are never alone. Come on, you know you want to,” he teased.

  Well, he was right about that. “Come on then, who knows how long this will last,” she said, pulling her apron off and tossing it to the counter. She grabbed Edward’s hand as they ran down the hallway past the three other doors that used to belong to their sons but now had guest beds and cribs in them.

  The master bedroom door was closed and locked in a flash. Edward had his hands under his wife’s top then as he whispered in her ear, “Mrs. Rochon, have I told you how beautiful you are today?”

  “Hmm, only twice. I was starting to think you didn’t like me anymore,” she said with a pout. Sticking her lower lip out and knowing it would goad her husband into kissing her. She was right.

  Sixty plus years together and they still couldn’t get enough of each other. It helped that even though they were in their seventies they didn’t look much over fifty-five. They liked to joke they still had the sex drive of thirty-somethings. Edward just got his hand cupped around his wife’s breast when they heard the front door slam and a voice yell out, “Anybody home?”

  Sighing, Edward dropped his head to hers and moaned a sad, pitiful noise. Connie started laughing, “So close, we were sooo close.”

  “I’m gonna go beat his ass, then come back and kiss yours,” he growled at her.

  “No, you won’t, because you know if Cage is here that means our grandbaby is out there. And not even you can keep it stiff with a toddler banging on the door.”

  Edward knew this was true. Pushing away, he straightened Connie’s shirt, but still placed a scorching hot kiss on her mouth before opening the bedroom door.

  They walked down the hallway holding hands, to see their son Cage and daughter-in-law Sophie perusing the living room. It was the morning of Christmas Eve, and the Rochons were expecting a full house.

  “Really you guys? In the middle of the day?” Cage snorted as he caught sight of his parents.

  “Hah, like you don’t know how it is with that sweet piece clinging to your arm,” Edward responded giving Sophie a wink.

  “Dad!” Sophie cried out. Her cheeks turned pink. Edward loved making his daughter-in-law blush. Heck, he liked making all of them blush. It was an easy game, and it usually got his wife to smack him around for it. Another fun game.

  “Where is my grandson?” he boomed out loudly. Knowing Cage’s son Micah was hiding from him somewhere.

  There was a small giggle, then some shuffling noises coming from behind the couch.

  “I wonder where he could be? Hmm, I thought Grandma had some cookies for him, but if he’s not here, I guess I’ll have to eat them myself!”

  “Noooo…..gampa!” The cry came as Micah spun around the edge of the couch wearing nothing but a diaper and t-shirt. As he made it to Edward, his tiny body shimmered in a rainbow of colors and Edward scooped up the tiny bear cub in his arms. He was still wearing the diaper and shirt that made him all the more adorable.

  When shifters got older, clothes got in the way. When they were young everything was stretchy, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

  “First time today,” Sophie said, looking at little sad about it.

  She looked up at Cage, and he gave her a small smile and hug. Their little boy was growing up. Pretty soon he’d stop shifting, letting his bear go dormant until puberty. No more torn up hardwood floors from tiny nails. No more furry wrestles on the floor. And no more Daddy and son runs in the woods, at least in bear form.

  They would still play outside and go fishing. They would just do it with poles. Climbing trees would be a little more cautious even though shifters healed quickly. Bad falls still hurt.

  “My you’ve gotten big! Did you grow since yesterday?” Edward said, scratching at his grandson’s bear belly. The little cub growled and squirmed in his hold.

  “Here give me my little Micah. I’ve got treats for him,” Connie clucked. She scooped up Micah and took him to the kitchen. In no time, she had his tiny bear butt on the counter and was spoon feeding him honey.

  “Mom, not too much. You know it makes him all crazy,” Cage warned. He watched his mother glare at him, stick out her tongue and continue feeding his son sugar.

  “So, shouldn’t you be working? Making a living to keep your wife in tight jeans and your son in honey?” Edward asked his son.

  “Wyatt is on today. Tanner and Cash came up too; they are both subbing in on foreman duties for the cut. We should get finished before any major snow comes in. Although, it’s looking like it might be another dry year,” Cage remarked.

  Tanner and Cash were Cage’s cousins. Th
ey were his father’s third and fifth brothers’ sons. Since Edward was the first to mate, all of Cage’s cousins were younger than him although their fathers were much older than his dad. Crazy shifter genetics made things confusing.

  “Good, those guys need to remember where all those logs come from. Get too cushy sitting down at the mill letting all the machines do the work,” Edward groused.

  Cage snorted, “Yeah easy job, don’t mind the fact that they use machines a lot scarier than we have. And they actually have to turn the wood into something useful.”

  Edward sniffed and tried to look bored. He knew how hard his brothers worked. When Edward decided to start his own logging company, his brothers were all on board. As the years went by, they expanded from logging to processing and manufacturing. They even had their own trucking company to move everything. They were truly a complete operation, and it made Edward damn proud.

  “So what are you doing here? Interrupting me gettin’ lucky.”

  “Dad!” Sophie said with a giggle. She was taking off her puffball knit hat that was bobbing on her head. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, she’d taken to the garment choices most people wore. Layers namely with clothing that you weren’t sure if someone was going on a two-week hike or just the grocery store. Now Sophie was usually in a stretchy pants and long sleeve shirts with puffy vests over the top. Knee high boots that could go from the muddy job site to the grocery store without people giving you a second look.

  “We have the tree. Remember, Christmas, too many people in a small space? Eggnog, wrapping paper flying, mom getting’ tipsy,” Cage finished.

  “I do not get tipsy. I get festive,” his mother called out from the kitchen.

  “Well, let’s go get this monstrosity. I know you couldn’t help yourself, so I’m not even going to bitch too much,” Edward said to Sophie.

  “You love big trees. Who doesn’t?” She gave him a saucy wink and went to join Connie in the kitchen.

  Chapter 2

  “Pick up your end high or it won’t fit through the damn door!” Edward called out. He was in the middle of the tree that had to be twelve feet tall. Luckily, the front room of their cabin had fourteen-foot vaulted ceilings.

  “I am picking up my end. You need to get the lead out,” Cage growled at his dad.

  Sophie came rushing out of the kitchen and squeezed between the tree and the wall to keep the front door open. The men managed to get the tree down the short entryway and into the great room. While they were outside wrestling the tree, Connie and Sophie had moved some furniture out of the way to accommodate the tree.

  Since Cage mated Sophie, there had been a few changes to their holiday traditions. They used to put the tree on the side of the fireplace closest to the kitchen. For reasons unknown, it had always been there. During Sophie’s first Christmas, she decreed it HAD to be by the window so you could see the twinkling lights as you drove up. And the space between the window and fireplace meant you only had to decorate the front so it would look fuller.

  Apparently fuller was important, Cage had found out. They had two trees in their house. One in the front room, not as big as his parents’ tree, of course. And a smaller one in Micah’s room. Sophie said that every little kid should fall asleep during the holidays staring at their Christmas tree.

  Connie and Sophie had already prepped the tree stand. Now the guys just had to heave the massive tree upright. With two big bears it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Swearing and blaming followed.

  By the time they managed to get the tree locked into the stand Micah, who had shifted back to a boy, was running around yelling, “Ship, ship, ship.” Thank goodness for his cute two-year-old lisp or he’d be teaching his younger cousins how to say shit before preschool.

  “Damn, next year we are getting a shrub. A Christmas shrub and I don’t wanna hear anything more about it,” Edward declared.

  Sophie skipped up behind him and placed a kiss on his cheek, “Thanks, Daddy-O.”

  She’d started calling him that when he told her the story of how he and Connie met. That it was in the fifties, and she looked hot in a poodle skirt.

  Cage watched as his father blushed under his mate’s attention. She had everyone wrapped around her cute little finger.

  “All right, the tree is up. What now?” Cage knew never to assume he was done with a task until his wife told him he was done. Safer that way.

  “Sweetie, we need to hit the store for supplies. The girls are coming over to make Christmas cookies after lunch,” Sophie called out. She was trying to wrestle a twisting toddler while she wiped his mouth.

  “Mom, can you watch Micah so we can both go?” Cage asked. His parents knew taking a toddler out to the store and having him shift in the vegetable department was problematic.

  “Of course, we’ll pull out the decorations while you are gone,” Connie called out. She had been down the hallway rustling through a closet. She came into the kitchen holding a dozen Santa hats.

  “Not the hats, mom,” Cage groaned. His mother’s tradition was everyone that was doing Christmas activities must be wearing the appropriate festive headgear. Clearly she was off her game since they made it in the house with the tree bareheaded.

  “Don’t you fuss. It’s Christmas Eve, and we are wearing hats!” His mother dumped the pile on the large kitchen island. Micah was trying to twist out of Sophie’s grasp to get his own hat.

  Connie could hear her son grumbling, but she knew that once his brothers showed up they’d be fighting over the newest hat. They always did. Some of the hats were looking a little thin. There was two that lit up and one that played music.

  Sophie eyed a hat that was red like the others but had little pointy elf ears. She snatched that one and shoved it in a drawer at the counter. She made a sshh gesture to Connie and got a wink in return.

  Cute headwear for baking cookies. Check.

  “All right, let’s get my grandbaby into a tub. He’s all sticky, isn’t he?” Connie cooed to Micah.

  “Tub!” he screamed at her. He loved his baths.

  “Micah, be good and mind your Nana,” Cage said, giving his son a low deep rumbling growl.

  Micah broke into peals of laughter. He loved when his daddy growled.

  “Come on then, let’s get shaking. We’ve got shopping to do!” Sophie called out, grabbing Cage’s hand and dragging him behind her.

  “Have a nice time!” Edward called out, picking up his newspaper and taking a seat.

  “Edward Rochon, don’t you dare sit your butt down when there are Christmas decorations to be pulled from storage,” Connie called from the bathroom down the hall.

  How the hell she did that was beyond Edward. She’d always been able to see through walls. It was creepy.

  “Can’t one of the boys do it?” he groused.

  “Yes, they can, but it will take longer if we wait for them. Please, sweetie, I’ll make it up to you,” she said in a sing-song voice. That tone had all the hidden meaning she intended it to have.

  Sighing, he put down his paper and called out, “Anything for you, doll-face.”

  He heard her giggle and whisper to Micah that Grandpa was funny. Edward smiled, his family was all he ever imagined it would be. He’d felt bad when Connie hadn’t gotten the girls she wanted. Now she had three daughter-in-laws and two grandsons and two granddaughters. He was pretty sure his sons weren’t done in the baby making department so their family was just going to continue to grow.

  Chapter 3

  Edward made his way to the paneled door under the stairs. He pulled it open and reached for the string to turn on the bare bulb just inside the door. It was a modified cellar that he had built into the house. At the time, it was for food storage. It took a while for them to originally get electricity to the cabin. So their vegetables and meats were stored under ground to keep them fresher longer.

  It was good to have those skills, but nicer to own a refrigerator. He was down the five steps and sorting through the boxes whe
n he heard the door open again. He’d thought about locking it once but then realized his boys would just knock it down. Not worth the hassle.

  “Mom? Dad?” the voice called out.

  “Down in the trenches, Wyatt,” Edward called out.

  Wyatt was carrying two car seats with his sleeping daughters in them. Maizy and Mallory were just over a year old, but both were petite little things. But as any parent knew, you let sleeping babies lie. Walking into the first bedroom, he switched both girls out of their seats and into a crib that replaced Cage’s old desk. Now it was baby central. Tucking both girls in, he went to find his dad.

  Edward heard Wyatt clumping around upstairs and then saw his son’s dark frame fill the doorway, and the clunk of his boots sounded down the steps. “I see I got here just in time,” Wyatt said sarcastically.

  “Hey, you came over on Christmas Eve. This is an all hands on deck situation,” Edward grunted lifting a box. “Grab a box and start hauling.”

  The two men managed to drag the two dozen boxes up from storage. The boys’ houses had been decked out for weeks. Pretty much right after Thanksgiving the girls started forcing their mates up on ladders to hang lights.

  Connie Rochon thought decorating the tree was part of Christmas. So they did all their decorating on Christmas Eve, then the decorations stayed up until after New Year’s, and she officially declared the holiday season to be over.

  “Where is your mate?” Edward asked, collapsing into his favorite recliner.

  “She’ll be along. Had to stop by and water her parents’ plants. They are on a cruise. Why anyone would take a cruise in December is beyond me. Who wants their Christmas lights on a palm tree?” Wyatt wondered aloud.

  “People that can’t appreciate the smell of an evergreen tree freshly cut and their feet propped in front of a fire,” Edward groused. And that’s what he did, hitting the lever on his recliner and leaning his head back.