Twas The Night Before - Chapter 1

André POV

Everyone knows that I live for celebrations. I go all out for holidays, especially Christmas. This year and probably every Christmas till my babies are grown enough to say, ‘Papa, stop,’ I am going to go all out. This will be my babies’ 1st Christmas, and I want it to be spectacular. I know they are only five months old and won’t remember it, but there will be pictures and videos that we can show them as they grow up. All Madonie wanted to celebrate and make this Christmas special for their new princes and princesses.  

We’ve been often asked which heirs were mine, but we never tell. Sure, we gave Caspian and Aragon my surname, while our girls Amaryllis and Éowyn have Darren’s. But that’s not common knowledge. And I don’t know if I’ll keep it that way. I’ve considered updating their official birth certificates to Delaney-D’Amore for all four.  

As far as the pack knows, their surnames are all D’Amore. It might be wrong, but I want to keep it that way. I won’t have them treating my babies any differently based on DNA. It still makes me angry that they would treat Lando differently because we adopted him. I love my babies, but I’ll never forget that the pack pushed us to have biological heirs because Goddess forbid that they accept Lando as their next Alpha. 

‘Let it GO already.’ Duilio rolled his eyes. ‘Who cares? The pack can have whatever antiquated views on ascension they want. The important part is we have our pups.’ 

I took a breath and slowly let it out. Duilio was right, as annoying as that could be. In the grand scheme, the only thing that matters is that Darren and I have our beautiful babies who will grow up with Goddess willingly, my good looks and fashion sense paired with Darren’s brains. I smiled at Caspian as he kicked his little legs, fighting me about putting on his suit. 

“Work with Papa, sweet little prince,” I spoke sweetly as I managed to wiggle his adorable butt into the pants. “You want to look as fabulous as your siblings.” I smiled as I kissed his nose. 

In true Caspian form, he told me his displeasure at being dressed up with a kick to the face. Darren chuckled as he put the adorable headband on Amaryllis. Of course, he’d find it funny. Aragon hadn’t given Lando any trouble about putting on his suit. Amaryllis hadn’t given me any issues getting into her dress either. It’s always Caspian and Éowyn who get fussy about dressing up. They are their daddy’s children.  

“At least daddy thinks it’s funny when you abuse me for making you look fabulous.” I sighed as I scooped Caspian up and ensured his suit hadn’t bunched up anywhere. 

He at least held still long enough for me to get his adorable little cap on his head before putting him into the double stroller next to his brother. They looked adorable in the matching suits Deb and Kevin sent. I don’t know how long the soft white quilted cotton and white silk trim three-piece suits with red velvet accents and little red monogram crests would stay clean, but our boys made those suits look good. I couldn’t help myself. I snapped a quick pic of them on my phone and texted it to the family chat.

André: How freaking adorable are my little princes?

Mama Deb: Oh, my grandsons look so handsome! 

Papa Kev: That white will be stained before they meet us at the festival.

Alison: I think it’s adorable that all the grandkids got the same outfit. Deb, you’re a very thoughtful grandma.

Sadria: She is, but Kevin is right. None of these kids are going to keep these outfits white.

André: We shall see. Either way, we have pictures to look back on.

Papa: They look cute. If they are anything like you, André, that white won’t last five minutes.

André: I am offended! 

Kat: Liar! I can’t believe you are putting all the kids in white—bad move.

Tie: Oh, let him dream of a world where babies stay clean.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to my princesses. Darren had just fastened Amaryllis into her seat next to Éowyn. They looked precious in their white embroidered cotton eyelet lace with a sweet, scalloped edge and lace trim, soft lace cap sleeves, and red velvet accent ribbon dresses. Not to mention the adorable headbands with the red velvet bow. Like their brothers, their dresses had the added touch of the red embroidered monogram initials. 

I snapped a photo of my gorgeous girl and added it to the chat.

André: Kat, you’re just jealous Mama Deb only got them for her eight grandkids. Or that you can’t look as beautiful as my girls in these dresses.

Kat: Oh sure, it’s jealousy. That’s it. Before I got a picture, my kids would have dirt, mud, juice, snot, or spit up on those outfits.

Tie: She’s not wrong. They have a talent for creating a mess.

Mama Deb: And that’s why I wouldn’t risk sending your pups these outfits. But Delaney babies, even hellions like my boys Colby and Azriel, could stay clean long enough to make it worth washing everything later.

Colby: Thanks?

Azriel: I don’t know if I’m supposed to be offended that mom only called us out

Darren: Be offended, it’s still true. I’m the tidy one. Now stop texting and meet us at Madonie Square for the festival.

I pocketed my phone, knowing that if Darren joined the text, I probably ignored him, not subtly telling me to get going. And I was right. Darren and Lando had taken the babies. I hurried after them, getting to them before they reached the door.  

“Wait for me! I’m not missing my babies’ first Christmas festival.” I called after them. 

“That’s what you get for focusing on texting.” Darren rolled his eyes and glanced at me before pushing the girls out the door. 

“We wouldn’t have left without you, Papa,” Lando assured me as he stepped aside for me to push the boys. 

“Oh, I know. Your dad doesn’t have it in him to leave me. Nor would he want to juggle all four babies without me.” I smiled and tossed his hair. “Though with your help, he might have managed it.” 

Lando rolled his eyes and joined me as I pushed the stroller to catch up with Darren and the girls. It didn’t take us long to arrive at the Christmas festival our pack was throwing. It was easy enough to spot the Delaney family in the crowd. Our nephew Andrew and nieces Ashley and Blaire were dressed in the same outfits as our kids. And like us, Darren’s brothers wore red suits with white details and their initials to be opposite the boys, and the girls wore red dresses with white accents.  

Deb and I worked to ensure everyone matched for the babies’ first Christmas. Deb spotted us first, waving before making her way to us. She didn’t even say hi to Darren or me, for that matter. Instead, she took each baby from the strollers to love on them before passing them to Kevin. Our babies were passed around to all their American Zias and Zios before returning to their strollers to be kissed and fawned over by their older cousins.

Caspian POV

Why does Papa do this to us? It’s like he lives to dress us up. I like the days when Daddy picks our clothes. He doesn’t pick fancy clothes. Maybe when I’m bigger, I’ll understand Papa’s reasoning or, at the very least, properly voice my discontent. Not that I hold out hope my words will matter when I can say them. 

Our big brother Lando is dressed equally as goofy as we are. He didn’t look thrilled to wear this outfit and even said something. Daddy told him we had to wear the outfits because Grandma got them for us, and she came to see us. Now that I can forgive. We don’t see Grandma as much as we see Nonno and Nonna. That information didn’t make me feel bad for kicking Papa earlier when he put me in this outfit.  

Aragon didn’t seem bothered by having to dress up like this. He never fusses about what we get made to wear. He’s already a people pleaser. That or genuinely likes getting dressed up. Both are possible. Our sister Amaryllis loves dressing up even more than Papa loves dressing us up. At least I have Éowyn on my side. We’re practical people like Daddy. 

When we arrived at this Christmas Festival, our Papa and Daddy were so busy planning these past weeks, but I’ll admit it was interesting. Lots of lights, sounds, and smells. And then the reason we got all dressed up rushed over to us and picked me up first. For Grandma, I’ll deal with looking stupid. She was so happy to see us in outfits and gushed about how cute we were. How can I be mad about something that made her so happy? 

It also made me feel better when I saw our American cousins were dressed the same way. We weren’t being singled out for this humiliation. Ashley and Blaire seemed happy in their dresses, but Andrew knew my pain. He was tugging at his little tie, too. It’s nice to know I’m not the only grandson uncomfortable in this outfit. 

Once everyone had finished fawning over us, we were led to a massive tree covered in lights and babbles. It reminded me of that big tree in that book Daddy read to us. Something about a Grinch. I don’t remember the whole name, but there was a big tree like this at the end. It’s even bigger than the tree we have at the house. I quickly realized what was going on. 

I’m five months old, but this isn’t my first time dealing with a photo op. Apparently, as an heir, there are lots of pictures that get taken. So that’s why we all had to dress up like this and match. I hope that there won’t be more of these. We must be running out of firsts that must be captured in photos. Right? How many more firsts can there be?  

Daddy picked Éowyn and me up while Papa took Aragon and Amaryllis. Someone was shouting instructions, rearranging everyone. Part of this rearrangement was deciding who would hold my siblings and me. I didn’t understand why this was even an issue. Our Daddy and Papa were more than strong enough to hold two of us each. I was taken from Daddy and handed to Lando. I was okay with that since I love my big brother.  

Yes, the photographer didn’t like it, so I got passed to Grandpa. I love my grandpa, so I was okay with the switch. He’s a funny guy. He always makes the funniest faces at me to make me smile. But the guy didn’t like that either and moved me to grandma. Now this I liked. I love grandma. She smells so nice, and being held by her is so cozy.  

Grandma's snuggles are almost as good as Zia Delilah’s. Outside of Daddy and Papa, we all feel most comfortable being held by Zia Delilah. From what I’ve seen in my short life, everyone loves Zia Delilah. So, it’s not that strange that we like her best too.  

Just as I got comfy in Grandma’s arms, I was taken from her to be held by someone else. This was getting ridiculous. How many more people did this guy think he should pair me with? Wait a second. I don’t recognize this person. This isn’t one of my Zios or my Zias. And we are moving away from my family. What was going on? 

I screamed as loud as I could, kicking and punching with all my might at this stranger who was trying to take me from my family. He put a hand over my mouth like that would stop me. I tried biting him, but I don’t have teeth yet. I continued to wail behind his hand but found it hard to breathe because this hand was large enough to cover my mouth and nose. 

I heard people shouting and my siblings crying as things got fuzzy. The next thing I knew, I was in the familiar embrace of my Daddy’s arms. He turned us away just as there was a snarl and bright lights. I was still crying, freaked out from not understanding what had happened.  

“Shh… it’s okay, Cas. Daddy has you. Daddy and Papa will always protect you.” Daddy assured me with his soft voice that wobbled a little as he kissed my cheeks.  

I still didn’t understand what happened or was still happening. All I knew was I was safe. Nothing bad could happen if I were with Daddy.