Jesse is fast asleep when I creep into the room, the blankets pooled down around his waist, leaving his back bare for me to see. He is honestly the most handsome man I have ever seen, and I have always marveled over the fact that he is my mate. His blonde hair is longer than I have ever seen it, resting just above his shoulders. It is just as thick as my own, something that I love.

Kicking off my shoes, I peel off everything but my briefs before making my way over to my mate. He stays asleep as I crawl over him, only snuffling when I settle on top of him. The warmth of his skin causes me to press closer, wanting to get away from the cold air.

His mumbles make me smile, pressing kisses against the freckles on his back. Despite it being the middle of Winter, his complexion is still a few shades darker than my own.

"Love, time to wake up," I say, my hands trailing down his arms until I reach his hands, twining our fingers together. "It's Christmas."

"Too early," Jesse mumbles, his voice muffled by his pillow.

Laughing, I nibble along his shoulders, placing a slightly harsher bite where his shoulder and neck meet. He lets out a grunt at the bite of pain, eventually blinking open his eyes, squinting at me.

"Micah, seriously," he says, voice raspy. His eyes flick over to where light is starting to peek through the cracks in the curtains. "The sun is barely starting to rise."

"There are no babies in here." I press a kiss against his neck. "And it's Christmas morning." Another kiss against his skin. "And something wonderful happened this morning. Time to celebrate."

Finally, Jesse peeks up at me, his gray eyes still filled with sleep. "What happened?" He turns around then, and I sit up to make it a little easier, resulting in my ass being pressed against his front.

My smile widens. "Ellen left."

His brows scrunch together in confusion for a moment, and I let him piece it together. "She did?" I nod my head. "Did she try to take Noah?"

His hands run up my legs, settling on my hips. It is as if he is trying to search for injury, which is what he always does when there is a fight.

"No, she said that we were better parents for him and then walked out the door."

"Wow."

"Mhm." Leaning down, I press my lips against his, pulling away when he tries to deepen it. "Now you see why we should celebrate."

His lips captured mine again, and this time I don't pull away. Before I know it, the blankets are being pushed to the bottom of the bed, our last remaining clothing ending up on the ground.

Jesse flips me over, his body pressed against mine in every way. His body heat combats the coolness of the air, making me let out a soft sigh. The kisses become deeper, the both of us not wanting to separate, despite the need for oxygen.

"Lube," I pant, and Jesse quickly nods his head, pulling away just enough so that he can reach inside the nightstand. He pauses after a second of rummaging, moving over so that he can look inside. The familiar bottle gets dropped on the bed, but my mate still has a crinkle in his brow, telling me that he is worrying about something. "What's wrong?"

He hesitates before looking over at me, a sheepish smile on his face- something that is rare. "Uh, looks like we used all the condoms."

Something flares inside me at the prospect of Jesse being inside me without any type of barrier. It is something we have never done before, too afraid of getting pregnant to even entertain the thought. Now, it looks like we have a problem.

"I can go look in one of the storage rooms," Jesse says, going to move off the bed. But I am too worked up right now to have him leave. Grabbing his arm, I pull until he lays back down, allowing me to crawl on top of him.

"We'll be fine," I say, placing a finger against Jesse's lips when he starts to protest. "It's hard for males to get pregnant outside their heat. We should be fine." Jesse still doesn't seem convinced, and so I rock back against him, his cock starting to harden from the movement. "Besides, I'm still nursing. That makes the chances of me getting pregnant even slimmer." Jesse's hands fall down to my ass, encouraging the rocking as the doubt starts to leave his eyes. "And even if I did get pregnant, would that be so bad?"

Softness comes over my mate's face then, his hips stilling as he meets my eyes. "Micah, I want nothing more to raise a family with you. If you want another baby, I would love that. I just worry since you had Beckett only a few months ago."

"I'm fine," I say, leaning down to kiss my mate. He happily returns the kiss, not trying to take over, but letting me keep it rather chaste. "Let's just stop with the condoms outside of my heat, and what happens will happen."

"Sounds good to me," Jesse says, suddenly rolling us over.

The lube cap is popped open, and Jesse methodically works me open, not moving faster despite how much I protest. He just kisses me silent, intent on making sure that I am comfortably stretched. It seems like forever before he finally pulls his fingers out of me, lining up his cock before slowly pushing inside of me.

It is so much better without the condom. Before the apocalypse happened, many of my friends preferred to use condoms when having sex, saying that it gave them peace of mind so they could fully enjoy it. But now, with Jesse and I both in a position in life where we have figured out our complicated past and pieced together our strained relationship, not having the barrier between us makes me feel even better.

Once his hips are flushed with mine, he pauses letting me adjust. This time I am impatient, though. I just want all of him, nothing holding either of us back. And so I push on his chest, watching as he leans back with a confused look in his eyes.

Without letting his cock slip out of me, I roll us over, making it so that I am on top. A moan slips out of my lips because this new position has him even deeper inside me. Resting my hands on his chest, I start to rock my hips, my lips parting in pleasure. Jesse plants his legs on the bed, making it so that he can meet my every motion.

The base of his cock starts to swell, his knot catching on my rim every time he pulls out. Jesse's hand wraps around my cock, stroking me until I am gasping. It is only when I am fully seated on him, his knot keeping us locked together, that I come. Jesse isn't too far behind me, letting out his own gasp of pleasure.

When I open my eyes again, I see that I am slumped against Jesse's chest.

Huh.

I must have been out of it for longer than I thought. Jesse's hands rub along my back, causing a pleased sigh to slip from between my lips. This time is so much different than before, and a small smile spreads across my lips. That's how we stay for a good twenty minutes until Jesse's knot finally recedes.

I don't want to get up yet, so comfortable on my mate's chest, but I know that we have already been up here for a while. The rest of the pack will be waking up soon, and I want to get downstairs and started on breakfast before there are too many people in the kitchen.

Jesse grumbles when I pull away, only being appeased when I give him another kiss. "Come on," I say against his lips. "Time to get up."

"How?" he says, eyes falling shut. "I think I need to take a nap."

Laughing, I walk over to our dresser, pulling on some clean clothes while Jesse doesn't move.

"No naps before opening presents." His eyes crack open watching as I pull on a sweater that is a little bit too big for me. I like it though; It's soft and comfortable.

"Fine," Jesse says, rolling out of bed with a groan and walking over to put his own clothes on.

"Meet you downstairs," I say, giving him one last kiss before walking out of the room.

Taylor and Liam have been joined by Nik and Avery, who are entertaining Liam's little sisters so that they don't try to get into the presents sitting under the tree again. Matty is down on the ground, Grace and Olive holding each of his hands as they play a game that I don't recognize. Without Matty in his arms, Liam is able to flit around the kitchen, something already in the oven. It smells delicious, like cinnamon and bread.

"Liam, whatever you are making smells amazing," I say, taking a seat on one of the stools placed along the side of the kitchen island.

He gives me a wide smile, placing a glass in front of me and pouring me a cup of coffee. "Thanks," he says, handing me the small container of sugar. "It's cinnamon rolls. Decided that we deserved something sweet to eat on Christmas morning."

"I can't wait until they're done," I say, mouth starting to water at the thought of eating one. I haven't had a cinnamon roll in years, and I am barely stopping myself from pressing against the glass of the oven and watching as the brown sugar starts to bubble on top. "Alright, I'm getting out of here before I do something crazy."

Liam laughs, going back to an open cook book as I walk out of the room, coffee cup in hand. The Christmas tree is all lit up and the fire is crackling, making the living room a welcoming sight. Taylor is on the ground, trying to entertain both Rosalie and my boys. A look of relief comes over his face when he sees me come into the room.

"Thank god," he says, watching as I sit down next to him, placing my mug on the coffee table. "I think they were starting to miss you."

On cue, both Beckett and Noah start to fuss. "Oh, loves, did you miss Mama?"

They both calm as I pick them up, holding them against my chest. They have to be getting hungry, both of them have been without nursing for at least a few hours.

Taylor puts a blanket over us as I settle into the recliner Noah and I had slept on last night. Beckett spits out his pacifier, rubbing his face against my chest. Noah grabs his hand, just as he always does, and waits until his brother is latched before doing the same. Grabbing the blanket, I tuck it in tighter around us, not wanting them to get cold.

They are both getting so big, the weeks seeming to pass quicker than I can keep up. Now, Noah has rolls on his legs and plump little cheeks, both of which he was lacking when we met for the first time. And Beckett, now he is staying awake for longer periods of time, a few smiles whenever he finds something entertaining.

My boys are growing, healthy and strong, and nothing makes me happier.

Footsteps come from upstairs, and I know the others must be waking up. Noah becomes distracted by something Matty is laughing about, turning his head so that he can watch the other boy. The movement makes me wince slightly, but once he readjusts, it is fine.

By the time Jesse makes it downstairs and into the living room, Beckett is laying across my shoulder as I burp him with one hand, and Noah is down on the ground, sitting up and watching as the other kids play. He seems enraptured by it, only looking away when Jesse picks him up.

The little boy lets out a loud squeal of joy, cuddling close to his father with a huge smile on his face. It warms my heart, and once again I wish I had a damn camera.

Beckett lets out an impressive burp, making Jesse laugh in surprise. Rolling my eyes, I pull him away from my shoulder, cuddling him close to my chest. The little boy is happier and more peaceful than ever. It is as if he can sense that everything is better now and that we are happy.

Liam walks into the room, oven mitts on so that he does not burn his hands on the pan of cinnamon rolls he is carrying. "Alright, here is the first batch. Help yourselves. There is plenty for everyone."

Matty lets out a squeal of joy at the sight of his mama, quickly making his way over to Liam. My friend just smiles, leaning down to pick up the smiling toddler.

Jesse balances Noah with one arm while using his other hand to dish out the cinnamon rolls. Despite his protests, we manage to get Liam to sit down, making sure that he gets the first cinnamon roll. Matty eagerly eats the few bites Liam gives him, but eventually asks to nurse after a while.

Liam is much less bothered than before when it comes to nursing Matty, seeming content. Something has changed with him, it is easy to see that he is much happier than just last week. He deserves to be happy, and I know that he has been struggling a bit with his mates. But things look like they are getting better, everyone in that family happier.

"I have a present for you," Jesse says, his mouth pressed against my ear. He pulls away from me, an eager smile on his face as he picks up a medium sized box from under the tree. It is wrapped neatly with newspaper, a bright red bow sitting in the middle.

He watches me as I carefully tear the paper, revealing a plain wooden box. Looking up at my mate, I raise a questioning brow, but he just motions for me to continue. Opening the box reveals something I thought I would never see again. It's a Polaroid camera, and underneath it is a picture frame. Curious, I take the frame out of the box, turning it around so that I can see the picture inside.

The little picture sitting inside makes my breath catch. Biting my lip, I try to fight off the moisture in my eyes. Because the picture is one of my family. Jesse is holding both Noah and Beckett, who are asleep against his chest, his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.

"We took that for him," Taylor says, from where he is sitting on the couch, motioning in between him and Liam. "Jesse came to us, saying that he wanted to get you the perfect present, so we told him how much you had been complaining about the lack of cameras here."

"Alpha Seren allowed me to go on a supply run, where I was able to find the camera in an abandoned pawn shop." Jesse is watching me with those familiar gray eyes, a blush on his cheeks. His obvious nerves have me motioning him over, pulling him down once he is close enough so that I can press a kiss against his lips.

"Thank you," I whisper, pulling away. "This is the best present anyone has ever given me."

"Really? What about that spa pass I bought you for your sixteenth birthday? That cost me a fortune." Levi's words have me rolling my eyes, and Jesse socks my brother in the arm, the two of them starting up an argument about which present was better.

Looking around the room, it is easy to see how happy everyone is. The little ones are happily playing with some new toys they got from Santa, while Erik and Ethan sit next to Liam on the couch, Matty climbing in between them as they help him open his presents. Tate soon joins the party, Elliot quickly letting go of his hand once he sees that Olive and Grace are playing with new toys.

Alpha Seren even makes an appearance, a fond look on his face. Everyone is happy. For once in our life, we have nothing to worry about. The terrors outside the fences a forgotten memory as we celebrate our new lives as a growing pack.

The past few years have been tough, but I guess Liam and Taylor had been right all along.

We all are healing.

Who knew fate could actually be kind?

The End

*****

Wow, I can't believe this series has come to an end. I started writing Fate Decides during my senior year of high school, and now the series has come to an end while I am a sophomore in college. It is going to be hard to be finished with this series, but now the characters have their own lives to continue.

Thank you to everyone who has read my books. It means so much to me. All of the feedback, good and bad, has helped to grow as a writer.

I have all of the character profiles typed out, and if you guys would like, I can add another section to this book that is all about the characters. Let me know!

Once again, thank you, everyone, I appreciate everything.