The Gender End by Bella Forrest (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📕

this time with Margot beside her. Margot kissed Viggo on the cheek and embraced me, and then pulled back with a secret smile on her face.

“What’s going on?” I asked, suddenly curious. Now that I was paying a little more attention, both she and Amber looked like the cats who had gotten into the cream. They exchanged glances, their smiles growing wider, and then Amber spoke.

“We have a surprise for you,” she announced. “Well, for you and for everyone else. It’s waiting for you in Command.”

“A surprise?” I looked up at Viggo, who gave me a bewildered look and a shrug. “What kind of surprise?”

Amber rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. “Don’t get boring on me, Bates, just come and see.”

Then she was dragging me forward, not even giving me a chance to protest. I laughed, caught up with the joy of just… everything, and Amber slowed down long enough for me to get my feet under me, then started propelling me forward again.

“The boys can take you, Mr. Bates!” she called over her shoulder to Viggo, and I laughed again, mostly at Viggo’s squint-eyed look as he watched Amber and me leave, Margot on our heels.

She led me down the hall and up the stairs, and I paused at the sight before me. The conference room had been… decorated? Well, an attempt at decorating had been made, at least, with toilet paper streamers and a big paper sign that had Congratulations Viggo and Violet emblazoned on it in red paint, which still looked a little damp. Desks had been pushed aside, and smaller tables brought in, all with cloths draped over them in a semblance of tablecloths, with candles lighting them. Music piped through some speakers overhead, light and filled with soft violin sounds. A resplendent bounty of food covered a long table against a wall—real food, not protein rations. My mouth watered when I saw the cake, three-tiered and spotlessly covered in white frosting.

“What is this?” I breathed, my eyes darting around, trying to take it all in.

Viggo and the others entered behind us, and I heard Viggo’s surprised “Oh!” just as Margot announced, “It’s your wedding reception.”

I looked over at her and the dark-skinned woman smiled, the flash of bright white teeth lighting up her already-charming face. “Amber and I thought of it, although Jenny and Cad helped with the cooking. We procured a few things, and we opened it up to everyone who’s on the base—don’t worry, we’re sharing with everyone.”

I shot her a grateful look. She knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t be comfortable if she hadn’t invited everybody we’d been working with. Already, people who hadn’t been at our wedding were wandering in. The men were shaking Viggo’s hand as they went by, offering him words of congratulations or advice. I laughed, reaching out to drape my arms over Amber and Margot’s shoulders.

“You are literally the best,” I breathed, pulling them close to me.

“Well, to be honest, I think we all needed a party,” Amber said after a moment, pulling back. “There’s been a lot of stuff going on, and I think we could all use just a little piece of normalcy before… whatever happens, happens.”

“That… is a really good idea,” I said. “And still, you guys did this in two hours?”

“We did,” Margot beamed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to fetch Henry and Sarah. They’re dying to have some of the cake Jenny made.”

“And I’ve got you and Viggo sitting over here,” Amber declared, placing a hand on the small of my back as she stepped around me toward a table with some flowers in a vase. They looked suspiciously similar to the flowers still in my hands, and I looked over to see Tim giving me a sweet, smug grin.

I followed Amber as she sat me down at the table, Viggo holding my chair out and then settling into the chair next to me. “This wasn’t how I imagined our wedding night starting,” he murmured right in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I looked over at him, my face flushing beet red, and if anything, it only seemed to make the hunger in Viggo’s eyes grow. “I think I can be patient enough for about an hour,” he added, and I felt my face grow even redder, if that was possible, the heat spreading across my cheeks until I thought they would burst into flames.

Amber sat something down in front of me, and I looked up, trying to focus on the world that wasn’t just me and Viggo, to see a mug filled with something vaguely resembling urine. I looked up at her, questioningly.

“Apple cider,” she said. “Still warm and filled with cinnamon. It’s an Ashabee family recipe.”

I hesitated. “You made this?”

Amber managed to look wounded as well as affronted. “Hey, I can cook some stuff, you know. Besides, this is from a cask recovered at the house. All I did was heat it up.” She winked, and then moved back to the food table, presumably to grab a plate of food. My stomach growled when I saw a basket of bread rolls, and I turned to Viggo, preparing to ask him what he wanted.

“Oh no you don’t,” he announced. “I’m now your husband, which means I provide for you. What do you want from the table?”

“Bread, and whatever that stew is. It smells divine.”

He leaned forward to drop a kiss on my lips and then pulled back. “Your wish is always my command,” he whispered, standing up.

I wasn’t left alone long. Owen found me soon, taking a seat at the table, Morgan next to him, looking unsure but excited in the atmosphere of the party. Ms. Dale and Henrik sat down across from me, and Tim took up the seat Viggo had been sitting in, immediately resting his head lightly on my shoulder. I reached over and took his hand, resting my cheek against the top of his head, and he sighed.

“Different now,” he