Chapter 6 #2
Cole’s cheeks flush a ruddy pink. “I think we already went over it.” With a patient smile for Clara, he tells her, “Like we talked about, sweetie. We do some things differently than Ansel and Porter. And that’s okay.
” He pauses, and I can tell he’s casting about for a way to change the subject.
“Why don’t you read that new book to the dogs? The one about the Poky Little Puppy?”
Clara brightens. “Oh. Okay.” She tugs Lily’s hand. “Let’s read this one next. It’s really good.”
Crisis averted, Cole sags against the couch cushions. Then he grabs his eggnog and takes a healthy swig.
From the recliner by the fireplace, Nora laughs. “I love how she keeps you on your toes.”
“She sure does,” Jack agrees. He adjusts Nora on his lap, so her legs are draped over his. “I never thought I’d see the day when Cole gets all flustered over a simple question.”
“Just wait until she gets older,” Georgia adds. She nudges Leo and gives him a meaningful look. “When they start asking about boys and—”
“No boys,” Leo interrupts. “Not until she’s thirty. Or maybe forty.”
“I can’t wait until they want to date,” Hanna says. “Those poor boys.”
“What boys?” Clara’s little voice pipes in. “Are boys coming over?”
Cole shoots Hanna a warning look. “Just the boys that are here, sweetie. That’s all.”
As Clara turns back to her book, everyone else in the room falls silent. Not intentionally, but rather just thinking. Appreciating. Trying to push away the bad memories to make room for the good.
After a few seconds, Georgia says quietly, “I’m sorry, you guys. I just… I haven’t said it before. But I really am.”
All eyes turn to her. Maya asks, “Why are you sorry, G?”
Georgia casts a quick glance at Clara and Lily, making sure they’re absorbed in their book before continuing. “Because of that night. If I’d convinced him no one else was home—”
Leo puts his hand on Georgia’s arm. “No, sweetheart. Nothing that happened was your fault. Not one single thing.” His expression clouds. “If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine.”
Of all of us, I think Leo’s been taking the break-in the hardest. And it’s not the first time he’s mentioned feeling guilty about it. “I installed the system,” he told us during our last team meeting. “I should have taken precautions against something like that happening.”
But really, how could he have ever predicted that someone would buy an EMP—electromagnetic pulse—device on the black market so they could use it to effectively destroy our security system?
How could any of us have predicted something like that?
This piece of garbage, wanna-be security expert, was so jealous of Blade and Arrow he decided he’d do anything to shut us down. So he bought an EMP, waited until most of us were out of town, then set it off right outside the perimeter fence, so it shorted out all our electrical systems.
That’s why the generator didn’t work. Or the phones.
The blast of electromagnetic energy was powerful enough to fry everything with electrical circuits.
And once that happened, it was easy for Forrester to gain access to the building.
Once he got inside, all he had to do was manually lock the door.
And he never expected anyone to come home early and interrupt his sinister plan.
My jaw clenches again at the thought of it. Burning down the building would be bad enough, but to lock the women inside—
“It’s not your fault,” Nora insists. “Don’t think that for a second, Leo. I promise, none of us do.”
Jack nods. “She’s right. What happened… none of us could have imagined it.”
“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.” Rylan’s voice is heavy with guilt. His mouth droops into a frown. “I should have stopped him. It was my job to protect everyone. And I didn’t.”
“Ry.” Charlie grabs his hand and squeezes it. “You did protect us. And what you did with the—” She stops herself before adding fiercely, “Anyway. It wasn’t your fault. At all.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Elle says firmly. “Aside from that J-E-R-K,” she spells out, so Clara and Lily don’t know what she’s saying.
Clara’s head pops up from her book. “Who’s a jerk?”
Elle’s face turns beet red. “No one, Clarabelle. I meant to spell something different.” As soon as Clara starts reading again, Elle hisses at Cole, “I thought she couldn’t spell yet.”
Cole grimaces. “I may have been spelling that word a little too often lately.”
Finn chuckles. “Nice, Cole. She’ll be spelling like a sailor in no time.”
“There’s no point in blaming ourselves for things in the past,” Nora says. She casts a look around the room, her expression pensive as she does it. “We’re all here. Safe. Happy. And Leo worked his magic to make sure nothing like that can ever happen again. So I think we should focus on that.”
“Absolutely.” Jack strokes Nora’s hair. “It’s a good day. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m feeling pretty dam—darn happy about it.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Cole replies with a smile. “It’s Christmas Eve. We’re all here, enjoying the holiday together. That’s the most important thing.”
Clara closes her book with a thunk. “And presents? Are we having presents yet?”
Everyone looks at Maya, the unofficial coordinator of our Christmas Eve gift exchange. She laughs and says, “I suppose, since we’re all done eating, we can do the presents now.”
“Yay!” Clara tosses aside her book. Ansel and Porter glance at it, but, determining it’s not food, they turn back to their bones. “Presents!”
Maya pulls out a Santa hat from seemingly nowhere and plops it on Cole’s head. “Okay, Santa’s helper. Go pass out the presents.”
Cole chuckles and shakes his head. “No pictures,” he grumbles good-naturedly. “The last thing I want is the other teams seeing this.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hanna replies cheerfully. “I have it on good authority that Rafe plays Santa’s helper for his team.”
Everyone laughs at the mental image of serious, intimidating Rafe wearing a Santa hat and handing out presents.
The next few minutes are a flurry of activity, as Cole collects armfuls of gifts and doles them out. Clara and Lily tear into theirs—a toy bow and arrow for Clara and a glittery tutu for Lily.
Rylan helps Sam open his gift of a small firetruck complete with sirens and flashing lights, groaning as soon as he sees it. “Looks like I won’t be getting any quiet in the foreseeable future,” Rylan says with a laugh.
Cole eyeballs the bow and arrows, which are fortunately tipped with foam. “Who thought it was a good idea to give my daughter a weapon?”
Nora’s face goes pink. “She asked me about it,” she replies defensively. “And they’re soft.”
Once the kids have opened their presents—not Noel and James, since they’re asleep, but the others—the adults tear into their gifts. None of them are expensive, but they’re all thoughtful, like the hand-knit blanket Georgia made for Charlie and the new hiking poles Jack gave to Finn.
Elle looks down at the box of gourmet macarons in her hands, then looks over at Maya and laughs. “You must have been reading my mind!”
Maya nods. “Great minds think alike.”
I lift my chin at Leo, who gifted me a collectible figure from Lord of the Rings. “This will go great with the collection. Thanks.”
Leo smiles at me. “I thought so.”
Once all the gifts have been opened, Jack clears his throat. “This isn’t really a traditional gift, as such, but it’s kind of a gift for us.” He glances at Nora and gives her an affectionate smile. “It’s a little early, but we couldn’t wait to share it with you.”
Beside me, Elle sucks in a quick breath.
Around the room, everyone leans forward.
Nora exchanges a quick look with Jack. A silent communication passes between them. A beat later, she nods. Turning to face the rest of us, she says, “You know how we came back early because I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Are you okay?” Georgia asks. “You’re not sick, are you?”
“I’m not sick.” Nora gives her a wobbly smile. “I’m pregnant.”
A chorus of shocked What!s follow.
“I know,” Nora adds. “We didn’t think we could. It’s been years, and nothing happened. We figured if it’s just the two of us, we’d be happy with that. That it was meant to be.”
“But then Nora started feeling sick in the morning,” Jack explains. “And she was tired all the time. So I finally put my foot down and made her go to the doctor.”
“And he said I’m pregnant.” Nora’s eyes go all shiny. “I’m ten weeks. I know you’re not supposed to say anything until the first trimester, but you’re family. And I wanted you all to know.”
A silent second passes before an explosion of joy.
“This is going to be amazing!” exclaims Maya. “Your little one will be almost the same age as James.”
“Another Blade and Arrow baby,” muses Finn. “We’re going to need another addition.”
One by one, we all rush to Nora and Jack, hugging them and sharing congratulations. Nora looks beyond happy, and Jack couldn’t be more pleased.
When I hug Nora, I tell her quietly, “You’re going to be an amazing mom, Nor. I mean it.”
She blinks away tears. “I hope so.”
I hug her again. “You will. And you and Jack will be so happy.”
Because, of all people, Nora deserves it.
Once the excitement of Nora and Jack’s announcement has settled, and we’re all back in our seats, Cole raises his glass of eggnog and clears his throat. “I know we don’t usually do toasts on Christmas Eve, but I think, in this case, it’s merited.”
In agreement, we all lift our glasses.
Emotion moves across Cole’s face as he continues, “To my incredible Blade and Arrow family. I never dreamed a spark of an idea would turn into this. I’m so grateful to all of you.
” He turns to Nora and Jack. “And I’m so happy for you both.
” With a smirk, he adds, “I can’t wait to see the trouble your little one gets into. ”
Nora laughs. “I’ll make sure to send her—”
“Or him,” Jack interjects.
“To you with all the tough questions,” Nora finishes. “Since you’re so good at them.”
As everyone chuckles, Elle snuggles against me and rests her head on my shoulder. Then she lifts her gaze to meet mine.
“We really are lucky, aren’t we?” she asks. “Being here with you, and Noel, and all our friends… I have everything I ever wanted.”
Looking into her eyes, love sweeps through me with such intensity it leaves me breathless. “We really are lucky.”
She leans over Noel to kiss me. “I love you, Zane.”
I cup her cheek as I kiss her back. “I love you, too, Bug.”
From across the room, Finn raises his glass again. “Merry Christmas, everyone.”
With my wife beside me and my son in my lap, I couldn’t agree more.
“Merry Christmas,” everyone echoes.
And it really is.