Chapter 11 Immy, Jenner, and Tobias
IMMY, JENNER, AND TOBIAS
“What are we going to do?” Immy asked worriedly.
Two hours had passed since Cat stormed back into her bedroom after announcing that they weren’t allowed to go into town.
They’d tried to come up with another plan, but everything had involved Cat sneaking away, which no one thought was a good idea.
Except Cat.
After eating, they’d headed out to Cat and Alejandro’s barn. Although she wasn’t sure you could call it a barn it was so big and flash
“We’re going sledding,” Cat said as she pulled out a large red sled.
“Um, yeah, I can see that. I meant about . . . you know . . .” Immy whispered.
Maeve was sitting on a crate. She was looking a lot better. Immy had grabbed her a Gatorade from the fridge, and she’d sipped on that. But they’d decided to head out of the house so Gray didn’t see her looking so pale and wan.
Immy still thought they should tell Gray. What if Maeve was pregnant? That would be amazing!
And what if she wasn’t pregnant and was actually sick? Then they needed a doctor.
She really didn’t see how sledding was going to help.
Well, other than the fact that it sounded like lots of fun.
She helped Cat pull it toward the entrance of the barn.
“I cannot believe that Papi wouldn’t let us go into town. It’s like he thinks we are up to no good!” Cat grumbled.
“Um, we are up to no good,” Maeve pointed out.
“Yes, but he didn’t know that for sure,” Cat said. “We could have been up to plenty of good. All he said was no. And Gray did too. Pretty sure Tobias and Jenner would have said yes. They’re far more reasonable.”
Hmm. Immy wasn’t so sure about that. She remembered the spanking that Tobias gave her before they left to come here.
They weren’t that reasonable.
Still, compared to Gray and Alejandro maybe they were.
“Come on, let’s go,” Cat said. “I need to think. And I think better when I’m sledding.”
“Maeve, do you want to come?” Immy asked, stopping by her friend and crouching down.
“Yes, but I think I’ll just watch. Don’t want to chance anything. Just in case.”
Immy nodded. That was smart.
They headed out of the barn.
“Catarina, what are you up to?” Rafael asked.
Immy let out a squeal of shock and she felt Maeve jump beside her as they turned to see Rafael and the Scot standing there. But Cat just sighed and continued to tug the sled along. “We’re going sledding. You can come if you want.”
“That’s good, since we weren’t looking for an invitation, Little Queen,” the Scot replied with a grin. He ran his gaze over them all. “Hats. Scarves. Gloves. Good, you’re all rugged up.”
Immy was. She had on a white puffy snowsuit, white gloves with red pom poms and matching scarf and hat. She looked adorable, if she did say so herself.
Maeve had a dark purple jacket and matching gloves, scarf and hat. While Cat was . . . in black. She thought that might have more to do with her dark mood than anything.
Cat huffed as they walked past all of their outdoor decorations. There were six large deer pulling a sled with Santa sitting in it. At night, they all lit up. And some of the trees had been decorated with twinkling lights.
“Here,” Cat said. “You guys can do the sled pulling.”
Rafael huffed out a breath, crossing his arms over his chest but the Scot grabbed the sled.
“You’re in such trouble, you know,” the Scot told Cat.
“Me? I didn’t do anything!”
Rafael snorted.
“I didn’t! I’m innocent.”
“You are never innocent,” Rafael told her. “You’re always in trouble.”
“Only because Evil Elfie keeps tattling on me. Oh, and so do you.” Cat scowled at Rafael. “Now, Santa is going to leave coal in my stocking!”
“I’m pretty sure that my elf was tattling on me too! Oh, poor Cat.” Immy rubbed her back. “You’ve been good most of the year, though, right? Surely you won’t get any coal.”
“Hmm.” Cat tapped her chin.
Uh-oh, if she had to think about it this hard then the answer probably wasn’t a good one.
“Never mind,” Immy told her hastily. “Let’s go sledding and forget all of that. I’m sure you’ll still get some gifts.”
“I’m starting to feel a bit left out that I didn’t have an elf,” Maeve said.
“Don’t be,” Cat told her. “You won’t sit comfortably for the whole time they’re here.”
“Oh, have you heard anything from Faith?” Maeve asked Cat.
“Yes! Alejandro spoke to Reuben this morning. They got caught in a storm. Apparently, they’re hoping to get through by car and Alfie and Ralph are going to fly back here to be with their families for Christmas.”
“I’m just glad they’re all right,” Maeve said. “I know Faith didn’t want to get on the plane.”
“She was doing so well at flying, too,” Cat said as they walked through the forest to the bottom of the cleared sled track. The Scot was still pulling the sled while Rafael kept his gaze on their surroundings.
Surely they were safe here? What was he searching for?
“Is everything okay?” Immy asked him in concern. “Should we not be out here?”
“What? Oh no, everything is fine,” Rafael told her.
“Rafael just likes to be prepared. Maeve, where are you going to watch from?” Cat asked.
“Actually, I might wait down here and take photos.”
“You’re not sledding?” the Scot asked Maeve.
She shook her head.
He and Rafael shared a look.
“I’ll wait down here, you stay up there,” Rafael said. “I’ve let the others know where we are. I think some of their guys were going to come out and watch.”
The Scot nodded and walked up the slope with the two of them.
“Do you want to go first, Immy?” Cat asked.
“No, you show me how it’s done.” Now that she was out here, she felt a bit nervous as well as excited.
But as she watched Cat fly down the slope, her excitement grew. It was like flying!
“She’s not going to be happy when she realizes she has to tug it back up here on her own,” the Scot said with amusement. “No, wait, here’s Tobias. He’ll probably help her.”
Immy smiled wide and waved at her man who waved back. He grabbed the sled from Cat and started pulling it back up.
“Soo,” the Scot said. “You want to tell me why you guys really wanted to go into town?”
Uh-oh.
How long until Tobias got up here?
Cupcakes, he was taking his time as Cat chatted to him.
Not good.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Cat needs to get some more gifts.”
“No, she doesn’t. Rafael has seen how many gifts Cat has. It’s enough to fill a container. So what did you guys really want to do?” the Scot asked.
Do not panic.
You have this. You will not crumple under interrogation.
“You think I’m the weak link, don’t you?” she said. “Well, I’ll never tell! No matter what you do to me!”
“Easy, Immy,” the Scot soothed as Tobias glanced up at them with a frown. “You keep your secret, doll. I’m certain it will all come out in the end.”
It certainly would.
An hour later, Immy was smiling widely as she raced down the sledding track.
“That was so much fun!” she cried.
Cat smiled at her while leaning against Alejandro. The guys had all come out to watch them. Immy got off and threw herself at Jenner who caught her with a laugh.
“Enjoying it, baby girl?” Jenner asked.
“Yes! So much! Again! Again!”
Maeve had started getting cold so Gray had taken her inside, giving her concerned looks.
Immy didn’t think it would be long until Gray learned the full truth. She couldn’t wait because she hated keeping a secret like this. It hurt her tummy.
Although when she was flying down the slope, she wasn’t really thinking about any of that. All she was doing was having fun.
“I think you’ve had enough,” Jenner told her. “You don’t want to get too tired.”
“I’m not tired,” Immy told him.
Jenner shot her a look. He worried too much, she was fine. She wasn’t tired and she didn’t need to rest.
“Remember, you’re having a nap this afternoon,” Jenner said. “And it’s getting late.”
Unicorn poop.
She’d forgotten about that. What time was it? It was hard to tell since it got dark so early here. “What time is it?”
“Close to three. When is the last time you ate?” Jenner asked.
“I had a sandwich before we came out. See? I’m a good girl, Daddy. No coal in my stocking.”
“Of course not. Although a good girl wouldn’t pretend to be napping while she was wrapping presents, would she?” Jenner said.
“I don’t think we have to keep bringing that up, Daddy,” Immy scolded. “You have got to learn to let things go.”
“Come on, baby, time to go inside and have a nap,” he told her firmly.
“One more go. Please,” she begged. “When will I have the chance to go sledding again?”
“Probably tomorrow,” he said dryly.
“But there could be a storm and there is other stuff going on and the sled is already here, and I have on all of my sledding stuff. Please,” she begged.
“Last go,” he told her, caving.
Yay! This one was gonna be the best!
Jenner pulled the sled up the hill for her and then he even gave her a good shove! Cat, Alejandro, Abe, and Rafael were waiting at the bottom along with Tobias who had headed down as they walked up, stopping to give her a kiss on the way.
Tobias was a great kisser. And hugger. So was Jenner.
She was one lucky girl.
As she flew down the slope, Immy let out a cry of happiness. This was so much fun!
Suddenly, something jumped out ahead of her on the path. It was huge and brown and then it turned to face her.
Reindeer!
With a scream, she tried to turn the sled and it headed off toward the trees.
She was aware of people yelling at her, but it was like she was in a bubble where no sound could penetrate. She pulled on the brakes and came to a shuddering stop.
“Immy! Immy!” Jenner yelled and she turned to see him running toward her from the top of the slope. Tobias and the others were also racing up to her. But she had to check. Had she hit it?
Had she hit the reindeer?
She got out of the sled and ran up the hill to where she’d seen it. There was no sign of it.
Then she saw something half-buried in the snow.
A red nose.
Oh no! She’d hit Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!