Chapter 23 Noelle
Noelle
The festival is in full swing as there’s laughter and music to go around.
It turns out that the grotto was a hit, and the kids are loving the reindeer. They get especially excited when the animals eat a carrot straight from their hands, filling the lodge with the pealing sounds of childish laughter.
And the lodge…
It truly has become a winter wonderland. Now it’s like stepping into a whole new world as Shepard and Robin accompany me. We check out the craft stalls, and they buy me several ornaments to go on Nana’s tree and scented candles.
Shepard even won me a big bear at one of the game stalls, and now he carries the big thing around on his shoulders.
We even got our picture taken inside a big snow globe, and Robin almost choked on the fake snow.
“Look!” I point.
Right there, in the middle of the clearing, awaits a carousel. A two-story carousel, and now I drag the guys along. Robin buys us tokens from the clerk at the booth, and I run up the stairs to the second floor with a gaggle of children.
I find a pink horse with my name, and this truly is my day. Shepard and Robin join me, and Shepard even places my stuffed bear on a horse beside mine.
Soon, we spin around. It’s so much fun!
I stare at the mechanism above my head as the horse goes up and down, and I just love carousels. They awaken a childlike part of me.
Nana would love it here. She used to love taking me to the funfair as a kid, and I always used to drag her and my grandfathers onto the carousel, too.
I push the thoughts aside, knowing that she would want me to be here instead of at home with her.
Besides, she has Mom and my dad, Richard, now. My dad, Joel, returned to NYC.
The guys can’t stop laughing at me as I cheer the whole way around the carousel. And when it finishes and I get up to leave, Robin stops me.
“Hold on. I paid for several rides, Noelle.”
Yes! Now I get to enjoy several spins on the carousel, and by the end of it all, Robin appears a little greener in the face.
I forgot he gets dizzy easily. Yet he stayed on the carousel just for me. He even has to hold onto the handrail as he makes his way down the stairs. “That was…”
He covers his mouth as he looks as if he’s about to vomit. Alarmed, Shepard peers up and down and points at a tree. “Go there.”
The Alpha nods and rushes behind the tree, and now his retching reaches our ears. I can’t stop laughing, though.
I’m having so much fun.
Oh, sweet potato fries! Robin passes on the fries, but Shepard and I help ourselves to a tray. They’re good.
Someone rushes up to Robin and whispers into his ear. It’s one of the volunteers he hired for the event. They wear a high-vis vest and a comms unit.
“What’s wrong?” I ask through a mouthful of sweet potato fries.
Robin sighs. “Bad news. Santa has taken ill. Now there is no one to see the kids.”
Damn. Those poor kids: I can even hear them crying all the way from the sweet potato fries’ stall.
Well, we can’t have that. No kid’s Christmas wish will go unfulfilled. Not on my watch.
I shrug. “We will just have to find a new Santa.”
Robin and Shepard smile down at me. Robin speaks. “Pray tell, who do you have in mind, Noelle?”
I think a moment. That’s when my gaze lands on Frost setting up on stage. I suppose his band can spare him for a few hours.
They can sing Christmas songs without him.
Besides, it may finally put a smile on Frost’s glum face. All he’s missing is the green body hair, and he would be the Grinch.
“I have an idea.”
I point, and the guys follow my finger. Shepard snorts, and Robin rolls his eyes.
“Oh, this will be good,” Shepard chuckles.
Now we all make our way to Frost.