Chapter 3 #2
John-John grabbed the nearest bowl. But Pixie studied her options carefully before making her choice.
“Let’s take them into the dining room, guys,” Nora said. “That way we can all sit.”
Pixie scrambled down with her treat and headed to the table.
“Can I lift you down?” River asked John-John quietly.
John-John nodded up and down hard, and River lowered him effortlessly to the ground, giving him a little pat on the back after he let him go.
“Christmas pudding?” River offered Nora.
“Of course,” she told him. “Thank you.”
She grabbed four spoons while he picked up two bowls of pudding. They looked absolutely tiny in his hands.
She led the way back out to the nook with the dining table that they called the dining room. The kids were already in their seats, waiting patiently for her to give them spoons.
When everyone was seated, Pixie bowed her little head, and everyone followed suit.
“Thank you for this Christmas pudding,” Pixie said politely.
“And thank you for our new toys,” John-John added. “And for letting us try them in the bathtub.”
“And thank you for good friends,” Nora chimed in. “Amen.”
They all dug in, and she ventured a glance over at River. Edward had never been one to say grace before meals. But River had joined them in bowing his head just now, and he didn’t seem to think it was strange or old-fashioned.
She had been a little surprised at it when the kids came to her. She and Alma hadn’t really been raised to pray at mealtimes. But as soon as she got used to it, she couldn’t help being glad for the kids, and herself, having a chance to stop and remember the things they were grateful for.
“Oh, wow, this is so good,” River said around a mouthful of pudding.
Pixie smiled proudly while John-John devoured his dessert.
Nora’s phone buzzed in her pocket.
“I’m so sorry, but we’re going to meet some friends at the park tomorrow,” she said, pulling it out. “I just want to check to see what time they want to get together.”
Her heart sank as soon as she saw the message.
Sophie’s mom (Linda? Lucy?)
so sorry
something came up and we can’t make it tomorrow
another time maybe
Sadness melted into sudden anger, and the phone screen went blurry as tears of fury gathered in Nora’s eyes.
“Excuse me just for a moment,” she murmured, hurrying off to the bathroom to pull herself together.
She caught River’s worried look out of the corner of her eye as she passed. But the kids were too busy enjoying their treat to take much notice of her leaving.
When she got into the bathroom with the door closed, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.
It was thoughtless of the woman to say yes to a playdate and then cancel at the last minute. And this news was going to make Pixie very sad. But at the end of the day, Pixie’s old friends’ parents were not responsible for Pixie’s happiness.
Nora was.
Taking another cleansing breath, she faced herself in the mirror.
“You can do this,” she whispered to her reflection. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Pushing worrisome thoughts of the canceled playdate and her old job out of her mind, she immediately put her focus on thinking up fun things to do tomorrow that she could tell the kids about when she broke the news.
The trouble was that this part of the city didn’t really have a lot of free things for kids.
We’ll go to the library, she told herself. We’ll get more books, and we’ll come home and read and bake. We do that all the time, but they really like it.
She splashed her face with a little cold water, tucked her phone back into her pocket, and headed out again.
But as she crossed through the living room she saw that the little party had moved itself.
She and the kids had very carefully hung twinkly Christmas lights out on the balcony the other day. And River was out there with them now with one of the bottles of bubbles.
As he held the wand out, John-John blew, and they all watched as the bubbles floated up and up, shimmering in the lights before floating away into the night sky. Pixie was smiling radiantly, and John-John jumped up and down a little as River bent to tell them something.
Just then, Pixie spotted Nora and waved to her.
But before she could join them, River ushered the kids back inside.
“Hope you don’t mind us testing out the bubbles before tomorrow,” he told her. “We figured we couldn’t mess anything up outside.”
“Not at all,” she told him, smiling to make sure he knew it was really okay. “Speaking of tomorrow, we actually have to change our plans a bit for that.”
“No,” Pixie said softly.
Nora’s heart ached, but she forced herself to keep things light.
“Their family had something come up, so we’ll have to get together another day,” Nora said. “I was thinking maybe we could go to the library and then come home and do some baking. What do you think?”
“Okay,” Pixie said politely, nodding.
“Again?” John-John whimpered.
“What do you like best about the park?” River asked.
“Running around,” John-John said immediately.
“Riding bikes with my friends,” Pixie said, shrugging.
“Well, you’re more than welcome to come out to my place for the weekend,” River said. “There’s plenty of space to run around. And I don’t have any bikes, but maybe we could borrow some. And if not, maybe you’d like to ride a horse?”
“You have a horse?” Pixie asked, looking thunderstruck.
“Well, I have two horses,” he amended. “A little one and a big one.”
“You can’t have a horse in a house,” Pixie said, her forehead scrunching.
“I have a farm,” River said. “I just bought it. And it has a farmhouse with plenty of space for guests to stay whenever they want. But that’s up to your aunt, of course.”
He glanced up at Nora with an apologetic expression, like he had just remembered that it would have been better to talk to her first.
“Honestly, I’d love to have you all out for the weekend,” he told her quietly. “Or anytime.”
And the sincere look in his deep brown eyes was enough to make her stomach flutter a little.
Nora knew that she should say no. It would be too impulsive to just pack the kids up for the weekend and go to the country with her ex-husband’s brother. Wouldn’t it?
But Pixie and John-John were looking up at her with such hopeful, pleading expressions.
“Will it be like Farmer Bear’s Christmas?” John-John whispered in wonder.
Their whole lives had been upended this year from unexpected circumstances beyond their control. Could a little impulsive fun really be such a bad thing?
If they went, it would just be for the kids to have some fun and let off some steam, and it would have nothing to do with how River had looked at her when he’d asked.