Chapter 11
Whitney
Oren came rushing into the cottage after school and was shouting excitedly all the way. “Aunt Whitney! There is going to be a carol sing-along going on at the mall next week. Can we go? Will you take me?”
“Who told you that? I’ve not seen anything about it.” I pick up my tablet from where I’d been reading Kindle. I quickly go to Google and search for local news and events.
“Mr. Brewster told us. It sounds like fun. Can we go?” Oren is jumping with excitement from one foot to the other.
“Okay, if we can find out all about it first and with Clem’s permission.”
“Yay…” Oren runs around the sofa arms out like he’s an airplane, making silly noises all the way. I just shake my head and think, boys will be boys, and they all act daft.
“Slow down, and get your shoes and coat off.” I smile more to myself than Oren as I head to the kitchen, where I’ve made peanut butter cookies, and where I have a warm glass of chocolate milk ready for him. “Get your butt on the sofa and we’ll watch a movie for a while.”
“Okay,” Oren sighs, taking the cookie, well cookies from me and walks over to take a seat.
I grab his milk and settle beside him, turning on the TV and finding Christmas movies. “What do you want to watch?”
Humming before he answers as he’s chewing one of the cookies. “What about the boy who gets left at home? Uncle Clem likes that one. He always laughs.”
“Oh, okay, we can watch that one.” I quickly find it and get it started, and we settle down to watch.
We’ve not even watched half of it when I’m not sure if it’s the room that is warm or I’m just tired, but I see Oren is leaning against me and asleep.
I carefully lay his head on my lap and grab the throw blanket from behind us and slide it over him.
I do my best to keep my eyes open, but the sound of Oren sleeping is making me nod.
I keep jerking my head up when I feel it falling forward, but I lean it back on the sofa and that is me done.
“Come on sleepyhead, wake up.”
I can hear someone talking, but I'm not sure who it is? A small shake of my shoulder has me shooting into a sitting-up position, and shit that hurt my neck. I blink a few times, then concentrate on Clem who is squatting in front of me smirking.
“Well, well, aren’t you a sleeping beauty?” Clem chuckles, and I give him my best scowl.
“Aunt Whitney, look it’s my daddy.”
Looking up, I see a near-identical Clem.
He is slightly taller and not as broad, but in every other way they are mostly identical.
I slowly get to my feet, smooth down my pants, and hold my hand out to shake.
“Hi, Myles. I’m Whitney, and today I’m the sleeping babysitter.
” I blush because honestly of all times to be caught napping on the job, it had to be when Oren’s daddy arrived.
Myles gives me a huge smile right before ignoring my hand and wrapping me in a hug. Kissing the top of my head, he mumbles, “Thank you for looking after him. He was fast asleep along with you when we came in.”
“Good thing you gave me a key, Whitney, or we would have been standing outside in the snow.” Clem points to the window, and I’m surprised to see it’s snowing more heavily than it has the last two days. We have had minor flurries, but this looks like it is going to lie on the ground.
I step away from Myles and into the kitchen, checking the coffee pot is switched on before reaching for the tin of cookies. “I’ve cookies for you to take back Clem, but Oren has had a few already.”
“Aunt Whitney…” Oren says exasperatedly, but then looks at his daddy. “They are good with bells on.”
I look at Clem, he looks at me, and we both bust out laughing. “That’s wrong, bud.”
“What’s he mean with bells on?” Myles asks.
Clem slaps Myles' shoulder. “Come on, let’s get home.” Stepping over to me, Clem kisses my forehead before walking to the door. “I’ll catch you later, Whitney. Lock the door as we leave.”
Why he can’t lock it I don’t know, he had no darn trouble opening it to come inside.
I lock the door and check everything is secure before I grab a bottle of water and head to bed.
I’ve had enough for today, and I will have to go shopping because I need a warmer coat if I have to go out in this blizzard that is starting.
The morning came around faster than I wanted, but I had three mugs of coffee while checking some facts for the Viking saga, so I feel more human now.
Tapping on the back door has me on my feet and checking who it is. It’s unusual for someone to knock on the back door.
Opening the door, Oren shoots past, kicks his shoes off just inside the door and looks up at me with a huge smile on his face. “Hi, Aunt Whitney.”
“Good morning, Oren. What are you doing here so early?”
“Daddy is going with Uncle Clem to get some more Christmas stuff because he said it all looks pathetic.” Oren laughs and heads to the cookie cabinet, helping himself to three from the tin. “I said I’d stay with you until they come back.”
“Oh, you did, did you?” I can’t help but think that I didn’t just get myself a cottage. I got a family.
“Yep. What are we gonna do now?” Oren is looking at me with such excitement that I can’t scold him about taking things for granted.
“Well, I have something for you since it’s now the first of December and officially Advent.”
“What does that mean?” Oren frowns.
I smirk because honestly this kid wants to know everything.
“Advent means coming. Christmas is coming. You get it? From the first of December until Christmas Day is Advent. The coming of Christmas.” I’m not going into all the telling throughout the years of Advent, or religion.
He needs to know only the basic word advent.
“Oh, so what have you got?”
I walk over to the stacking unit I have in the corner of the living area and pick up the Advent calendar I purchased. I have it in a brown bag so he feels like it’s a gift, rather than something I just hand to him.
Ripping the brown bag from the Advent calendar, Oren squeals with delight. “Oh, wow, dinosaurs. Thank you, Aunt Whitney.”
I am being squeezed around the middle by Oren so hard I can hardly get my breath, but I giggle nonetheless. “You only open one of the doors on it each day. Find number one, and you can open it.”
Oren finds the number, opens the door and takes out the chocolate from inside. I turn and leave him to it while I make him a warm milk and myself another coffee. I look out of the window and know I’m going to have to get a coat because the one I have is not going to be warm enough.
“Let’s go shopping at the mall and get me a winter coat. I really need one that’s warmer than the one I have.”
Two hours later, Oren and I are walking into the cafeteria in the mall, and I have to say I’m thrilled with the coat we eventually found. But, we also found a coat for Oren, along with socks, t-shirt and pants. I couldn’t say no when I saw his face light up at the clothes he found.
Taking a seat, we sit quietly for a moment, and I sigh because, honestly, I’m tired. “My legs ache. What about yours, Oren?”
Nodding his head in reply, I can tell he is weary. He’s never stopped talking the entire time we’ve been shopping, but he is the best kid, and if I ever had a child, I’d feel myself lucky if he was like Oren.
“Let’s eat and then go home.” I give Oren a nod to eat. We have had a small bowl of soup, and are now eating a chicken salad wrap. “This is nice. I reckon we could make these ourselves. What do you think?”
Oren’s eyes widen, and then he studies his wrap before grinning at me. “We can make these, Aunt Whitney.”
“Your daddy will wonder where we are, so we need to get back to the cottage soon.” I sent a message to Clem earlier as I didn’t have Myles' number, but I think they’ll be okay with Oren being with me at the mall.
“Look, Aunt Whitney. It’s a Christmas Carol singalong. Can we come?” Oren’s eyes are as large as saucers, and the excitement has them sparkling.
“Oren, sweetie,” I laugh at his excitement. “That’s what Mr. Brewster told you about. We will have to ask your daddy, but if he says you can, then yes, let’s come and sing.” I check the poster he’s reading and make a note in my phone calendar app.
“Oh, Aunt Whitney. I thought it was another one!” I smile when I see his child-like disappointment that there aren’t two singalongs.
When we get outside of the mall, it’s snowing more seriously. I hate driving in snow and ice, but thankfully it’s not that far back to the cottage.
I drive slowly on the snow-laden road. Taking it carefully, especially with Oren in the vehicle with me. “It’s getting faster, Aunt Whitney.”
“Yeah, but we are nearly home.” Four minutes later I’m parking under the carport and taking a calming breath. Both Oren and I look up when we hear our names shouted. That’s when I notice Clem and Myles walking up the drive toward the carport.
“Whitney, I put a stew in the crockpot. Do you want to come over and eat with us?” Myles asks.
“Well, that’s mighty kind, and yes that would be lovely if you have enough? I can bring dessert?”
Oren jumps up and down with excitement. “What have you got, Aunt Whitney?”
“I have blueberries, and I can make a blueberry cheesecake. It won’t take me long to make it.”
“I’d like that.”
“Yeah, that sounds cool.”
“Yay, I want some.”
The three of them all respond at the same time. I smile at their enthusiasm and then look at Myles. “Um, I bought Oren a few things while we were at the mall.”
Myles grabs two bags from the vehicle and carries them inside, with the rest of us right behind him. I had handed him the key as he passed me while holding his hand out, wiggling his fingers.
Oren excitedly showed his daddy what he’d got at the mall, and I quietly took out the coat I purchased and shook it out.
“That’s a good coat, Whitney,” Clem stands beside me, and I can smell whatever aftershave he wears. It’s a mix of leather, dogwood, and man. Geez, what the heck is wrong with me?
“I’ll pay you for the clothing, Whitney,” Myles says as he steps over, giving me a smile of thanks for the clothing he’s holding.
“No, you won’t. I got them for my nephew, Oren. They were a gift from me to him.”
Oren is watching the interaction, and Myles seeing the frown on Oren’s face must decide to let this go. Stepping up to me, he kisses the top of my head and murmurs. “Thank you, Whitney.”
“You are welcome. Now, I’ve got a drive to clear because it’s gotten thick with snow.”
“I’ll help…” an excited voice pipes up. Now why do I have a feeling that’s a bad idea?
Twenty minutes later the snow is coming down seriously, and as fast as I’m shoveling it's settling again. I’m going to give up because I’m getting nowhere.
There are at least four inches of snow on the ground, and it’s getting higher by the minute.
Looking around I see it’s actually so thick I can hardly see next door.
That’s when I get a thump between my shoulder blades.
Slowly turning around I am met with three laughing faces over the hedging.
Right, it’s war. I bend down and roll up a nice-sized snowball, and I let it fly.
Now, I always had good aim when at school, so I’m not surprised when it hits Clem right in the middle of his chest.
“I’m on your side, Aunt Whitney…” Oren bellows as he runs from his front yard to mine.
“Traitor!” Myles shouts but is laughing all the while.
I receive another hit on my arm, and I get my next shot at Myles, catching him on his shoulder. Before long, there are snowballs flying over the hedge until we are all breathless, red-faced from laughing and the cold.
“Come on, let’s go have a hot chocolate, and I’ll put marshmallows on top.
” I head inside with Oren right behind me.
He’s laughing while describing all the hits he got in on his daddy and uncle.
While I make the drinks, Oren seems satisfied with my nods and verbal reactions.
Clem and Myles have been watching our interaction while removing their snow-covered clothing and boots, before settling in the living area.
I smile to myself when I hear Myles speaking to Clem in a low voice. “Whitney is a great fit, brother.”
Clem's reply gives me butterflies in my stomach. “Yeah she is, and I want to take her out, show her how I feel. Not felt like this before, Myles, and I think I’ve met my one.”
Met my one! Yeah, maybe he’s right because I’m feeling that way too. My feelings for Kyle seem much less than they ever did, and I thought he was my world at one time. But I know now that wasn’t the case, but I’m not going to live in the past. I’m going to grab my future with both hands.
Oren looks up at me and I give him a huge smile, which must have some effect because he launches himself at me and hugs me tightly. Yeah, I hug him back.