Chapter Two. #2
Sunny caught my hand, and I saw worry on his face.
I know he thought I was angry at him, but I wasn’t.
Concern and worry were my most prevalent emotions.
Somewhere down the line, Sunny had become disillusioned with the magic of Christmas.
I doubted that had happened when Liv was a child.
Sure, Sunny was much older than me, but even older people loved Christmas.
I just had to find a way to make it special for him again. Sunny deserved no less.
◆◆◆
I woke dead on seven. Sunny was already up, dressed, and texting on his phone.
“Chance isn’t pleased that we’re here. He wanted to send Willow and Fanatic out. Willow isn’t talking to him now.” Sunny chuckled.
“They can come to New York State when we get back. Tell Chance that. But this is a private investigation. Fiona and Simon didn’t want this on air, and that’s fine. Hellfire can’t attend private ones,” I replied with a yawn, stretching.
Sunny’s eyes heated as he took in my bigger breasts, which peeped at him from my tank top. “If I had time…”
“Promises. You can sex me up when we get back in the morning,” I teased.
Sunny’s answering grin blew my mind. He really was sex on legs.
“I’ll hold you to that. Get showered, babe, I’ll meet you downstairs. I’ll make sure the others are up. Fiona mentioned she’d have a meal waiting for us, and she’s also informed the chef that we’d eat at three a.m. I’m hoping the chef won’t be a cranky fucker.” Sunny grinned.
“I didn’t think of that. We’re so used to cooking for ourselves. Maybe we could suggest to Fiona that we can do that here?”
“Babe, I love ya, but shut up. Let a professional chef cook for us once in a while.”
“Okay. I’ll be down in twenty minutes,” I said, throwing the covers back.
Sunny’s eyes dropped to my baby bump, and a contented smile crossed his lips. “How is my baby?” he asked as he walked towards me. Sunny reached out and covered my twenty-two-week baby bump with his hands.
“Baby Bean is wide awake and kicking,” I replied as Bean jabbed me with a foot or elbow.
“Felt that. I’m sure we’ve got a boy.” Sunny’s face lit up as he spoke.
“I don’t know. Bean feels pretty ornery to me. Must be all those female hormones,” I teased. Bean kicked Sunny again. “Are you sure you don’t want to find out?”
“It doesn’t matter to me, as long as you and Bean are healthy. I’ve raised Liv, so girls don’t frighten me.”
“But don’t you want a legacy?”
“I couldn’t care less. A girl is no less valuable than a son, and with a mother like you, she could only be amazing.”
“That, husband, is a damn good reply,” I said, rising on my tiptoes and kissing him.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Sunny chuckled after kissing me.
“Scram and let me get ready before they all come banging on the doors,” I retorted, rolling my eyes at his ego.
Sunny winked and rubbed my belly one last time and walked out.
Sunny
What the hell were they doing here? I wondered as Liv and Mom rushed towards me.
“Dad!” Liv yelled and sprang into my arms for a hug. I hauled my daughter in tight for a hug and looked over her head at Mom.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised beyond belief.
“Callie figured you were miserable and called us to come and cheer you up. She thought being here made you miss us,” Mom answered.
Oh, well played, Callie. She’d called in reinforcements. My scowl descended, and Mom laughed.
“Aren’t you glad we came, Dad?” Liv gushed, looking excited. “This place is amazing!”
“Too overdone,” I grumbled, knowing my wife had revealed her trump card, and I was screwed.
“Humbug!” Mom retorted, slapping my arm.
I let my glower linger on her as they both linked their arms through mine.
“I believe dinner is being served,” Mom said.
“When did you arrive?” I demanded as I was dragged into the dining room.
“Three hours ago. We unpacked and started exploring. Callie said we can join the teams if we want,” Liv said and grinned.
Great. My mom was… excitable. Liv wasn’t as bad, but she had her moments.
And now they were both here in fuckin’ Christmas Village.
I ground my teeth together as Mom bounced away from me and began greeting the rest of the team.
Luckily for them, they all looked surprised to see Mom and Liv, because I’d have strung them up if they’d all kept the secret from me.
“Cherry!” Jack exclaimed, standing to hug her. “We didn’t expect you!”
“Callie called me about the Christmas Grump here,” Cherry replied, hugging him back.
“That’s great. Are you staying for the week?” Phil asked.
“Yes, Callie invited us… which is not a problem, is it?” Mom asked.
“No, not at all. You’re both welcome!” Phil replied.
“Good, anyone want to get Liv and me up to date?” Mom asked and parked her butt next to Connor with a wide smirk.
Liv sat next to Jack, and I wondered if the women in my life were ganging up on me.
Callie
Cherry and Liv were sitting with the gang when I arrived downstairs. Sunny was sitting glaring, and I guessed his happier mood had faded. Damn, he was making this hard. I pasted a smile on my face and entered the dining room, hugging Liv and Cherry as they embraced me.
Sunny sent me a stern stare, but I ignored him. It may have made other people shake in their shoes, but not me. He opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a squeak.
We turned to look, and my eyes widened. Fiona was standing by the double doors with her hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened as a hostess trolley rolled towards her. Fiona backed into the room as my team yanked equipment out from who knows where.
A squeal came from Jack’s EMF meter as he aimed it at the slowly rolling trolley. Freddie grabbed an SLS camera and peered at the screen.
“I’ve got a short figure, I’d say a child,” Freddie murmured as she kept aiming it at the moving trolley.
“Alone or is there another?” I asked, grabbing my recorder.
“Alone for now,” Freddie replied.
“Temperature is falling rapidly,” Connor added.
“Hi, my name is Callie, and I’m here to talk to you. Can you tell us your name?” I said quietly. If this were a child, I wouldn’t want to scare them.
“We mean no disrespect, nor do we want to harm or scare anyone. Are there others with you?” I continued.
Ever so slowly, the trolley kept heading for us. Fiona had moved completely away from the trolley and was watching intently.
“Could you tell us how old you are?” Jack spoke.
The trolley came to a halt, and I glanced at Freddie.
“They’re still there,” she replied to my question that wasn’t asked.
“Can you talk to us?” I asked a final question and waited a few moments. I hit stop, then reversed it to play it back.
My first two questions seemed to go unanswered, but on the third, there was a whisper of a reply.
“Was that a baby?” Michelle asked, leaning closer.
“Not sure.” I rewound it once more, grabbed a speaker, and placed the voice recorder next to it.
“Janie.” The word could be heard better this time.
“Janie,” Sunny said again, and I nodded.
“A little girl,” Cherry said, her voice laced with sadness.
I pressed play again, and after my final question, we heard a second whisper. I didn’t catch it and repeated my actions once more.
“Play,” Janie stated.
“She wants to play?” Cherry asked.
I looked at the trolley and then frowned. “Could she want to have tea parties? Fiona, what do you use the hostess trolley for?”
“We do a special Christmas afternoon tea as an extra,” Fiona replied.
A smile crossed my face. “Janie wants to do tea parties!”
The trolley moved back and forth in agreement.
“How do we do that?” Liv asked.
I turned to Fiona. “Do you have some china we can use?”
“I certainly do,” Fiona said and hurried out.
I smiled in the direction of the trolley. “Janie, Fiona is going to get you some cups and a teapot for your tea party. Is that okay?”
In reply, the trolley moved again, and I guessed that was perfectly fine with Janie.