A Celebration Christmas

“Chicken nuggets,” said Bridget.

Hannah tugged on Lily’s sleeve and motioned for her to lean closer. Lily did.

“I like mac and cheese,” the little girl said.

“Do you?” Lily asked.

Hannah nodded enthusiastically.

“I happen to make the best mac and cheese in the world.”

The little girl’s eyes grew large. “You do?”

Lily nodded and noticed that the other kids were quietly watching her, except for George. He was fiddling with the game piece shaped like a race car, spinning it on the board, seemingly unaware of the food talk happening at the table.

“I don’t suppose anyone would like me to make mac and cheese tomorrow, would they?”

The girls hooted their appreciation. Hannah climbed into Lily’s lap and leaned forward to position her game piece, the dog, at the starting square. But George still sat stoically, making the race car spin the way someone might set jacks atwirl.

“What do you like to eat, George?” Lily asked.

The boy didn’t answer. Megan nudged him.

“Ms. Palmer wants to know what you like to eat,” she said.

The boy shrugged, indicating he wasn’t the least bit interested in their conversation.

Lily decided not to push him. “You don’t have to call me Ms. Palmer. Why don’t you call me Lily?”

Hannah leaned back and looked up at her. “Hi, Lily.” She giggled.

“Hi, sweet Hannah,” Lily answered.

Hannah giggled again and twirled one of Lily’s curls around her finger.

George spun the car so hard that it sailed off the board and skidded across the floor. It disappeared in the space between the wall and the refrigerator.

“Crap!” George growled.

Hannah and Bridget both clasped their hands over their mouths.

“George!” cried Megan. “You’re not supposed to say words like that. If Mom were here, you’d be in so much trouble.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not here anymore.” He turned his angry gaze on Lily. “What are you going to do about it, Lily?”

* * *

It was nearly ten-thirty when Cullen got home that night. After being called away from the office midday, he’d had a lot to catch up on when he got back. Plus, there had been an emergency he’d had to handle. It had taken him that long to get everything in order.

He put his key in the lock, but before he could open the door, someone opened it for him from the inside. Lily was standing there. Cullen’s first thought was What did they do? Please don’t tell me you’re leaving.

But Lily simply pressed her finger to her lips in the international sign for quiet. She motioned him inside. The door clicked behind him, and for one glorious moment, Cullen stood in the deafening silence. The kids were quiet. The dog wasn’t even barking. It was a calm he hadn’t heard in days.

Lily walked toward the kitchen and he followed her.

“How in the world did you manage this?” he asked. “Did you slip a tranquilizer into their dinner?”

“No, of course not,” she said. “I told you I would tire them out by keeping them busy.”

He glanced around at the clean kitchen and the tidy family room, surprised not to see a mess.

“They’re angels when they sleep, aren’t they?” he said. “This place looks great. Did they help you?”

“A little bit,” she said. “We had a good bit of fun, too. In fact, we made Christmas decorations out of some glitter and construction paper I had in my trunk.” She gestured toward the table, where he could see several flat and shiny objects neatly laid out.

“But they cleaned up after themselves,” she said. “We even tackled that blue mess in the upstairs bathroom.”

“The blue potion?” He had forgotten all about it in his rush to get back to work. “You cleaned it up?”

“Potion? Is that what that was?”

She must’ve had a speck of glitter on her cheek, because something glinted in the kitchen light. Maybe it was pixie dust. Maybe that was her secret. She certainly was as cute as a pixie with her blond hair, laughing green eyes and smooth ivory skin.

“Apparently so,” he said. “You didn’t have to clean it up.”

She chuckled and Cullen had to ball his hands into fists to keep from leaning in and brushing the glitter off her cheek.

“If it sat there any longer,” she said, “it was going to either start expanding out into the hall and take over the entire house or dry out on the toilet and tile and stain everything blue. We actually made a game out of it. The kids were great once they got used to the idea that they had to clean up their messes. Are you hungry? Because I’m happy to reheat some pizza for you.”

The non sequitur threw him, but as he made the jump from the blue potion to her offer of food, a feeling of gratitude washed over him.

“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m sure you’re exhausted. You need to get home so you can get some rest for tomorrow.”

He wasn’t sure that the feeling inside him might not actually be relief. Not only did Lily have the situation firmly under control, but for the first time since the kids had arrived, he was able to take a deep breath and let himself believe that maybe, just maybe, everything was going to work out. And to think there had been a few shaky days there when he’d convinced himself that he’d gotten in way over his head by taking in the kids, even for a little while.

She walked over to the table and picked up her purse. She shrugged into her coat and fished her keys out of her bag before pulling on a pair of red leather gloves. “Actually before I go, I wanted to ask you if you had a schedule you wanted the kids to follow. We didn’t really get a chance to talk about specifics before you left to go back to the hospital earlier today.”

Schedule? “No. You just keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll be working late most nights. I won’t be around much.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but the sparkle in her eyes seemed to dim a few watts.

“There’s a park not too far from here. It’s just a short drive. You all could go there. I know it’s cold outside, but if you bundle them up they’d be fine. Is your car big enough to transport five?”

Lily frowned. “No. I have a sedan. It seats four. I guess that’s a problem. Maybe we could walk to the park.”

Not unless she was an expert at herding cats.

“I’ll call around and see about renting an SUV or a minivan for you to use. It’s too cold outside to walk anywhere, but I know that you can’t stay cooped up inside. Let me see what I can come up with.”