Page 1 of A Little Christmas Wish

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“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you in?” Betsy asked, crouching down to Zippy’s level.

Zippy’s dark hair was up in two ponytails and she was wearing a pair of jeans with a basketball sweater that Baron had bought for her.

She looked adorable. But far too small to be walking into school alone. Especially on her first day.

“Betsy, we’ve talked about this,” Zippy said patiently. “You can’t be worrying about me all the time. You’ll give yourself an ulcer. I got this.”

She had this.

This kid didn’t seem to realize she was only seven. Which saddened Betsy as she knew Zippy hadn’t had much of a childhood. But Betsy was determined to change that.

Zippy might have only been with them for two weeks, but she was definitely part of the family. The twins adored her. And so did Ink.

The twins thought she was hilarious.

But Betsy was worried that Zippy was holding back her real thoughts and feelings because she didn’t feel comfortable with them.

Actually . . . she had a point. Betsy was going to worry herself into an ulcer.

“If you got to worry about anyone, I’d worry about Baron. Apparently, he’s got a Chemistry test today.” Zippy shook her head. “He’s gonna set the school on fire.”

What? He did?

The boys were in college now. Thankfully, they were only a few hours’ drive away at Montana State. But she still missed them a lot.

“It’s not a practical test, is it?” Betsy asked urgently.

“Practical?” Zippy asked.

“Like where he gets to touch things . . . things that are potentially dangerous.”

Zippy shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Guess so since he was really excited about it. I don’t think he’d be excited about a paper test.”

No, Betsy didn’t think so either.

Dear Lord.

Now she had something else to worry about.

“Baron will be fine,” Ink soothed, placing his hand on the back of her neck. “The school will survive. Don’t stress.”

“Yeah, Betsy. Don’t stress.” Zippy smiled at her. “It will all be fine.”

“Really?” Then she realized she was looking to a seven-year-old for reassurance.

Get yourself together, Betsy!

You’re the adult.

Sometimes she felt like she wasn’t ready to be in charge of a foster child. But she’d raised the boys.

Surely, she had this. And she had Ink to help her.

It was just that she wanted Zippy to be happy. She’d been so closed off when she’d first come to live with them.

Suspicious and watchful.

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