Page 46 of Single Dad's Christmas Cookie

“Well, it’s that bad,” Nova said.

I could hear a tremble in her voice.

“It’s a little power outage. We’ll be fine. Why don’t we head back downstairs, and you’ll see the power comes back on in just a few minutes?”

I kept my flashlight on the stairs as we all turned around. Nova led Amelia back down the stairs and headed into the den.

“The fire will keep us warm in here.”

“Do you have any candles?” Nova asked.

“I believe there’s some in the dining room. You get the fire going again, and I’ll go find the candles and a lighter.”

Nova held out the poker out to me. “I honestly don’t know how a fireplace works. I’ll go get the candle and find a lighter. I’m sure there’s something in the kitchen.”

“Do you have your phone?”

“Why? Who am I going to call?”

“The flashlight?” I pointed mine up at the ceiling.

“Oh, right, thank you.”

She came back a few moments later carrying a couple of candlesticks. “The other candelabras were too big and heavy for me. I hope this is okay,” she said. “But I don’t know what I’m going to do about dinner. The stove is gas, but the ignition must be electric. I tried to turn it on, but all it did was click.”

“We could have sandwiches,” I suggested.

“We don’t have any sandwich bread.”

“You bought bread today,” I pointed out

“That’s for the bread pudding for Christmas Eve. I’m sure we have something in the kitchen that would be easy, but without any power or lights…”

“We’ll figure it out. Haven’t you ever gone camping before?” I asked.

“This isn’t camping. This is a power outage during a snowstorm. What happens when it starts to get cold?” I could hear the panic starting to rise in Nova’s voice.

“We’ll be fine. We have a fireplace. We’re inside. We have this huge house all around us. It’s going to take quite a while before all the heat goes away.”

“But the bedrooms upstairs are going to be cold. You don’t want to let Amelia sleep in a cold bedroom, do you?”

I knew Nova’s concern wasn’t for Amelia, but for herself.

“I think after dinner, when it’s time to go to bed, we’ll camp out here. The fire will keep us warm. We have plenty of blankets, and we have more than enough room that we can set up a big tent in here.”

“A tent? In the den?” She sounded dubious.

“Yes, a tent. The walls of the tent will act like a layer of insulation, just as all the other walls between us and the outside. We’ll hang some extras over the windows.”

“Okay, that takes care of keeping us warm. What were you planning on making for dinner?” Nova asked.

“Do we have some canned soup in the pantry? We have a fire. All we need is a pot and we can cook. Just like camping.”

“Over the fire in the fireplace?” Nova asked.

“In the fireplace,” I repeated.

“If we’re camping, can we roast marshmallows?” Amelia asked.

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