Page 102 of Not Your Average Vixen
“Jump over to me, Birdie!” Carly beckoned.
“Yeah, let her go, Uncle Scooter,” Cole added.
Soren stared at her a beat before dropping his hands from her waist.
She shook her head, clearing the Soren-inspired cobwebs, then glanced between the kids.
“I’m going to jump, and then you two are going to get into your pajamas,” she said in her best big sister voice.
“Aw, Birdie,” the siblings whined in unison.
“Don’t you, ‘aw, Birdie, me,’” she teased. “Your moms want you in bed a little early. We’ve got a lot going on tomorrow, and we don’t want you falling asleep while we’re eating all the desserts that I’m making for the rehearsal dinner.”
“Desserts!” the kids yelled, then hightailed it from cushion to cushion before they jumped over the couch and headed down the hall that led to their room.
She watched the kids scamper away. “That was easy.”
“Denise and Nancy don’t let them indulge in sweets all that often. If you mention dessert, you can pretty much get them to do whatever you want,” he said, picking up a couple cushions, then tossing them back onto the couch.
She followed suit, gathering the throw pillows. “Good to know.”
The pendulum swung, and the man she’d pegged as a creep again proved her wrong—at least when it came to Cole and Carly.
With the room back in order, silently, they walked side by side down the hall. Giggles met their arrival as they entered the kids’ room and found them already under the covers.
“Did you brush your teeth?” Soren asked in quite the paternal tone.
“Yes!” the kids answered, squirming under the covers next to each other in the queen-sized bed.
“Did you use the bathroom? Cole, I’m talking to you,” Soren continued.
The boy groaned. “Yes, Uncle Scooter, I’m empty.”
Carly sat up. “Birdie, what are you wearing? Is that a new necklace?”
Bridget touched the angel pendant. “Yes, it is. Remember the nice people we helped when we made all those sugar cookies?”
“Yeah.”
“They sent me this as a thank you present,” she finished, sitting on the bed to give the girl a closer look.
“It’s an angel,” Carly said, leaning in.
Cole crawled across the bed to take a look. “Is it a snow angel? Did a Christmas fairy make it?”
Bridget chuckled. “Maybe.”
“Will you tell us more about Christmas fairies?” Cole asked, sinking into the pillows.
She tapped her chin theatrically. “You already know that they love to make snow angels, and that they’re shy, extremely hard to catch in the act, and can also offer you a Christmas wish.”
“Yes, we’ve been looking all over for them,” Carly replied.
“Has my sister told you about the time when a Christmas fairy left us a present?” she asked as Soren settled himself on the other side of the bed next to Cole.
The little boy gasped. “No, Aunt Lori didn’t say anything about presents.”
Soren’s expression grew a touch sour at the mention ofAunt Lori—no surprise there!
