Page 26 of Snowed in at Santa's Lodge
I climbed in next to my mate. “We have a son.”
A few minutes later, the midwife laid our baby on Aspen’s chest, showing him how to help the baby latch for the first time, and then he went about doing whatever he was doing. He calledit “cleaning up,” but I didn’t ask what that meant. It was his way of giving us privacy.
“We have a son. What should we call him?” Aspen’s eyes never left our son’s sweet face.
“Something Christmassy, I think.” That was when we met and this was Santa’s Lodge. How could we name him anything else.
“Noel.”
“Yeah, Noel works.” I kissed my mate’s cheek.
We’d said we’d know what our child’s name was when we saw him, and at the time, I assumed we were kicking the can down the field a little bit. But now that we looked at his sweet face, it made sense. He was Noel.
“Welcome to the world, Noel. We’re so happy you’re here. So, so happy.”
Epilogue
Aspen
“Welcome to Santa’s Lodge,” I greeted the older couple walking up to the desk.
I stood behind it, Noel snuggled close in a baby wrap as I swayed back and forth. He’d just fallen asleep, and I preferred to keep him that way. He did a great job getting to sleep, but staying there wasn’t always so easy for him.
“Samson, here to check in,” the taller gentleman said, leaning his cane against the counter.
“Ah, yes, Mr. Samson.” I pulled his folder from the file rack and took out the forms we had printed for him to sign. “Just need your ID and credit card to check in, and initial here, here, and sign here, please.”
He finished all of his sign-in work, and I got his key for him.
“What brings you here for the holidays? A getaway?”
“No, our grandbabies live in town, and we love them dearly, but it’s nice to go home at the end of the day.”
I didn’t really consider this home, not for anyone other than my family, but I took it as a compliment. “Well, we’re glad you’re here.”
I led them up to their room.
They were our third couple to check in, and we were expecting one more party. So far, they were three for three, people visiting locally. It wasn’t who I expected for our clientele base, but given it was the holidays, it made sense.
Ragnar and I had gone back and forth on whether to open before or after Christmas, but, given the name of the business and how beautifully we could decorate, we opted for before. We would’ve done it a week earlier, but we had to wait for all theinspections to go through—and there were so many inspections, especially with us serving breakfast.
It was good; they protected everyone. But, oh, the process and the paperwork. So much paperwork.
When I got back to the desk, my mate was checking in a woman with her young son who was bouncing up, trying to look over the desk. He couldn’t have been more than three. Unlike the other guests, they were stopping for the night and would finish their trip to family in the morning. We were glad to be there for them.
Once everyone settled in, I went and sat near the main room, watching the fire crackle. The fireplace was much larger than the one in our room, and Frosty slept in front of it, living his best life. Ragnar came and sat beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
“I’m second-guessing whether we should have guests,” he said. “It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re working.”
“I am, but we did make the right choice. Look at the families who get to spend time with their loved ones because they have a place to stay and don’t have to drive an hour in questionable weather.”
“You don’t miss us having a nice, quiet Christmas alone?”
“It’ll be quiet. Everybody will be with their families. We’ll also be able to give them their Christmas. I feel like your grandfather would’ve liked that.”
“He definitely would have.”
We hung out there until Noel woke up then fed and changed him, before bundling up to go out into the woods. Ragnar had found a reindeer-themed baby-wearing coat that worked perfectly, which meant we didn’t have to disturb our son to go for our nightly walks if he was asleep.
