Page 18 of A Season of Second Chances
"Hey," Winter says, squeezing my hand as we stop outside the kitchen door for a second.
"Yeah?"
"I'm really glad you got stranded here."
I squeeze back, smiling up at him. "Me too."
And I mean it with every fiber of my being.
We push through the kitchen door to find Alana covered in flour, a huge smile on her face. "Joy. Daddy. Look at the cookies we're making!"
The rest of Christmas Eve passes in a blur of cookie decorating, hot chocolate, and Christmas movies playing in the lobby for the few guests who are hanging out in the lobby. Winter and I steal kisses when Alana isn't looking, our hands finding each other under blankets, our bodies gravitating together like magnets.
As night falls and Alana finally succumbs to sleep on the couch, Winter carries her to bed. When he comes back, he pulls me close. "Are you all staying here? Will Santa come to the lodge?"
"Yeah," he chuckles. "We've always done it this way. I don't even remember why we started doing it this way, but she loves it and so do I."
"Makes sense." I look around the room. "It's kind of exciting to think Santa will show up here for her. Do you put the presents under this tree?"
"No." He shakes his head. "There's a small living room off of my office. Hopefully you'll come down in the morning and spend time with us while she opens her gifts. I can show you around."
I love the way he's thought of everything. "I will love that."
"Thank you for today," he whispers. "For being here. For caring about her. For caring about this place."
"Thank you for giving me a reason to stay," I whisper back.
We sit by the fire, watching the snow fall outside, and I know that no matter what I decide about the job, everything has changed. I've changed. And for once, I'm not scared of what comes next.
I'm excited about it.
Ten
Winter
I'm more excited than Alana, always am. The people who never sleep on Christmas Eve are the parents, because we're waiting for our kids to wake up and see what Santa left. It's no different this year than it's been the ones previous.
I'm wide awake, and Alana is snoring away beside me.
Reaching over, I grab my phone and sigh when I see that it's three am. Carefully I get out of bed, and put a hoodie on along with my sweat pants. When I tiptoe out into the lobby, I'm surprised to see a light on in the dining room. Usually no one is in there, but I do give the guests free reign for the most part. I'm surprised when I go in, and see Joy sitting there.
"What are you doing?" I question, as I go in, and slide the door closed.
"I could ask you the same thing," she says as she grins.
"Can't sleep." I shrug as I walk over to the booth she's sitting in. "What is all of this?"
Around here she's got construction paper, glitter, and scissors. It's like a preschooler doing a craft project.
She rolls her eyes up toward the ceiling an indulgent smile spreading across her face. "I wanted to be able to give Alana something for Christmas tomorrow. It's obviously not going to be the type of thing you're able to give her, but I wanted to give her something."
My chest tightens with appreciation and love for her. There's no way for her to leave the lodge to grab my daughter something, but here she is. It's three am in the morning, and she's making a craft project so that she can put a smile on my daughter's face. This is something her own mother has never done. "Joy, I..." I can't even put it into words. "You don't have to do this."
"I know," she says matter-of-factly. "But she's cute, she puts a smile on my face, and she's important to you. Kids don't understand that roads are impassable, or that my car is actually still on the road." She laughs as she makes a face. "And little girls love glitter, at least I hope she does."
"She does," I answer through a tight throat. "Glitter is her favorite."
"Good. I'm making her a glitter crown," she says as she pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth, and makes a cut so she can put the two pieces together. "This should be big enough for her head, don't ya think?"
