Page 11 of A Collier First Christmas
Danger. My girls were in danger.
I ran into the kitchen as smoke billowed from the oven. Lily was frantically trying to fan it with a dishtowel.
I looked all around but didn’t see any signs of Cammie.
“Where’s the baby?” I yelled, trying to calm down my hysterics.
“She’s fine,” Lily said in a irritated tone.
She coughed and my wolf nearly leapt from my skin.
Mate!
“I know,” I said aloud.
“You know what?”
“Nothing.” I had to get her out of there and away from the smoke.
I picked her up and carried her through the house kicking and screaming. As soon as she stopped fanning the smoke, the smoke alarm sound. We both cringed at the ear-piercing noise.
The baby started crying from the opposite side of the house.
“That’s what I was trying to avoid happening,” Lily complained.
I dropped her off in the nursery and opened a window. Closing the door behind me I left Lily to address Cammie as I ran to handle the mess in the kitchen.
Much to my surprise nothing was actually on fire. I turned off the stove and carefully removed some very burnt brown objects. I had no idea what Lily was attempting to make, but they were completely unrecognizable at this point.
I dropped the cookie sheet into the sink and turned on the water. There was another burst of smoke rising. I covered my nose with my shirt, unable to stand the stench of it and waved the dish towel she’d been using to keep the mess at bay towards the smoke detector until at last, it stopped.
I opened several windows and the back door. Another check to ensure there was no permanent damage, and that the crisis was over, and then I ran back to the nursery.
Lily was sitting in the rocking chair with tears streaming down her cheeks as she nursed Cammie to calm her.
I dropped to my knees before them and checked them both thoroughly until my wolf and I were equally certain they were okay.
“What happened, Slugger?” I finally asked.
She sniffed and dabbed at her already puffy red eyes. “I burnt the gingerbread. How am I supposed to surprise everyone with enough to hold a contest this weekend if I can’t even make one batch for us without setting the house on fire.”
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I pulled her out of the chair and down to the floor right onto my lap as I held them both. My wolf finally began to calm down.
“I don’t even like gingerbread,” I confessed.
Lily stared at me for a moment and then she started to laugh through her tears.
“I just want this Christmas to be perfect.”
“I know, sweetheart. We don’t need fancy gingerbread houses to make that happen.”
“But…”
“I have an idea,” I said cutting her off before she could finish whatever she was about to say. “Why don’t we let the house air out for a bit. It’s still early so how about dinner at the Tavern and then maybe the three of us could go and pick out our Christmas tree instead?”
She sniffed once more but there was a smile on her face. “Do you mean it?”
“Yeah, Slugger. I think tonight’s the perfect night for it.”
