Page 81 of The Merry Matchmaker

“He what?” asked Griff.

“He barfed,” Jenn translated. “Poor kid. We need to get him out of here.”

They did indeed. They found Corky, left behind in the classroom with one of the mom volunteers, weeping as she mopped the front of his white shirt.

“Daddy!” he cried.

Griff hurried to pick him up and hug him. Jenn was right behind, patting the boy’s shoulder and saying, “It’s okay.”

Griff couldn’t help wishing Kaitlyn was there to help comfort their son.

“I threw up,” Corky sobbed. “Jeremy Jenkins laughed.”

“Jeremy Jenkins is a shit,” said Griff, making the volunteer mother blink in surprise. “Come on, son, let’s get you home.”

“I want a cookie,” Corky protested.

Cookies had been promised at the end of the show.

“You can’t have a cookie. You’ll just puke it up,” said Griff, which made Corky cry harder.

Okay, he could have been more diplomatic. Kaitlyn would have known what to say.

“I’ll get some ginger ale for you while Daddy gets you cleaned up,” promised Jenn. “Ginger ale is yummy for the tummy.”

Corky sniffled and smiled at her, and Griff mouthed a thank-you and carried his son out of the classroom. They were almost to the car when Corky upchucked again, getting Griff’s coat good in the process.

“My tummy hurts,” wailed Corky.

“I know,” said Griff. “It’ll be okay, though. We’ll get you in bed, and you’ll feel all better.”

“Will I feel better in time to go see Santa?” Corky asked.

“Let’s not worry about that right now, okay?” Griff said, and his son started crying all over again.

Happy holidays.

“You were my favorite snowflake,” Frankie said to her grandson as she hugged him after the concert.

“I want to be a snowflake next year, too,” he announced, making the grown-ups gathered around him smile fondly.

Frankie watched as he raced off to shed his costume and get one of the cookies the children had been promised as a reward.

“Just think, this time next year we’ll have another little snowflake in the family,” said Adele, and Natalie and Jonathan caught hands and smiled at each other.

It was too early to let go of family fun. “Who wants to come over and help me drink eggnog before I consume it all?” Frankie offered.

“We need to get Warner home and in bed,” said Natalie.

“Works for me,” Stef said. “I’ve got nothing else going,” she added with a small frown.

Frankie turned to Adele. “Mom, you going to join us?”

“I’ll have to pass. I’ve got someone coming over,” Adele said.

“Only yesterday you didn’t have any plans besides this,” Frankie pointed out.

“Life is fluid,” Adele replied. Whatever that meant.

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