Page 36 of Soldier's Chrismas Hope
“Oh, no,” Nora said, horrified. “No, it wasn’t that.”
“Oh,” Pixie said, shrugging. “Too bad.”
Nora blinked at her for a moment in complete shock, trying her best to rally.
“It was about the holidays,” she went on bravely. “He said he was enjoying our visit very much, and he wondered if the three of us might like to stay for the holidays.”
“Like not go home?” Pixie asked.
“Well, we would go home,” Nora said. “But not until after Christmas.”
Nora was pretty sure they would just want to go home tomorrow night. She hadn’t really packed much as far as toys and books, since they were only planning to be here for the weekend, so they were probably already starting to get a little bored.
And if they stayed, she would have to buy their Christmas presents in the village instead of the city.
Though maybe it will be easier if River watches them for a few minutes while I sneak into a shop or two…
She had been wondering how in the world she could surprise the children when she spent every waking moment with John-John. She’d never even thought about leaving them with someone else before. But for some reason, the idea of leaving them with River didn’t bother her.
“Can we keep feeding the birds?” John-John asked after a moment.
“Yes,” Nora told him. “As a matter of fact, River was thinking it might be fun to do more of the things from your book.”
“Like cut down a tree?” Pixie asked excitedly.
“Yes,” Nora said with a smile. “We might be able to go and cut a fresh Christmas tree for River’s house.”
“And decorate it?” John-John asked. “And make cookies?”
“Sure,” Nora told him. “All those things. I know we didn’t bring many toys. But there should be plenty to keep us busy. And we can always visit the library and check out some more books.”
“We’ll do all the stuff in those too,” John-John decided. “I like making bird feeders.”
“That was really fun, wasn’t it?” Nora said with a smile.
“You really learned that in preschool, Pixie?” John-John asked.
“Yes,” Pixie said. “We learned how to do all kinds of stuff.”
“When can I go to preschool?” he asked.
Nora’s heart skipped a beat.
“Would you like to go to preschool?” she asked him carefully.
“Yes,” he said. “I want to go to school. I’m big enough now.”
“I think you would really like preschool,” Nora agreed. “There are lots of fun things to do, and children to play with.”
“I went when I was even littler than you, John-John,” Pixie said.
“But I wasn’t ready yet,” John-John said, snuggling contentedly into Nora’s side. He smelled good, like the shampoo with the light apple scent from the farmhouse bathroom.
“That’s right,” Nora said. “We decided you could go when you felt ready.”
“I’m ready now, Aunt Nora,” he said, patting her arm. “I’m gonna learn to make all kinds of stuff.”
“That sounds very nice,” she told him.
