Page 19 of Soldier's Chrismas Hope
“Okay,” he told her. “Do you know how to make biscuits?”
“No,” Pixie said. “But I’m good at baking. Aunt Nora says it’s because I’m patient.”
“Patience is really important for baking,” River said, impressed.
“Do you have a recipe?” Pixie asked him. “I can read it, if you want. But I might need help if it has big words.”
“I don’t have a recipe because my mom taught me how to make these when I was a little boy,” River told her. “So I’ve been making them all my life.”
“Okay,” Pixie said politely.
But he could tell by her expression that she didn’t completely believe him. It was all he could do not to chuckle.
“There are only a few ingredients,” he told her. “So it’s super easy.”
He talked to her while he got them out, handing her each item so that she could place it on the counter. He couldn’t help noticing that she lined everything up very neatly.
“Okay,” he said when they were done. “We always start by making sure we have everything, and we haveenoughof everything, which we do. So we can get started now.”
Pixie was too short to reach the counter, so he had to go down to the basement and find a wooden crate she could stand on.
When he got back up, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was playing on the radio and Pixie was humming along to it.
“Here we go,” he told her, placing the crate by the counter. “How does this work?”
She stepped up, and it was just right.
He grabbed a bowl, along with the measuring cups and spoons, and they carefully got all the dry ingredients ready together.
It was kind of fun to cook with Pixie. River had always been the little brother, but now someone was looking to him for how to do everything for a change.
They had just gotten to the wet ingredients when he heard Nora calling for Pixie upstairs.
“Coming,”Pixie yelled back without prompting, hopping down from the crate, and dashing up the stairs.
He watched after her, impressed that she knew right away that she’d better not scare Nora by being missing. Inretrospect, maybe he should have sent Nora a text to let her know that Pixie was with him so she wouldn’t worry when she woke up.
I’ve got a lot to learn about being around kids.
He quickly finished off the biscuit dough. By the time he had it rolled out, he heard footsteps on the stairs again.
“Good morning,” Nora said softly.
She appeared in the doorway with her two little helpers. Everyone was dressed now, and he noticed that Pixie’s hair was brushed.
Nora wore a soft pink sweater and a pair of jeans—perfect for a day in the country. Her hair was loose, and she was smiling shyly. His heart tugged at the sight of her looking so relaxed and happy.
“Good morning,” he managed. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Oh, yes,” she told him. “It’s so peaceful out here. I’d forgotten.”
Her pretty blue eyes were twinkling, and he knew suddenly that if he’d thought he could stay on the path he’d set for himself, he was very wrong. He was already lost, so lost.
“Is that cookies?” John-John asked excitedly, pointing at the dough rolled out on the counter.
“Biscuits,” Pixie squeaked before River could answer. “I helped.”
“Wow, Pixie,” Nora said. “That’s great.”
