Page 78 of The Santa Rules
“The bomb?” Hardy mouths to me, and I nod to let him know I got this.
“I think that’s a great idea. I’ve never heard of a cookie bomb. What would it look like?”
“Like one of those black bombs in the old cartoons daddy likes.”
Hardy and I share a knowing glance.
“Would it look like an actual bomb, or like a bomb-shaped ornament?” I ask, trying to gently push her in the ornament direction.
“Like a real bomb,” she says as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Got it. So does it explode like a real bomb?” I ask.
“We could fill it with sprinkles. And then they would fall out when Santa bites into it!” she exclaims.
That’s actually a really cool idea, and I look at Delilah, silently asking her if we could make that.
Delilah nods as she carries the dough to the island. “I think we could accommodate that if we make three bomb cookies, stack them, and hollow out the middle one to hide the sprinkles. It would be a thick cookie, though, so I think we should only make one like that for Santa.”
Avery beams with excitement as we spend the next hour rolling out dough and baking trees, socks, and bombs. Delilah packs up half of the dough, popping it in the freezer while Avery and Isaac carefully decorate our test cookies. I smile down at Avery as she puts the finishing touches on her cookie bomb, filling it with sprinkles, before smooshing the cookies together with a generous amount of icing.
“How does this look?” she says, proudly holding up the bomb.
Isaac leans over her shoulder and pretends to take a bite, chomping comically around her while she squeals and tries to protect her cookie. “Giraffe, no!”
Her squeals and giggles warm my heart, and I look over at Hardy. I swear there are tears in his eyes as he mouths “Thank you,” and holds his hand over his heart.
“We have to save this one for Santa,” Avery exclaims.
“Actually, you can eat that one, if it’s okay with your dad. This was just a test run. We have extra dough in the freezer ready to make fresh cookies, so Santa doesn’t have to eat ten-day-old ones.”
Hardy nods, but it’s in vain, because Avery is already shoving half the cookie in her mouth as sprinkles rain down her shirt.
“At least we know the cookie bomb works,” Delilah says, pointing to the mess.
CHAPTER 25
BELLA
We’re at the school to put the finishing touches on everything the night before the Workshop opens. Summer, Raven, and Lucy are helping while all our kids run around. They started out helpful, but it’s quickly devolved into a game of tag, and we’re all too tired to put a stop to it.
Hardy walks in carrying the Santa chair, and his face lights up as soon as he sees me.
“Oh, the hot firefighter istotallyin love with you,” Summer says.
“Called it! Pay up, ladies,” Lucy says, sticking out a hand for Raven and Summer to each slap a dollar into her palm.
“Two dollars? Last time it was ten!” I say, trying not to laugh.
“After that night at the Ugly Sweater party, I think we all knew,” Lucy says, pointing at Raven and Summer.
“That man is so gone for you,” Summer says with a sigh.
Before Raven can add anything, Hardy walks over with the chair, and a silence falls over us. “Where do you want this?” he asks, never breaking eye contact with me.
“Now I see it,” Raven says dryly as Summer and Lucy slap a hand to her stomach.
“We totally weren’t talking about you,” I say awkwardly as he sets down the chair.
