Page 54 of A Cozy Christmas Blizzard
“Sometimes mommies and daddies like to make believe, and while they don’t mean to lie, they can mislead their children,” he went on.
Zoe briefly tore her gaze away from the television screen. “Like Santa, you mean?”
Wynn smiled. “Like Santa,” he agreed.
“We know he’s not real,” Zoe informed them with all the wisdom of a five-year-old.
“Santa is really Mommy and Daddy,” Zara explained. “Everyoneknows that.”
“They do?”
Both girls nodded.
Zoe’s eyes turned serious. “We heard Mommy and Daddy fighting about Santa and we almost told them it doesn’t matter ’cause we already know.”
“We like getting gifts from him, though,” Zara told them.
“Yeah, I like Santa,” Zoe added.
“But he’s not real,” Wynn said, sounding perfectly logical.
“Mommy’s real,” Zara argued. “And Daddy, too.”
“Yes, but...” Wynn seemed determined to argue further, but stopped when he happened to glance at K.O. He held her gaze a moment before looking away.
K.O. did her best to keep quiet, but apparently Wynn realized how difficult that was, because he clammed up fast enough.
The next time she looked at the twins, Zara had slumped over to one side, eyes drooping. K.O. gently shook the little girl’s shoulders but Zara didn’t respond. Still fearing she might have given one twin a double dose of the antibiotic, she knelt down in front of the other child.
“Zoe,” she asked, struggling to keep the panic out of her voice. “Did you get your medicine or did Zara swallow both doses?”
Zoe grinned and pantomimed zipping her mouth closed.
“Zoe,” K.O. said again. “This is important. We can’t play games when medicine is involved.” So much for Wynn’s theory that children instinctively knew when it was necessary to tell the truth.
“Zara likes the taste better’n me.”
“Did you take your medicine or did Zara take it for you?” Wynn asked.
Zoe smiled and shook her head, indicating that she wasn’t telling.
Zara snored, punctuating the conversation.
“Did you or did you not take your medicine?” Wynn demanded, nearly yelling.
Tears welled in Zoe’s eyes. She buried her face in K.O.’s lap and refused to answer Wynn.
“This isn’t a joke,” he muttered, clearly losing his patience with the twins.
“Zoe,” K.O. cautioned. “You heard Dr. Jeffries. It’s important for us to know if you took your medication.”
The little girl raised her head, then slowly nodded. “It tastes bad, but I swallowed it all down.”
“Good.” Relief flooded K.O. “Thank you for telling the truth.”
“I don’t like your friend,” she said, sticking her tongue out at Wynn. “He yells.”
“I only yelled because... you made me,” Wynn countered. He marched to the far side of the room, and K.O. reflected that he didn’t sound so calm and reasonable anymore.
