Page 54 of Yuletide Hero

“So, Christmas tree or cookies first?” Brady asked as he set the tree he’d carried with him down on the floor.

“Cookies,” Star screeched, her little face red, her fingers curled into fists.

They all laughed. “Cookies it is,” Aurora said, setting her daughter down and opening the cookie box, giving one to Star.

“Where do you want the tree?” Brady asked.

“Over there,” she and Brian said simultaneously. Hayley shot him a grin. Even in things like this they were in perfect agreement.

“Did you bring decorations?” Hayley asked as she followed Brady over to the corner on the far side of the room where he was starting to set up the tree.

“Did we bring decorations?” Brady echoed with mock horror. “Darlin’, we brought decorations, tinsel, garlands, the whole works.”

Hayley couldn’t deny she was becoming happier by the second that Arianna, Brady, Aurora, and Star had stopped by for a visit. Without any decorations in the apartment, it hadn't felt like Christmas, but now they could have their own little Christmas here even if she was stuck and wouldn’t get to spend the holidays with her family.

“What goes on first?” Brian asked, opening the box of decorations the others had brought.

“Lights,” she and Arianna said in unison.

Everyone laughed again, and she felt the tension that had built back up inside her when the doorbell rang begin to fade away. Spending the morning with her sister and friends would be fun, especially since they'd be decorating the tree, then maybe once they left she and Brian could make love again.

* * * * *

11:22 A.M.

Sawyer yawned as he watched the kids play.

Kinsley Turner was settling into the group home and was gaining some confidence. She had finally come out of her room and had spent the morning playing with another little girl her age. They’d played with a doll’s house and then built a castle with big wooden blocks. They’d painted pictures, and now they were busy making cakes and cookies with play dough.

So far, Jay Turner hadn't turned up here, other than the day he’d waited for Hayley and followed her and Brian, running their car off the road. Sawyer was starting to think the man was smart enough to know that coming here was only going to lead to his arrest. He hoped Jay was found soon though, so they could all go back to their lives.

As much as he was settling in here, he missed his wife, his kids, and his own house. Ashley called every day, and he always spoke to his twins, but Jackson and Janelle were only fourteen months old and didn't really get the idea of a phone. He was pretty sure it freaked them out hearing their daddy’s voice but being unable to see him. As soon as Ash put the phone to their ears, they went quiet, but he could hear them babbling away in the background when he and Ashley were talking. They’d tried video calling, too, but that seemed to freak out the kids even more, so he and Ash had video chatted after she’d put the twins to bed.

He was missing them though.

Forty-eight hours without hugging his kids or kissing his wife was a lot. This was the longest he had been away from the twins since they were born and the longest he had been away from his wife since they’d been married. He had worked bodyguard cases since he’d gotten married but no overnight ones. He’d mostly been doing private security work at events which meant that he was home each night, or more accurately in the early hours of the morning. He couldn’t wait to go home.

“Sawyer.”

“Yeah?” he asked as Kinsley and her little friend came running over. “What’s up, girls?”

“We’re hungry, are we allowed to have a snack?” Kinsley asked. Her little face was anxious like she wasn't altogether sure whether or not she was going to get in trouble for asking for some food. The other little girl looked even more afraid.

Sawyer hated that.

He hated that these children had been abused to the point that they were now afraid of the most simple and small things. He wondered if they would ever completely let go of their fear. He hoped that they could. Seeing the kids here at the group home had made him resolve to be an even better father to his own kids. Sawyer knew that he couldn’t prevent them from being afraid, or stop them from getting hurt, or disappointed, or anything else, but he could be there, right beside them, to hold them when they were scared and wipe away their tears. His son and daughter were going to know without a shadow of a doubt that he loved them more than he could ever put into words.

“Sure, we can grab a snack. How about some fruit?” he asked as he took the children’s hands and led them to the kitchen.

“Fruit?” Kinsley echoed, her nose scrunched up a little. “Can’t we have a cookie?”

“It’s going to be lunch in an hour. I think fruit now, and maybe you two can have cookies for an afternoon snack.” Neither of the kids complained, and he almost backtracked and told the girls they could have whatever they wanted. They certainly deserved it. But right now, when their lives were in turmoil, what they needed most was structure and consistency. They needed rules and all the same things that other kids their age got at home. “What about if we make banana people.”

“What are banana people?” Kinsley asked.

“Banana people are people we make with bananas for their bodies, and berries for their eyes, and maybe a watermelon skirt, apple arms, or apricot smiles,” he explained. His kids were only toddlers, but they loved making banana people. It actually got them eating something other than cookies.

“Can we use pears for something?” the other little girl asked, her voice barely more than a whisper, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

---