Twenty-Five

 

 

 

 

 

For the next week, the girls kept them so busy they didn’t have time to worry or think straight about much of anything.

Naomi had finished sewing Maddie’s costume, a glittery all-white skirt with a matching sequined white top. Paired with white leggings, Naomi had to admit Maddie’s costume resembled a dancing snowflake. Maddie called it her ballerina outfit.

Tibby’s choir robe was a lot easier. Naomi had only to use several yards of white satin to make a sparkly, poncho-like cape that draped down to Tibby’s ankles. For the rope chain accessory, she used tassels made of silvery metallic tiebacks, then compared it to what the other moms had done, and felt pleased with her own creativity.

From designing costumes to decorating boats, the events stacked up all the way to Christmas day. In addition to the Parade of Lights, there was the pageant at school, the Christmas parade down Main Street, and Gretchen’s promise to host a spectacular blowout party for the kids on Christmas Eve.

Without planning it, the Parade of Lights turned out to be a boon for Colt and Naomi. Thanks to Gilly and Simon, it gave them the opportunity to fill up the Sea Dragon with kids, some from Maddie’s class and some from Tibby’s, allowing the girls their first foray into hosting a social event.

As Colt readied the boat to make the trip around Smuggler’s Bay to the tune of Christmas music blaring from the speakers, he got in line behind the slew of other boats participating in the first-ever boat parade.

He turned to little Jayden, sitting on his mother’s lap. “Your daddy wanted to be here tonight more than anything.”

Jayden scratched his nose. “He got shot. But he’s getting better. Mommy’s taking care of him.”

Maddie ran over and hugged the little boy. “My daddy got the bad guy that did it.”

Naomi took a picture of the two kids together embracing each other and held up her phone for Colt to see the results. “To document the event.”

“Send me that,” Colt stated. “You know that’s the first time Maddie has called me daddy.”

“I know. Although she did refer to you as such the other day when I picked her up from daycare. I forgot to mention it. Now you’ve heard it for yourself. How does it make you feel?”

“Important. Scared.”

Naomi smiled and looked over at Gilly. “I took pictures of the boat too before we got underway. Simon needs to see how awesome it looks decked out in all these colorful lights. I just sent them to his cell. I hope I didn’t wake him up or anything.”

Gilly shook her head. “He isn’t asleep. We pushed his bed closer to the window, so he could maybe catch a glimpse of the boats lit up. This whole thing was his idea. I’m sorry he’s missing it, but at least he’s alive, thanks to Colt.”

“And Eastlyn,” Colt added. “It was a team effort.”

When it was their turn to circle the harbor, Naomi herded the kids to the railing so they could wave to the crowd on the wharf. 

Tibby had invited a girl named Darcy who seemed uneasy with the movement of the boat and the sea itself. The whitecaps started getting to her before they ever left the dock, which should’ve been a warning of sorts. Because even though they hadn’t made it around the first leg of Smuggler’s Bay yet, Darcy started getting seasick while standing on the starboard side. A quick-thinking Tibby didn’t wait for the spewing to begin before rushing Darcy below deck, saving the girl from an embarrassing situation. 

Naomi relayed the story to Colt after everyone else had gone. “Our little girl was quite the hero tonight, especially to Darcy. For everything Tibby’s been through, she’s a good person, Colt. Sweet. She’s not your typical eleven-year-old.”

“The minute she decided to get out of that house in Boise, she became exceptional. And you saw how Maddie tried to cheer up Jayden tonight about his dad. Our girls are special, Naomi. Did we get lucky or what?”

That statement proved truer than they thought after the Christmas pageant, a play put on by the entire school and based loosely on The Nutcracker without the ballet part. Each grade, kindergarten to sixth, had one scene in the six-part musical extravaganza, set to Tchaikovsky’s music.

Colt and Naomi got comfortable in the audience. But it was Colt who aimed his video camera toward the stage and waited for his little snowflake to make her grand appearance.

Maddie flitted on stage on her toes chased by a group of battling mice, one of whom was Nate Cody. Nate didn’t look all that unhappy about getting to play a mouse, armed with a cardboard sword, who got to slash it through the air, and pretend to fight.

The fifth act belonged to Tibby’s class. They performed a snappy version of the March Along Song while a huge purple mouse king battled a soldier slash nutcracker in the foreground.

The last act took place in the Land of Sweets. After a grand waltz, the Sugar Plum Fairy escorted the prince and princess to their reindeer sleigh where they all waved goodbye to the audience.

The curtain fell. And the show was over. The play had lasted a mere forty-five minutes.

“All that work and effort. Teachers don’t get paid enough,” Naomi said, clasping hands with Colt.

“Where are our two little stars, the pretend ballerina and the songster?” Colt asked, raising his voice and taking in the confusion among the pandemonium. Kids were running from backstage and calling out to greet their waiting parents in the audience. With everyone talking at once, it was difficult to hear anything.

Kelsie Meadows, Tibby’s teacher, approached them, pulling them into an alcove near the stage door. “I just want to tell you it’s such a joy having Tibby in my class. She’s always willing to help the other kids any way she can. She is such an asset.”

Naomi’s eyes filled with water. “We think she’s pretty special. We’re glad to hear that you do too. How are her grades? We know she’s behind.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve told her if she completes the assignments that I’ve given her during Christmas break, she should be caught up with the other kids by the time school starts again in January.”

“That’s good news,” Colt said. “And a relief. Is she making any friends?”

“She’s very social, but not in a bad way during class. We’ll catch up on her progress in more detail in February during the third parent-teacher conference of the year, where I hope to report that she’s one of my top students. I definitely see her potential.”

After the teacher went on to another group of parents, they set out to look for the girls and found them backstage with their arms around another child who was in tears. Tibby and Maddie were doing their best to console the girl. Colt recognized the same kid who had flubbed her lines in the third act.

Naomi and Colt exchanged proud looks, but it was Naomi who voiced what was in her heart. “Maybe our girls really are angels.”

For Colt, it was a moment of quiet reflection. Our girls. Angels. Maddie consoling someone else after losing her mother less than a month ago. Tibby reassuring a younger child even though she’d lived in constant fear herself for three years and had to go on the run to get away from it. “They’re survivors, Naomi, just like we are. Survivors who’ve seen their own personal hell and come out of it on the other side, better for it. They really do belong to us.”

“Damn straight they do.”

The town Christmas parade came right on the heels of the school play, a light parade of trucks and cars loaded down with people waving and tossing candy along the route. Bands came from every high school within fifty miles to participate and play Christmas songs.

The crowds started lining both sides of Main Street an hour before start time.

Dressed in his cop uniform, Colt pushed Simon’s wheelchair up to a point where he could see the action from start to finish.

“You should’ve entered that old truck of yours, let the girls ride in the parade,” Simon suggested, his breathing still labored, but better than it had been. A sign that the former Army Ranger was on the mend.

“Who says I didn’t?”

“Now you’re talking. Where’s Gilly?”

“She and Naomi cooked up a surprise for you. They’ll be along with the kids and the dogs soon. You’ll see.”

“I like how they’ve become friends. Gilly needed someone who understands her. Naomi seems to fit the bill.”

Colt chuckled. “Things really do change. To think we finally found women who could get along with one another is nothing short of a miracle.”

“A Christmas miracle,” Simon cracked. “We just had to find the right women. Me being here is a Colt miracle. Not for the first time, either.”

“I save you, you save me. That’s the way it’s always worked. Am I right?”

“Then I owe you one.”

“No offense, but I’m hoping not to collect on that any time soon.”

“None taken.”

A whistle blared in the distance. Colt’s landlord, Russell Dennis, wearing a red Santa suit and a long, fake white beard waved from his motorcycle to lead off the festivities. Brent was next in line behind the wheel of his brand-new cruiser flashing his lights, followed by a fire truck from San Sebastian. The band geared up, hitting the first notes of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” Cars and trucks streamed by until one in particular, and more familiar, came into view.

Naomi was behind the wheel, Gilly held onto Delaney in the passenger seat, while the older kids sat in the bed of the truck surrounded by the dogs.

Colt leaned down where Simon could hear, murmuring in his ear, “That’s our family, buddy. Right there is our future.”