Christmas On Pointe (A Silver Bell Falls Holiday Novella)

by Samantha Chase

  “We have lots of popcorn!” Maya called out.

  Deciding to let it go, Abby walked toward the kitchen and decided to share her own surprise with them. “Ooh...I do love popcorn. You know what else is great on a snowy day?”

  Maya’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “Freshly-baked cookies,” Abby said with a grin.

  “But...but we don’t have the stuff for that,” Maya said, her brows scrunching up. “We used it all when we baked the cookies last time.”

  Abby’s grin widened as she walked over to Dean’s pantry. “Earlier, while the two of you were getting your shoes on, I snuck these supplies in.” She reached in, pulled out two grocery bags and held them up. “We have enough here for chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies and peanut butter cookies!”

  “Yeah!” Maya cheered. “We can eat cookies all weekend!”

  Putting the bags on the counter, Abby looked at Dean and Maya. “I really hoped that the weather forecast was wrong and that we’d have fun baking cookies just because we wanted to and not because we’re stuck inside in a snowstorm.” She shrugged. “I wanted it to be a surprise for when we got back from getting the new ornaments.”

  Dean stepped forward and hugged her. Abby’s heart melted just a little bit. “Thank you,” he murmured in her ear. “You’re amazing.”

  Abby stepped out of his embrace and sheepishly looked at the two of them again. “Actually, I have one more surprise.”

  “You do?” Maya asked.

  “Really?” Dean asked with a small laugh. “Is it better than homemade cookies?”

  Laughing with him, she looked over at Maya. “Well, I think it may be better for one of us.” Then she looked at Dean. “Would you mind going out to my car? My gym bag is on the back seat and then there’s another bag back there. Could you bring them both in?”

  He didn’t question her, he simply nodded and did as she asked.

  Taking Maya by the hand, Abby led her back out to the living room and sat them both down on the couch. “When I was growing up, my mom always got me a new Christmas ornament every year. At first there was a theme – baby’s first Christmas, second Christmas and so on until I was five. Then she would get ornaments that were about something going on in my life or something that she knew was a favorite of mine.”

  “Like what?” Maya asked curiously.

  “Well, there were Disney ornaments with some of my favorite characters and there were ballet-themed ornaments to celebrate my dance accomplishments.” She paused. “Sometimes it was just a fun ornament with my name on it. And now I have a lot of those ornaments to put on my tree. My mom kept a lot of them so she can still put them on her tree but...every year when I decorate and I look at those ornaments, they make me smile.”

  “We never had a big tree,” Maya said quietly, studying her hands that were folded in her lap. “I only ever helped decorate the tree once. I was too small before that, I guess. But we didn’t have any stories with our ornaments. They were just colored balls.” She shrugged. “No big deal.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Abby said, placing an arm around the girl. “We used to have some of those on our tree too and even though they were plain, they still had a story.”

  “They did?”

  Abby nodded. “Uh-huh! We bought those the year I turned six. That was the year my mom decided that I was old enough to have a big tree that we could decorate. Before that, we had a small one that she would put on a table so I wouldn’t touch it.”

  “My mom did that too.”

  “I think it’s a mom thing,” Abby said lightly. “They try to protect us from getting hurt.”

  Maya didn’t say anything. She just nodded.

  Dean walked back into the house and put Abby’s gym bag down before walking over to them and handing her the other bag. It was a red gift bag with white tissue paper sticking out and Abby immediately handed it to Maya.

  “This is for you.”

  Maya carefully took the bag as if it were something fragile and then slowly pulled the tissue paper out. When she reached inside, she looked at Abby before she pulled out. There was a mixture of excitement and uncertainty on her sweet little face and Abby had a feeling Maya hadn’t been on the receiving end of too many happy surprises.

  Putting the bag aside, Maya slowly unwrapped the ball of tissue paper and then gasped. “It’s a ballerina ornament!” She said it so softly and with such wonder that Abby knew she’d made the right decision.

  “And see, she’s wearing all pink and has blonde hair just like you,” Abby said, bending down to point out some of the details. “I thought she would make a great addition to your ornament collection so that you’ll always remember the first Christmas that you learned ballet.”

  In the blink of an eye, Maya wrapped around Abby, hugging her tightly. Abby’s arms immediately went around her as she willed herself not to cry. It was such a simple gift and it clearly meant a lot to Maya and for that, Abby was pleased.

  And choked up.

  Beside them, Dean cleared his throat. Maya gave her one more squeeze before pulling back. Then she held out the ornament for Dean to see.

  “Look, Uncle Dean! It’s me!”

  Smiling, Dean sat down beside her and looked at it. “It sure is, kiddo,” he said, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. “And tomorrow, I think that should be the very first ornament we put on the tree. What do you think?”

  “I can’t wait!”

  It felt good. Abby quietly congratulated herself on finding something that was meaningful for Maya because she knew it would be something she’d always remember. Abby knew if she sat here much longer thinking about it, she’d start crying for sure.

  She was a sucker for sentimental stuff.

  “What do you say we go and get our baking supplies set up?” she said as a distraction, standing up. “We can get in a couple of hours of baking before dinnertime.”

  Dean suggested that Maya go and wash up and once she was out of the room, he pulled Abby into his arms and rested his forehead against hers. “Thank you.”

  Even though she kind of suspected what he was thanking her for, she couldn’t help but want to hear it. “For what?”

  He smiled. “You totally saved the day. I really thought the snow would hold off a little longer and that we’d get to do all of the things we’d planned on. I knew Maya was going to be disappointed and bored about being snowed in, but somehow you managed to fix it all. You’re amazing.”

  Snuggling close to him, Abby hid her smile against his chest. “Well, I just thought the baking would be a good distraction since the tree needs to acclimate to being indoors. I had a feeling Maya would be anxious about decorating and thought baking would help shift her focus.”

  “And then the ornament,” he said.

  She shrugged, still not looking up at him. “I saw it when I was out shopping the other day and it reminded me of her. I used to love when my mom got me personalized ornaments. I thought Maya probably would too.” Then she mentally cursed. “I mean...obviously I’m not her mom but...”

  “I know what you meant, Abby,” he replied softly. “And it was a very thoughtful thing to do. You made her day.”

  “I don’t know about that...”

  “Are you kidding?” He tucked a finger under her chin and gently forced her to look at him. “Between the cookies and the ballerina, trust me. You made her day.”

  “Thanks.” Pausing, Abby decided that they didn’t have a lot of time before Maya came back into the room and she did need to ask him some questions. “What are we doing about the sleeping arrangements tonight? I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to sleep with you when Maya’s here. It’s not...I don’t know...it doesn’t seem...”

  He placed a finger over her lips. “I know. And I also know this wasn’t planned so you can take my bed and I’ll sleep out here on the couch.”

  “You must think I’m being ridiculous...”

  Shaking his he
ad, Dean held her chin and said, “I think you are completely selfless. I see all that you do for everyone and how you put everyone else and their needs before your own. And I have to admit, I kind of like that you’re worried about how it will look to my five-year-old niece if we sleep together.” He placed a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “That’s not to say that I like the situation because believe me, I would really like to sleep with you in my bed. We wouldn’t have to do anything but...just thinking about holding you all night was something I was looking forward to.”

  And really, so was she.

  Sometimes being the responsible one sucked.

  Like right now.

  Sighing, Abby gave him a quick hug and just as she stepped out of his embrace, Maya came running back into the room.

  “I’m ready! I’m ready! I’m ready!” she cried, grinning from ear to ear. “Can we make the chocolate chip ones first? And then can we have them for dessert?”

  “We can definitely make them first,” Abby said, “but it’s up to your uncle what we have for dessert.”

  The look on Dean’s face told her exactly what he wanted for dessert and Abby could feel herself blush.

  “I think we can do that,” Dean said. “We don’t have anything major planned for dinner. I thought we were going to be out shopping so I planned to grab something in town, but now...”

  Abby held up her hand. “Let’s go and see what you have and we’ll make this entire night a culinary adventure!”

  “What’s a culin...a cul...nary...,” Maya sighed dramatically. “What’s that?”

  “That means food. We’re going to have a food adventure!” she said excitedly. “We’re going to go into the kitchen and raid the refrigerator and cabinets and see what we can come up with. Maybe it will be sandwiches, maybe it will be soup or...”

  “No casseroles!” Dean and Maya called out and they all laughed.

  Nodding, Abby laughed with them. “Got it. No casseroles. Now let’s go!”

  Ten

  For dinner, they ate soup and grilled cheese sandwiches in front of the fire, not by choice, but because they’d lost power. Luckily, all of the cookies had been baked and Abby had barely gotten the last grilled cheese out of the pan when the lights went out. Maya had been mildly upset by the whole thing, but once the fire was going she seemed to calm down.

  They finished cleaning up and there wasn’t much else they could do without power.

  “Can we sleep out here?” Maya asked. “So we can be warm?”

  He’d pulled out flashlights and they had plenty of firewood so they were basically good. There had been many storms where he’d lost power and it really wasn’t anything to get so worked up about, but he was. For years he’d been telling himself to get a generator. Not the small gasoline one he had in his garage, but a real one that kicked on as soon as the power went out. But he never did – mainly because it was always just him and it hadn’t been a big deal. Now with a child in the house, he was realizing that it would have been a smart thing to have.

  “Do you have extra blankets or sleeping bags?” Abby asked. “We can make this whole area our camp so that we’re all close to the fire.”

  Nodding, he grabbed a flashlight and stalked off down the hall to get what she requested. Behind him, Dean heard Abby helping Maya to her room to get her sleeping bag and pillow.

  “Okay, you’ve got your flashlight,” Abby said. “Do you need help getting into your pajamas?”

  “It’s still early,” Maya said and Dean could hear the pout in her voice. “Why do I have to put them on now?”

  “Because we’re all going to be going to bed early. There’s no power and not much else to do. I know we have your uncle’s laptop so maybe we can watch a movie if he has one downloaded on it, but if not, sleep is really the only thing we can do.”

  “Darn. I wanted to have cookies and milk too.”

  “Tell you what, Maya Papaya,” Abby began. “You get into your pajamas and help us get our camp set up and we’ll all have cookies and milk before we go to bed, okay?”

  “O-kay!”

  Dean supposed she was doing what Abby asked and he was relieved. Pulling open his linen closet, he reached for some extra blankets when he heard Abby come up behind him. He glanced at her over his shoulder before going back to his task.

  “Are you all right?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “That’s what I’m wondering. You’ve been a little bit short with us since the power went out.”

  “Yeah, well...”

  “Dean, it happens all the time up here. This is hardly something new and we’re all doing fine with it. I think it was kind of fun having a picnic in front of the fire.”

  He threw the blanket he just took down onto the bed and turned to Abby. “You’re right. It does happen all the time and normally it’s just me here so it’s not a big deal to be without power for a night, but it’s not just me anymore! I have Maya to consider. I’ve been putting off getting a generator – and not for any good reason – and now we don’t have heat or electricity and...and...she’s just a kid! Kids need those things!”

  Hearing his own words made Dean realize just how stressed he was and possibly how much he was overreacting. The look on Abby’s face told him that she understood – again.

  And even that pissed him off.

  Why didn’t she ever get upset or stressed out? How could she just keep going with the flow on everything? Didn’t she realize how much he was screwing up? Didn’t she care at all?

  “Dean...”

  “Did you see how scared she was when the lights went out?” he snapped. “If I had gotten the damn generator, she wouldn’t have been.”

  “And did you just hear how she was a minute ago? She’s fine, Dean. She’s getting her pajamas on and she’s excited about camping out in the living room. Everything’s okay. There are going to be times when she gets scared or upset or just...things can’t always be perfect and that’s okay.”

  Realistically, he knew she was right, but it wasn’t enough to make him feel any better.

  “I hate that I wasn’t prepared,” he murmured.

  Stepping in close to him, Abby cupped his face in her hands. “You did fine. We have the fire going for warmth, dinner was cooked, we have a small generator to keep the refrigerator going and we’re going to have some cookies for dessert while we camp out and sleep in the living room. If anything, it’s been a fun little adventure for her.”

  His response was a low, mirthless laugh.

  “Let’s get those pillows and blankets and everything all set up and then I’m going to change into my pajamas too,” she said sweetly, kissing him on the cheek.

  Just as she was about to move away from him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “You still need a shirt?”

  She nodded. “Please.”

  It would have been so easy to just kiss her and touch her and just...push the rest of the world away if only for a minute, but now wasn’t the time. So he forced himself to move, grab a t-shirt out of his dresser drawer and scoop up the pillows and blankets. Together they went back out to the living room. Maya was already out there claiming her spot.

  On the couch.

  “Hey!” Abby said lightly, putting her hands on her hips. “How come you get the couch and we get the floor?”

  “Because I was faster!” the little girl giggled. Then she jumped up and quickly scooted into the sleeping bag. “It’s almost like sleeping in my bed!”

  It was on the tip of Dean’s tongue to reprimand her and remind her that Abby was their guest so she should get the couch, but then he realized that this way, he and Abby would be on the floor.

  Together.

  It wasn’t ideal but...beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  ****

  “Forget what I said earlier. This is great,” Dean whispered against her ear later that night. Maya had been asleep for almost two hours and they were just getting settled un
der the blankets. Abby knew she shouldn’t be enjoying it quite so much – and that they should have made up separate spaces to sleep, but because of the way the living room furniture was placed, they had a limited area to be near the fire. “Are you warm enough?”

  She nodded and settled closer to him – her back to his front. Her bottom fit snugly against him and she cursed the fact that they weren’t alone. “This is nice,” she said softly. “The fire gives off a lot of heat and then we’ve got this whole body heat situation going on so I’m good.”

  “It could be better,” he said, kissing her throat and nipping at her shoulder. “Although, you do look incredibly sexy in my shirt.”

  It was more like a dress on her and for a while she had worn it with a pair of leggings and socks. She was the kind of girl who hated to sleep with anything on her legs or feet, so she stripped them off once they got under the blankets.

  “And I know you look even sexier out of it,” he added.

  “Behave yourself,” she giggled. “There’s a sleeping child less than five feet away.”

  “We could go inside for a little while. She’d never even know we were gone.”

  It was tempting.

  Beyond tempting – especially with the way his lips were moving over her skin and his hands were starting to roam over her body. Stretching against him, Abby felt the full length of him behind her. He had on flannel pajama pants and no shirt and...well...she was only human. Dean had an amazing body and she enjoyed seeing it and touching it just as much as he seemed to enjoy doing the same to her.

  What harm could an hour do?

  No! She instantly admonished herself. They were adults and they had self-control, right?

  Rolling over to face him, Abby kissed Dean’s jaw. “You have no idea how much I want to take you up on that offer, but...”

  He silenced her with a kiss – one of those that was hot and wet and deep and a little dirty but held so many promises. Sighing, she rolled onto her back as Dean stretched out on top of her taking the kiss even deeper.

  It went on and on and on – her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands started to skim up her rib cage under her shirt and...