So, I'm working on Book Two (a.k.a Twelve) but in the meantime, here's a little something fun I wrote for the holidays. Meet Lydia, a single mom who's doing her best to keep the Christmas magic alive for her two boys. Don't worry, there will be romance!
Lydia wiped a blob of goo off her cheek. Every girl knew cookie dough was delicious, but cookie dough stuck to your face? Not so much.
The Christmas Miracle of Lydia Perkins
Part 1
Lydia wiped a blob of goo off her cheek. Every girl knew cookie dough was delicious, but cookie dough stuck to your face? Not so much.
Time to get a new mixer, she mentally noted, one that won’t flip food all over the place. A second thought
trailed after the first one, But how can
we ever afford that? She’d barely paid the mortgage this month, and had already
maxed out the credit card on gifts for the boys. Whatever. She could pay it
off. Probably. By next Christmas.
“Mommmyyyyy!!!!” Her youngest son
screeched to a halt behind her, yanking on her apron strings to get her
attention. As if the yelling wasn’t enough.
She turned to him, squatting
down to look him in the eyes, “What is it, Jimmy?”
“He said he’s going to kill me!” If this line had been uttered
by someone else, someone without a cowlick and two front teeth missing, it
might have caused more of a dramatic reaction. Jimmy never captured the right
amount of tragedy, no matter how he tried. And he did try. “He said he’ll push
me out the window!”
Lydia gave him a look, that
special look that convinced children their mothers really did have eyes in the
backs of their heads. “And what did you
do?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I was just playing with my
toys…” His little boy mouth pulled down at the corners.
Her eyes narrowed, intensifying
the Mother Look.
After squirming for a second,
he cracked. “Well…he took my G.I. Joe, so I threw a Lego at him. I didn’t mean to hit him in the head…” His round hazel eyes showed genuine regret.
“What’s the rule about throwing
toys?” she grilled him.
“Don’t throw toys,” he replied flatly.
“Correct. Now, you have a
choice, you may play quietly with your toys and be respectful to your brother
or you may go to timeout and miss dessert.”
“But mommmyyyyy…” he stretched
the word out until it was practically unrecognizable, little more than a whine. She’d thought it was so adorable the first
time he’d lisped it in his baby voice.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
“Make your choice, Jimmy,” she
said, holding up one finger.
“I’ll be nice,” he said,
sighing and turning away.
“Tell your brother he can be
nice too, or no cookies!” she called after his retreating form as she stood
back up. She heard the resulting tussle as she turned back to her cookie dough.
Mom said be nice or you don’t get any cookies,” Jimmy said smugly. Sighing
again, she flipped the mixer up to full speed to drown them out. They wouldn’t really kill one another.
After a minute, she scraped
down the sides of the bowl and folded in the chocolate chips. The day had
started out so nicely too. These days, dreams were a single mom’s only escape. And
last night’s had been a doozy. She’d found herself back in high school—in her
size 8 high school body, no less—and on the same stage where she’d performed in
numerous musicals. Her co-star, a tasty blonde with bright green eyes, decided
they needed to practice the kissing scene.
Dipping her tentatively, he pecked her quickly before pulling her upright
again.
“Unconvincing!” the
Nazi-of-a-director called from the audience.
“Pretend like you like each other, for Pete’s sake!” At this her partner had dipped her full Old
Hollywood style, planting a firm kiss on her lips. Lydia, taken completely by
surprise, was a bit shaky when he set her back on her feet. “That’s more like
it!” the director yelled encouragingly, “Except not so wooden, Lyddie! Again!”
Her green-eyed partner looked
straight into her eyes, smiling mischievously. “Let’s show them how this is
done.”
Lydia was prepared when the
spin and dip came, this time pulling their bodies together to lean into his
kiss. It was meant to be a regular stage
kiss, all glitz and no heart. Instead, the whole world blurred at the edges and
dropped away as they melted into one another. Then, somewhere in the middle of
that never-ending kiss she sensed a strange dampness on her cheek…was he
actually licking her? Or worse, was she drooling? Oh please, let
it be anything but drool!
It was at this point that her
boys had burst into her room screaming bloody murder, and she woke to find the
dog lapping affectionately at her face. Perfect.
A day that began like that
warranted chocolate at the end, she rationalized, and dipped a finger into the
dough to make sure she hadn’t forgotten any ingredients. Everything was
accounted for, so she grabbed a spoon and began scooping balls onto trays and
sliding them into the oven. She had just dusted off her hands when the doorbell
rang. She made her way to the door, automatically admonishing the boys to play
nice as she passed their room. Easing the door open, so as to not decapitate
any stray action figures, she looked out onto the porch to see an unknown man. She left the locked screen door in between
them, just in case.
“I’m sorry ma’am, I don’t mean
to be a bother, but my truck stalled and my cell phone’s dead. Could I borrow your phone?” Near-death
scenarios flooded Lydia’s mind as she looked up at him, the most prominent of
which was the classic single woman attacked by a wild man who carried her off
and ravaged her in the woods.
Probably an improvement on my love life.
“Just a minute,” she said,
leaving him standing on the porch, the screen door separating them as she
searched the house for her purse. “Are
you boys okay?” she called down the hall.
“Yes, mommy,” they chorused in their
little boy voices, their tones beautifully innocent.
“Just keep playing in your
room, please,” she instructed. “The
cookies will be out in a bit.” She
located her purse and after digging for a moment, pulled out her cell
phone. Unlocking and pushing open the screen
door, she handed it to the man.
“Thanks,” he said, his lips
curving up into a crooked half-grin. “I really am sorry about this, I feel like
such an idiot.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” she replied.
“Anything else you need?”
“No, I’ll just call Triple A
and get out of your hair.” He turned away, tapping numbers into the phone. He didn’t
seem like the type to drag a girl into the forest to have his way with
her. More’s
the pity, she thought, he’s rather
cute, like a tall Bradley Cooper. She relocked the screen door, but with a
sudden attack of conscience that she’d treated him like some sort of mass murderer/rapist,
she ran to pull a batch of cookies from the oven and slide a few onto a plate. Hushed
little boy voices drew her attention as she headed back to the porch. Their
faces were smooshed against the screen door and they were whispering to one
another as they peered out at the stranger on the porch.
“Jimmy, Tommy, didn’t I ask you
to play in your room?” Her free hand perched on a hip.
“But who is he, mommy?” Tommy
asked, his brown eyes wide.
“Someone in trouble,” she
replied, moving him gently aside so she could slip out. She flashed her boys the “stay put” look
before turning to the man. He clicked
the phone shut and handed it back to her. She took it, offering him the plate
of cookies with the other hand.
“You don’t have to do that,” he
said, eying the cookies. “You’ve helped me out already.”
“It’s nothing,” she responded,
holding the plate out again. “I know what it’s like to be stranded.” She
waggled the cookies under his nose and added, “And they’re fresh from the oven.”
“Well…all right,” he said,
picking one up and taking a large bite, his eyes grew as wide as Tommy’s had
been a moment ago. “Oh my gosh! These are amazing!” he said around a mouthful
of cookie, crumbs falling as he spoke.
“Thanks,” she smiled, while the
boys giggled behind her. How many times had she admonished them not to talk with their mouth full? And now, here was a
full-grown male doing exactly that. No wonder they were amused.
“Boys,” she turned to them,
pulling the serious look back onto her face, “You may go to the kitchen and get
one cookie each.” The giggles faded as they raced off.
The man was reaching for the
last cookie when she turned back. “Cute
boys,” he said, stuffing it into his mouth.
“They’re a handful,” she said
shaking her head. “But usually they’re very sweet.” Just then they came scampering
back, a cookie in each hand and one poking out of their mouths. Lydia rolled her eyes, “See what I mean?” she
said.
He snickered. “They have good
taste.”
“So, did you get hold of Triple
A?” she asked, recalling why he’d come in the first place.
“Yes, they’ll be here in a bit,”
he said. “Thanks again, for everything.
I should probably go wait at the truck so I don’t miss them.”
“Wait a minute,” Lydia said,
ducking back into the house, shooing the boys before her as she went. She grabbed a plastic bag, scooped several
more cookies into it, and zipped the top shut before hurrying back
outside. Holding it out, she said, “Take
these. You’ll save me from dealing with too much sugar detox later,” she said
jerking a thumb toward the miscreants still gaping at them behind the screen
door.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling as
he made his way down the steps. “Help and free cookies, it almost makes me want
to break down more often.” She watched him for a moment, and then turned to
enter the house, careful to bolt both doors behind her.
The boys looked owlishly up at
her. “Who was he, Mommy? Was that Daddy?”
Tommy asked.
She shook her head sadly. “No
baby, his car just broke down and he needed some help.” She patted him on the
head consolingly. “Daddy’s gone, sweetie, and he’s not coming back.” Both boys
hugged her around the legs, helping to ease the tight knot that had settled in
her stomach when she thought about the past.
* * *
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