Aunt Santa

Chapter 5

The first thing she did was light the fire and raise the heat on both floors. It wasn't cold enough in the house for them to see their own breath, but it was pretty close.

A separate crew had come in the day before to give the house a good cleaning and make the beds, which gave her one less thing to worry about as she moved around the first floor, switching on lights and lamps.

"Go pick out where you want to sleep," she told the kids. Sam shuffled toward the stairs, his scowl directed at his phone. "What's the wifi?" he asked.

"There isn't one." Sara winced at his expression. "Sorry. I thought your mom told you."

"She definitely didn't." He moved toward the stairs as if he'd just been told he only had days to live.

She felt something at her leg and realized BB hadn't moved from her side. "You okay, Beebs?"

"I don't want to go upstairs by myself." She glanced up at the second floor. Sam had already gone up and turned on the lights, but Sara supposed it must've seemed a bit spooky to a five-year-old to wander up there alone.

"Okay, no problem." Sara patted her shoulder. "Do you want to wait for me by the door? I need to get the rest of the groceries inside."

"I'll just come with you," BB declared. "I can help."

With BB's "help," it ended up being a whole production to get everything inside but they managed. Finally, all the groceries were put away, the bags stuffed under the kitchen counter. "How about we walk around and I show you the house? Come on."

"Here's the living room," Sara started, tugging BB by the hand. Though it was a relatively new build, the house was cabin-like in feel with wood surrounding them on all sides. "Here's the wood stove. It gets pretty hot so no touching." One of the first things she'd done when they arrived was build a fire and it was just now starting to catch.

Next to the wood stove was a traditional fireplace that Sara rarely used. "This is where we'll hang our stockings."

"Santa comes through here." BB leaned forward to peer up the chimney. "We shouldn't put a fire in there. He'd burn his butt."

"Good point."

They stepped over the patterned blankets, quilts, and wide pillows that served as resting spots on the floor. "The tree will go here," Sara said, pointing to the corner. "We're going to cut it down tomorrow at the farm. Will you help me pick out a good tree?"

"Yeah." BB's hand tightened in hers as they walked back through the kitchen.

She would be less scared in the morning, Sara thought as she walked her through the rest of the house, turning on lamps as they went. In the morning, the sun would cut through the windows that ringed the back walls of the house, revealing the snow-capped trees that surrounded the yard and the glimpse of mountains over the ridge.

"Here's where we keep the games. Do you remember this?" Sara showed her the wooden chest in the alcove off the kitchen. There was just enough space in the tiny room for a table, a few chairs, and one tall bookshelf. "You can read stories in here or we can play games, do puzzles."
"I'm hungry," BB declared. "Can we make cookies now?"

"Why don't we save that for tomorrow when we're not so tired? It's been a long day." Sara led her back into the kitchen. "What should we eat for dinner? Mac and cheese?"

"Yeah! No veggies. No veggies on vacation."

Sara bit her lip. "Is that what Dad says when you go on vacation?"