The Fireman's Christmas

by Meg Lacey

  "All you have to do is survive for twenty-four hours, then I'll take over for the next forty-eight. Piece of cake!" Danny walked to the door. "Help yourself to anything you'd like. Mi casa es su casa."

  Tessa followed Danny as he opened the door. "In that case, you won't mind if I pull a few weeds?"

  "Knock yourself out!" He smiled, adding, "I know it's a bit of a mess. My wife was the gardener."

  Tessa cast another glance at the overgrown landscape Danny called a yard. "No kidding."

  Just as Danny started to say something, World War III erupted in the upstairs hallway.

  Alison's angry voice fired the opening shot. "Did you two get in my purse and take my note?"

  Tessa and Danny looked at each other, then glanced up at the second-floor landing to see Kyle and Kevin standing shoulder to shoulder as they faced their sister. "We didn't get in your dumb old purse."

  "You did, too. My note's gone and I know I put it right in the pocket, 'cause I read it last night."

  "Then how could we have it?"

  "You came sneaking into my room when I was taking a shower."

  "No, we didn't."

  "Uh-huh, you did, too." Emma stumbled into view, rubbing her eyes as she headed into the uproar. "You said you were robbers."

  Danny stepped toward the stairs, then swore under his breath as he checked his watch. "I'm gonna be late."

  Tessa pushed him toward the door. "Go. I'll handle this." I hope, she added silently.

  Danny hesitated for a moment, then backed up. "I wouldn't want a fire to start without me."

  Tessa shooed him toward the door. "Piece of cake, remember?"

  Danny backed onto the porch. "If you're tempted to kill the twins, you've got my permission. They're starting to eat too much anyway."

  Tessa laughed. "I'll remember that."

  Waving goodbye, she shut the door. Then, feeling like a raw recruit, she turned to take command of the battleground. Tessa set her sights on familiar targets first.

  "Eric, take the groceries into the kitchen. Josie, put your pillow and things in the living room for now, then help Eric unload the bag." She watched her kids for a moment before taking a deep breath and marching toward the stairs. The noise was deafening as she drew closer, since Danny's kids were still discussing the situation at the top of their lungs.

  Tessa leaned casually on the railing. "Trouble?"

  Alison threw her an angry glare before turning her attention back to her brothers. "Not after I kill them."

  "Ohh," Tessa said, making sure an apologetic tone stayed in her voice, "afraid I can't let you do that. I'd have to clean it up, you see."

  Startled, Alison glanced back at her. "They took something that belongs to me."

  "Then I don't blame you for being mad, but you still can't kill them." As Tessa looked at the two boys, she wondered how she'd ever be able to tell them apart.

  "They're my brothers—I can kill them if I want to."

  Kyle and Kevin thrust their chins forward belligerently. "No, you can't."

  "Who says?"

  The twins turned and pointed at Tessa. "She does."

  For a moment it looked like a standoff, then little Emma came running back down the hall with a piece of paper waving in her hand like a flag of truce. "I gots it, Alison."

  Alison plucked the note from Emma's hand. "How'd you know where to look?"

  "They put everything in their old catcher's mitt."

  The twins turned outraged faces to their little sister. "You been snooping in our room?" Kyle, or Kevin, demanded. Well, whoever it was, Tessa thought, it was time to put a stop to the entire battle. They all needed a breathing space—and so did she!

  "All right, we'll get to the bottom of this later. Right now, boys, why don't you get dressed. Alison, put your note away, please, and then you can help with breakfast if you'd like." Tessa's glance fell on Emma, who was shifting from foot to foot. She smiled. "Emma, you'd better go potty right now." Staring at the kids, Tessa waited for a moment…a long, tense make-or-break moment. Would they obey her or run over her like a tank battalion? Everyone stood still except Emma, who dashed into the bathroom and slammed the door. Then the boys shrugged and trailed back to their room. Meanwhile, Alison carefully folded her note and avoided Tessa's gaze.

  "You know, Alison, I had an older brother who was a real pain." Tessa palmed Alison's shoulder and squeezed. "It gets better."

  Alison stiffened at her touch. "When?"

  "When they get around thirty." Tessa grinned at Alison, her spirits rising when Alison gave her a small smile in return.

  Alison rubbed her toe on the carpet, peeking at her under her lashes. "Part of the problem is I don't have my own room. I have to share with Emma."

  Surprised, Tessa looked around the large Victorian house. "Why not? Your dad said there are two extra bedrooms here plus the loft."

  "Who knows?" Alison said with a shrug. "I want the loft, but Dad ignores me when I hint at it. He thinks I'm still a baby."

  Tessa dusted her hands ready for action. "Well, why don't you show me the loft and we'll see what we need to do. Then I'll clear it with him."

  A satisfied look spread across Alison's face. "You'd do that?"

  "Sure." Tessa nodded, then started down the stairs saying over her shoulder, "Right after breakfast, okay?"

  That didn't go too badly, she thought as she entered the kitchen. Eric and Josie had lined up the groceries on the counter.

  "Hey, Mom, I thought you said you'd just got a few things for breakfast."

  "I did."

  Josie indicated the loaded countertop. "We're going to have all this for breakfast?"

  Tessa nibbled her finger as she studied the eggs, sausage, bacon, bread, bananas, melon and orange juice. "I didn't know what everyone liked. So I thought I'd make a few extra things."

  "There's enough here to feed an army," Eric commented.

  "Six kids will probably eat like an army," Tessa muttered under her breath as she moved to the counter and opened a few drawers and cupboards to familiarize herself with the kitchen. She handed a bowl to Josie and a frying pan to Eric. "Let's get going. The rest of the troops will be arriving any minute."

  Twenty minutes later Tessa and the kids were assembled in the dining room. Each child stared incredulously at the table groaning under mounds of scrambled eggs, French toast, bacon, sausage, fruit and a pitcher of orange juice and carton of milk.

  "Wow—French toast!" Kyle said.

  Tessa passed the plate of fried bread. "Dig in, Kyle."

  "I'm Kevin. He's Kyle."

  Tessa turned to stare at the other twin, who regarded her with owl-like eyes. "He is?"

  Emma giggled. "No, he's Kevin."

  Tessa could feel a headache starting as she stared from one twin to the other. "Who's Kevin?"

  She tried hard to keep from grinning as each boy pointed at the other.

  "I see," said Tessa. She leaned forward and studied them intently. Although both boys had the strangest haircuts she had ever seen, one had a huge V cut out of the front. If she could just find out who it was, she might have a chance. "I've been meaning to ask—what happened to your hair?"

  Emma chomped on a sausage, talking around it. "They played space alien attack."

  Tessa pointed at the twin on the right. "I'll bet it was Kevin's idea to cut their hair, right?"

  Alison met Tessa's eyes and slyly indicated the twin on the left, the one with the cutout V. "Nope. Kyle's."

  "Ahhh." Tessa stared at Kyle and wondered if he was generally the instigator. Seeing his twinkling eyes, she had a feeling she'd hit the bull's-eye. He looked like an absolute imp! She passed a platter of bacon to him. "Here you go, Kyle, eat up."

  "We usually have cornflakes," Alison said.

  "So do we," Eric responded with a shy smile. Tessa watched Alison smile back and relax enough to take some eggs along with her fruit and toast. For the next few minutes the only sound in the dining room was chewing and a strange sor
t of snuffling. Tessa paused as she passed the plate of French toast to the twins again. "What's that noise?"

  Kyle and Kevin suddenly put both hands on the table and looked like angels, which instantly activated Tessa's nerves to red alert. "I'm talking about that noise that sounds like a pig inhaling."

  Eric, caught unaware with a big gulp of milk, swallowed a laugh, which turned into a gulp and a coughing choke. Alison, with Josie's help, got up to thump him on the back. Then to Tessa's horror, the tablecloth started to slide to the side, as if pulled by a tractor beam. She grabbed it and held on. "What the—"

  Emma disappeared under the table. "General, let go."

  Tessa flipped the tablecloth up and bent to stare at the huge yellow Lab, who greeted her with a happy lick right on the mouth. She straightened in a hurry and picked up a napkin. "Blech!"

  Alison reached under the table and hauled General out to the kitchen, saying over her shoulder, "Dad told you two not to feed the dog when we're eating."

  "That was the dog making that noise?" Tessa asked after Alison had pushed General out through the dog door.

  Emma nodded. "He was the babiest puppy, so he had to gobble his food. That's why he's so noisy—right, Alison?"

  "Right."

  Tessa grinned. "Well, at least you don't have a pig." She stood and started to collect the dishes. "If you'd all help clear the table, then you can go out and play, or whatever, okay?"

  Kyle and Kevin nudged each other. "We can work on the camp." They grabbed their dishes and disappeared at high speed to the kitchen. They skidded to a stop and called to Eric. "You can come if you want. We're going to dig a hole."

  "Okay," Josie said, sliding off her chair and scrambling after Eric.

  "Not you," Kyle said. "Dumb old girls aren't allowed."

  "I'm not a dumb old girl."

  "All girls are dumb," declared Kevin.

  Tessa waited for a moment to see how Josie would handle the situation. When Eric didn't help and Josie seemed too surprised to move, Tessa was compelled to jump in. "Josie knows more about digging holes than anybody. She helps me all the time."

  "Forget it," Josie finally said. "I don't want to come to your dumb old camp." She flounced back to the table. "I want to stay here with Alison."

  "Men." Tessa sighed as the three boys, with satisfied smiles stretching their faces, tromped out the back door. She exchanged knowledgeable glances with the three girls staring back at her. "I remember my brother doing the same thing to me." She poured another cup of coffee and saluted the group. Emma and Josie grabbed their milk and lifted their glasses high in response and Alison dropped her sulky teenage attitude long enough to do the same. "Here's to the women of the house, who see no reason to dig a hole in the dirt."

  "Unless you want to plant a flower," Josie added.

  "Precisely." Tessa took a sip, letting the hot restoring liquid trickle down her throat. "After we clear the tables, I think we should find a new room for Alison. What do you say, girls?"

  The rest of the day passed semi-smoothly, except for one small problem when the twins convinced her that they were allowed to use Danny's tools on their camp. When she discovered the truth from Alison, Tessa put a stop to it and after apologies all around she decided not to mention it to Danny. She reminded herself to talk to him about Alison's room situation instead. Day passed into night, and soon everyone settled down to bed.

  That evening Tessa sat in the living room with a book and listened to the creaks of the old house settling around her. There was comfort in the soft music of the leaves and the clicking of the branches as a breeze stirred the big old trees that surrounded the house, comfort in the buzz of the insects outside the screens, in the soft hooting sound of a night hunter as it perched in the leaves and waited for dinner, in the shimmer of friendly shadows that reclined in the recesses of the room. Tessa stroked the arm of the faded chintz armchair.

  Strange how some places can immediately twine around your heart and feel like home.

  She noticed a picture in a silver frame standing on the mantel. She closed her book and crossed the room for a better look. Danny and a lovely woman laughed back at her. The love and contentment in the picture reached out and grabbed her. Thinking back, she couldn't remember her married life ever holding that much uninhibited joy.

  "You were so lucky," she whispered.

  Her eyes were drawn to Danny as he stood braced against the wind on the deck of a boat. A funny little flutter, like a moth trapped in a jar, brushed her stomach. She hadn't had that type of response for long time, in so long that she backed up, distancing herself from the picture as if Danny was in the room. A chuckle escaped at the absurdity of her action, before her gaze returned to Danny and she picked up the picture again. She studied the protective way his hand cupped his wife's shoulder, the smile in his eyes and the way his posture reflected his complete contentment.

  I wonder what it would be like to have him look at me like that.

  Alarmed at that thought, she replaced the picture on the mantel. Enough of this. Time for bed. Heels clicking briskly on the oak floor, she left the room without another backward glance, even though she could still feel Danny's smile reaching out toward her, calling her back.

  * * *

  AT SEVEN O'CLOCK the next morning Danny quietly let himself in the front door. The house was silent, so silent that he wondered if he'd come to the wrong one. It wasn't unusual for his kids to sleep a bit later in the summer, but he would have thought with new kids spending the night, they might have gotten up earlier.

  He removed his hat and hung it on the elaborately carved hall tree, then placed his bakery bag on the seat. After unbuttoning the top buttons he peeled his shirt over his head, rolling his shoulders and letting the cool air play over his bare skin, enjoying the freedom. He was reaching for an old shirt hanging on a hook when he felt it. Someone was watching him. He turned, shrugging into the shirt and leaving it open, and spied Tessa standing in the middle of the stairs, one hand on the railing and the other at her throat.

  For a long moment time froze as Danny stared up at her, taking in the long line of her tan legs emerging from the bottom of her shorts. Finally, shaking his head like a wet dog, he grabbed the white paper bag and walked to the bottom of the steps. "Hi."

  Tessa lowered her arm. "Hi."

  Danny lifted the bakery bag clenched in his fist. "I brought a surprise. Fresh bagels."

  Tessa descended, stopped on a step above him and sniffed. "They smell delicious. Where'd you get them?"

  "A little bakery I know. My dad used to take me there as a kid." Danny took her hand and tugged until she stepped onto the floor, grinning as she almost stumbled into him. Unable to resist, he dropped a casual arm around her, guiding her toward the kitchen. He needed to make contact with her. He didn't examine why. After seeing her this morning he just knew he had to touch her, needed to smell the fresh-flower scent of her hair, to see the spattering of freckles that sprinkled her pert nose, to hear her laughter, but most of all he wanted to taste her skin to see if it was as creamy as the buttermilk it resembled. He'd thought of her last night but didn't dare tell her, so he told her about Mr. and Mrs. Kreigler instead.

  "These bagels are handmade by an old German couple. They've had this bakery on the far side of town since they both came to America about sixty years ago. I like to stop by and say hello, make sure they're all right, that sort of thing. It's not the greatest neighborhood anymore."

  Tessa looked up at him. "Danny Santori, the protector, right?"

  He smiled. "It gets to be a habit—protecting things, I mean."

  Tessa slid from under his arm and went straight to the coffeepot. "Oh, I don't know if I'd call it a habit. Habits are something you develop. I think it's more likely who you are inside."

  Danny followed her, sniffing the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee. "Hey, you made coffee?"

  "The kids told me how you like it—strong with a pinch of cinnamon. I didn't want you to come home t
ired and have to make it yourself, so I set the timer for automatic."

  Danny leaned an elbow on the sideboard. "Now who's protecting who?"

  Tessa shook her head and reached for a cup. "Making coffee has nothing to do with that. It's simple courtesy." She poured them both a cup, handing one to him. "Besides, if I remember right, you're not a morning person. If you're going to deal with six kids—and animals—today, I thought you might need it."

  Danny took a sip. "There weren't any alarms last night, so I got a great night's sleep. How about you?"

  She shrugged. "Strange beds, you know. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

  "How'd you make out yesterday with the kids?"

  "Not too bad. I didn't get to the gardening, though." She set her mug on the table and walked into the kitchen, returning with plates, knives and cream cheese. "Why don't you break out the food before my taste buds curl up and die?"

  Danny sat down, tearing open the bag to expose the golden-brown beauties. The yeasty scent hovered in the cool morning air, making his mouth water. "I love these things."

  Tessa slipped into a chair and reached for a blueberry bagel, then slathered it with cream cheese. She took a bite, swallowed, then closed her eyes, savoring the taste. Slowly she ran her tongue over her lips to find the excess cream cheese.

  Danny gulped. "Uh, you missed a spot."

  Once again her tongue went into action before she opened her eyes and sent Danny a look that made his gut tighten. "I've never tasted anything so good."

  Danny could think of a few things he could offer, but his promise to keep their relationship businesslike, plus the rules of polite behavior, kept his mouth shut.

  "Do you bring these home every morning?"

  "No, just for special times. Laurie and I used to get these bagels as a treat when we were first married. Then it became a celebration tradition. This is your first morning here after watching the kids and spending the night, so this qualifies."

  "Thank you. I appreciate the gesture." She took another bite and closed her eyes as she chewed. "It's just as well we don't have these every day. I'd end up the size of a barn."

  Danny smiled. "An attractive barn, though."

  Tessa reached for his hand, taking Danny by surprise. He started to say something, but she only turned his wrist up to see his watch. With a squeak she inhaled the rest of her bagel and downed her coffee.