Yuletide Baby - Deb Kastner

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a problem. A car seat isn’t necessary. It’s not an immediate issue, anyway. I’ll have to procure one eventually, I suppose, if I’m going to be the one taking Noelle to the authorities in San Antonio. But today, we can walk.”

      Her shoulders slumped in relief and she dragged in a silent breath. He hadn’t noticed her uncertainty, then. Good.

      “Then it’s settled. I’ll set an extra plate for you. Come over whenever you’re ready. Oh, and be sure to bundle Noelle up really well. There’s a bit of a chill in the air.”

      “You’re sure you don’t mind the extra company?”

      No, she wasn’t sure. She would never be sure. Probably not for one single day for the rest of her life. And she wished he would stop asking, or she was liable to give in to her doubts and capitulate.

      “I’m absolutely certain,” she reassured him for what she hoped was the last time. “I’m looking forward to seeing that precious little blessing of yours.”

      At least that was the truth.

      Shawn had never been so uncomfortable in his life. Being the kind and thoughtful woman she was, Heather hadn’t said as much out loud, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was intruding on her personal family time—and that she was only allowing it because he was entirely inadequate to the task of caring for an infant.

      From the moment he’d stepped into the house, Heather had swept Noelle into her arms and taken over all of the baby care. How quickly she had put the poor little infant’s world to rights. Heather had also fixed his most pressing problem, insisting he head straight into Jacob’s bedroom for a quick nap.

      He’d dropped into a dead sleep but had been wakened shortly after by a phone call from Jo, inquiring how he was faring with Noelle. She hadn’t even sounded a little bit surprised when he revealed he had come to Heather’s house for help. Probably because Jo already suspected how hopeless he’d be with an infant.

      Why no one had bothered to inform him that he wasn’t up to the task was beyond him. No one had uttered a single word of warning. Instead, every last one of them had played right along last night when he’d unwittingly offered to care for the infant. No one had laughed. No one had even seemed startled by his hasty proposal. They’d let him dive right off the side of a cliff without testing the depth of the water first.

      How could he have known what he was letting himself in for? He was a simple cowboy preacher. He knew ranching and he had the gift of gab. He was a single man and lived alone. His needs were few.

      Noelle’s needs were apparently many, or at least they were a mystery to him, and he was clearly lacking in his ability to take decent care of her. At least here with Heather, he could be assured that Noelle would have everything she needed. Though the downside was that he’d have Heather as a witness to see exactly how inept he truly was. He grinned, not bothered by the laughter that was bound to come at his expense—and if there wasn’t yet, there soon would be. Christmas Day wasn’t over. He had a while yet to display the stunning depths of his incompetence.

      He didn’t really care if other folks caught a laugh or two over his present circumstances—he was laughing at himself. It was pretty funny, when he thought about it.

      Chuckling, Shawn assured Jo that all was well for the time being. It was all good now—because of Heather’s generosity and help. Jo laughed with him and agreed with his assessment of Heather and then promised she’d check in on him later. Shawn tucked his cell phone into his shirt pocket and stretched to get the kinks out of his shoulders. Now that he was awake, he wasn’t sure what he should be doing.

      Probably leaving. He didn’t want to take advantage of Heather’s kindness, particularly on what he understood to be her first Christmas with her foster children.

      But when he padded back into the living room and spied Noelle and Heather looking so comfortable and contented together in the rocking chair, he couldn’t find it in his heart to break them up. And truth be told, even considering how awkward he felt right now being the third wheel, he wasn’t yet prepared to go off on his own and face another night of single-parent foster-daddy duty.

      He shuffled toward the corner of the living room, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his blue jeans. He probably should at least offer to do something to help, but he hadn’t the faintest notion of what assistance he could give. He wasn’t family. He wasn’t technically even a guest. He didn’t know where she kept the silverware. His cooking skills were marginal. And though he could probably manage to keep the older kids occupied, he was totally useless with the baby.

      “You don’t have to hold up the wall,” Heather commented with a gentle smile, brushing a long strand of mahogany-brown hair behind her ear. “Feel free to sit wherever you can find a free space, although it looks like you may have to move something to find a seat. I usually have a rule about putting away toys before new ones get taken out, but I’m being a little lax today, since it’s Christmas.”

      He smiled and nodded to acknowledge her offer, but he was too fidgety to sit down just yet. Besides, standing gave him a better view of the kids. There was nothing like the sight and sound of jubilant children on Christmas morning to raise a man’s spirits.

      Crumpled wads of bright-colored Christmas wrap, now ripped and forgotten, lay balled underneath the glittering tree. Heather’s three foster children were busy with their new toys. The boys, nine-year-old Jacob and three-year-old Henry, played together, pushing their shiny cast-model race cars around a plastic track. Seven-year-old Missy held a new doll in the curve of her arm and mimicked Heather’s sounds and movements as she held Noelle. It was a heartwarming sight, especially since just yesterday he’d imagined he’d spend the day as a lonely bachelor.

      What a difference a day could make. Here he was, enveloped in the warmth of a child-filled house. He hadn’t realized just how wonderful it would be after having been alone all these years. It filled his heart with great joy to realize how little it took to make the young ones happy. He needed a little bit more of that innocence in his life. If only adults had the same capacity to give and receive as generously as the youngsters.

      Heather hadn’t gone overkill on the number or size of the gifts—whether because she couldn’t or she chose not to, but there was no shortage in the amount of joy she’d given her children in what they had received. It was abundantly clear to anyone observing the scene that she knew each of her foster children intimately and was mindful of what they wanted and needed.

      Shawn was envious of that quality in her. He apparently hadn’t been able to anticipate Noelle’s needs at all.

      It was a good thing for the baby that he wasn’t going to end up being her permanent foster parent. She would no doubt go to a wonderful home with a foster mother like Heather, who had the knowledge and capacity to care for her. All of her needs would be anticipated and met without Shawn’s doltish stops and starts. She was such a sweet little girl, and he was certain she’d eventually be adopted by a nice Christian family with a mom and a dad who loved each other. Maybe she’d have other siblings to play with and a dog and a cat and a yard with a fence.

      All he had to offer was the dog and the cat and the yard and the fence—and pigs and goats and horses and ranch land.

      Not good enough. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

      He shifted his attention back to Heather, who watched over her brood from an old-fashioned wooden rocking chair laden with colorful floral cushions. She hummed a Christmas carol as she rocked. She had a lovely, rich alto voice that enthralled Shawn as much as it did Noelle, purring through his muscles until he felt thoroughly relaxed and yet completely alert at the same time. It was an odd paradox, but true nonetheless.

      To his utter astonishment, he discovered that Noelle, who was contentedly curled in the crook of Heather’s arm, wasn’t asleep as he’d first assumed she must be. Instead, she

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