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“I’m giving you fair warning. I am telling the children that you are very tired and that you will be sleeping with me tonight.”
She suspected she should object, but she only smiled at him. However much time they had left together, she meant to enjoy every minute.
CHAPTER16
Katerina could hear Merry and Johnny arguing before they even opened the door.
“I don’t care.” Merry said, and Katerina was quite sure she stomped her foot. “If you won’t go after them, I will.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Johnny said firmly. “You read your sister’s note. She said they were safe and were going to wait in the cave until the storm passed.”
“But the storm stopped ages ago.” Merry’s voice trembled. “What if she’s hurt?”
She winced. They probably should have checked the weather earlier.
“It hasn’t been very long,” Johnny said. “I’m sure they’re all right.”
There was a muffled sob, and she quickly opened the door to find Merry sobbing in Johnny’s arms. He gave her a helpless look as she rushed over and pulled her sister into her own arms.
“It’s all right, Merry. Everything’s all right.”
“Oh thank goodness. I was so worried. I tried to keep busy by cooking supper, but even that didn’t work,” Merry ended on a wail.
Based on the rather burnt looking remnants in the pan, she couldn’t argue, but she hugged her sister again.
“Never mind. We bought lots of things back with us.”
The other children were already clustered around Jack as he hauled the sled in through the door.
“Wow,” Lorna whispered, her eyes wide. “What did you get?”
“All kinds of things. We’ll have a special dinner tomorrow night for Longest Night, and then a real feast the next day.” She looked around at the hopeful faces, including Jack’s, and laughed. “But for tonight, how about some hot chocolate?”
The children only looked confused, and she realized they’d probably never had it, but Merry gave them an encouraging smile..
“You’ll like it. It’s so good.”
As she picked out the ingredients and set the water on to boil, she saw Jack murmur a few words to Johnny. The boy’s shoulder straightened, and he beamed proudly. She was happy to see that they seem to have reached an understanding. She finished making the hot chocolate, and handed it out in their collection of mismatched mugs. Lorna took a cautious sip, then beamed at her.
“Thith ith very good.”
The twins were too busy drinking to say anything, but their wide chocolate-ringed grins signified their approval. Johnny gave her a complimentary nod, while Jack smiled at her. After washing the twins’ faces, she settled them into their bunk, her heart aching as each of them in turn put their arms around her neck and hugged her.
“Night, Mama Kat,” Ceci whispered, her eyes already closing. Lorna soon followed the twins, but Merry was too excited to sleep, chattering cheerfully for a long time before she finally wound down.
“Go to bed, sweetheart. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”
“But no lessons, right? Not on the Longest Night?”
“I suppose not. They can wait a few days.”
Merry cheered, hugged her, threw her arms around Jack’s waist, then headed up the ladder to the loft.
“I don’t mind doing lessons,” Johnny muttered.
“Good, then we’ll spend some time on that in the morning. I just hope your example will rub off on Merry.”
He blushed, looking absurdly young, then nodded.
