A Mountain Springs Christmas

Chapter 20

twenty

CONNOR

Connor and Katie stayed in front of the big windows for a long time, just chatting and hanging out with Biscuit. The lack of sleep during the night was catching up with him, so Katie was sitting on the blanket, and he was lying with his head in her lap as she played with his hair. It was the most relaxed he’d been for as long as he could remember.

“Wouldn’t a little Glacier’s jersey look so cute on him?” Katie asked.

He chuckled. “It would.” Biscuit yipped in a way that he was pretty sure meant that he agreed.

He thought about what his plan had been for Christmas before he got traded. It was so different from how he was spending Christmas morning, but he wouldn’t have exchanged this morning for anything.

Katie’s phone rang, and she answered it on speakerphone. It was her mom. “Merry Christmas! Are you two doing okay?”

Katie looked at him and smiled. “We are. We’re staying warm and everything.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. What a scary night you had. You’re at the ice rink, right?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, well I’ve got some news— Noelle’s water broke and she went into labor!”

“Really?” Katie grinned at Connor, happiness all over her face.

“They managed to track down someone with a Mini Ripsaw and a sled to take them to the hospital.” She chuckled. “Jack was a little freaked out that he might have to deliver the baby himself.”

He heard Katie’s dad say in the background, “I don’t blame him!”

“Anyway, her labor is progressing well, and they are guessing that she’ll have the baby soon. They’re sending the Mini Ripsaw around to get everyone, and it should be to you before long.”

They immediately stood and started gathering everything into the blanket. After they hung up, Katie turned to him, practically bouncing in excitement. “Noelle’s about to have her baby!” Biscuit seemed just as excited, so he was barking and turning around in circles.

Connor had put their boots, socks, and Katie’s pants in front of the heater last night, so they were mostly dry. He’d put her coat in front of it, too, once Biscuit was no longer using it as a bed. Sadly, Katie changed from the pajama pants back into her jeans. With her wearing them, he’d decided that they were, indeed, his favorite pajamas.

Once they were all ready to go, it didn’t take long before the guy driving the Mini Ripsaw showed up. It was basically an ATV that had tracks like a tank instead of wheels, and it was pulling a sled with seats that could easily fit four people. He locked up the rink, returned the key to its hiding spot, shook the driver’s hand, and then climbed into the sled with Katie and Biscuit.

The vehicle seemed to have no problem at all traveling on top of the snow. “Has this been a busy morning for you?” he asked the driver.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, grinning. “All night long. I live for storms like these.”

The route to the hospital took them down the same path they had taken last night. The snow shovel he’d left by the tree was still there, but it was so covered in snow that it was almost unrecognizable as a shovel. When they went past the cross street where his car was, he looked in its direction, and even though he’d seen how much snow had fallen everywhere, he was surprised at how buried his car was.

Then they spotted Katie’s car ahead, and she gasped and grabbed his arm. It was so covered in snow that its color almost couldn’t be seen. “I can’t believe I had just planned to wait out the storm.” Her eyes were wide as she took it in. “Look at how much is on top! And on the sides! I probably couldn’t even get my doors open right now.” She brought her gloved hands up to cover her mouth as they drove past it, just staring at it.

Then she turned to him. “Did you see how much snow was in front of the exhaust? I would’ve had to get out so many times to clear it! And I would’ve gotten wetter each time. And that’s only if the gas I had in my tank would’ve lasted through the night.”

He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. “I’m so glad that Emmalee told me you were stuck.” It made him sick to imagine her being in there all night long.

She turned her head to meet his eyes. “Thank you again for coming to save me after I made a really stupid choice.”

He smiled. “And thank you for saving me from almost making a really stupid choice.”

“What do you say we keep saving each other?”

“Deal,” he said. “And what do you say to always asking each other for help, too?”

“Deal.”

They were about a block past Katie’s car when there started being houses again, and they heard some kids calling out, “Glacier! Glacier!” He wasn’t sure why, but as they neared, Biscuit’s ears twitched and he stood on Katie’s lap, then started barking.

“Oh!” Katie said. “Are those your owners?”

When they reached the kids and their dad, who were all outside in snow gear, looking for their dog and calling out “Glacier!” she held up the little dog. “Is this him?”

“Glacier!” the kids shouted. The dad tromped through the snow that was well past his knees over to them. The little dog looked like he wanted to run to them but was afraid to jump into the snow. Good. Because if the little guy did, he’d probably sink and be completely buried.

Katie handed off the dog to the dad, and he said, “I cannot thank you enough for bringing him to us. I was really worried we wouldn’t ever find him.”

As the dad took the dog over to the kids, Katie said, “Look how happy they are!”

He gave her a squeeze and kissed her hair as the kids shouted, “Thank you!”

She turned to him. “He was a pretty cool dog, wasn’t he.”

“He was.” This morning had made him imagine more than once the two of them sharing a life together and having a dog just like Biscuit. And kids. He really wanted to have kids. They thanked the driver when he dropped them off at the hospital before he left to go help other people in the snow.

When they got inside, Mr. Allred met them and walked them to the labor and delivery wing. “She had the baby not too long ago,” Mr. Allred said. “Elizabeth is in there with them right now. They’re about to move her to her room, and after seeing the crowd of us, they said they’d get her the biggest one they could. We should be able to see them and the new baby soon after that.”

At labor and delivery, they found Katie’s entire family, along with Rachel, Nick, Aiden, and Holly. They all hugged Katie and Connor and said, “Merry Christmas!” and they all shared with each other their stories about Christmas morning and the crazy snowstorm. Everyone treated him just like they did every other member of the family. This big family had all welcomed him with open arms from the very start. He’d never felt a part of another family so quickly before.

It hit him that maybe he didn’t need to feel so bad that he was far from family. He had family here now, too.

Elizabeth came into the waiting room and said, “Okay, she’s in her own room and ready for you now. You won’t be able to hold the baby or get too close, but you can come in and see.”

They followed her down the hall and filed into Noelle’s room. Noelle was lying in the bed, the swaddled baby in her arms, and Jack was seated in the chair right next to Noelle, the baby’s little fingers wrapped around one of his. Both parents looked tired but were beaming.

Everyone talked over one another as they told Jack and Noelle how beautiful their baby was, and he really was. Seeing their little family just made Connor yearn for the same. Katie looked up at him and smiled in a way that told him that maybe she was thinking the same thing.

“What are you going to name him?” Holly asked.

“Since it’s Christmas,” Nick said, “I vote for Nick.”

“I think you should name him Dasher,” Aiden said. “There’s a kid in our class named Dasher.”

“You can name a kid Dasher,” Katie’s brother-in-law, Corbin said, “but I’m not sure you can name a kid who was born on Christmas Day ‘Dasher,’ or people will only think of the reindeer playing games.”

“How about Joseph?” Julianne offered.

“You can’t name him Jesus’s dad’s name,” Holly said, “he’s the baby !”

Then everyone started giving their helpful suggestions.

“How about Cole?”

“Like what you get in your stocking if you’re naughty?”

“Oh, Douglas! Because Douglas Firs are Christmas trees.”

“Name him Winter because he was born in a snowstorm!”

“ Winter Meadows ? That’s kind of a weird mental image.”

“No, it’s not. Meadows get snowed on, too.”

Noelle, who was gazing down at her baby, said, “We’ve decided to name him Gabriel.”

Katie looked up at Connor and smiled, and he pulled her into a hug. “Isn’t he the sweetest?”

“He really is.”

Katie turned back to look at the baby and her hands fluttered like she was having a hard time not going over to Noelle. “Oh, I can’t wait until I can hold him!”

And he couldn’t wait until she could hold one of their own.