26. Cora

26

CORA

C ora awoke the next morning with soft sunlight already bathing the foot of the bed. As she stretched, she realized she felt incredibly happy.

The events of last night came back to her and she smiled and stretched all over again, wondering how she had woken to find herself in this alternate reality where she was feeling perfectly rested without a mountain of papers to grade, and sleeping until the sun was already up on Christmas morning with a house full of guests.

Sylvester wasn't beside her, but that was hardly a surprise. Ginny must have gotten up with him. She was an early riser too.

As she quickly showered and dressed, Cora wondered when Jared would wake. On the one hand, he wasn't a parent or a schoolteacher. On the other, he worked a farm, so he probably got up earlier than any of them on a regular basis.

Sure enough, as she padded down the hallway she found that both Sylvester's door and the guest room door were open. And she could just hear the television downstairs. The scent of something delicious wafted up to greet her.

"Oh wow," she murmured to herself, picturing Jared and Sylvester watching television while Ginny cooked them all up some breakfast.

But when she arrived at the bottom of the stairs it was Ginny curled up on the sofa, sipping a mug of coffee and watching It's a Wonderful Life .

"I can't speak to the state of your kitchen right now," Ginny said with a smile. "But I was told in no uncertain terms to come out here and relax."

"It smells good," Cora said.

"It sure does," Ginny said. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Cora told her. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too," Ginny told her. "Thank you for inviting me, and for letting me stay the night."

Cora leaned down to kiss her mother-in-law on the forehead before she headed for the kitchen. As she straightened, she took in the incredible sight out the front window.

The storm had ended, leaving behind a glaze of crystal over the entire landscape. Trees glistened in the morning sunlight, each branch encased in a glassy sheen. Even the grass and the cars were adorned with a diamond-bright shell of ice.

"It's like living in a fairytale, isn't it?" Ginny asked from the sofa. "I can hardly believe it's real."

"What a Christmas," Cora said, shaking her head .

It was beautiful, but it also meant that it would be awfully hard for Jared to get them to Timber Run. Would he be upset not to celebrate Christmas with his family?

She could hear the radio playing Elvis's "Blue Christmas" and the clink of plates and silverware when she reached the dining room. When she stepped into the kitchen, she had to smile.

Jared stood at the stove in his tee shirt with her Christmas apron on top, a spatula in his hand and a satisfied smile on his face.

Sylvester stood right beside him on a step stool, wearing Jared's flannel from last night like an apron of his own. The sleeves were rolled all the way up, and the flannel was covered in a thick coat of flour.

"Merry Christmas," Sylvester cried out happily as soon as he saw her, clambering off his stool.

"Don't hug her until I get that shirt off you," Jared laughed.

"Was it snowing in here?" Cora teased, looking at the floury shirt.

Sylvester melted into giggles. He was happy, so happy. It did her heart good to see him like this.

She found herself saying yet another prayer of thanksgiving in her heart that he had been completely okay after his misadventure in the creek.

"Look at all the pancakes we made," Sylvester told her, scrambling back up onto the stool and proudly pointing to a large platter on the counter.

"Wow," she said, admiring a stack of pancakes that was more like a tower.

"Jared is from a big family," Sylvester told her wisely. " He didn't even think about changing his recipe, so we'd better be hungry."

She smiled up at the big man in the cute apron, knowing Sylvester was repeating back his words to her. The idea that he didn't know how to make pancakes for less than an army was endearing.

All this time, she'd been thinking of him as an impulsive, single man. But with all those siblings, he was probably more of a family man than most men she knew.

"Worried you're not hungry enough?" Jared asked, quirking an eyebrow.

That sent Sylvester into another spiral of giggling that told her he was more than just happy, he was relaxed.

"No worries there," she said with a smile. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse, or at least a pony."

As she knew it would, that made Sylvester giggle even more.

"Can I help out with the dishes while you two finish up?" she asked.

"You're not supposed to cook," Sylvester said, popping up from his laugh.

"Dishes don't count," she told him. "I'm really just keeping you company."

"What do you think?" Jared asked Sylvester.

"I think it's good," Sylvester decided.

"It's good then," Jared told her with a wink and a warm smile.

For all their noise and fun, they had done a pretty good job keeping the kitchen clean. She would have to do a quick sweep for flour, but she couldn't help noticing the counter where they had made the batter was already wiped down and the big bowl and fork were already washed and in the drain board.

"Okay, are you ready to flip it?" Jared asked Sylvester. "It's the last one."

"I don't know," Sylvester said. "I had a little trouble with the other ones."

"That's how you learn," Jared told him. "My first time helping my dad make pancakes, I flipped one so hard it stuck on the ceiling."

"You did?" Sylvester asked, breathless with wonder at such a funny idea.

"My mom came in with a broom to knock it off the ceiling and yell at me for being too rough," he said fondly. "It fell on her head just when she was telling me not to clown around. It looked like a funny hat."

Sylvester covered his mouth, but his eyes were merry.

"Thankfully, my mom has a really good sense of humor," Jared said, shaking his head. "She laughed harder than anyone."

"I'll try flipping it," Sylvester decided.

Cora couldn't help turning to watch.

"Now do it firmly and quickly," Jared told him. "But not so firmly that it goes on the ceiling."

They all watched him slide the spatula under the pancake. The top was a perfect circle of bubbles, and Cora could envision the mess it would make on the floor, but found that she didn't really care.

Sylvester gave it a firm flip, but instead of landing perfectly in the canter, it landed half in the pan and half on Jared's hand.

"Oh, no," Sylvester said worriedly .

"He's trying to get away," Jared said, pretending to be scandalized. " Not on my watch, pancake ."

In a single, practiced twist of his wrist, he sent the wayward pancake into the center of the pan, where it landed with a sizzle.

" Not on my watch, pancak e," Sylvester echoed in delight, laughing his head off at his own borrowed quip.

Cora laughed too, and Jared's merry eyes met hers over Sylvester's head. This was a good way to spend their morning.

"I wish we could do this every day," Sylvester said, suddenly.

Jared's eyes went serious, and Cora bit her lip.

"You mean you wish it was Christmas every day?" she asked.

"Sure, but not the present part," Sylvester said. " This part."

Her heart felt like it would burst with emotion.

"Me too," she told him softly.

She looked back to Jared, but by the time she turned, he was kneeling by the stove, holding up a beautiful ring.

"I know we've only been on one date," Jared said. "But I've known you long enough to know I don't want to go any longer without being part of your family."

Love warmed her heart, and her throat hurt from trying to hold back her tears. But this wasn't just her decision.

She looked to Sylvester, wondering how he would feel about not being the only important person in her life.

"The ring is very special," Sylvester told her carefully. " It was his grandpa's. And when you wear it, you can feel like family is always with you."

His words hit her hard. Sylvester had a family talisman of his own. Jared explaining about the ring would have meant a lot to him. But that also meant that Jared had told him he was planning on proposing at some point.

"Jared talked to you about this already?" she asked.

"He wanted my permission," Sylvester said proudly. "He said I was the most important man in your life, and if I didn't want him to marry you, then he wouldn't even ask you."

"Wow," she said.

"And then he told me about the ring," Sylvester said. "He said it's not fancy, but he hopes you like it anyway because… because it means a lot to him."

She smiled at how hard he was working to remember exactly what Jared had said.

"I think it's absolutely beautiful," she told her son, knowing she was also telling Jared. "And besides, people don't need fancy things to know that they're important to each other, right?"

"That's why it doesn't matter that our TV is very small," Sylvester said, nodding.

"So is it okay for me to say yes?" she asked Sylvester.

"You have to say yes," he said, suddenly looking worried. "You're going to, right? We're going to be a family and that's like a team. I've never been on a team before."

"Okay," she told him. "I really like that idea."

Jared chuckled and she looked down at Jared's handsome face, wondering how he could have become so important to both of them in such a short time.

"Yes," she told him. "I want you to be part of our family. I want to marry you, Jared Webb."

Tears sprang to his eyes as he slid the pretty little ring onto her finger, and then her eyes were blurring too.

Jared stood, lifted Sylvester in his arms, and hugged them both to his chest as Cora let go and sobbed like a baby, too filled with happiness to do anything else.

"Is someone crying in here?" Ginny asked from the kitchen doorway. "It's only pancakes?—"

Cora looked up to see her mother-in-law tilt her head, looking at them as it all dawned on her.

"Get in here, Grandma," Jared said, opening his arm to Ginny. "We have good news."

Cora gazed at Ginny, the woman who meant so much to her, and suddenly feared that this development might hurt her heart.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Ginny said, smiling at them as tears filled her eyes. "You said yes. Good girl. I'm so happy for all of you."

Cora breathed a sigh of relief as Ginny ran over to join the family embrace. It appeared that even Ginny had been consulted in advance.

Everything really was going to be okay.

" Everything is going to be so awesome now ," Sylvester yelled out, echoing her thoughts.