Awesome.
“Do you really think Charlie will be okay?” she asked as another worry popped into her head.
Reuben frowned at that question. She could tell he was worried about Charlie too. But the thing that was baffling was that she had no concrete reason to be concerned about him.
He had a new Daddy in his life. He was dressing better, appeared to be eating more, and he seemed happy.
But Faith just wasn’t so sure.
“He said he would be. We can check in on him regularly, though.”
Faith nodded, grateful that he was taking her concerns seriously and not just brushing them off. He’d had Nighthawk run a check on Charlie’s new guy and it hadn’t raised any red flags. It seemed he was just what he said he was. An accountant with a firm in Queens.
So why did he rub her the wrong way?
“Right, peeps, we’re going to take off soon,” Alfie said. “So we all need to be in our seats and belted in nice and tight.”
He moved past, whistling. You couldn’t help but smile when Alfie was around.
Reuben grabbed a blanket from one of the other chairs and put it over her legs before checking that her belt was buckled in
Nerves started to fill her stomach again.
She really wasn’t sure about this.
Deep breaths. You’ve got this.
Reaching for her bag, Reuben drew out Colin, her stuffie, as well as a pacifier. Colin was meant to be a fish, but he kind of looked more like a dolphin. He was huge and squishy and would help keep her safe. She hugged him tight. She still had Courageous Camel in her other hand. Reuben placed her pacifier in her mouth.
It was going to be difficult to drink her peppermint mocha latte, but she’d figure that out. Right now, the pacifier, her camel, and Colin were what she needed.
And Reuben.
She always needed him.
She just hoped that he forgot about his threat to punish her. This wasn’t the time of year to be naughty and she knew it.
Hopefully, Santa was too busy to pay attention to how naughty Faith had been.
6
IMMY, JENNER, AND TOBIAS
22nd December
“Christmas is the best time of the year! I love Christmas, yes I do!” Immy sang off key as she sorted all of her gifts. She had everything she needed. The guys would say she’d gone overboard, but what point was there in doing Christmas if she didn’t do it well?
Besides, everything about Christmas was magical and Immy loved magic! Especially wizards and witches.
Humming the tune to “Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer,” she packed all of the gifts up. They weren’t leaving for the airport until four this afternoon. It was just over two hours flight time to get to New York, then they’d take a helicopter flight and arrive in Southampton tonight.
She couldn’t wait! She bounced around the room in her Christmas pajamas. They were red and white striped and so cute. And she had a white fluffy robe to wear with them if she got cold.
“Concentrate, Immy,” she told herself.
The rattling of the door had her squealing. “Don’t come in! Don’t come in!” She packed up the rest of the presents as the door rattled.
Someone was trying to get in! Thankfully, she’d locked it. She didn’t want anyone seeing the gifts even though they were all wrapped.
