Rainey's Christmas Miracle

OTHER R. E. BRADSHAW TITLES:

OUT ON THE SOUND
(Adventures of Decky and Charlie, # 1)

SWEET CAROLINA GIRLS

THE GIRL BACK HOME

RAINEY DAYS
(Rainey Bell Series, #1)

RAINEY NIGHTS
(Rainey Bell series, #2)

WAKING UP GRAY

BEFORE IT STAINS

COMING APRIL 2012…
MOLLY: HOUSE ON FIRE

RAINEY’S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

R. E. Bradshaw

© 2011 by R. E. Bradshaw.
All Rights Reserved.
R. E. Bradshaw Books/FEB 2012

www.rebradshawbooks.com

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This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, and events portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual persons living or dead or events are entirely unintentional.

Rainey’s Christmas Miracle

Christmas Day, 2011

Rainey Bell stood toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s most feared serial killers and several almost killed her. She was always armed, always prepared for the worst. Former FBI Special Agent Bell had faced death and come out the winner, but nothing in her law enforcement background had readied her for the task she was about to face. Rainey thought she would rather be alone in the woods with a madman stalking her, than have to do what was required of her today. At least she would have a fighting chance of coming out unscathed in a life or death situation. Rainey knew this was going to be like walking through a firing range with a target on her back. She was already covered in a thin layer of cold sweat as she sat motionless on the couch in the den, staring into space. The time was rapidly approaching when she would venture forward into the waiting disaster she knew this day would turn out to be.

“Honey, could you please help me?” Katie Meyers, the extremely pregnant love of Rainey’s life, waddled into view.

Rainey’s mood lightened at the site of Katie teetering down the two steps from the hall to the den. She was so big now she approached them sideways to keep her balance. Katie was holding one boot in her hand and wearing the other unzipped, the top of the boot dragging on the floor behind her. Rainey broke into a wide smile. It was true what they said about pregnant women; they glowed. Katie was radiant, although she seemed more tired lately. Carrying triplets for thirty-three weeks was beginning to take its toll. The doctor said they would look at a C-section delivery after the Christmas holiday. No way was Katie going full-term. Rainey’s life was about to take a drastic turn and she couldn’t have been happier.

Katie half sat, half fell down on the couch with a loud sigh. The frustration was evident in her voice, when she said, “I can’t reach the zipper.”

Rainey knelt in front of Katie, grinning up at her. “You sure you don’t want to wear something you can slip off? Your ankles are going to be swollen by this afternoon.”

Katie was near tears, as she often was these days. “I’m not wearing bedroom slippers, if that’s what you’re suggesting. I’m big as a house and wearing a tent for a dress. At least I can wear nice shoes.”

“Okay, okay,” Rainey said, calming Katie before she started crying again. “It’s a very pretty velvet tent and you look beautiful.”

Katie glared at Rainey, her crystal blue eyes darkening. Rainey recognized the signs. She probably shouldn’t have referred to Katie’s dress as a tent. She tried to recover.

“How about I zip you into these boots and we go open some Christmas presents? That’ll cheer you up.”

Katie was not in the mood to be cheered. “If my sister makes one comment about my size, I’m going to belt her.”

Rainey knew Katie was referring to Maria, her oldest sister, who invariably stuck her foot in her mouth at every family gathering. Maria should be on her toes today, because her baby sister was primed and ready for a fight. Rainey also knew it was best just to let Katie rant and stay out of it, because if she got involved they would turn their attention to her. Rainey preferred to fly under the radar when Katie’s sisters were in the room. The less they noticed her, the better.

Katie continued her tirade. “And if she starts up again about in vitro fertilization and multiple births and how I should have expected this, I’m going to knock her out. Really, make sure I’m not near anything I could do real damage with. I’m not sure I could control myself if a frying pan was handy.”

Rainey squeezed Katie’s calf into the boot, zipping slowly, careful not to catch her swollen skin and definitely not going to suggest Katie had grown too large to wear them. Her legs and ankles were already swelling, earlier than usual. Rainey would have to make sure Katie rested with her feet up most of the day and that she drank lots of water. She already spoke to Katie’s mother about leaving salt out of the food preparations today. The swelling worried her, but Katie told her it was normal. She gently prodded Katie’s swollen foot into the other boot and decided to bring Katie’s house shoes, just in case.

She listened to Katie’s lament about her sister and prayed the day would go by without too many emotional outbursts. Katie’s hormones were all over the place. Most of the time she was extremely happy, participating in all the normal nesting behaviors of a mother to be. Then there were days like today, when Katie’s mood would shift in seconds. She had been laughing one minute this morning and then a weeping ball on the bed the next. Rainey’s knowledge of human behavioral science was no match for what nature was doing to Katie’s emotional state. Rainey simply rode out the storms of tears and irrational behavior as best she could, keeping her head low and trying not to draw too much attention.

“Maria is so judgmental,” Katie continued. “Anything that doesn’t fit her definition of
normal
is unacceptable. We were not raised like that. Honestly, I don’t know how it’s possible for someone to move to Beverly Hills and become more conservative. She was never such a tight ass — ”

The sound of thin glass breaking stopped Katie in mid-sentence, just as Rainey succeeded in closing the zipper on the last boot. Rainey stood and looked toward the Christmas tree in the corner. Katie had gone overboard with the decorations, wanting their first Christmas in the new house to be memorable. Rainey certainly wasn’t going to forget the number of broken ornaments, destroyed bows, and pieces of greenery she cleaned up. Freddie Kreuger, Rainey’s cat, thought it was his duty to wreak havoc, his own brand of Christmas cheer. Rainey heard groaning from the couch and turned back to see Katie struggling to right herself.

“Take my hand,” Rainey said, extending her arm to Katie who grasped it, pulling hard against Rainey.

Rainey grunted from the strain, which drew a glare from Katie. Once standing, she brushed by Rainey, heading for the tree. Rainey followed, hoping Freddie hadn’t ruined something Katie found precious. It wasn’t to be. Katie looked down at the floor and began to cry.

“Oh Rainey, he broke the ornament I bought for our first Christmas last year.”

Rainey knelt down and started picking up the glass. “I’m sorry, honey. Maybe we should stick to non-breakable ornaments from now on. Let me get this up and we’ll go, okay?”

At that moment, Freddie leapt out of the interior of the tree, causing several ornaments to fly toward the floor, garland trailing after him as he made his escape. Rainey couldn’t stop the shower of ornaments, but she did manage to grab the garland before he pulled the tree down.

Katie shouted after the black cat, “I’m going to lock you outside until January!”

It was an idle threat. Katie loved Freddie and in a different mood, she would have found his antics funny, but not today. Tears were streaming down her face. Rainey stood up and took Katie into her arms, which had become increasing difficult over the last few months, as Katie’s abdomen grew larger every day.

“It’s just a Christmas tree, honey. It’s okay. You know it will be worse when the kids are here, so he’s letting us know we need to do things differently next year.”

“I just wanted this Christmas to be perfect,” Katie whined.

Rainey kissed Katie and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It is perfect, sweetheart. Everything is perfect.”

Katie smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”

Rainey was relieved to see Katie’s mood shift. “Yes, I wouldn’t change a thing. Now, let me clean this up and we’ll go spend the day with your family.”

Katie pulled Rainey’s lips down to hers and whispered against them, “I love you,” before she kissed Rainey deeply, causing a tiny groan from Rainey’s chest.

Katie released Rainey from the kiss and giggled. “I’ve been depriving you. We’ll see what we can do about that later.”

Rainey’s heart leapt at the prospects and just like that, Katie turned back into the sweet, bubbly blonde Rainey loved with all her heart. Maybe this day would turn out better than she hoped, if they could just get through dinner with the Meyers sisters without bloodshed. Rainey decided to think positive and look forward to holding Katie in her arms later tonight. After cleaning up the mess and before leaving the room to follow Katie, Rainey retrieved a small red box that she tied on the tree when it first went up. Katie thought it was an ornament. It wasn’t. Rainey had hidden Katie’s gift in plain sight and since Freddie was hell bent on destroying every ornament on the tree, Rainey thought it best to take the tiny box with her. She’d hate to have to search the house for its contents, if Freddie decided to do his worst while they were gone.

Rainey grabbed Katie’s slippers from upstairs and hid them under her coat. With one last kiss at the door leading to the enclosed garage, Rainey looped her arm around Katie’s waist and said, “No matter what Maria says, we’re going to have a good time. Then I’m bringing you home and we’ll have a nice quiet Christmas night, just the two of us.”

Katie smiled. “This is the last time you’ll be able to say that. From now on, it will be the five of us.”

Rainey saw Katie’s expression change as she reached for her side.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Katie rubbed her hand in circles on her extended belly. “They’ve been very active today. One of them has a foot under my ribs and keeps stretching.”

Rainey was concerned but didn’t let on. Triplets were usually born around thirty-three weeks. Katie passed that milestone, but next week would be nearing the upper limits for most triplet births. The babies were healthy and at a weight they could now survive without complications. Complications were Rainey’s biggest fear. She was too happy and when that happened in Rainey’s life, something dreadful usually followed. She hoped that Katie entering her life had broken that cycle. Rainey prayed every day for healthy children and Katie having an easy birth. In Rainey’s experience, nothing was ever easy.