Free Rainey's Christmas Miracle by R. E. Bradshaw Page A

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