“She’ll be here with us, Roman. No matter how long it takes, we won’t stop until she’s freed,” Richie said.
Roman nodded. “I refuse to accept anything less,” he agreed.
Chapter 25
After the tree was decorated, Maia pulled out the box that held all the stockings. There were so many in the Pride now, that she’d had Riley make her a custom shelf with pegs on it from which to hang the stockings. It sat to the right of the fireplace mantle, and was two tiered. Not all the pegs were occupied yet, but it wouldn’t be long until they were. Their family’s stockings hung from the mantle along with the single members of the Pride. Those with families and extended families hung from the stocking shelf.
“Okay, everybody hang their stockings!” Maia said, taking hers, Riley’s, Cristie’s, and Sebastian’s brand new one and hanging them from the mantle.
Everyone got up and began to hang their stockings.
Roman didn’t get up. Instead he remained where he was on the sofa with Darcie leaning against him as she ate her third cupcake.
“Roman? You didn’t hang your stocking,” Maia said, walking toward him with his stocking in one hand, and paint markers, glitter pens, and a small bag in the other.
Roman looked from Maia to Darcie and back at Maia. He didn’t want to hang one if she didn’t have one. He didn’t want her to feel left out — she’d already been through enough.
“Here you go, Darcie. Paint markers, glitter pens, all kinds of sparkle gems… anything you could think of to decorate your stocking,” Maia said.
“I don’t have a stocking to decorate,” she said quietly.
“Sure you do. I went to the store last week, and I bought everything I’d need to make one for Sebastian. While I was there, something told me to buy enough to have lots of extras. So, here’s one for you, and here’s another for your mom. It will be ready for whenever she gets here,” Maia said, laying all the things she held in her hands on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
Darcie looked up at Roman who was doing his best not to lose control so he could continue to give her the feeling that everything was fine. “Can I decorate one?” Darci asked.
“Yes, and we’re going to decorate one for your mom together. Okay?” Roman asked.
Darcie grinned and got to her knees beside the table, smiling as she reached for the glitter pens.
Fifteen minutes later, Roman’s, Darcie’s and even Talie’s stockings were hung on the stocking shelves beside the mantle.
As they sat enjoying everyone’s company, and trying to make it feel like any other holiday preparation, Roman noticed Darcie yawning quite a lot, and she got back into his lap. She was leaning against him, and her eyes were getting heavy.
“Are you sleepy?” Roman asked.
Darcie nodded. “I don’t sleep very much.”
“Why not?” Roman asked.
“Because I stay awake. I don’t like to sleep when I don’t know who’s in the room with me.”
“Who’s been in the room with you?” Roman asked, his voice becoming slightly growly.
“Just some kids I don’t know. Some of them are mean. And I didn’t like it,” Darcie answered.
“You just didn’t feel safe?” Yvette asked.
Darcie nodded.
“Well, now we have our own house. You have your own room, and you never have to worry about being safe again. Okay?” Roman assured her.
“Do we live here?” she asked.
“Nope. We live over there,” he said, turning and pointing out of the window at the trailer park that was completely draped in Christmas lights and decorations. “We’re all family, but we have our own houses close together. This one is the biggest so we gather here.”
Darcie nodded.
“You know what? I’m getting kinda tired. Why don’t we go ahead and head home. We have a busy day tomorrow anyway,” Roman said.
“We do?” she asked.
“We do. During the holidays, I work at the Christmas Village. We sell Christmas trees, and have all kinds of activities for kids to do,” Roman explained.
Her eyes rounded and she immediately became excited despite the fatigue she was feeling. “Do you think I could maybe help out?” she asked.
“Maybe. You’d have to ask Mr. Travis,” Roman said, tilting his head toward Travis.
Darcie followed Roman’s gaze and looked at Travis. “It’s your Christmas Village?” she asked.
“It is,” Travis answered. “It’s really a Christmas tree farm, but we have all kinds of fun things to do.”
“Can I come with Mr. Roman… I mean…” she faltered, not sure what to call Roman. “Roman?” she finally settled on.
“I don’t know. Are you a hard worker?” Travis asked.
“I am. And my Mama says I’m very smart, too,” she said.
Travis looked at Libby who was watching the little girl with her heart in her eyes, doing her best not to tear up from the situation the child had been through. “Libby, do you think we can find something for Darcie to do?”
Libby nodded. “Definitely. We have all kinds of things you can help with. And if you decide you don’t want to help anymore, you can hang around and play all day while Roman works. How does that sound?” Libby asked.
“Like lots of fun,” Darcie answered, before yawning again.
“We should go home, then. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow,” Roman said, sitting Darcie on the sofa so he could walk over and get the small bag of clothes Ms. Autry had brought with her. He opened it and went through it, looking for a heavy coat. Not finding one, he looked up at Darcie. “Where’s your coat?” he asked.
“I just have a rain jacket. But I forgot it,” she answered.
“That’s okay,” Roman said. He walked over to the coat rack and dug through the coats and jackets hanging there until he found his. He slipped it on, but didn't zip it up. He walked back into the living room, grabbed the bag and slipped it over his wrist, then walked over and picked up Darcie, holding her close to his body and curving his coat around her. He managed to zip enough of the bottom half of the coat to keep it closed around her and turned to smile at everyone. “Thanks for letting us decorate tonight. We’ll see ya’ll tomorrow afternoon. We have some shopping to do tomorrow morning.”
“You need any help, Roman?” Maia asked.
“Nope. I think we can manage,” he said, walking toward the door.
As Roman approached the door and started through it, they heard Darcie’s voice. “What are we going to shop for?” she asked.
“We have to buy you a new coat, and some clothes. And if you’re going to be helping me at the Christmas Village you’ll need a new pair of boots, too. And I think you should pick out some fancy blankets and stuff for your bed and your room.” They headed down the white gravel drive with Roman telling her about all the things they’d buy tomorrow. His voice was so deep Riley and the Pride could hear the timbre of it rumbling almost all the way down the drive.
“That man is going to be a fantastic father,” Libby said.