Page 137 of Tasty Cherry
But as it gets closer, I recognize the walk and the shape.
I hurry over. “Sebastian! What are you doing here?”
“Celebrating Christmas Eve with my lady.” He has a straw basket in his arms. He pops the lid on one side. “I have hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.”
“This is terrific.” I pull a mug out of the basket and pour hot chocolate into it. “Owen, we have treats!”
“Where are the others?” Sebastian asks. “Isn’t Maverick supposed to be out here while Tinsel is in active labor?”
“He is. He’s in the hay room.”
Sebastian takes in the barn. “With Brooklyn, I’m guessing.”
“Yep. You called it.” I sip the velvety hot chocolate. It’s heaven.
Owen sidles up. “I heard treats.”
Sebastian sets the basket down. “Help yourself.”
We wander over to the pen to check on Tinsel.
“It’s very nativity,” Sebastian says. “The birth in the manger on Christmas Eve.”
“At least it’s the donkey this time.”
Sebastian drapes an arm around me. “This will be a Christmas we remember.”
“Because we spent it in a barn?”
He leans in close. “Because we spent it together.”
His lips are cool against my warm ones from the drink. We take a moment to relax into each other until the chorus of donkey laughter gets louder.
“I see a snout!” Owen says. “Isn’t this when we have to decide if she needs help?”
I break away from Sebastian. “Donkey births often need help.”
We watch a moment as Tinsel labors.
“I think the other donkeys are telling us to help,” Owen says. He opens the side door of the pen to go inside.
“He’s not going to get kicked, is he?” Sebastian asks.
“We went in for the others, too,” I say. “It wasn’t a problem.”
Owen puts on a pair of gloves and starts pulling at the sac to expose the foal’s snout.
“Is it breathing?” I ask.
“I think so,” Owen says.
I can’t stand it anymore and head inside the pen to kneel with him. “Tinsel looks awfully tired.”
The donkey drops her head to the hay, wheezing.
“Call Jed,” I tell Sebastian. “Tell him we’re worried about Tinsel.”
Sebastian whips out his phone.