Chapter 5: Baking Spirits Bright
Elizabeth woke to the familiar thumping within her belly. She stretched to find Nathan's side of the bed already cold. As much as she wanted to stay under the warm quilt, her already squished bladder protested. After readying herself for a full day of baking, Elizabeth crossed the room and opened the door—immediately recognizing the scents of eggs and sausage cooking downstairs.
Nathan was leaning over a hot skillet donning Elizabeth's white floral apron with pink strings tied in the back. He was quite a sight—for more reasons than one. Hearing her footsteps on the stairs, he straightened and turned, smiling all the way up to his eyes at the woman he loved most—carrying the child he already adored.
"Good morning, Handsome. Aren't you dashing in my apron?" She whispered in amusement for his ears alone as she tugged at his apron strings pulling him toward her for a quick kiss. His lips found hers as his left hand found the small of her back as his right cradled their newest child.
"Good morning Beautiful. How are two of my favorites today?" He nuzzled her cheek and gave her a kiss back.
Allie and Jack approached and hugged their mother good morning before they finished setting the table for breakfast. Nathan doled out the eggs and sausage, and after a quick prayer, everyone ate together.
"What cookies are we making first, Mom?" Allie asked—naturally planning out their day in between bites of eggs.
Pausing to swallow, Elizabeth responded, "Marguerite's sugar cookies. The ones with the frosting." She shot a quick glance over at Nathan whose eyes were already lit with mischief.
Allie feigned annoyance at their glance with an eye roll. She had recognized that her parents had a long-standing history with frosting between her sleepover from years ago, their wedding day, and seemingly at every possible opportunity around frosting.
"What can I help with, Lizbeth?" Nathan slyly asked, hoping to be in charge of all of the frosting. Elizabeth wasn't buying it.
"You'll make the sugar cookie dough and I'll mix up the gingerbread dough. I was going to have Allie scoop dough again, and Jack can help you both press down the sugar cookie balls. Then, you can help me cut out the gingerbread men. We'll have to wait for the cookies to cool enough before we ice either of them, so I figured we would bake everything first before lunch." Elizabeth's teaching background shone through in the detailed planning and delegation.
"Sounds like a good plan. The kids and I will wash up breakfast dishes so you can get everything out."
Mounties can plan too.
Nathan's own management of the home for years as a single parent had been a huge education for him in both parenting and daily home tasks. It was a trait that Elizabeth had grown to appreciate more and more as their family continued to grow, and her time became more strained with the daily tasks at hand.
The Grants assembled at the table like a well trained militia—each carrying out their roles with focus and precision. Conversation turned to memories from Christmases past both in recent history as well as from both Nathan and Elizabeth's childhoods. The children loved hearing more about Elizabeth baking with Miss Cookie, spilling sugar, and making messes much like Jack was famous for now.
Nathan shared stories about baking with his mother and his sister Colleen. Ada ran a tight ship kitchen, and she believed that both Nathan and Colleen should be able to fix a simple meal for themselves. Young Nathan had preferred instead to learn the steps to his mother's cookie recipes.
Colleen excelled in all areas of culinary arts—having inherited her mother's ability to discern what was missing in any recipe. Nathan, on the other hand, was more of a dump and pour kind of guy.
Allie relished any stories that Nathan told about her mother, and sitting around the table baking had a funny way of recalling food memories from the past—stories that were different than the usual favorites to tell.
Similarly, Jack liked hearing about his papa's reactions to his mother's early baking and cooking attempts. All of those stories turned out to be amusing tales about burned suppers and unrecognizable dishes. The stories proved Jack's character and love for Elizabeth to have choked them down politely. Elizabeth seemed happy to recall them getting lost in the memory momentarily as she spoke. Nathan and Allie enjoyed learning more about Jack and gained insight into Elizabeth's earlier life.
Trays of cookies alternated in the oven between sugar cookies and gingerbread men. No matter how meticulous Nathan and Elizabeth tried to be with the cookie cutter and rolling pin to ensure an even cookie, some gingerbread would still break off an arm, a leg, or sometimes even a head by the time they came out of the oven. Nathan and the children were far from disappointed though, as it presented an opportunity for one of them to eat the evidence of the baking failure.
Although they were mostly stuffed from cookie sampling, the Grants took a lunch break and assembled simple sandwiches for a quick lunch before they commenced with decorating the cookies.
Allie and Jack cleared the dishes, and put away the sandwich materials. Nathan and Elizabeth each armed themselves with a bowl, a spatula, and corresponding recipe. Nathan had Marguerite's buttercream icing recipe, whereas, Elizabeth held Bill's royal icing recipe. They both stirred and mixed feverishly hoping to beat the other to the first frosting swipe.
Putting his muscle into it, Nathan finished first. He swiped a fingerful of frosting causing Elizabeth to step back from the table and shriek playfully, as she turned to make a run for it up the stairs. Nathan gave her a head start, but his long strides caught up to her quickly and surpassed her by the time she made it to the living room.
He circled her middle with his clean hand steadying her before pulling her gently to his lap on the settee. He swiped a full finger's worth of frosting down her nose and lips before capturing her lips with his own for a sweetly passionate kiss full of memories and shared history between them. In return, she nuzzled her frosting covered nose down his cheek playfully for the sole purpose of cleaning it up in the same manner.
"We finished the dishes! Your children are waiting to decorate cookies and they can't decorate themselves you know…" Allie shouted sarcastically from the kitchen—fully aware that her parents would likely lose track of time in their own little world.
Pressing her forehead to Nathan's, she whispered huskily, "Duty calls, Constable. We'd better get back before Jack gets a spatula full of frosting." She kissed him quickly before pushing herself up from the settee and off his lap.
They returned hand in hand to the kitchen to wash up again and oversee the icing and colored sugar before disaster ensued. Allie smiled to herself at the sight of them and hugged Jack. It was nice to finally have their family together under one roof this year.
The next few hours passed quickly. The gingerbread earned stripes, ties, shirts, boots, and even hair piped on mainly by Elizabeth and Allie with each gingerbread man or woman taking on its own personality. The sugar cookies were thoroughly frosted by Nathan and expertly decorated with colored sugar by Jack.
With the boys finishing first, Jack and Nathan joined the girls in decorating their own gingerbread. Nathan had cleverly created a gingerbread Mountie with tall boots and striped jodhpurs with a red serge cleverly sprinkled with the red colored sugar while the icing was still wet.
Jack had created what looked like a delicious amount of royal icing completely covering his gingerbread in what he explained to be a pants and shirt combo that was completely indiscernible to the non-toddler eye.
With the last gingerbread completed, Elizabeth washed her hands and prepared several cookie trays with a sampling of the snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, and gingerbread with a few chocolate candies from The Mercantile filling out the trays.
Allie had requested a tray for the Weise family, and Jack wanted to deliver a tray to The Canfields. Elizabeth already had a tradition of bringing cookies over to the Coulters and to Bill. Nathan had requested to also bring some cookies to Henry Gowen, as he wasn't sure who Henry celebrated with this time of year.
While Elizabeth and the kids put on their coats, hats, and gloves, Nathan slipped out to hitch up the horses. He led Sargeant and Newton from the barn—pulling the wagon around to the front of the house. He helped load each of the trays of cookies into the back before hoisting up Little Jack and helping Allie up the step to the back row where a warmed quilt awaited. He squeezed Elizabeth's hand tenderly as he helped her and the baby up carefully to the front seat and covered their legs with their own quilt and furs.
The wheels crunched loudly over the snow, but the powerful Mountie horses didn't seem to notice it at all. The icy branches of the trees from a few days ago were melted off again although the snow mostly covered the fields and road with the exception of a few blades of grass sticking out.
After a few minutes, they pulled up to the Weise's home and Allie ran up to her friend's door to deliver the cookies. Mrs. Weise answered the door and smiled warmly at Allie—greeting her before turning and calling Opal to the door. Opal was thrilled with the surprise visit and cookies and hugged Allie tightly before waving to her favorite teacher, her son, and new favorite Mountie.
Allie returned to the wagon and easily climbed up herself and snuggled happily back under the quilt with Jack. The wagon traveled down the road to the Canfield's rowhouse.
Jack was eager to get out this time, and Nathan helped him down the wagon step to where he could follow his sister down the walk and up the stairs to the Canfield's house.
With a firm knock on the door, Allie and Jack waited together with their tray of cookies. Joseph answered the door with a warm smile for the Grant children. From the looks of his floured apron, it seemed the Canfields had spent their Saturday baking too.
"Well hello Allie and Jack! What do you have here?" Joseph asked directing his question to Jack with a quick wink to Allie who nodded in understanding. Joseph waved to Nathan and Elizabeth still up on the wagon.
"Cookies! I make dem allllll myself!" Jack bragged with his little chest puffed out.
"You did? Let me see these." He lifted the towel to inspect Jack's handiwork. "Well if this doesn't look like the tastiest gingerbread I ever did see. MmmmMmm. Imma take that one now before I show these to Minnie and the kids." He winked at Jack who smiled a full faced grin under his praise.
"Minnie! Coop! Angela! Come see what the Grants baked us!"
The Canfields appeared from the kitchen also wearing aprons. Allie hugged Angela squeezing her bosom buddy tightly. Jack mirrored his sister by offering a hug to Cooper. Minnie held a tray of her own cookies covered with a kitchen towel.
"Here Honey, let's switch towels and you can take this one back to your Mama with our cookies we made you." Minnie lifted her towel to reveal peanut butter cookies, chocolate dipped shortbread with chopped walnuts, and oatmeal raisin cookies.
"Thank you Mrs. Canfield! Merry Christmas!" Allie took the tray from Minnie and stepped back to return to her parents in the wagon. Cooper and Joseph waved to the Grants as Angela smiled in the doorway and raised her hand in goodbye.
Nathan helped Allie and Jack back up into the wagon before climbing into the front seat again with his very pregnant wife. Elizabeth was a bit disappointed to not be as mobile this Christmas, but both she and Nathan knew the risks of her slipping and falling on the ice at this point in her pregnancy. The ice was almost entirely melted, but the cautious Mountie still wasn't talking any chances.
It was a short wagon ride from the Canfields out to Henry's neatly kept cabin. They pulled up to see a single light burning, no wreath, no Christmas tree, no indication of the current season, or of any other life breathed into the property. It was a stark contrast from the other homes they had visited tonight and Nathan and Elizabeth exchanged a glance and nod in silent conversation.
"Well, are we getting out? Seems like he's home," Allie bluntly ventured.
Elizabeth stifled a chuckle, but Nathan narrowed his eyes at his daughter and deadpanned, "No. We'll just sit here….forever probably." That comment earned the intended eye roll he had come to expect these days in his spirited teen.
Nathan squeezed Elizabeth's hand and gave her a sympathetic smile before climbing down from the wagon. He knew she wanted to visit with Henry and he was hoping the trip up the steps would give him the right indication whether it would be smart for her to do so. From first appearances, the walkway looked neatly shoveled so it might be possible.
He helped Allie down, but Jack shook his head. "I stay wif Mama." He climbed up to the front bench and snuggled under the quilt and furs with his mother. She was delighted with his decision and put her arm snugly around her young man. Smiling at the sight, Nathan offered Allie his arm and they walked the short path to Henry's door with a tray of cookies in Allie's right hand.
As they reached the top step, Henry opened the door for them without even knocking.
"Good evening Nathan…Allie." He nodded to them both. "This is a surprise. Would you like to come in?" Henry had a genuine smile that creased the corners of his mouth and an ease about him not usually seen in town. He wore a casual button down shirt and trousers with an older overcoat that had seen it's fair share of house chores over the years—based on the wear and light fraying at its edges.
Nathan opened his mouth to speak when Henry glanced past him to the sight of Elizabeth and Jack snuggled together in the wagon—suddenly understanding Nathan's dilemma.
"I'll grab my coat and walk with you. It would be nice to thank Elizabeth myself. What do you have here? It smells wonderful."
Nathan let out his breath and was visibly relieved at Henry's decision.
"We made you some Christmas cookies Mr. Gowen. Mom and I made your gingerbread, and Jack sprinkled the red and green sugar on your Christmas cookies," Allie proudly detailed pointing out each cookie.
"Well thank you. Ooh…your mom's snickerdoodles. I've had those before." He quickly grabbed one from the tray and popped it in his mouth with a smile. He set the tray down on his kitchen table inside, grabbed the towel off the top, and returned to the door as he buttoned his coat.
The trio carefully climbed down the steps and walked towards the wagon to see Elizabeth's face light up that Henry had come out to her.
"Now don't get up for me. This is the least I can do for all of those cookies you made me. Thank you. That was very kind of you." His cheeks took on a pinkish hue, but whether they were rosy from the cold or from the kind gesture it was hard to tell.
Elizabeth smiled at him. Hugging Jack to her side, she responded, "Merry Christmas Henry. Thank you for coming out here. I didn't expect you to do that."
He shook his head slightly and put his hand up. "It was no trouble. Thank you for your kindness to an old man like me. You take care of those babies now." He pointed to Jack and her growing belly before handing her back her kitchen towel from the cookie tray.
Nathan reached out a gloved hand to Henry and he shook it. "Merry Christmas Henry."
"Merry Christmas Nathan."
Allie opened her arms and hugged a surprised Henry who was stiff for a moment before he relaxed into the hug and patted her back. He didn't get many hugs, and it meant just as much as the cookies did to him. He smiled down at Allie and wished her a Merry Christmas as well.
Nathan helped Allie back up in the wagon and she and Jack resettled into the back row. The Grants waved as Nathan gave a quick flick of the reins and they were off again looping back to town to make a stop at the cafe to catch Bill.
The sun was nearly set when they pulled onto Main Street. Hope Valley was a beautiful sight at Christmas adorned with spruce garlands and red bows on most shop front's railings. Parking the wagon and tying off the horses, Nathan helped each of his family down—taking special care of his wife.
Grabbing one of the last trays, Allie ran ahead and held the door for her family. The cafe was bustling tonight with many families that also had busy afternoons wrapping up their Christmas traditions and had neglected to cook supper. Bill was visibly feeling the stress back in the kitchen, but he was managing multiple skillets and pots on the stove well nonetheless.
The Grants sat at the last available table waving at the Shepherds and the Yosts each at tables nearby. Clara came to fill their water and take their order. It was a condensed menu this evening in anticipation of a crowd.
Choosing to keep it simple, Nathan ordered four bowls of chili and cornbread for the family. The cafe was warm and a bit noisy tonight. Nevertheless, it was a nice change of pace, and it was a quick way to warm everyone from the inside out.
With full bellies, Nathan paid Clara—leaving her a generous tip for her care. The cafe rush had a slowed considerably from when they arrived, so The Grants approached the kitchen in search of Bill.
He was just wiping his hands after pouring another batch of cornbread into a skillet when the curtain pulled back to reveal Nathan, Elizabeth, and the kids with a tray of cookies.
Bill smiled at the sight of them—both because of how he felt about them as well as in thankfulness that it wasn't Clara delivering another round of orders. "Come sit down. What have you brought?"
"Cookies Unka Bill!" Jack triumphantly announced as they all took a seat at the table.
Allie took the towel off revealing the assortment. Bill smiled as he noticed the gingerbread cookies, "Is that my royal icing recipe that I smell?"
"It sure is, Bill. It's my favorite," Elizabeth smiled in return.
Clara opened the curtain with another order in hand. Bill looked up in recognition. He hugged them all, wished them a Merry Christmas, and apologized quickly for the short time together. He returned to the stove and put the cornbread into the oven and started on the next order as they ducked out quietly.
The Grants bundled back into their coats and hats and headed off to their last stop for the night—The Coulters. Not long after Elizabeth and Nathan married, Lee had completed the work on his new home. Although they weren't as close next door as they used to be in the row houses, Nathan and Elizabeth's farmhouse was still a country neighbor within walking distance—which both women were especially thrilled with.
Lee had built a four bedroom home knowing that they were expecting twins, but also secretly hoping he would need additional room for any future children should they be blessed with any more through birth or adoption. It was beautiful two story home with a wide front porch with white railing and navy blue shutters. Rosemary had planted evergreen bushes in front of the railing which brought a fresh pop of green to the otherwise snow covered yard.
Nathan held Jack's hand and offered Elizabeth his arm. Allie held the last cookie tray as they walked up the path to the Coulter's new home.
Reaching the door, Nathan ungloved his hand and knocked loudly hoping to be heard over the Christmas music playing inside on the Victrola. There was a muffled sound of footsteps before the door opened revealing a smiling Lee who was clearly happy to see his neighbors.
"Come on in! Rosie is just finishing feeding the babies. We hoped that you would swing by tonight." Lee clapped Nathan on the back and gave Elizabeth a brotherly hug. Allie handed him the tray and he immediately lifted the towel to look for his favorites.
"Who made this gingerbread man?" Lee looked up to see Allie beaming.
"I did. I wanted him to have a bow tie and suspenders." Allie blushed with the admission.
"Well I like his look. I might have to try that sometime….probably not going to need suspenders to hold me up any time soon between these cookies and Rosie's food, but I'll keep it in mind." Lee winked at Allie as he took a bite of his gingerbread.
"Mmmmm these taste just like Abigail's, Elizabeth." He closed his eyes savoring the bite.
Elizabeth laughed, "Well they should! They're her recipe. I've come a long way in my cooking and baking I'll have you know."
"Well that's certainly the truth." Rosemary teased in her sing-song tone as she rounded the corner into the living room. She had both arms filled with her bundled twins in contrasting pink and blue blankets.
Rosemary had always been a beautiful woman, but the birth of her twins had lifted an almost indiscernible sadness that had settled on her that only those who knew her best had detected. She glowed with happiness now. She had longed for children for so long that she had almost lost hope until her mysterious illness in the new year had proved to be the two little blessings that she held now.
"These two are warm and happy. Would anyone like to hold them?" She looked at Allie and Jack who were both visibly hoping she would ask.
Rosemary handed off Evelyn to Allie who had removed her coat and mittens in preparation. She held the baby girl tenderly as she slowly swayed from side to side softly humming, "What Child Is This?" After all of the rehearsals the twins had attended, it was likely to be a familiar song to them already.
Elizabeth had Jack sit on the settee and propped several pillows around him and then took a seat next to him to be additional support. Rosemary laid Patrick down in Jack's lap smiling at the excited soon-to-be big brother.
Jack gazed at him in wonder. Patrick wiggled a bit making himself comfortable before he yawned and closed his sleepy blue eyes.
"What do you think, Jack?" Elizabeth cooed anticipating a similar moment a few months from now with their own baby.
"He has a big tongue." Jack reported.
Nathan and Elizabeth's eyes flared in shock as Lee let out a laugh at his unexpected response.
Rosemary came to the rescue, "He does doesn't he? I think he likes you." The humor in her eyes and the time that she had spent with Jack over the years removed any trace of offense. Instead, she found the humor in never knowing what a young child would say next.
She would be in the same boat before long. It's a good thing she had theatrical training and could think quickly on her feet. With twin toddlers, she was likely to need it.
Nathan and Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. They both sympathetically mouthed "sorry" to Rosemary and Lee who were still amused and motioned not to worry about it. Allie smirked at the situation—enjoying watching it unfold like a fly on the wall.
"Oh. Elizabeth…I have something for you. I know we said we wouldn't exchange gifts this year, but I did a little baking..." Rosemary trailed off as she disappeared into the kitchen.
She returned with a large pan of cinnamon rolls.
"Rosemary how did you…when did you…don't you have newborn twins?" Elizabeth protested loudly as she shook her head smiling. She lowered her voice jokingly for only Rosemary to hear, "Now don't make this look too easy…"
Rosemary laughed and patted her shoulder. "These two have been a dream. They sleep a lot still and Lee has been a wonderful help which I know you'll have with Nathan and the children this time around too."
Elizabeth smiled at Nathan who was talking with Lee across the room. As if he sensed her gaze, he looked up and smiled back at her. Rosemary was right. She was in good hands this time. Surely Jack would have proved to be a wonderful father, but she never got to see it. This time would be entirely different and just the thought warmed her heart.
Nathan had rescued Little Jack from Patrick starting to fuss, and the sight of Nathan with an infant was almost overwhelming to Elizabeth knowing that it was soon to be their reality. Nathan looked up at her again seemingly thinking a similar thought.
Allie handed Evelyn off to Elizabeth who had returned to the settee. Evelyn laid directly on Elizabeth's bump and she was amused to discover that her baby within responded to the added pressure by kicking back. She secretly hoped that it meant that the two would be friends and even as close as their mothers were.
After a few minutes, Evelyn started to stretch and wiggle again—seemingly uncomfortable. No amount of hushing, humming, or bouncing seemed to satisfy her. Patrick started fussing as well—mirroring his sister in true twin fashion. Apologetically, Elizabeth surrendered the baby girl back to her mother and Nathan handed Patrick back to his proud father.
The Grants stood to leave giving the Coulters the privacy they needed to put their babies to bed for the night. After some rushed goodbyes over crying babies, they bundled up again for the quick trip home.
It wouldn't be long before they too would have their world scheduled around a little one's needs. Nathan and Elizabeth found themselves not just ok with that, but actually looking forward to the coming disruption.
A/N:
There's your frosted sugar cookies Lauralyn!
The baking day is a nod to my mom who raised us in a Christmas baking kitchen with a few marathon baking days. Minnie's tray also featured a more historically accurate version of my mom's chocolate dipped spritz cookies she makes every year.
Jack's gingerbread is inspired by my own kids getting overzealous with the royal icing.
nebula2 had the brilliant idea to deliver cookies to Henry and I love how that turned out
"He has a big tongue." Is a direct quote of my daughter describing my newborn son on what I was hoping would be a sweet video of the first time holding him. It is still sweet, but it is also hilarious. She is still a spitfire.
The Grant baby kicking up at Evelyn is also based on a real event of my daughter in utero kicking my best friend's baby when I held her on my big belly bump. They were sweet friends as little girls until they moved back to Louisiana.
The clever chapter title came from a cute Christmas apron I saw on Etsy. It seemed to fit this chapter perfectly.