Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Carlos sat on the chair and stared out the window at the brilliant blue sky and sunshine. He longed to be out there playing, but, even if he weren’t stuck here, he wouldn’t be allowed out.
Turning his attention back to the interior of the hall, he let out a sigh as he shifted uncomfortably in his suit and fiddled with his tie. He was sure they had been here for hours and hours and days and days. He had absolutely no doubt in his mind that it had to be the longest day of the year if not his life.
He tried to find one of his other cousins or even a sibling, but they were nowhere to be found. He was alone. Stuck here with all the adults. All they wanted to do was sit around and talk to each other.
Of course, he wasn’t completely sure if it was better to have the adults pay him attention or for them to ignore him. If one more of Grandma Rosa’s friends came up and pinched his cheeks, he was going to let them know exactly how much he did not appreciate it.
“Hey, kid. Make yourself useful and bring me some more punch,” a man instructed.
Carlos looked at the man and blinked. He couldn’t recall seeing the man before or being introduced to him, but there were so many grown-ups here, Carlos figured there must not be any grownups left anywhere. They were all here.
Figuring he had nothing better to do, he took the cup and replied, “Yes, sir.”
As he moved off toward the table where his aunt was serving punch, he wondered once again when this day would ever end.
Eventually he got to the table, only being bumped and jostled a little bit, only to discover he would have to wait for his aunt to stop talking to another lady.
“Thank goodness the days will be getting longer, now,” one lady was telling the other.
“Yes,” agreed his aunt. “The first day of Winter is always a blessing that way.”
“I still can’t believe your parents were married on the winter solstice,” the other lady replied.
“Short day, loooong wedding night,” Carlos’ aunt replied, causing both ladies to giggle. “Still, it’s always nice to get through today, the shortest day of the year.”
Carlos just looked at them, stunned. He didn’t care what they said about today, December 21st, being the shortest day of the year. He knew without a doubt it was the longest.
Present
“Stop fidgeting,” Stephanie whispered, placing a hand on his arm
“Babe,” Ranger complained.
A smile curved Stephanie’s lips. “You’re whining,” she teased, disbelief in her voice.
“I am not,” Ranger replied, clearly hearing the pouting whine in his voice.
A soft chuckle escaped Stephanie. “Ranger, another hour and we’ll be out of here,” she soothed.
Ranger couldn’t help it, he sighed. “Why can’t we just leave now?”
Stephanie laughed. “Ranger, it will end soon. Celebrating fifty years of marriage is a big deal. It’s impressive and they should be honored for doing so.” Seeing her words weren’t making a difference, she sighed. “The formal part of the evening is almost done, then we’ll give them our best wishes and leave.”
“OK,” Ranger agreed, reluctantly. “But the day’s going to be completely gone by the time we’re out of here.”
Stephanie sighed. “Ranger, it’s fifteen degrees outside and the shortest day of the year.”
Ranger shrugged and looked toward the window.
Snuggling a little closer, Stephanie slipped one arm around his waist; turning her body to face his she let her other hand fall high on his thigh and squeezed slightly.
Ranger inhaled quickly and his eyes snapped back to Stephanie’s. He felt his heart rate increase as he drank in the look in her eyes.
Stephanie’s voice was a low, promise-filled purr as she pointed out, “Besides, a short day means a long night.”
End