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He’d already had his questioning moment about baby Jesus after last week’s Christmas program practice. Remi said the girls had fought over who got to hold the doll that would represent Jesus in the play. They’d been forced to come up with clear-lined rules for playing with baby Jesus.

One more thing to add to the list of problems he never expected to encounter.

Inside, the church was bustling. Almost every person wore some shade of red, green, gold, or silver, and the angel tree stood brightly lit in the front of the sanctuary.

Remi ushered the kids into their usual pew. “We have a few songs and announcements before we can go get ready.”

“Can I have the gold crown with the red diamonds?” Ben asked.

“I guess so,” Remi said.

Stella and Vera were already seated, and Abby ran to greet her friends with a hug. Remi scooted in beside her, and Colt and Ben rounded out the end of the pew.

Abby was engrossed in a conversation with Stella when the music started, and Ben kicked his church boots against the back of the pew in front of them. The kid usually didn’t have trouble paying attention, but everywhere Colt looked, even adults were squirming in their seats. The excitement of the Christmas play was alive in the air.

When the song was over, the preacher took his place at the front.

“Good morning, and Merry Christmas!”

The congregation responded with their own greeting, with kids shouting at the top of their lungs.

“That’s the kind of excitement I want to see in the Lord’s house this morning! Let me go over a few upcoming things to remember, then we’ll dismiss the youngsters to get ready to take the stage.”

Colt scanned the room. There weren’t many empty seats, and he spotted a dozen faces he hadn’t seen in a while.

“Shh!” Remi whispered.

Abby and Stella jerked into silence. Stella made a gesture of zipping her lips, but Abby just giggled.

A smile spread over Colt’s face. Never had he imagined having a ready-made family, but his had truly fallen into place like the pieces of a perfect puzzle.

“That’ll do it for today. Kids and anyone who was brave enough to volunteer to help out with the play, you’re dismissed.”

Remi and the kids shuffled out of the pew, and Colt scooted down to sit next to Stella.

“Ten bucks says a kid goes AWOL,” Colt whispered as the pianist played the first notes of “Silent Night.”

Stella looked up at him and swatted his arm. “I will not make that bet with you. But really, we should be praying the kids don’t put up a big fight. They’re a big group.”

Remi had been telling him about the antics the kids got into during practices, and even she wasn’t optimistic about the play going off without a few hiccups. “At least we’ll be entertained.”

Three songs later, the music director nodded at the signal. “It looks like our little ones are ready to show us a thing or two. Without further ado, I’ll hand things over to Lauren.”

Lauren was the head of the children’s education department, and she never batted an eye when kids threw her for a loop. Colt had seen that kind of steadfast patience in Remi a lot recently, and he was beginning to understand the fortitude necessary to keep a smile on when kids were tearing down the walls.

She accepted the microphone from the music director and shook her hair off her shoulders. “Good morning. We have a beautiful program to share with you today. These kids have worked so hard, and I’m proud of all of them for being brave enough to stand up here in front of you and tell the story of Christ’s birth. We have so many blessings to celebrate, but the birth of our Savior is at the top of that list.”

A loud thud sounded from behind the wall on the left side of the sanctuary, and Lauren paused.

“And I think we’re ready to begin.”

The lights dimmed just as the blood-chilling scream filled the room. “I didn’t do it!” a young boy yelled.

“Uh-oh,” Stella whispered beside Colt.

“I think that’s Sawyer,” he whispered back.

There was a ruckus in the lobby, and everyone turned to look over their shoulders to the open double doors leading to the vestibule.