Main Bonus #91: Winter Break - In the Stands (Patreon)

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SPOILER WARNING: There are spoilers from BURN BRIGHT in this bonus scene. We highly recommend reading the book for reading this bonus.

THE NUMBER of “pinch me” moments I’ve acquired have quadrupled this Winter Break. I’m super glad no one is actually around to pinch me, or I’d probably have a deep, nasty welt by now.

Sitting in the stands of a hockey arena next to Rose Calloway—not something I ever thought would be a reality. And yet, here I am.

Though, I should probably be getting less starstruck by her presence now that I’ve been staying at her house for the break. But it’s just…hard? I’m waiting for the moment where she feels like a mortal and not this otherworldly goddess that has come down from Mount Olympus to grace us with her presence.

Even at the hockey rink, she’s sitting incredibly straight—like she’s made of fucking ice and iron. Her fiery gaze is fixated on the rink. I love that she appears one second from annihilating an enemy combatant. I love that I’m not the only one in the stands that has an expression that screams “back the fuck off.”

Oh—and she’s exuding bad bitch energy all while holding a baby.

Maeve is one of the cutest one-year-olds I’ve ever seen, but I guess that’s not saying much. I’m not typically around a lot of babies. Her brown hair is clipped back with a white bow, and she keeps blowing kisses with her hand toward the hockey rink.

Rose pushes her own glossy brown hair off her shoulder. She’s in a black turtleneck sweater-dress, a diamond necklace glinting against her chest. Matching stud earrings catch the light in the arena. Dark lipstick and matte black nails sharpen her features. She’s gorgeous.

Like stunningly beautiful.

It’s no surprise her seven children have striking genomes. Ben, being the most attractive, but I really can’t tell if he looks more like his dad or his mom. Probably a mix of both—or maybe, more Connor-leaning for his height, eyes, and jawline.

While I’m picking apart Ben’s features in my head, Rose pries her eyes off the rink and places them on me. “I’ve been meaning to tell you—if an elderly woman calls you and says she got your number from me or Connor, just hang up on her. She will introduce herself as Samantha Calloway or as your boyfriend’s grandmother.”

My eyes pop, brain buzzing with too many questions. “How would she even get my number?”

“My mother has her ways,” Rose says icily, bouncing Maeve a little on her lap. “She likes to be involved, but I’m doing my best to keep her on the fringes without going full no-contact.” Rose shuts her eyes with a hard sigh, then opens them into a glare. “It’s a fucking issue, but she’s been an issue my entire life.”

I never thought I’d relate on a deeper level to the Rose Calloway—and definitely not about this. “Yeah, I mean, my mom isn’t a joy, so…” I haven’t brought up my parents much. When Connor asked me about them, I just basically said my relationship is strained. He didn’t press. Probably because I looked like what Rose calls her children. A gremlin. About to terrorize and bite.

The fact that I’m with them over Christmas and not with my own parents speaks volumes, I’m sure.

Rose glances over at me, and I add fast, “I sort of understand, or at least, I think I do. It’s not like I know much about your mom—Ben’s grandmother. He hasn’t mentioned her a ton.”

“Are you no-contact with your mother?” she asks.

“Pretty much, as of right now, yeah. I just mostly talk to my mom’s older sister. My Aunt Helena.” I explain how she lives in San Francisco. Without diving into specifics, I just tell Rose, “My mom just wasn’t a great mom, I guess.”

“Your father?”

I feel my scowl form. “Thought he was a good dad, but…maybe he hasn’t been that great either.” I peer back at her, and strangely, her soul-gouging eyes aren’t hard to meet. If I’d want any parent to really know me, I think it’d be her.

“I had a complicated relationship with my father,” Rose admits. “He’s dead.” She says it with no emotion.

I say the first thing I think, “Sometimes I wish my mom were dead.” What the fuck, Harriet? Internal thoughts need to say fucking internal. I tense up.

Until Rose says, “Sometimes I wish my mother were too.” We share a long look, one of understanding that drives straight into my heart…where very few have ever reached. I tear away before my eyes well.

My throat closes too much to speak.

Luckily, Rose hasn’t lost her voice. “I’ve just hoped to be a mother that none of her children wish would die an early death.”

“There’s no way any of them wish that,” I say. “You’re like…epic.”

“Thank you, but I’m far from perfect.” She stares hauntingly out at the ice, maybe remembering everything that happened with Ben recently. I’m not a parent, but as Ben’s girlfriend, I’ve been constantly thinking about how I missed signs, how I could’ve helped him sooner, and I bet those feelings of guilt and regret are amplified for her.

Maeve blows another kiss out at the ice rink, softening both my scowl and Rose’s glare. I scan the arena. “Where’s Maeve’s dad?” I ask Rose.

I could’ve sworn I saw Thatcher get out of the car with Jane when we arrived. I’ve been trying to figure out the dynamics of the Cobalts, and it’s been slowly processing this break. But Jane’s husband is harder to nail down.

He’s like this mysterious, towering six-foot-seven man that doesn’t say much, and when he does talk, it’s mostly quietly to Rose and Connor or his wife. I figure it comes with the territory of being a bodyguard.

The Cobalts’ private security team always lingers in the background, and I’ve surprisingly grown used to their presence.

But I didn’t expect Thatcher to disappear as soon as we arrived.

Rose shifts Maeve to her left knee. “Thatcher is working today. He’s most likely posted at a door or near the rink in view of Jane.”

“He must enjoy his job if he’s still doing it after marrying Jane.” The words come out before I can think about what I’m saying. Because—again, what the fuck, Harriet—I’m implying that Jane could retire Thatcher and support him off her own money. Would that qualify as him using her?

Oh God. I’m seconds from burying my face in my hands, but my arms stay crossed tighter around my body. “I didn’t…” I did mean that. “You did not hear that.” My face morphs into one painful grimace. Am I glaring at Ben’s mom? Just when I try to work my jaw, I realize Rose is inspecting her matte black nails.

“I did hear it.” She sends me a pointed look. “And it’s a perfectly valid statement, Harriet. You don’t need to cower.”

Am I cowering? Holy shit, I am. My cheeks are hot as I sit up straighter. “Yeah, no cowering.”

Her lips twitch into a tiny smile.

Which honestly makes me start to smile too. I care what Rose thinks, but she’s clearly trying to get me to stop being afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing in front of her. I hate that I’m beating myself up so fucking much—because normally, I don’t think I would. But normally, I’m not sitting beside someone whose approval I want. Unless…I don’t know, my grade is in their hands or they have an MD.

Rose continues, “And Thatcher does enjoy his job. But more importantly, the man can’t relax. He’s much more at peace in contact with the security team than he would be in the stands with us.” 

I nod slowly, blowing out a long breath.

“You’re fine,” Rose says sharply. “It’s okay to have questions.”

“It was more of a statement,” I tell her.

Her lips inch into another small smile. “It was.” She pulls Maeve back against her chest. “I’m a prier. I pry, so I’m not going to be offended if you pry harder, especially when you’ve been coming at me with filed nails.”

I frown, overthinking this probably. But… “Do you wish I had sharper nails?” I start to wonder, “Is that what you hoped for Ben? A girl with claws?”

Rose thinks about this, and her smile seems…softer? Even her eyes feel a little less penetrating when they meet mine. “Honestly. You are nothing like who I thought Ben would be with. You are not a crunchy granola girl with a zest for the outdoors and barefoot adventures. But you are everything he loves, and I think you’re everything he’s needed. And you don’t need to sharpen your nails for him. You don’t need to grow longer claws. If Ben is the son I raised, he will sharpen his own for you. When you need them. I would hope he’s someone you feel is there for you too.”

I nod so fast, too overwhelmed to say shit.

So much so, I want to tell her. I trust Ben would drop everything for me. It makes doing anything for him so easy.

“And between us,” Rose drops her voice to a whisper, “I am both incredibly shocked and elated he ended up with a girl who takes school seriously.”

I laugh, thinking about how Ben’s care for academics is pretty damn low. But he treats my studies as the highest of importance because they’re so important to me.

As I turn back to Rose, I want to thank her, but another thought comes out instead, “I do have claws. I just think they retract around you.”

“My sisters will find that hilarious.” I hear her smile like she’s excited to tell them. I try not to wish for sisters, but I start thinking about Audrey and maybe…is it possible to be that close to her one day? Fuck, I really need to stop.

But why?

I shake out my thoughts and remember what we were discussing. Thatcher. The only other significant other. And he’s already married into the family. I don’t mention potentially getting married—because it’s way too soon for that serious conversation with Ben’s mom, let alone him. We’ve like mentioned it hypothetically, in funny scenarios where we talk about our future baby Stone.

But I start thinking about my career path, and I end up saying, “When I become a doctor, I wouldn’t just quit because Ben has money.”

“Ben has money?” Charlie’s mocking voice causes a zap to my brain. “That is news to me. I thought he gifted it all to charity.” He flashes me a dry smile. Indicating yes, I am that charity case. Ben gave me all his money already.

I flip Charlie off without thinking.

And when I catch Rose’s eye, she looks…proud of me. Proud! I could almost self-combust. She’s happy I’m giving her son the middle finger. I thought I couldn’t love her anymore…but it only hurts when I remember she’s not my mom.

The small ache inside my chest to have her as my mom, for real, has mushroomed this break and grown astronomical in the past ten minutes. I’m trying to keep it at bay.

Audrey sits gingerly down beside me, crossing her ankles. “Don’t listen to Charlie. He’s being fouler than usual.” She smooths her orange hair over one shoulder.

Rose looks at her youngest daughter with a slight frown. “You aren’t skating, Audrey?”

“I was banished,” Audrey says pointedly.

“Her ankle,” Charlie clarifies, standing near Rose. He extends his hands to his mom, and she passes the baby to him like she’s handing off a dirty-diapered child. But Maeve doesn’t stink that I can tell.

And Charlie holds her too close for her needing changed. Maeve lets out a delighted squeal in his arms.

He sits one row below us, turned slightly. I can clearly see him bounce Maeve on his lap while she grips both of his pointer fingers tightly. She’s having the time of her life, laughing so brightly.

Okay, yeah, it still hasn’t fully processed that Charlie is good with babies. Like I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes this break—but my brain needs further evidence. Like more babies.

Maybe Maeve is just a special case where she’s grown a bond with this particular uncle. Because coldhearted, cruel Charlie Cobalt being some sort of baby whisperer feels too strange a concept.

I can’t grasp it.

Maybe I need a master’s degree in Boy Genius to really understand, and unfortunately, I’m not in any mood to undergo that program of study.

Movement on the ice causes me to scoot to the edge of the seat. We’re close sitting on the third row, near the glass. Ben is so naturally graceful on the ice that when he skates out, I can’t help but grin. Seeing him in his element, a hockey stick in hand, has me soaring into the clouds. I love this for him, and I truly hope everything goes well inside his head.  

I push down any doubts. I don’t let them fester. Optimism is what he needs, and I’ll try to carry it tenfold.

He turns toward the stands, and when his blue eyes catch mine, a grin lights up his face.

Could he be anymore attractive? No, probably not.

Beckett and Tom skate out beside him, while Connor, Eliot, and Jane take the other side of the ice. Clearly, these are the teams. My giddiness is soon replaced by sudden nerves. I think even Rose is sitting straighter, more tensed, or maybe that’s just me hoping I’m not the only one stressed over Ben playing hockey with his fam, knowing he’s afraid of hurting them.

“Jane is so elegant on skates,” Audrey muses like a sweet little sister. Even sweeter seeing Jane, while graceful, stumble and then catch herself like a pro. “Charlie could never.”

Charlie cocks his head back and quirks a brow. “Making fun of my limp?”

“No!” Her eyes bug. “I would never.” Audrey sucks in air, sounding on the verge of hyperventilating. “I would never.”

“Dude, she didn’t mean it like that.” I stick up for Audrey.

“Exactly. Harriet knows,” Audrey says, finally breathing.

Charlie bounces Maeve again, then tells his sister, “You don’t have the power to offend me, so stop acting like I’m easily offended by you. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“Fine, I will.” She tosses her hair off her shoulder, then raises her chin toward the rink. “Should we make a cheer?”

Rose is hawk-eyeing her five children on the ice. “I will spectate, gremlin.”

Audrey smiles at me. “What do you think? We chant, slaughter! on a count of three?”

“Yeah, I think maybe we take out any synonyms related to death and dying.”

“Oh, good idea.” Audrey pales a little. “See, this is why you’re here. We need your expertise.” Audrey drums her lips. “Fly Ben Fly is safe.”

“I dig it.”

So Audrey and I are shouting, “FLY BEN FLY!” and I’m smiling way too much whenever Ben grins back at the stands at me. His flirty smiles burn my cheeks.

Audrey claps to a cheer rhythm, and I stomp my feet to the beat she’s made and pat my legs like I’m on drums.

As Tom skates near the wall, I shout at him, “Looking frail, Thomas!”

Tom gapes at me, then aims his stick in my direction like a fucking weapon. He says something to Ben that I can’t hear, and Ben’s body rumbles with laughter, so that’s a win in my book.

Charlie is pointing out Jane on the ice to Maeve, and it’s probably one of the softest things I’ve ever seen Charlie do. He must feel me staring because he cuts a biting look back at me. “You want the practice?” He lifts Maeve up, and I’m rigid.

“No, that’s okay.” I side-eye Rose, but she’s too fixated on the hockey game. “I don’t need it, dude.” Because I didn’t have a pregnancy scare. No, that was not me. Except, it kind of was. Only Ben’s brothers know about me taking a pregnancy test, so I don’t know if Charlie is trying to unsettle me or what.

“Ben would be such a good father,” Audrey muses. “Don’t you think, Charlie?” She’s so earnest, like truly wanting her big brother’s opinion.

Charlie rolls his eyes, then lands his irritation on me. “What do you think, Girl Genius? You want to make Ben a dad?” His tone is too mocking to be considered nice.

I glare. “That wasn’t her question.”

“It’s mine.”

“You’re being rather rude, Charlie,” Audrey says pointedly.

“You’re being rather annoying, Audrey. Don’t ask me about Ben.”

Audrey frowns. “But I thought you two had made up—you went to Alaska, Charlie. You found…” She trails off because Charlie suddenly stands up with Maeve in his arms.

“Sit, please,” Rose says sharply to her son. “No drama during this very important hockey game.”

“Excusing myself will cause far less drama.” Even as Charlie says it, he grabs Maeve’s diaper bag and lowers back down. He digs out a sippy cup of water and puts it into her excited grip.

Audrey and I do another cheer together, then she asks Charlie if he’d want to join.

“No,” he says flatly.

Ben suddenly scores, and the ice goes wild. My cheeks pull as a smile replaces my scowl. Audrey and I are on our feet. She’s applauding rapidly, and I’m clapping hard, forgetting Charlie’s bad mood.

Especially as Ben nods to me in the stands.

I mime a bird flying with my hands, and his laughter reaches his bright blue eyes.

When the game finally comes to an end, Rose seems to take her first breath, and I hear her mutter, “Thank fucking God.” She collects her purse, then glances back at Audrey, Maeve, Charlie…and me, as if ensuring her ducklings are all here and ready to follow her.

“Let’s go, gremlins.”

It hits me that I finally have a mother figure to look up to. Maybe one day I’ll have more confidence in being one.

Not that I want to be one anytime soon, but still.

But still. It’s a warm thought during my normally bone-chilling winters. I’ve been nothing but warm at the Cobalt Estate.

I don’t ever want this break to end. I have hope there’ll be more. Because I know, Ben and I don’t end here. We won’t end here.

There’s still so much more to go with him.

Thanks so much for reading this month's main bonus! We're back at Winter Break, which is quickly becoming one of our favorite areas to write in. It's so fun getting a peek into Harriet getting closer to the Cobalts, especially her growing relationship with Rose. Plus there's really nothing like a Baby Maeve cameo 😊 We hope you enjoyed this one!

There's another bonus on the horizon for April. So stay tuned!

xoxo Krista & Becca

“Winter Break: In the Stands" Copyright © 2026 by K.B. Ritchie