St. Nick

“Wake up, daddy!”  Amy exclaimed as she jumped into my bed.  It was Christmas morning and my four-year-old daughter had been looking forward to this day since Thanksgiving.  My wife, Tammy and I had been properly indoctrinating her on the story of Santa Claus.  I can still remember the look of wonder and excitement in her eyes as she listened to us tell the story of how ‘ol St. Nick visited all of the houses of the good little children of the world on Christmas Eve night, and left them toys, games, and whatever else they wanted for Christmas.

            Afterward, Amy had wrote her list of all of the stuff she wanted (and, it was quite a list, believe me), and we took her to the mall to see “Santa Claus”.  She could barely contain herself when she saw him sitting in the middle of the shopping mall, with his “elves” helping place the children on his lap so they could tell him all of the stuff they wanted for Christmas.  Many of the children there were scarred, but not Amy.  She hopped right up on his lap and talked to him like she had known him all of her life.

            Of course, afterward, Tammy and I were left with the list to fulfill, and we delivered.  We managed to get Amy all of the stuff she wanted, and even a bit more.  The extra stuff, we wrapped and put under the tree and it was from “Mommy and Daddy.”  The stuff from “Santa” was left unwrapped and placed in front of the tree.  On Christmas Eve night, after we had arranged all of the presents in the living room, I stood and gazed upon it with my arm around Tammy’s waist.  After years of hardship and trying to build our life as a family, we had finally done it.  This Christmas would be one to remember for our daughter.

            “Mommy, Daddy, Santa came!”  Amy exclaimed.  “Mmmm?”  Tammy said, sleepily, as she started to awaken.  “It’s Christmas, babe.” I said as I gave her a light kiss.  Tammy slowly sat up in the bed, and said, “Merry Christmas, Amy!”  “Merry Christmas, Mommy!  You too, Daddy!”  Amy replied as she kissed both of us on the cheek.  “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.  Let’s go see what Santa brought,” I said.

            Tammy and I got up out of the bed and followed Amy down the hallway.  As we walked, I noticed that the door leading down to the basement was opened slightly.  “Honey,” I said to Tammy, “did you leave this door open?”  “I might have,” she replied, “I don’t remember, exactly.”  I shut the door, and didn’t think anything else about it.

            Once we were in the living room, Amy rushed over to her presents.  “Look, Daddy!”  Amy exclaimed as she held up her new video game.  Amy had become my “gaming buddy” over the few months prior.

            Tammy and I watched as Amy went through her presents one-by-one.  I was happy to see Amy so excited after fretting over whether or not we would be able to get her all of the stuff she wanted.  Tammy turned my head toward her with her hand, kissed me, and said, “We’ve finally made it, darling.  This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”  “Me too, sweetheart,” I replied.

            “Looks like Santa done pretty good, huh?”  I asked Amy.  “Yeah,” she replied, “and I even got to see him!”  Amy exclaimed.  “You mean at the mall?”  Tammy asked.  “Yeah,” Amy replied, “and last night!”  “Oh, and where did you see Santa last night?”  I asked, thinking that she had been dreaming.  “Here, in the living room,” Amy replied, “I got up last night to see if Santa was here yet, and he was here!  He was right here in the living room!”  Tammy and I were quite startled by this, and I asked Amy, “What did Santa say to you?”  “He said,” Amy replied, “that I should go back upstairs and go to sleep, so he could leave my presents.  Then, he said that I shouldn’t tell my Mommy or Daddy that I saw him…oops.”

Reviews

[Shawna]

I enjoyed this! :) It was endearing and creepy at the same time, lol! Good job!

So the kids at the mall seeing Santa - are they scarred or scared? Either could work, lol!