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Chapter Twenty Nine - December 25

"Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!"

It was seven o'clock in the morning and I was standing at my door dressed as Santa Claus. Joe and Ally were sitting on the floor in the living room by the tree looking like they could care less. Shelby bounced up and squealed.

"SANTA! You came back!"

The cookies had disappeared overnight and the milk was a distant memory. Presents had gone under the tree and now I was making my first official appearance as the jolly old guy.

Shelby was wearing reindeer antlers that flashed red and green and had slapped a huge snowflake tattoo on the side of her face. She grabbed my hand and tugged me into the room.

"Oh, Santa's here!" Molly said in mock surprise. She looked up at me and smiled.

"It was a long trip from the North Pole," I said in my deepest 'Santa' voice. I sat down in my La-Z-Boy. "Santa needs to rest for a minute."

"Can I get you something to drink Santa?" Shelby asked sweetly. The kid wasn't dumb. If she had to suck up to anyone, it was going to be someone that gave her presents.

"Oh, ho ho. No, just open Santa's presents."

She turned around and dove into the presents scattered on the floor. Joe grabbed a bow and put it on Ally's head. She jumped; he had startled her. Luckily she wasn't the type of baby to fall apart when she got scared. She just touched the bow on her head and did the exact same thing to him. Joe laughed.

I was sitting there with my big black boots taking up a lot of floor space enjoying the moment. I wasn't usually one of those totally mushy Christmas people, but I was feeling pretty 'post-cardish' today. I glanced over at Molly. She was smoothing Joe's hair down lovingly with the back of her hand. It had a tendency to fly straight out. The kid was going to have crazy hair just like his dad. And then, by the time he was, oh, twenty-five, it would begin to fall out.

Sorry, Joe.

As I was thinking about hair loss, Ally made the sign for milk. Molly signed back and nodded.

"I'm going to go get the babies their bottles. Santa, could you keep an eye on these two?"

I grinned. "No problem."

Molly headed off to the kitchen. I couldn't help but think back to the night before. The little Mrs. Claus outfit had made this Santa very happy...

"Psst, Santa?"

Shelby had worked her way across the floor back to me. I smiled down.

"Yes?"

She scrambled up and hopped on my lap. Her little arms went around me. She looked around as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"I have a wish to get in for next year. Can I tell you early?" she whispered.

Leave it to Shelby to be thinking about next year's presents.

"Of course. Santa has a great memory," I whispered back.

Her little face pressed up against my ear. The fake white hair tickled the inside of my ear and I fought the urge to rub it away.

"I want Mr. J. to be my daddy," Shelby whispered. "Cause my daddy's in heaven."

The tickling in my ear suddenly didn't seem to matter.

"My mommy could be Joe and Ally's mommy since their mommy's in heaven," Shelby offered. It was as if she had decided she needed to bargain for me.

Tears sprang into my eyes and I struggled not to cry. I didn't think Santa weeping like a baby was going to leave a good Christmas memory.

"I'll see what I can do, okay?" I finally whispered, choking through the tears.

Shelby's little lips went to the barest part of my face for a sweet kiss.

"Thank you!" she whispered. She hopped off my lap and started to help Ally and Joe with their presents.

"Shelby, are you behaving?" Molly asked.

"Uh-huh!"

Molly knelt down and handed Joe and Ally two fresh bottles. They reached for them with two identical smiles. She kissed both of their foreheads and sat back down.

I don't think I could of loved her or her daughter any more at that moment.

"Santa found a special present in his bag on the way back here," I suddenly said. Shelby turned around.

"For me?"

I did a nice deep chuckle that almost caused me to choke. "No, this one's for your mother."

Molly looked at me in surprise. "What?"

I got out my very empty bag and reached down to the bottom where I knew I had safely stored the present the night before. I pulled out a long thin box and held it out.

Molly took it slowly. She studied the bow for a few moments before she tugged at it. She lifted the lid and her beautiful brown eyes grew wide.

"Oh A---Santa," she said softly. "This is beautiful."

It wasn't a ring or anything extremely fancy, but it suited Molly to a T. It was a charm bracelet that I had spent days laboring over to find just the right charms.

"SANTA! WHAT ABOUT MRS. CLAUSE?"

Shelby had jumped to her feet and was giving me a 'hands-on-hips,' 'don't mess with me' attitude. I quickly backtracked.

"Santa worked with Mr. J. to get that for your mom," I said gently.

I had said the magic words. Shelby skipped over and studied the bracelet.

"There's an S! That's for Shelby!"

Molly laughed. "I bet it is."

While they were studying the different charms, Santa snuck out. Ten minutes and a lot of swearing later, 'Mr. J.' was back.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?"

Shelby looked at me like I was crazy. "YOU JUST MISSED SANTA!"

I snapped my fingers and sat back down in my chair. "Him and I always miss each other. I'm going to have to send him a text."

Molly stood up. She placed her hands on the arms of the recliner and leaned down. She kissed me softly but it held a little hint of better things to come.

"Thank you," she whispered. I smiled. "You're welcome. Hold out your wrist."

She did as I instructed and I hooked the clasp and swung the bracelet around. The charms fell lightly against her skin. Before she turned, I wrapped my hand around it. She looked back down at me.

"I love you," I mouthed. Her eyes sparkled.

"I love you, too," she mouthed back.

As she drifted away to help Shelby get a Barbie doll out of her boxed prison, I stretched out. Every muscle in my body felt warm and tingly.

The rest of the day was just as good as the morning. Mom came over and we stuffed ourselves with more cookies. Mom had bought Shelby a keyboard and she spent the better part of the day banging on the keys like she was a miniature Jerry Lee Lewis. I was just waiting for her to yell 'Great Balls of Fire!'

Ally and Joe fell asleep in their playpen, identical red sleepers on and their faces littered with remnants of cookies that they had sucked on through the day. The Beethoven of the 21st century crashed halfway through It's a Wonderful Life. Molly curled up on the couch with me and put her head in my lap. I played with her hair and we watched Clarence get his wings.

If you had asked me in May what my Christmas was going to be like, I probably would have told you that I would be in the ground right next to Ro. I never expected to be sitting on the couch with a smile on my face while three happy kids slept soundly with dreams of friggin' sugar plums dancing through their heads.

It truly was a wonderful life.