A Christmas Wish

by Chris

lawlesseyes@yahoo.com


Disclaimers: None, they belong to me.

Subtext: Yep, but its' more of a PG rated story.

Other stuff: No violence, no bad words, and best of all-.

NO fruitcake!

Dedication: To the one who told me I could write. But most of all for the one who has encouraged me to continue writing.

 

My clear blue eyes took in all the sights and sounds the crowded mall had to offer. The husbands juggling packages all wrapped in pretty paper as their wives added bags of goodies to the growing pile. A chuckle rumbles up from my throat. You can always spot the dykes. They usually have glazed eyes and shell-shocked expressions from being in a mall longer than 15 minutes.

I quickly snap my eyes back into focus realizing I probably have the same expression on my face. A quick glance at my watch shows it is now 1:30 pm, and the sign in front of the elaborate chair still says Santa will be back at 1pm. Thankfully we are only about the 12th family from the front. Which gets me thinking of the twelve days of Christmas and makes me more stressed that I am not ready. We are standing right under the sign proclaiming "WELCOME TO SANTA'S WINTER WONDERLAND TOWN".

I shuffle my feet to get the blood circulating and suddenly feel a pat on my butt...again. I quickly spin to glare at the man behind me. He gives me an innocent smile and says sorry for the umpteenth time. "You will smell your chestnuts roasting on an open fire if you dare to touch me again", I snarl at him in a nasty manner. My son just turned 4 and I'll be damned if anyone ruins his visit to see Santa Claus.

I feel a small tug on my hand. As I glance down at my son I see a pair of blue eyes wide with wonder. A grin spreads across my face and makes the wait worthwhile

"Yes sweetheart?" I ask as I brush blonde bangs out of my four-year-old son's eyes. He looks behind me and points a small finger and asks, "What's that?" My eyes hone in on a guy dressed all in brown with a red clown nose and antlers.

"That, Nick, is a reindeer. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to be exact."

I sip my coffee as I watch his little brow furrow with thought.

"Grandpa told me that Grandma got run over by a reindeer, and that's why she is always cranky. Is that the reindeer that ran her over?"

A helpful person starts to pound me on the back as I start to choke on my coffee.

After I stop wheezing, I turn to thank my savior, only to start gasping again. Frosty the Snowman rolls his eyes and starts to beat me on the back again.

"Grandpa says to stick your hands up in the air when choking", Nick states.

"Yes, my father is a wealth of little pearls of wisdom isn't he", I manage to gasp out. I hear a snort and a snicker to remind me that Frosty is still behind me.

"Thank you - Uh- Mr. Frosty for the help." The painted up face cracks a smile and clearly speaks, "Miss Frosty please. Mr. Frosty was a tad under the weather with a high fever so I am filling in."

Before I know it, I hear a tiny voice exclaim, "Grandpa says there is no such thing as a female snowman, 'cause he has yet to see one with extra snowballs on there-. MMppphh".

I quickly silence my chatty son with a hand over his mouth. I force a smile and state, "Grandpa has been hanging out with you too much". Frosty tries to crouch down as close as she can to be eye level with my son. Now it's my turn to snort and snicker watching her struggle with the large round foam costume she is wearing, which is quite funny.

"What's your name young man?"

Nick quickly looks up to me as I nod my head in the affirmative.

"Nick Steven Bonnaducci at your service ma'am". Both my eyebrows shoot up as I gape at him.

"What? You always told me to be polite to other people. I figure that includes snow people too. Am I right?" He gazes at me with innocent eyes. The motherly blush of pride settles on my cheeks as I watch Frosty interact with my son.

"Well aren't you the little Saint Nick. I'm Sara, and it's a pleasure to meet you. If I need any help I'll be sure to look for you to help me out."

Sara stands quickly and puts one of her stick hands up to where her ear should be and asks quite loudly, "Boys and girls, do you hear what I hear?" As she finishes her question you can hear the jingle of bells getting closer.

All us parents look at each other and shout "Jingle Bells".

"Yes! And you know what that means kids?", she fires right back at us with out missing a beat.

This time the kids take over. "Santa Claus is coming to town!!!" is echoed throughout the mall hallway we are enclosed in.

"That's right everyone. He is making his way through the mall right now and will be ending up right here in Winter Wonderland. I'm sure if we all say a prayer and a wish for snow, we can get a jump on a White Christmas. Repeat after me everyone, let it snow- let it snow...let it snow." About a hundred tiny faces scrunch up in concentration, which causes Sara and me to break out into grins.

Our eyes lock and she points upward. Nestled in the drop down track lighting were about 5 bubble making machines. Little tiny bubbles begin to float down. It truly was turning into a magical day.

EEE-AW eee-aw!

I quickly pull Nick closer to me and yell over the racket, "What the heck is that?" All the elves roll their eyes in unison.

"That's Dominick the Donkey", one elf states. "Old Rudolph Wilkins who lives on the other side of town insists every year that we use his donkey."

Another elf picks up the tale, "We try and refuse but each year they both get more and more ornery." Still another elf exclaims, "So now we just say thanks and make Dominick walk the last twenty feet. Then we put him out back behind the mall to wait for old Rudy to finish up at the bar and come get him".

I just stared at them. They innocently smiled back at me.

"You're good", I state with a smile.

They all wiggled their brows at me.

All of a sudden Rudolph the reindeer yells, "Quick elves...Deck the halls, Here comes Santa Claus".

As one happy family they scurried down the steps and lined up down each side of the red carpet leading up to the chair. They stood facing each other, and held up giant candy canes, connecting the hook ends to form an archway for Santa to walk under. Nick and I were in awe.

"Wow! They never did all this in our old place."

Shaking my head and thoroughly enjoying all of this, I agree with the happy little tot by my side.

"Well where did you come from that you aren't used to Santa and his entrance?" Frosty asks.

Nick states that we are used to a New York Christmas.

"Nick, here in Maine, we do things a bit differently. We celebrate Saint Nick coming to town in all its glory", Frosty replied.

We wait our turn to visit with Santa for the next half hour. As it becomes our turn I notice that my son is getting more and more nervous. The answer to my question is a shake of the head and no eye contact. I chalk it up to new town nerves.

Frosty leads Nick and I up to Santa sitting in the huge chair. I must admit that Santa is very convincing. His beard is very life like and the suit fits him perfectly.

My son scampers up onto Santa's lap after he beckons him up. I stand off to the side and give him a moment to himself to meet with Saint Nick.

"Well young man, what's your name?"

Again I give a slight nod to my boy to let him know it's okay to answer.

"My name is Nick, just like yours".

"Ho-ho-ho, why it sure is. And what brings you out on a blustery snowy afternoon?"

"My mom said that since it's the eleven days of Christmas, now is when I can meet you and tell you what I want."

"It's the 11th day of Christmas", I chuckle as I correct him.

Santa looks him in the eye and asks him what he wants.

"Well Santa, each year Mom and I go out and buy presents for the less fortunate people." I chuckle and don't bother to correct him since he is being so thoughtful by remembering what we did yesterday and why.

"I got to pick out the presents for the boys and girls. Mom said to pick out things that I would want, and maybe I would get them also. She picked out the stuff for the big people"; he whispers a tad too loudly to be secretive. "So is she right? Am I going to get the things I picked out for other kids?"

I tilt my head in a slight nod of acceptance, trying to let Santa know that most of the stuff was waiting in the basement to be brought up by me.

He looks at me for a long moment and then tells my son that he will get everything he wants this year.

My eyebrows sky rocket and I can feel the steam rising off me with anger. Doesn't this guy know that we just moved and spent most of our savings to get here?

I want to rip his fake beard off and stuff it in an area that would be painful on his body.

"You see son, it's people like you that keep the Christmas spirit alive. How could I not reward you for that?" says Santa.

My smile turns a bit feral as I step up to go and get my son. Santa quickly asks what he would want besides all that he saw the other day.

With big innocent blue eyes, he looks towards me and quietly says- "All I want for Christmas is you momma".

Well, I could've fallen over by a snow bubble hitting me. That's how stunned I was. I notice that it was quiet around us. I slowly walked up to Santa's chair and lifted Nick off his lap. Squeezing him tightly, I whisper in his ear that he has me.

"Oh- well then all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." We all have a good chuckle as he squirms out of my arms to get back over to Santa.

"Son, you will have those teeth back very soon, don't you bother using a Christmas wish on them."

Nick scampers up onto his lap again and whispers something into his ear. Santa is all smiles under that cheesy beard as he looks at me. Then he states, "Nick, I am sure I can help you get that gift. I'll start working on it right away, so you'll have it time for Christmas morning." He winks at me and gives out a robust HO-HO-HO.

I scoop my rug rat up and take him to the end of Winter Wonderland so he can get a handle on his scarf, gloves and hat before we venture out into the masses of last minute shoppers.

Frosty comes up and asks me if we are okay. I have to smile at the concern clearly showing in the green eyes darting back and forth from me to Nick. Our eyes lock and I feel like a schoolgirl all over again.

A ruckus over to the right of us near the dollar store breaks our gaze and redirects it to what's going on over there. To my surprise it's two elderly women fussing just outside the door of the store. One of the women has a handful of silver bells and is smacking the poor helpless sales girl about the head with them. While this is going on, her friend is frantically yelling out- "Denise for God sakes, she is not in charge of the music being played throughout the store. I am sure she hates disco just as much as you do!" It takes two security guards and another sales girl to break up the noisy fight. They make a run for it. Well, as fast as their high heel snow boots will take them. That sales girl is sure having a blue Christmas.

I turn and notice Frosty by my side.

"Now that- reminds me of a New York Christmas," I exclaim with an all out toothy grin.

I grab a hold of Nick's small hand after I get my packages all situated and relatively safe from falling. Frosty and I glance at each other with shy smiles. Could she be feeling what I am? Just do it for Christ's sake. I quickly glance up and mouth a quick sorry. Not sure if that was blasphemy, but why take chances on Christmas Eve. I straighten to my full 6' 1" height and summon up the courage.

"Listen Sara, I am almost done shopping and was about to go and get a bite to eat with the little guy-wouldyouliketojoinus?" I groan at how lame that sounds. The only thing missing was a stutter or two.

"I am sorry, my shift isn't done for another 2 hours when the mall closes. It will be too late then."

"Oh-uh-uhm, OK, no problem, maybe some other time." Yep, we have stuttering!

I notice her quick glance to my left hand to see if it's adorned with any rings. Her little pasty white face quickly turns into a huge smile.

"I hope there is a next time miss...?"

"Wow, I'm sorry, my name is Joanna Bonnaducci. It's a pleasure to meet you." As I stick my hand out to shake hands with her, I drop all the bags that were in that hand. Red faced I quickly bend to gather up my parcels once again.

"I am so sorry, I'm not usually this klutzy." A stick hand comes into my vision and helps me gather up all the bags and things.

"It's quite alright Joanna, I'm a bit nervous also."

I quickly look up into her eyes and smile my appreciation at her attempt to save me some face. Wow, her eyes are a gorgeous green.

Tiny tugs on my shoulder breaks my stare and I glance at my son.

"Smooth mom, real smooth", he whispers.

As an adorably cute Frosty tries not to roll over from laughter, I am left gaping at my son.

"I definitely need to find a babysitter other than your grandfather", I respond.

With as much dignity as I can muster we leave with the words of hope to see you again soon. I find out that she works here at the mall so she should be easy to find.

"She was nice mom, you should ask her out", my son suggests.

It's not teenagers that will be the death of mothers; it's the toddlers who speak their thoughts with out a care in the world. Oh to be young again.

"Yes Nick, she was nice. Maybe I'll get the chance again. Come on, let's go get something to eat before we finish up and head on home."

Two hours later finds me kneeling in front of a closing store to help Nick on with his coat and hat.

"Mom, are you sure I did good in the school play yesterday?", he asks. I absently correct him as I zip up his coat "Did well in the school play".

I look him right in the eye, and with a tender smile I tell him he made the best Little Drummer Boy I have ever seen in all my years.

With a serious look on his little face he looks at me in wonder and says,

"WOW, that's a long time!"

"Hey, do you see any gray hairs on my head?" I have to smile as he runs his little fingers through my dark shoulder length hair. With another serious face and a serious voice to match, he tells me-."Not yet".

Oh yeah...to be young again.

As we gather up our packages once again, we wind up following the merry elves through the mall. They are all clanging a stick of bells as loud as they can.

Behind me, I hear a woman mutter, "If I hear one more jingle bell rock, I'm going to cram those sticks down their throats." It's amazing how good their hearing is and how fast they can stop making a racket with the bells.

I have to laugh as we head on out the mall entrance and make our way to the parking lot.

Standing there weaving back and forth are two older men, and one of them is gazing up towards the roof of the mall. Neither of us can help ourselves and we glance up also.

"I'm telling you Jim, I parked it up on the house top."

Jim cackles a very drunken laugh and replies,

"Rudolph, you drunk! You can't park a donkey on the housetop! åSides this here is the mall you crazy old coot."

Rudolph scratches his head and mumbles an "oh yea." Then he turns his glazed eyes towards the end of the mall parking lot.

"Hey Jim, maybe I left him over the river and through the woods?"

As these two are squinting and trying to see that far into the dark, the two older ladies from before walk out of the mall.

Jim tries to stand up straighter and slicks back his unruly mop of hair with his mitten covered hands.

"Uh, hello Ladies, what can we do for you on this fine evening?" He gives a huge smile that looks more sickly than suave. I shake my head and slow up to see the outcome of this encounter.

The woman named Denise stops in her tracks reaches into one of her bags. She pulls out those silver bells and smacks him over the head with them.

"Ow! Dang it woman why are you smacking me with them? It was Jim that said something"

"Cause you are no doubt drunk again and have lost your donkey, that's why".

Smack-smack-smack!!

Rudolph stumbles down the walkway trying to escape the bells of terror.

Jim is laughing so hard he can hardly stand.

"Run Rudolph run! She's gaining on you!" With this he falls to the ground in a fit of laughter.

Yep, feels like a New York Christmas here. We proceed to head on out to where I parked my truck. The whapping of the bells slowly fades away the further we walk down the lot.

Taking a deep breath of the crisp clear air I breathe out and look down at my son, who is looking at all the lights and decorations adorning the lampposts throughout the parking lots.

"Ahh, a silent night-finally." He looks up and we both have a good laugh over this day.

I notice he stops laughing and is looking to the left of me. I glance over that way and notice a really cute butt hanging out from under the hood of a really old car. Knowing it's Christmas Eve, and getting very cold and dark out, I call out a greeting and ask if they need help.

The muttering and cursing quickly stop and a head topped with strawberry blonde hair peaks out from under the hood. It's a woman! I walk on over with Nick's hand safely tucked in mine.

I gasp as I find myself looking into those beautiful green eyes from earlier.

"Frosty?"

This gets a giggle from her. "My name is Sara. I just fill in when needed. Joanna you know anything about cars?"

"Not a thing." I admit with a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"It's alright, but I think my starter finally went on this jalopy." I glance down under the hood and all I see is wires, metal and dirt.

She stares down with disgust at her car. "I was trying to see if maybe I could jerry rig something to get it started. It's dead all right. The tow truck can't get here tonight and the buses don't run out to where I live. I really wasn't figuring on spending Christmas in a hotel room."

I look down at her car, then I look at her, and finally I look at my son. I raise my eyebrow at him in question.

"Everyone should be home for the holidays mom." With a crooked smile and a nod of agreement I look back over at Sara. She is once again half under the hood of her car.

"Sara, we were just heading on home. We only live about 20 minutes from here. You are more than welcome to come home with us and I'll drive you back here tomorrow when the tow truck arrives."

I swear she shoots up so fast she almost bangs her head on the hood of her car. Which is amazing since she is a tiny little thing.

"Oh, I couldn't impose on you like that." She stammers as she tugs her coat closer to herself to ward off the chill and falling snow. "I'll just wait till the stores open again, and get a starter and some tools to replace it."

That gets her a raised eyebrow from me.

Glancing up, I notice the night is very cloudy and looks like it's going to snow for a really long time tonight.

"Sara, please, it's the least I could do for the all the kind help and attention you paid to my son earlier. I can't just simply walk away and leave you here all alone. So, how about it?"

Her green eyes dart from mine down to Nick's to see how he felt about this. He was grinning like a fool and nodding his head so much he looked like one of those bobble head dolls that sits on a dashboard.

"Well, if you are absolutely positive I won't be intruding on anything. And I won't bother you at all. I can curl up in a chair or something until morning."

"Go get your things Sara. I have a spare bedroom that I am slowly turning into an office area. You can sleep on the day bed in there." This I am saying to the back of her head as she is digging around in her car to finally drag out what looks to be a huge coat box. Figuring it to be her costume, I wait for her to lock up her car and lead her on over to where my truck is parked.

It takes me about a half an hour to get home with all the snow on the roads, and with what is still falling. I park right in front of the porch steps leading up to the front door.

"Oh! What a great looking house. I always wanted a log cabin.", Sara exclaims. I unlock the door and usher everyone in. Dropping all the bags near the sofa I can't help but smile with pride over my house.

"Mm, my father owns about 20 acres. He had this built when he knew I wanted to come live here. It's not huge but it's just right for the little man and me. Speaking of which, go get washed up and into your jammies. It's time for bed big guy."

"Awww mom, can't I stay up a little longer? I'm not even sleepy." This is spoken around a yawn. Shaking my head I tell him the faster he goes to sleep, the faster Santa will come and drop off the gifts he has for him.

The racket a four year old can make while tearing up the stairs is unbelievable.

I chuckle as I turn to Sara, "So what do you know about bicycles?"

"Huh?" I lead her into the kitchen area and turn on the coffee maker. "I found a bike for Nick on the discount aisle at Spence's Hardware store. The only thing is I have never put one together, and it's still in the box downstairs."

"So this is why you offered your daybed for me. To help play Santa Claus", she says with the cutest laugh and smile that makes her eyes sparkle and her nose scrunch up bit.

I shamelessly nod my head in affirmation with a huge grin on my face.

"Well if I am to play Santa, you go get the stuff, I'll go get ready, and I'll meet you by the Christmas tree."

"Thanks so much Sara. I'll just tuck him in bed and then dart downstairs and get the stuff." I spin on my socked feet and pad on out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Twenty minutes later I have wrestled the last gift up from the basement. Dropping it under the tree I release a hearty breath to blow my bangs out of my eyes. A noise behind me has me spin around fast. The vision before me takes my breath away. Some women are so adorable that they leave you speechless. Which is why at this moment I can't find any words to speak.

She looks down at her clothing and asks, "Too much?"

That has me laughing as I walk up to her and circle her, checking out every angle of the Santa costume she is wearing. "You sure are full of surprises aren't you? I love it."

"Well it was my job to get the suit cleaned and stored for next year."

"Where is the beard? Is it too hot to wear?" She shakes her head no and explains that each year the same gentleman plays Santa and he has a real beard. Nifty. We both plop down near the tree and start to open the box for the bicycle, and for the Little Tykes playhouse. It says no tools are needed. Let's see how long that lasts.

After three hours, two pots of coffee, many trips to the basement for tools, and many tears of laughter we are finally done with the assembly of all the toys.

We are both resting against the sofa, with legs stretched out towards the front of the fireplace, and sipping our last cup for the night. Soft Christmas tunes are playing on the radio. I'm sure my hair looks like a weasel nested in there after all the running of my fingers through it from exasperation of trying to fit slot A into slot B. A glance over at Sara shows Santa's hat askew on her head, sleeves rolled up and a smudge of chain oil on her nose. Damn she is cute.

She glances my way and tells me that this one of the best Christmas Eves she has had in a long time. I shyly glance down at my cup and take a deep breath and jump.

"I'm glad you are enjoying yourself. So am I. Uhm, I am not even sure, but I'm feeling something here and I was wondering if you were too, and wondered if youwantedtoshareadancewithme?"

Yep, I am so suave with my moves. I shake my head and blush a bit.

I summon up the courage to glance at her and her face is lit up with a big smile.

"I would love to dance with you Joanna".

After setting our mugs down on the coffee table, I stand and stretch my hand down for her to take. I softly pull her up on her feet, tentatively put my arm around her back and grasp her small hand within my larger one. We take a few turns around the living room swaying to the tunes, not really paying attention to the beat or the songs. I look down and our eyes lock. I have a small grin on my face as I ask,

"I hope you aren't offended, but I want-."

"Yes."

"I would really like to-"

"Yes"

"What I am trying to ask is-"

"Joanna, kiss me already."

"Jo, my friends call me Jo."

Her lips are so soft and the kiss is so precious. Not hurried or fevered, just a nice slow kiss of mutual attraction and wanting to get to know someone better.

As we break apart, I look out the sliding glass window and notice a shooting star go across the sky. It came upon the midnight clear so it really lit up the sky. We both smile at the pretty sight outside and share another kiss.

"I was wondering, the day bed isn't -"

"Yes."

"And it's totally not for that-"

"Yes."

"My bed is really huge and-"

"Yes."

I look down to see her smiling up at my red face. I release a breath I didn't even know I was holding and smile back.

"Let's just take it slow and get some sleep. One small tornado is due up anytime now." Sara's smile gets brighter as she says "Yes, let's get some sleep."

She helps me clean up and lock up the house. Then I take her hand and lead her into my bedroom. As we make our way further into the room, I turn on the little night stand light, and she asks me, "So how is the first Noel in Maine been treating you so far?"

I give her a smile from across the bed as I toss her some shorts and a shirt to change into.

"It's been really nice, thanks to you."

"Well let's see if we can raise that up a notch to awesome."

My eyes widen as she starts to unbutton the Santa costume. I can't help but think-Merry Christmas, to me. I walk on over and shut my bedroom door. I know I am wearing the goofiest grin I have worn in a long time.

I wake alone on Christmas morning. The noises coming from the kitchen area lets me know my houseguest is here and chatting with my son. I hum a jaunty tune as I slip on my robe and pad out to the kitchen. The scent of eggs and bacon assaults my senses the minute I open the bedroom door. Mmm..I am starving.

As I come up to the archway leading into the kitchen, I hear my son's sleepy voice holding a chat with Sara. I pause a moment to listen in on what he is saying.

"Sara, I woke up last night and went to get a glass of water."

"I'm sure your mom won't be upset by that. What's on your mind little buddy?"

"Well, I couldn't help it. I heard some noise downstairs and thought I might be able to get a peek at Santa leaving the gifts."

"Hmm, I'm sure we have all tried to do that at one point in time." I can hear her speaking into her coffee mug as she takes a sip.

"Yea, but I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus. Do you think they are dating? I would've thought she would kiss Mrs. Claus, if anyone." This is said with such a serious tone. I quickly slap a hand over my mouth to keep the laughter in.

Ah, the sound of coffee spewing across the table. As I hear Sara choking and gasping, I turn the corner and raise her hands above her head.

"Grandpa says to put your hands in the air when choking." She quickly glances over her shoulder at me with eyes wide with fright. I put a finger across her lips to stop her from sputtering more nonsensical words. I look over at Nick and tell him if he wants to go open his gifts, to have at it. The small tornado has touched down in my kitchen as he tears off towards the living room.

I smile down at Sara. "Believe me, he will forget all about it when he sees the new bike."

I grab her hand as we wander on into the living room to share in his joy. I stop dead as I notice that the gifts look like they multiplied over night. My eyes are as wide as they will ever be.

"Did you-", I whisper.

"No, I just assumed you woke up early and put the rest of the stuff out." I gaze over the huge pile of gifts with wonder. "No, I brought up everything right before we did assembly duties."

"Then how do you explain all this?"

"I'm not sure, but I bet my father had something to do with it. Come on let's see what the old coot has done."

As we settle onto the sofa, Nick comes running up with a heavy box and hands it to Sara. "Here, this one has your name on it." He drops it in her lap and races off to look for more.

She looks at me with wonder and I return the look. "I have no clue...open it."

She tears all the paper off and unveils a brand new starter for her car. Also in the box are tools. She and I stare at each other speechlessly. I make a dive for the tag on the wrapping paper. My jaw falls. "This is definitely not my dad's handwriting. What the heck is going on here?"

From under the tree comes a muffled tiny voice. "I got my gift. Santa got me what I asked for."

I duck my head to get a glimpse of my son tearing through the presents. "What gift? What did you ask for?"

He pulls himself out from under the tree with a present I know neither one of us wrapped. He grins and says, "When I whispered into Santa's ear what I wanted for Christmas, I asked for my mom to be happy and for something nice to happen to Sara cause she is a nice lady." Both of our jaws are hanging by our feet.

"Here mom, this one is for you." He drops the gift onto my lap and dives back under the tree.

I shake my head with wonder and turn my head to look at Sara, who is looking just as shell-shocked as I am.

"Well, a Maine Christmas sure beats the New York ones."

"Merry Christmas Sara." I lean over to brush a soft kiss across her lips. She kisses me back and murmurs Merry Christmas in return.

"So, come on Nick, show us what Santa brought you this year."

I can't help the tiny grin of wonder that is affixed on my face. I quietly drop my arm over Sara's shoulders and she snuggles into me.

Oh yea...I really like a Maine Christmas.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

All twenty-five song titles on the Academy list plus the following:

"Frosty the Snowman" -Jimmy Durante

"Little Saint Nick"- Beach Boys

"Dominick the Donkey"- Lou Monty

"Here Comes Santa Clause"-Gene Autry

"New York Christmas"-Rob Thomas

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"- The Holiday Children

 

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