Mummy's In Love With Santa Claus
chapter one
Looking at her watch Amber knew she would be late again. This time it was luckily "only" the meeting with her friend Trudy but nonetheless she hated to let someone wait. She hurried through the streets - from her working place to the café where she wanted to meet up with Trudy. To top it all it was now starting to snow and a heavy wind was blowing.
Nearly out of breath she finally reached her destination. As she had expected it Trudy was already waiting for her to arrive and Amber felt even worse. "I'm so sorry," she told her friend and sat down beside her. Trudy had chosen a nice window table. There they were able to watch the passers-by hurrying past to buy Christmas presents. It was a cold Friday afternoon and Christmas Eve was only three days away. "It's okay. I was late as well. Don't worry."
"I don't know what I do wrong. Lately I've always been late. My boss is not very enthusiastic about this. And I still haven't bought any presents - not even for Jesse," Amber sighed shaking her head. "It can't be that bad. I know it hasn't been easy for you lately but I reckon you should always think that it could be worse. Later we can go shopping if you want and I'm sure we'll find something for your son."Still cheering up her friend asn't easy. "You can say that; you're happily married to your Jay."
About half an hour later they entered the big shopping mall, the latest attraction of their hometown. Inside everything was decorated with Christmas stuff; it was shining, glittering and sparkling everywhere. "Do you have any idea what you want to give Jesse as present?" Trudy enquired to help Amber as best as she could "Not really," the young woman replied desperately. "Well, then let's go to the toy shop. I need to find something for Brady as well," Trudy explained with a smile on her lips trying to cheer up her friend.
On the escalator they got to the second floor where "Toys For All" was situated. In front of the doors was a huge crowd of people. At first they thought that too many people were in the shop already so that the newly arrived customers had to wait outside but soon they noticed that they were wrong. That's why they decided to try to get into the shop. They went past the crowd now noticing that the people seemed to stand around something or someone beside the doors. Trudy could only spot something red and something green but had no idea what this could be.
Amber was the first to enter the shop, Trudy right behind her. The moment they had passed the doors a dynamically looking man in a suit came towards them a put-on smile on his lips. Congrats. you're our 1500th customer today," he told the pretty confuse blonde shaking her hand violently."Well..." the man continued, oblivius to her hesitation,"We have a special event today — every 100th customer will get a Christmas present form us and for every 500th this is a Santa Claus who'll visit you on Christmas Eve." Amber didn't know what to say. She was completely confused and didn't know what to think about this at all.
"So you can choose one of our seven Santas now. Would you please follow me?" She just nodded as reply. With Trudy she nearly had to run because the man was just too fast. They went to an area where many Santas were giving children small chocolate figures. The man then told her to choose one of those Santa Clauses.
Amber decided to have a closer look first. She went to the Santas as close as she could. One caught her attention immediately. All children seemed to want to go to him and were really happy when they had managed it. Some time later the Santa Claus looked up for a moment — directly into Amber's eyes. "I want him," she told the man, who seemed to be something like the manager of the toy shop, pointing at 'her' Santa. "Okay. Now you just have to give me your address and he'll be at your door on Christmas Eve."
About two hours later Trudy and Amber left the shopping mall again. They had found presents for their children after a long time of thinking and not being able to decide. The blonde woman still couldn't believe that she had "won" something; this had never happened before. However, she was pretty sure that Jesse would love this Santa just as much as all the other kids.
chapter two
Some weeks ago Trudy and Amber had decided to spend Christmas Eve together. It was short time after Amber's boyfriend had left her after learning that she had a three-year-old son. The young mother was completely despaired, she had never been lucky with guys. The father of her son had left her shortly after Jesse's birth because of another woman and all the other men were a flop as well. To comfort her Trudy had suggested to spend Christmas in Amber's new apartment and the blonde had accepted the offer of her best friend thankfully.
Two o'clock sharp it was ringing at the door. Jesse immediately got up and ran to the door to let Trudy, Jay and Brady in. Amber was still busy decorating the Christmas tree. "Wow, it looks great," Jay told her the moment he entered the living room. "I'm not finished yet," Amber replied and started to put tinsel on the tree as finishing touches.
"So are you already looking forward to your Santa?" Trudy wanted to know while sitting down on the sofa. "He's not my Santa," the blonde said slightly blushing.
"When will he be here?" the young mother then asked to change the topic slightly. "The manager said four o'clock. So we still have time to drink a cup of coffee and eat some stollen cake which I've bought this morning," Amber suggested. "I would love to," Trudy stated enthusiastically.
"But I want hot chocolate," Brady shook her head with a sad face. "Say please sweetie, and then you'll get some" her mum asked her. "Please Amber," the young girl said looking at her with big wide eyes. "Of course. I know how much you love hot chocolate and Jesse does as well."
Ten minutes later they all sat on the sofa respectively the armchairs and were enjoying their coffee, stollen, hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. Jesse was pretty quiet, what was strange since he was actually a pretty lively child. Amber reckoned that he was just a bit tired but she just couldn't get him to sleep after lunch. Her theory was confirmed when she noticed that the little boy was fallen asleep snuggled up in a corner of the sofa. Together they decided to watch a fairy-tale movie until the Santa would arrive. The two kids were already pretty nervous and couldn't wait to see him, their parents knew. However, they turned down the volume to not wake Jesse.
It was already 4.20 p.m. when the doorbell was finally ringing. Sleepily Jesse asked, "Is it Santa?" All three adults shared a quick smile. "I don't know. Do you want to have a look?" Amber then asked mysteriously still with a smile on her lips. The young boy nodded looking pretty serious.
After the blonde got up he took her left hand and Brady took her right — together they went to the door where the bell was ringing already for the fifth time. Trudy had followed them and opened the door. In front of it stood, as expected, the Santa Claus Amber had chosen. Brady and Jesse looked at him with big eyes and didn't know what to say or do. The Santa knelt down so that he was at the same level with them and asked, "Do you want to let me in?" Slowly the two nodded.
In the living room the children stood in front of the Christmas tree and looked actually a bit scared. To change this the Santa knelt down again and told them that there was no need to be afraid of him.
"So do you like Christmas?" Again Jesse and Brady nodded respectfully. "And have you always been good?" Santa asked them then. "Yes," Brady said looking pretty proud of herself. Jesse first turned around and looked at Amber, then again at the Santa. A moment later his lower lip started to quiver and crocodile tears began to fill his eyes. "I've been a bad boy," he then told him sobbing. Amber wanted to run to her son but the Santa signalled her not to, what was very hard for her. She hated to see her sweetheart crying.
"But your mummy has told me something completely different," Santa comforted the three-year-old wiping his tears away. "What?" Jesse asked shyly playing with the beard of Santa Claus. "That you are the best thing she has and that you've been a good boy," he told him with a serious voice. "Really?" he said astonished with big wide eyes. "Yes and now smile again for your mummy." The young boy agreed immediately, "Okay."
"Did you two write a Christmas list?" Santa asked then short time later. "Yes," both said now really smiling.
"I want a brother," Brady told him quickly after he enquired what their biggest wish was." Can you do that?" Santa had to hide his smile; the little girl was so cute and innocent. "I'll talk with your parents first. But you can't have him now. It need some time to realize such a big wish — even for me." A little sad she simply said,"Okay."
"What about you?" Santa wanted to know from Jesse who looked already slightly bored. "I want a daddy like the other children in kindergarten and a man who is nice to mummy but I know you can't do that. No one can," the boy explained before running out of the room seconds later.
This time Amber went after him to comfort and cheer up her son. Still she needed ten minutes to convince him to go back to Santa and the others.
"Would you like to have a present?" Both children nodded with great enthusiasm and went close to Santa. Out of his big pocket he took two big cuddly elks. The two took them and started to smile, thanking Santa after being told to do so by their parents.
"What do you think about singing some Christmas carols now?" Everyone agreed and the Santa went to the corridor where he had left his guitar. It was already getting dark and Amber switched on the lights on the Christmas tree. Before they started to sing she lit some candles and an aromatic candle. Jesse and Brady both wanted to sing 'Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer' although they hardly knew the text.
All the time Amber was watching "her" Santa. He was an extraordinary man — good with children, fascinating and probably much more. But she highly doubted that he was single or even interested in her. Not such a man.
It was already eight o'clock when the Santa said that he had to go now. The two children were already fast asleep in Jesse's room because they had played the whole time after singing. The Santa asked Amber if he could change his clothes somewhere here. She led him to the guest room where Jay and Trudy would stay for this night. The blonde woman waited outside until he was finished.
When he came out of the room again she could only think, "Wow!" He was wearing a pair of relatively tight blue jeans, a black shirt where he had left the first two buttons open and a leather coat. His dark hair was longer than the one of most other men. and his eyes were simply fascinating. The only thing she could do was staring at him.
"Maybe... you would like to stay a bit longer?!" she asked him with all the courage she had. "I would love to but I've been up since 38 hours now and I desperately need some sleep." He did indeed like quite tired. "Oh okay," Amber replied still a little disappointed.
"But if you want we could meet up tomorrow in the park," he suggested quickly. "That would be... nice," she said her heart jumping out of joy. "Of course you can bring Jesse with you. He's a great boy." This kept getting better and better for her. "Wonderful. How about ten o'clock?" Amber suggested her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Perfect," he told her with a bright smile on his lips. "Bye. Merry Christmas and sleep well." He took his things and said his goodbyes, "See you then. Merry Christmas to you as well."
When she came back to Trudy and Jay she had a broad smile on her lips. This could be her best Christmas since a very long time. She just hoped that she wouldn't be disappointed, that she didn't misinterpret things and that she got stuck in this idea.
chapter three
Amber woke up really early; she just couldn't sleep anymore. She had only one thing on her mind — the handsome man who had been 'her' Santa the day before. Still she decided to stay in bed; there was nothing she could do at this early hour of the morning anyway. Yesterday evening they had put Jesse's and Brady's Christmas presents beside their beds. The two were so tired that they forgot to ask for them. She could hardly believe that this actually happened. But there were other things she couldn't believe as well, most of all not that her little son had noticed how she felt and how much he wished to have a father.
About two hours later she was roused by the opening of the door. Dreaming of the Santa she must have fallen asleep. It was Jesse — with a beaming smile on his lips. "Mummy, mummy," he called crawling into her bed. "What is it, sweetie?" she asked smiling stroking over hisdark blonde hair. "In my room is a blue bike," he told her snuggling up in his mother's arms. "Really?" she asked a wondrous smile on her lips. "Yes but I can't test it because it has snowed sooo much," Jesse explained showing her with his little hands how much snow he meant.
"Isn't that wonderful? What do you think about going to the park after breakfast?" she suggested happy about her little boy's enthusiasm. "Can we build a snowman there?" he asked still smiling. "Of course sweetie."
About an hour later they were all leaving the house. Trudy, Jay and Brady went back to their home and Amber walked with Jesse to the park which was only a five-minute walk away from their apartment. The blonde woman was already really nervous; she just couldn't wait to see him again. She had decided that it would be best to wait at the entrance of the park for Mr Santa.
When they had nearly reached the park she noticed with astonishment that they wouldn't have to wait — he was already there. Again she couldn't believe that all this was really happening and just shook her headslightly.
"Hey," she greeted him shyly when they had reached him.
"Who is that mummy?" Jesse asked half hiding behind her. "A friend from..." Amber was searching for words. "... from kindergarten. My son used to go to the same kindergarten as you," he helped her.
"And where is he now?" the young boy wanted to know curiously. "Gone." The blonde immediately understood what he had meant and changed the topic.
"What do you think if we build your snowman now with...," she had to hesitate again. "... Lex. My friends call me Lex," the dark haired man told the two. "Can you build a snowman?" Jesse asked doubting it as they could clearly see on his face. "Of course. Do you want to see?" The three-year-old nodded enthusiastically. As if he knew Lex already for ages the boy took his hand and went with him to a place which was perfect for building a snowman.
The three didn't need long until they could finally admire their snowman; it had snowed about 50 centimetres during the night. Jesse was so happy running and jumping around the whole time. Lex had convinced him of his ability to build a snowman pretty soon and somehow it seemed to Amber that her son had already started to really like Mr Santa, as the blonde had started to call him in her thoughts.
Amber was soon completely out of breathe and needed to sit down for a while. Although she knew it wouldn't exactly be good for her health she sat down on a nearby wooden bench watching the two having a snowball fight. suddenly a thought crossed her mind — they looked like father and son.
"I don't know how you feel but I'm hungry," she told them a while later. "Mummy, I want pizza," Jesse smiled at her irresistibly. "Good. Is that okay with you Lex?" She loved to say his name; it was like a soft shiver down her spine. "Sure."
The next pizza house was only ten minutes away, still Jesse didn't want to walk anymore after some metres — he was exhausted and his feet hurt. Full of expectation he looked at his mother. In the end Lex offered to carry him and Jesse agreed happily.
After eating delicious pizzas and chatting about this and that they went to Amber' apartment. Lex was carrying Jesse again, who had been so tired that he was fallen asleep on Lex' shoulder. The two adults were talking about different things and Amber was simply happy.
"So why did you do this whole disguising-as-Santa-Claus thing?" she asked him in a low voice. Lex hesitated as he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her; he knew her only for one day so far after all. But then he decided to just do it. Amber was such a nice woman and he felt he could trust her, tell her all his secrets. "Two years ago, short time before Christmas, my girlfriend and my son were killed in an accident. So I decided to make others happy even if I can't be happy. And in doing so I stopped thinking about them and the accident and the wonderful time we had together." This wasn't exactly what she'd expected. "Oh... I'm sorry," she told him looking really shocked. "It's okay. I'm able to talk about it now. And it doesn't hurt so much anymore."
In this moment they reached the apartment. Amber opened the door to let Lex with Jesse his arms in. They put him in his bed, taking off his jacket and shoes only. Since it didn't seem as if he wanted to leave Amber asked Lex what he thought about having a cup of hot tea. "I would love to," he told her smiling.
While drinking their mug of peppermint tea they laughed and talked again. Both had noticed that they got on fantastically. It seemed as if they knew each other already for years. That's why Lex decided to ask her something. "Do you actually believe in love at first sight?" She hesitated at first, questions like this always made her quite uncomfortable. "Well, I didn't... until I met you," Amber admitted with crimson cheeks. Surprised he looked at her before he said, "I know what you mean."
Amber needed a while to realize what he had just said. When it finally got through to her he was looking deeply into her eyes and before she knew what was happening she felt his lips on hers. "Tell me I'm not dreaming." He was only too happy to oblige. "That's no dream Amber," he told her in a low voice, "it's Christmas, the time for big wishes to come true."
"And is this your wish as well?" she asked him her heart beating way too fast. "Yes, I wanted to meet a woman like you — who loves children, is so nice, just loveable."Again the blonde woman was blushing at his compliment.
Suddenly the door opened and Jesse came in running to then and climbing onto Lex' lap. "Mummy, did Santa bring you a man and a daddy for me?" the little guy wanted to know with big wide eyes. "Do you like Lex, sweetie?" This was the most important thing for her. "Yes," Jesse told her with a grin on his lips. "Then, I guess, Santa fulfilled our wish," Amber stated with a sigh and smiled at Lex then.
The three spent the rest of the day together. Jesse showed Lex all his present enthusiastically and Amber watched them happily. Later they played with the three-year-old sharing a tender kiss occasionally. They had realized that sometimes dreams come dream and that Christmas was the perfect time for this. Love had come in the disguise of Santa Claus.
