McDonald_NoELFngWay_GEN_Dec2015 (13 page)

“Same here… Mrs. Santa. And I do like to unwrap my packages fast. Nice fur by the way.”

Vixen laughed at his innuendo and pushed him back toward the chair. She took a seat on his sofa. “Open your gift. It’s not a surprise, but I’m feeling sentimental.”

Dash’s eyebrows rose as he carried it to the chair. It must weigh close to twenty pounds.

They watched as Dancer jumped up and retrieved the gift bag she’d stashed under the tree when she’d arrived. She skipped to Nicky and presented it to him.

“Here. I have one too,” she stated, moving to her mother’s side after Nicky took the bag.

“Don’t tell him what it is. Wait until he opens it,” Vixen whispered.

Dash nodded when Nicky gave him an unsure look. His son pulled out the red gift paper covering it and tossed it to the floor.

“You’ll need to pick that up later,” Dash ordered, wanting to snort at his father voice.

Nicky pulled out a t-shirt. It had writing on it. He dropped the bag and took it to his dad. “Read it for me. I don’t know all the words.”

Dash turned it around and looked as he read the words aloud. “
SANTA IN TRAINING
.”

Nicky dashed across the room and launched himself at Vixen’s legs. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

Her laugh was music to his ears as she bent to hug his son. Dash barely fought back his sigh of satisfaction. He didn’t want to scare her with how far his decision making about her had gone.

“I figured you might like it,” Vixen said, running a hand over Nicky’s head.

Nicky let go and went back to his father. “Can I wear it?”

Dash pulled off the tags and slid the t-shirt over Nicky’s head. His son giggled as he saw it hung to his knees.

“You might have to grow into it a little,” Vixen said.

“I hope it doesn’t take twenty years,” Nicky declared.

Vixen laughed. “I’m thinking maybe one more from the looks of it.”

Reaching into the tote she carried, she pulled out another t-shirt. Dash grinned as Dancer’s arms went up over her head. Vixen pulled on the t-shirt. It hung to Dancer’s knees as well. She ran back to Nicky.

“Mine says
ELF IN TRAINING
… because I’m Dancer Elf. And you’re Nicky Santa. Can I be your elf when you grow up and become a real Santa? Please, please, please?”

Dash saw Nicky give him a questioning look. He shrugged. “I can’t help this time. This one is on you, Son.”

Nicky rolled his eyes and finally nodded. “Okay. If I become a real Santa one day, you can be my elf. But you can’t act crazy like other girls.”

“Nicholas…”

“Dad… I’m just being honest,” Nicky declared.

Then he oompfed and giggled when Dancer attacked him and hugged him fiercely in her happiness. Dash had to look at the ceiling not to cry and embarrass all four of them.

When Dancer turned loose, she sighed in pleasure. Nicky did the same… or maybe in his case it was relief. Dash knew full well how close those two things went together sometimes.

“Can I see your bedroom? Mommy said it was okay if you offered.”

Nicky shrugged. “Okay… but you can’t touch anything… especially not my desk. That’s where I work.”

“Like your office,” Dancer said.

She nodded and slipped her hand in Nicky’s. When the boy didn’t pull away, Vixen turned her head and blinked furiously. Her mascara wasn’t waterproof.

The kids disappeared down the hallway. Nicky was talking low and giving orders. Dancer was making promises. Both she and Dash breathed out a sigh when they were out-of-sight.

“That went well,” Dash said finally.

“Dancer is a little needy when it comes to male attention,” Vixen explained. “She doesn’t get much. I guess neither of us do. Sometimes I don’t think I’m any less needy. I’ve just learned not to show it.”

“I’ve got plenty of attention to give both of you. Just stay in my life and give me some time,” Dash promised softly.

Vixen swallowed and nodded. “Okay. Now open your present. It really shouldn’t have been put into a box, but I couldn’t resist wrapping it. I wanted it to look like a gift.”

Dash tore at the paper and tossed it on the floor next to the bag Nicky had discarded. He lifted the top of the box. Inside it was a Santa suit.

Vixen cleared her throat as Dash ran a hand over the jacket. “I guess it’s like a girl keeping her boyfriend’s shirt for sentimental reasons. That suit is the exact one you wore. I had it cleaned, but I left the Santa belly adjusted to fit you. I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else wearing it. I even took it to my house so it would never accidentally get mixed in with the others. I have the hanger and bag in my car. Merry Christmas, Dash.”

Dash nodded. His throat was tight. “This is a great gift.”

And not just the suit, but he was afraid to say the rest aloud for fear of blurting out his feelings.

“Will you be my elf if I wear it again?”

“I guess I could be,” Vixen said quietly. “I’d rather you find a new one. I have another role in mind. That’s why I wore this sweater. It was the closest thing I had to match your suit. But I have to be honest… I’m scared as hell to give you another chance to break my heart.”

Dash put the box on the floor and slid it under the tree. “We’ll retrieve the costume cover later and I’ll store it properly. Come here. I need to hold you. The only thing I’m going to break are those emotional walls you’ve built to keep from hurting. And I will succeed. Trust me.”

Vixen took a deep breath as she reluctantly went to obey the order. Dash tugged her down into his lap. He took great care to drape her across it until she was as comfortable as she could be. Then he tucked her head on his shoulder with a firm hand.

She breathed in the scent of him and tightened her arms. They sat like that for a minute saying nothing. Dash held her and hugged her. Something good and right moved inside her as she relaxed in his arms.

“I’m going to find a way to unwrap you later. Are you okay with that, Mrs. Santa?” he asked.

Vixen nodded against his skin. She kissed his cheek and noticed he hadn’t even gotten to shave yet that day. She let her arms tighten a little more. He really was a good man… a good father.

Sitting with him like this, he didn’t seem like a risk at all. Dasher Sleigh seemed like the answer she’d always been looking for.

“Yes. I’m more than okay with it. Are you going to show me your big package?” she teased.

Dash nodded. “Yes, but… the big package Nicky was really talking about was the four of us being a family, instead of it being just me and him… or you and Dancer. A family is what both of us need… what we’re missing as much as someone to love. I know you and I need time to get to know each other so we can make this work. Just say yes to being open to it. I’ll take care of convincing you I’m not going to let you down again.”

Vixen raised her head and turned his mouth to hers. She pulled him to her to kiss and let herself melt into him. “Okay,” she said when her mouth was free. “Are you going to be okay with me loving you?”

Dash clutched her against him. “So long as you let me love you back. I’m really, really good at it. I think you’d like being my wife.”

Two in-drawn breaths of surprise from the doorway drew their immediate attention. It brought reality back into focus, but they hugged each other harder to cling to the new understanding they’d found.

“Told you we’d catch them kissing,” Dash heard Nicky brag.

“Yuk,” Dancer said, giggling. “Does it hurt to kiss like that?”

“I don’t know. Daddies and mommies seem to do it a lot. Even Mima kisses Uncle Blix—but DON’T say I told. I’m not supposed to know,” Nicky said wisely.

Dancer giggled again.

Nicky gave her a kind look. “It’s seems okay. They both like it. See how their eyes are twinkling?”

Dancer giggled again, then nodded. “You’re the smartest Nicky Santa ever,” she praised.

“Well, you got to know this stuff to be a real Santa,” Nicky said.

“Dancer’s right, Son. You’re going to make a terrific real Santa one day,” Dash said as he rubbed Vixen’s arm. “And I can already see Dancer is going to be the perfect elf. She asks all the right questions.”

“Dad… I don’t think girls are as crazy as I thought. I could probably get used to her. Don’t forget to tell Vixen about your big package idea. You promised you’d work on it for next year.”

“Got it covered, Nicky. Big package. We were just talking about it.”

“Stop,” Vixen ordered, smacking his chest. “My stomach hurts from laughing. It’s been a long time since I laughed this much.”

“Stick around. My son is a regular comedian,” Dash exclaimed.

It was a good beginning… a better one than they’d had before. Nicky and Dancer were providing miracle after miracle. They were both going to remember this first Christmas together.

Dash grinned and hugged harder when Vixen tucked her head into his shoulder and shook with laughter right along with him.

“Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas to us,” he whispered, tightly hugging his laughing gift.

# # # The End # # #

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After 35 years of doing everything else for a living, Donna McDonald published her first novel in March of 2011. Thirty plus novels later, she is living her own happily ever after in life as a full time author.