Page 79 of A Taste of Whiskey
“Hi, Mom. Guess what? We’re making elf costumes for the Reindeer Ride, and we’re gonna get Daddy a Santa hat and stuff for his motorcycle.”
“How fun.” She eyed Sasha. “Looks like Ezra’s getting everything he wants.”
“I didn’t know he wanted a Santa hat,” Sasha said. “But if he does, then he definitely deserves it.”
The Selfish Witch made a half-laugh, half-scoff sound.
“We should be going. We have a lot ofshoppingto do.” Sasha knew it was petty to throw that back at her, but she couldn’t help it. “Say goodbye to your mom, Gusto.”
“Bye, Mom.” He reached for Sasha’s hand.
She’d expected him to hug Tina, and she waited, giving Tina time to initiate an embrace, but she just said, “See you next Tuesday, honey,” and walked off.
Sasha wanted to yell,Hey! You’re not going to see him for a week. Don’t you want to hug your kid?Instead, she smiled down at Gus and said, “Santa hat, here we come.”
They found a Santa hat for Ezra, and Gus loved it so much, she bought one for each of them. They found battery-operated string lights for Ezra’s bike and an extra set of lights to put around Gus’s bedroom window. Gus asked for everything from toys to candy, and Sasha agreed to buy one pack of peanut M&M’s that they could share. Gus was happy with that.
“Gus, what do you think about these to go with your costume?” She picked up a pair of children’s knee-high red-and-white striped socks.
“I like ’em.”
“That was easy.” She tossed the socks into the basket with the other things they’d found.
Gus pointed to a bin of small stuffed reindeer. “Can we get a reindeer to put on Daddy’s bike?”
“That’s a cool idea. Maybe we can tie it to the middle of his handlebars. Why don’t you go pick one out?” She watched him looking through the bin as if they weren’t all identical.
“I want this one.” He held one up.
“That one’s missing an eye. Why don’t you choose another one?”
“But I like this one. It’s a Posey reindeer.”
She melted a little inside. “You’re right. It’s perfect.”
Gus carried the reindeer as they went up and down more aisles. When they came out of the last aisle, Gus’s eyes went wide, and he pointed to a display of artificial Christmas trees in the corner of the store. “Can we get one ofthose?Please?Daddy loves Christmas trees. He says they make everything happier.”
I love them, too.
She knew Ezra enjoyed the holidays, and she loved seeing Gus’s face light up when he helped them decorate the Christmas tree in the main house every year. But she wasn’t sure if Ezra would be a fan of having a tree in his cabin in July, or if Gus would expect Santa to bring presents.
“Gus, you know it’s not really Christmas, right? Santa won’t be bringing presents in July, even if we put up a tree.”
“I know.Please, Sugar?” He bounced on his toes, big brown eyes pleading. “I promise I won’t ask for presents.”
Those hopeful eyes tugged at her heartstrings. “If we get a tree, you know what it means?”
“That everything will be happier?”
She tapped the tip of his nose, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake. “It means we have to hurry up and get it home so we can decorate it before bedtime.”
“Thank you!” Gus threw his arms around her, hugging her tight.
They bought a midsize tree that Sasha could carry on her own, and since she didn’t know where Ezra kept his holiday decorations, they bought lights and tinsel and stopped at her cabin to get her tree stand and tree skirt.
The rest of the night was a blur of Christmas music, Gus’s constant and adorable chatter, making ornaments out of construction paper, crayons, and ribbons, and decorating the tree. They wore their Santa hats and made a big yellow star for the top of the tree out of three layers of construction paper. Sasha threaded a ribbon through the top of the star and one near the bottom and tied them loosely in the back, forming loops to slide over the top branch.
She was lifting Gus up so he could put the star on the tree when the front door opened and Ezra walked in.Shoot!She’d lost track of time! It was also way past Gus’s bedtime, and the living room was covered in tinsel, scraps of paper, ribbons, and their costume materials, which they hadn’t put away before starting to decorate the tree.
