Page 4 of Santa Loves Curvy Girls

The post office was only a few streets over. I was there in no time, especially because I had no idea who would be sending me a package.

We didn’t usually get gifts from relatives or anything. And anyway, wouldn’t those come to our house?

I walked in. It was packed, as it always was this time of year. There was a long line of people, all holding packages of various sizes.

Mr. Long was at the front, slowly ringing up Ms. Jane, who worked at the library.

“Nick!” he said, spotting me. “I’ve got something for you.”

With that, he ran to the back and returned a minute later with a large brown package in his hands. “This is for you.”

I took it. “But I’m not expecting anything.”

I noticed some wording. “To be opened only by Nick St. James.” I saw there wasn’t a return address either, but Mr. Long was already back to helping the next person in line, so I couldn’t ask about it.

The box was big enough that I wondered what could be inside. It wasn’t super heavy. I could carry it home no problem, but what was it?

As I made my way home, I took guesses. It was too big to be a new video game console. Plus, I wasn’t really into video games. Mom would never go for it anyway.

Maybe Mom had ordered something else for me, but that had me feeling a little guilty. I didn’t want her spending money on expensive gifts for me. If anything, she deserved something nice, not me.

I made it home and closed the door behind me. Mom wouldn’t be home until later, so the house was quiet. I walked past our goldfish in the living room and headed to my room.

After I set the box on my bed, I took a step back, still wondering what it could be. Only one way to find out.

I found a box cutter in the junk drawer in the kitchen and went back to the box.

Time to find out what this thing was.

The box cutter sliced neatly through the packaging tape. I opened up the box, and my jaw fell open.

No way.

“No way, no way, no way,” I said to myself.

Was this…

I held up the large red suit with fluffy white trimming. There was even a sturdy black pair of boots in here. And a hat.

When I pulled out the hat, a small white note fell out.

Garland Mall, 3pm on Sunday.

Keep the secret. Keep the magic alive.

I set the note down and looked at the Santa suit on my bed.

It would be me. I was this year’s Santa Claus.

3

BELLE

My favorite thing about the holidays (after the lighting of the tree) was the baking.

The house smelled great and stayed warm all day long after I made a big batch of Christmas cookies.

“Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus,” I sang under my breath, “right down Santa Claus Lane.”

---