Page 16 of Unruly Kris

“She is, and I really like her, so we need to make sure she feels welcome, okay?” Kris chuckled and Cath was sure she saw his cheeks go a bit rosy, as if he was nervous or slightly embarrassed. She reached out and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, watching his eyes light up as he realized she wasn’t going to bolt from the room.

“Hi,” she said tentatively, “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“Are you a movie star too?” Before Cath could move, she found a little girl wrapped around her waist. She froze for a moment, unsure of what to do then gave in and wrapped an arm around her in return.

“No, I'm a soldier.” She said, wondering how much detail she should actually go into and what was appropriate for children this age. Apart from a few colleagues on base, very few people she knew had kids and she could have counted her experience with children in very brief minutes. Her response immediately elicited a flurry of questions:

“Do you fight bad guys?”

“Do you use a gun?”

“Are you a superhero?”

“Do you know the president?”

Cath held up her hands with a laugh as she tried to think of the right answers to the barrage of questions.

Before she had to answer, Jennifer appeared out of the aether and began to round the children up. “Shall we get started?”

Cath threw her a grateful glance as the children began to follow her towards the workshop. She turned to Kris with a slightly stunned look, watching as he dissolved into laughter at her expression. “Explain please?”

“Come on, we’ll walk and talk.” He began to lead her across the room towards the edge of the workshop. As they moved across the room, Cath got glimpses of other activities set up, a ball pit with red and green balls had been constructed in one corner and a small bouncy castle had been inflated beside it. There was a table set up where children could decorate cookies, and another where they could make ornaments. In the other free corner of the room, several televisions had been set up with gaming consoles and bean bag chairs. Christmas music was playing loudly, and tables of food and drink were set out alongside an eating area where people could sit down.

“What is all this?” Cath asked. “What did we just walk into?”

Kris tucked an arm around her waist, and she could see he was trying to think of the right words. She could almost see a ‘screw it’ look in his eyes when he finally spoke, going for the truth. “Remember how I said Jennifer runs the charitable foundation for LA Children’s hospital?”

Cath nodded, realization sinking in, even as he continued to explain. There was a careful tone to his voice, as if he had rehearsed how he was going to explain the whole night to her. She realized suddenly that given he was used to rehearsing lines and scenarios, he may very well have practiced how he was going to explain this evening to her; personally, if she had been dropping him into this chaos, she absolutely would have.

“These kids are from the Pediatric Cardiology and Oncology wards. Most of them are long term patients, they spend months, even years in and out of the hospital. They don’t get to go home for Christmas, so every year I throw them a party. Jennifer helps me coordinate it through the hospital, so they come here, play, eat, see Santa, get some presents. They get to be kids for a little bit, have Christmas and feel normal.” Kris took a breath after the long explanation, and she knew he was waiting to see how she would react. Cath’s heart went out to him, this was obviously something he kept close to his chest, and he was sharing it with her, she knew how important that was. “Some of the adults here are parents, some are nurses if parents have to be at home. We try to make it so everyone who is able to come out, can actually make it.”

“So, what do we have to do?” she asked gently, “Are we playing Santa and Mrs. Claus?”

“No, although you’d make a stunning Mrs. Claus.” Kris smiled and pointed to a switch off to the side of the workshop. “We’re here to light up the village, take some pictures and spend time with the kids. Then we’ve got shopping to do.”

They reached the switch and waited patiently as Jennifer and the other adults rounded up the kids into a group. Cath couldn’t help but laugh, seeing how excited the children were at the idea of Santa coming. She glanced at Kris and was momentarily overcome with emotion; she’d never seen him look so excited. She leaned into him and felt him press a kiss to the top of her head, lingering and resting his cheek on her hair.

“All right, are you kids ready for Santa?” Jennifer’s voice rose about the crowd, and Cath had to admit she was impressed. She’d seen four-star Generals without that much vocal projection and ability to control a crowd. “Can we get a countdown?”

The children went wild for a moment in their enthusiasm before falling into an excited hush. Jennifer gave a nod and Kris took Cath by the hand again. “That’s our cue.”

She laid her hand on the switch and he covered it with his own as the kids began to count down to one:

“3 …”

“2…”

“1…”

13

With a push, they flipped the switch and Santa’s workshop lit up as the Christmas lights strung around the workshop and on the roof came on. Cath let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding and smiled, watching the children’s faces glow with excitement. Cameras flashed from the photographers around the room, including the ones pointed at her and Kris. Cath surprised herself; instead of feeling exposed, she played along, leaning into Kris and letting them get several good photos of the two of them holding the switch and another of them cuddled together casually.

A scant moment later, a door opened from the back of the studio and a jolly looking Santa Claus burst out with a “Ho-ho-ho!” He ambled over and sat down in the chair as the children began to form a queue with their parents to speak with him. The chaos became more controlled as they waited excitedly.

The bulk of their job done, Cath and Kris began to wander the room and mingle with the children who were waiting for the line to clear for Santa and partaking in the other activities available. As Kris introduced her to the families, Cath got the feeling this wasn’t a fleeting meet up; he knew about the children’s medical conditions, asked how the families were faring and if they needed anything. It was touching to see how genuine he was, how much he cared for each child’s well-being. Cath felt a swell of pride and love for him so intense, she had to close her eyes and ground herself. Watching him play with the children, and generally turn into a giant goofball was turning her soft and it seemed she had little ability to control the feeling.

As she found her footing and was able to read the room, Kris wandered off to play video games with some of the older children and she was left to mingle. She watched as he slid down into the bean bag chair with a sigh and grabbed a controller. Cath wondered how much of the activity was chosen so he could let his still aching body rest for a moment, this had to be an exhausting endeavor for someone who was still healing overall.

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