Page 177 of Daddy's Naughty List

He scrunched up his face and I couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “The best boy ever.”

Giving him another kiss got me a sigh and a smile as he opened his eyes. “You talked about me bouncing.”

Hmm… there seemed to be a hint of helper peeking out, so I shrugged playfully. “Yes, I think it’s something you’d like.”

I knew he’d like it… we’d just never framed the scene in quite that way.

“Even if… what if I like bouncing a lot?” Stirling was so caught up in the rabbit trail he was following in his mind, he was completely lost in thought as I rolled us over so he was curled up against my chest. “I… I might like it a lot depending… depending on how you talked about it.”

My brave boy.

Stroking my hand over his head, I made a thinking sound and did my best to sound casual. “So if I talked about it with words like playing and bouncing and made it sound like the trampoline but naughty, you might like it in a helper kind of way?”

He went very still before snuggling even tighter against me and nodding. “Yes, Dr. Miles said there are all kinds of games a helper and Santa might play.”

I was very grateful for Dr. Miles, but sometimes I thought they must have the strangest conversations.

I’d never say that out loud, though.

“I agree. And we just have to figure out which ones we like.” Kissing his head, I shrugged again. “Like we have to figure out which breakfasts make you feel like a sweet helper. You seemed to think Mickey Mouse pancakes would do that.”

My teasing tone got a snicker from him and his hiding turned sweeter and sillier and less stressed. “Only helpers get pancakes like that.”

Silly Santa.

“But we don’t know that until we try.” Doing my best to sound slightly skeptical, I sighed. “I think we’re just going to have to see what happens.”

As he giggled again, I aimed for a scientific Santa kind of tone. “You’ll help me figure that out, right?”

Barely holding back another round of laughter, Stirling nodded. “I’m Santa’s helper.”

“You’re Santa’s wonderful helper.” Kissing his head one more time, I ignored the mess we were making and rolled us over again until he was curled up on my chest. “Santa’s adorable brat.”

That got a pleased grin and a happy wiggle. “And Santa’s naughty helper.”

“The best helper ever.” Kissing his nose, I ran my hand over his head and smiled as he fully embraced his helper side. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, Santa.” Snuggling closer, he kissed my cheek before resting his head on my chest. “You’re the best Santa ever.”

Only because I had the best helper ever.

Epilogue

Christmas Morning

Stirling

“Santa. Santa.” I had to bounce on the bed because I’d gotten bouncy toys. “Santa. You gotta see.”

Santa groaned and tried to hide under the pillows. “No… it can’t be morning yet.”

Silly Santa.

“Yes. The sun is up. I didn’t wiggle until the sun was up. I remembered the rules.” Santa had been very serious that there was no wiggling or getting out of bed until the sun was up.

He’d said no Mickey pancakes if I was a pain in the butt.

He’d said naughty words, though, so I knew he was big Santa serious.

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