Page 29 of The Snuggle is Real
Tony and I joined in.
“Eddie committed to that performance, huh? Hard to believe it was just storytime and not theater.”
Tony chuckled. “This is Christmas Falls. It’s always gotta be extra.”
“Sometimes I wish it was less extra, but Charlie’s loving it.”
“There’s nothing like experiencing the holidays with kids,” Tony said. “They bring a whole new level of joy to it.”
His eight-year-old son ran up. “Can we get one of those stuffed dogs?”
“Nah, Carlos. Maybe for Christmas.”
“Aw, Dad. C’mon!”
His sister, Cynthia, joined him. “I don’t want to wait that long! There’s a cute little Grinch. What about that?”
“Please?” the youngest, Alex, begged. “Pretty please?”
Tony waved them all off. “Wrong number, who dis? You better go call your buddy, Santa.”
They stomped away, grumbling.
“That looked real fun,” I said with a smirk.
“Yeah, they’re full of joy and a real pain in my ass too. But what can you do but love them?”
Wasn’t that the truth?
Charlie came up with her hands and lips stained green. “Oy, you look like the Grinch!”
She laughed. “I know, and this is my Grinch dog!” She waggled the stuffed animal that Tony’s kids had begged for. “Can I have it?”
“I don’t know, Charlie. Maybe we should wait for Christmas…”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
“I’ll get it for her,” Nick offered.
Damn it. I thought he’d left.
“That’s all right. I got it.”
“Ford, I didn’t mean— It could be an early Christmas gift maybe? I’ve missed a few of them, so it seems only fair.”
“Thanks, but I said I got it,” I said gruffly. “C’mon, Charlie, let’s go check out.”
“It’s okay if we can’t get it,” Charlie said in a small voice. “I don’t mind.”
Damn. She’d picked up on my tone with Nick. I knew he intended well, but I didn’t want him swooping in to rescue me.
I hooked an arm around her waist and lifted her onto my hip. “Are you kidding? You can’t be a proper grinch when you don’t have a grinch’s dog, can you?”
“No,” she said with a giggle.
“Without that dog, you look like a Cindy Lou.”
“Nooo!”
