Page 3 of A Candy Cane Christmas
Turning on my heel, I caught the impossibly large blue eyes of my upstairs neighbor’s daughter. I’d met her in the hallway a couple of times, but I’d never actually talked to her. Nor had I ever seen her so utterly shocked. Hell, her bottom lip was wobbling.
“You… You’re gonna be alone on Christmas?” she asked in a thin voice, clutching her father’s hand like her life depended on it.
“Yes, but it’s okay, sweetheart. See, I actually like watching…”
“But you’re an elf. You’re Santa’s helper. Your being alone is just… wrong. Daddy, it’s wrong, isn’t it?”
Her father looked at me with equally large eyes. “Uhm, sweetie, I think if Mr. Elf wants to celebrate alo—”
“But you said Christmas is for coming together. You can’t do that if you’re alone.” She shook her head and sent her long, dark brown ponytail swishing through the air. Pursing her lips, she cocked her head and leveled me with a look that left me feeling weirdly naked. The next moment, her whole face lit up, and she started jumping up and down. “Oh, I know it, Daddy. I know the s..so…slution. I know it. Mr. Elf, you can celebrate Christmas with us.”
“What?” her father exclaimed.
I’m glad he reacted that way because I was stunned speechless, gaping at the tiny little girl wearing the biggest grin on her face.
“It’s perfect, Daddy,” she said.
“And why is that?” he asked, his voice a mix of fond exasperation laced with a hint of defeat.
“Because Grandma and Grandpa are visiting Uncle Calvin this year. It’s just us, so we have space to invite Mr. Elf over.” She turned back to level me with a serious look. “You’re invited tocelebrate Christmas with us, Mr. Elf. We don’t have pizza, but we always watch a Christmas movie in our jammies. Daddy says it was Mom’s favorite. You can watch it with us if you want to. And maybe Daddy can order pizza. I never had pizza on Christmas. Daddy, tell Mr. Elf that he is invited.”
Usually, I was good with kids. Hell, I was playing one of Santa’s elves for the better part of December. I knew how to handle shy children; I knew how to handle nervous kids; I knew how to handle bratty children, but I had absolutely no idea how to handle a kid inviting me to celebrate Christmas with her and her cute-as-fuck dad.
“You don’t have to…” the dad in question stuttered, the sentence trailing off, making way for an awkward silence that began filling the air around us.
“But we’d love to have you, Mr. Elf,” the little girl said, nodding her head, face filled with glee and conviction.
“Well, if you’re sure… I’d love to come.”
That was so not what I’d meant to say. Hell, I’d wanted to politely decline, but somehow the wrong words had slipped past my lips.
“Yes!” the girl cheered, giving her dad a triumphant look. “Daddy, we’re celebrating Christmas with a real elf! I just know that meanie Bobby will be so jealous.”
Giving his daughter a shaky smile, the dad’s eyes searched for mine. “That’s great, sweetie. That’s… great.”
“Luci, are you still there?” I heard my brother’s voice in my ear. I turned around, facing the door while trying to get my mind back online, so I could answer my brother without mixing up conversations. Fuck my life. Occasionally, I hated my brain.
“What? Yeah, yeah, I’m still there. Listen, I’ll call you back in a minute, okay?”
I needed to get this resolved first. My neighbor hadn’t looked happy about the invitation at all. I couldn’t blame the guy. We were strangers who just happened to live in the same building. Strangers who knew nothing about each other and didn’t talk to each other aside from the occasional greeting in the stairwell.
But when I turned back around to talk to my neighbor and figure out a way to get this whole Christmas situation resolved, they were already half a floor up the stairs, disappearing around the corner.
Fuck.
Okay.
I’d find a way to talk to… hell, I didn’t even know the guy’s name!
Forum Post
How do I teach my daughter about ‘stranger danger’ if the stranger in question is literally one of Santa’s elves?
Hi everyone,
So my (21m) daughter (4f) overheard my downstairs neighbor (I have no clue how old he is, but he is male) talking about spending Christmas all alone while he was wearing an Elf costume. Think Mall Elf/Elf in Santa’s Village.
Needless to say, my kiddo was shocked and invited him to celebrate Christmas with us.
