Page 137 of Santa Daddies
I gave her a hug and put on my coat before heading home. It was nearly noon, which meant we could share lunch together and then I would have the rest of the day to deal with my naughty Little elf.
And deal with her, I must. The fate of Christmas depended on it.
Crystal
I was equal parts nervous and relieved when my Santa Daddy came in the front door before lunchtime. I’d spent the morning fretting while trying to keep my outward composure in check so as not to tip off Trixie that something was amiss. It wasn’t too difficult as long as I kept her busy. And I’d done that with great success as was evident by the fact that my countertops were covered with six different types of holiday cookies from all over the world. People called the United States a melting pot of people, but the North Pole—positioned at the exact top of the globe—truly was. It was the point where all cultures came together. That was honestly one of my favorite parts of living there.
Yule entered the kitchen wordlessly, his gaze darting over the cookie-covered counters.
“Santa! Home for lunch? I was just about to whip up some sandwiches.”
“Thank you, Trixie, but no thank you. I actually took the rest of the day off to spend some time with my wife. Why don’t you go ahead and take the rest of the day off as well and grab yourself something for lunch on the way home, my treat.”
When he said the words ‘my wife’, his gaze came to me and locked on. My tummy danced with nerves and possibly a little excitement.
“Oh! That sounds lovely. Thank you, sir.” Trixie took off her flour-spattered apron and hung it up as she spoke.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for all your hard work. You’re much appreciated.” He kept his eyes trained on me as he responded. I tried to open my mind to hear if he was passing any thoughts to me, but he wasn't. It was nothing but dead air. Something about that made the entire situation even more nerve wracking.
“Always my pleasure, Santa. I’ll see you tomorrow, Crystal, and we can make that Baklava we talked about.”
At the sound of my name, I startled and completely lost track of my words.
“Umm, yeah. Baklava. Right. Sounds great. See you tomorrow.” I fumbled through the goodbyes.
And just like that, my husband and I were alone. He kept his attention trained on me as he took off his coat and boots.
“How was your morning?” he asked.
I turned away from his knowing gaze so he couldn’t see my face when I outright lied to him. “Uneventful.” I shrugged for good measure. “Do you want me to make you a turkey sandwich? That’s what Trixie and I had planned to have. I kinda have a taste for pizza though. Like pizza I used to get back in New York from that little corner place.”
I jabbered nervously as I pulled sandwich fixings out of the refrigerator.
“Pizza sounds good,” Yule said from right behind me.
I turned to see him holding a box from the exact restaurant I’d been referring to. Instantly I could smell the yummy goodness wafting from the box.
“Jingle balls! That smells like heaven.” I reached for the box but he pulled it away.
“I’m not sure you deserve pizza, though. You’ve been pretty naughty.”
He raised a brow and my insides melted.
It was impossible to know how much he knew. He obviously had to have realized by now that I was on the naughty list. That had to be why he was home so early. But I couldn’t let him know I knew. It would ruin everything.
“No naughtier than usual.” I lied again and tried to reach for the box.
He moved it further out of reach and grabbed my wrist. “Lying to Daddy is very naughty, little girl.”
We stared at each other in silence for a minute. Him trying to get in my head and me trying not to give anything away. It was pretty tense.
“Daddy, I’m hungry,” I finally forced out. “If you’re not gonna let me have pizza, can I at least make a sandwich, please?”
That got his attention.
“I wouldn’t taunt you with food, but I need you to hear what I am about to say. I know you have been naughty this morning and that you’re lying and keeping things from me. After lunch we are going to have a nice long chat about all of those things and it is not going to be a fun chat. Do you understand me?”
I nibbled the side of my lip. “Yes, Daddy.”
