Page 92 of Santa Daddies
“Oh, Daddy, you really are Santa,” I said, feeling my eyes well as I hugged his neck.
“Hey, I’m not about to let you be the only Santa,” Uncle Leo said. “I’ll split the expenses.”
“I will too,” Grant said at the same time Stu did.
“And with a fifth Santa, the expenses are minimal enough that I doubt they will even affect this year’s party budget,” Phillip said.
“Count me in. After all, the North Pole would be a total mess if there weren’t a Mrs. Claus in there directing things,” Aunt Tildy noted with authority. “In fact, if my calculations are correct, I believe with the sale of peppermint pigs, we could even throw in a few game booths for the Littles to enjoy during the party.”
While the Daddies all declaring they wanted to play Santa too had my Little friends cheering, hearing our own personal Mrs. Claus declaring there might be booths had their screams of joy threatening to raise the roof off our house.
“Wow, I knew I was blessed, but y’all are just the bestest friends ever!” I announced, going from Uncle to Uncle and then to my honorary Aunt and hugging them all.
As our guests prepared to leave, Henry held out a hand, palm out as if to ward me off. “Don’t even think about it!”
“Why? What did I do that was so awful that you don’t want a hug goodbye?” I asked, completely perplexed and a bit offended.
“Oh. Yeah, you can hug me,” he said as if totally oblivious to the fact he’d hurt my feelings.
“Henry, give that a bit more thought, please,” Uncle Grant said, causing Henry to look over at his Daddy. “That was a little rude, don’t you agree?”
“Rude?” Henry looked back at me. “I didn’t mean to be rude, I just meant I’m not giving my piggies back! And you wouldn’t want them anyway. I licked all their hooves just in case.”
Detective Henry had obviously left the building and Little Henry had taken his place. I loved them both equally. “Don’t be silly, they are party favors to thank you for coming and for being my friend.”
“Oh.” Now he sounded sad.
“It’s okay.” I hugged him hard then stepped back. “But seriously, you licked them? All of them?”
“Yep! I wanted to be thorough.”
Of course he did. I gave an exaggerated full-body shudder. “Ewweee.”
He grinned. “You sounded just like a piggie.”
I giggled and hugged him again. “You’re silly, but I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Grant smiled and helped Henry into his coat, trying not to laugh when his Little had to do a bit of maneuvering to transfer all his piglets in their bags from one hand to the other without dropping any.
Daddy and I stood on the porch waving until the last of the taillights disappeared around the corner. When I sighed, Daddy reached down and scooped me up. I smiled and wrapped my legs around his middle.
“Push that and you’re toast,” he growled when I leaned over to press the doorbell.
“You’re no fun. It’s Christmas!”
“You’re right. In that case, if you want to see how high a note you can reach while I swat your butt to the beat of the longest carol on that box, go ahead and press away.”
I snatched my hand back. “Nope, I think I’m good.”
“Thought so.” He chuckled as he carried me inside. I flipped off the porch light instead and he locked the front door.
I reached up to pat his cheek. “I’m sorry, Daddy, but even though you don’t need to make up any silly list now, you’re still my favorite Santa Daddy.”
He looked down at me. “First of all, I better be youronlySanta Daddy, and second, though I commend you on all you’ve done tonight to cover your costs, that list is not only going to happen, it’s already been started.”
I gaped up at him. “What? When? How? I mean, why?”
