chapter 33
[Jude]
Angelica volunteers for The Giving Tree, so I carve out an hour to attend the children’s hospital gift-giving event to surprise her.
Who surprises me is Ed Marksman. I’d forgotten again how the Marksmans were involved in the charity.
“Jude,” the Ashford’s board member addresses me with shock as I enter the toy collection room where Ed is dressed like Santa Claus.
With the call of my name, Angelica turns from whatever she’s doing and stares at me with equal surprise. She sets down the wrapped gift in her hand and approaches, walking right into me for a hug, which I return. Hugging her has become easier and easier.
“What are you doing here?” she questions, pulling back while giving me a large grin.
“I thought I’d surprise you. And help.” I glance up as Ed’s brows pinch.
With my arm around Angelica, I say, “Put me to work.” I’m strangely excited to be here today but equally anxious. I’m not great around kids, which was proven by calling Santa a lie and making Angelica’s four-year-old nephew question the man in red.
Still, I want to give volunteering another try. I hadn’t done enough during Angelica’s breakfast with Santa.
“Okay. We’ve sorted the presents into categories. Ed is our Santa.” Angelica smiles at him. “The rest of us just need to get into our elf costumes.”
“What?” I snap.
“Santa needs helpers.” Angelica pats my chest, then steps over to a closet and removes several hangers with elf costumes stored in clear dry-cleaning bags.
“You might need to mix and match to find the right combination for you.”
Combination? Combination of what?
Quickly, I learn the getup includes tights beneath a short dress-like outfit with a belt around the waist and a felt hat.
I look like Will Ferrel in Elf but feel like Jim Carey in The Grinch. I look ridiculous and feel even sillier, but Angelica continues to beam at me.
“You might be the sexiest elf I’ve ever seen.”
Well, fuck.
And she’s the sexiest elf I’ve ever seen. Who knew a pink, felt dress with candy cane striped stockings and an elf cap could be such a turn on? Some role-playing might be in our future.
Taking the stack of presents Angelica hands me, I follow her as she follows Santa Ed. We enter room after room where Ed or Angelica know each child by name, like they actually work for the North Pole.
I’d only allotted an hour, but ninety minutes in, I don’t have the heart to leave. These kids are incredible. So small in such big hospital beds, and yet happiness is bigger than the entire building. The smiles on their faces are miles wide, and their laughter is nearly contagious.
On top of it all is watching Angelica interact with them. She’s so good, taking a few minutes to chat or tease a child. Offering a hug where it’s permissible or blowing a kiss like she’s an elf queen where it’s not. The kids adore her.
I adore her.
And I’m grateful I’ve stayed when the last hospital room becomes a challenge.
The girl sitting up in the hospital bed stares suspiciously at Ed.
From the expression on her face, it’s evident she doesn’t believe Ed is Santa.
Her blue eyes are almost too wide, and her cheeks are rosy.
She doesn’t have a single strand of hair on her head.
She looks rather young, and a nurse is present but not a parent.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Ed begins, but the girl crosses her arms and falls back against the raised bed.
“Save it, Santa.”
“Oh, ho, ho,” Ed chuckles. “Don’t tell me we have a little grinch on our hands?”
“I’m not a grinch,” she counters, but with her arms crossed and a pout prevalent, she’s definitely looking like a familiar green character.
I glance at the nurse, who stands close to the side of the bed. “Lulu, you promised. No sass today.”
“And Mommy promised she’d be here, but she isn’t.” The little girl doesn’t bat an eye as she makes her argument, but her lower lip trembles.
The entire point of The Giving Tree is to provide a gift for a child who is hospital-bound, but a hospital-bound child without a parent is a whole other level of heartache. And I don’t expect the pinch in my chest. The one relating to this lonely girl.
“What’s with the lip, sassy pants?” I tease.
“Jude,” Ed admonishes while Angelica gasps.
“Your name is Jude. What kind of name is Jude for an elf?”
“A cool name for the coolest elf in all of North Pole land.” The statement is stilted, making me sound uncool, but the comment does the trick.
“Sounds dumb.”
“You’re dumb,” I counter.
“Jude,” Angelica shrieks.
But I see the twitch. The way the corner of Lulu’s lip starts to curl. Arguing with a child is a skill; fighting with a sibling is an art, and from somewhere in my brain, a disagreement with Julia comes forward. One where only those you really care about can get away with calling you a name.
“Your pants are sassy,” I comment, keeping my eyes on the young girl.
“Your name isn’t classy.”
“Good one.” I step forward and hold out my fist. To my surprise, she bumps mine with her rounded knuckles.
“I take back what I said. You’re rather smart.”
“And you smell like fart.”
“Lulu,” the nurse scolds, but Lulu breaks into a fit of giggles.
“Alright, girl with the sass in her pants, are you going to take this present or what?” I hold out the last gift, which Ed was supposed to pass to the child.
When she reaches forward, I tug it back, teasing her once more.
She laughs again, and I press the present toward her one more time. This time, I let her take it from my hands.
“Well, open it.” I urge, glancing at my watch like I haven’t got all day.
Hesitantly, she asks, “What is it?”
“That’s classified information, miss. You’ll need to open the gift and find out for yourself, should you choose to accept the mission.”
She stares at me like I’ve lost her, and I don’t care as long as she keeps smiling. She takes her time to open the present, like she’s savoring every pluck of tape and rip of paper until finally the toy is exposed.
In her hands, she holds a doll that looks just like her only with long blonde hair and a pink bow tied on top of her head.
“How did you know?” she glances up at me, her lower lip quivering again.
I hitch my thumb toward Ed. “Wasn’t me. It was all him.”
Ed really has been remarkable today, and I’m certain my little stunt of calling a sick child dumb will get me cancelled. But seeing the joy on Lulu’s face as I help her unwrap the doll from the packaging is worth every second of this experience.
“Alright, Lulu,” I begin. “This elf is out of here.”
I hold up my hand for a high five, but Lulu shifts among the cords attached to her beneath a nightgown. She holds out her arms, and I glance at the nurse.
With a subtle nod of permission from her, I awkwardly embrace little Lulu.
“Merry Christmas, baby girl,” I murmur, recalling what Tucker sometimes called Julia as a child.
“Merry Christmas, big elf.”
Releasing her, I catch Angelica watching me. The tears welling in her eyes clash with her soggy smile.
This moment was worth a mountain of presents.