Chapter 4 #2
“That’s what she said.” I say, and the table loses it. Everyone’s laughing, but anger swirls in my gut at her comment about her ex. Why does that bother me? Am I jealous?
Once they regain their composure, I ask, “What else do The Santa Rules cover?”
“Was that not enough? We invented a set of rules to keep the magic of Santa alive. That’s no small feat,” Raven says matter-of-factly.
I hold up my hands in defeat. “You’re right. This is awesome. Thank you.”
“Ooh, a man who not only can easily admit when he’s wrong, but says those magic words. Lock him down, Bella,” Summer says as she jokingly fans herself, and my eyes flick to Bella’s. Has she been talking about me to her friends? Is she into me? From how red her face is, I’m going to say yes.
Lucy leans in, pulling the focus off her friend. “Do you have a brother as handsome as you?”
“Sorry, just a sister.”
The music shifts in the bar, the upbeat pop replaced with the opening notes of “Santa Baby” as Bella groans, downing the rest of her cider.
“Here it comes,” Raven says.
“Gird your loins,” Summer agrees.
I look around in confusion.
“I hate this song!” Bella exclaims.
“What’s wrong with this song? I thought you loved all things Christmas?” I ask.
“I’m down for a little sexy Santa.” Lucy waggles her eyebrows.
Bella lets out a sigh, her shoulders slowly relaxing. “A sexy Santa can get it. I’m all for a sexy bearded man who lets me sit on his lap.”
My dick twitches at her words, and images of her bouncing on my lap flood my brain.
Me thrusting up into her while she grinds her clit against me, her tits jiggling with every thrust. I blink several times, clearing the thought and looking at her, but she refuses to make eye contact with me as she continues.
“That’s not the part that bothers me. It’s the way the woman focuses on what Santa can do for her.
I’m fine with an older man lavishing gifts on his woman.
And if the song wasn’t about Santa, I’d have no problem with it.
It’s the way it focuses on me, me, me. Give me this, buy me that.
I deserve this, I want that. It is the antithesis of the spirit of Christmas.
It focuses on what she gets and not the spirit of giving. ”
“Holy shit, you’re totally right.” Suddenly I feel like I know this woman on a deeper level, and I can’t explain it.
She’s just talking about a song she hates, but the way she’s describing it is so much more.
Bella is thoughtful and cares deeply about others, and I want to know everything I can about her.
“Speaking of songs,” Summer says, breaking the spell. “Circling back to The Santa Rules, you can also use them to explain the creepy parts of that Santa song.”
“Which one? There are a lot of songs that mention him.” I throw back the rest of my beer.
“I can never remember the name of it, but you know the one about watching you when you’re sleeping and awake, knowing if you’re good or bad.”
“Ah.” I nod along as Summer continues.
“Kids grow up thinking Santa is some all-seeing omniscient presence in their lives. One year my kid decided he thought Santa was fake because how could he watch everyone all the time? Since we opted out of the elf, I told him the parents watch their kids and report back to Santa on the app, and that’s how he decides who’s good or naughty. ”
“That’s genius. Wait, there’s an app?” I ask.
Bella shakes her head. “There’s not, we just tell the kids there is, but wouldn’t it be cool if there was?
It could list out all the tiers, and you could customize it so whatever you told your kid, it would show it in the app like the official tier.
Kids could write letters to Santa directly in the app to save paper. ”
“Or they could do that if those mall Santas creep them out,” Raven adds.
“Exactly!” Bella continues. “We could have a photo section with frames where you could add Santa to your pics. Have a map to link to certain charities, food kitchens, donation centers, Toys for Tots, and angel trees. Ooh, and links to cookie recipes, or online cookie contests directly in the app!”
“Of course, we would have to have a parent section with a passcode, so you could go in and change anything you wanted to, and your kid couldn’t peek behind the curtain and have the magic ruined,” Raven adds. I get the sense she is the most practical of the group.
“And a Santa tracker!” Lucy adds.
“Ooh, and a message board where parents can share all their elf ideas!” Summer says.
“You know some of these apps already exist, right? Like the photo one and the NORAD tracker,” I say.
Their faces fall. Shit, I’m ruining another Christmas.
Bella places a hand on my arm. “Okay, Mr. Grinch. But in our app, they could all be in one place!”
Her optimism is infectious as the women continue bouncing around ideas.
I let them speak for several minutes, not wanting to interrupt or bring down the vibe with my pessimism.
I’m struck by Bella’s spirit, how tenacious she is.
I don’t see her as the hot mess that she thinks she is; in fact, making her flustered seems to get me hard, just like that moment in the ambulance when I called her a good girl.
She’s exactly what I need to help fix my Christmas problem. I’m not clueless—I know I could google shit and figure it out on my own, but the stakes to get this right for Avery feel unbearably high. And Bella seems to love the holiday.
I need to figure out a way to spend more time with her, to pick her brain about everything Christmas, to see what she can get Avery to tell her.
I want my little girl to believe again; I want some part of her childhood to feel normal, but if I ask her to tell me everything and then I do it, she’ll know it’s me and not Santa making it happen.
It’s obvious I need help, someone to coach me through it, and listening to Bella share all the hoops she jumped through to make things special for her son post-divorce has convinced me that she’s the perfect person for the job.
Once there’s a lull in the conversation, I look around the group. “So, what I’m gathering is, pretty much anything you think of can become a Santa rule.”
Bella’s face lights up. “Now you get it!”