Chapter 9
DANIEL
N ot only was Prairie beautiful, she was incredibly kindhearted, and a very good sport to jump in and help me out.
Volunteers had sorted and organized the first round of gifts to match up with the first dozen families in line, and the kids were starting to get restless.
I stuck my head into the other room to see Prairie walking toward me looking like the sexiest Mrs. Claus I had ever seen. “You’re perfect,” I said, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead so that I wouldn’t ruin her lipstick.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she laughed.
“I really appreciate it. You’re going to be great. I hand out the right gift to the right kid, you hand out candy canes to everyone. Simple.”
Prairie’s sweet smile nearly caused my heart to overload. Leaning down, I whispered, “I already have enormous feelings for you, gorgeous. But watching the way you jump into new adventures…I have to say, it’s a huge turn on.”
Her eyes twinkled behind the little gold glasses, as she gave my arm a tiny smack. “Santa, behave yourself,” she said. “We’re working right now.” I loved that her sass came out even more now that she was in costume.
Taking her hand, we walked to the end of the hall, where Mrs. Langston held the door for us, calling out, “Kids, look who just arrived!”
Although I’d been to this event many times over the years, and heard the thunderous applause that always greeted Santa’s arrival, it was much different when it was directed at me. It felt amazing.
Prairie squeezed my hand, grinning widely as we walked over to our huge decorated chairs, waving to the kids who were all beside themselves with excitement.
Even after we sat down, the noise was wild. Then Prairie held up her hands to silence them. “Hey kids, let’s take it easy on Santa’s ears. Donner and Blitzen had the tunes cranked all the way here, so he needs a break.”
The kids giggled, and the parents howled with laughter.
The volunteers ushered each family toward us, so that I simply had to look at the table beside me for the next pile of gifts. The boxes were all clearly labeled so I could greet the children by name.
It was slow going, since most families wanted to take a few photos of their child either on my knee, or standing between Prairie and me.
Then one tiny toddler came toward me and frowned, her bottom lip trembling. “Hi there, Katrina,” Prairie said gently. “Do you want to come sit on my knee instead of Santa’s?”
The little girl nodded, jumping into her arms. Prairie leaned in to whisper, “Santa is kind of a big guy, isn’t he?”
Katrina nodded, eying me suspiciously.
“Plus he has that big beard that hides half of his face, doesn’t he?” The toddler nodded again. “Can Santa hand you a present while you’re sitting here with me? Would that be nice?”
“Yes please.”
I handed her a gift while her mother took photos, and Prairie listened to a detailed explanation of Katrina’s Christmas wishes. Watching her holding the small child did something to me I couldn’t explain. I’d never had a deep craving to have children before. Now, I knew that it was inevitable.
“Princess dolls really are the best,” Prairie told the toddler, who was now smiling brightly. “I bet Santa knows that.”
Katrina handed the box to her mother, and accepted a candy cane and a pat on the head before running off.
“Damn, I hope that box was a princess doll,” I muttered to Prairie.
“I’m pretty sure it was — I recognized the wrapping paper and gold bow from the pile last night. I was taking notes of some of the colors and patterns for painting ideas.”
I stared at her in amazement while she laughed. Then she snapped her fingers. “Pay attention, Santa. Todd and Gene would like to speak with you.”
As I waved the two brothers toward me, Prairie rolled her eyes. “You’ll have to forgive him, boys. He’s been living on cookies for the past few days, so I think he’s gone a little…” She tapped her temple then spun her finger around. “Wacky on the sugar.”
The kids cracked up, then told me excitedly about what they wanted for Christmas. Mainly they were excited that they got to go to their grandma’s for a big dinner and to pet the horses.
For the rest of the afternoon, I handed out presents while Prairie handed out a healthy dose of sass, mainly at my expense.
When Mrs. Claus complained that Santa didn’t help around the house enough, and that she was pretty sure I was afraid of the laundry room, I honestly thought that little old Mrs. Asher was going to hurt herself from laughing so hard.
In short, Mrs. Claus was as much a hit with the kids as Prairie was with the adults. My heart was full to bursting.
After all of the families had left, Mrs. McHolm pulled the two of us toward the Christmas tree. “We need a picture of you two for the town records.”
I slipped an arm around Prairie, and we grinned for the camera. Then Mrs. McHolm gave us a wink. “Since you’re a real couple, I bet you can do a bit better than that.”
Swinging Prairie up into my arms, I held her against my fake belly and gave her a kiss. The ladies cheered, then I set Mrs. Claus back on her feet.
Prairie’s hand landed on my chest as she stared up at me in shock. “You can’t lift me like that!”
“Sorry – I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s not that.” She frowned. “I mean, you could hurt yourself.”
Wrapping an arm around her back, I breathed into her ear. “Gorgeous, please, look at the size of me. I could lift you while you were holding two suitcases full of bricks.”
She laughed, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Just be careful,” she whispered. “I’m a lot bigger than most girls.”
I started to protest, but she dashed away. The volunteers snapped into cleanup mode, while we went into the back rooms to change. Thank goodness Prairie had thought to bring another dress, so that we could slip out the back door unnoticed.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to better prepare you for this, but they were busy sticking my beard on,” I said, once we had both transformed back into ourselves.
“I understand,” she said. “When things happen last minute, you just have to roll with it.”
“It’s also why I didn’t have a chance before now to ask you to my family’s Christmas dinner tonight. Will you come?”
Her lips fell open, then snapped shut again. “Yes, but I’m completely unprepared. I don’t have a hostess gift, and I’m not dressed for it. Are we going right now?”
“I had thought so, yes, but don’t worry. If anything, you’re overdressed. It’s very casual. Quiet. Usually it’s just immediate family, but Mom wants you there. Unless you have plans, of course.”
“My family's big meal is always lunch on Christmas Day,” Prairie said. “But let me call them for a second to make sure.”
“Sure.”
As she grabbed her phone and went to stand on the far side of the room, Mrs. Gastel offered her a paper plate of food. “We meant to feed you beforehand, honey, but everything was such a last minute rush. You must be starving.”
“Thank you.” Prairie took the plate and went out to the other room for a bit of privacy while she made her call.
A second plate was pressed into my own hand, and I ate while the ladies all told me what a wonderful job we did.
Prairie returned in a few minutes with a bright smile, setting her plate aside with only half of it gone.
“Not hungry?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I tend to just nibble when I’m running around and talking a lot.”
I didn’t like how her eyes looked a bit strained as she said that, but didn’t know how to dig any deeper. Maybe she was a picky eater and didn’t want to seem fussy. I hoped that this strangely speedy dating process wasn’t causing her stress.
Even though I positively adored her, and wanted to know every single detail about her, I could understand a young lady wanting to take her time.
To me, everything felt perfect. But we still didn’t know each other very well yet.
I had to hope that starting to date during an incredibly busy and social time of year didn’t put any undue pressure on our fledgling relationship. I would never forgive myself if I accidentally scared my beautiful girl away just as I was in the process of falling head over heels in love with her.
A dark thought snuck into the back of my mind. Prairie was a young, vibrant, creative girl. What if she was unsure about ending up with an older man who wasn’t exactly the life of the party?
I’d have to make sure that I was good enough for her.