"Sophia, do you want to go shopping with Daddy?" Owen knelt down next to his daughter as she played with her doll in the family room.
Sophia tilted her head to study him, her gray eyes, so much his eyes as he studied her in return, were wide as she looked at him. "Shop mama?"
"Yes, love. We'll go to the mall to find a Christmas present for Mama."
"See Santa?" Sophia asked as she vibrated slightly with growing excitement.
Owen chuckled. His daughter was absolutely convinced that Santa was her best friend and loved any time she could visit him at the mall. And truthfully, she'd already been to visit Santa with Nana Erica and Papa Ben. But given that apparently her Auntie Jess had screamed her head off for the first three years of her life when confronted with Santa, everyone in the family found Sophia's dedication to her bestie to be amusing and they loved to take her to see him.
The tears were hard enough to handle come January when Santa wasn't at the mall anymore.
"Sure, we can fit a visit with Santa in. Did you want to change your dress?"
"No Daddy. Go see Santa now, pease." She put her doll down and used her hands to push herself up to a standing position. "Sophia ready. Go now." She nodded, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.
"Coat first, then we'll go." Owen reminded her as he also stood up.
"Okay, Daddy." Sophia scampered off to where her coat was. At two and a half, she'd started to be more independent and Owen loved watching the changes that happened when babies started to become more indicative of the humans that they would grow up to be.
"Heading out?" Sean asked, leaning casually on the doorway as Owen grabbed his own coat, they were both watching Sophia pull on a coat, making sure that she picked the right coat for the slightly colder December weather they were having right now.
"Yes, last minute shopping for the win." Owen smiled.
"I'm not sure it's considered last minute when it's December 17th but given your usual shopping habits, yes, you're late and it's very last minute." Sean said, a slight smirk on his face.
"Later than I meant to be with finding something."
"We shop for mama." Sophia informed Sean. "Sophia see Santa bestie. Get candy." Her eyes lit up as she nodded.
"Really. Such a good friend that Santa guy is." Sean bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Santa bestie. Sophia love Santa." She said, solemnly.
Sean zipped her coat and put a stocking cap on her head, making the curls that floated around her face bunch up as they were tamed slightly by the hat. "Have fun with Daddy." He said.
"Okay." She looked up at Owen. "Daddy go see Santa now, kay?"
"Of course." Owen smiled, wrapping a scarf around his neck before he picked her up, cuddling her close as they walked out the front door, heading to the car. Sophia leaned over his shoulder, her eyes still watching Sean as Owen walked and she waved at him until Owen put her in her car seat.
Owen was pleased when he was able to find parking easily at the mall. It was practically unheard uf at this time of the month. Then again, it was a Thursday, not on the weekend so it made sense. "Ready to shop?" he asked his toddler shopping partner.
"Yay!" Sophia squealed as he pulled her out of the car seat. "An' see Santa, Daddy. No forget see Santa."
"And of course, see Santa. That's most important, hmm?" He smiled at her. "Should we see Santa first or after we shop?"
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Christmas Time Is Here: Academy Exclusives
फैनफिक्शनFan fiction based on CL Stone's Academy series. These stories will be a Christmas anthology of sorts... head canon that has been unexplained in the books so far. Christmas songs woven into story. I own nothing you might recognize. :)
