Christmas Time Is Here: Academy Exclusives

Christmas Magic

Jessica watched him.

He was new.

Well, new to Christmas at the Lee's, as the other boys called it. She sat still in her little perch in the corner where the couch met the arm of the couch and watched him. She'd known he was around when Owen got her out of the pantry a little bit ago but she'd been scared and had clung to Owen like a spider monkey.

"Hi princess."

Her heart stopped. He talked to her and she stared at him some more. "Hi." She whispered shyly, biting her lower lip as she clung to the doll she'd gotten for her birthday.

"What's your favorite part about Christmas?"

She ducked her head, tilting it slightly to look at him. "cookies." She admitted shyly.

"I like cookies too but I like apple pie the best."

"Mama made apple pie." She blurted.

"Did she? That's great." He shifted closer to her, leaning down to be close enough to whisper. "Do you like presents?" he asked seriously.

Jessica giggled. "Yes." She said. His eyes lit up. "The best presents come from Luke's uncle." She told him.

"Is that so?"

She nodded. "He buys really nice ones." She bit her lip for a moment. "Like Santa told him what we wanted." Her eyes widened as she watched him.

"Oh, those are really special presents then if he has an in with the big guy." He held out a hand. "I'm Sean. You must be Jessica."

She nodded before putting her hand in his. "Nice to meet you." She gave him a smile and shook his hand.

He gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. "How old are you, Jessica?"

"I'm six. I'll be seven next year."

He smiled. "Six is a good age for Christmas."

"it is?"

He nodded, eyes on hers as he reached out and something tickled her ear. "Of course." He said, pulling his hand down and showing her the origami crane sitting in his hand. "You have magic ears. Look at what was hiding in yours." He said.

Her eyes widened. "No way..." she breathed, her free hand going up to touch her ear as if there was another one hiding somewhere.

He chuckled and used his other hand to touch her other ear, bringing it around to show her a paper rose. "You are really magical." He said. "It's rare to find one paper item in one ear, let alone two different items in both ears." He put them both into her hand.

"So cool." She whispered, holding them gently. She looked up at him and gave him a brilliant smile. "Thank you, Sean." She said.

He grinned back at her. "You're welcome." He looked up when Owen walked in. "You've met Owen, of course." He said to Jessica.

Her eyes lit up even more as she glanced up at Owen. "Yes. Hi, Owen. Look at what Sean found in my ears!"

Owen smiled and his gaze flashed to Sean's for a moment, studying his best friend before he looked back at Jessica. "Wow, you really have magical ears." He said as she got up on her knees and moved away from the couch end to situate herself between them, choosing her spot for the day once they started to open presents.

"That's what Sean said too." She said as Owen sat down on the other side of her. "He said it's part of being six for Christmas."

Owen smiled. "It sure is, Sweetie." He said, pushing the arms of his sweater up as he settled into the couch.

She pulled her doll closer with the hand that wasn't holding the origami gifts from Sean. She looked at them again. "So, they'll never be in my ears again?" she looked up at Sean.

He raised a shoulder in a one-sided shrug. "Those? No. You might still have something hiding in your ears next Christmas." He smiled at her. "But they won't be a rose and a crane again and maybe only one. You'll want to make sure you stay on the nice list to see if your ears produce any more paper." He reached out and beeped her on the nose.

Jessica giggled and nodded. "Okay, I'll be good." She said, happily sitting between them as the boys came into the living room. They'd been out in the yard, playing with Max and happily greeted Sean and Owen before finding seats on the floor, waiting for Erica to come in with the hot chocolate and cookies she'd promised to help them kill the time waiting for it to be present opening time.

(Fade...)