Christmas Time Is Here: Academy Exclusives

A Visit With Santa

A/N:  This snippet of Christmas is set for the Santa visit prior to last year's scene of "Santa Said"  Enjoy!

"Hi Santa." Luke grinned at him as he approached the chair and clambered up into Santa's lap. At 5, he was most excited this year to see Santa.

"Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas, little boy. What's your name?" Santa asked, eyes twinkling over the rim of his glasses.

"I'm Luke." He said.

"Nice to meet you, Luke." Santa gazed over the boy's head, lighting on the woman that was busy corralling several other little ones and had a baby in a snugli wrap on her chest as well. She was clearly a harried mother or babysitter. A slight tug on his beard had him looking down at the boy on his lap again.

"Santa, you 'posed to pay 'ttention to me when I'm telling you what I want." Dark eyes were serious and there was a chance that the lower lip was about to make an appearance.

"My apologies, my boy. Please forgive me. Have you been a good boy this year, Luke?"

The blonde head bobbed in excitement. "Oh yes, I've been really good this year." His eyes darted sideways. "Mostly. Sometimes it's hard." He admitted.

"I certainly understand that." He smiled.

"I'm on the nice list though, right?" The boy's eyes widened in a panic. "I mean, I can 'splain everything, Santa. Honest."

Santa chuckled and patted the boy on the back. "You're on the nice list." he said. "I know you're a good boy." He said. Although, the offer of explaining everything was almost enough to make him curious about what the boy thought needed to be explained.

Luke's eyes relaxed and he sighed softly. "Oh good. Uncle will be glad to hear that I'm on the nice list again." He said.

He nodded slightly, making a note of the mention of Uncle and not dad. "And what do you want this year, Luke?"

Luke squirmed slightly. "I wanna baby sister like baby Jessie. Kota's so lucky. He gots a mama and a baby sister. I'd be the best big brother." He said in a rush.

Santa felt like squirming in his seat as well. Why did it end up falling to him to break it to kids that he couldn't deliver baby brothers or sisters to them for Christmas. "Well..." He cleared his throat. "I'll make a note on the list for you, Luke. But you should really talk to your Uncle about this."

Luke's face fell. "Like a couple years ago when I asked for a mama?" He looked up into Santa's face, searching for reassurance.

He nodded. "Yes." He said, grasping on to the only straw this little boy was offering. "Just like asking for a mama."

"Oh. Okay." His tone sounded hollow.

"What else do you want for Christmas?" Santa asked, eager to divert him to a happier thought.

"I like to climb." Luke said, slowly. "I like the jungle gym at school."

"I'll see what we can do about that." he said, offering Luke a candy cane.

Luke took the candy and glanced up at Santa. "Thanks, Santa." He said. "Do you think I was good enough to ask for two cookies today?"

Santa chuckled. "I think that you could have two cookies and so should anyone else that is with you today." He said, after a quick glance at the group the boy had arrived with.

Luke's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you Santa. I'll tell Erica that you said I can have two." He said, giving Santa a quick hug before he slid off his lap and went to wait on the other side for Victor to take his turn with Santa. They would all wait until Kota had gone and then rejoin them so that Erica could have a group picture taken of all of them with Santa.

They did it every year.

Luke liked it.

It made him feel like the other boys were his brothers and he was really excited now that there was baby Jessie. It was her first Christmas and he didn't think she'd be able to ask for anything. He frowned slightly but promised himself he'd ask Erica about it later because he didn't want to interrupt Victor's session with Santa.

(Fade...)