The Kid, the Boss, and the Incorrigible Nanny

Sometime in Christmas Past...

Adrian crossed his arms over his chest. He was cold. It was loud and smelly out here, and the hot chocolate his mom had gotten him was long gone by now. But he didn't care — it was the Christmas parade!

The street was full of people of all shapes, colors, and ages. Some people were full of joy and had smiles on their faces. Others were frowning and shivering in the cold. On the road, groups of carolers dressed in Dickensian style were wishing the crowd a merry Christmas as a high school band was playing another carol somewhere further down the line of parade floats. Down front, close to the road, a long line of children stood entranced by the beautiful lights and the colors of the floats passing them by. Usually, Adrian would be down there with him, but this year he had hit an unexpected growth spurt, and he was condemned to stand farther away so that the little kids could see better.

Some movement nearby caught his eye. It was a girl. She was short like the kids down in the front row, but he guessed she must have gotten there late, because she was trying (and failing) to push her way through the crowd of adults and teenagers to get there. Her face was red and he noticed that she didn't have a coat on. It looked like she might have been crying.

What was a kid her age doing out here without a coat on? She had to have been freezing.

"Hey," he said, waving at her. She didn't hear him. "Hey! Girl!"

She whipped her head around and glared up at him. Somewhere, somebody told him to be quiet. "I shouldn't hear you over the music!"

He ignored them and waved at the girl again. "Come here!"

She made a move toward him, but suddenly the crowd shifted and she disappeared in the throng.

"Boy, don't make me tell you again! Hush up!" The person nearby growled.

Adrian shuffled past, not bothering to stop and look at the person when he said "Sorry."

She was just gone. One second she was there, and then she'd vanished like a puff of breath in the frigid December air. Something tugged on his left elbow coat sleeve.

A small voice barked up at him. "What do you want?" It was her!

The sight of her made him smile. "You look cold. Why don't you have a jacket on?"

Her face, dirty and pale, was contorted in a sour frown. "Forgot. What about it?"

"Oh."

"Why did you yell at me?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"To get your attention. Do you want to see the parade? You wanna get on my shoulders and look?"

She frowned at him some more. "I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers."

He hadn't thought about that. "You're right. That's smart." He expected her to leave then, but she didn't. She just continued to stare at him. Before he knew it, he was taking off his coat. "Here. Take this at least."

Her eyes remained suspicious, but she snatched the coat from his hands and put it on anyway. As soon as she had it zipped up, she stepped back from him and out of reach. The blue material swallowed her. "Thanks."

"Keep it. You need it more than I do." It was a lie. He was shaking even as he said it. But he couldn't help but worry that this was going to be the only coat she had. His dad could buy him a new one, but what if it wasn't so easy for her?

Suddenly, just as quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone. He wasn't sure how he could lose sight of his own jacket so quickly, but he couldn't find it anywhere in the throng.

"Adrian, where are you, bud?" His dad's voice reached his ears from somewhere behind him. He turned, and spotting his parents, started walking toward them.

Before he even reached them, his mother gasped. "What on earth happened to your coat?"

Oops. He hadn't thought about getting in trouble for giving it away. He cleared his throat. Should he lie and say he lost it? "There was a girl. She didn't have one."

His dad grinned, baring his teeth. "A girl?"

His mom sighed. "So it begins. You're a little young for this, you know."

"Never too young to help someone who needs it." His dad was laughing even as he unzipped his jacket and was shrugging out of it. "Was she cute?"

"Cute?" Adrian asked. What did that even mean? But before he had time to answer, his father had draped the jacket over his shoulders.

"Let it be known that this was the Christmas Adrian became a man."

"A man? Just an hour ago he was a ten-year-old." His mother teased.

His father paused, considering this information. "Well," he sighed. "Then let's just call this the Christmas Adrian became-"

"A decent person who gave a girl a jacket for no reason other than because she needed one." His mother cut in. She reached down and pulled the zipper up underneath Adrian's chin. "Please don't even think about being a man for at least eighty years. You're supposed to be Momma's little boy."

He wasn't sure what all they meant, but he liked the way his dad was smiling at him right now. And as they turned their attention back toward the parade in front of them, he sniffed the collar of his dad's — no, his — jacket. It smelled just like it always had: of leather and cigarettes and mint.

He smiled and scanned the mass of people around them one more time, hoping he'd see her again.

A/N:

Happy Holidays!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a Christmas from Adrian's childhood.

I appreciate all of the support I have gotten from you wonderful readers over this year (or, the last few months of this year since I've only picked up the story since then).

I've hit a bit of a writing wall, so I've decided to take an official break (as opposed to just missing my weekly update times) to gather my thoughts and get ahead on some chapters in the story.

Thank you all so much for your comments, likes, and votes on this story. It's been a pleasure hearing your thoughts and feedback (even if I can't get to respond to them).

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The Kid, the Boss, & the Incorrigible Nanny will return in January 2020.