Twelve Hours of Christmas

hour twelve-in which Santa appears

Lewis comes back from the toilet to find that Henry is packing all the presents into a large sack. It's a sack that looks suspiciously like the one Santa has in the pictures. "Wait, are you Santa?" Lewis asks. Henry jumps and turns to face Lewis. "I am not Santa." 

"Why do you have the sack?"

"For my idea." Henry answers. It is now that Lewis notices the black bag on the chair next to Henry. 

"What's in the bag?" Lewis demands. Henry grins wickedly as he opens it. He pulls out a Santa costume. 

"This is your outfit for the night." 

"I am not wearing that!" Lewis shuffles away. Henry then pulls out an elf's outfit. 

"It's either Santa or this." Lewis gestures to the elf costume. Even Lewis has to admit that the Santa one looks better. Lewis sighs and grabs the suit. 

They change into their costumes and Henry passes Lewis the sack. "Why do I need this?" Lewis asks.

"You're Santa!" 

"Fine!" Lewis takes the sack and slings it over his shoulder. "Henry, how are we getting there?" 

"You'll see." Henry says. When they were finally ready, Henry opened the door and outside stood a horse drawn sleigh. 

"Henry? What is this."

"It's your sleigh." 

"I can see that. What is it doing here?"

"How else are we going to get to the care home?"

"Taxi?"

"Do you think a taxi would take us at this time at night? Anyway, this makes it more realistic." 

"But how did you manage to pay for it?"

"I was going to go anyway and when I met you I decided that you could help me. You hated Christmas and so I thought that I might be able to convince you that Christmas isn't that bad. I called the care home to ask if it was okay and they said it was a wonderful idea." Henry says. He climbs onto the sleigh and Lewis follows. 

"So the care home knew?" 

"Yes."

"This was all planned?"

"Sort of. You weren't part of the original plan." 

"How did you know to buy two costumes?"

"I was originally going to take one of my friends but then I found you and decided you would do a better job." 

"I bet they're happy." 

"They weren't bothered either way." Henry replies. The sleigh is pulling them through the streets. They're pretty empty as most people are in bed or at home. Lewis wonders how a place that is so busy can be so quiet in so little a time. The sack of presents sits at his feet. 

"Henry, can I borrow your phone?" Lewis asks. Henry passes it over. 

"Are you going to call the care home?"

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to text them." 

"Okay."  Lewis smiles. Henry had his plan, Lewis now has his own. 

They pull up at the care home about ten minutes later. "Come along, Santa, you have a job to do." They both clamber out of the sleigh and one of the horses snorts. Lewis goes to the door and turns the handle slowly. The door opens and he looks at Henry. "I feel like we're breaking in." Lewis says. 

"You live here, don't you?" 

"Yeah, but-"

"Just go inside." Henry says, gently pushing Lewis. 

The living room is lit up by one of the lamps in the corner, shedding a soft light across the room. The house is silent. Everyone must be asleep. Lewis opens the sack as he moves towards the living room. Henry perches on the edge of the sofa while Lewis does his work. Lewis starts to place the presents down underneath the tree. 

Henry glances at the clock. It's ten to midnight. Henry smiles to himself. He thinks he's done a pretty good job. He thinks Lewis might actually start to enjoy Christmas. 

Lewis places the last present down on the ground when there is a noise at the door. A small gasp. "Are you Santa?" a little voice asks. Lewis turns his head and sees "Rachel?" Lewis asks. 

"Lewis? Are you Santa? Is that why you don't like Christmas? Is that why you've been gone all day?" Rachel asks endless questions.

"I guess I'm Santa, and yes, I don't like Christmas because it means I have a lot of work to do and that's why I've been gone all day. I've had to deliver presents all over the world. I decided to leave our presents until last." Lewis says. Henry smiles at Lewis having to make this up to keep a little girl happy. 

"Can I give you a hug, Santa?" Rachel asks. Lewis looks at Henry who shrugs. Lewis opens his arms and Rachel runs into them. She squeezes him tightly. 

"Rachel, we'll make this our little secret, yes? I'll come and see you next year if you don't tell anyone you saw Santa. No one is meant to know what I look like." 

"Okay, Santa." 

"Rachel, are you okay?" one of the care workers asks, walking into the living room. Lewis freezes, Henry is still smiling. 

"Santa's here! Santa's here!" Rachel says, running to the care worker. Henry pulls Lewis behind the sofa where they can't be seen. 

"Where is he, Rachel?" The care worker asks. Rachel turns round to point at them but she can't see them. Her face falls and then a look of confusion appears on her face. 

"He's gone." 

"Maybe he's gone to deliver more presents. Come on, Rachel, let's get you back to bed." Rachel skips off up the stairs. Lewis and Henry pop their heads above the sofa and the care worker winks at them. She follows Rachel upstairs and Henry jumps to his feet. 

"I should go." 

"No, stay." 

"I should get back." Henry starts towards the door. 

"Henry, why don't you stay the night? We have a spare bed somewhere." Lewis insists. 

"You aren't going back at this time." Another care worker appears at the doorway. "The sleigh has gone anyway. I've set up a bed in Lewis' room."

"How did you know?" Henry asks. Then he pulls out his phone and looks at Lewis. "You did this, didn't you?"

"You aren't the only one to have secret plans." Lewis says. 

The two boys head up to bed, both happy that their plans have worked out. 

The clock strikes midnight.