Santa's Secret

“It’s a nickname, just like I call you Punky.” Holly smiles at her dad, making it easy to see how much she loves him. He kneels down and wraps his arm around her waist. “What do you think, Punky? Do you want to take Arnie home?”

Holly gives the tree a once over before shaking her head. “He’s missing some branches, and I really want a girl tree. Can we please have a girl tree, Daddy?”

“Do you have any girl trees?” Aiden asks.

“Sure do, right over here.” The Fishers follow me to another rack where I contemplate which tree to show them. I finally set one up right and introduce them to Gwen. “She was cut this morning.”

“I love Gwen,” Holly says, clapping her hands. The muffled sound is loud enough for me to hear. I start cheering right along the side of her.

“Where will Gwen live in your house?” I ask as I prepare to carry the tree back to the sugarhouse, only to have Aiden stop me in my tracks.

“I got this,” he says as his hand brushes against mine. Gloves or not, I felt something spark between us. My hand stays under his until Holly’s voice breaks the spell.

“… the big window and she’ll have lights and pretty ornaments. We have an angel to go up top.”

“This sounds amazing, Holly. Maybe I’ll be able to see Gwen when she’s all decorated.”

“Oh yes. Daddy, can Delaney come over? I can show her my room, and maybe we can watch a movie together.” Holly looks at Aiden with the most serious expression on her face. I do the same, giving Aiden a stare down, waiting for him to provide us with an answer.

“Well, I’m sure Delaney is busy.”

Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but he’s right. I’m busy. With what, I don’t exactly know, aside from making and eating every cookie that comes out of the oven.

Aiden settles his tab while Calvin puts Gwen into the back of Aiden’s truck. Holly and I look at the wreaths Mr. Steve’s wife has made, and I tell her to pick one. She does and hands it to Calvin, who sets it into the truck.

Aiden gets Holly situated, and comes over to me. “Thank you for this.”

“I didn’t do anything, Fish.”

“No, you did. I didn’t mean to forget about our conversation the other day; it’s just… seeing you here brought up a few memories, and they caught me off guard. I wanted to thank you for the other night. Hanging out with your dad, Dom and Calvin was a lot of fun.

“Calvin said you guys had a good time.”

“We did, but what you did here, with naming the trees and entertaining Holly like that… well let me say this, you took something as mundane as picking out a tree and made it into a production. You’re so good at what you do. You have no idea the effect you have on her. I appreciate this.”

“Fish…” I want to tell him I wasn’t acting, and that I enjoyed every second I spent with him and his daughter, but he doesn’t give me a chance.

He shakes his head and turns toward his truck, leaving me standing there with my mouth open and my thoughts running a mile a minute. My mom and Mindy have both said things have been hard for him. Maybe there’s something I can do to help or bring some cheer to his and Holly’s lives.

Eighteen

Aiden

The constant chatter about how amazing, cool, super neat and so pretty Delaney is, filled the silent void on the way back to our house. Even if I wanted, I couldn’t find a single point to disagree on with Holly. However, I did want to elaborate on a few, such as how incredible she is. In seconds, she turned what could’ve easily been a boring outing into a fun-laugh filled adventure, making my daughter giggle and smile so brightly that I found myself feeling happy for the first time in a while.

This type of happy is different from what I felt when I was at the hockey game or when there are a few extra dollars in my paycheck. This was one of those moments you don’t forget, and pray can be emulated next year and the year after so it gives you and your child something to talk about and remember as the years go by. Without knowing it, Delaney changed the scope of Holly’s Christmas.

“Look at all the lights,” Holly says, staring out the window at the houses we pass by. There was a time when Heather and I joked about going all Griswold with decorating. Luckily, we came to our senses and went with a more simplistic and understated feel, stringing up white lights along the eaves of the roof and wrapping the shrubs and the base of the large tree in our front yard. “Which house do you like best, Daddy?”

Slowing down, I look out the windows, shocked by how many people have their holiday lights on and it’s barely dusk. The houses near our street are nice, but nothing like what the Du Lucas and their neighbors do. Growing up, everyone flocked to Dominic and Delaney’s street. Not only for their Christmas displays but Halloween as well. I’m tempted to drive Holly over and show her, but it’ll have to wait.

“I think next week, I’ll take you somewhere to show you all my favorite decorations,” I tell her. “There’s a place in town where every house decorates. They play music, and on the weekends, some of the owners will have cookies and hot cocoa for people.”

“Really?” Holly’s voice has a level of excitement that I haven’t heard in a long time.

“Really,” I say back to her, matching her enthusiasm. I stop driving so I can glance at my daughter. She’s oblivious to the struggles I face daily. It’s the way it sho

uld be.