Merry Ever After

The lights from the tree reflected on his face, making Bryce’s eyes sparkle.

I grabbed the plate of cookies from the small table next to the tree. “Would you like one? These are technically for Santa. But seeing as though you’re basically him this year…you deserve the whole plate.”

“I’ll share them with you?” he said.

“Sure.”

We sat in comfortable silence, devouring the plate of cookies. I’d told him to eat over the dish to intentionally drop some crumbs. Mason always looked forward to seeing Santa’s remnants. It dawned on me that this was the first year since Will’s death that I hadn’t eaten these cookies alone in sadness. It felt good to have someone to share them with.

After we finished, Bryce suddenly stood up.

“I could stay here all night, Holly. I really love being around you. But I know you’ve had a long day. I’m sure you want to get some rest if your son is gonna wake up early. If he’s anything like my nieces and nephews, he’ll be up at the crack of dawn.”

I really didn’t want him to leave. But I also didn’t want to tell him to stay because that might have seemed desperate. I thought of another approach to spending more time with him.

“What are you doing for breakfast tomorrow?”

He shrugged. “The elves and I were going to have Fruit Loops together, but I could totally ditch them.”

“Would you want to stop by…to meet Mason? I’d explain to him that you’re a friend. That way you can see him enjoying your gift.”

“I would love to see you tomorrow, Holly, and meet him—formally.”

“Say 9AM?”

“I’ll be there with bells on—jingle bells, of course.” He winked.

Bryce

Despite the frigid air, my palms were sweaty as I stood in front of Holly’s door on Christmas morning.

She opened and smiled, looking down at the massive box of Munchkins from Dunkin’ Donuts in my hands. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“These are sort of my go-to thing that I bring whenever I’m a guest. And I know kids tend to love them.”

“Oh, you better believe Mason is going to be thrilled.”

The second I stepped inside, the boy came running into the room with his robot in hand.

“This is your friend, Mom?”

“Yes, this is Bryce,” Holly said.

Mason waved. “Hello.”

“Hey, buddy. It’s really nice to meet you.”

He looked up into my eyes and stared. “You…look familiar.”

Uh-oh.

“Yeah, so do you,” I answered, not knowing what else to say.

“This is my new robot. Santa brought him.”

I feigned excitement and shock. “Is that a TechBot?”

“Yup.”