Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

December 17 th

6:03 P.M.

“Did you know that I got to meet Santa one time when no one else was here?” Freddie babbled excitedly from the backseat.

“You did? For real?” Donovan asked, managing to keep a straight face when all he wanted to do was chuckle. He hadn't spent a whole lot of time around kids. None of his siblings were in a relationship, none had kids, and his only friends who had kids employed nannies who did ninety percent of the work so he never really saw them. While he’d worried a little at first that Freddie wouldn't warm to him, or he wouldn't know how to talk to the kid, it seemed like he shouldn’t have worried.

Jessica had done a great job raising her son. He was confident and polite, open and engaging, curious and excitable, full of energy, and had a lightness to his soul that told Donovan that Jessica had shielded him emotionally from the fallout of his dad leaving and having no part of his life.

“For real,” Freddie assured him. “Claire’s new mom owns this whole place, and one day when I was staying at Adam’s house we got to come here, and Santa was taking a break, and I got to talk to him. I mean, he’s not the real Santa, you know?”

“He’s not?”

“No, course not. The real Santa is too busy to come and work here and meet all the kids, so he trains special Santas to do that for him. They listen to the kids tell them what they want for Christmas and then they go to the North Pole and tell the real Santa. So even though he wasn't the real Santa he works for him.”

“That’s definitely cool,” Donovan agreed, loving the way the Christmas Farm had set things up in a way to keep the magic for kids alive. He’d never been to this place before, although, of course, he’d heard about it, and he was as excited as Freddie to visit tonight.

Although she’d been a little reticent about this school night excursion, Jessica had given in prettily easily when he told her that he wanted to spend time together with the three of them. While he didn't expect her to just allow him to step right into the role of dad, he also knew that since Freddie’s dad was not in the picture, he would eventually be filling a role that had been left empty, and he wanted to do a good job of it.

“Super cool,” Freddie corrected, practically bouncing in his seat as Donovan managed to find them a parking spot in the almost full lot. With just over a week before Christmas, the place was packed with happy families, and he relished the opportunity to be one of them.

“What do you want to do first?” he asked once they’d all climbed out of the car and rugged up in coats, scarves, beanies, and gloves.

“Snowmen then reindeer,” Freddie announced before his mom could get a word in.

Unsure if they were following along with the kid’s plans or if Jessica was in charge, he glanced at her as he took her hand, and they headed for the front gate.

She shrugged. “Unless there’s something you really want to do it’s fine with me to do what Freddie wants.”

“I've never been before, so I think we can let the expert take charge.”

“You’ve never been here before?” Freddie sounded aghast at the thought.

“Never had a kid to come with. ”

“Well, now you got me.” Freddie slipped his hand into Donovan’s free one and he swore right there and then the kid just barreled his way right into Donovan’s heart.

“Now I've got you,” he echoed. Simple words yet they meant a lot to him. This mother and son duo was already carving out a special place in his heart and life, and the more time he spent with them, the more attached he was getting.

It was busy but the line moved quickly, and a short while later they’d bought tickets, walked through the gates, and were heading to a huge open field that had been dubbed Snowman Land. There were squealing kids everywhere, and lots of laughing, smiling moms and dads soaking up the joy on their kids’ faces.

This was definitely something he could get used to.

Already he’d had fun choosing Christmas gifts for both Freddie and Jessica, and he was hoping he could persuade them to spend a little time on Christmas Day with him, although he was yet to broach the topic.

Snowman Land was huge, and there were stalls everywhere around the perimeter with all sorts of costumes and props you could use to dress your snowman. There was everything from the traditional coal for eyes and mouth, carrot for the nose, and scarf for his neck, to way more complex ideas. There were superheroes and princesses, animals in a range of species, and firefighters and ballet dancers. Donovan couldn’t wait to see what Freddie would choose to dress up his snowman as.

“Basically, you just make your own snowman, then choose your outfits and put them on. Then you can take pictures, but there’s also a photographer here if you want something more professional, although you have to pay for those ones,” Jessica explained as Freddie went running to an empty part of the field, dug his hands right into the snow, and began rolling it into a snowball.

“We’ll definitely get the professional ones,” he told her.

“Freddie will be happy enough with whatever we take on our phones,” Jessica protested.

“I'm sure he will, we’re still getting the professional ones.”

“You don’t have to spoil him.”

“Oh, beautiful.” Donovan stopped and tugged Jessica closer, his arm around her waist keeping her anchored against him. “I'm going to spoil him. I'm going to spoil you both. I think it’s past time somebody did and I'm just glad that somebody gets to be me.”

After dropping a kiss to her lips, he hurried after Freddie, leaving her standing behind him staring at him. If she thought he wasn't going to spoil both her and her son rotten then she was crazy. These two were his now, he’d protect them, he’d take care of them, and he’d spoil them, because he wanted them to be happy and know they were cared about.

If the stalker thought he could be blackmailed into walking away from them he was crazy, these two were already a part of him and no one was going to mess with them.