4. Santa

Chapter 4

Santa

Wasting no time, I arrived early in the morning at the Children’s Hospital. They were having their annual Christmas party, and as far as Ryfon could determine, they hadn’t hired anybody to be Santa—probably because of germs. Good thing I came with Christmas magic. I also had some special germ-free Santa gear, including a mask and gloves, so I could be safe around the children, both in their eyes and in reality.

I walked into the community playroom where my initial visit would take place. I read them books about Christmas, handed out presents—which earned me some interesting looks from the staff, as each gift was handed out by name and was exactly what the children wanted.

Let the grown-ups be curious, worried, or whatever their expressions meant. These children were sick enough to be hospitalized at Christmas time. They deserved every single thing on their wish lists and more.

After the gifts, the children worked on a craft with one of the “elves,” who, from what I could tell, was actually one of the nurses. That was when I snuck off to visit the children who weren’t able to come to me. There were six, one of whom I wasn’t sure I’d be allowed to visit because they were in the PICU. If that ended up being the case, I’d figure something out. I always did.

I went from room to room, and no matter how sick they were, the children’s faces lit up in my presence. It might have just been a little shimmer in the eye, a small smile, or—in one case—a full-on bout of giggles. But they were all happy to see me, as I was to see them.

Not for the first time this year—and most assuredly not the first time in the past years I’d been Santa—it broke my heart that I couldn’t give them more than the video game they wanted, the stuffed toy they’d been dreaming of, or the latest action figure. As magical as I was, my magic was 100% wrapped around Christmas fun. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t heal the children, so I did what I could for them while I was there, and I’d be back on Christmas Eve to infuse a little more joy.

I hadn’t been able to visit the last child on my list, with the hospital having very strict rules despite my Santa mask. The PICU was off limits to anyone but her parents. The nurses were nice enough to let her mom and dad know I was there and they came out to see me. We made a video message along with the present for their child, little Sarah.

It was such a melancholy mix of happy and sad as I left the hospital. Ryfon had been right, this was what I needed to revitalize myself and get ready for my big trip around the world. It was children across the world, children like those I’d met today, that were counting on me, and I was ready to deliver.

Just as I reached the door, my phone rang. Once upon a time, I could duck into an empty room and whisk myself back home. But nowadays, everything was on film, so I had to come and go like a normal person, which meant everyone seeing that Santa had a smartphone. It wasn’t really a “smartphone,” though. It was a magical one, one that connected me back home, and my stomach dropped.

Ryfon wouldn’t be calling me unless it was an emergency. “Just leaving now. Should be home in a minute. I—” Whatever the problem was, I’d deal with it then. No need to air North Pole business in the hospital alcove.

“No, Santa, don’t come back yet. That’s why I’m calling.” He’d never told me not to come home, but then again, I was trying to remember the last time he called me while I was visiting, and it was long before the “smartphone” pretense, that was for sure.

“Then why are you calling?”

“Well, I… I just sent you some information about your next event. It’s in about an hour.”

“My what?” I made my schedule, not him And he knew how much I hated using this phone for anything, much less messages.

“Yeah, they called you and wanted you, so I… they called me.”

“And how would they get my phone number?” Something didn’t add up here. It was like a sprinkleless sugar cookie—it didn’t make sense.

“I’m sending the information now. You’re cracking up, Santa.” And then he had the popcorn balls to make fake static sounds over the phone before hanging up.

There was no static on magical lines, and there for sure wasn’t “cracking up” like on human phones. What was he up to? And more importantly, why?

I stepped outside into the cold, loving the feel of it against my cheeks, and pulled up the message he sent. The community center was a few hours away. Not for me—it would be but a blink and a twitch of my nose.

Why was this event so important to him? There had to be a reason. I tapped the button, and it pulled up all the information about the Christmas event.

Honestly, it looked pretty great. It was a lot of giving back. As I scrolled down, I noticed at the bottom of the page, they’d featured this year’s event chair.

Initially, I’d considered not going. Two events the same day, when the first one was already emotional and there was a ton of work to be done? It wasn’t ideal, but one look at the event chair and his bio? I was definitely going now and for all the worst possible reasons ever.

He was hot, which was exactly the thing I shouldn’t be thinking. This was about the kids, not about being horny for some guy I’d seen a picture of on the internet.

It was going to be a long day. That much was for sure, but it was going to be a long day being Santa at another community event. I ducked around the next city block and into the alley, where with a twitch of my nose and a bink, I was at my next destination.

Please don’t let this be a mistake.