Page 16 of A Little Christmas Wish

“Uh-huh. They worry about stupid stuff like what they’re getting for Christmas. And where they’re going on vacation.”

“Oh. And you don’t think about that stuff?”

Zippy shrugged. “Santa hasn’t come to see me the last two years, so why should I care about what he’s doing?”

Betsy drew over to the side of the road, then turned around to look at the small girl. “Santa hasn’t visited you in the last two years?”

Zippy shook her head. “Nope. And I don’t care. If he doesn’t care about me, then why would I care about him? The other kids all thought I was mean to say that. But I’m not being mean.” She crossed her arms over her chest, staring out the car window.

God.

She was killing Betsy.

Of course she cared, Betsy could see it in the wobble of her chin.

And it made her heart ache.

But Zippy was putting on such a brave front.

“Do you want to go visit him anyway?” Betsy asked. “I could take you this weekend?”

“Nope. Because then I’d be tempted to kick him in the shin.”

Hmm. Yeah. Probably not a good idea.

And Betsy didn’t know what to tell her. How did she explain this to Zippy? Anything she could think of seemed the wrong thing to say.

“Well, whether Santa visits or not, we can still have fun at Christmas. We can bake cookies. Decorate the tree. Drink hot cocoa in front of the fire. Shop for gifts for the boys and Ink. Hang up our stockings.”

“What’s the point of a stocking if Santa doesn’t come?”

“And what if he does come?” Betsy asked.

“I don’t think he’s real.”

Oh, man.

Betsy’s heart was tearing in two.

Keep it together.

“Well, I believe,” Betsy told her. “And I have stockings for everyone else. I thought we could pick yours together.”

“Even the twins have stockings?” Zippy gave her a skeptical look

“Yes, they do.”

“They believe in a jolly fat man in a red suit who comes down a chimney to deliver toys?” Zippy asked.

“Sweetheart, they’ve already made their wish lists for Santa. You can ask them tonight.”

Thankfully, Baron had not blown up the chemistry lab and they were both still enrolled in college.

“They’re coming home?” Zippy asked.

“Just for the weekend. College finishes for Christmas in a month. They’ll be home for a few weeks then. You miss them, huh?”

Zippy shrugged. “Kind of. You know . . . they’re okay.”

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