Page 18 of Santa's Dirty Secret
I turn and shove my dad in the chest. “I’m not a child!”
He staggers back a step looking stunned like he’s just realized what he’s done.
“I—” he starts to say but shakes his head and pushes past us and out of the kitchen.
"I can't believe he hit you," I say and touch his jaw gently.
“It’s nothing I didn’t deserve or expect from his reaction.”
“I’ve never seen him act this way.”
"Well, this is a lot to take in."
“Why are you defending him?”
Nick pulls me into his arms, and I rest my cheek against his chest. I hate that Dad found out this way, but a part of me is so relieved that it's out in the open. Sneaking around for some people might be sexy, but I want to be able to shout what I'm feeling about Nick from the rooftops.
"You and I are the only family he has left in his life. He was a wreck when your mom died."
I pull back slightly and look up at him. “I know.”
Nick shakes his head.
“What don’t I know?” I ask.
“It’s not my story to tell.”
“It was bad?”
"Yeah," Nick nods. "Your mother was his world, and I'm only just now starting to understand what that means."
"I guess he doesn't see a union when he sees us," I say, resting my head against his chest again. "He sees the only people he has left leaving him behind."
“I think you’re right.”
I pull back and push up onto my toes to kiss Nick. It’s tender and full of longing. I can’t let my mind even play out the scenario of losing him, let alone have to live it the way my dad did.
"I’m going to go talk to him." I step back. "Will you stay?"
“I’m not going anywhere,” Nick assures me.
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Chapter 10
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ALEXIS
I knock softly on my dad's bedroom door. He doesn't answer for the longest time, and I wonder if he's even in there.
“Come in, Alexis,” he finally calls to me.
I open the door and see him sitting at the end of his bed, looking down at a framed photo of the four of us—mom, dad, Nick, and I—taken during that last Christmas together.
It was the last happy moment we all had before everything went downhill.
Most people might look back on that time with sadness, remembering only what was to come. But I look back and remember the laughs we had, the joy we felt, and the love we shared. Christmas is too magical a time for me not to look at it through the rosy glass of a snow globe and let the sadness of everyday reality consume me.
