Page 78 of Small-Town Secrets
"So I get nothing?"
"Later," I told him, and then I pressed my lips to his for only a moment. "I've always wanted to kiss Santa Claus."
Aaron wriggled his eyebrows at me. "What else have you wanted to do to Santa?"
"You'll find out when the kids are in bed," I promised him.
"Looking forward to it," he said.
I slapped his butt as he left.
* * *
Tryingto get the kids to sleep that night was hell. The events of the day had them over excited, and on top of that, we'd had to try Tyler's ice cream maker so now they were sugared up too. I had to read them three stories before they were calm enough that they stopped asking to play with their gifts for the rest of the night.
Well, I read them two stories, really. I got Aaron to read the third one because I was tired at that point. He simply took the book from me and ran with it and I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him and the twins and felt very very content with the world.
When Aaron finally put the book down, we managed to usher the kids under the blankets. It was well past their bed time now and their eyes were drooping.
"Will we get more gifts tomorrow?" Tyler asked as I tucked him in.
"There's more under the tree, aren't there? I wonder what else Santa left for you."
"Why do we have to wait to open the presents?"
"Because it's naughty to open your presents before Christmas morning," Aaron said. "Naughty children get coal, so if you snuck downstairs tonight to open your presents they would all turn to coal."
Our son's eyes grew wide at this. "Really?"
"Really," I corroborated Aaron's story. "So be a good boy, okay?"
"Okay." He pulled the blanket up to his chin.
I kissed his forehead. "Sleep tight."
"Goodnight, Daddy." He looked at Aaron. "Goodnight, Dad."
"Goodnight, buddy," Aaron responded, ruffling his hair with a warm smile while I walked around the bed to Chris' side.
"You ready to sleep too?"
"Yeah." He glanced at his brother and then back at me. "I need to tell you a secret."
"A secret?" I leaned in so he could whisper in my ear.
"I know that Santa was really Dad."
"Oh." I leaned up again.
"What did he say?" Tyler asked.
"I can't tell you or you would be getting coal for Christmas." I should probably not milk that strategy too much, but for tonight, it was working wonders. Tyler huffed, turned on his side and pretended to go to sleep.
I stroked a finger through the unruly hair on Chris' head. "It's okay that you think that," I said, mostly because I was happy with how he had referred to Aaron. Idly, I wondered if he'd even noticed himself, but Chris didn't usually say things without thinking about them, so probably yes. "Have a good night, sweetheart."
Chris smiled at me. "Goodnight."
I kissed him and stepped away to let Aaron have his turn.
