I Saw Haha kissing Santa Clause

Chihiro Nakahara, Sunako's daughter, sees something she decides her father shouldn't know about…

My name is Chihiro Nakahara. I'm five years old. I have black hair like both Mommy and Daddy and I also have Mommy's eyes.

I was told that I have my mommy's last name instead of my daddy's. I don't know why. Daddy's gone a lot, so I almost never get a chance to ask him why I don't have his last name—and what his last name is.

Tonight is Christmas and even though Mommy told me to sleep like a good girl or else Santa wouldn't come with presents for me, I couldn't sleep. I snuck downstairs to see if I could see Santa and explain why I was up.

But when I came downstairs my eyes widened at what I saw.

There was Santa! But why was Mommy with him? I kept real quiet and snuck away.

Santa saw me and I bit my lip to keep from gasping.

When Mommy wasn't looking he held a finger to his lips.

I smiled and made a motion of zipping my lips closed.

Mommy came back and wrapped her arms around Santa's neck and kissed him.

My mouth dropped.

I snuck back to my room, blushing madly.

I don't know if Santa saw me go back to my bed, but I didn't care.

I decided to ask Mommy about it in the morning…

"What are you laughing about?" Sunako asked.

"Oh? Nothing," L said, taking off the beard. "But don't freak out if Chi asks you about it tomorrow morning."

"What?!?" Sunako whispered. "She's up?"

L shrugged. "I don't think she recognized me, but best be on guard for questions tomorrow."

Sunako sighed. "She's going to be crushed when she realizes it was you and not really Santa."

L snickered. "I'll just pretend to be hurt. She's young, but she's not that intuitive yet."

"Oh, I'm not so sure…"

L wrapped an arm around his wife and kissed her forehead. "Chi's a good girl. We'll just put on an act and it'll all be fine."

Sunako shook her head. "She knows that Nakahara isn't your surname."

"Really?"

"What are you going to tell her? Surely not that you're a world renowned detective and sleuth. She doesn't understand the gravity of knowing that."

"Hmm…" L muttered. "We could always say I'm a government agent."

"That's even worse!" Sunako snapped.

"Or that she's half alien," L suggested. Sunako swatted his arm.

"What will she do then when she asks Watari about your alien heritage?"

L snickered. "I still think it'd be funny."

Sunako rolled her eyes. "We're in trouble when morning comes."

"No we're not—"

"She's your daughter, L Lawliet. If you looked at her report card you'd know that."

"And yet I didn't figure out the Santa Clause ruse until I was seven."

"Seven? I didn't till I was six."

"So, if she figures it out, she figures it out. She'll get over it."

~The Next Morning~

I looked at Mommy all morning, wondering what she'd do. She set the plate in front of me and Daddy before turning back to the stove.

"Um…" I glanced at Daddy, who raised his finger to his lips.

My mouth dropped.

"Santa's not real is he?" I asked him quietly.

He nodded and pointed at himself.

"I saw Mommy kissing Daddy?"

He nodded again.

I grinned.

Mommy turned around and looked at us.

Daddy and I were grinning widely and she sighed.

"You told her?" she snapped at Daddy.

We both zipped our lips.

Mommy shook her head, hiding her face with her hand. "L Lawliet…"

"Lawliet's Daddy's last name?" I asked. "Why isn't my last name Lawliet? Or Mommy's?"

Daddy shushed me, messing up my hair. "You'll understand when you're older."

And the mystery continued…

I would have come up with a more unique name for their daughter (and for their son in later stories), but I was feeling a tad lazy and decided to steal from Spirited Away. Sorry, Miyuzaki-san!

Inspired by I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause, sung by Jimmy Boyd (sp? I think that's right...)