Christmas Throughout The Ages-Chapter 4
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5 years old...
As soon as the final note of the closing song had been sung, five year old Sally Rossi ran from the choir area and found her family talking to father Jimmy.
"Daddy, did you hear me? Did you?" She asked as she ran toward him.
Dave smiled as he caught the little girl in his arms and lifted her onto his hip. "I sure did, Peanut!" He said enthusiastically. "You were the best one up there!" Now, he knew that most parents thought their kid was the best at everything, even if they were untalented, but he honestly believed that his daughter had been the most talented singer in the children's choir at the Christmas Eve mass.
"You were also the prettiest one in the group," his mother told her as Dave set the five year-old on the ground.
"Thanks Nonna, I love my dress!" The youngest Rossi twirled in a circle so that everyone could see the pretty red dress her nonna had made her. Along with the dress, she was also wearing matching red tights and black patent leather Mary Jane shoes. All in all, she would have looked like something out of a children's clothing catalog if it weren't for her hair. Sally had a beautiful head of light brown hair but, unfortunately for her, Dave couldn't style it to save his life. He'd tried braids, pigtails, pony tails, curls…just about everything short of shaving her head, but no matter how hard he tried, the styling always looked a bit off. Pair that with Sally's propensity to jump, swing, run, and tackle and the result was a head of hair that perpetually looked like a bird's nest.
"I still can't believe you aren't staying over at the house tonight," his mother sniffed, trying to pull a guilt trip on him.
"Ma, your house is going to be filled to the gills with my siblings and their children. I live ten minutes away from you and would much prefer to sleep in my own, comfortable bed rather than on the floor in a jam-packed guest room."
"We have to stay at our house," Sally added forcefully. "Otherwise Santa won't know where to find me."
"Santa always knows where to find you, sweetheart; he watches over you all year long." Dave's mom told her and was surprised when she saw the little girl's eyes widen.
"Is he like the bad man on TV who was following that lady around?" She asked her dad. "You know, on that show with all of the letters?"
"CSI?" Jimmy asked as he quirked an eyebrow at his best friend. Even though Dave lived the kind of life seen on television, he was addicted to the procedural shows.
The five year-old nodded as Dave's mother exploded. "You let her watch CSI with you?" She screeched. "No wonder why Sesame Street won't hold her attention when she's at my house!" Even though Dave had taken early retirement from the BAU shortly after he had adopted Sally, he'd written two successful books and did private consultations, which kept him pretty busy during the day. As a result, Sally's grandmother watched her three afternoons per week while Dave worked.
"I don't let her, but sometimes she wanders in while I'm watching," he explained and then shivered under the evil eye his mother was giving him. "Fine, I'll make sure she doesn't catch any more episodes."
"See that you do," his mother said, barely resisting the urge to slap him in the back of his head; if they hadn't been in the Lord's house, she would have.
Now Dave needed to explain to his daughter that Santa Claus wasn't some deranged stalker. He knelt down on one knee so he was at her level. "Honey, Santa isn't a bad man, he's magical and he watches over you in a good way."
"Like Jesus?" Sally asked innocently.
Father Jimmy groaned as he imagined the religious lessons the little girl was receiving from her father and he vowed to spend more time with her, if only to explain the difference between their Lord and Savior and a fictional man who delivered gifts using flying reindeer.
Santa is kind of different from Jesus," Dave told her before he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Anyway,I think it's time for certain little girls to be in bed, especially if they want Santa to visit them tonight."
"I'm not a little girl, daddy!" Sally protested with a pout as she stomped her tiny foot. "I'm a big girl!"
"Sorry Peanut, I forget sometimes," he said as he once again picked her up and rested her on his hip. As they made their way to his car, he mentally planned a night of early bedtimes, scotch and classic Christmas movies on the television.
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"Daddy! Daddy!" Sally exclaimed loudly as she shook her father awake. "Santa came!"
"Mmmm, Sally honey, can't we sleep a little longer?" Dave asked as he opened his eyes in the dark room. "What time is it?"
"The little hand is on the six and the big hand is on the two," she said. "Come on daddy, we gotta go downstairs!"
"Ungghhhh," he groaned as he flopped back down onto his pillow; he'd been up until two-thirty in the morning putting toys together for her. He didn't know when a degree in engineering had become necessary to assemble a doll crib, but it had and it had taken him forever to figure the damn thing out. Hell, he'd put together his daughter's crib just fine, but the doll crib had had about fifty more parts. Next year, he was going to recruit the genius that his friend Aaron constantly talked about. If the kid really did have three PhD's, he might just be able to assemble his daughter's toys. Maybe.
"Daddy," the five year old began in a stern voice, a voice that sounded very much like his mother's. "It's Christmas, we should be opening presents!"
"Oh we should, should we?" He asked as he pulled her onto the bed and began tickling her. "How about some tickles for Christmas?"
"Da-daddy! Stoooooppppp! I'm going to go potty in my pants!" Sally yelled through her laughter. Dave, knowing that was not an idle threat, took his hands off of her ribs and hugged her to him instead.
"You okay, Peanut? No accidents?"
"Nope, I'm fine," she said as she hopped off of his lap. "Come ON!"
He let her pull him out of his warm bed and drag him down the stairs. Once they hit the living room, she just stood there in breathless delight.
"Oh my gosh Daddy," she whispered in awe. "He brought me my playhouse! He brought me my playhouse, daddy!" She dropped his hand and dashed toward the playhouse that had been set up in the corner of the room. In it she found even more presents.
"Look, more presents!" Dave helped her carry them out to the middle of the room and then let her go nuts ripping into the packages. Along with the playhouse, there was the god awful doll crib, a few new dolls to go in it, some dresses for her, and some educational toys. By the time she was done opening all of the gifts, both of them were exhausted.
As she sat in her father's lap, Sally Rossi watched the Disney Christmas Day Parade and waved to all of her favorite princesses. The parade had almost ended when she suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot!" She jumped off of Dave's lap and ran toward the stairs.
"What did you forget?" He asked.
"Your Christmas present!" With that, he heard her moving around in her bedroom overhead and then she tore back down the stairs and handed him a flat package.
"What's this?" He asked as he stared at it; he'd never received a birthday or Christmas present from her before and he was touched just by the fact that she had done something for him.
"You have to open it to find out!" She exclaimed in exasperation; didn't he know how Christmas worked?
Dave carefully tore off the wrapping paper and was left holding a file folder. He opened it up and found a drawing made by his daughter inside of it. "It's beautiful, honey," he said as he pulled her into a hug.
"It's me and you," she told him as she wriggled out of the hug and pointed to various people in the drawing. "And there's Nonna and Aunt Cindy and Uncle Steve. And you can see our house!"
"I see it, Peanut, and I love it. We'll have to go out tomorrow to get a frame for it."
"Really?" She asked. "You really like it?"
"It's one of the best gifts I've ever received, besides you, of course," he said as he kissed her forehead. "And I'm going to hang this on my wall at work." The little girl beamed with happiness and Dave, once again, realized just how lucky he was that she had come into his life.
