Scott and Ella were watching Charlie play his soccer game one October afternoon. Ella didn't notice another girl about her age walking towards her father while she was cheering her brother on. Laura and Neil were on their way to watch the game so Scott told his daughter to keep an eye out for them. Just then, he felt a tap on the shoulder. Scott turned around and saw the girl standing on the bench and staring at him.
"What?" he asked the girl.
The girl sat down in his lap and said, "I want some ballet slippers."
Just then, Laura and Neil pulled into the parking lot. Laura got out and saw her ex-husband with a bunch of kids lined up while Ella sat next to him. One little boy was sitting in Scott's lap. Ella waved to her mother and Neil when she saw them.
"Oh, my God," Laura gasped. She and Neil couldn't believe what they were seeing. Ella whispered in her father's ear that her mother and Neil were coming towards them. Scott took the boy off his lap and walked over to Laura and Neil. Ella ran over to her mother and hugged her hello.
"Hi. Hey, this looks pretty odd, doesn't it?" Scott asked. "These kids lined up all by themselves."
"Scott, I think it's safe to say you're taking this Santa thing to an unhealthy level." Neil reached into his pocket for his wallet and took out a card. Laura covered her mouth. "Here's my card. Call me."
"Scott, I- I really have to tell you that this is beginning to scare me," Laura began. "I never in my wildest- Well, no, okay, maybe my wildest-But certainly never in my normal dreams would l-But then this is Scott we're talking about..."
"Laura, the point," Neil interjected. "It's just I never thought you would stoop to changing your physical appearance in order to make Charlie and Ella like you," Laura continued. "Do you have any concept of how dangerous this is to a little boy and a little girl?"
"Whoa. Whoa, whoa. "How dangerous"?" Scott questioned.
"Mom, what's the matter?" Charlie asked when he ran over to his mother. Laura took hold of her children's hands.
"Come on, Charlie, Ella, we're going home."
"But, Mommy, Charlie's game just started. Can't we stay, please?" Ella protested.
Scott tried to help. "Well, you let them stay. I'll go," he told Laura.
"If you don't get your act together, Scott, so help me-" Before she finished, Laura went back to her car while Neil turned around and mouthed "Call me" before joining his wife and stepchildren. Scott sighed and went back to his car and drove home.
That evening, while Scott was shaving, he heard the doorbell rang. He opened the door. It was a deliveryman.
"Hi, there," said the deliveryman. "I got a delivery for S.C. You S.C.?"
"Scott Calvin, that's me."
The deliveryman asked him to sign for a few packages. It was odd because Scott didn't order anything, but he shrugged it off and told the deliveryman he'll leave the door open. About an hour later, Scott went downstairs and found thousands of packages all around the hallway and the dining room. He approached to one of the piles of packages and found an envelope on one of them. He opened it and read the note. It said, "Here's the list. Check it twice! Yours, B." Scott opened one of the packages and found a list of names on it. "Armand Assante?" He read under his breath. "Yo!" he called out to the deliverymen. "Hold it! Hold- Oh! Hold it! What am I supposed to do with all these packages, guys? Come on."
The mail trucks drove away before Scott could reach them. He grunted in frustration and walked back to his house.