December 9, Holiday photos. 497 words

"I don't understand why we are doing this," Spencer grumbled to Sarah. "Shouldn't we tell Hope the truth?"

"Spencer," She said sharply. "The girls are little. Henry still believes in Santa. If he can still believe shouldn't we let the girls?"

"I suppose, but why do they need pictures that later they'll know were all a ruse?"

"Because it's tradition," She reminded him, "Plus Hope's been talking about it since Lucy went weeks ago."

"Fine," He said rolling his eyes. They reached the front of the line and Hope ran forward and hugged Santa's leg, but Juliet didn't move. Spencer bent down to look at her. "What's wrong honey?"

"I'm scared," She whispered. "What if he's a bad guy?"

"He's Santa," Spencer said.

She shook her head, "He's scary."

"Look how happy Hope is," He tried to reason with her, but she didn't move. "Juliet, I promise Santa is very nice. What can I do for you?"

"Come with me," She said seriously. He lifted her up and walked over to Santa. He placed the frightened child on the man's knee.

"Merry Christmas," He said warmly. "What would you like for Christmas Juliet?"

"How do you know my name?" She reached towards her father.

Santa back peddled, "Your sister told me. It's alright kiddo."

"I did," Hope nodded, sensing her sister's discomfort.

Juliet nodded, "I want to spend a day with Mommy and Daddy."

Santa smiled at the little girl. A lot of children came and went, but sometimes you knew they were special.

"Alright kids," The photographer said. "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

They snapped the photo and Sarah started paying. The photographer gave the signal to Santa and he reached for his bag of toys. He looked at the different boxes and grabbed one for each girl. He handed them the presents and they smiled.

"Thank you!" The girls said as they walked away opening the gifts.

Juliet smiled widely when she saw the stuffed penguin, "Look daddy! Her name is Penny." She hugged the penguin tightly. Hope was looking at the small jewelry making kit happily.

Later that night the family sat down with the fire roaring and hot cocoa in everyone's hands. Sarah and Hope were reading and Spencer was writing to his mom.

"Daddy," Juliet asked. "I wanna write a letter to Grandma. Maybe it'll make her feel better!"

Spencer smiled. Hope had met Diana once, and he knew how happy she was with the girls. If she was healthy, she'd probably visit them often. He lifted the little girl onto his lap and helped her start a letter of her own. She had him write all about seeing Santa and playing in the snow. Finally they finished and he tucked the girls into bed.

"So, I suppose Santa was a good idea. Juliet seems happy." He admitted.

Sarah laughed, "Hope on the other hand was unimpressed. She told me she finds Santa to be, 'highly curious.'"

"At least the pictures came out well."