Hi! Welcome to day 5 of my Advent story :D Thank you to both ChibiDawn23 and SmackedCaskett for their prompts and assistance with yesterday's story, my apologies for not putting a note to you yesterday.
Danny sighed in contentment. After a rambunctious afternoon, peace had settled on the Messer family household. With Lindsay out with Louis, Danny had prepped dinner and now sat writing the family Christmas card list, glass of beer to hand and a Christmas movie (Lucy's choice) playing in the background. Lucy was curled up on her beanbag, alternating between watching the movie and working on her Christmas wish list. All was quiet, until he heard a huge sigh from his daughter. Looking up, he saw Lucy had her forehead crinkled in concentration, and the end of her pencil tapped her lips. The piece of paper in front of her still looked pristine.
'You OK, Luce?' he asked.
Another huge sigh.
'Stuck with your list?' he tried again and Lucy turned big, unhappy eyes to him.
'Daddy…' she began and hearing the tone in her voice, Danny heaved himself up from the couch and moved to sit closer to her.
'What is it, pumpkin?'
She squiggled around in the beanbag, her face twisting. 'Um, can I ask you something?'
'You can ask me anything, you know that baby.'
'So, daddy… you know Santa Claus?'
Guessing what might be about to come next from his seven year-old daughter, Danny felt a trickle of trepidation. It informed his reply as he answered cautiously, 'Yes, honey, I know him pretty well.'
Lucy looked at him, scrutinising him with suspicious eyes. 'Do you really, really know him, or… or is he made up by grown-ups, 'cause Suzie says he is.'
Deep inside, Danny groaned. He wasn't ready for this conversation yet with Lucy, she was far too young…
'Does she now?' he said, stalling for time. 'And what makes her think that?'
Eyes full of doubt, but also hope, Lucy gazed back at him. 'She says if you don't know that, you're a silly baby kid and I'm not a silly baby kid, but I think he's real and I told her, so then she said I was a baby…' It all poured out, leaving Lucy with scrunched fists and eyes wobbly with tears.
Clearing his throat, Danny pushed his glasses back up his nose. 'OK, so, first up no one, and I repeat, no one who believes in Santa Claus is a silly baby and that doesn't matter if they're a kid or a grown up. And second, that ain't the kind of thing friends go saying to one another.'
'But daddy, Suzie knows lots of stuff…'
Danny couldn't stop a snort of contempt. 'Maybe she thinks she does, but I know that believing in Santa Claus does not make you a silly baby.' Wrapping his arm around his daughter, he kissed the top of his head and she snuggled into his chest.
Gazing up at him, Lucy asked, 'So Santa Claus is real? He delivers all the presents at Christmas?'
Danny took a moment to answer. 'Sweetie, what Santa does at Christmas is a pretty magical thing, right?'
'Right.' Lucy nodded firmly.
'So, that kind of magic takes a lot of believing in, yeah?'
'I… guess so.' A thoughtful look came into Lucy's eyes.
'I know so. Which means that the more people believe in him, the more real he is. And you know, there's a lot of magic, and kindness, at Christmas, more than any other time. So you go ahead and believe in Santa and magic, and don't let no one like Suzie upset you, 'cause she clearly doesn't know about magic and kindness and how they work, and you do.'
Silence from Lucy. Danny held his breath, wondering if he had said the right thing, if Lucy understood…
His doubts faded when she threw her arms around him and smooched his cheek. 'I'm gonna tell Suzie she should believe in magic and then she won't need to say mean stuff.'
Danny beamed with pride as he hugged his daughter. 'Most important of all, Luce: always believe in yourself and your own magic.'
Thank you for reading! Reviews are a gift, and I always send a reply :D And do send me any requests or prompts :D Lily x