Hello! Happy 9th December! Thank you to Hawk, Guest and 2NYwlove for your lovely reviews, sorry I can't send a reply via the site. Thank you for all reviews, and I have sent replies to those I could :D

'Run, daddy! Faster!' Crouched at the front of the shopping cart, gripping the front of it determinedly, Holly shouted orders at Mac. 'Go faster!'

'Sweetie, I'm going as fast as possible,' Mac grunted, steering the speeding cart towards the store entrance and slowing to a walk. 'OK, that's it for now. No running with carts inside the store.'

'Aww, no fair.' Holly sat down with a bump in the bottom of the cart, folding her arms, bottom lip stuck out. 'I want to race.'

'Maybe later in the parking lot, after we've bought our groceries,' Mac said. 'How about you take out your list and look for everything you need to buy?'

'Huh.' Holly pouted but pulled her shopping list from her kit anyway – a list of six very important items, written and illustrated by Mac (who was rather proud of his artistic efforts).

Checking off the items proved a successful distraction, quickly pulling Holly from her sulk. Mac checked off his own list, too and it didn't take long before they were pulling up at the register. Only two contraband items of candy, Mac was pleased to discover. Those he handed discreetly to the cashier to return to the shelves, and all was well.

Helping Mac to unload the groceries, it took Holly a minute to notice the large, the very large item behind the cashier. Her mouth fell open.

'Daddy,' she gasped, awestruck as she pointed at it. 'Daddy… Look at the bear. He's a giant Santa bear!'

'He is.' Mac's eyebrows rose. 'That's quite a bear.'

'It's bigger than me, daddy! Can I buy him?'

'Do you have a life-size bear on your grocery list?' Mac asked mock-seriously.

'He's a raffle prize,' the helpful cashier interjected. 'One dollar a ticket. Proceeds to the children's hospital. Draw on Christmas Eve morning.' He smiled at Holly.

Mac side-eyed him.

'Please, please, please, daddy,' Holly wheedled. 'Please can I buy a ticket?'

Calculating that the odds of winning were low enough to risk it, especially when weighed up against the queue forming behind them, Mac gave in and handed over a dollar to Holly to pass to the cashier, while he filled in his cell phone number on the back of the ticket.

All the way across the parking lot (shopping cart racing completely forgotten) and all the way home, Holly talked about the bear: planning its name (Santa Bear, Big Bear, maybe…); where it would live (at the end of her bed) and what it would eat (probably oatmeal, definitely cookies). Mac made a few attempts to remind her she might not win, but the little girl was oblivious.

At home, she ran indoors and told Stella all about the bear.

'...And daddy gave me a dollar and we bought a ticket,' Holly finished as Mac heaved in the last bag.

'He did, did he?' Stella raised her eyebrows at her husband and Mac looked sheepish, which quickly turned to suspicion at the expression he detected in Stella's face.

'You bought one, too, didn't you?' he said once Holly was in bed.

'I figured there wasn't much chance of actually winning,' she defended herself and Mac chuckled.

'Well, we got until tomorrow afternoon to find out if we're getting a new member of the household or not.'

'Fingers crossed.' Stella said wryly.

Christmas Eve morning came and went, and by mid-afternoon both Mac and Stella breathed a sigh of relief. While Stella headed to the bedroom to wrap gifts, Mac and Holly began their traditional Christmas Eve cookie baking.

The door bell rang.

'It's Santa!' Holly shrieked and jumped down from her stool, racing to the front door.

'Too early,' Mac called, hurrying after her.

Opening the front door, with Holly grabbing his legs, Mac came face to face with the bear he'd last seen in the grocery store.

'Santa Bear! I told you, daddy!'

'Hey, boss,' a muffled but familiar voice came from the behind the fur. 'It's me, Adam.'

'Adam, what…?'

'I can explain… But can I put the bear down first? He's kinda heavy.'

'You'd better come in.' Mac stepped back and allowed the bear to topple headfirst into the hallway. Immediately, Holly seized him in a tight embrace.

'Santa bear.' She kissed his nose. 'I knew you'd come home.'

Mac faced Adam who stood there, standing on one foot and then the other.

'So, boss, I…'

'You bought a ticket, right?'

Adam grimaced. 'Didn't expect to win, but, uh, when I did, well, who else could I give it to?'

Mac could think of plenty of other people, but instead, he thanked Adam as graciously as possible and let the lab tech escape.

With a sigh, he turned to Holly but at the sight of his daughter hugging the bear in utter bliss, his annoyance evaporated.

'Let's go show your mom,' he said ruffling Holly's dark curls, 'And introduce her to our new house guest.'

Thank you so much for reading! I'd love a review, they absolutely make my day :D Lily x