Santa Baby~Chapter 3
With her arms full of her daughter, her costume, and her suitcase, Belle shuffled through the crowd at The Pink Flamingo. Finally, after almost a solid week of staying at the club, she was taking her little girl home. Where they both belonged. And before they went home, they were going to stop off to get a Christmas tree with the fifty bucks Alex had stuffed into Belle's pocket before leaving.
The lights of the club danced and winked over them as she tried to push a couple of dancers out of the way. Dammit, about this time every night they would begin to get rowdy, and the worst of their partying was yet to come. Belle couldn't really understand the point of partying. In the prime of her 'wild' years, she'd been changing diapers and working two jobs.
So, she'd missed out on the appeal of going out and getting drunk or having meaningless sex with someone you barely knew. Sure, many people thought that her sleeping with Phillip Kiriakis, her childhood sweetheart, had been meaningless, but she'd known that, for her, it was nothing but love.
He was the first boy to kiss her. The first boy to tell her he loved her. And the first boy she had sex with. And he'd been the last.
When he found out that she was pregnant, the boy that she thought she loved and who she thought loved her back, wasted no time in leaving her. Leaving her and her baby and her childhood behind to rot. No, she didn't resent him. Lord, he was only eighteen years old. And yet, she was a year younger, and she didn't choose to run away from her problems or her love.
So, she suffered through a difficult pregnancy without the support of a husband. Or a family.
The Blacks had been appalled when she told them that she was pregnant. Her father, John Black, a man with a rigid hand and a soft heart, had just stopped loving her. She'd convinced herself of that. She'd convinced herself that he no longer cared. Her mother, Marlena Black, stood by her husband at every turn and never offered Belle anything. They still wouldn't talk to their daughter. After six years, they still wouldn't talk to her.
With a sigh, she shifted Maddy on her hip and scowled at a couple of drunken fools. "Come on, guys, why don't we call you a cab?"
The men proceeded to laugh in her face, then stumbled off after a couple of waitresses. Belle shook her head and finally made her way out of the club. The night air was crisp and pleasant. And reminded her of Christmas's long ago. Christmas's now forgotten, when she and her parents would step out into the December air and go tree hunting or hang decorations on the house. They would smile and laugh and just be together.
"Mommy, let's sing a Christmas song." Maddy's voice had Belle snapping back into the present. She looked down into her daughter's beaming face and set her down to the ground of the crowded parking lot. For old time's sake, she wanted to stay out in the December air for a few moments longer.
"All right, sweetie, what would you like to sing?"
Maddy scrunched her face up in consideration. Made Belle smile when she brought a tiny finger to her chin. "Rudolph." She finally stated, very decisively. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
"Rudolph it is!" Her motherly instincts had her wrapping Madison's coat more firmly around her and zipping it up. "Will you begin or shall I?"
"You!"
"Okay..." Belle glanced across the parking lot to be sure no one was around. Though she danced almost nude every night, she still had a little streak of shyness in her and didn't like for people to hear her voice. "...you know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen...oh, you know Comet and Cupid, and Donder and Blitzen. But do you recall? The most famous reindeer of all..."
Maddy took the stage now and began prancing around like a deer. "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glowed..."
At the sound of screeching brakes and squealing tires, the song ended, and Belle had Maddy scooped up in her arms and rushed to the curb just in time for the red sports car to come to a halt right where they'd been standing.
Fear came first and left quickly, then was replaced by fury. Pure rage pumped through her veins as she sat a now crying Madison on the curb and watched four, laughing jackasses exit the car. "You assholes." She screamed, stalking right up to them.
She poked a finger at the wide-eyed driver's chest and glared up at him. It barely registered that the man was absolutely gorgeous with dark blonde hair and light blue eyes. All she could see was a big-assed idiot. "What the hell were you thinking? Are you insane? You could've killed us. My little girl was out here." She looked over her shoulder at Madison. "You made my daughter cry." She hissed between clenched teeth.
"Jesus." Was the only thing Jason Hyatt could think to say as his gaze passed from enraged mother to hysterical daughter.
A taller man stepped in front of Jason, offered a small smile. "We're sorry, ma'am. We weren't really expecting someone to be in the middle of the parking lot. We all had Jason here laughing and not paying attention to the road. And I take full responsibility, as it is my bachelor party that we're all rushing to."
Belle blinked up at the taller man and continued to scowl. He had extremely kind eyes and a soft, pale face. She couldn't help but forgive him. "No, it's okay. I guess I overreacted. You just scared us."
Shawn Brady had only to hear the sound of the child's cries and was already crouched down beside her, trying to soothe. His large hand ran up and down the girl's back in a comforting gesture, and he was proud to say that it was working. The sobs were stopping and the girl was now studying him with intense eyes. "You almost ran over my mommy." She stated matter-of-factly, poking out her bottom lip and hiccuping.
He automatically glanced up, discovered that everyone's attention had turned to him and the girl, and quickly averted his eyes back down. "But we didn't run over her." He grinned sheepishly at her and touched a finger to her nose. "Or you."
The perfectly adorable, absolutely heart-wrenching scene had Belle stepping forward and picking Madison up. "Are you okay, honey?" She asked, burying her face in her daughter's golden curls.
"Yes, ma'am." Maddy's eyes were focused on Shawn's in the darkness. "I'm Madison Renee Black." She stated, rather proudly.
Shawn chuckled and offered his hand. "I'm Shawn Douglas Brady, and I'm terribly sorry we almost ran over you and your mommy." His eyes were now intent on that very same mommy. He was very busy memorizing every curve of her face and the startling blueness of her eyes.
"Thanks." Belle deliberately looked away from Shawn and back to the other men. "Y'all can go on in, the party's just getting started."
Blake, Jason, and Ray Perry all nodded and offered final apologies before slipping away to the door of the club.
"Well, Madison Renee, I really hate to leave such wonderful company, but I should get in there before those guys get themselves in more trouble. It was a pleasure, pretty girl. Maybe we'll meet again sometime." His eyes were fixed on Belle's as he backed away.
Madison waved and grinned when he disappeared into the club. "He was pretty, Mommy."
"Yes. Yes, he was." She allowed her gaze to linger on the doors of the club before her eyes landed back on her daughter's. "Let's got get us a Christmas tree."
Santa Baby~Chapter 4
He winced when the loud music and bright lights of The Pink Flamingo filled his ears and eyes. It'd been a rough day, and he just didn't need this right now. He'd graduated from law school two years ago, was one of the top lawyers in his firm, and had yet to adjust to the rough schedule and trying emotional aspect of his job. So, his life had become his job and vice versa and every night he came directly home and went directly to bed.
Except tonight.
Spotting his buddies over at the bar, Shawn shoved past several drunken men and skimpily dressed waitresses then scowled down at his friends. "We haven't been here five minutes and you guys are already working on getting drunk." He flopped down on a stool next to Blake. "It's sad really."
Blake simply chuckled and slapped Shawn on the back companionably. "Here, son, have a drink. Loosen your tie. And for God's sake pull that stick out of your ass. Shit, Shawn, all you've done all night is complain. Can't you relax for one night? For me?"
Shawn grunted, took a sip of the beer that had been set in front of him. "Whatever."
"Thatta boy." Noticing that Jase and Ray were preoccupied, Blake leaned closer to his friend. "So, what happened between you and that blonde waitress that was on her way out?"
"The one we almost ran over?"
At Blake's nod, Shawn took another sip of his beer. "I don't know what you're talking about, man. We almost ran over her, her kid was crying, she was pissed off, and we fixed it. End of story."
Jesus, Blake thought as he studied Shawn's profile, I know this jackass way too well. "Shawn, how long've we been friends?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, looked back at Blake with a raised eyebrow. "Forever?"
"Exactly, that means I know you just about as well as or better than you know yourself. The blonde girl was making cow eyes at you, and you were makin' them back at her and her little girl. Now, I hadn't been followin' it all that closely, but how long's it been since you looked at a girl like that?" At Shawn's silent response, Blake shrugged. "Hell, son, I know you've had dates, sex, all that shit, but that's the first time in a long time that you haven't tried to pick up a beautiful broad. I figure it's because somethin'--how should I put this? Well, somethin' passed between you. A mutual attraction, if you will, that you both were too shy to act on." He chuckled then. "Fuck, did I just call you shy?"
Curious, Shawn looked at Blake's face for a few moments then grinned broadly. "Hell, Blake, you're full of shit." He laughed, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulder. "If I'm not mistaken this is your bachelor party, and I'm supposed to be the one that's ridin' your ass, not vice versa." He looked over Blake's head, whistled and waited until Ray and Jase's attention came back to them. "Hey, dumb and dumber, let's get this party started."
With a celebratory 'whoop', Jason grabbed a passing waitress by the waist and shoved her into Blake's lap. "Par-tay!"
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With a little sigh, she unlocked the door to the faded-blue Pinto. She couldn't really afford to have a car, but then again she couldn't really afford to not have a car, so it was a lose-lose situation. The Pinto was hideous and old, but it could get from point A to point B and that would just have to be enough for the time being.
The high price of gas and her inability to afford car insurance were just two more reasons that she spent so many nights at the bar. After all, she couldn't possibly walk the ten miles to her apartment every night, especially with Maddy. So, she'd purchased the car with her last three vacation bonuses which she'd saved so vehemently. And, when she needed to get home, it served its purpose.
She buckled Maddy into the passenger seat. "Want to listen to the radio, baby?"
"Yeah!"
She clicked on the radio and turned the tuner until she found the one station that would pick up. Lucky for her, the station was playing nonstop Christmas tunes and every time she turned to it she had the pleasure of seeing her daughter's face light up. Sinatra's crooning voice was on now. He was singing a very stirring rendition of Judy Garland's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Belle couldn't help but sigh as she threw the Pinto into first and headed out of the parking lot. The sound of Sinatra always reminded her of her Daddy. He was a fan of all those wonderful fifties crooners and was always playing an old Crosby, Como, or Martin record. It was the voice of Belle's past. The voice of childhood and happiness. A time of no responsibilities. A time when her father loved her.
"And have yourself a merry, little Christmas night..." She sighed again as the song came to an end and Frosty the Snowman began playing. "All right, Madison, where would you like to go to find a tree?"
Maddy simply shrugged and joined in on the chorus of Frosty. "Frosty the Snowman was a fairy tale they say--Mommy, can I ask Santa for something special this Christmas?"
Belle's heart sank. No, she thought, sadly, you can't ask Santa for something special this year. Santa's broke. Instead of telling the truth, she smiled, grabbed Maddy's hand and kissed it. "Of course, baby. What something special are you going to ask him for?"
"A daddy."
Her heart broke this time. She glanced over at her daughter. "A daddy? You want a daddy from Santa Claus?"
Madison sighed dramatically and turned her attention out the window. "More than anything." She whispered, looking up at the stars. "That man in the parking lot was nice. Maybe I should ask for him."
"What man, baby?" Though her heart was aching, she managed to smile over at Madison. Her poor, baby girl. She'd never know the love of a father.
"Shawn Douglas Brady."
This time Belle's lips curved automatically. Her daughter was pretty smart if she was going to ask Santa Clause for that handsome hunk of male. "Well, sweetie, I don't really think Santa's specialty is daddy's. He might have a hard time filling that order."
"Can I ask just in case?"
The hopeful tone of Madison's voice was something no mother could turn away from. She just couldn't break her little girl's heart, no matter how much she knew it would hurt her eventually. So Belle lied. "Of course you can, baby. You can ask for anything you'd like."
