AN: The final piece. I got it done, on Christmas no less! Eep! A very sappy chapter, but so so so SO much fun to write. Enjoy : )
Disclaimer: I asked Santa for Gordo for Christmas and I got him!! Not. So, still not mine. Except the plot. Keep your grubby little hands off my plot!
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Dear Santa
Part 4: Wish Come True
Gordo felt bored. Bored and tired. Bored and tired and lonely. He loved that he was able to work in his own home, editing his film work, going over things he had shot, reading through scripts of movies needing a director. It was the life he had always dreamed of having. A true director. But when he had finished all his editing, and going over, and reading, he always got bored. Especially when he was alone in the house, like he was now. He sighed and sat back in his desk chair, rubbing his tired eyes under the rims of his glasses. He was sick of staring at the computer screen, like he had been doing all day long. He rolled his neck a few times, cracking some joints, and loosening a few tight muscles.
To the left of his computer was a picture. His eyes fell upon it and a gentle smile crept onto his face. It was his favorite picture, of his two favorite people. His wife, and his daughter. The two most important women in his life, not including his mother, of course. The picture was taken earlier that year, in the fall, when the three of them had taken a trip to the pumpkin patch one afternoon. His wife and daughter had been sitting together on a tree truck in front of hundreds of pumpkins. In the picture it looked as if the two girls were sitting in an orange sea. He remembered the moment he snapped the picture, when his daughter had looked up at her mom in mock anger about something that she had said, and her mom had returned the look. So there they were, trying their best to hold their angry scowls, but their eyes shining with laughter. Snap, he took the picture. It was perfect.
He lightly ran his fore finger over the sunshine hair of his wife, still amazed that he was able to call her that. It often amazed him how fortunate he was to have such wonderful people in his life. His finger wandered to his curly headed daughter, and he silently thanked God above for her. She was his angel, his little girl, his heart and soul all wrapped into one small 5-year-old package. Above he heard footsteps and voices, and his smile grew as he quickly jogged up the basement steps to greet his family.
"Zoey Miranda Gordon, don't you are touch those gifts!" Gordo chuckled as he stepped into the living room to find his daughter creeping towards the gifts under their Christmas tree, and his wife rushing out of the kitchen to stop her. They spotted him then and all thoughts of Christmas and presents were forgotten as his daughter rushed at him giggling, and his wife crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Zoey cried and she leapt into Gordo's open arms. He swung her around in a full circle before squeezing her to him.
"Hey Zoey-girl, how was shopping with mommy?" He glanced over to where his wife was, only to find that she had already made her way back into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Zoey leaned back in her father's arms and smiled at him as she began to recap the events of the day.
"We did so much shopping today, and mommy kept saying that we were silly for shopping two days before Christmas because we should have gotten this done a long time ago! And she kept saying that she was silly, silly, silly, and I tried to tell her that she wasn't silly, but she wouldn't listen. I think she was talking to herself, cause she wasn't even looking at me. She was really stressed out daddy. But I think she calmed down after lunch because she said that she would be glad to get out of the mall, and there were only 3 more gifts to get, and hopefully we'd find them. And we did! So we finished all the gifts for Grammy and Grampy, and Auntie Miranda and Uncle Danny." She finished with a nod. Gordo stared at her wide-eyed and shook his head. He sure had a long-winded little girl.
"Well I'm glad everything's done, now we can just sit back and enjoy Christmas, right?" He plopped little Zoey down on the couch and tickled her lightly, giggling as she screamed with laughter.
"Maybe you two can sit back and enjoy Christmas. Mommy still has to buy plates, utensils, cups, and napkins for the Christmas party. Then she has to bake all day tomorrow, and cook all day the next day. And clean the house, and do the laundry, and keep you two losers fed, and make sure the caterers remember to come. Oh no. No enjoyment for this little Christmas elf, uh uh." Gordo laughed and turned around to find his wife of 6 years standing in the kitchen with a large spoon in hand, waving it around to get across her point. He stood up and sauntered over to her slowly, wrapping his arms around her slim waist when he reached his destination.
"Aww Liz, is this a cry for help?" He joked, nudging her cheek with his nose, and kissing her lightly on the lips. He felt her giggle and swat his arm with the big spoon.
"Stop it Gordo. And yes it's a cry for help, how about you help out a little more in the kitchen instead of playing with your camera all day, hmm?" She leaned back gave him an 'I-mean-it-Mister' look, which Gordo quickly erased when he leaned in to kiss her cheek and blew a raspberry instead.
"Works done from here on in, babe. I'm all yours. Put me to work, master." Again Lizzie giggled and smacked her husbands arm with her spoon. She pushed him away and with a shake of her head, turned and went back into the kitchen.
"I picked up some take-out on the way home, Chinese ok for dinner?" She called over her shoulder. Gordo shrugged and turned around to where he had left his daughter. She was no longer on the couch, but he spotted her kneeling in front of the tree, picking up gifts here and there, shaking them, then putting them back. A sly smile crept onto his features.
"Ok by me." He called to his wife. He crept stealthily behind the couch, towards the tree. Sneaking up behind his daughter, who was still oblivious to his knowledge of her whereabouts, he snickered before cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Zoey, you mind Chinese?" He shouted, and then burst into laughter when Zoey leapt from her crouching position 4 feet into the air before spinning around and staring at her father. Fear, shock, confusion, and anger all passed through her features in mere seconds, before she decided to settle on innocence.
"Hi daddy!" She greeted in a frilly, cutesy voice. She struck an 'I haven't done anything' pose and smiled sweetly up at her father, who stood, crossed his arms and stared right back down at her in mock anger.
"Hello Zoey." He said sternly, fighting the smile that wanted to come through his frown. When Zoey batted her eyes and tilted her head like a lost puppy, he couldn't fight the smile any longer. He laughed heartily and pulled his daughter into his arms, before standing with her and leading her away from the tree. Before he reached the kitchen, Zoey stopped him by kicking her legs and demanding to be put down.
"Wait, wait! I have something for you. I picked it out myself today at the mall. You're gonna love it, it's perfect!" She cried as she made a mad dash for the tree.
"Hold it, hold it, little girl. Don't you wanna wait until Christmas before you give that to your father? It IS a Christmas present after all." Lizzie called as she came out from the kitchen and came to a stop beside her husband. Zoey came to a screeching stop and stood facing the tree for a moment. Seconds later she dropped her head dejectedly and turned around.
"Oh alright." She sighed as she walked right past both her parents without a glance their way. Lizzie giggled softly, which in turn caused Gordo to chuckle.
"She's so impatient sometimes." He remarked as he and Lizzie followed their only daughter into the kitchen.
"She gets it from you, you know." Lizzie said as she sat down next to Zoey who was already seated at the table and staring at her plate. Gordo glared at his wife as he took his seat at the head of the table, but smiled when Lizzie batted her eyes, looking exactly like Zoey had, and blew him a kiss. The small family said Grace and began to eat, talking about their day, work, people they had talked to, school, friends, and anything else that came into the conversation.
Later that night, after Lizzie and Gordo had put Zoey to bed, the two sat silently in their own bed. Lizzie was looking over the cookbook her mother had given her as an early Christmas gift, and Gordo was reading one of his old Stephen King novels. Unable to concentrate on his book, Gordo looked at his wife, admiring her beauty. He reflected on the past 6 years of their marriage, and on down memory lane to the past 30 years of friendship they had shared. They had had their fights, enough to be labeled an 'on again, off again' couple in their college years, but they always seemed to find each other again. They had been amazing as friends, and truly spectacular as lovers. He had never met a more genuine and caring person in all his years, nor had he ever come across anyone who surpassed her beauty. Lizzie looked over at him from her cookbook, feeling his eyes on her, and gave him a weird look.
"What?" She asked. Gordo smiled and continued to stare.
"Gordo, what is it?" Still, Gordo said nothing. Lizzie began to get impatient.
"David Zephyr Gordon, if you don't stop staring at me, I'll kick you out of the bedroom. You'll have to sleep with Zoey. And she kicks. Hard." Lizzie threatened with a smile. Gordo laughed and shook his head.
"I hate it when you use my middle name, Liz." He commented, tearing his eyes from her.
"Precisely the reason I use it, dear." Lizzie giggled, turning her attention back to her cookbook. Suddenly Gordo got out of bed.
"What are you doing?" Lizzie asked, watching him questioningly. Gordo said nothing, but turned his head and gave her a wink and a smile. He walked into their closet and rummaged around for a few minutes before emerging with a small shoebox in hand. He padded back over the bed, and got in, turning to Lizzie with the box in his hands.
"This is kind of an early Christmas present, I want you to see it now." He said seriously, looking her straight in the eyes. Lizzie held his gaze and took the box from his hands. She opened the lid and, finally breaking her stare, looked down into the box.
"Letters? I don't understand..." She said, looking up at Gordo again with questioning eyes. Gordo nodded his chin at the letters.
"Read them." He instructed simply. Lizzie picked up a letter and began to read. She spent the next few minutes reading silently, with Gordo watching her face for emotions. He could tell she was shocked and overwhelmed. He watched with a small smile as he eyes filled with tears, knowing he had touched her with his gift.
"You...you wrote these? You asked Santa to...Gordo I never knew...wow. I don't know what..." Before she could find any words to express how she felt, their door creaked open and they both looked over to find their little girl standing in the doorway awkwardly.
"What's the matter, baby?" Gordo asked, patting the end of the bed for her to sit on. She treaded over silently and crawled onto the bed before speaking.
"My friend Suzy told me something today that I didn't understand." She started.
"She told me that Santa wasn't real, that he was just made up by parents so that they didn't get spoiled. But Grammy and Grampy, and you too Daddy, always told me that Santa brought us presents if we were good. Why did Suzy say Santa isn't real? He is real, isn't he?" She asked, looking at her parents helplessly, begging for understanding. Gordo kept silent and looked at Lizzie, letting her know that it was up to her what to tell their little girl. When Zoey was younger Lizzie always let Gordo tell her his silly stories about Santa, but never giving any input. He knew she'd never be able to tell her daughter stories about something she didn't believe in. He knew that if she were ever to tell Zoey anything about Santa, it would be when she herself finally believed.
Lizzie looked at her daughter for a long time. She then looked down at the letters in her hands, and strewn about her. Finally she looked at Gordo. She stared at him, deep in thought, for what seemed like forever. Zoey was beginning to get impatient, and sigh loudly to remind them that she was still in the room and waiting for help. Lizzie broke the gaze that she had been holding with Gordo and turned to her little girl.
"Honey, Santa is as real as you or I. Sometimes little girls and boys don't believe in Santa because their parents were never told about Santa, so they don't know him. Next time you talk to Suzy, tell her everything you know about Santa, and tell her to tell her parents so that Santa will make them all happy at Christmas. Because, sweetheart, when people don't believe in Santa, it's like having a tiny little hole inside. Because that's what Santa is, he's a piece of all us, we just have to believe in him and that little hole will be filled. You know what you could do that might help? Maybe you could ask Santa to help her believe in him, it might be worth a shot." She explained, choking back her tears of joy. Zoey smiled brightly and nodded. She leaned forward and gave both Lizzie and Gordo a kiss on the cheek before running off back to bed.
"Thanks mommy, goodnight!" She called, before shutting the door behind her. Gordo could feel a few tears fill his eyes as he looked at his beautiful wife. She turned to him, her face glowing with happiness, tears streaming down her face. They smiled at each other, and said nothing for a few moments.
"I love you." Gordo said, breaking the silence.
"I love you too." Lizzie whispered before leaning in and kissing Gordo passionately.
---
Dear Santa,
You did it. You finally got her to believe. Thank you a million times. I knew you could do it. It took some time, but I never gave up hope. Merry Christmas, old friend.
Gordo
P.S. You'll soon be receiving a letter from my little girl. My wife told her you might be able to help her with a friend who is having trouble believing in you. Thanks again ; )
AN: Well what can I say except...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!
Disclaimer: I asked Santa for Gordo for Christmas and I got him!! Not. So, still not mine. Except the plot. Keep your grubby little hands off my plot!
---
Dear Santa
Part 4: Wish Come True
Gordo felt bored. Bored and tired. Bored and tired and lonely. He loved that he was able to work in his own home, editing his film work, going over things he had shot, reading through scripts of movies needing a director. It was the life he had always dreamed of having. A true director. But when he had finished all his editing, and going over, and reading, he always got bored. Especially when he was alone in the house, like he was now. He sighed and sat back in his desk chair, rubbing his tired eyes under the rims of his glasses. He was sick of staring at the computer screen, like he had been doing all day long. He rolled his neck a few times, cracking some joints, and loosening a few tight muscles.
To the left of his computer was a picture. His eyes fell upon it and a gentle smile crept onto his face. It was his favorite picture, of his two favorite people. His wife, and his daughter. The two most important women in his life, not including his mother, of course. The picture was taken earlier that year, in the fall, when the three of them had taken a trip to the pumpkin patch one afternoon. His wife and daughter had been sitting together on a tree truck in front of hundreds of pumpkins. In the picture it looked as if the two girls were sitting in an orange sea. He remembered the moment he snapped the picture, when his daughter had looked up at her mom in mock anger about something that she had said, and her mom had returned the look. So there they were, trying their best to hold their angry scowls, but their eyes shining with laughter. Snap, he took the picture. It was perfect.
He lightly ran his fore finger over the sunshine hair of his wife, still amazed that he was able to call her that. It often amazed him how fortunate he was to have such wonderful people in his life. His finger wandered to his curly headed daughter, and he silently thanked God above for her. She was his angel, his little girl, his heart and soul all wrapped into one small 5-year-old package. Above he heard footsteps and voices, and his smile grew as he quickly jogged up the basement steps to greet his family.
"Zoey Miranda Gordon, don't you are touch those gifts!" Gordo chuckled as he stepped into the living room to find his daughter creeping towards the gifts under their Christmas tree, and his wife rushing out of the kitchen to stop her. They spotted him then and all thoughts of Christmas and presents were forgotten as his daughter rushed at him giggling, and his wife crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Zoey cried and she leapt into Gordo's open arms. He swung her around in a full circle before squeezing her to him.
"Hey Zoey-girl, how was shopping with mommy?" He glanced over to where his wife was, only to find that she had already made her way back into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Zoey leaned back in her father's arms and smiled at him as she began to recap the events of the day.
"We did so much shopping today, and mommy kept saying that we were silly for shopping two days before Christmas because we should have gotten this done a long time ago! And she kept saying that she was silly, silly, silly, and I tried to tell her that she wasn't silly, but she wouldn't listen. I think she was talking to herself, cause she wasn't even looking at me. She was really stressed out daddy. But I think she calmed down after lunch because she said that she would be glad to get out of the mall, and there were only 3 more gifts to get, and hopefully we'd find them. And we did! So we finished all the gifts for Grammy and Grampy, and Auntie Miranda and Uncle Danny." She finished with a nod. Gordo stared at her wide-eyed and shook his head. He sure had a long-winded little girl.
"Well I'm glad everything's done, now we can just sit back and enjoy Christmas, right?" He plopped little Zoey down on the couch and tickled her lightly, giggling as she screamed with laughter.
"Maybe you two can sit back and enjoy Christmas. Mommy still has to buy plates, utensils, cups, and napkins for the Christmas party. Then she has to bake all day tomorrow, and cook all day the next day. And clean the house, and do the laundry, and keep you two losers fed, and make sure the caterers remember to come. Oh no. No enjoyment for this little Christmas elf, uh uh." Gordo laughed and turned around to find his wife of 6 years standing in the kitchen with a large spoon in hand, waving it around to get across her point. He stood up and sauntered over to her slowly, wrapping his arms around her slim waist when he reached his destination.
"Aww Liz, is this a cry for help?" He joked, nudging her cheek with his nose, and kissing her lightly on the lips. He felt her giggle and swat his arm with the big spoon.
"Stop it Gordo. And yes it's a cry for help, how about you help out a little more in the kitchen instead of playing with your camera all day, hmm?" She leaned back gave him an 'I-mean-it-Mister' look, which Gordo quickly erased when he leaned in to kiss her cheek and blew a raspberry instead.
"Works done from here on in, babe. I'm all yours. Put me to work, master." Again Lizzie giggled and smacked her husbands arm with her spoon. She pushed him away and with a shake of her head, turned and went back into the kitchen.
"I picked up some take-out on the way home, Chinese ok for dinner?" She called over her shoulder. Gordo shrugged and turned around to where he had left his daughter. She was no longer on the couch, but he spotted her kneeling in front of the tree, picking up gifts here and there, shaking them, then putting them back. A sly smile crept onto his features.
"Ok by me." He called to his wife. He crept stealthily behind the couch, towards the tree. Sneaking up behind his daughter, who was still oblivious to his knowledge of her whereabouts, he snickered before cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Zoey, you mind Chinese?" He shouted, and then burst into laughter when Zoey leapt from her crouching position 4 feet into the air before spinning around and staring at her father. Fear, shock, confusion, and anger all passed through her features in mere seconds, before she decided to settle on innocence.
"Hi daddy!" She greeted in a frilly, cutesy voice. She struck an 'I haven't done anything' pose and smiled sweetly up at her father, who stood, crossed his arms and stared right back down at her in mock anger.
"Hello Zoey." He said sternly, fighting the smile that wanted to come through his frown. When Zoey batted her eyes and tilted her head like a lost puppy, he couldn't fight the smile any longer. He laughed heartily and pulled his daughter into his arms, before standing with her and leading her away from the tree. Before he reached the kitchen, Zoey stopped him by kicking her legs and demanding to be put down.
"Wait, wait! I have something for you. I picked it out myself today at the mall. You're gonna love it, it's perfect!" She cried as she made a mad dash for the tree.
"Hold it, hold it, little girl. Don't you wanna wait until Christmas before you give that to your father? It IS a Christmas present after all." Lizzie called as she came out from the kitchen and came to a stop beside her husband. Zoey came to a screeching stop and stood facing the tree for a moment. Seconds later she dropped her head dejectedly and turned around.
"Oh alright." She sighed as she walked right past both her parents without a glance their way. Lizzie giggled softly, which in turn caused Gordo to chuckle.
"She's so impatient sometimes." He remarked as he and Lizzie followed their only daughter into the kitchen.
"She gets it from you, you know." Lizzie said as she sat down next to Zoey who was already seated at the table and staring at her plate. Gordo glared at his wife as he took his seat at the head of the table, but smiled when Lizzie batted her eyes, looking exactly like Zoey had, and blew him a kiss. The small family said Grace and began to eat, talking about their day, work, people they had talked to, school, friends, and anything else that came into the conversation.
Later that night, after Lizzie and Gordo had put Zoey to bed, the two sat silently in their own bed. Lizzie was looking over the cookbook her mother had given her as an early Christmas gift, and Gordo was reading one of his old Stephen King novels. Unable to concentrate on his book, Gordo looked at his wife, admiring her beauty. He reflected on the past 6 years of their marriage, and on down memory lane to the past 30 years of friendship they had shared. They had had their fights, enough to be labeled an 'on again, off again' couple in their college years, but they always seemed to find each other again. They had been amazing as friends, and truly spectacular as lovers. He had never met a more genuine and caring person in all his years, nor had he ever come across anyone who surpassed her beauty. Lizzie looked over at him from her cookbook, feeling his eyes on her, and gave him a weird look.
"What?" She asked. Gordo smiled and continued to stare.
"Gordo, what is it?" Still, Gordo said nothing. Lizzie began to get impatient.
"David Zephyr Gordon, if you don't stop staring at me, I'll kick you out of the bedroom. You'll have to sleep with Zoey. And she kicks. Hard." Lizzie threatened with a smile. Gordo laughed and shook his head.
"I hate it when you use my middle name, Liz." He commented, tearing his eyes from her.
"Precisely the reason I use it, dear." Lizzie giggled, turning her attention back to her cookbook. Suddenly Gordo got out of bed.
"What are you doing?" Lizzie asked, watching him questioningly. Gordo said nothing, but turned his head and gave her a wink and a smile. He walked into their closet and rummaged around for a few minutes before emerging with a small shoebox in hand. He padded back over the bed, and got in, turning to Lizzie with the box in his hands.
"This is kind of an early Christmas present, I want you to see it now." He said seriously, looking her straight in the eyes. Lizzie held his gaze and took the box from his hands. She opened the lid and, finally breaking her stare, looked down into the box.
"Letters? I don't understand..." She said, looking up at Gordo again with questioning eyes. Gordo nodded his chin at the letters.
"Read them." He instructed simply. Lizzie picked up a letter and began to read. She spent the next few minutes reading silently, with Gordo watching her face for emotions. He could tell she was shocked and overwhelmed. He watched with a small smile as he eyes filled with tears, knowing he had touched her with his gift.
"You...you wrote these? You asked Santa to...Gordo I never knew...wow. I don't know what..." Before she could find any words to express how she felt, their door creaked open and they both looked over to find their little girl standing in the doorway awkwardly.
"What's the matter, baby?" Gordo asked, patting the end of the bed for her to sit on. She treaded over silently and crawled onto the bed before speaking.
"My friend Suzy told me something today that I didn't understand." She started.
"She told me that Santa wasn't real, that he was just made up by parents so that they didn't get spoiled. But Grammy and Grampy, and you too Daddy, always told me that Santa brought us presents if we were good. Why did Suzy say Santa isn't real? He is real, isn't he?" She asked, looking at her parents helplessly, begging for understanding. Gordo kept silent and looked at Lizzie, letting her know that it was up to her what to tell their little girl. When Zoey was younger Lizzie always let Gordo tell her his silly stories about Santa, but never giving any input. He knew she'd never be able to tell her daughter stories about something she didn't believe in. He knew that if she were ever to tell Zoey anything about Santa, it would be when she herself finally believed.
Lizzie looked at her daughter for a long time. She then looked down at the letters in her hands, and strewn about her. Finally she looked at Gordo. She stared at him, deep in thought, for what seemed like forever. Zoey was beginning to get impatient, and sigh loudly to remind them that she was still in the room and waiting for help. Lizzie broke the gaze that she had been holding with Gordo and turned to her little girl.
"Honey, Santa is as real as you or I. Sometimes little girls and boys don't believe in Santa because their parents were never told about Santa, so they don't know him. Next time you talk to Suzy, tell her everything you know about Santa, and tell her to tell her parents so that Santa will make them all happy at Christmas. Because, sweetheart, when people don't believe in Santa, it's like having a tiny little hole inside. Because that's what Santa is, he's a piece of all us, we just have to believe in him and that little hole will be filled. You know what you could do that might help? Maybe you could ask Santa to help her believe in him, it might be worth a shot." She explained, choking back her tears of joy. Zoey smiled brightly and nodded. She leaned forward and gave both Lizzie and Gordo a kiss on the cheek before running off back to bed.
"Thanks mommy, goodnight!" She called, before shutting the door behind her. Gordo could feel a few tears fill his eyes as he looked at his beautiful wife. She turned to him, her face glowing with happiness, tears streaming down her face. They smiled at each other, and said nothing for a few moments.
"I love you." Gordo said, breaking the silence.
"I love you too." Lizzie whispered before leaning in and kissing Gordo passionately.
---
Dear Santa,
You did it. You finally got her to believe. Thank you a million times. I knew you could do it. It took some time, but I never gave up hope. Merry Christmas, old friend.
Gordo
P.S. You'll soon be receiving a letter from my little girl. My wife told her you might be able to help her with a friend who is having trouble believing in you. Thanks again ; )
AN: Well what can I say except...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!