The last day of the Christmas festival dawned clear and cold, with the sounds of the holidays everywhere. By the time the sun rose, "Santa" was already on his throne.
"All right, son, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?"
Rick nearly burst out laughing as his nephew Robin replied, "I want a horse, just like Auntie Laurie has, and a baseball glove, and a baby doll for my sister so she doesn't chew on the glove."
"Well, Robin, you're a good boy to want something for your sister. You keep minding your parents, and you'll find something under the tree, okay?"
"Yes, Santa. Thank you!" With a burst of enthusiasm Robin hugged Rick, then hopped off his lap, leaving a misty-eyed Santa behind.
"That was nice, "Santa", "Elf" Abby told him, trying not to cry. Rick shook his head.
"Now I know why Ron got so emotional being Santa for the kids. Okay, I think I'm ready for Ceci, now."
After hearing the wishes of seemingly half the children in Phoenix for the last two days, Rick was ready to raid a toy store and spend the rest of the holidays delivering presents. As Abby hung a "feeding my reindeer" sign on the door of "Santa's workshop", a voice stopped Rick as he climbed off his throne.
"You were good, Mr. Simon. How do you do it?" Tim Michaels stood lounging against the side of the little house.
"Oh, hi, Tim." Rick was pleased to see the boy, he'd finally started settling in the last day or so. "Well, you met Mr. Goldman, Laurie's father, didn't you?"
Tim shrugged nonchalantly . "I guess so.
"Well, he's been doing Santa for our family and friends for several years, and he taught me to listen to what the children are saying. This is my first time, so some of what makes him a good Santa must have rubbed off on me." Rick explained, seeing a puzzled look in the boy's eyes.
Just then his brother came up to him, an angry expression on his face. As Rick turned toward him, Tim mumbled some excuse, then slipped away.
"Rick, we need to talk. What time are you and Laurie getting back to the house?" The older Simon tensed, then saw Ron beckoning to both of them from the main park stage.
"As soon as she's done with her last story. What happened?"
"Tell you when we get home. Ron wants us." A.J. replied, obviously upset about something.
"Okay." Rick followed him toward the platform, where Laurie was sitting in her cowgirl costume, now trimmed with red and green sequins. Both brothers managed a smile as she waved at them, and Rick gave her a wink as they joined their friend.
"Guys, we had to move Laurie, there was just no way we could get this crowd in the picnic area. Can you guys help security, I don't want her to be nervous." Ron asked with a worried air.
"Sure, pal. A.J.?" Rick was concerned about him, it wasn't like A.J. to get worked up about nothing.
"I'm in." the younger man sighed, then gave Rick a reassuring smile.
As the Simons' took their places, Rick could see why Ron was concerned. As word had gotten out that Laurie was reading a Christmas story, many of her readers had packed the outdoor arena.
Taking a deep breath, Rick blew a kiss at his wife, who beamed at him, then stood and bowed as Ron introduced her.
Fortunately Laurie's ease in telling of her Great-Grandmother's "First Christmas On the Prairie" kept her audience riveted. Rick watched their reactions, then spotted Tim Michaels at the edge of the crowd. The boy seemed to enjoy the story, then volunteered his seat at one point to an older lady.
"Maybe he's ready to be part of our family." Rick thought, realizing that something about the lonely boy had touched him, reminded him of himself after his father had died.
As she finished the story, a loud ovation brought a smile to Laurie's face, then she ran off the stage into Rick's arms.
"That was great, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you!" he told her, dropping a kiss on her lips.
"It was you being there, Rick, you are my best audience. You too!" Laurie hugged him then A.J..
Deciding to whisk Laurie away before autograph seekers inundated her, both men linked arms with her then met up with their families. As they drove back to A.J.'s, Rick enjoyed hearing Tim's reactions to all the activities at the festival. Once they reached the condo, the boy seemed to change again, sulkily going outside the minute he saw Rick paying attention to his nieces and nephews.
"A.J., are you sure?"
Rick stood in A.J.'s kitchen, dumbfounded.
A.J. sat before him, his anger only slightly abated. His nephew Ricky stood next to him, his cheek bearing a fresh bruise. "I came around the corner right when he hit Ricky, good thing Ron got to him before I did." the younger Simon replied.
"He said you and Auntie Laurie were gross, kissing like a couple of teenagers, then when I told him he was full of it, he slugged me." Ricky told him. "Just then Uncle Ron came by, and Tim claimed he was just fooling around. Uncle Ron grabbed him by the collar and pulled him away."
"Ricky, I ….I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, son. I thought he was just acting out because he was upset about his mom." Rick didn't know what to think.
"Well, he's acting out all right-but I don't want him around the kids until he gets himself under control." A.J. huffed, trying to calm down. Rick put an arm around his namesake.
"I'm sorry, Ricky. I think I'm going to have a little talk with Tim, your Aunt and I have cut him some slack, but he's not going to get away with assaulting my nephew."
"Thanks, Uncle Rick." Ricky hugged him back, then added, "I guess maybe I'd be a little nasty if my parents took off on me, but then again…" the boy looked at his father, then threw his arms around him.
Touched, Rick had to look away as A.J. hugged his son. "It's all right, Ricky. You couldn't get rid of me or your mom if you tried."
Leaving the two of them, Rick furiously went looking for Tim, and found him sitting watching Ceci and Robin play with Melly.
"Tim, I need to speak with you a moment." He said, trying to stay calm. The kid turned and looked at him, and at once Rick swallowed his anger. There was a naked loneliness in his expression, and again Rick saw his 15-year-old self-staring back at him.
"If it's about socking Ricky, I already told Chief Ron I'm sorry." Tim told him, a tremor in his voice.
"It's not the Chief you need to apologize to, although that's a start." Rick explained in an even tone. "You had no right to hit Ricky, I'm not even going to bring up the fact you stirred him up by insulting Mrs. Simon and I."
"I know, I'm sorry. I was…." Tim took a deep breath. "I was jealous of Ricky, I just wanted to get a rise out of him, not you, Mr. Simon. I …I'm not used to seeing people, parents being nice to each other."
Rick tried not to swear…how had this kid been raised? "Well, I think you ought to apologize to him and A.J., then we'll call Chief Ron and see if there's been any word on your folks."
After he had seen to Tim's making amends, Rick drove the three of them home to the ranch. Tim pleaded tiredness and dozed off in the back seat the camper shell, while Rick and Laurie discussed the holiday fair and how successful it had been.
Once they were in the house, Laurie made a light supper, teasing Rick about all the junk food he'd eaten at the festival. Rick noticed the boy was hardly eating. "Tim?"
"Yes sir?" Tim cast his eyes reluctantly away from his plate, then faced husband and wife.
"Is something wrong? Do you feel okay?" Rick was concerned, then surprised when the young man pushed back from the table.
"Yeah, but I'm kinda tired. I think I'll go to bed. 'Night." He said, then went into his room and closed the door.
Rick stared after Tim, then sighed and finished his dinner, not noticing the worry in Laurie's eyes.
"Rick, I need to talk to you, can we go outside?" Laurie asked after clearing the dinner dishes.
"Sure, sweetheart." He looked up, and saw an upset look on her face. Suddenly it came to him that she must have been told by Linda or A.J. what Tim had said and done.
"Come on, Laurie, give the old man a hand up." He said, trying to tease her into a smile. Holding out his hand, she took it and he came up out of his chair like a shot, then pulled her into his arms.
"Gotcha." Rick grinned, then saw her face soften, a faint blush on her cheeks.
"You stinker, I can't ever be unhappy with you around." Laurie told him quietly, then she snuggled her face against his chest.
"Darlin'….." he kissed the top of her head, then taking her hand in his, led her out of the house and into the outdoor patio, where the last ray's of the sun shone coldly through the clouds.
"Now what's up? Is it this business with Tim?" Rick asked as they sat down, then let out a deep breath as Laurie nodded reluctantly.
"I'm sorry, Rick. I…I was pretty upset when Linda told me what Tim did, making fun of us then hitting Ricky when he confronted Tim. I'm beginning to think…." She stopped and looked downcast.
"What sweetheart? You can be honest with me." He was concerned as she hesitated, then blurted out, "I think Tim should go to a foster family, someone who can handle his problems."
"A foster family? Laurie, what are you talking about? We are his foster family, we're the only ones, heck, the only people other then Ron and A.J. who know or care about Tim." Rick was in disbelief that his wife would even think of such a thing.
"Rick, I know you care what happens to Tim, and so do I. But we, and I do mean we, don't have the slightest bit of experience with a troubled kid like Tim. His mood swings, his behavior, the way he lashes out at everyone, I don't know what to do about it." Laurie explained.
Rick shook his head vehemently. "Laurie, I do know how to handle Tim. I've already spoken to him about his acting out today, and he's apologized to Ricky and A.J.. He knows he crossed the line today, and it won't happen again."
"Rick, are you sure? I mean, kids are different then they used to be, and we don't know if this is the way…" Laurie began, only for Rick to interrupt her.
"Look, if you don't want Tim here, just say so, Laurie. I won't make you take care of him if you don't want to. But I think it's wrong to judge Tim on one or two blow-ups. And to force him to stay with strangers while his parents are who-knows-where?" Rick's voice started to rise.
"All right, Rick." Laurie said quietly. Rick looked at her and saw disappointment in her eyes. "Let's back off talking about this for the night. I don't think we can discuss this calmly right now, and I don't want to have Tim hear us bickering like this. I'll do the dishes if you can close up for the night."
"Okay, I'll be in the barn." Rick got up and strode briskly to the barn. As he methodically fed the few horses in the stalls and made a safety check, he started to realize what he had said, and worse yet, how he had treated Laurie. Hadn't he told her to be honest with him?
"Okay, so sending Tim to a foster home is wrong, but, what do I know about this kid? And how could I forget how he's treated Laurie, after the way she's tried to include him in things?" Rick thought.
Stubbornly he ignored the regret that started to wash over him, and finishing his chores, he closed the lights and started to shut the barn door, only to have a haunting picture flash before his eyes.
He saw the golden brown fur sticking out from under the sheet Rudy had gently placed over the dog. Except the unnatural quiet of the animal, it looked just like Mike was asleep…
Unshed tears spilled out of his eyes, and Rick quickly wiped his cheeks, ashamed how soon he could have forgotten the sadness they had both recently faced. Laurie hadn't wept one tear in his presence, trying to be supportive of his feelings.
But this boy…..what was he supposed to do, when he saw Tim hurting so much…so like how he felt..
Thinking all this through, Rick was no closer to a solution as he came in the house, then grabbing a cup of coffee, went to the living room. Hoping that Laurie was there, he found it empty and cold, then turned and saw that their bedroom door was now closed.
Sitting in his chair, Rick closed his eyes and leaned back, trying to deal with his mixed emotions. Laurie was right, he didn't have great knowledge of a young boy's behavior. Robbie had never acted out like Tim, neither had Ricky or Andy ….. All he had was a gut feeling that was increasingly suspect, and the honest words of his wife…who cared as much as he did.
"Rick?"
Startled, Rick opened his eyes to see Laurie on her knees in front of him. She reached out her hands, and automatically he took them in his.
"Darlin'….what is it?"
"I'm sorry, Rick. I was wrong to question how you could understand Tim. You do know more about how he feels then I could, and I had no right to doubt you or make any kind of assumptions about him. Can you forgive me?" She said somberly, a look of shame on her face.
"Laurie, oh, sweetheart, of course…." Emotionally Rick pulled her into his arms, then hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, darling….I love you, I'm so sorry…" Laurie began, only for Rick to kiss her, then releasing her lips for a moment, tell her, "I'm sorry, too, angel. Please forgive me, I should never have talked to you like that. You're right, I don't know Tim, and what if he has bigger problems then this?"
"Oh love, no…..I don't want you doubting yourself….please, Rick…we can work this out together…" Laurie whispered, then hungrily kissed him all over his face.
"Yes, sweetheart, we can….I promise never to blow up like that again." He replied, cupping her face in his hands. "I love you so much, I always want you to be honest with me, Laurie."
"I will, darling." She said, kissing his hands then meeting his lips with hers.
Gently kissing her cheek, Rick stood up from his chair with Laurie still in his arms. "Come on, Princess, I think we've both had a day, let's go to bed."
"Yes, Rick." Laurie put her arms around Rick's neck and let him carry her to their room. As he set her down on their bed, a rustle from outside the door caused him to turn, just in time to see Tim Michaels going back to his room. Rick thought about confronting the boy, but decided against it for the moment. A whimpering noise alerted him to Rex's wanting in, so he opened the kitchen door and let their pet in.
"Is someone out there, Rick?"
Laurie had a startled look on her face, and Rick hastened to reassure her.
"I think Rex woke someone up, he can sleep in here tonight."
As they got ready for bed, Rick faced a bitter truth….his wife was right, he may have underestimated the depth of Tim's problems.
As he settled down next to Laurie, a thump let him know Rex had decided to make himself at home at the foot of the bed. "Rex, off the bed!" he growled, then a soft giggle sounded in his ear.
"Darling, I think Rex will make a good foot warmer tonight, can he stay?"
"All right, princess. But why don't I be your bed warmer, instead?" he returned teasingly, turning toward his wife and gathering her against him.
"Hmmmm, you have very good ideas, love." Laurie pressed her lips against his neck, then snuggled her head under his chin.
All the worries of the day melted away instantly as Rick dropped a kiss on her hair, then closed his eyes. He'd get to the bottom of everything in the morning.
