MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Photo #41: Santa Aspen
Like every child in Illéa, Eadlyn and her siblings along with the Woodwork children grew up with the stories of the jolly man in the red suit with all the presents and sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. Every year on Christmas, there was a tradition of leaving Santa all the cookies as possible and boy, there were a lot. Instead of just a plate, they left Santa a whole cart of cookies with assorted flavors and kinds. The kids figured that if they could spoil and fatten Santa, he would be more jolly which would only lead to more presents under the tree and in their stockings.
As of right now, most of the kids in the palace stopped believing in Santa except for two: Osten still left the cookies and milk by the fireplace and Kaden was more on the skeptical side once he attempting to bring rationality in that story.
The next picture actually makes Eadlyn feel jolly inside her, which is odd since she rarely feels that sensation. She and Ahren were about nine-years-old and this photo was taken and it was also the one time Santa visited the royal palace.
-o-
Christmas time was the best time of all in the palace. The palace would be decorated to the extremes - colorful lights would be shining everywhere, wreaths on every door, stockings on the fireplace, maids would be wearing elf hats as Maxon wore a Santa hat, and a fully-dressed tree right at the base of the staircase.
There was just one thing missing to make the Christmas season better but they have found it.
"Kids, come down!" America yells from the bottom of the staircase. "Look who made a visit!"
At once, a snowstorm of footsteps come rushing down the stairs. It was Christmas Eve so the kids only knew one person who would visit them. The kids all stop at the bottom in pure shock as they see Santa Claus in front of them with a giant red sack thrown over his shoulder.
"Ho, ho, ho!" Santa cheers joyfully at them all. "Merry Christmas kids."
All the kids stand in a stunned silence. They knew the stories of Santa but only expected him to be here while they were all sleeping. America, holding a sleeping baby Osten, encourages them to come over. Marlee does the same as Carter and Maxon stand to the side with Lucy.
"Do you have presents in there?" Toddler Kaden asks Santa, pointing timidly in the sack.
Santa leans forwards, looking right into Kaden's eyes as well as the others. He smiles a little as he puts his throws his sack off of his shoulder and places it right in front of the kids. The kids look up with curiosity in their eyes and Santa gestures for them to go look inside. They slowly open it, see an assortment of colorfully-wrapped gifts, and burst into screams of joy.
What was once a clean Christmas setting turned into a mess of wrapping paper and cookie crumbs. All the kids began playing with their toys and with all the sugar from the cookies and possibly sugared milk, they had the energy boost to play for much longer.
Music softly play in the background as the little boys play with their fake swords in an attempt to save Princess Josie and her new unicorn plush toy from the evil stuffed dragon in the middle of them. Eadlyn sticks around Santa, who has his arm linked with Lucy's, asking him endless questions about his life in the North Pole. Marlee and Carter snuggle with each other under a blanket in front of the fireplace while sipping hot chocolate and watching the kids play around. Maxon joins the sword fight with the younger boys which makes America laugh to herself as she holds her baby boy in her arms.
"Maybe you'll be slaying the dragon with them next Christmas," America whispers to Osten as she kisses his forehead.
America lightly touches Osten's cheek with her finger and notices something in his swaddles. With wrinkled eyebrows, she pulls out a small green plant that somehow got in there. America looks at Osten in confusion and shock as he smiles back at her.
"How did you get mistletoe in there?" She asks Osten playfully.
"Who knows," Maxon replies ever-so-casually, appearing out of nowhere to quickly kiss her.
"You are done saving the princess?"
"Our princess fell asleep because we took too long."
All the parents, with the help of Santa and Lucy, all take the kids to bed once they have gotten tired of playing around and fighting dragons. When all that's all done being taken care of, Santa takes off his beard where it is finally revealed that the Santa Claus for this night was Aspen.
"Wow, that was a long night," Aspen says, taking a deep breath. "Who knew Santa had such a hard job?"
"Only you can pull off a fluffy white beard and bright red costume," Carter jokes playfully.
Aspen throws the fake beard at him. Carter happily puts it on and they all laugh.
"I think I ate too many cookies," Aspen says tiredly. "Well, that'll be good for next year since I probably won't be needing any padding under this Santa suit."
Oh, Aspen, if only you knew how much I will eat on Christmas...
Stay Tuned - I'm still in the winter spirit and so are the birds...
