Chapter 3: Dear Santa
The next morning I was woken up by Troy's incessant snoring. The man was worse than an alarm clock. Did I want to be woken up by that every morning for the rest of my life? I turned over to look at him, completely asleep and vulnerable. He was hugging the pillow with his face turned towards me and a smile playing on his lips. He moved a little in his sleep.
"Ryan….love….you," he mumbled then buried his head in his pillow even more. Did I want to wake up to that every morning? Yes, yes I do. "I love you too," I said with a smile, as I turned off the alarm so he wouldn't wake up right away. I hopped into the shower and got dressed. While I was knotting my tie I leaned over Troy and kissed him.
"Wake up baby," I said then nudged him a bit.
"Don't wanna," he whimpered.
"Fine. I'll just go wake up Riley by myself then," I said standing.
"No you don't," he said bolting out of bed. "I'm up, I'm up, don't do it with out me!" He looked at me, once he saw my smirk he knew he'd been tricked. "Oh that's such a foul."
I uncrossed my arms and smiled at him. "Is not," I said then kissed him. "Nice boxers. Get in the shower." He kissed me again and looked at me with a smile. "I promise I won't go with out you." He let out an agitated noise, and headed off to the shower. He hates it when I do that. He's my little book. I laughed to myself as went to start the coffee pot.
When I returned upstairs the two of us went to wake up Riley. God Troy loves that kid. He would freak if he ever missed waking her up. Riley likes it too. We sit on her bed on either side and nudge her back and forth singing "Good Morning" from Singin' in the Rain. Eventually Riley wakes up and starts singing too. I head downstairs as Troy helps her get dressed and does her hair while I start breakfast. It's like our own little tradition. We all look forward to it every morning.
Once the two of them came down, they joined me at the table to eat.
"Troy, I have to take you to work today. I have a meeting at noon away from the office. I'm gonna drop you two off today and pick you up." He nodded.
"I like it when you pick us up Daddy." Riley said balancing her cereal spoon on her nose.
"I'm glad peanut, now take that off your nose, and eat properly." Troy laughed. I just gave him a look. "Don't act all innocent. I know it was you who taught her how to do that Bolton."
"Did not! Tell him Riley," Troy begged. Riley just laughed.
"Now you're teaching my daughter to lie? Where will it end?" I sighed putting my hand on my forehead. Okay, so I haven't completely lost my flare for the dramatics. The three of us broke out laughing.
When everything was tidied up, we all got our coats on, and got in my truck. I dropped both Troy and Riley off at school, kissing them goodbye, and headed to my office.
Margie handed me a stack of papers, that I had to go through, as well as a stack of Christmas cards to sign for my staff. It kept me busy till noon, when I made my escape.
I drove down to the repair place where they were working on Troy's car, after twenty minutes, and a signed piece of paper, I took care of Troy's worries. I wanted him to relax this Christmas. I told you, I was fixing it the only way I knew how.
When I got back to the office, Margie handed me a Post-it note. Call your sister. I sat down, and dialed the familiar long distance number.
"Sharpay Evans, the most talented Evans of all and star extraordinaire." She answered
"You're full of it."
"Why Merry Christmas dear brother, how are you?" I could just hear her laughing on the other end.
"Just fine."
"And Riley and Troy, did you finally get something for Troy?"
"They're good and yes I did. I think I did quite well this year thank you very much." Actually, I know I did well this year. Poor man isn't gonna know what hit him.
"Are you sure about that? Mister 'I swear I thought the striped argyle scarf would match your coat'?"
"Please. You know that was a joke. And shut up!" I couldn't help but laugh. I missed our Evans banter.
"Okay. I miss you baby brother. Anyways, will you be picking me up at the airport tomorrow or is pop?"
"Nope, Dad is. Troy and I are doing Christmas Eve together. We will see you on Sunday morning though."
"Alright. Well, I will see you then. Say hi to Riley for me and Trooooy too," She said purring out his name.
"You're just jealous that he picked me over you." I said laughing.
"You deserved him Ryan, never forget that. I love you." She always knew what to say to make you feel good about yourself. She never showed it in high school but when you caught her alone, and you were upset; she was a great person to be around.
"Love ya too Sharpie." Once I hung up the phone, I gathered all the Christmas cards off of Margie's desk that I signed earlier. She had put all of the Christmas checks in them while I was gone. I headed down to the large board room where my entire staff had congregated in a celebration of the holidays.
I made a short speech thanking everyone for their tremendous work then proceeded to hand out everyone's cards. I relaxed once everything was taken care of, and just caught up with my employees. When three o'clock rolled around, I sent everyone home early, and packed up and headed to the school.
I first stopped at Miss Carmichael's room where Riley bounced over to me excitedly.
"Hi Daddy."
"Hi Peanut. Do you have everything?" She ran to her desk and grabbed her knapsack. Then she said her goodbyes to her friends, and finally her teacher.
"Bye Miss Carmichael. I promise my homework will get done even if I need help, and Merry Christmas!" I could just see her shaking her head with a chuckle as Riley came back to me ready to go. Even when Troy wasn't her teacher, she still gave her homework promise.
Riley skipped down the hallway towards Troy's classroom ahead of me. When I reached his classroom, I leaned against the door frame just watching the two of them interact. Troy had her in his arms again, knowing full well that he had caught her mid run as always. He walked over and stood in front of me. He tilted his head to the side trying to look serious. He cracked a smile just before he kissed me.
"Hi honey. Good day?" He asked as he slipped his free arm around my back.
"Yeah," I said. I tried stifling a yawn, but failed. "Apparently I'm tired though."
"Oh, dang. I was hoping we could stop at the mall quickly. I wanna pick up something last minute for my Dad."
"We can do that, I don't mind," I agreed.
"Can I see Santa?" Riley asked hopeful.
"Honey, you already saw Santa last weekend remember?" I said, thinking about how happy Troy had been watching Riley sitting on the knee of jolly old Saint Nick. The look on his face was pure pride, and it was priceless. "On second thought, sure you can."
After fighting the parking lot for ten minutes, we finally made our way inside. Thank God I finished my shopping early. It was insane. Troy went in the store as Riley and I waited on a bench. He already knew what he needed, but it still took him twenty minutes to get in and out. If he was any longer, I was calling in a SWAT team.
We weaved our way in and out of the crowds. I had Riley on my hip, and was holding on to Troy's hand. I didn't feel like losing one of them in this crowd, I don't think I'd find them until New Years if I did. We made our way to where Santa was set up, and waited in line. Troy and Riley had a face making contest while we waited. I swear that man has never actually out grown the kid stage.
"I love you, you know that?" He looked at me and smiled his million watt smile.
"I know. Everyday you show me that you do. I love you too." Troy replied, just as it was Riley's turn.
She walked over to him and sat on his knee. Troy just watched proudly, as she talked the poor man's ear off. I was looking back and forth between them. I wanted to hear what Riley was saying.
"Hi Santa, I know I talked to you last week, but I forgot one really important thing I want for Christmas." She said this to him all in one breath. I think the old man was shocked at that. He encouraged her to go on. "Well what I really want more than anything on my list is a Pop."
I stood there stunned. I knew what Riley meant, but judging the look on both Santa and Troy's face, I don't think all the pieces were there. I knew though, that my daughter never fails in her timing.
"I mean, I have my Daddy, and I will never trade him for the world, but I want a Papa too." At that moment, I turned to look at Troy's face. His mouth was on the floor and his face was pale. He was definitely not expecting that, of course neither was I. I knew Riley loved Troy a lot, and I thought that me, proposing to Troy would be fine with her, I just didn't think she would ever come out and say she wanted that.
Santa still looked confused. He said he'd try, and then gave her a candy cane, and she was back to our side. I lifted her up on my hip, and looked at her. I swear I saw a twinkle in her eye. She just smiled at me, and buried her face in the crook of my neck. I reached for Troy's hand and gently pulled him towards the exit. He was too stunned to say a word. He had this far away look in his eyes, as if it was his only wish in the world.
He didn't say a word the entire car ride home, which took longer than it normally did, thanks to rush hour and Christmas. Even though he didn't say a word, that wistful glazed over look never left his face. Riley fell asleep, almost as if her confession knocked the wind out of her. I reached over with my one hand and threaded my fingers through his. He still didn't say anything; I think he was still processing the idea. He didn't look at me, keeping his gaze facing the window, but he squeezed my hand just a little, to let me know he was okay.
When we were home, Troy cradled Riley in his arms as he took her out of the car, and put her to bed for a nap. When he came back down, I had already started on dinner. He came up to me and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around him as he hid his head in the crook of my neck. I kissed the top of his head, and just held him for a minute. When he looked up at me, I kissed him hard. He kissed me back, and then deepened the kiss. He leaned back a bit and smiled at me. He popped a piece of cheese from my cutting board into his mouth, grinned at me, swatted my behind and left to watch TV. Any doubt that had been in my mind was now completely out the window. Everything was going to be just fine on Christmas morning.
DisneyKid