CHRISTMAS 1984
“Ah,
Face
stared at the Colonel, his mind spinning as he desperately tried to think of
another option.
“What
about you?”
“Can’t. Someone’s gotta keep
order and be on the look out for Decker.”
“Well,
why can’t you let me do that then?”
“Too
dangerous. There’re too many good
looking women around. You’ll get
distracted, and anyway, I’m pulling rank.”
Glaring,
Face didn’t like the way
“Okay,
what about Murdock then? Get him to do
it.”
“He
can’t.”
“Why
not?”
“He’s
already dressed up.”
“Dressed
up? What as? An elf?!”
Face
groaned. “You’re serious? Murdock?
An elf? W-what were you
thinking?”
“Tights?!”
“Yeah,
nice festive green ones. Tawnia’s dressing up too.
They look pretty cute in their outfits.
They’ll be your little helpers.”
“But,
“No,
buts, Lieutenant. There’s no way you’re
getting out of this one. We owe the
store after that little run in we had with Decker last time we were here. This is the least we can do.”
“But…”
“Look,
kid, the children want Santa, so we’re going to give them Santa and you’re gonna be him. BA
would love to do it, but he can’t, so it’s you.
Now stop whining, put that beard and hat on and get out there to the
children. You don’t want to let them
down, do you now? That would just ruin
Christmas for them.”
Face
sighed. He didn’t want to ruin Christmas
for the hundreds of screaming kids he knew would be coming through the store
that day, but that didn’t necessarily mean the wanted to have them all climb on
his knee either. But it looked as if
there was no other choice.
“Okay,
Sighing
again, Face pulled on the fake, itchy beard and red hat, before stepping out to
be greeted by a big, juvenile cry of, “SANTA!”
*-*-*
If
there was ever a time when his conman skills were pushed to the limit, this was
it. If he had just one more snotty
nosed, spoilt kid sit on his knee and demand a pony, or a life sized dolls
house, or a go-cart or a fully automatic, realistic, life sized Ghostbusters’
proton pack then he was sure he was going to scream. That’s what the problem with today’s kids
was. It was all me, me, me, more, more,
more, now, now, now.
“And
then, Santa, I want Sun Golden Malibu Barbie and Crystal Barbie too, the one with
the big pink dress and one of those cars that they can go around in ‘cause
Sammy - that’s my annoying brother - broke my last one because I threw his
stupid little car out the window. It was
his fault ‘cause I never wanted a little brother. So I want another Barbie car, a pink one, not
the yellow one because Jessica Hart’s got a yellow one and she’s spoilt and
stuck up. Pink’s better anyway. Oh and can you take my brother away because
he’s really annoying and keeps hiding all my dolls. I think that’s it.”
Face
tried hard to bite back the sigh and was suddenly thankful that most of his
face was hidden behind the fake beard.
“Ho,
ho, ho,” he said in the deepest voice he could manage. “That’s rather a lot of toys. Have you been good this year?”
The
little girl looked at him as if he was suddenly speaking another language,
before expertly tossing back her golden ringlets.
“Tina
Jacobs says you don’t have to be good, you’re going to come anyway. It’s the law.”
“Is
it now? Well, we’ll see about that.” Relaxing his leg he slipped her off his knee,
plastering a smile on his face. “Now run
along, and Merry Christmas.”
He
watched as Murdock showed the kid back to her parents. Never had a he felt so relieved to see the
back of a child.
“Tired,
muchacho?”
Murdock asked when he returned.
The pilot’s eyes seemed to hold a very unnatural twinkle in them,
although Face did have to admit, his friend did look quite fetching in green
tights. No one else would have been able
to pull the look off, but somehow Murdock had.
“Exhausted,”
Face groaned, careful to keep his voice down.
“Tell
Murdock
grinned just as Tawnia appeared with another
child. “Yes, Santa,” he replied, moving
out the way so Tawnia could introduce the next little
boy.
“Hello,
Santa, this is Timmy.”
Face
looked down, his breath catching momentarily in his throat as he looked into
the saddest set of blue eyes he had seen in years.
“Hello,
Timmy, do you want to come and sit on my knee?”
The
kid didn’t reply, just didn’t object when he was lifted onto Face’s lap.
“Now,
Timmy, what do you want for Christmas?”
The
kid looked away, his face scrunching up at the words. Face was very taken back. It was the last reaction he had been
expected. All the other children had
been so eager to ask for the world, but this little boy…
“Timmy?”
The
boy looked at him then, only briefly but it was enough for Face to be able to
see the tears in his eyes.
“Hey,
kid, what’s wrong?”
“You’re…
you’re not going to be coming this year.”
Face
frowned.
“Not
going to be coming to visit you? And why
do you say that? Santa always comes to
visit.”
The
little boy shook his head, his little voice trembling.
“Not
this year. Mrs Bradley said that you,
you won’t be coming this Christmas.”
There
was something in the tone that made Face freeze. Suddenly it all seemed all too familiar. The sad eyes, the reluctant movements, the
soft admittance. Something told him he
needed to tread carefully here.
“Who’s
Mrs Bradley, Timmy?”
The
boy sniffed. “She runs the children’s
home where I live. She said Santa
couldn’t come this year.”
Face
closed his eyes lost briefly in his own memories. “I’m sorry, Timmy.”
He
wasn’t sure why he said that.
“S’okay. I
understand. We… no one wants us.”
Face
tensed, cursing himself for his words.
He of all people should have known better.
“Now
listen, Timmy,” he replied more forcefully than he had planned. “That’s not true. You may feel like that at the moment, but one
day you’ll find someone who wants you, and anyway, Santa wants all
children. Now, tell me, if I could get
you anything in the world, what would it be?”
Timmy
was silent, but then Face just caught the whisper. “I want my mommy and daddy back.”
Face’s
heart clenched as he cursed himself again for his thoughtlessness.
“But
I know you can’t do that,” Timmy continued, “so want a teddy. Any teddy will do. My bear was lost. He died along with…”
Face
hugged the kid closer to him as the voice trailed off. He was already feeling the sharp pricks of
tears forming in his eyes and his voice was surprisingly rough when he spoke
again.
“I’ll
see what I can do, Timmy. Where do you
live?”
“The
Grace Children’s Home in
Face
nodded. “Well, Timmy, I’ll make sure to
look out for you.”
The
boy nodded before slipping to the ground.
“Thank you, Santa.”
Face
watched as Tawnia led the boy away.
“Something
wrong, muchacho?”
He
looked up into Murdock’s big brown eyes.
“No,
uh, I’m okay. I need a break
though.” He rose quickly to his feet,
leaving before he could find out if
*-*-*
He
resorted to splashing cold water on his face, wasn’t too sure why, he just had
to do it.
“Hey,
man, you okay? Murdock said you left in
a hurry.”
Grabbing
a towel, he turned to find BA stood behind him.
The big guy looked funny all decked out in festive red and green, but he
was still wearing a few gold chains although not nearly as many as usual.
“Yeah,
BA, I’m okay. Just had to get out of
there for a while. You know how it
is.” He cracked his best conman smile in
the hope it would work.
BA
just grunted. “You look a little pale.”
“Suit’s
hot,” Face replied without thinking.
“I’m fine. Just takes a lot out
of you, you know, listening to all those kids ask for the moon, mars and the
entire universe.” And a teddy bear. He pushed that thought aside. “I just don’t know how you deal with them all
the time.”
BA
shrugged. “You get used to it.”
Face
absently shook his head. He would never
get use to it.
“BA.”
“Yeah?”
“You
know of a Grace Children’s Home in
BA
nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“You
know anything about it?”
The
big guy shrugged. “Smallish, only about
twenty children. All orphans from about
the age of three to ten. Why?”
“They
in financial trouble?”
“Could
be. Lots of places are struggling righ’ now. Not
enough money going round. Why?”
It
was the third time BA had asked why and he was starting to sound a little
impatient.
“No
real reason,” Face admitted. “Just
wondered.”
He
saw BA’s eyes narrow.
“Som’thin’ happen, Face?”
“No. Just had a little boy from there, that’s
all.” He quickly pulled the beard back
on and grabbed the hat. “Now, what you
say I get back out there?”
Passing
the big guy, he fixed himself a conman smile and made his way back out to meet
the eager crowds of children.
*-*-*
Closing
time couldn’t have come soon enough for Face.
He was exhausted, his back hurt, his knees ached and if he *ever* saw
another spoilt brat again it would be too soon.
“You,
okay, kid?”
Looking
up, he found
“I’m
fine,
He
wasn’t impressed when
Face’s
eyes just narrowed. Most of the kids had
been okay. Some had been complete
nightmares. And then there had been
Timmy. He sighed.
“Yeah,
well.”
He
should never have said those things to the kid.
He should have left it well alone.
He had seen the signs, they had all been there, yet…
“Ah,
Escaping,
he quickly found the pay phone, dropping in some quarters and dialled the
number before his brain could catch up with his body.
“Yeah,
I’d like the number for Grace Children’s Home,
“Grace
Children’s Home.”
For
a split second he froze and that was all it took for the conman in him to take
over.
“Yeah,
uh, hi, is that Mrs Bradley?”
“It
is.”
“Ah,
my name is Templeton Peck. I’m the Santa
at the store Wearside Toys and I believe I met a
little boy of yours today of the name Timmy.”
“Yes,”
there was a slight pause then, “he said something about sitting on Santa’s
knee.”
“Well,
uh, he told me that Santa wasn’t coming this year, I was wondering if that was
true.”
There
was a longer pause at the other end of the phone, then a sigh. “Yes, Mr Peck. As much as it pains me to say it, I’m afraid
that is true.”
“How
comes?”
“Excuse
me, sir, but I don’t think that’s of any concern of yours.”
Face
mentally kicked himself hearing the tension rise in the woman voice.
“I’m
sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s just Timmy made a real impression on
me and I would like to help in some way.”
“That’s
nice, Mr Peck, but if it’s guilt you’re feeling we really don’t want your
charity.”
“It’s
not charity and it’s not guilt.”
Pausing, Face sighed, gently rubbing at his forehead. “Look, I just want to be able to help in some
way. I don’t have a family or know of
any children I can buy presents for, especially children who really need
them. I also know what it’s like to not
get anything at Christmas, so please, let me help in some way.”
The
silence at the other end of the phone was consuming. Closing his eyes, Face held his breath and
waiting.
Finally
he heard a slight noise at the other end of the phone.
“Okay,
Mr Peck, you sound serious. What is it
you want to do?”
He
let out the breath. “I thought I could get
each of the children something, anything, I don’t really mind, and maybe
something for all of you.”
“That
would be nice, Mr Peck, but it would be hard for you to buy individual things.”
“How
about I get a variety of things then; toys, dolls, sweets, things that can be
shared? And get them all something small
each, something universal so there’s no arguing.”
He
could almost hear the smile in her voice, but the doubt still remained.
“That
would be better, Mr Peck, but we have twenty-five children here, that’s going
to cost a lot of money.”
Looking
up, he caught a reflection of himself in the shop window; smart suit, shined
shoes, expensive hair cut. He smiled
sadly to himself.
“Don’t
worry about the cost, Mrs Bradley, that’s my concern. Do you have a Christmas tree and
decorations?”
“We
have a small tree and a few decorations, mainly what the children have made,
but it’s fine for us.”
“If
I got you a six foot tree with decorations, would you have room to put it up?”
“That’s
not necess…”
“Please?”
He
heard her take in a breath.
“Yes,
we would be able to find somewhere to put it.”
He
smiled.
“Thank
you. Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve so I know
there’s not much time left. I’ll be
getting the stuff tomorrow. Could I possibly
bring it round later that night, after the children have gone to sleep? That way it would be more of a surprise for
then.”
There
was another calculating pause, and he waited, mentally crossing all his
fingers.
“Okay,”
the voice replied slowly, “we’re going to be up quite late anyway preparing the
Christmas meal. So what time were you
thinking? Ten? Eleven?”
“Eleven
will be fine, if that’s okay. The later
the better.”
“Okay,
Mr Peck. This is all very generous of
you.”
He
shook his head, realising she couldn’t see him.
“It’s Christmas,” he replied softly.
“It’s a time of giving.”
He
didn’t get a reply, probably because there was no reply that she could give.
“Uh,
can I take your address, please?” he suddenly asked, realising that after all
this, after all the promises he still didn’t really know where the Children’s
Home was situation.
“Of
course, Mr Peck. It’s 1047, Lower
Closing
his eyes, he committed it to memory.
“Thank
you. I’ll see you tomorrow night, and
thank you, thank you for allowing me to do this.”
He
swore he could hear the faint sound of laughter in her voice.
“We’ll
see, Mr Peck.”
Bidding
his farewell, he slowly hung up the phone, a big smile slowly creeping over his
face.
*-*-*
“Hey,
Face, who you talking too?”
It
was almost nine the next morning when Murdock ambled into the kitchen of the
apartment Face was currently scamming.
Released for the holiday, Murdock was staying in the spare room. That suited Face fine, after all, he figured
that he would need some help to accomplish all he needed to do today, and
anyway, who better to help him pick out children toys than the biggest kid on
the team.
Motioning
to Murdock to fix himself something to eat, Face didn’t stop his conversation.
“Look,
Tawnia, you wanted to be part of the team and now I’m
asking for your help… Yeah, I know you’re busy, but just a few hours this lunch
time. I just need some female advice…
No, not *that* type of female advice.
Look, I can’t ask any of my other female friends because… well
because. Okay, I’m going shopping today
to buy some toys for some kids… no, I don’t have any children I’m not telling
you about. They’re just some kids I know
and I’m getting them Christmas presents, which is great except I have no idea
what to get for the girls, which is why I need your help… Yes, I’m asking for help… No, you should be flattered… Okay, thank you. Shall we say to meet at ‘Toys R Us’ in two
hours… Yeah, that one, by the airport.
Right, good, see you there.”
He
put the phone down and sighed as Murdock grinned at him.
“Amy
was *so* much easier to deal with,” he moaned.
Murdock
grinned. “So, what was all that about
then? You going shopping for toys?”
“Yeah.”
He
watched as the pilot’s eyes lit up.
“Do
I get to come?”
Face
grabbed a seat, a smile spreading across his face.
“I’m
counting on it.”
He
watched as pure childlike delight spread across the pilot’s face. It was always so much fun to see the pure
candid excitement engulf his friend’s expression. For a moment it seemed as if everything would
be alright in the world.
“When
do we leave?” Murdock almost seemed to
be bouncing.
“I
told Tawnia we’d meet her at eleven, so that should
give me enough time to sort out a few other things first.”
“Okay. So, what we buying? Who’s it for?
Why we getting them? And how much
we gonna spend?”
Battered
by the questions, Face raised his hand to calm the pilot down a little.
“The
presents are for twenty-five orphans who live at the Grace Children’s Home, in
Westwood. You remember little Timmy
yesterday, the little boy I had just before I took a break?”
The
pilot nodded. “The little one with the
big blue eyes.”
“Yeah. Well, he told me yesterday that Santa wasn’t
coming, so after we finished, I phoned up the Children’s Home and said I’d get
them some presents since they’re short of money this year. So that’s what we’re gonna
be doing, and uh, we’ll spend what we need to.”
Suddenly
feeling uncomfortable, he looked away from Murdock’s probing gaze. Shifting slightly in his seat, he waited for
the pilot to say something, but the silence was overwhelming.
“Uh,
Murdock?”
Within
seconds the pilot was out of his seat, round the table and pulling Face into a
tight embrace.
“Uh,
Murdock, what are you doing?”
Finding
himself being released, he looked up to find Murdock’s big warm eyes gazing
down into his. Suddenly he found himself
feeling really self conscious.
“What?”
Murdock
just gently shook his head. “You’re just
som’thin’ else, Faceman,”
he replied with a smile. “And you don’t
even know it.”
Shrugging
it off, Face pulled away fully and quickly resumed his seat, a little
embarrassed by the feelings behind the words.
“Yeah,
well, it seemed like the least I could do.”
He
watched as Murdock just looked at him before returning to the other side of the
table not saying anything else. The big
brown eyes were still shining though.
“I
thought that Tawnia could help us since none of us really
known what girls are into,” Face explained quickly, “but I figured that between
the three of us we’d be able to buy everything.”
Murdock’s
smile reached his eyes.
“Good
planning, Batman. Is that a list you’ve
got?”
“Kind
of.” Face handed it over trying to
ignore the ‘hhmmm’s and ‘aaahhhh’s
Murdock responded with. “There’s not
much there, I know, but I thought it would do as a start.”
Murdock
handed it back over to him, his eyes gleaming.
“It’s
a good start, muchacho,” the pilot grinned, “and
since you’ve got me on your side, nothing can stop us!”
*-*-*
The
minute they stepped into the store he had a feeling it had been a mistake. Murdock went wild. It was worse than letting a bull loose in a
china shop, it was like… like letting a kid loose in a giant toy store having
been told that anything and everything was theirs to choose from. It was like watching a kid in adult’s
clothing.
“Murdock! Calm down!” Face hissed as he grabbed his
friend’s sleeve, conscious of the stares they were getting from the other
shoppers.
“Calm
down. Calm down!” Murdock protested in a
sing song voice. “Don’t you realise what
you’ve done, Face? You’ve given me the
world. The world I say. Look at all these toys. All this choice, all the possibilities.”
“Calm
down or I’m taking you home!”
The
threat worked and Murdock quietened instantly.
“S’okay, Face, I’m just excited. We’re going to be able to give those kids a
proper Christmas.”
Face
nodded, a smile growing as he thought about it.
“Yeah, Murdock, we are. But let’s
get going ‘cause we don’t have that much time.”
As
it was, even with the three of them it took them hours to get round and pick up
everything they could possibly need. Trolley
after trolley was filled with games and toys, planes and cars, dolls and soft
toys, puzzles and sports gear. Twenty
five beautifully crafted stockings joined the growing piles, Murdock’s idea for
the children’s individual presents. With
them went in packets of pens and colouring pencils for each stocking, notebooks
to be written in and chocolate bars and candy canes to make them all feel
ill. But the crowning moment had to be
the big electric train set, every little boy’s dream.
Face
knew it would cost him a fortune, but he didn’t care. It was worth it, and besides, he was having
fun. Never would he have expected the
joy that could come from thinking so much about other people. A joy that stayed with him even when they
finally got all the toys through the till and the final price was
announced. He didn’t moan, he didn’t
whine; he just handed over a few cards and flashed the till girl a big
smile. It was only money after all. It probably wouldn’t have lasted long anyway;
a few tailor-made suits, a pair of new shoes, a few dates at those
extortionately expensive restaurants he was so fond of.
“You
know, Face, I would never have suspected you had such a generous side,” Tawnia gushed as the toys were all being packed away.
“Yeah,
well,” Murdock grinned, jumping in for his friend’s defence, “that’s our Faceman. The guy we
all love.”
“Yeah,
uh, thanks Murdock.”
“No
problemo, muchacho, but
have you thought how you’re gonna get all this stuff
out of this store and back to your place.”
Oops,
he knew there was something he should have thought of. Caught up in the rush of buying the gifts he
had forgotten that somehow they still needed to transport everything away from
the store. He looked at the hundreds of
bags before him. There was no way he would
be able to get even a quarter of them in his vette.
Murdock
grinned at him. “You wait here, muchacho. I’ll go
call the big guy.”
Half
an hour later, they watched as the familiar black van pulled up in the loading
bays near the front of the store. Two
figures stepped out, spotting them when Murdock stood up to wave. Face watched as BA and Hannibal approached,
their eyes taking in the sight of the hundreds of bags.
“Hey,
Face, whatcha got there?”
“Something
you’re not telling us, Lieutenant?” Hannibal observed wryly, nodding to the
huge mound of brightly coloured bags, containing even more brightly coloured
presents.
Face
stared at them, then glanced across at Murdock.
“You didn’t tell them?”
The
pilot smiled and shrugged. “Thought
you’d want to do that, muchacho.”
“Yeah,”
BA growled, finally taking his eyes off the array of bags. “Fool didn’t say anything, just that we hadda get here quick wiv the
van.”
Face
bit back a sigh. He hated having to
explain stuff like this.
“Well,
uh, as you can see, me, Murdock and Tawnia – who had
to leave – went shopping to get some toys for a few children I know of.”
Face
shrugged. “Well, you know, we kinda got a little carried away.”
“But
they’re for really needy orphans,” Murdock piped up, knowing that Face would be
reluctant to fill in the full details.
“The Grace Children’s Home in Westwood.
Santa couldn’t afford to come this year so Face asked if he could get
some things for the kids instead.”
Three
pairs of eyes fixed on Face and he shifted uncomfortably under their gaze.
“Is
that true, Face?”
“Uh,
yeah,
“Hmmm.”
BA
didn’t need to say anything; his eyes were shinning and fixed on the toys. Within seconds he was scooping down and
picking up bag after bag, carrying them to the van.
Face
smiled slightly in relief, looking up to find
“What?”
But
the Colonel just shook his head slightly, still grinning as he too picked up
some of the bags, following BA to the van.
Surprised,
Face looked around, noticing Murdock still standing there.
“Was
it something I said?”
But
the pilot just grinned at him, before slapping a hand to his shoulder.
“You
just don’t get it, muchacho,” he replied
enigmatically. “And that’s what’s so
great about you. Come on, let’s help the
others.”
Letting
it go, Face watched as the pilot shot off with a few more bags, before grabbing
a few himself and joining them.
*-*-*
“Ouch.”
Four
hours later and Face’s apartment looked like a toy store. Most the bags were still intact, but a few
had had to have been emptied so they could find everything they needed. Popcorn covered the coffee table; more out of
the bowl than in it, more eaten than had actually been threaded onto the
string. Mainly it was Murdock’s fault;
neat and tidy really wasn’t in his vocabulary when he was excited.
On
the phone once more, Face ignored the pilot’s exclamation at poking himself
with the needle again. All his
concentration was currently used on trying to keep his control.
“What
do you mean you don’t have a tree? I
called you this morning. You said you
had one… Yes, I know it’s Christmas Eve… Yeah, well, that’s just not good
enough…”
He
winched as he was abruptly cut off.
Okay, so she should have been more diplomatic, but he really wasn’t in
that type of mood at the moment.
“Problem,
Face?”
He
ran his hand through his hair as he put the phone down, before looking up to
meet
He
sighed. “Yeah, no tree.”
The
Colonel looked sympathetic. “No luck
then? Shame.”
Defeated,
Face just slumped down onto a chair.
“Really hadn’t expected to find one.
It’s late after all, but you know.”
“Don’t
yah worry, Face,” he declared firmly.
“I’ll get yah one.”
With
that the big guy grabbed the van’s keys and disappeared out the door. Face raised his eyebrows. “He serious?”
“Yeah,”
Murdock picked up, still sucking his sore thumb. “If anyone can do it, BA can!”
Face
nodded, rising to his feet himself.
“Well, uh, I’ve got a few more things to get. You two gonna be
okay here?”
He
just got grunts in reply and some shoos to get him out the door. Finding his vette
keys, he went.
*-*-*
FAO
Schwartz, the most prestigious toy shop he could think of. He had only one more present to get now and
he wanted it to be perfect. Walking the
isles, he quickly made his way to the stuff toy department, amazed by the
selection of bears he found there. There
were hundreds of them, all shapes and sizes.
Little bears, *huge* ones, light brown, dark brown, milk chocolate
brown, white, cream, pink, even blue bears.
There were bears with big eyes, bears with small eyes, bears with
ribbons, bears with bows. Any bear you
could possibly think of, it was here.
Scanning
them, he slowly walked along, impressed but nothing quite seemed to grab
him. In the end, he almost missed it,
but the second his eyes rested on the bear he *knew* it was the right one. Picking it up, it was perfect. Soft and extremely furry it was a very simple
bear. Big brown eyes with blue rims sat
on the chocolate brown fur, a matching brown ribbon going around its neck. It was just the right size too, big enough to
cuddle, but small enough to be taken to bed.
He had found his bear.
*-*-*
“All
set, Lieutenant?”
It
seemed to take hours for the door to open, but it did, a woman opening it far
enough so she could see him.
“Mrs
Bradley?” He smiled brightly as she
nodded, “Templeton Peck. We spoke
yesterday on the phone.”
He
waited as she took a moment to look him over.
From her expression he got the impression he wasn’t exactly what she had
expected. Then it was as if her guard
dropped and she opened the door wider stepping out slightly.
“We
didn’t think you’d come,” she offered matter of fact.
“Well,
uh, I have and I’ve got everything I promised,” and more, he added
silently. He pointed back to where his
three friends were now standing by the van.
“Everything’s over there. Can we
bring them in, please?”
Looking
across at the van, her eyes seemed to stop on the tree firmly tied to the top
of the van, and she smiled, nodding. “Of
course, Mr Peck.”
He
grinned back at her. “Please, call me
Templeton.”
*-*-*
He
wasn’t sure how they did it, but they did.
They managed to get everything into the big room that was usually used
as a main play room. The huge tree that
BA had some how managed to get a hold of stood tall and proud in the corner,
decorated in tinsel, gold lights and popcorn strings. Below it were the toys, all stacked and
overflowing across the floor. BA was sat
down there with them, carefully putting together the big train set so it ran
right around the tree a few times. He
had refused to allow anyone to come near it.
Murdock
was decked out in his elf’s hat, grinning away as he chatted to Hannibal and
the other helpers of the Children’s home.
The pilot was having the time of his life while
Face
sat alone though, watching everybody, smiling to himself.
“You
seem really far away, Templeton.”
He
looked up to find Mrs Bradley - Beth, he corrected himself - looking down at
him, offering him a glass of something.
He took it, smiling.
“I
was just thinking, remembering stuff.”
Watching,
she took the seat beside him.
“It’s
wonderful what you’ve done here, the children will be ecstatic,” she told him.
He
nodded. “I’m glad I could do something.”
She
smiled slightly, not taking her gaze from him.
“You said something on the phone yesterday that got me thinking.”
He
turned to look at her.
“You
said you knew what it was like to not get anything for Christmas. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what exactly
did you mean by that?”
He
bit back a sigh, turning away from here again.
“Just
that,” he admitted after a pause. “I
remember when I was a boy, maybe just a little older than Timmy, and I was told
that Santa wouldn’t be able to come that year.
I was devastated, thought it was because he didn’t care about me or
something. No one cared about me, about
us, it was easy to apply that to Santa too.
Didn’t stop me from dreaming though.
I thought… I thought that if I prayed long enough then maybe Santa would
still come. If I confessed all my sins,
promised to be a good boy, then maybe, maybe I would find something by my
bed. But I didn’t. Santa didn’t come. I know now why he didn’t, that it had nothing
to do with me, but then…”
His
voice trailed off as a soft hand touch his shoulder. He looked across into caring eyes.
“An
orphanage?” she questioned softly.
He
didn’t need to nod to confirm it.
“When
Timmy sat on my knee and told me that Santa wasn’t coming, it brought
everything back. I wanted to help him.
Give him something to believe in again.”
There
was a pause, silence as they both tried to think of something to say.
“Thank
you,” she finally whispered nodding to everything around them. “I wish you could be here in the morning to
see the children’s faces when they see all this.”
He
nodded slightly but smiled, his gaze taking in the whole room. The decorations, the tree, the lights, the
presents, the train set now up and running.
He didn’t need to be there to see the scene the next morning; he could
imagine it well enough. The happy,
excited faces, the smiles and laughter, the shouts and play. Even so, part of him wished he could be
there, if only to see the look on one little boy’s face as he hugged his new
bear, opening the little card to read the words, ‘To Timmy, as promised, Merry Christmas, Santa.’
*-*-*
