42: Santa Part 1
Luci
“Morning, Luci.” He whispers in my ear as he sits beside me. I shake my head when the muffin
appears on my desk.
“Are you worried I missed breakfast?” I tease. His brothers aren’t here yet, but I was already
super early.
“Yes. You said you overslept. Were you tired or something?” He says quietly as the smirk
slowly begins spreading.
“Or something.” I say shyly.
He leans over, whispering in my ear again as he sets a coffee cup down. “Apparently that
something relaxed you enough to sleep too much. It definitely gave me good dreams, sweet
Luci.”
I shiver and he presses a quick kiss to my ear.
“What are you doing late Thursday night? Like at 8?” He takes a sip of his own coffee.
“As in tomorrow? Nothing. Why?” I bite into my muffin. I did skip breakfast because I was way
behind.
“Tomorrow. Date night again. And this one I came up with by myself.” He offers easily.
“What does that mean? Two dates in one week. You might get tired of me?” I joke while my heart pounds. I am beyond crazy about him and hope he doesn’t. He has the power to hurt me
so much more than Marshall did. Because he’s made so much effort for me and I truly have jumped in with both feet to trust him completely.
“I was thinking more along the lines of getting tired with you, sweetness. Forget I said anything about how I came up with it. That’s for when other people are sitting next to you. Are you busy? Girls night?”
“I’m all yours.” I say softly.
His eyes stare at me intently. “I like that. And Luci, I want a key to your apartment. Before you think I’m psycho obsessed, I have a reason. I worry about you all alone. I know Sydney has a key, but I want to be able to lock up after I leave you if you’re half asleep like you were last night. I had to text you twice to make sure you locked the door. With Maxton here on campus, that bothers me. Trust me, I won’t start letting myself in anytime.”
1/16
43 Points
42: Santa Part 1
I consider that for a second before nodding. “I trust you.”
He looks relieved. “Thank you, sweetness. I don’t like you living alone.”
“Syd is like five doors down.” I protest.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Barrett is coming with me today.” I remind him. “Would it be alright if I took them to the game
room and let them watch a movie? You’ll be home really late and Baker is going out.”
“You can have run of the house. Well out of my mother’s domain. She’s out of town all week
though, so breathe easy there.” He scoffs and I wish she was different. I know it hurts him regardless of how he’s walled that off.
“Ok.” I sit back and my mind slowly wanders as I finish my breakfast. I don’t even notice when
Becker sits next to me and steals a blueberry off the top, only finding out as Easton calls my
name and Becker apologizes for stealing it.
“Sorry. I’m…struggling today.” I admit to him quietly. He gazes at me with concern.
“I’ll help.” He whispers. “Friday night is game night. You’ll bring Cole, right?” I nod. “You can even invite Banning and Barrett.” He says grudgingly and I grin. “I’ll
and Stormi too. She’s interviewing us next week.”
“Thank you.”
get all
your tickets. Syd
His eyes narrow and he leans in to whisper in my ear again. “You owe me about two or three thank yous. I plan to cash them in at some point, Luci.”
“Thursday?” I tease him.
“Be careful what you ask for sweetness.” He warns, as he stares at me like some kind of hungry wolf. “I will completely show I can listen well again.” I have to clamp my thighs together as last night comes back to my mind.
Next thing I know, I’m lost thinking about the big, bad wolf. I only come out of my trance when I hear Easton basically snarl next to me. “So much for hoping he was gone.” Becker mutters and I shake out of my stupor to find Maxton glaring at me from the doorway. He wasn’t here on Monday and we all hoped he was expelled for his stunt. Following closely is Julian, who looks up briefly with annoyance before glancing away.
“That one, I’m not worried about. He’s a spineless p***y and won’t do anything else since I threatened him. His brother is the same way. All talk and no action.”
“Well rumor has it, he seeks out lots of action but falls short of actually producing any.
2/6
”
+8 Points
42: Santa Part 1
Marshall Soames is a dickheaded prick that has left lots of ladies unsatisfied.” Kingston
mutters and I tense up completely. When my hand begins shaking, Easton looks over
worriedly before wrapping his around it and pulling it down to my lap. “I won’t let him hurt
you.”
“I know. He never has physically.” I respond.
“He shouldn’t have hurt you at all.” Becker says angrily.
“Not that we did much better by letting him bother you.” Easton admits, sounding remorseful.
“But you never initiated or did anything to me. Matter of fact, you usually stepped in and I
could get away.” I muse and Jackson slowly smiles at me before he turns away. Our professor
walks in and I try to take notes, but I keep getting lost on whatever trigger word he says. Easton taps my paper a few times and I shake out of it. My notes are absolutely terrible today.
“I’ll make you a copy of mine later.” He says softly when I gaze at them with a frown. “Can I do anything to help you get focused for the rest of the day?”
“No. Syd is in my next class. I’ll get a handle on it.” I tell him as we separate. They made sure
to basically surround me as we left class.
Syd keeps me in line the next class, but the following one, I can’t concentrate at all. My phone
vibrates in my bag and I set it on my lap quietly.
Refocus sweetness. (Send me a thumbs up proving you saw this.)
I smile and leave it on my lap. Ten minutes later, I get almost the same message. He repeats
it every ten minutes through the rest of my classes. Which I realize means he knows my
schedule too well.
You are the best. I send him as I leave campus to go home. I had to blink back tears when he
continued doing it in my second class.
When I collect Cole and Barrett, they begin whispering in the back about asking early for something. “What are you two up to back there?” I finally ask suspiciously.
“Luci, could we go have our snack and then visit Santa at the downtown square? We got a
letter in class today. He’s there every afternoon this week. We need to talk to him.” Barrett
pleads.
“Your dad usually takes you on a weekend, Barrett. You don’t want to wait?” Both immediately begin shaking their heads.
“We need to go both times, Luci. And we need to go early.” Cole pleads. “Please Luci.”
3/6
+8 Point:
42: Santa Part 1
“Let me text your dads for their ok.” As soon as we hit the door, I text Easton and Banning. Sydney as an afterthought who says she is coming along with us if we can leave soon. Both
guys agree it’s fine. I ask Baker if we can take their snack to go and he obliges like always. “I’ll
give you the key, Luci since I will be gone when you return and Mr. Reed will be out.”
Sydney texts me to meet her by the line for Santa. This Santa is a very authentic looking
model. I eye him as the boys approach the front of the line. “You can’t listen Luci, ok?” Barrett
tells me very seriously. “You either, Aunt Syd.”
We hold up our hands. “We solemnly swear not to.” We say in unison and they laugh.
“We go together Barrett.” Cole declares before they march up there and talk to him in earnest. I
frown heavily as I watch.
“Hey your annual Santa dislike is showing Luci Lou.” Syd whispers to me and I change my
expression.
Syd gets a text as we wait. While she checks it, I mumble. “They either have a complicated
item or they have a list three miles long. I think they are up to something.”
“Janie turned in our lab project early and the TA said we can skip tonight because finishing
final projects was tonight’s assignment. I can join you for dinner and a movie.” Sydney does a quick, happy dance.
Cole
“Santa, we really need your help.” I tell him after he says hello to us and we give him our
names.
“Well, that sounds urgent.” The bearded man says before turning on his listening ears.
“My friend Barrett doesn’t have a mommy. Me either. But I know the one I want. Her name is
Luci and she loves me a lot.” I hurry to tell him.
Barrett nods. “She does. And my dad needs someone to love him a lot like he loves me.”
Santa looks at me and then Barrett. “That’s a big order,boys. I can’t deliver that kind of thing
by Christmas. It’s too soon.”
I feel so sad when he says that. “But what I can do is promise that I will watch out for
someone perfect to be your moms. And when it’s time for your dads to meet them, they will
show up.”
“Okayyyy, Santa.”
“Got it Santa.” Barrett says. He looks sad like me.
4/6
+3 Point
42: Santa Part 1
“Don’t be too sad. They might show up sooner than you think. But until then, love your dads and remember you are important to them. I will do my best. You have to do your part and take care of those dads of yours. Now what else might you like on your list?”
That makes me smile that he’ll do his best. Because Santa’s best is really good.
Sydney
Barrett and Cole leave Santa with smiles and I refrain from asking what they wished for. “Did you get to talk to him enough?” I ask instead.
“Yes. Thank you, Luci.” Cole says, looking pleased.
Luci glances between them suspiciously. “You were up there for a long time.”
“Big wishes take a lot of time to talk about.” Barrett informs us and we exchange worried glances. Luci and I usually do most of Barrett’s Christmas shopping if Banning is away too close to the holiday. We asked him to make a list on Thanksgiving day and he did, but now I worry what he’s added to it that’s so big.
“How about we grab dinner here?” I suggest and they are both thrilled. We take them to the hamburger place and let them order cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes. “Have you written your letter to Santa in school yet?” I ask them, hoping we have an angle to find out what they
asked for.
“We did today.” Barrett tells us.
Cole nods. “This week we did.”
I give Luci a relieved look. A way to find out what else he wants. After they eat, we let them
race around the little park in the square for about thirty minutes before it’s way too dark to continue. “Let’s go get baths and then we get to watch a movie in the game room. I got permission from your daddy.” Luci announces to their delight. Barrett rides with me back to the Reed house. Baker left the lights on for us. After their baths, Luci turns on an animated, hour–long Batman Christmas movie. They curled up on these giant bean bag like beds and happily watched. The long day took its toll and they sacked out after only thirty minutes. We left it playing softly as I turn and pin her down with my question.
“Now that they are asleep, want to tell me why you have such an aversion to Santa still? You
didn’t
go with us last year to visit him and I figured with Cole being so excited you would be over it. What gives Luci? You’ve always refused to tell me.” I watch Luci with concern.
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