He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Closing the red book, Taylor Hanson looked up and met the eyes of his wife Natalie.  She smiled and looked down at their three-month-old son who was asleep in her lap.

“When is Santa gonna come?”  Their oldest son Ezra asked.

Taylor took down at his son and daughter who occupied his lap and said, “Soon, so we better get you to bed.”

“Not tired,” his little girl said with a big yawn.

“Come help me put River to bed,” Natalie told their daughter.   She stood and took a hold of the little girl’s hand.

After they left the room, Ezra looked at Taylor and said, “Dad, do you believe in Santa?”

“Of course I do,” Taylor replied as he sat the book on the coffee table.  “Don’t you?”

“I dunno,” Ezra shrugged.  “I’ve never seen him.”

“Sure you have,” Taylor insisted.  “You and your siblings took a picture with him this year.”

“Aunt Zoë said the store Santas aren’t real,” Ezra replied.  “She says they’re his brothers.”

Taylor groaned inwardly before replying, “Ezra, Santa is very busy, so he has his hel-brothers-listen to all the wishes of boys and girls around the world.”

“Hey you two,” Natalie said, coming into the room with her arms crossed.  “It’s bed time.”

“10 more minutes?”  Ezra asked.

“Santa won’t come until we’re asleep,” she reminded him.

“But I’m not sleepy,” Ezra insisted.

“Come on, kiddo,” Taylor said.  “I’ll give you a piggyback ride upstairs.”

“Fine,” he replied before jumping on his dad’s back.

Ten minutes later, Taylor entered his bedroom and found Natalie wrapping a few last minute gifts.

“I got you something,” she said, tossing him a bag.

He opened the bag and pulled out a pair of red fleece pants. 

“Do you like them?”  She asked.

Taylor nodded and took his jeans off and pulled the fleece pants on.  “How do they look?”

“Great,” Natalie smiled.  “They came with a shirt.”

“So where’s the shirt?”  Taylor asked.

“The shirt is for me to wear.”  Natalie’s eyes twinkled.

Taylor grinned and opened the closet to get the stocking stuffers.  “How many presents do you have left to wrap?”

“About five,” Natalie replied.  “You can go down and start filling stockings.”

“Okay.”  He grabbed the wrapped presents and the bag of stocking stuffers and went downstairs.  He put the presents under the tree and went to work on the stockings.  In River’s stocking he put a new racecar themed bottle, a package of binkies and a teething ring.  In Penny’s stocking he put a Little Einstein movie, a package of pink Barbie panties and a small package of oreos.

He was putting Ezra’s stocking together when Natalie came downstairs.  He quickly poured some candy in and put a VSmile game in.

“Where are the kids’ gifts from Santa?”  Natalie asked after putting presents under the tree.

“In the coat closet,” Taylor replied.  “Behind the box labeled photos.”

Natalie opened the closet and pulled out the box and grabbed the presents behind it.  She set the PlaySkool dollhouse in front of Penny’s stocking and put the VSmile game in front of Ezra’s stocking.  “Where’s River’s gift?” She asked Taylor.

“My car,” Taylor sighed.  “I’ll go out and get it.”  He walked to the closet and pulled on his black boots.  He searched the closet for his winter coat and grabbed Natalie’s red “Christmas” jacket with white fur around the sleeves when he couldn’t find his.

“Don’t forget a hat,” Natalie called from the living room.  “It’s cold out there.”

“Yes mother,” he muttered under his breath as he grabbed the Santa hat sitting on the entry hall table.

Natalie smiled when she heard the front door close.  She quickly poured some treats into Taylor’s stocking and tossed in a new set of strings for his guitar.  In her own stocking she put some candy and a Victoria’s Secret gift card.

She heard the front door open and quickly stepped away from the stockings as Taylor came in with the PlaySkool toy dome for River. 

While he put it down by the stockings, Natalie turned off the overhead light so the room was lit only by the lights from the tree.

Upstairs, Ezra crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom.  On his way back to his room, he heard voices and crept to the stairs.  Quietly, he tiptoed down and his jaw dropped when he saw his mommy kissing Santa.  He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but his eyes hadn’t deceived him.  His mom was kissing the big guy in the red suit.

With tears in his eyes, Ezra raced up the stairs and threw himself onto his bed.  As he tried to fall asleep, his aunt’s words played in his mind, “We broke up because he was kissing another woman.”

The next morning Ezra refused to get out of bed.

“Come on, kiddo, don’t you want to see what Santa left for you?”  Taylor asked his son.

“No,” Ezra replied as he turned his back to his dad.  He sighed when he heard his dad leave the room.  He wanted to enjoy Christmas but he didn’t want to tell his dad what he saw last night.

“Ezra, baby, are you feeling okay?”  His mother asked when she came into the room.  She sat down on his bed and reached over to feel his forehead.  “You don’t have a fever.”

“I’m sleepy,” he replied.

“Well come downstairs and open some presents,” his mom insisted.  “Then after we do presents at Grandma’s you can take a nap.”

Ezra sighed and nodded.  He watched his mom leave his room before he got up and got dressed.

An hour later, Ezra held Penny’s hand as they walked up the front steps to his grandparents’ house.  As soon as they walked in the front door, Penny ran for the playroom and his parents went to talk to his aunts and uncles.

Ezra headed for the kitchen and sat down at the little table his grandma had set for him and Penny.

Noticing her grandson’s abnormal behavior, Diana Hanson put down her cup of coffee and joined him at the table.  “What’s wrong, sweetie?”  She asked.

Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Ezra began to weep.   “Mommy kissed Santa last night,” he said between sobs.

“Oh, sweetie,” Diana sighed pulling her grandson into her lap.  “Have you talked to your mommy or daddy?”  Ezra shook his head.  “Why not?”

“Cause Aunt Jessi said she broke up with Uncle Joe because he kissed another woman,” Ezra replied.  “I don’t want my parents to break up, Grandma.”

“They won’t break up, sweetie,” Diana replied.  “But I’ll talk to your momma if you want me to.”  Ezra nodded.  “Okay, you sit right here and I’ll go talk to her.”

Standing, Diana straightened her dress and left the kitchen.  Upon entering the living room where the others had gathered, she motioned for Natalie to join her in the hall.  “We have a situation,” she informed her daughter-in-law.  “Ezra saw you kissing Santa last night.”

Natalie’s eyes opened wide and confusion crossed her face.  “But there was no- Oh my god, Taylor- Thanks for letting me know, Diana.”

Before Diana could say anything, Natalie rushed back into the living room and leaned to whisper in Taylor’s ear.  His eyes shot open and he looked back at his wife then at his mother.  He followed Natalie out of the room.

“He’s in the kitchen,” Diana told them.  “But you guys can go upstairs.”

“Thanks mom,” Taylor replied as he and Natalie went into the kitchen.  “Hey kiddo.”

“Hi,” Ezra said.

“Let’s go upstairs and talk,” Natalie suggested before leading her two men upstairs.

“So kiddo, I understand you saw something last night,” Taylor said as he sat down on his parents’ bed with his son next to him.

Ezra nodded.

“Ezra, do you remember the pajamas that we got daddy yesterday?”  Natalie asked.  He nodded.  “And do you remember the coat that I wore this morning?”  He nodded again.  “What about your Santa hat that Uncle Zac gave you?”  He nodded.  “If you put those things together, what do you get?”

Ezra thought for a minute.  “Santa…”

“Exactly,” Taylor replied.  “Ezra, last night what you saw wasn’t Santa kissing mommy, it was me kissing mommy…”

“But Santa…” Ezra started.  “You’re Santa, dad?”

“No, kiddo,” Taylor replied.  “Last night I realized I had left one of River’s presents in the back of my car, so I borrowed mommy’s jacket and your Santa hat to go out and get it.  But it wasn’t until I got back in the house with the present and found your mommy snooping in her stocking that I realized Santa had already come.”

“So you guys aren’t going to break up?”  Ezra asked, looking at his dad then his mom.

“Never in a million years,” Taylor replied as he wrapped his arms around his son.  “I love your mommy a lot.”

“And I love your daddy,” Natalie added, joining in the hug.

“Now kiddo, are you ready to really celebrate Christmas?”  Taylor asked his son.

“Uh huh!”  Ezra exclaimed.  “Last one downstairs is a rotten egg!”  He jumped off the bed and tore down the stairs.

“I love you,” Taylor smiled at his wife as they left his parents’ room.

“I love you, too, Santa,” Natalie grinned.

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