Erika didn’t know where to look as she escorted a new child up to sit on Santa’s lap. Santa’s normal welcoming smile seemed to hold a special message just for her. Each time he asked if someone had been a good little girl, her cheeks flamed hot. She knew she had it bad when she seriously considered tripping a woman who had dressed to attract Santa’s attention in a short miniskirt and mile-high stilettos.
At lunchtime when they had nestled into their private space hidden from view of all the shoppers, Erika had not protested when her Daddy had lifted her onto his lap. She just cuddled against his shoulder to reassure herself that he cared about her and no one else. The feel of his arms wrapped around her eased her whirling thoughts.
“It’s only been a short time, Little elf, but I know I’m in love with you.” His voice was deep and full of emotion, lifting her head from his shoulder. “You’re mine and I am yours—only yours.”
There was no questioning his words or facial expression. Erika knew just by looking at him that he meant every single thing he said. He loves me! Her heart grew within her chest as she acknowledged those feelings she had tried to dismiss as being unreliable. It was possible to fall in love so quickly. Time really didn’t matter.
She pressed her lips against his in a soft kiss before answering, “I love you, too, Daddy.”
Chapter Seven
By Christmas Eve, Patrick and Erika had settled into an easy pattern. They had visited her apartment and collected a few things that she needed. Her underwear was now tucked into a drawer in the nursery, and the stuffie she’d had since childhood napped in the crib with Floppette. Sir Meow and the elf were the best of buddies now.
Their life centered around the mall. The day-to-day managerial decisions and management had to continue, even though Patrick spent most of his day in Santa’s Playground. Beth, his admin, was invaluable and kept the place going while leaving the most pivotal decisions for him to make after hours or early in the morning.
It had been Beth who’d found the application. A man with years of managerial experience had moved back to town and inquired just in case the mall might have an opening. When he’d come in for an interview at seven o’clock in the morning, Patrick had hired him on the spot. To both Patrick and Beth’s delight, he was the perfect manager for the job and flowed seamlessly into the position. He’d even been able to find someone to take over as Santa for the last week, but Patrick has chosen to finish out the season.
“I can’t believe this is our last lunch together,” Erica said sadly. Most days she sat in her Daddy’s lap during their time off. Today, she knelt on the linoleum as Patrick tried to dry the wet spot left by the last visitor of the morning, an annoyed, crying infant. He’d gotten very good at using paper towels and a portable fan.
“We’re going to have to boil this Santa outfit before putting it away,” Patrick growled, provoking giggles from the Little elf next to him.
“To get ready for you to wear next year?” Erika probed.
“I’m afraid my days of being the mall Santa are over after today. There’s only one good Little girl who I want to keep track of from now on.”
“We haven’t really talked about what happens after today,” she said hesitantly. “I thought I might go talk to the candle shop over there during the last ten minutes of lunch. They have a help wanted sign. I probably should have looked earlier, but I didn’t want to think about this ending.”
“I have a different position in mind for you,” Patrick told her. “You’ll have to wait till Christmas morning. Who knows what Santa will bring for you?”
His words hadn’t bothered her at first. But as the time went by throughout the afternoon and evening, Erica’s worries and insecurities grew. After all they shared, after he’d been her Daddy, he planned to offer her a position? Was she just an employee to him?
Sheer willpower kept the tears from flowing down her face as she determined that he must never have really loved her. At the evening, she darted into the restroom as he and the photographer reminisced over the season. She knew she’d have to be fast.
“I guess that wraps it up.” Patrick patted the skilled photographer on his back. “It’s been nice working with you. I hope you’ll come back next year.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Just to make it fun for you, I’ve gathered some pictures that you can hold on to as a memento of your time as Santa.” He handed Patrick a small photo book decorated with a fat Santa on the front.
“Really?” Patrick accepted the book and opened it. The two men laughed at each page he turned. The stories those photos reminded him of came instantly to Patrick’s mind. “Oh, that lady was aggressive.” He shook his head as he saw the picture that clearly revealed the mom’s hand diving under Santa’s waistband to cop a feel. Several pictures of crying children and a few of those who would have talked for hours followed. The last picture in the album was an endearing shot of Erika sitting on his lap at lunchtime. The look on each of their faces revealed the love they had for each other.
“I hope you’re going to take care of that elf,” the photographer said meaningfully.
“For the rest of my life,” Patrick promised. “Where is Erika?” he asked, looking around. He lost track of the time she’d been gone in the delight of looking at the photos.
Both men turned to see a crumpled elf costume sitting on the greeting table where Erika had met all those coming to sit on Santa’s lap. There was no sign of the brown-eyed blonde who’d captured Patrick’s heart. She’d disappeared.
Chapter Eight
Erika hated her new job. Working as a cashier in the convenience store of a gas station on the edge of the bad section of town scared her every day. There were lots of pleasant people who treated her kindly, but a few sent shivers of fear down her spine. The manager had warned her to stay behind the bulletproof glass and to call the police if anyone threatened her. Of course, he also expected her to stock the displays if supplies ran low. When she’d asked how she could do that and stay in the protected area, he’d told her to use her discretion.
The pay was low, so she worked as many hours as she could. She was afraid to go back to her apartment in case Patrick felt obligated to come find her, making her choose to sleep on different friends’ couches. She could do that for a limited time. Erika could tell she was jeopardizing their friendship. She’d have to go somewhere else tonight.
“Hey! There are no large cups out here. How can I buy a cappuccino if there isn’t anything to put it in?”
Tearing her attention away from her thoughts, Erika glanced at the small group of teenagers clustered around the coffee machines. They’d been boisterous but were regulars. One girl had even been an employee when Erika had begun working there. Dismissing any concerns about her safety, she called, “Sorry! Let me get you some.”
In her hurry to restock, Erika had missed seeing one of their group standing behind the path of the door. She opened her protective booth with her arms full. He grabbed the door, preventing it from closing as the rest swarmed forward to surround her. Her heart lurched in her chest as Erika realized that she was in dreadful trouble. The panic button was too far away to activate a call to the police. She was at their mercy.
“I think we’ll just help ourselves to some money to make up for having to wait,” the apparent leader of the group announced. Two girls dashed inside to open the cash register. One, of course, was the former employee.
“That joke of a manager never changed the code,” she crowed as the money drawer rolled out. Quickly, the two teenagers emptied the till while Erika stood helpless.
An elderly woman opened the front door and stepped back out quickly as she recognized the danger inside. Erika breathed a sigh of relief that no one else would be in danger. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to make herself as small of a target as possible. Maybe they wouldn’t hurt her either. As the money-laden teens rejoined the others, the group’s attention returned to her.
“What do we d
o with her? She’s seen us all,” one male voice behind her asked.
“You’re already on video,” Erika announced desperately. “The manager doesn’t trust anyone. There’s a live stream to his phone focused on the cash register and the inner door.”
“Make her grab the tape for us,” a worried teen demanded of the leader.
“It’s not recorded here. I can’t get it for you. Don’t add hurting me to the crime. The police are used to robberies here. They won’t even pursue finding you if you don’t injure anyone,” Erika bluffed, forcing herself to think fast.
A sound of nearing sirens provoked their decision. “Let’s get out of here,” the leader announced. With pounding footsteps, they all piled through the doors and disappeared into the night.
All she could think about was Patrick when the manager told her to go home. She’d lost her job for foolishly leaving the booth, when the police had notified him of the robbery. Erika had walked for two hours from the nearest bus stop to his house. She knew he didn’t want her, but maybe he’d let her have Floppette and Mr. Meow. She needed at least her stuffies’ love.
Standing on the porch, Erika hesitated. Maybe this is a bad idea. She could hear the news on inside. Patrick would be preparing to go to bed. Should I wait until tomorrow? I could sleep in one of the cushioned chairs.
With a shake of her head, Erika forced herself to press the doorbell. She didn’t want a neighbor to call Patrick to report that someone was sleeping on his porch. At the sound of his footsteps nearing the door, she almost dashed away in panic, but the sound of his voice as the door opened froze her in place
“I don’t care who you have to pay quadruple overtime! I have to find her! Those teenagers could’ve killed . . .” Patrick’s voice broke off abruptly as he saw her standing before him. Dropping the phone on the floor, he stepped forward to pull her into his arms. “Little girl, I’ve been so worried!”
Stroking shaking fingers through her hair, Patrick held her plastered against his body. Erika could feel his heart pounding against her. There was no disguising the emotion and distress he’d felt. Had she made a mistake? The man’s shouting voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she realized that someone was still talking on his phone.
“Do you think you should get that?” she asked, grabbing at the mundane as a way of putting off the emotional stressors.
Patrick leaned away from her body to ask, “You’ve been gone for weeks and you’re worried about the man on the phone? You are in so much trouble, Little girl.” Holding on to her arm as if he expected her to disappear once again, Patrick leaned down to pick up the phone and briefly stated, “Somehow she’s here. Later.” He tossed it into a chair as he tugged her toward the couch.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt something important.” She resisted his action by leaning back to stop him. “I . . . I just had a hard day and needed Floppette and Sir Meow. I hoped you’d let me have them? They can’t be important to you.”
“Little girl, you are in so much trouble,” he stated before picking her up and carrying her over to the couch. Sitting down with her on his lap, he easily controlled her attempts to move away and pinned her in place. “First, Floppette and Sir Meow have been very upset with you for leaving them. Second, a bad day doesn’t describe what happened to you. The news just released the footage of the robbery to identify those kids. What in the world were you doing working there?” he demanded.
Undone by the events of the day, losing her job, and walking forever, Erika dissolved into tears. “What was I supposed to do? Take the position you offered me after Christmas? Let you foist me off in some store in the mall because you’d finished with me. Don’t you know how it would rip my heart apart to see you each day and know that you didn’t love me anymore?”
She covered her face with her hands and cried. Erika hadn’t allowed herself to cry since she’d left the mall. All her love and hurt feelings had been bricked up and hidden away. Now in his arms once again, it felt like torture to be reminded of all she’d lost.
“Oh, Little elf,” he said, pulling her close to his chest. “Where did you get the idea that I was going to have you work in a shop?”
“You said you were going to offer me a position. I was just an employee to you,” she wailed, hiding her face against his broad chest.
“There is a position that I wish to offer you, but it’s not as my employee. Let’s go get your stuffies, and I’ll let them help me explain,” he suggested. When she didn’t look up at him, Patrick stood, lifting her in his arms. He carried her through the house to the nursery.
Bucking in his arms, Erika tried to force him to let her down. Patrick stopped just outside the doorway to control her movements. “No! I can’t go in there! Can’t you just let me have them, and then I’ll leave.” The nursery had been the place where all her dreams had come true. Now, she knew it was just a big lie. People couldn’t really live as a Little. She had meant nothing to him.
“You are this close. Floppette and Sir Meow need you to be strong,” Patrick urged. As she digested his words, Patrick carried her through the doorway and to the crib. Her stuffies sat forlornly against the back railing. In front of them sat a small, brightly wrapped present.
He lowered her gently to the floor and picked up the package, “This is the Christmas present that I bought for you. Before you take your stuffies, open it.”
“Do I have to?” she questioned belligerently.
“Yes.”
Slowly, she accepted the package. As she unwrapped it, Patrick’s hand stroked her back. It felt so good, just like he’d comforted her before. Forcing herself to hurry, she yanked the velvety box from the paper and flipped it open. A sparkling diamond ring stared back at her. Turning to look at Patrick in astonishment, Erika watched him kneel on one knee.
“Erika, I want you to be my Little girl forever. The rest of the world will consider you my wife, but we’ll know the truth—that I need to care for you and love you as the most precious elf at all times of the year.”
She stared at him. “But you wanted me for some position,” she spat out of her mouth in distaste.
“The position is to be my wife, Little girl. I want to keep you with me for the rest of our lives,” he assured her softly. “Can I see what the ring looks like on your finger?”
When she stared at him befuddled, Patrick removed the ring from the box and slid it over her finger. A bit big, it glided easily into place. “We’ll have to size it smaller,” he suggested.
“No!” burst from her lips as she looked down at the ring. All the sadness lifted from her heart. He hadn’t been going to send her away. Her Daddy loved her. He still did. The proof encircled her finger, and she would never take it off.
“No?”
“I’m not taking it off.” Erika launched herself into his arms and pressed a kiss against his lips. When his hand cupped the back of her head to hold her in place, she surrendered to his blistering kiss. Home! This was home.
He put the rocker in the nursery for a different use later. They’d scattered their clothes across the floor in their eagerness to reconnect. Patrick had pulled on his pants only to restrain himself from taking her again. Her enticing bottom tempted him as she lay over his lap. It already glowed pink as he swatted her bottom.
“Daddy, no! I’m sorry. I’ll never run away again,” she promised.
“Little girls have consequences,” he responded as he continued to pepper her bottom. “You ran from Daddy. That is the worst thing a Little girl can do.”
“I . . . know. I’m . . . sorry,” she gasped between sobs.
“Never again!”
“Never again, Daddy!” Erika agreed as she squirmed on his lap.
That was enough. Patrick lifted and turned his Little to sit on his lap. Her hiss as her red bottom landed on his thigh went straight to his heart. He didn’t want to hurt her but knew that she needed the release of emotions and the punishment. Her spanking would wash away her naughtiness, all
owing them to have a fresh start.
Rocking her in his arms, he rose only when she yawned sleepily. After making a warm bottle and holding her in his arms, Patrick returned to the chair to feed his Little girl. She was his to take care of now.
Epilogue
The photographer agreed to be his best man without hesitation. He’d been there from the beginning of their relationship and was tickled to take part in the wedding. When Patrick handed him the ring to hold on to for the service at the altar, he looked questioningly at the piece of tape wrapped around its base.
“She won’t let me take them to the jewelers. Maybe on our twentieth wedding anniversary, I can smuggle the rings out to get them sized.”
“You’re a lucky man that she loves you so much.”
“I am.” The music began, and Patrick’s attention focused on that small space at the entrance of the church’s sanctuary. The sight of his lovely bride in her gorgeous lace wedding gown took his breath away. It wasn’t until she reached the halfway point of the aisle, he realized that something green poked from beneath her gown. Elf slippers.
Patrick laughed and swept his tuxedo jacket back to reveal that instead of a cummerbund, he wore the wide black belt from that fated costume. Her answering giggle brought a smile to everyone’s face. Erika would always be Santa’s Little girl.
The End.
Santa Surprise
A Ripple Effect Novella
Evan Grace
Chapter One
Santa's Naughty Helpers Page 28