“Mommy, why do they keep staring over here?”
“They keep staring because they think your daddy is very handsome. Now, finish your dinner so we can go see Santa Claus.”
Julia smiled as she ate her chicken. Collin was being a good boy and eating his dinner because he was excited to go to the toy store. As we finished eating, the waitress brought our bill and Connor paid. When we got out of the booth, I took Collin’s hand and Connor grabbed Julia’s. As we were leaving, I instantly froze when I heard Julia speak.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that staring is rude?” Julia said to the women at the table next to us.
I heard Connor apologizing to them as I smiled and kept walking. When we stepped outside the restaurant, Connor stopped and looked at me.
“Did you hear what your daughter said back there?”
“Yes.” I laughed.
“It isn’t funny, Ellery. She embarrassed me. Now I have to worry about her too?”
I kissed Connor on the lips. “Yeah, I guess you do,” I said as I patted his chest.
“Aren’t you going to say anything to her?” he whispered.
“Why don’t you?” I asked.
When we were walking down the street to FAO Schwarz, Connor stopped and bent down so he was eye level with Julia. “Julia, what you did back at the restaurant embarrassed Daddy, and I don’t want you to do that ever again. Okay?”
“Why, Daddy? Mommy and Aunt Peyton say things to people all the time if they are doing something rude.”
Connor shot me a look and I couldn’t help but laugh. He stood up, took her hand, and growled at me. “Great, she’s just like you.”
“Aw, you love it. She’s protecting her daddy.” I smiled as I hooked my arm around his.
We entered through the doors of FAO Schwarz and the kids were in Heaven. The first thing we did was get in line to see Santa. The line wasn’t too long, and all the Christmas decorations and animated people keep the kids occupied. Connor put his arm around me and kissed my head. I smiled as I rested my head on his shoulder. Julia and Collin got along great. She was protective of her brother and stuck up for him, even with us. It was finally our turn and both kids went and sat on Santa’s lap.
“What do you want for Christmas?” he asked Collin.
“I want a bike and a train set,” he said.
“And what about you, pretty girl?” Santa asked Julia.
“I want an easel and paints, so I can paint beautiful pictures like my mommy. Oh, and I want new Barbies and a baby doll, but it has to be the one that goes potty and comes with diapers and a bottle and really cute clothes. I want jewelry so I can sparkle like a princess. I want this really cool four-story dollhouse with all the furniture and the family of four.”
“My, oh my, you sure want a lot of things,” Santa said.
“Of course I do, Santa. It’s Christmas, and my daddy said I can have anything I want. So I want all that.” Julia smiled as she got off his lap. She started walking way, stopped, and turned around. “Oh Santa, I also want an iPad. The 128GB in white with a Hello Kitty case.” She smiled.
I looked at Connor. “What?” he asked.
“And you blame me,” I said.
He laughed as we walked over and took the kids’ hands.
“That’s a pretty long list of things, Julia,” Connor said.
“Not really, Daddy. There’s more. I’ll give you my complete Christmas list when we get home. I’ve been adding to it for months.”
Connor shook his head and looked at me. I guess I was going to have to have a little talk with Julia on what Christmas was really about. When we reached the big piano, Collin and Julia ran to it as fast as they could. The piano was their favorite part of the store. Connor and I stood back and watched as our two beautiful children played on it.
“Standing here, like this, I feel like I’m watching me and Cassidy,” Connor said.
“It’s amazing how fast time flies.”
“I bought it,” Connor said as he looked at me.
“Bought what?” I asked.
“The big piano. I bought it for them for Christmas. That way we could all play on it, together as a family.” He smiled.
I stood there and shook my head. “What?” he asked.
“I bought one too.”
Connor pulled me into him and kissed my head. “Great minds think alike, baby. That’s okay; we’ll keep one at the penthouse and one at the beach house.”
***
Christmas had come and gone and, before we knew it, summer had arrived and the kids were out of school. We spent most of our time at the beach house. I was sitting down at the beach with my arms wrapped around my legs, when Julia came up to me.
“Mommy, Daddy’s being mean and won’t let me have any ice cream.”
“We’re going to be eating dinner soon. So I agree with your daddy. No ice cream until after dinner.” I smiled as I tapped her on the nose.
“Why are you just sitting here like this? Are you sad?”
“I was just thinking about my mom and how we would spend time at the beach.”
“She’s dead, right?”