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No kid was leaving here without something cool.
They might wonder why Santa couldn't stop staring at the gorgeous woman in the cat jumper though. Damn, Grace could wear a sack and she'd still look hot. On her, even an ugly jumper wasn't that ugly.
"Hey, Santa, do you have anything for Luke?" Chantel asked me. She was playing the part of an elf, but not the sexy-looking kind, thank God. I didn't want to see my sister like that. Other people's sisters, sure, but not mine.
"Right." I jerked my brain back to the bag of presents open in front of me. I searched for one with Luke's name on it and handed it to Chantel to give to the kid. He was pale and looked exhausted, but his eyes lit up at the sight of the Lego kit he revealed when he pulled back the paper.
"Here's one for Lexie," I said.
"Me!" She bounced up and down where she sat in sheer excitement. Like Luke, she was pale, but her smile when she opened her toy truck would have brightened any room. "Yes!"
She stood and hurried off to show her mother, and drove the truck up and down across her bed.
I glanced up to see Grace watching, a smile on her lips. Hawk was right, I needed to tell her how I felt, if only so I knew she knew. She might tell me to get lost, but that was a risk I had to take. What was life without risks anyway?
I smiled back, then turned on the charm for a kid who sat off to one side. I hadn't seen her before, so I guessed she was new here. The start of a long, hard road. At least I might help to get it off on the right foot.
"What's your name?" I asked.
She shifted a little and looked down at the floor. "Chelsie."
"Oh, I totally have a present here for you." I dipped my arm and my face into the bag and searched around. I pulled out a present and passed it to Chantel to give to the girl.
Chelsie looked at it doubtfully before she opened it. "It's Rappy." She held up a grey and white plush fish that resembled the Rapid's logo, before she drew it in close and gave it a hug. "His name is Albert."
"I think she likes him," Chantel said.
I nodded. "Yeah." I'd seen enough kids her age to know a soft friend was a big help and comfort on this journey. Albert would probably be getting all the needles first, to show Chelsie it was okay.
I blinked back tears because big, badass football gods dressed up as Santa don't cry. At least not where people can see.
We handed out the last of the presents—only a handful were left— and I stood up from the chair I was sitting on and stretched. The bag that was heavy over my shoulder an hour ago was a lot lighter now. I closed the top and stashed it in the corner near the door.
I posed for a few photos with Chantel, for the local newspaper and news platforms. This was a much better news story than my sex life. With any luck, it would go even more viral. The world needed more feel good stuff in it.
"Thank you." The journalist who covered the story nodded and hurried out the door. No doubt they had a deadline to make, or wanted to get the story written and out there.
"You did good work, bro." Chantel patted me on the shoulder. "Keep this up and you'll get a sainthood some day."
"Saint Bam does have a ring to it," I said. No one with any sense would canonise a guy like me, but it was fun to dream about.
"Not as good as Saint Chantel." She gave me a sassy grin and walked off to talk to one of the cute doctors who dropped in for a moment between doctorly duties.
I watched for a while, to make sure he got the message that if he touched my sister, he'd be back here as a patient.
"Saint Chantel, keep dreaming," I said under my breath. Speaking of dreaming, I looked around for Grace, and found her standing a couple of metres away, watching me.
"Hey, beautiful," I said. "Surprise." I gestured toward my costume.
"I thought you weren't coming," she said.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking. She could be ready to wrap her pretty little hands around my throat, for all I knew.
"No way in the world I would miss this." Okay, I couldn't blame her for thinking that. I did have a track record of letting her down when it came to big events. Although, that was one time and with good cause.
"You've made a big difference in their lives." She smiled toward a small group of children who sat with their toys, playing some sort of make believe.
"You've made a big difference in mine." I wanted to wrap my arms around her like Chelsie had with her toy Rapid, and hold her close like that forever.
