4
NIKO
I hung up the phone feeling on top of the world. Tyler had called to tell me that my raffle for an hour-long visit with Santa was the most popular raffle item he'd ever had, and it was still hours before the drawing. I was happy that my contribution meant so much to people. If it worked out well, maybe I'd offer a couple next year, but first, I had to see how this one played out.
When it came to prizes, it could go either way. I could show up and have the person “accidentally on purpose” have an extra twenty kids randomly arrive, who then didn't want to pay because, obviously, they “didn't plan it.” Or it could be the sweetest family ever with a cute little puppy dog who sat there looking up at me, wagging his tail with joy as the kids regaled me with stories of making cookies and telling me their Christmas wish list. Only time would tell.
I had no sooner put my phone down when it buzzed again. It was Milkman, the milk-selling app, the one I used to sell what I pumped. It’d become a great way to both give back and make a little money. Dumping my milk down the sink felt wrong, and there were parents who wanted their kids to have human milkbut weren't able to provide it for whatever reason. I offered one of the lower prices on the app, but it fell within their required limits.
I understood why they had a price range. It helped squash scammers, and in the company's mind, there were donation sites available for those who needed it for free, so there was no need to low-ball. Unfortunately, being a man, I didn't qualify for those, which was silly given that my milk was just as nutritional as anyone else's. But society was just catching up with the times, and they'd figure it out soon enough. Or so I hoped.
Swiping away, I opened the app, expecting the family I sold to to ask me to freeze the milk for their Christmas vacation or something similar. Instead, they told me news I should have expected… Little Johnny was now fully weaned. With all that they had been freezing over the past two months, they didn't need any more deliveries. I wasn't sad about it. It was good that the baby was growing and moving on, but it meant I had to find someone to replace them, which meant turning my listing back on.
As great as the app was, the process of finding who you were going to sell to, along with details such as how much, delivery dates, and all of that, was a real pain in the ass. The families who were buying also added layers. Some wanted all your information or tried to guilt you into picking them. Of course there were times when I wanted all their info because something didn’t settle right and I wanted to give them a chance. It was a real balancing act.
Then there were the non-families who wanted milk. I didn't judge them. Milk was milk. You bodybuild and you want human milk? Go for it. But I preferred families for a lot of reasons. One, they were consistent. Two, I was giving somebody somethingthey needed that their parents couldn't provide. And three, I didn't have to deal with all the odd requests. A lot of the bodybuilders had lists that went on and on—no soy, no gluten, no dairy, no sugar—and they tended to fluctuate their demands by the latest trends. I’d started out selling to bodybuilders, and I was good and done with it.
I hadn't had my listing active for five minutes when I already had three people jumping on it, asking for more information. None of them mentioned a child, but none of them mentioned bodybuilding either. I shut down the app. There was no need for me to rush to decide who to sell to. I'd leave it open for a couple of days and then look through the list. I did feel bad that my chest milk was in such demand, but I couldn't let that sway my decision-making. It was what it was, and we worked in the system we had.
Time was ticking and I jumped in the shower, washing the day off and getting ready for the auction. I didn't dress as Santa, choosing a business suit over my red one. Charity events required suits, right?
When I got there, I was impressed by the number of people in attendance. There were some live auctions going on, but those were for really high-ticket items, such as a week in a resort, a stay at one of the nicer hotels in this part of the country, or a package that included the best steakhouse in the region and a meet-and-greet with the chef, that kind of thing.
I couldn't help being nosy, walking from raffle item to raffle item and seeing how many tickets were in each bucket. Tyler hadn't been exaggerating. Mine was full. So much more money was made from my donation than if I’d simply donated the cash value of the visit. I was definitely going to do this again.
As I passed by the ticket table, they asked how many tickets I wanted. I was simply going to donate cash, but after seeing the items, decided it would be fun to pick items and maybe it would encourage people to do the same. I bought a strip of tickets, filled them out, and put them in various buckets. I entered for a year of car washes, gift certificates to various restaurants, and a cat condo. I didn't even have a cat, but there weren't very many tickets in that bucket and I was hoping my enthusiasm would be contagious. Besides, it was adorable. Whoever built it designed it to look like something out of a fairy realm. There was no way I could not put some tickets in there. Worst-case scenario, I’d win and could donate it to the shelter or find someone who had a cat and needed one.
"Hey, friend! So glad you're here." Tyler shook my hand and pulled me in for a hug.
”Wouldn’t miss it.”
“I need to do the whole host thing, but I’ll catch up with you in a bit? Be sure to check everything out.” He was nervous, a side of Tyler I’d rarely seen over the years.
”I will, and if you need anything, let me know.”
I wandered around briefly and then stood toward the back. I wanted to see how the auctions and the raffles played out, but I wasn't in the mood for much more than that. If I'd brought a date, absolutely, but it'd been a long time since I went out with someone. Tyler said I was too picky, and maybe he was right, but I didn't want to just spend time with a random man just to have someone on my arm. I wanted it to be someone I saw a potential future with. Call me old-fashioned, but that's how I was.
Finally, the night wore down, and they started to pull the winning tickets. One after another, the winners were announced. Most of them weren't here, not that I expected them to be. That was the joy of a raffle, you put your name on it, and if you won, they called you. It wasn't like an auction, where you had to be present.
Finally, it was time for my donation. They called the name, and a man in the back squeed, like, a full-on squeal. "That's mine! That's mine!" He ran up, his excitement adorable. I wondered who he wanted it for. Was it too much for me to hope that it was for himself?
Less than a minute later, he texted me, telling me he was the winner. I didn't get to it as soon as I wanted to, my own name was being called for a prize, but when I saw the text, I responded. I let him know the information I needed and how happy I was that he won.
Honestly, I was a little too happy that he won. Something about him had me interested, far more than I should be. Oh well. He was probably having me come to the house he shared with his spouse to read to their little kids. That was good, too. All for a good cause.
5
DAKOTA
Everything was coming together all at once.
I had someone interested in selling me milk. They had said they hadn't decided on whether they were looking for a full-time, consistent buyer or not, but that was fine with me. At least I had something to get through the holidays, and he had a full liter for me already. Had Santa heard my wish? Maybe. Or maybe it was finally time for things to start going my way. I'd taken such a huge risk coming here, starting my life all over again. It was nice to think that everything was starting to fall into place.
The milk supplier told me he’d text me the time and place as soon as he figured out his work schedule. I was fine with that. Not everybody had nine-to-fives like I did, and besides, nothing could make me feel bad about today. It was my day with Santa. We’d texted back and forth for the Santa arrangements, and it came together really easily. I managed to dodge the age question, letting him know there would only be one person. He probably assumed it was one child, but he'd figure that out soon enough. It wasn’t as if I lied.
The manager of the shelter had pointed him out to me when I won. I could see him being an amazing Santa, but I also recognized him, and I couldn't pinpoint from where. It was just something so familiar about him, familiar and comforting.
I had a little tree I put up, some slice-and-bake cookies I'd thrown in the oven were cooling on the rack, and, much to his initial dismay, I had Mr. Whiskers shut in the bedroom. I wasn't sure if Santa would be okay with having a pet here, and as much as I loved Mr. Whiskers, him sleeping on the bed for a couple of hours wasn't going to do him any harm. Besides, I promised him extra catnip if he was good.
