Page 43 of Heart of a Hero

“I don’t know. I was wondering if you were going to lead me downstairs so we could work on the model of the Egyptian god.” He smirked.

Forrest stood tall, shoulders back, chest out. “I think we can get back to that a little later. Right now, there’s another kind of god that I want you to become acquainted with.”

“And what exactly is that?”

Forrest drew him to him, chest to chest, bringing his lips to Conrad’s ear. “Specifically, the god you call out to again and again as I send you into orbit.” Conrad’s mouth hung open, but he couldn’t make a sound.

Chapter 16

SATURDAY MORNING, Forrest was worn out. A little light came in the windows, so he rolled over, figuring it was still early. He was wrong.

“Did you and Daddy have a sleepover?”

Forrest cracked his eyes open. Lizzie stood next to the bed in pink pajamas, holding a stuffed sheep under her arm. Forrest wanted to pull the covers over his head and try to disappear.

“Lizzie,” Conrad said. “Go on and brush your teeth.”

She skipped out of the room, and Forrest got out of bed and pulled on his clothes from last night. At least he was dressed and not naked under the covers for when Lizzie returned. “I should go on home before….”

“What?” Conrad shrugged. “The bigger a deal we make of this, the more she is going to question it. Just be normal and the same person you’ve always been. So go on home, change, and come back for breakfast in about forty-five minutes. I know it’s the Saturday before Christmas, but I need to get a few things, and Lizzie asked if she could visit Santa. There’s one at the square, so we don’t have to brave the mall, and we can walk downtown for last-minute gifts.”

“If you’re sure,” he said.

Conrad pulled on a robe and tied it around his waist. “The more normal things are, the less of a huge thing it’s going to be.”

“Okay.” Forrest left the room, put on his shoes, and grabbed his coat on the way out to head home, where he showered and changed clothes before packing a small bag and throwing it in the trunk as a precaution.

Once back at Conrad’s, he found Lizzie at the table munching on pancakes shaped like Santa hats. Clearly that was the theme of the day. Forrest sat down, and Conrad had pancakes all ready for him. “Are you ready to see Santa?”

“Yes. I have a whole list of things I want, and I didn’t tell anybody what they were. I want to see if he’s the real Santa or a guy in a suit. Last year I went to see Santa, and his beard was wonky. So I knew he was fake.” She chewed on some more pancake, and Forrest bit the inside of his lip to keep from chuckling.

“Santa authenticity is really important around here,” Conrad said, rolling his eyes from behind Lizzie where she couldn’t see.

“And what do we do after Santa?”

Lizzie didn’t hesitate. “Christmas cartoons. I wanna see Rudolph and Frosty. Not The Polar Express. I don’t need to see that one.”

“Okay.” Conrad shrugged. “You can watch all the Christmas movies you want. I put all of them in your list, so all you have to do is choose what you want.” He tapped her plate. “Right now you need to finish your breakfast so we can put Santa to the test.” He leaned toward Forrest, who smiled. “That is one thing I need to figure out, because I am not going to get called out again for taking her to the fake Santa.”

CONRAD STOOD in line at the square, holding Lizzie’s hand as she looked around, vibrating with excitement. “Can I get my face pained?” Apparently they were having some sort of festival today, and the square had booths for face painting and crafts of various kinds.

“How about we see Santa, and then we can look around. Okay?” He met Forrest’s gaze, so glad he was there. Lizzie was wound as tight as a drum with excitement, and all he wanted was for her to see Santa so they could get away from this group of screaming kids that was giving him a bad headache.

They got closer to Santa, and Lizzie held his hand tighter, grinning. “What are you gonna ask Santa for?” he asked her.

“Santa test, remember?” she told him seriously. Then it was her turn, and she walked up to him and stood next to his chair. He did the “ho, ho, ho” and then asked her name and what she wanted for Christmas. Conrad couldn’t hear what Lizzie said, but the Santa laughed and asked Lizzie where she was going to keep him and who would clean up after it. That seemed to settle the pony question. Then Lizzie said something else, and Santa hesitated before saying he would see what he could do. Shit, he needed to know what it was she asked for. Still, the elves gave her a candy cane and took a picture. Then she skipped back to him.

“Well?” Conrad said, taking her hand. “What did you think?”

Lizzie munched on her candy. “I thought his beard was good and it didn’t seem wonky.” She looked up at him. “We’ll see.”

There were times when Lizzie reminded him so such of Gwen. She had been a skeptic too… of just about everything. Still, Conrad got the picture of Lizzie with Santa, and then they headed away from the square, pleased that Lizzie had forgotten all about the face painting.

“Who do you have to buy for?” Forrest asked.

“I need to get a few things. I thought we’d head down Pomfret Street to check out the stores.” Lizzie dropped his hand and skipped ahead. “Don’t go too far,” he cautioned her.

“I heard what she asked for,” Forrest whispered. “She wants a puppy.”