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Santa made a silly sound. “If those hit the floor, you can’t eat them.”

“Oh no, Santa.” Cheek kisses. Snuggle. “Saved the day.”

“You saved your snack. Not the day.” Santa grumpy.

“Hugs.” Careful. Careful. “Now hugs.”

Santa snickered. “I can’t decide if you put the Goldfish down because I’m more important and you didn’t want to spill them on me or if you didn’t want to take any chances on your snack falling.”

“Kisses.” Helper was smart. “Hugs and kisses.”

Climbing around on Santa’s lap as he giggled, I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a big hug. “Cartoons?”

Santa liked cartoons.

“Transformers?” Santa liked those.

“Really?” Santa was suspicious. “Okay.”

Oh, big Santa hugs and kisses.

“Cartoons and snacks and then we’ll go snuggle in bed.” Santa was trying to hide his yawns but it was big hard. “Santa has had a long day and so have you.”

Maybe.

Hands up. Wide fingers. “See? Awake.”

“Making your eyes wider will not make you more awake, silly goose.” Santa kissed my head and reached for the remote. “But you look like a cute bug that way.”

“Monster?” Not bug. “Monster.”

Santa glared at me. “A scary monster or a naughty one?”

Santa was silly goose.

Closer.

Closer.

Whisper.

“Naughty.” Ha ha ha.

“Ugh. I knew it.” Frowning and huffing. “I shouldn’t have even asked.”

Naughty monster.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t ask and we’re going to watch the funny robots.” Snuggle. Snuggle. “Here we go. Let’s turn you around. You know, if we keep watching the show together, then next season I can show you my favorite queer couple. They’re really cute.”

Huh?

“Santa?” He snickered. “Teasing?”

“Nope. You’re just going to have to watch and see.” Santa smiley but Santa serious? “They’re definitely queer coded and in a relationship. Most of that had to be off screen of course, but there was romance.”

Hmm.

“Santa silly.” But Santa happy. “Snuggle Santa.”