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“Next year, we are hiring an actor.” The object of her thoughts poked his head around the barricade. Rosa tried not to notice he was clad only in a white T-shirt. “I am making it a royal decree.”
“You realize you said the same thing last year,” she replied.
“Yes, but this year I mean it.”
“You said that last year as well.” Along with the year before that, when the official shelter was still being built and they housed families at the Corinthian Arms hotel. “You love playing Babbo Natale and you know it.” Interacting with the children under the Christmas tree was one of the few times she saw him truly relax. Not to mention it kept them both from feeling maudlin on a day that was supposed to be joyful.
Armando mumbled something unintelligible. “What?” she whispered.
“I said, then at least get me a better beard next year. This one makes my skin itch.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Be careful. Mock me and Babbo will put you on the naughty list.”
“Oh, goody. Naughty girls get all the good gifts.”
“How would you know? Is there something you’re not telling me, Signora Rosa?”
“I’ll never tell.” Rosa immediately clamped her jaw shut. She didn’t know what horrified her more, the flutters that took flight at his question or her flirty response. To cover, she made a point of studying her watch dial. “Are you almost ready? I think the natives are getting restless.”
“I thought Arianna and Max had them under control.” The party was serving as the couple’s first official appearance. Currently, the princess was playing carols on the shelter piano while her fiancé led the crowd in a sing-along. He was already proving a people’s favorite with his movie-idol looks and exuberant off-key singing.
“They are,” she told Armando, “but you know children’s attention spans. Especially children who have been gorging on cake and gelato.”
“The Christmas cake was delicious, was it not?”
“Mouthwatering,” she replied, hoping he didn’t notice the catch in her voice. Truth was, she had been more transfixed by the way Armando licked the frosting from his fork.
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the future Prince Max. “I have been asked when Santa might be arriving,” he said. “We’re running out of Christmas songs. If he doesn’t arrive soon, I may have to break out the 1940s standards.”
“Please no, not that,” Rosa replied. She leaned back to look behind the screen only to find herself inches away from Armando’s bearded face.
“Never fear, Babbo Natale is here.” He grinned. “Ready to see who has been naughty or nice. Should I start with you, Signora Rosa, since you seem to think the naughty list is the place to be?”
Too bad she wasn’t wearing a beard, if only to hide her warm cheeks. She had to settle for looking down and adjusting the hem of her white sweater. “I’m sure there’s much more interesting people on that list than me,” she said. “Besides, you don’t want to keep the children waiting for their presents much longer or we could have a riot on our hands.”
Proving her point, one of the youngsters spotted his red hat poking out from behind the screen. “It’s Babbo!” he yelled out. “He’s here!” Half a second later, the rest of the children started cheering his arrival as well. The mothers had to corral their children to keep them from rushing the cloth screen.
“Looks like I’m on,” Armando whispered. He stepped out, and in the blink of an eye, every trace of reluctance disappeared as the prince threw himself into his performance. “Ho, ho, ho!” he called out. “Buon Natale! One of my helpers told me I might find some good boys and girls here. Is that true?”
“Yes,” the kids screeched at the top of their lungs.
“Wonderful. Because I happen to have a sack full of toys that I brought especially for them.”
Someone dragged over a folding chair from one of the tables, and he perched on it as regally as if it were an actual throne, despite the fact his athletic frame dwarfed the chair. “Let me see,” he said, reaching into the velvet sack he had brought with him, “who is going to be first?”
At the chorus of “Me!” that rang through the room, Armando let out a deep rumbling laugh worthy of the Babbo himself.
Rosa’s heart warmed at the sight. She had known from the very beginning that playing Santa would be a balm for Armando’s grief, but it never ceased to amaze her how good he was at the job. He made sure every child got special one-on-one time with Babbo, he treated them as miniature adults, going along with the pretense for the children’s sake. He was going to make a wonderful father.
