So much for daddy loyalty.
“Hey, little girl. Santa won’t come if your still awake. You have to be sleeping in order for him to slide down the chimney,” Scotty told her as Mickey rolled his eyes.
“Like she’s going to understand you,” Mickey said.
“Santa,” Darci said, looking around. “Santa.”
Scotty looked at Mickey. “You were saying something about her not understanding.”
“Fine,” Mickey said, defeated.
We’d already taken her to see Santa inside the overly decorated gazebo at the main park. It was love at first sight. Of course, it was probably due to the fact that Uncle Daryl was hidden under that red suit and white beard, with padding everywhere to give him the right sized belly. We all thought she knew exactly whose lap she was sitting on for the pictures. Especially when he began rubbing her back and she collapsed into him. The parents in line with their children thought it was the cutest thing ever, but she knew exactly who tried to hide under all that red velvet.
Her very favorite uncle in all the world.
“Yes, Santa. He’ll be here in the morning,” Scotty told her. “Now, it’s off to bed.”
But she wanted nothing to do with her bed. Instead, she held out her arms for me calling for “Colty!”
She couldn’t seem to say Colt yet.
She had all three of us wrapped around her little finger. We would do anything for her, and couldn’t seem to say no, even staying up way past her bedtime… like she’d done tonight.
“Okay. Okay. That’s enough. It’s time sweetheart,” CindyLou said, carrying her guitar back into the room. We all knew what we had to do. The only thing that would get Darci to lie down and sleep.
We had to play and sing something.
Both Mickey and Scotty left, while CindyLou made sure her guitar was properly tuned.
Then, while Darci finally sat in her crib and began pulling her stuffed dragons to surround her, CindyLou played the cords for White Christmas.
It didn’t take long before we were all singing, and harmonizing the song. At first, Darci’s eyes went wide, but she knew it was time to lie down. Eventually she closed her eyes, giving each of us a rush of pure joy.
When we ended the song with, “And may all your Christmases be white,” I could swear I heard Mickey pull in a ragged breath. Ever since he’d come back to us, he cried for just about anything and everything.
We walked out of the room then, CindyLou carrying both her guitar and a baby monitor. We placed our instruments back in their stands and headed downstairs where we still had a roaring fire and the Christmas tree was still lit.
“Maybe a hot toddy before we all drift off for the night?” CindyLou offered as we entered the living room. It was so cozy and so beautiful it didn’t look like my house anymore. It looked more like something out of a magazine.
That was when I noticed the large fuzzy blanket stretched out in front of the fireplace.
“Sounds perfect,” I told her, slipping my arm around her waist and pulling her in tight for a kiss. “Is that for us? To go with our hot toddies?”
“Yes,” she said, placing the baby monitor on an end table, then turning up the volume. “Actually, I was thinking that our hot toddy, wouldn’t actually be something to drink. It would be more of the delectable erotic variety… in front of the fire… with a glass of wine for you boys. Would that work?”
“That would work even better,” Mickey said, then he kissed her. A long sexy kiss where she wrapped her leg around his.
“I’ll get the wine,” Scotty said, when the kiss finally ended as Mickey and I stretched out with our girl lying between us in front of the fire. Before he left for the wine, Scotty tossed another log on the fire causing all the ash to stir and the flames to lick higher. He slid the ornate screen in front of the hearth, and left for the kitchen.
Scotty liked to take care of things himself, while I liked to hire it out. Mickey, well, Mickey liked to entertain Darci, which took up most of his time.
“I have something to tell you, tonight. It’s my Christmas gift to all three of you,” CindyLou purred, grinning, as she gazed up at us.
“What is it?” I asked, as I pulled a few of the decorator pillows down from the sofa and we shoved them under our heads. The fire felt warm and caused her skin to shine with a soft orange glow. She looked good enough to eat, which I intended to do before this night ended.
“I’ll wait for Scottie,” she said, moments before he walked back into the room with an open bottle of Prosecco, her favorite. He poured the wine and handed each of us a glass.
She didn’t take one. Instead, he poured her a glass of sparkling water, causing me to wonder if she wasn’t feeling well after that massive meal we all ate.