Dashing Through the Mall Santa, Baby, Assignment Humbug, Deck the Halls

AMY RILEY HAD A FEVER of 102, globs of oatmeal all over her face, hair that desperately needed washing, a screaming baby and a five-year-old who was regarding her with such reproach that she wanted to sit down and cry herself. It was not a promising start to the holidays. "But, Mom, you said we could go to the mall today and see Santa," Josh whined. "You promised." Amy clung to her patience by a thread. "I know, sweetie, but I'm sick. I'm sorry." "But it's Christmas Eve," he persisted, clearly not hearing or at least not caring about the state of her health. "We have to go today. If we don't, how will Santa know what to bring us? He doesn't even know where we live now. What if he takes our presents to Michigan and we're not there?" "He won't," Amy assured him. "But how do you know?" "Because I sent him a letter," she claimed in desperation. "What if he didn't get it? Mail gets lost all the time." "He got it," she reassured him, thinking of the small stash of gifts in her closet. Tomorrow morning, they would provide proof for her doubting son, but today he'd just have to take her word for it. Thanks to the expense of relocating, she hadn't been able to afford much this year, but she was determined Josh would have at least a few packages from Santa to open on Christmas morning, along with a handful from her folks and the one from his dad that she'd picked out just in case Ned didn't bother sending anything. Unless a miracle occurred and something turned up in an overnight delivery on Christmas morning, she'd pegged her ex's lack of consideration exactly right. With Josh in her face this morning, she had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't his fault that she and his father had gone through a nasty divorce and that she'd packed up with him and his baby sister and moved to a suburb outside of Charlotte, NC, far from family and friends back in Michigan. Everyone had tried to talk her into waiting until after the holidays, but the thought of spending one more minute in the same town as her ex had been too much. Maybe by next year the wounds would have healed and she and the kids could spend the holidays with her folks, but this year staying there a few weeks longer or making a quick trip back had been out of the question. Amy hadn't had the stomach or the money for it. She'd convinced herself that things would be better after the first of the year when she started her new job at the headquarters of the same bank she'd worked for back home. At the time she'd been offered the transfer, it had seemed like a godsend, a way to get a fresh start with the promise of some financial security in the very near future. This morning, though, she was regretting the hasty decision. Money was tight and emotions were raw. She was far from home with no new support system in place. And if it was tough for her, it was a thousand times worse for Josh, who felt cheated not to be with family for Christmas. But, she reassured herself, Josh was an outgoing kid. He would make new friends in kindergarten. In a few more weeks tantrums like the one he was pitching now would be a thing of the past. They just had to survive till then. "I hate this place," Josh declared, pressing home a point with which she was already far too familiar. Not a day had gone by in the last week when he hadn't expressed a similar sentiment. Fighting for patience, Amy lowered the now-quiet baby into her portable playpen, then sat her son in her lap and gave him a squeeze. "It's going to get better," she promised him. He nestled under her chin in an increasingly infrequent display of affection. "When?" he asked plaintively. "Soon," she vowed. No matter what it took, she would make this work. "There's not even any snow in this dumb place. At home, we always had snow for Christmas and Dad would take me out on my sled." He sighed dramaticalWoods, Sherryl is the author of 'Dashing Through the Mall Santa, Baby, Assignment Humbug, Deck the Halls', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373837335 and ISBN 037383733X.