I Wanna Mommy fo' Chwismus

This story is submitted for the Winter Holidays Story Contest 2023.

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I WANNA MOMMY FO' CHWISMUS

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"Hi, Sweetie, I'm Evie the elf. What's your name?"

"Mandy," answered the nervous appearing girl.

"So, Mandy, what are you going to ask Santa for Christmas?"

"I wanna (mumble...mumble) fo' Chwismus."

"I'm sorry, but what did you want?"

"A (mumble...mumble)."

"Sweetheart, when you're up there with Santa, you'll have to speak up. You know, he's kinda old and can't hear very well. And I still didn't hear you..."

"I said I wanna MOMMY fo' Chwismus!"

Eve stood there stunned after the little girl shouted out her Christmas wish. Everyone in Santa's Village must have heard her and even Travis, wearing his Santa costume, paused for a few seconds while he was talking to a little boy.

"OK, uh, OK, Sweetheart, I, uh, you know, Santa brings good little boys and girls toys for Christmas. All my elf friends are at the North Pole working day and night making those toys but we don't make Mommies."

"I don't wanna toy. I wanna mommy!" she began to cry with huge tears rolling down her flushed cheeks, "I wanna a mommy!"

Eve was beside herself. Occasionally she would have to deal with a pouty or scared child as she stood next to Santa but she had never had a major meltdown over such a heartbreaking request. Not knowing what to do, she knelt next to the little girl, gave her a big hug and tried to console her. Travis hurriedly finished up with the boy and turned to Eve and the little girl.

"Ho, ho, ho. I'm Santa," he smiled at her. "Evie here's my favoritest elf who helps me with little girls and boys."

"Can you give me a mommy?" she wailed.

He looked stricken at Eve and glanced around the village. All eyes were on him and Eve knew the young man in the Santa costume had no idea how to handle the meltdown. "Sweetheart, Santa and I can't bring you a mommy. I'm so sorry but we bring toys..."

A loud, high-pitched scream erupted from the girl as she threw herself down on the ground, crying and pounding her little fists on the floor. As Eve was trying to console her, she heard a warm, calming voice from behind her.

"Mandy, Love, come to Daddy. Here, let me give you a big hug."

An extremely handsome young man in his late twenties, she guessed, leaned over to rub the girl's back before picking her up in a warm hug. Mandy seemed to calm down a little though she was still sobbing into his shoulder. He mouthed 'Sorry' to Eve and Santa before turning and walking down the little ramp leading from Santa's chair. Her cries could be heard as he carried her from the area. Trying to get things back on track, Eve quickly turned to the next child. "Hi there, I'm Evie the Elf. Go ahead and hop up on Santa's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas."

Several children later, a woman leaned over the small picket fence at the rear of the display and whispered to Eve, "Uh, Miss Elf, that man with the crying little girl left his bag when he went to get her. Should I leave it here?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll hold onto it and if he doesn't come back, I'll turn it into Lost and Found."

For the rest of her shift, Eve kept an eye out for Mandy's father but he never returned. Once her relief elf arrived, Eve took the package and headed towards the Lost and Found office. The bag had the name of a small boutique shop on it, a shop she happened to be walking by at that moment. A sudden inspiration hit.

"Excuse me, uh, I was working at Santa's Village when a father accidentally left this. Is there any way you can tell me who it was?"

"Ah, well, we can check to see if it was paid in cash or by credit card. Let me see...Hmm, here it is. Credit card!"

"And do you have a name?"

"Let me check. Yeah, here it is: Cameron Smith."

"That's not too common of a name. Any address?"

"No, the computer only stores the name and the last four of the credit card. Sorry."

"Well, that's more than I knew. I'll tell Lost and Found what I know and maybe they can search it out."

"Good luck!"

But as luck would have it, Lost and Found was closed for the day. Eve decided to keep the bag to turn in on her next shift. On her way home, her mind kept going back to the little girl Mandy who wanted a mother for Christmas. 'I wonder what happened to her? Did she leave them? Die? Was there ever a mother in the picture? Maybe he was a solo parent by choice.'

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It wasn't until she arrived home that she remembered she was not on duty at Santa's Village for two days. She would have to return the bag early the next morning which meant another long drive in her rickety, old gas-hog, something she dreaded. But she knew it was the right thing to do and hoped she could afford the extra fuel and the car would even make it there and back.

The next morning dawned cold and snowy; indeed, the news reported a major storm had hit the community. Already eight inches of snow had fallen and another twelve inches were predicted. She knew immediately driving to the mall was out of the question. After drinking a second cup of mocha, she decided to try and track down this Cameron Smith. She logged onto a phone finder site to find a surprising total of five Cameron Smiths who resided in the county. She paid a small fee for a one-day membership and quickly obtained the contact information for all five of them.

She was surprised at how rude a couple of the Camerons were. One swore at her and one simply hung up in her ear. The fourth one denied being the Cameron from the mall but tried to ask her out, a request which was quickly declined.

On the fifth and last contact, she hit pay dirt.

"Hello."

"Hi, my name is Eve Weibern and I'm looking for a Cameron Smith who was at the mall yesterday."

"Yes?"

"Are you him?"

"Why are you asking?"

"We, I have a bag that was left at Santa's Village and I believe it belongs to Cameron Smith."

"Is it a green bag with a couple of scarves in it?"

"Yes, it is. You must have left it..."

"Yeah, I completely forgot about it. You see, my daughter had a meltdown before she could see Santa and I had to get her out of there and home. I guess I just forgot the bag."

"Yeah, she was pretty unhappy, wasn't she?"

"You...you were there?"

"Yeah. I'm working as an elf trying to earn a little extra cash and asked her what she wanted for Christmas."

"You said you were Eve when you called but the elf was Evie..."

"Yeah, I changed it a little to make it sound more holiday-ish, but my real name is Eve."

"Hi, Eve, I'm Cameron, but I guess you already knew that," he chuckled, "Ah, there's no rush but I'd like to get the bag sometime."

"I could drive it to you..."

"In this weather? No, absolutely not. We can wait a few days and decide then and besides, I forgot it so I should be the one doing the driving."

"Or we could meet at the mall. I've got another elf session in three days."

"Tuesday? That might work. Mandy's in preschool that day and I could swing by. When is your shift?"

"From ten to three."

"Great. I'll sneak out of work early and drop by around three or so. Does that work?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. See you then."

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On Tuesday she was busy with dozens of excited preschoolers all wanting to put in their requests with the old man for toys and games, games which most old men have no clue about. But Travis in the costume was young enough to answer their questions and delicate enough to never fully promise any gift. Shortly before three, she saw Cameron standing off in a corner. She waved to him, beckoning him forward, but he pointed at his watch, smiled and politely shook his head.

A few minutes later the relief elf came to the village allowing Eve to leave while telling the children she had to rush back to the North Pole to work on some of the toys. She walked over to Cameron offering him the bag.

"Here you go. Look familiar?"

"Yeah, that's it. Thank you. Saved me another shopping trip and some money to boot."

"Hey, it was no big deal. Glad to help."

"Say, could I at least buy you a coffee, you know, as a thank you?"

"Oh, there's no need for that. I was glad to help."

"OK, well, could I buy a sweet lady a cup of coffee to celebrate the season and the end of her shift?"

"Are you asking me out?" she asked warily.

"Only for a coffee over there at the food court. I've got about forty-five minutes before I go pick up Mandy and having a coffee with you would help pass the time. Please?"

"Oh, sure, I guess. I'm free for a little bit but then I need to get home and start studying."

"Oh? And where do you go to school?"

As they wandered over to the coffee shop, their conversation was comfortable and friendly. She told him her major was psychology and she anticipated a career as a child psychologist. He was employed by a small internet start-up business which allowed him a lot of flexibility in his schedule.

"I can work around my daughter's daycare and preschool schedules fairly easily. She's the most important thing in my life and though I might earn more money elsewhere, I'd rather be there for her."

"That's so sweet." Eve wondered what happened to Mandy's mom but felt it wasn't appropriate to ask. But she found herself enjoying Cameron's presence. The forty-five minutes flew by and before she knew it, Cameron told her he needed to leave.

"I've got to run and pick her up. Say, uh, this may be a bit forward but would you maybe consider going out sometime with us? You know, something low key. Maybe something fun for Mandy?"

"Cameron, I, uh..."

"Cam. Call me Cam. All my friends do."

"OK, Cam. This is, well, unexpected."

"Yeah, but I've enjoyed talking with you and suddenly thought we might want to do this again and introduce you to Mandy when she's not having a meltdown."

"It will have to be after Christmas since I've still got finals."

"That'd be great. I still have your number and if it's OK with you, I'll call and we can set something up. Thanks." He seemed almost hesitant and bashful as he turned to head to his car.

On her way home, Eve kept thinking about Cameron, well, about Cam. He seemed like a truly nice guy. He wasn't pushy; indeed, he was almost amusingly shy but he did want to get together again so he must have been interested. Although he didn't talk about Mandy much, it was clear she was the apple of his eye and he was devoted to her. She hoped someday he'd tell her about Mandy's mom and what happened there.

After her last final, Eve breathed a big sigh of relief. Two of her classmates invited her out for a celebratory drink but she declined indicating she had 'other plans.' They teased her about having a hot date though she reassured them it was not the case. Frankly, she merely wanted an evening for herself with no thoughts of school.

She celebrated a quiet Christmas by herself opening the few gifts from her parents who were on a round-the-world cruise. After plowing through a cheap novel and watching sappy Hallmark romances on TV, she had an extra glass of wine before hitting the sack.

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The day after Christmas Cam called. "Hey, Eve, I've got a rambunctious little girl here who wants to do something. Any ideas?"

"Would Mandy maybe like to go sledding?"

"I'm sure she would. She's a fairly gutsy little gal and as long as I'm with her, she tends to jump into any new activity with enthusiasm."

Eve did a quick cost calculation in her head and paused a second before going out on a limb, "Uh, I'd love to invite her to go sledding, you, too, of course. There's a nice sledding park at Yellow River but I can't get up there in my rickety ol' car."

"Yeah, that would be great. I'm sure she'd love it. We can go in my four-wheel drive SUV. What do tickets run?"

"Not much and it's on me, anyway."

"No, I, we, can't accept that. You're a 'starving student' and I can easily afford it."

"No, it's OK, honest."

"Look, just your being there will be payment enough. I'd love her to meet you and this will be the perfect way, you know, an activity together that's exciting enough she won't try to get us married," he laughed.

"Cam, I know she wants a mother," she paused a few seconds before going on, "But, uh, someday I'd like to hear about her mother"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line before she heard him clear his throat. 'I should have kept my mouth shut,' she scolded herself.

"Yeah, sure, of course. It's a painful story and I can't, I can't sit here and tell you in a few words. When the time is right..."

"I'm so sorry, uh, I, uh, look, you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry I brought it up, even."

"You didn't bring it up. It's always in my mind, every second of every day. You deserve to know if we're going to be friends and if you're going to meet Mandy, well, she'll bring it up, I'm sure."

"Look, it's the holiday season and though I'm sure it's difficult for you, let's do something fun and maybe it will help her and you a tiny bit. And if she brings it up, I'll put on my child psychologist hat and deal with it the best I know how. And I think the way to deal with it is to be her friend."

"Yeah, she needs that. So, when are we going?"

They made plans for the sledding park two days later. Mandy was thrilled to go but seemed shy when her father introduced Eve.

"Mandy, Hon, this is Eve. She's a friend and it was her idea to go sledding. What do you say?"

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome, Mandy. Tell me, is Mandy, your full name?"

"No."

"I think I can guess what it is. Is it Amanda?"

Her head nodded up and down.

"You know, we could shorten your name even more."

"How?"

"I think you should be called 'Man,' short for Mandy."

"I'm not a man, I'm a giwl!"

"OK, Sweetheart, I'll call you Mandy, then. You excited to go sledding?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good! They've got a big tire for a sled and you can slide down all kinds of hills. It's a hoot, I promise."

The sledding was a blast. Mandy took one ride down the hill on an innertube with her father before she demanded her own innertube. Eve and Cam kept her on the smaller hills where the sledding was slow and safe but she was more than thrilled each time she slid down the slope. They taught her how to ride the T-bar up the hill and introduced her to tandem sledding while holding hands. She seemed to have the most fun when all three went down the slopes together, crashing into each other the whole time.

After a quick snack and hot cocoa, they drove back to the city with Mandy sound asleep in her car seat behind them. Their conversation was friendly and light.

"She had a blast. Thanks for the idea."

"She's such a sweetheart. It's little kids like her who make me want to go into child psych. I adore little people."

"Uh, Eve, if you have a few minutes, I'd like to invite you in while I put her down and I'll spring for a Lyft to get you home."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I think it's time I tell you about me, about us. I'll even pop for a glass of wine."

"A glass of wine?" she smiled, "In that case, sure."

He carried Mandy into the bedroom while she wandered around the living room. Pictures of an attractive, tall thin woman were everywhere. In one of them he stood proudly behind her while a baby sat on the lap of the smiling woman. 'She was very attractive,' Eve mused.

Cameron returned, got two glasses of white wine from the kitchen and had Eve sit on a small divan while he took a nearby chair.

"I guess it's time to tell you about me. About us.

"Suzanne and I met years ago while we were still in high school. We dated a little, nothing serious, before we left to go to college. During the summer between our sophomore and junior years we ended up back in our home town and working as lifeguards at the city pool. It was magical. After a few days, I realized she was the one. I know it sounds crazy and, in a way, it was, but we fell madly in love.

"After a couple of months, we ended up, well, we had sex. She was the first and only woman I've ever been with and I truly believe I was her first also. That fall I was so miserable that at Christmas I transferred to her college and we finished our degrees at the same time, graduated together and three days later we were married.

"I won't say it was perfect, nothing is, but we made things work and, if anything, our love got stronger over the next year or so. Then we had a surprise. Suzanne got pregnant and though we hadn't planned on it, we decided we wanted our baby. And that's where Mandy came into the picture.

"After she was born things were hectic but we were both earning reasonable salaries so we hired a nanny and Suze was able to telecommute most of the time. We were so happy and Mandy was such an easy baby; she slept through the night early on and was never fussy.

"We were thinking about maybe having another one when..." Cameron's voice cracked.

Eve reached across to him and gently rubbed his hand. "If you don't want to go any further..."

"No, I need to. You need to know. Anyway, one week she seemed suddenly tired a lot, totally exhausted. She took some time off from work and it only got worse. On a Friday in January, almost a year ago now, I came home from work and she was drenched in sweat. I knew she was sick, really sick, so I took her to the ER.

"The doctor came out and started talking and all I heard was 'leukemia' and 'sepsis,' which is a blood stream infection. They admitted her and because she had no infection fighting white blood cells, they threw her in isolation. Neither Mandy nor I could see her, talk to her, hold her. Within one day her blood pressure dropped and they gave her tons of IVs and special medicines to raise her pressure. Her breathing got bad and she went on a ventilator, you know, a breathing machine.

"After that, she never opened her eyes again and she died four days later." As tears dripped down Cameron's face, Eve knelt by him and held him in her arms.

"I can't imagine how awful it must have been," she whispered.

A few minutes later he recovered enough to go on. "My whole life, our whole lives, were ruined. I couldn't function for weeks. My boss gave me time off and my mom came to take care of Mandy. And poor little Mandy, she was devastated. She and her mom were a special pair. She misses her every day. I hear her talking to Suze every night and it breaks my heart even more.

"You know, the little episode at Santa's village was the first time she ever talked about getting a new mother. It was so sudden, so shocking I didn't quite know how to handle it. I took her home, we had a good cry and by the next morning she seemed back to as normal as you could expect. But I'm worried she might look at any woman as a potential mom."

"So, you're warning me, eh?"

"Maybe I am, yeah."

"That behavior is totally normal for children and if it ever comes up, I'll be as gentle as I can and let her know you and I are friends, just like I'll try to be her friend."

"Phew. I don't think I've ever told anyone the whole story before. In a way it's, uh, it's a relief that it's out there, with you, that is."

"Sometimes talking can be good therapy. And Cam, thank you for telling me and please, although it's been a year, please accept my sympathy."

"Thanks, Eve. Uh, let's get you home. I'd prefer to drive you but with her asleep..."

"No, a gig ride will be fine and you don't want to leave her alone."

"No, of course not and she's out for the night, I'm sure. She had such a blast. Thanks for the idea."

"Yeah, was fun. You know, she's a real sweetie."

"I know. I'm so glad she's in my life. She keeps Suzanne's memory alive for me when I see her face scrunch up like Suze's did and as her face loses its baby fat, Mandy's looking more and more like her mother every day."