Page 63 of Scary & Bright
“You really didn’t have to get me anything,” I said sincerely. He had already given me so much, and that wasn’t even including the incredibly thoughtful gift of finding my stuffed dalmatian.
“I know, but I wanted to.” He sighed as he handed me a tiny velvet box.
My heart skipped a beat imagining what it was.
“What’s this?” I asked, finding my voice was a smidge more demanding than I intended it to be.
“Just open the damned box.” Loek chuckled.
I carefully opened the tiny box and was met with the most gorgeous ring I had ever seen. A perfect gold band with a pear-shaped emerald flanked by rubies on either side. I couldn’t even make words, but I felt my mouth hanging open with surprise.
“Now, I want you to know,” Loek continued, deciding to use the gap in my words to explain himself, “we don’t have to get married right now. We can take our time and enjoy the ride. But I wanted you to have something you could wear as a reminder that I am not going anywhere. All of this will be here for you as long as you want it…”
“Loek, it’s perfect.” I sighed, finally forcing words from my chest. “I don’t even know what to say. It’s incredible.”
He pulled the ring from the box, and I offered my hand for him to slip it on the third finger on my left hand.
“Just say you’ll stay with me,” Loek whispered. “Say you’ll stay and help me find another name off the Naughty List, their own redemption story every year. Say we’ll celebrate Christmas together every year.”
I looked at him, took his hands in mine, and said with absolute confidence, “I’ll stay. Always.”
When we kissed then, it felt like the signature on the bottom of some ethereal, otherworldly contract. This was it for me, and this was it for him, and our souls would be forever intertwined from that moment forward.
For years and years, my life had been nothing but darkness and loneliness. I hated every season, but especially the holiday season, as I wallowed in my own deep sadness. But now, I felt my heart glow, and I felt the horizon of my life break free from the darkness under the colorful dancing lights of a Christmas tree.
EPILOGUE
(ALMOST) ONE YEAR LATER
“So, you see?” Mister Bear explained as he pointed to his organized personal planner, which was laid open on the Claus’s coffee table. “You’ve got the entire List organized by last name, age, location, and severity of their mistakes. I’ve found it made the whole selection process much easier, rather than selecting a name entirely by random.”
“Well, jingle my bells!” Santa shouted. “Spirit, are you seeing this!? You could have learned a thing or ten from this one over here.”
“I could have learned?” the Christmas Spirit scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he floated beside the couch. “You were the one walking me through how you picked names, if I’m remembering correctly.”
Santa immediately stopped laughing when he realized he had been absolutely called out.
It was the first Sunday in December of the following year, and Loek and I were visiting the North Pole for our monthly dinner tradition. Mister Bear and the Christmas Spirit usually tagged along as well, even if neither of them could particularly benefit from a home-cooked meal.
To say things had made a complete one-eighty would have been an understatement, but everyone had taken to the changes like a reindeer to the sky—with a little faith and a little magic. The first few months had been awkward and often sewn together with bouts of silence and nervous knee bouncing, but everyone kept at it until all our personalities melded perfectly together. These days, the largest conflicts we found ourselves in were who won at Boggle (Loek was ready to die on the hill that said ‘alot’ was a word. It’s not). Or, in the case of this particular night, how to select a proper name from the Naughty List for removal.
“How are you two feeling about your maiden voyage?” Mrs. Claus asked as she shuffled into the living room with a tray of mugs full of hot chocolate. “It’s got to be nerve-racking. Heck, I’m nervous and I’m not even the one going!”
“I’ll admit I’m a little anxious about it,” Loek admitted. He was sitting comfortably in an armchair, still wearing that same leather jacket Santa had draped over him that horrible day in the snow. “Mostly about the, you know, introduction part.”
“We’ll be okay,” I said as I looked up at him from where I sat on the floor in front of him. “I guarantee most folks will assume you’re just part of some Christmas Carol type dream.”
“True,” Loek mused. “Especially when I show them their transgressions in the Great Tree’s ornaments. Seeing how their actions affected other people, combined with a little Krampus-style snarling and a few threats, should be enough to straighten out even the Scroogiest of folks.”
“I’ll wager you’re right about that.” Santa chuckled as he sipped from his mug, dampening his white mustache with chocolate. “And remember, I’ll be monitoring the Master List and will let you both know as soon as your target has been removed from the Naughty side.”
The brothers’ communal organization of the List had been taken to another level since Loek had taken over the entirety of the Naughty List. Santa still had the Master List, the original book, kept safe in his study, but a second more detailed Naughty List had been given to Loek for safekeeping and so we could, with Mister’s help, of course, make an educated decision as to who could be set on a better path. So far, it had worked swimmingly.
“Remind me who you’ve selected this year,” Mrs. Claus chimed in as she slowly lowered herself into her rocking chair and picked up her knitting. The smell of her signature potpie wafted through the air, signaling that all we had to do now was wait for the oven to ding and summon us to the table. She steadily began to rock herself back and forth. “I always love a good redemption story.”
“Some guy named Beau,” I said, thinking of the guy who was in our sights. “He runs a gentleman’s club in Louisiana, and he’s definitely got some work to do when it comes to respecting his employees and women in general. Your every day, run-of-the-mill womanizer with his own selfishness taking priority over everything else.”
“We picked him because he doesn’t seem like too much of a lost cause,” Loek cut in. “And besides, I’ve always wanted to see the Big Easy. New Orleans is right around the corner.”