When You Walked into My Life

27 | Santa?

Author

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a-

BAM!

Aaron shoots up out of bed. Her slumber was disrupted by a loud noise coming from the living room. Carefully and quietly going to inspect the disturbance, she finds someone struggling to hold up the tree.

"Lin?" She questions as her eyes are not yet adjusted to the darkness. "What are you doing up?"

The teenager goes to help the man stabilize the tree and pick up the various things that had fallen creating the ruckus.

"Well, I was trying to be festive and get things ready before you woke up tomorrow," Lin says shyly, a bit discouraged he woke the girl up. "You know to make your morning cheerful."

"You mean you were trying to be Santa?" Aaron says a bit amused at the whole situation. "I learned he wasn't real at the age of six when all my peers were talking about what they had received while my foster parents were passed out drunk."

Lin, although even more disheartened hearing this, realized this information made his gesture more special.

"All more reasons to be a fake Santa! Now, go back to bed and forget this happened," he says, waving the teen away.

Aaron, just now noticing the plate of cookies Lin brought out, takes one before heading back to bed.

"Just try not to bring down the Christmas tree before Christmas," she says jokingly, rounding the corner and disappearing.

Lin, just laughs before finishing his original plan and taking a few cookies for himself before bed.

Aaron woke up hours later before recalling last night's events. Smiling to herself she gets ready before entering the kitchen where she sees Lin reading the paper.

"Oh my god, Lin, Santa came!" She says, over-enthusiastically, causing Lin to throw the paper at her.

"Shut up Aaron," he replies, smiling to himself at the girl's antics.

"In all seriousness though, thank you," Aaron says, picking the paper up and handing it back to him.

"You are my child, so I get to spoil you now!" Lin says, before heading to his room to get ready for the upcoming Christmas cast party.

Aaron was quick to note that Lin called her his child, which brought up all the uneasy thoughts about if she viewed Lin like a dad and if he wanted to be called it.

Lin hasn't called Aaron his daughter yet, but he seems way more comfortable throwing out other titles that fall along those lines.

The thought was the only thing Aaron could think about while eating breakfast. It wasn't until Lin came back into the kitchen to remind her that everyone will be coming around midday that brought the unsettled teenager back to reality.

Aaron was in her own little world adding a few of her books on her new bookshelf when someone knocked on her door causing the girl to jump.

Lin apologizes to the teenager before letting her know that the company is here. The two walk back into the living room and Aaron gets warmly greeted by various cast members.

As the minutes go by and people start the festivities, Aaron can't help but notice Pippa isn't in attendance, which is unlike her. She is usually one of the first ones to arrive. Trying her best to not let her worries overpower the fun afternoon planned, she goes back to observing everyone else having a good time.

One of Aaron's favorite parts, when everyone comes over, is getting to watch the varied interactions between members. It's like one big family that she has just gotten thrown into.