Jacob is a great dad. He knows that! He wore all kinds of makeup on his face applied by the not exactly capable hands of a 5 year old, he dressed up as a princess with a gown and a tiara to his daughter's birthday party, and he barely flinches when she knees him in the groin when she wakes up before him and comes running to his bed. He threw out of that bed several people when his daughter needed him and didn't look back for a second.
So, he is a good dad. His best friend Tyler tells him all the time, Tyler's fiancee Connor does too, hell even Lucy's grandparents from her mother's side have to admit that he's a wonderful dad as much as they hate it. And above all, his mom tells him almost every day. Moms are always right. Even though he objectively knows that he is an amazing dad, standing in a huge line of people, twisting itself in knots like some kind of mythical creature, it's really fucking hard to remember that being an amazing dad means he is supposed to give his daughter her probably last innocent Christmas while she still believes that Santa is real. She'll go to school next year, so that illusion will probably shatter. He should probably tell her this before some annoying little kid fills her in and she'll feel like her dad lied to her.
'Daddy, are you sure we'll see Santa today?' Lucy asked for the hundredth time that day, looking up at Jacob with big innocent green eyes that were a mirror reflection of his own. He tucked her long blonde curls behind her ear and smiled at her sweetly.
'I'm sure, pumpkin.' he reassured her softly.
'But daddy this is the last day to see Santa! He needs time to prepare my gifts!' Lucy argued with stubbornness only a five year old can possess. It was probably not a good moment to let her know that all of her gifts were already packed and hidden in Jacob's closet.
'Don't worry honey. You see those people in green outfits?' he asked, crouching to her level and pointing to four people running around Santa, bringing the kids over, handling the line, and sometimes breaking into Christmas carols and a little bit of a boogie. Because they are obviously in High School Musical. 'These are Santa's elves. He has hundreds of them!'
'What is elves?' she asked, scrunching her face in a frown at the new word.
'An elf is Santa's helper. They make sure that all of the gifts are ready to be delivered under the tree' he explained, looking at his daughter softly.
'Like I helped you with nana's present?' she asked excitedly.
'Exactly! You're my little elf.' he laughed, tickling her sides a bit, causing Lucy to giggle and squirm away from him.
'Dadd-ee!' she hiccuped, delighted. 'Don't tickle!'
'Okay, okay I won't' he promised her fondly hugging her tightly.
Finally, after another half an hour of struggle they were standing in front of the monstrosity this mall called a Christmas display. A cranky old man was sitting on a huge red chair, scratching himself under his fake beard every other minute. He was currently talking to two identical little girls, each sitting on his lap with pink bows in their black frizzy hair. They were adorable. Finally, when the girls were released into the arms of their anxious looking mother, Jacob took Lucy's hand to walk her over to Santa.
'Excuse me, Santa's taking a break' he heard a bored voice to his left and saw a man looking down at his phone, not sparing Jacob or his daughter a second glance as he put his hand up in halting gesture.
'Um...' Jacob said eloquently, something about the guy leaving him at loss for words.
He was just really pretty. And tiny. Especially clad in tight green leggings that left nothing to the imagination and a long green shirt that was obviously made for someone whose ass wasn't nearly as impressive because it was tight around his hips, the fabric looking just on the verge of tearing. His brown curls were swept over his intensely blue eyes, and on top of it he was wearing a small green cap, two bells hanging from it making soft tinkling sounds when the boy shook his head at his cellphone. Jacob must have been staring because suddenly the boy's head snapped up, looking at Jacob like he had just remembered where he was before his delicious lips stretched in a confident smirk in the maze of soft stubble.
