The Christmas Elf, A Secret-Santa Story

Chapter 22 - New friendships

Wednesday 21 December

Claudia was greeted at the door by an excited Ella, "Please mom, please can I go play with Aster?"

Claudia laughed. "What, you make a new friend and suddenly mom is chopped liver? No hug, no kiss – no 'mommy, I missed you'?"

Ella reached as high as she could to give her a hug and said, "Mommy, I missed you. Did you have a good day?"

"Awww, thanks honey. Yes, I did." Claudia ruffled the top of her daughter's hair and looked at Mrs. O'Connor who had opened the door.

"Hi, how was today?" she asked. It still amazed her that these wonderful people had welcomed her and Ella so quickly into their lives. It certainly hadn't been like this in the city.

"She was an absolute angel, as always," Mrs. O'Connor said. "Would you like hot chocolate and cookies? Ella helped bake the cookies and they are delicious."

Ella was not to be distracted by the compliments and she tugged on her mother's hand. "Can we, mom?" Claudia felt torn between the desire to relax at home and her daughter's request. The idea of imposing herself on people she had recently met did not sit well.

"Why don't you take a few cookies over?" Mrs. O'Connor suggested. "We baked extra. Then you can see if Aster is available to play. The temperature's been dropping so I don't know if outdoors is an option, but I'm sure Madeleine can suggest something." The fact that Mrs. O'Connor thought it would be alright helped her make the decision.

A few minutes later Claudia found herself walking over to Mr. Jensen's and reflecting on the fact that you couldn't be part of a group without unexpected things happening all the time. She had arrived at home with no expectations other than a nice, quiet evening with dinner and cartoons with her child, yet here she was. Madeleine answered the door and smiled warmly.

"Hi!!" she greeted them both, no hint of reservation.

"Hi there, sorry to bother you, but I was ambushed by my munchkin who wanted to come over and see Aster." She held up the sealed container as an offering, "We brought cookies?"

Madeleine laughed and gestured them in. "It's not a bother at all. Aster will be thrilled." She took their coats and led them towards the kitchen but paused in view of the living room, "As you can see, the menfolk are engaged in the manly pastime of watching sports which leaves us women to amuse ourselves." Mr. Jensen, his son Max, son-in-law Dean and grandson Mark were all glued to the screen but were also ribbing each other good-naturedly.

Madeleine gave Claudia a look that conveyed, "See what I mean?" before leading them on. Aster was seated at the counter with what looked like the beginnings of a craft project. She immediately clapped her hands and slid off the stool to run over and embrace Ella, "Friend!"

Ella laughed and hugged her back, "Hi, friend. I came to play with you." Claudia and Madeleine exchanged a look and Claudia could tell the other woman was also thinking back to the time in life when friendships were that simple.

Aster looked at her mom, "Now, can I go bring my toys downstairs?" Her mother gave permission and cautioned her to go up and down the stairs slowly and she dragged Ella off to help.

"With so many of us here, I try to keep things contained or you have no idea what the house would look like by the end of one day," she explained. "I told her keep the toys in the little trunk in her room – it's something her grandad gave her and keeps for her here."

"At the end of one day?" Laura said as she entered the room. "It looks like we got hit by a tornado after one hour!"

Claudia laughed, the topic one she was more than comfortable with. "At least you get to blame it on the full house. I sometimes feel like I have ten kids instead of one tiny creature who looks like a doll but certainly doesn't always behave like one."