Samuel
Rising……
Walking down the street, Max asked Michael, “So did you
finally talk to Maria about how you feel?”
“Not now, Max.”
“You’re avoiding.”
“No, I’m backing off a little.” Michael made a face.
“Maria has a lot on her plate right now. I sort of walked in when she trying
to get it all straight. I don’t want to add to it by heaping my problems on
her.”
“You have problems?” Max glanced over at Michael who
made a face. “Oh! Raging hormones? Unrealized lust and desire? Maybe a little
of the…”
“Can we stop talking about me?”
“You’re upset.”
Michael stopped outside the Crashdown. “Look, Maxwell,
we’re not going to have a touchy feely bonding moment here, okay? Maria is
avoiding me. I can tell. Since the whole Billy fiasco she’s been going out of
her way to avoid being alone with me, breaks dates, and I can count on one hand
how many times we slept together.”
“This sleeping thing … It’s a little confusing,
Michael. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that both you and Maria get some
rush from it, and it’s more an addiction.”
Michael actually turned a bit red, and his eyes shifted as
if avoiding Max’s. “You wouldn’t understand. I just know that I broke
something in my friendship with Maria, and I was afraid that would happen.”
Michael opened the door and went inside with Max following
him. Isabel and the rest of the group were there.
“So this is how it's gonna look. It's gonna be, like,
white lights and clear ornaments and white candles.” Isabel told them showing
them her plans for Christmas.”
“Hail the Christmas Nazi,” muttered Michael noticing
Maria and Liz.
Jesse frowned confused by the reference. “What?”
“Hi, Michael,” Isabel smiled sweetly. “Shut up.”
Liz smiled at Max. “Hey. I love that you just walked in
here.”
Michael rolled his eyes and put an arm around Maria’s
waist pulling her close to him. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Maria gulped hard and stared at him, then at his
mouth.
“So what's going on? Are we hanging today after your
shift?”
“Uh … today?” Maria asked in a panic. “Uh, no. I
have some stuff to do today.”
“Stuff?” Michael stared at her. She was lying.
“Whatever.” She was avoiding him. He knew it.
Max glanced across the Crashdown and noticed a little boy.
“Is that kid staring at me?”
“What kid?” Michael looked around.
“Over there. Sitting with his mom.” Max watched the boy
for a moment, the kid’s gaze never wavering from him. “He is. He's staring
right at me.”
“So what?” Michael looked at all of Isabel’s
obsessive plans. “Christmas … It's a … load of crap.” Maria punched him
on the stomach in retribution, and to her horror, her hand stayed on him, almost
stroking his stomach. She stood away from him suddenly her eyes wide.
“Are you kidding me?” Jesse asked. “It's a great
time. Just mellow out, watch a little football.”
Michael smirked, laughing at the clueless man. “Oh,
you'll be watching lots of
football.” Maria made a comment to him under her breath.
“What does he mean by that?” Jesse asked his wife.
“Nothing. We gotta go, honey.” Isabel glared at Michael
and his snotty attitude. “We gotta make sure the senior Christmas dinner is
still on schedule. I still haven't found the proper Santa for Santa village,
and, oh, you know what? You gotta change the lights on the windows of our
apartment.”
“Enjoy mellowing out.” Michael said sarcastically,
feeling upset over Maria and happy to share his pain.
“You know, Michael, I, too, was miserable around the
holidays until I found my calling.” Isabel informed him sweetly.
“Making other people miserable?” Michael guessed.
“Volunteering.” God he could be so nasty and mean.
“Helping the elderly, needy children, and the less fortunate find joy and
happiness through the holidays.”
Maria who was half listening suddenly perked up. “Wanna
know something? That actually sounds great. Giving of myself-- I like it.” She
chewed on her nail for a moment. “I think that's just what I need to, um …
get my mind off of other situations.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place.” Isabel’s
eyes took on a gleam as she found a potential helper, her needs endless.
Liz smiled, nodding to Maria. “You know, I think I'd
really like to do that, too.”
“Is there anything we can do together?” Maria asked
excited at the thought of her and Liz being a team again.
“Actually, I think there is. Meet me at the park after
work.”
Michael looked down at Maria. “I thought you had plans,
Maria. You said you had … stuff.”
“This is charity, Michael. I can give of myself.” Maria
glanced up at him, and her eyes went tender as she stared at him. Oh god. “I … it will be good to do something for others, you
know?”
Michael hated it. She was using it to keep away from him.
He was sure of it. Before Michael could figure out how to trap her, to force her
to talk to him, the little boy who had been staring at Max walked over to their
group.
“Samuel? Where are you going?” the little boy’s
mother called to him.
The little boy, Samuel stopped in front of Max.
“Daddy.”
“Samuel.” The woman came for her son.
Max smiled at the little boy shaking his head, slightly
confused. “I think you got the wrong guy.”
The woman stared at Max. “Did he just say something to
you?”
“Yeah. He just called me Daddy.”
The woman stared at Max and then at her son. “That's
impossible. My son doesn't talk.”
~~~
Kyle watched his father stuffing a turkey and glanced
around at all the Christmas decorations. “Dad, if just-- I wanted to say that
I figured out what's going on.”
Jim stopped stuffing for a moment. “You have?”
“Yep. All this Christmas stuff is because it's been a
rough year.”
“Uh-huh.” Jim went back to his turkey.
“The whole thing with Tess and you losing your job and
everything.”
“Yeah.”
“I know you wanted to make this a good Christmas for us--
for me--and I just wanted to say I appreciate that.”
Jim sighed wiping his hands. “Listen Kyle, there's
something that I wanted to tell you, but it's kind of slipped my mind. I, uh,
actually invited somebody to come over for Christmas breakfast this year … a
lady friend.”
Kyle was taken aback. He stared at his father for a moment,
then looked around. Of course.
“Fantastic,” he said sarcastically. “So you just, uh, you just decided to
invite her to Christmas breakfast … to our Christmas breakfast. Did you even
think to ask me?”
“Kyle, listen, if you don't want her to come …” Jim
quickly offered to cancel if it really bothered his son. He was right; it had
been a tough year.
“No, no, no. It's fine.” Kyle shook his head and walked
away. Just frickin’ fine.
“Kyle …”
“It's fine. Don't worry about it.” Kyle took his jacket
and left.
~~~
Isabel was late. She was going through her list as she
arrived home to find Jesse decorating for Christmas. Stopping in her tracks, she
stared at what was in her husband’s hand.
“What's that?”
Jesse smiled at his wife. “It's my old stocking.”
“Oh. Wow.” Isabel came in and smiled a large fake
smile. “Well, it's, uh, very … brown.”
“Yeah. I made it myself in kindergarten.” Jesse told
her proud of the stocking he made so many years ago.
Isabel stared at the ugly brown thing. “I don't doubt
that.”
“Yeah, it always hung on my mantle at my house, and now
it's on our mantle.” Jesse hung it from the stocking hanger standing back to
admire it.
“Hmm.” Isabel said in thought, muttering to herself.
“Yeah, it certainly is.” She quickly used her powers to make new stockings.
“Oh! Oh, oh, oh!”
“What? What? What?” Jesse asked confused by her
reaction.
Isabel pulled the new stockings out from behind her back
holding them up. They were new, beautiful, and had both their names on them.
“But I made these.”
“Oh, my god. You made these?” He looked at the perfect
stockings.
“Yeah.”
Jesse couldn’t believe she could do such elaborate work,
so much hidden talent he knew nothing about. “When did you have the time?”
“Well, actually, it didn't take as long as you would
think.” Isabel hung the two new stockings.
“Wow. Ok, so I guess I'll have two stockings on the
mantle.”
“Yeah.” Isabel looked around desperately. That wasn’t
what she had in mind. “Yeah. Or … maybe we could hang this one...,” Isabel
searched for a place, any place, “...somewhere else.” Isabel took Jesse's
stocking off the mantel. “You know, like, on … well, the tree. You know, we
could just sort of--just-- just sort of, uh-- we could just-- sort of put it
right there.”
Jesse frowned as Isabel hung it to the back where it
couldn’t be seen. “Yeah, I guess that works.”
“Yeah, good.” Isabel smiled happy with her compromise.
“Ok, let's get going. two days till Christmas. Lots to do.”
“Anyway, I was just thinking …” Jesse reached for a
plate of cookies.
“Oh, honey!” Isabel quickly stopped him. “Don't touch
those. They're for Christmas morning.”
Jesse put the cookie back. “Yeah.”
~~~
At Isabel’s
“They won't do.” Isabel told the woman helping her. She
waved off the latest Santa atrocity as her eyes surveyed the line of horrible
Santa posers.
“Really? I think that Santa 2 has a real Kringle
quality.”
“Santa's village is an institution-- my institution-- and
the children of
“Right.” Isabel’s assistant stared at the neo-nazi
Isabel with in deep fear.
“Hi, Isabel!” Liz called as she and Maria arrived.
Maria was practically prancing, all excited to be doing
anything, something … desperate to be distracted. “Hi!”
Isabel glanced at her watch. “Oh. seven minutes late.”
She told Maria and Liz before addressing her assistant again. “I need five
more inches of snow on all of the trees. This is the North Pole.” Isabel made
a dismissing gesture before turning back to Maria and Liz. “Ok! Snowflake and
Candy Cane.” She held up two elf suits to the girls.
Liz’s mouth opened in horror, shocked by the possibility.
“Elves? Are you kidding?”
“No.” Isabel shoved an elf suit into each of their
hands. “You said you wanted to give of yourselves.”
“Not as elves.”
Maria stared at the green and red nightmare. “Yeah, all
elves do is deal with annoying kids who want to cut the Santa line. I mean, we
wanted to make a real contribution, Isabel.”
“There are no small assignments. Only small
volunteers,” Isabel informed them in her “Art of Christmas Warfare” way.
“You two are the smallest I could find for those elves costumes.”
Maria and Liz at each other in surprise as Isabel assigned
them to grunge work due to their size. Jesse watched on, sharing the girls’
dismay as Isabel steamrolled over them and everyone else. Michael’s term of
‘Christmas Nazi’ was finally making sense.
~~~
“I can’t believe this!” Maria stared at herself in
the mirror shocked at the shortness of her skirt. “Tights! I have to wear
tights.”
“If you don’t you’ll expose your …”
“Whatever!” Maria stared at her costume and then
Liz’s as Candy Cane. “Why is Snowflake’s skirt at least three inches
shorter?”
“It’s not. Your legs are just longer. With your high
waist and long legs, it just looks …” Liz stopped and stared at Maria. “Oh
my!”
“My mother would kill me! I look like a cocktail waitress
dressed up for the holidays.”
“Okay, don’t panic. We’ll have Michael or Max use
their powers to lengthen the skirt.”
“Good. If I bend over to lift a kid on Santa’s lap, my
‘hmmm hmm’ will be showing. That isn’t the present I think parents want
for their kids from Santa.”
Liz laughed as she struggled with her costume too. “So
are you going to tell me why we’re volunteering?”
“Charity.”
“Maria.”
“Fine!” Maria sighed heavily. “I just needed some
time away from Michael.”
Liz stopped fidgeting for a moment. “Okay, you lost me.
You just figured out that you’re head over heels in love with the boy, and
your response is to ignore him? He adores you, and you live in his damn pocket,
and now you’re avoiding him?”
“Irrational, I know.” Maria sat down, yelping when her
backside hit the cold table. “I … I haven’t slept or shared a bed with him
practically since I figured it out.” She pushed her hair off her face. “I
mean the first night, he had me play for him, and that …” Maria couldn’t
even explain how much more she fell in love with him that night.
“And?”
“And he spent the night. We slept, like we always do,
except …”
Liz went still. “Except?”
Maria turned red and exhaled hard, “Except I woke in the
middle of the night, and I was holding him.”
“Okay.” Liz shrugged. She had seen Michael and Maria
sleep together before. They usually slept very close and in each others arms.
“No … holding him!” Maria said with some
emphasis.
“Oh.” Liz said, not really sure what Maria meant until
she met her friend’s eyes. “Oh!”
Liz mouth opened and she glanced down at Maria’s hands. “You mean you were
…”
“Uh-huh!”
“Oh! Well, I mean … you immediately, um … released
him and …”
Maria went redder. “Actually, no. I mean I should’ve,
but my hand was on him, and he was … um, well, anyway, I just couldn’t …
so I didn’t, and …”
“Maria!”
“I know!”
Maria covered her face with her hands. “I can’t help it. My hands, they have
a mind of their own, and every time I’m near him, I just reach out, like this
impulsive need to just … touch him.” Maria breathed deeply. “I can’t
afford to be too close to him until I can get my mind straight. I refuse …
Liz, I refuse to molest or rape my best friend!”
“Okay, you have to be calm about this.” Liz stared at
herself in the mirror, the shock of Maria revelation still on her face. “I
just don’t know that our being Snowflake and Candy Cane is going to make
things better.”
“Sure it is. Michael is already suspecting something’s
wrong. This way, I have an excuse to be busy without having to come clean.”
Maria stood up pulling on her Snowflake uniform. “At least Max and you are
doing okay.”
“Oh? Are we?”
~~~
Maria and Liz let themselves into Michael’s apartment.
Maria waved Liz to the sofa while she went to see if Michael was sleeping. He
was.
“Michael?” She climbed on the bed and leaned over him.
“Michael?”
“Hmmm?” Michael sank deeper into the bedding, reaching
over to drag Maria into the bed with him. It was about time she got there.
“Michael,” Maria said resisting his attempt to grab
her. “Wake up.”
Michael opened an eye and stared at her in her Snowflake
costume. “Okay,” he said thickly more to himself, “this is new. I
appreciate the short skirt, but the whole Christmas theme isn’t working for
me. Can we go back to the harem girl thing?”
“What?”
Michael shook himself awake. “Maria?”
“Yeah.”
Oh crap! So she wasn’t a sleep-induced wet dream. The
damn costume had him fooled. Michael stared at her for a moment. “What’s
with the costume?”
“I’m an elf.”
“I noticed.”
“No. Isabel has pressed me and Liz into indentured elf
status, and look at my skirt! I’m going to be arrested for exposing myself to
young children.”
“Hmm, we can take you down to Les and Bunny’s Kitty
Corral and you can make a small fortune in …”
Maria put her hand over his mouth. “Are you going to help
me or not?”
Michael sighed, reluctantly reached over and lengthened her
skirt a good two inches. Any more would’ve been a damn shame. Sitting up, he
stared at her. She looked … tired. “You’re not sleeping.”
“Duh!” Maria sighed. “What gave me away?”
“Dark shadows under your eyes.” Michael cleared his
throat trying to decide how to bring up her avoiding him. It had to be the whole
damn situation with Billy.
“Listen, Liz has Max problems, and they’re ones you
might want to hear about.” Maria climbed off the bed. “You coming?”
Michael lay back on the bed. “I was trying to until you
woke me.” Groaning, he rolled out of bed. Best thing about the winter break
was he was actually getting to sleep. Best thing about sleeping was he got to
spend more time imaging Maria in his fantasies.
~~~
Michael was eating the lunch the girls had brought him,
shaking a liberal amount of
“Not just any kid thing.” Liz explained. “He hasn’t
got a message from his son in over a month, and so this autistic child, Samuel
comes up to him and calls him Daddy.”
“I was there. So what is the big deal? The kid is mental
so he probably got confused.”
“The kid isn’t mental, Michael!” Maria said taking
some of his fries. God, he looked so good sitting there eating in nothing but a
pair of sweats. Her eyes kept wandering to his skin, to the hollow created by
his clavicle. Maria groaned under her breath. She was being totally hormonal,
and it was making her mouth dry. Actually, it was making her mouth hot as she
bit into a fry with
“Autistic. Yeah. Mental.”
Liz ignored their discussion plowing on with her account of
Max’s latest escapade. “He thinks that maybe the special wiring in this
kid’s brain is making him receptive to messages from the ‘other’ side, so
to speak. So he went to their home and talked to Samuel’s mother. He told her
he wanted to work with Samuel. The last time he called me, he was going to
Samuel’s afternoon psychologist appointment.”
Michael nodded taking a huge bite of burger. “Maybe
he’ll get help for himself while he’s there? You know, his issues … he’s
got a lot of ‘em.”
“You’re not going to take this seriously?” Maria
asked.
“Not unless he tries to play God and heal every autistic
child in the greater
~~~
Samuel's family was in the psychologist's office while Max
waited in the outside reception area. Samuel’s father, Warren listened as
Rebecca explained what happened in the Crashdown.
“I'm telling you, he spoke. I heard him speak.” Rebecca
told the psychologist.
“I know, and that's fantastic, Rebecca, it is. What we
need to do now, is figure out exactly what this means.”
“It means he's starting to communicate with the world.
He's growing. He's changing.”
“Rebecca, come on.” Samuel’s father begged her. She
was expecting too much, hoping for a miracle that didn’t exist.
“What?” Rebecca demanded.
“We've had moments like this before.”
“Like what?”
“Like emergency meetings, breakthroughs, changes.”
“Don't do this to me, Warren.” Rebecca begged her
husband knowing that they were separated because of Samuel and how they dealt
with him, but she needed his support on this now.
“Don't do what?”
“Don't take this away from me.”
“No one is trying to take anything away from you, but,
Rebecca,” the doctor explained, “I just don't want you to get your hopes up
too soon.”
“I want to get my hopes up. I deserve to get my hopes up.
He is different. He was different this morning.” Rebecca couldn’t give up.
She couldn’t. Hope was all she had. “Max is outside in the waiting room. He
was the young man Samuel spoke to at the diner.”
“What?”
“I thought it might be helpful if you observed him with
Max. If he related to him before, he may again.”
The psychologist looked between the couple having slowly
watched their marriage dissolve over their child’s condition. He didn’t want
to add to the burden they already carried. “I think that's a good idea.” The
doctor went to the door leading to the reception. “Max? Why don't you come in
now?” He waited until Max joined them to offer his hand. “I'm Dr. Ramey.”
“Nice to meet you,” Max said noting the others in the
room including Samuel who was by himself lost in his own world.
“Dr. Ramey has been with my son since he was three,”
Rebecca explained to Max, “and this is, um, Samuel's father Warren.”
“Hey, Max.”
“So, Max, why don't you tell us what happened this
morning?” the doctor invited.
“Well, I was sitting with some friends having breakfast,
and … I noticed him looking at me. Kind of staring,” Max said to the doctor
directly. “Then, a few minutes later, he walked across the room.” No one
noticed Samuel coming up to Max again, but the child did. He handed Max a
picture he drew of a UFO. Max took it, uncertain what to do as the others in the
room stared in shock. “Thank you,” he told Samuel.
~~~
Michael entered the apartment and put a bag of groceries on
the counter from his early morning shopping on his way home from work. Looking
over at Max who was just sitting there at the counter staring at a child’s
drawing he shrugged.
“Nice drawing. You putting it up on the refrigerator or
something?”
“Samuel made it for me.”
Michael glanced at it closely. “Kid had potential. Nice
use of color there, though that green might be a little much.” He finished
putting away the groceries and left Max to brood while he went to separate his
laundry. His room was a mess, and he was hoping to talk Maria into coming over
later. He had time to sleep and then go find her.
Max pondered the picture when a knock on door disturbed his
thoughts. Max opened the door to find Liz.
“Hi.”
“Hey,” said Max letting her into the apartment. He
glanced towards Michael’s opened door, hoping that Michael wasn’t asleep
yet. The other alien didn’t take well having his sleep interrupted.
“I'm so excited. I haven't gone ice skating in so
long.”
Max didn’t seem to hear as he took the drawing and handed
it to Liz. “Take a look at this.”
“That's--you did a really good job, Max. Great use of
color there,” Liz complimented him.
“I didn’t draw it. Samuel did. He drew it for me.”
“And that means …”
“It means my son is trying to communicate with me through
this boy.”
“Max …” Liz said with some ill ease.
Max ignored her warning, needing and wanting it to be what
he thought it was. “Look, even Samuel's psychologist thought it was
unusual.”
“You're getting really involved in his life.” Liz
observed quietly.
“Liz, you were the one who said you would do anything to
help me find my son.” Max reminded her. “Well, right now, this is my only
lead.”
“I know, Max, but I just see you walking into the life of
this child, you know, this special child. I don't want you to just get what
you're looking for and then walk away.”
“Liz, trust me.”
“I do trust you.” Liz sighed at his obsession with
this. “Now let's go ice-skating, and we'll talk about this later.”
Max seemed to only realize why she was there. “Uh …”
Liz’s face dropped in disappointment. “What?”
“I told Rebecca that I would go over there this morning.
Sorry.”
Liz noted the use of Samuel’s mother’s first name.
“Right.”
“What about tonight?”
“Uh, I can’t, because I'm an indentured elf all through
Christmas Eve.”
“Sorry.”
“It's ok.” Liz saw with great disappointment, knowing
it wasn’t okay, but there was little else she could do. “We'll do it some
other time.”
Michael was standing in his bedroom doorway watching the
scene unfold as Liz Parker took herself off in what was almost a huff. Max
seemed stunned staring at the door. “Well, that went well.”
“Michael, I thought you were asleep.”
“Yeah, that would be an idea if my home wasn’t Grand
Central Station. Remind me again how long you were staying?”
“You uninviting me to crash here?”
“No. I just saying that I need sleep, so could you make
meetings with Liz elsewhere when you know I’ll be sleeping?” With that said,
Michael came back into the room, “Also, maybe she’s right about this kid.”
“I don’t …”
“No, of course you don’t. This is last year all over
again. You heal the sick to assuage your guilt, and now you’re hoping to use a
child with a misaligned brain. Are you even seeing a pattern here?”
“You think I’m a user.”
Michael made a scoffing sound. “I have no problem with
using other people for a purpose, and hey, who am I to judge. I’m just saying
that this kid is special, and you better make sure that you don’t do him more
harm than good in this obsession you’re building.” He shrugged. “Who
knows, you might be right and it’s your son. The real problem is, Max is what
if it isn’t? You use this kid to find that his rewired brain just sees
something in you … something alien. I’m telling you to be careful.”
Max nodded. He understood that, but he still needed to
follow through with this.
“You might also consider Liz in this.”
“Oh,” Max shook his head. “Now I draw a line at you
giving me relationship advice. Mr. ‘I’m dating her, but she doesn’t know
it.’”
“Well lately, I’m not dating her either. She’s
avoiding me, but, hey, that’s about me, and when do we concentrate on me?
Let’s talk you.”
“Liz and I are fine.”
“Yeah, just like me and Maria.” Michael scratched his
brow. “I’m just saying that how easy can it be for a young teenage girl to
watch her guy running after a child he created with someone else, not her? How
easy can it be to watch him be obsessed over everything else, but can’t even
make a skating date?”
“You don’t even know why Maria’s avoiding you.” Max
pointed out, figuring Michael was equally dense.
“I’m saying. We’re both are sucking here.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter since both our girls are
shackled at Isabel’s Christmas Purgatory.” Max pointed out.
“Yeah, well there’s always a loophole somewhere. I’m
going to sleep on it.” Michael was ready to crash. “Quiet on your way out.
I’m sleeping.”
~~~
Maria and Liz were in Christmas Hell created by the
Underworld overseer, Isabel Evans-Ramirez. They, the indentured little people of
On the third refrain of ‘Jingle Bells,’ Maria decided
to consider sterilization.
“Boo!” screamed
“Do you know that without elves, Santa would be
nowhere?” Liz informed the angry mob of children in her Parker lecture voice.
“We are very proud to be elves.”
“Loser!” They screamed as they began to chant, “We
want Santa! We want Santa! We want Santa! We want Santa! We want Santa!”
Suddenly one of the children saw their savior in red. “There's Santa! Here
comes Santa!” The kids cheered ecstatically as Santa rode up on a motorcycle.
Maria’s mouth dropped as Michael in full Santa gear and cool shades got off
his bike.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” cheered the kids.
“You've gotta be kidding me.” Maria said in disbelief
as her body kicked up a notch. It couldn’t be! God wouldn’t punish her like
this.
Liz mouth was still hanging open. “Oh, my god. Is that
…”
“No …” Maria begged.
“Way,” said Liz.
“Ho ho ho!” Michael called to the kids, joining his
little worker elves roping a special one to his side with an arm, sliding his
hand down to discretely shorten Maria’s skirt just a tad bit without her
realizing it.
“Wh-- what are you doing here?” Maria asked in a
stutter.
“Other Santa's in rehab.” Michael lied, leaning down to
kiss the cutest elf in
“Ohhhh!” Maria jumped and the kids around her laughed.
Brats! She included Michael in that assessment.
~~~
Max was playing basketball with Samuel as Rebecca watched,
when
“Almost sweetheart. Almost!” Rebecca encouraged as
Samuel tried to shoot a basket.
“Try it again.” Max encouraged him. “Just a little
more muscle.” Max helped him shoot.
“Great job!” Rebecca smiled at her son, liking the
color on his face, the interest he was showing due to Max.
“Great shot. Want to try it again?” Max asked as
Samuel’s father came over.
“Hi,
“Max.”
Max looked at the father and son, and suddenly felt as if
he was intruding. “Uh, I should go.”
“That's ok.”
Rebecca stood up. “What? You're supposed to take him to
see Santa today.”
“Yeah, I know. I got swamped. It'll have to wait till
tomorrow.”
“
“He's not gonna sit on Santa's lap no matter what we do.
He's never sat on Santa's lap.”
“Well, we could still go and at least pretend to be a
family.”
“Rebecca, he doesn't even know what Christmas is.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Bye, Samuel.”
“He's probably right.” Rebecca confessed her eyes on
her son. “Samuel's never sat on Santa's lap.”
Max hated to see her give up. “Listen, I can go with you,
if you like. I know some helpful elves.”
~~~
Back at the festival, Michael was busy with the long line
of kids ready to sit on his lap. Maria, his assistant elf of choice, was run
ragged by his constant demands.
“So, Zeke, what are you asking Santa for this year?”
Santa Michael asked.
“A Raceway 5000.”
Michael showed ample appreciation. “Nice choice, dude.
The Raceway 5000 rocks.” He held up his gloved hand. “Gimme 5!”
Maria moved her hair off her face and squirmed as she
pulled on her skirt again. It was suddenly feeling way too short. “Looks like
Michael finally found an age group on his level,” she commented to Liz.
Liz smiled, secretly delighted by this side of Michael she
never suspected existed. “Yeah, he's really good with kids.”
“Yeah, he's so adorable. I could so do him right now,”
Maria’s voice went thick and heavy with emotions, her body exhausted and
aroused by the fat man in the ugly red suit. “Oh! This is exactly what was not
supposed to happen,” she complained. “I was trying to avoid this feeling,
and there … he waltzes in, and I am doomed.”
“Arousing?”
“Total hot flash.” Maria couldn’t keep her eyes off
of him. Watching him bend his head to talk to little kids, the way he seemed to
concentrate on them only, and the children responding to his attentions. “I
need to sit on his lap.” Maria decided going to push the child with sticky
hands off her …
“Whoa!” Liz pulled her back. “Where are you going?”
“There,” said Maria pointing to Michael. “I’m going
to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him exactly what I want for Christmas. I am
going to find out what he is wearing under that suit.”
“Oh no! You are not getting it on with a man in a red
suit, not in front of the youth of
“Stupid. Who am I to deny basic human urges?” Maria
moved Liz aside, “I’m going to let my hands have a say … let them move all
over his sexy …” Maria frowned when something distracted her. “Uh, Liz,
look. That's a weird sight.” Maria pointed out Max, Samuel and his mother
coming to see Santa.
“Here.” Maria took the film Liz was holding for the
photographer from her so she could go talk to Max.
“Thanks.” Liz walked over to meet the small group.
“Hi.”
“Hey. This is Rebecca, and this is Samuel.” Max
introduced. “This is Liz.”
“Hi. I think that we actually met yesterday at the
Crashdown.” Liz said bending a little to talk directly to the young boy.
“Hi, Samuel. Merry Christmas.”
“He has a hard time with waiting in lines, so we were
wondering if you could move him through?” Max explained.
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Liz went to take the little boy’s
hand. “Why don't we just bring him …” Samuel recoiled from her touch.
Rebecca quickly stepped in. “Oh, ok, I'm sorry. He
doesn't like to touch people or to be touched.” Max took the little boy
instead as Liz stepped back. “He may not want to sit in Santa's lap, and if he
doesn't, that's ok. Don't force him to do anything.”
Liz turned to the frantic mother. “Um, why don't you just
come with us?”
“That would be great. Ok. Thank you.”
“Come on, Samuel.” Liz said softly letting Max lead the
little boy as she and the mother walked with them to Michael who was talking to
his trusty assistant Snowflake.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Michael said seeing the small boy.
“Michael?” Max stopped in his tracks seeing his friend
suited up, noting Michael’s hand on Snowflake’s waist keeping her near.
Michael reluctantly let her go. “What are you doing here?” Max asked, as if
he didn’t know. Michael’s loophole no doubt.
“Spreading Christmas cheer,” Michael answered in a
deadpan voice while Maria made a ‘bah humbug’ comment under her breath. He
pinched her ass which made her yelp and slap his hand away.
“Snowflake, go soothe the masses while Santa takes care
of this little buckaroo.”
“You’re feeding me to them?!” Maria glanced at the
ever growing line of children impatient to see their hero. She made an
‘eeking’ noise in her throat before returning Liz the film and going to
distribute candy canes to the impatient children.
Rebecca glanced at the other kids they cut in front of and
tried to make this quick. “Ok, Samuel, do you want to sit on Santa's lap?”
Samuel had no response, but he seemed mesmerized by Michael. “It's ok. Let's
go.” Michael leaned down and easily lifted the young boy to his lap. Samuel
didn’t make a sound. He just stared at Michael, and their eyes met, and
Michael slowly smiled. “Here you go.” Rebecca said more to herself as she
stepped back in wonder at her son sitting on Santa Michael’s lap. Tears filled
her eyes. “Sweetie, you're doing great.”
“The camera,” Max suggested to Santa, keeping near in
case Samuel got upset.
Michael glanced over and ordered his slacker elf to get to
it. “Hop to it, Candy Cane.” Liz nodded taking her post next to the
photographer as Rebecca watched, her hands together in hope unable to believe
her eyes.
“Oh, um, one more,” she begged. “Ok, wait. One
more.” Rebecca wanted in the picture and she invited Max. “Max, come on
in.”
“No, it's all right.” Max said not wanting to be in the
picture where Samuel’s father should be.
“Come on. Please get in the picture.” Max moved in as
the photographer took pictures of Samuel and Max with Michael and Samuel's
mother. Maria watched, and her eyes met Michael’s, and she saw something in
his eyes. Michael was worried.
~~~
Michael convinced Maria to go with him back to his place
for dinner. She was reluctant, but since she really missed him, it was easy to
persuade her.
“You were a good Santa.” Maria said looking around the
apartment. God it felt so long since she had just been there to hang out and be
with Michael. Sitting on the sofa, she leaned back tired as she slowly pulled
the evil ugly tights off dropping them in a heap on the floor.
“It’s not hard. You just listen and ho, ho, ho, a
lot.”
“No, you’re good. The kids all loved you.”
Michael took a seat next to her on the sofa lounging back
with his feet on the coffee table. He was still in the Santa pants minus the
padding so they hung on him by the suspenders. Maria was in her very short elf
suit minus the tights and stupid boots. Her hat was gone too, and she could care
less if she ever saw it again.
“You going to eat your sandwich?” Michael asked.
“I’m eating.” Maria nibbled on the sandwich not
really very hungry. Her stomach felt hollow and she felt tired. Maria glanced at
Michael and he munched away. “So what made you so worried when Samuel was on
your lap?”
Michael stopped eating his grilled cheese sandwich, to
share a look with her. So, she caught that. Why wasn’t he surprised?
“Nothing really … it was just,” Michael laughed at himself, “when I
picked him up, I felt like he could see me. He knew I was different …
otherworldly? Maybe the way Santa is supposed to be, so he trusted me. That’s
why he sat in my lap.”
“So what made you worry? It was sweet how excited his
mother was, how much it meant to her.”
Michael picked up Maria’s hand. “If he sees me … in
some strange awareness realizes that I am … different, then maybe it is
what’s making him respond to Max?”
“Oh!” Maria’s tired brain cleared of the fog.
“Right! So maybe it’s not Max’s son making a connection to Samuel, but
rather, a child that has no way to communicate trying to use a means … a way
to make contact with the world.”
“Yeah,” said Michael. “If that’s true, then Max is
pursuing the wrong avenue, and he might harm the boy.”
Maria sat up a little, she stared into Michael’s eyes and
suddenly felt his worry again. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
Maria put her unfinished sandwich on the table. “I’m so
tired. I should go.”
Michael put his arms around her pulling her into his arms,
his food forgotten for the moment. “Stay. I’m not working tonight, or until
after Christmas. There is no school.” Michael bit the bullet. “You’ve been
distant lately, and I don’t know what I did, but …”
“Michael!” Maria moaned. Damn! “No. It’s not you! I
… I’m sort of confused a bit lately and I guess I was pulling back into my
head, quiet time, trying to work it out. I wasn’t … it’s not you.”
“Then stay.”
“I’m so tired. I haven’t been sleeping and I’ll
just fall asleep on you, and …”
“Maria. Stay.” Michael picked up the remote. “We’ll
watch TV. You can sleep on me.”
Maria acquiesced. She really missed him. She couldn’t
leave. If she did, it would be like she was punishing him for something he
didn’t do. They watched TV and it wasn’t long before Maria was sound asleep,
her body stretched out along his, her legs entwined in his as they stretched out
to the coffee table, her hand on his stomach.
Michael watched TV finishing his sandwiches and hers. His
hand kept wandering to her hair, and he spent a time watching her sleep, his
fingers moving through her hair. Leaning down, he kissed her soft lax lips
groaning when she breathed his name in her sleep, her hand sliding further down
his stomach.
“You’re all I want for Christmas,” he whispered to
her.
When Max entered the apartment, he stopped at the scene of
them together on the sofa. Michael was holding Maria, who was sleeping literally
on Michael. His head was bent to her head, and Max frowned unsure what to do.
“Am I interrupting?”
“She’s asleep,” said Michael quietly.
Max came into the room, his eyebrow raising when he got a
closer look at them. “Um, is her hand … um, …” Max cleared his throat.
“Yeah, and if you wake her … I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t you think you should put her to bed?”
Michael’s fingers moved through Maria’s hair. It felt
like forever since he spent time with her, and when he did, never this close.
“In a little bit.”
“So did she tell you why she’s avoiding you?”
“No … just that it’s not about me, and that she
trying to get her head straight.” Michael thought of all the times he felt a
need to be alone, to work out what was bothering him, and it was a request he
could understand. “I have time. I can give her that.”
Max sat down in a chair across from Michael. This couple
was confusing to him, to everyone. “How did you get this close?”
That was a mystery, one Michael wasn’t sure he could
explain. Shrugging he closed his eyes for a moment, when Maria moved in her
sleep, and her hand tightened on him. “I don’t know, but it feels good, and
some days, it feels better than good.”
“You know that I love Liz.”
“Yeah, I think you mentioned it, she mentions it, and
Maria hums it.” Michael commented sarcastically. “What about it?”
“We’re not this close.”
Michael put his head back. He didn’t want another long
discussion where other people tried to dissect his and Maria’s relationship,
to find what made it tick. It was a mysterious miracle.
“Look, I think that when you’re with someone, like
girlfriend and boyfriend type crap, there are expectations, certain boundaries
that are understood. You’re exclusive, you don’t cheat or lie, and you
don’t forget to do things … little things.”
Michael wasn’t sure he wasn’t talking through his hat,
but it was the best he could explain. “With us, we never got to that point.
We’re friends. I forget to thank her, she shrugs it off. She thinks I’m full
of crap she tells me, I don’t feel like doing something I say no, and the list
goes on and on. I don’t have to look at her and see disappointment in her eyes
because somehow I didn’t measure up to what she needed, maybe because she
walked in the door with no expectations, and everything I do do is more than she
expected or asked for.”
Max thought of last year, of Tess, the baby, Kyle and Liz,
the entire fiasco between them over Alex. He betrayed their ‘soulmate’ love,
but then so did she to the whole Future Max thing. It wasn’t just that. It was
the walking away after Destiny, making him pay for a destiny he never wanted.
Their entire relationship over the last year was about each of them walking
away, and the disappointment and hurt in Liz’s eyes every time he failed her.
Even today … the skating thing, Kal and the ship, him looking for his son, it
still caused her to look disappointed in him.
He was doing it again, today. He forgot a date with her,
made other plans, and all for this idea that Samuel was channeling his son.
“I think I might have made a mistake, Michael.”
“What? With Liz?”
“No, Samuel.”
“I was going to talk to you about that.”
Max frowned. “What?”
“He wasn’t afraid of me, Max. He sat on my lap, without
a problem. I think he knows I’m like you, that we have powers to maybe reach
him.”
“I don’t know.” Max leaned back in the chair his eyes
on the sleeping Maria. “I went with his mom and him to get ice cream after he
sat on your lap. I tried to connect to him, to see if I could find my son, and
it terrorized him. He almost ran into the street in front of a bus.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah. His mom called his father, who was waiting for us
when we got home.
“So he does speak.”
“Right.” Max rubbed his face. “I might have misread
the situation. I never meant to cause him harm.”
Michael was quiet for a moment. “Maybe he approached you
because you’re different, and maybe this is about him and not you?”
“I talked to Liz at the Crashdown. She said basically the
same thing.” Max admitted. “She thinks that maybe there's some other reason
that he reached out to me. He spoke to me because he senses that I’m
different. Maybe he is trying to say something, and he is looking for help to
say it.”
“That is what I sensed. Why else would he respond to me
too? I mean they never could get him to sit on Santa’s lap, and yet today he
looked at me, and had no problem.” Michael cleared his throat. “Max, I have
no son to contact me, and nothing I need from that child, but he saw me.”
“What should I do?”
Michael shrugged, adjusting his body under Maria’s. He
slowly moved her off him, even her hand. Standing up slowly with her in his
arms, he looked down at her sleeping body. “I can’t tell you that. I can
barely decide what to do with my own life and situation. I just know that
something made Samuel seek you out. There has to be a purpose. I don’t believe
in coincidence.”
Michael left Max to ponder things as he went to put himself
and Maria to bed.
~~~
Christmas Eve morning, Jesse was watching football on the
TV as he did his latest assigned task sanctioned by Isabel.
“No! No! No! No!” He yelled at the game glancing up
when Isabel came to stand beside him. “Hey.”
“Hey. How you doing?” Isabel asked frowning at the game
and the progress of Jesse’s work.
“Oh!” Jesse fell back on the sofa excited. “Turnover!
Our ball! Our ball! Our ball!”
“Good game, honey?”
Jesse smiled. “Oh, great game.”
“Oh, great. Great.” Isabel crossed her arms in front of
her. “You know, Jesse, it's Christmas-eve morning. We have a million things to
do.”
“Yeah, hey. I'm stringing.” Jesse held up his work.
“Look.”
“You've hardly started, and the sequence is all wrong.
It's five popcorn, two cranberries.” Isabel pointed out.
Jesse stared at his wife a moment, a little tired of her attitude especially in regards to how it applied to him. “H