Santa’s visit to Roma’s house
(by Deyse)
It was late at night and everybody at Roma’s house was asleep. Almost everybody: a very curious and witty little girl had left her bedroom in the most absolute silence and tiptoed down to the living room, where a huge Christmas tree had been built by the fireplace. The 6 year old crouched behind a huge armchair and waited. It could happen any minute, Reilly knew it, and she just needed to be patient.
About half hour later, when her bright hazel eyes were almost shutting, she heard the noise of steps: somebody was walking along the room.
“It’s him!” she whispered. A tall man – hidden by the shadows of the night, was placing present boxes under the Christmas tree. Reilly was so stunned wit the image in front of her that she remained in the most absolute silence, paralysed for a few seconds – had the lights of the Christmas tree been on, she could’ve seen his face. Only when he had finished to place all the packages on their places, did she come from behind the armchair and spoke, in a loud voice, “Santa!”
But as he heard the girl’s voice, the mysterious “visitor” rushed out of the living room and climbed the stairs.
“Santa, wait!” she followed him and also started to climb the stairs – though a lot less faster.
In the corridor upstairs, John rushed to the guest room, where he was staying at. He, Della and Frank had spent the Christmas night at Roma’s house and after a beautiful Christmas dinner, all of them had gone to bed. But, before the blond actor could reach his room, Roma’s bedroom door flung open and a pair of slender hands grabbed his arm and pulled him to inside the room. “Shh...” Roma spoke, to a very nervous John. Carefully, she closed the door and caressed his face, in an attempt to calm him down. “She’s coming after me!” he whispered, breathing hard.
Chuckling, she pressed her finger against his lips and placed her ear against the door. Both actors heard it when Reilly came along the corridor with a questioning expression on her face, “Santa? It’s ok, you can come out, it’s me, Reilly...”
“God, she almost caught me...” John murmured, still trying to recover from Reilly’s sudden appearance.
“I’ll take care of her... you go to the bathroom and stay there,” she ordered, and the blond actor obliged her, hiding himself inside the bathroom she had in her room. Only then did Roma open the door and walked up the end of the corridor, where Reilly was, standing by a well-shut window. “Reilly? Sweetheart?”
“Oh, mommy, I saw Santa! He was right there in the living room!” she spoke, excitedly. The Irish actress knelt right in front of her and caressed her curly hair.
“Oh really? Did you get to speak to him?”
“Erm... no... I tried to but he kinda ran away...” she said, with slight disappointment, “But I guess he’s still here somewhere, he ran upstairs and the window is closed!”
“Oh... Well...”
“I closed it...” Della’s voice interrupted their conversation. Wearing a robe over her pyjamas, she walked up to them with a serious expression on her face, “I woke up with a noise of footsteps here in the corridor you know...”
“Oh, auntie Della, you saw him too?” Reilly’s eyes were bright with excitement.
“Well, I didn’t see anything, baby, I’m sorry! I also wanted to catch Santa for you but when I got here it was too late: he was gone through the window!”
She and Roma exchanged a secret and amused glance but Reilly wasn’t totally convinced, “Are you sure? Maybe he’s hidden somewhere here... I’ll go and ask uncle Johnny if he saw anything...”
“Oh, no!” the two actresses spoke, at the same time, and then looked at each other with slight worry, “No, honey, your uncle Johnny is very, very tired, you know, and he’s sleeping now; we don’t want to wake him up...” her mother said.
“But what if Santa is hiding there, in his bedroom?”
“Oh, I don’t think so, baby! If Santa had walked into his room, Johnny would’ve woken up and caught him for you!” Della added.
Reilly reflected about those words and sighed deeply, “Yes, I guess you’re right, auntie Della...”
“Good! So now how about going back to bed, huh? Little princesses like you should be in bed by now!”
“Yes, sweetheart, auntie Della is right, come with me, mom is gonna put you in bed.”
“Okay... Maybe next year I get to see him...” she spoke, and reached up to kiss the old actress, “G’night, auntie Della.”
“Good night, baby, sleep well!”
Roma shot Della a grateful look and took her little daughter back to her room. “Tomorrow, when you wake up, there’ll be lots of presents for you to play with and you can show them to your uncles Johnny and Frank and to auntie Della.” the actress spoke, some time later, lying in bed with her, holding little Reilly in her arms and tenderly caressing the girl’s hair.
“I like it when everybody is here, you know. It’s the happiest Christmas I ever had!”
“Oh, honey... I’m happy to hear this. I’m happy that you’re happy, my little angel.”
“Can we do this every year? Be with uncle Johnny, uncle Frank and auntie Della?”
“Yes, sweetheart! I too want them close to me, you know, I love them very much too!”
Giggling, and with her little eyes almost closing, she turned her head up to face her mother, “You love uncle Johnny?”
Also smiling, aware of how important the blond actor was to her little life, the Irish actress nodded, “Yes! I do! Very, very much!”
“Will you marry him?”
“Well, I...” Roma looked at her daughter and saw a mischievous smile on her meek face, “You know what, missy? Auntie Della is right, it’s high time for little princesses to be sleeping!”
Ten minutes were enough for Reilly to fall into a deep sleep, tired with the emotions of the day. Carefully not to wake her up, the actress stood up and covered the girl’s small form with a warm blanket, “Sleep tight, honey. Mom loves you very much.” She kissed the girl’s cheek and left the room, closing the door behind her.
When Roma entered her bedroom, she found John walking from one side to another, still with a worried expression on his handsome face. “Did she notice anything? Did she see...” the actress held his both hands and squeezed them. “Calm down, Johnny. She saw ‘Santa’ but it was too dark and, although she and auntie Della tried to catch him, he escaped through the window!”
He heaved a sigh of relief, “It was close, Roma! I’d never guess she was hiding behind the armchair when I started to put the presents by the tree! That little girl is way too smart!”
Giggling, the actress stood on the tip of her toes and kissed his lips softly, “I’m sorry she scared you!”
“Well... she did! Is she sleeping already?”
“Yes, like a little angel.”
“Good,” he replied, only now feeling completely safe, “She scared me so much that I was afraid of going out of the bedroom!”
With a mischievous smile upon her face, the Irish actress wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him another kiss, “And who told you you’re going out, ‘Santa’?”
His lips curved in a smile and he wrapped his strong arms around her waist, “Oh... I’m not?”
“No... You may have escaped from a witty little girl and from an attentive old actress but you’re not escaping from me!” they kissed one more time, “And I’m sorry to inform you that your journey ends here; you’ve been caught, mister!”
“Well, that’s ok... I cannot resist it anyway... Aren’t you going to wait for your present?”
“I got my present already! It’s right here in my arms!”
He caressed her face with tenderness – the brightness in his eyes reflecting all the love her felt for her, “In that case, I guess everybody will end up the night happy, because having your love, honey, is the best Christmas present I could ever get...”
Her face turned into a serious one, and she reached out to caress his cheek, “John... I need you so much... Please, tell me that you’ll always be by my side?”
He chuckled at that question: being by her side was as vital as breathing; that beautiful young woman, along with her little daughter, had become part of his heart at the moment he met them, and there hadn’t been a day he didn’t feel like loving and protecting them.
With infinite tenderness, he put some strands of hair behind her ears and kissed her forehead, “Angel... You and that little princess sleeping in the other bedroom are my everything! I don’t think I could spend a half second of my life without thinking of you both... I’ll always be here. Always.”
Their faces inched closer and their lips met in a soft, tender kiss. John ran his fingers through her hair as he tasted her sweet mouth. Practically lost in his arms, she tilted her head and he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer to him, enjoying when she stared to caress the back of his head.
*
Roma stirred in bed and, although she didn’t open her eyes, she knew it was early in the morning. The feeling of a warm body next to her and John’s heart beats against her ear caused a smile to form on her lips and suddenly she felt a warm breath against the nape of her neck, “Merry Christmas, miss Downey...” he spoke, kissing her soft skin afterwards.
Her eyes flung open and she turned her head up to look at him, “Merry Christmas, Mr Dye...”
It took less than a second for their mouths to collide and they shared a loving kiss. John made her lie on her back, her head resting against the soft pillows, and propped on his elbow just to admire her beautiful features. “Did you sleep well?” the blond actor asked, tenderly caressing her hair.
“Wonderfully well, and it’s all your fault, mister ‘Santa’!” she replied, playfully poking his chest with her fingertip.
“Thank you, I’m glad to know it! At your service anytime you want it, honey!”
“Anytime I want? What about forever?”
He lay soft kisses over her face and neck, “Forever? Hum... well, yes, that sounds reasonable... After all, you’ve been a good girl lately.”
“Good!” she exclaimed, enjoying his sweet caresses. But a glance at the clock caused her to jump, “John!”
“What?”
“It’s 9 already! We should be up and ready, Reilly is going to find the presents and we should be there with her!”
*
“... and he was this tall, uncle Johnny! As tall as you!” Reilly was marvelled at all the toys she received, and, while she unwrapped the presents, the little girl gave Roma, John, Della and Frank a detailed explanation about how she had almost caught ‘Santa Claus’ on the previous night.
“Oh really?” he asked, using all his acting talent to appear surprised.
“Yes! Pity you were sleeping, you’d have caught him!” she said, and now it was John and Roma looked at each other, trying to suppress a smile, “Look mommy! It’s another doll!” Reilly exclaimed, almost finishing to open all her present boxes.
“She’s very beautiful, honey...” her mother spoke.
“She looks like you, mommy!”
The adults looked at one another with their hearts full of tenderness to hear the girl’s loving words, “I couldn’t agree more!” John added, caressing Reilly’s curly hair and kissing Roma’s cheek. Della and Frank exchanged an amused glance, happy to see that they made a very happy couple.
“I got so many presents! Santa was really good to me!”
“That’s because you’ve been a good girl along the year, princess, and deserved all these beautiful presents!” the blond actor spoke.
The little girl left the carpeted floor and sat down on the sofa, by his side and eyed him with sparkling brown eyes and a pretty smile. “I love Santa, you know, uncle Johnny. And I love all the presents he gave me... But I love you a lot more!”
Moved with those words (like everybody else in the warm living room), he held her tight and took her hand, “Oh, my little angel... Hearing this from you is the best Christmas present Santa could ever give me, you know? Thank you so much, princess!” he kissed the back of her hand and the top of her head, fighting back the silent tear in the corner of his eyes.
The other presents were open and those 5 people, who formed a real (and very happy) family, had a wonderful Christmas morning. Roma was the last one to open her gifts – as she already had the most precious presents one could ever ask for: a beautiful and lovely little daughter, a man who loved her deeply and unconditionally, and an old couple, who loved her like a real daughter.
“... And this is the last one...” she said, taking a small box wrapped in coloured paper, “... and it’s from... Johnny!”
Della, Frank and Reilly started laughing – this was the 4th present the blond actor had given her on that Christmas morning. “Oh, really? What a surprise, baby! I’m under the impression that Lovejuice here is in love!” the old actress spoke.
The Irish actress also smiled and looked at her beloved John before opening the small package. It was then that she noticed something: he had a very tense expression on his face. “Johnny?” she reached for his hand and squeezed it.
He tried to smile but it was sure forceful, “Erm... go on, angel, open it...”
“Are you alright?”
“Y-yes... yes, I’m fine...”
Not convinced but also not knowing what could possibly make him nervous, she went on and unwrapped the paper around the small box – it was a roundish velvet one and only when she opened it up did the Irish actress feel her heart jumping inside her chest: inside of the small package, she saw a beautiful gold ring, with a big bright diamond on the top of it.
“John...” she murmured, lost for words, as well as the other guests – only Reilly didn’t quite seem to understand the real meaning of that “pretty ring”.
The blond actor took her hand and knelt on the floor, right in front of her, “Roma... I... It’s been a long time I wanted to ask you this and I chose this day because... because all the people who you love the most are here too and I wanted it to be special...” he looked at Della, Frank and Reilly and kissed the back of her hand, aware that some tears were starting to form on the corner of her eyes, “I love you so much, sweetie, so much... When I first met you I understood what my mission in this world really is; where God wanted me to be... right here...”
“John...” she repeated, shedding a single tear.
“And I don’t think I can spend my days away from you anymore...”
Della’s eyes were also filled with tears hearing that statement and she felt Frank squeezing her hand – both reliving the day when he had asked her to marry him.
“So... I wanted to tell you once again, in front of everybody here, how much I love you, angel...”
Now partially understanding what was going on, Reilly turned her bright eyes to her ‘grandparents’ and smiled happily – she had seen something similar in Disney movies and knew that a scene like that could only end up very well.
The Irish actress caressed his face with tenderness and shedding more tears, “Johnny... I must have done something really wonderful to deserve having you at my side... You know that you’re a part of me already, don’t you? You know that I love you very, very much?”
Smiling, and now a bit more relieved to hear that, he kissed her hand, “I can see it in the brightness of your eyes, honey, but every time you tell me that it’s... it seems like the first time... Roma, sweetie... do you want to marry me?”
“Yes... I do! I do, John! I want to marry you!” she knelt on the floor and held him tightly, “I love you!”
“God, honey, I love you so much... so much...” he said, holding her for dear life and caressing her hair.
Reilly, Della and Frank (these two ones moved with the beautiful scene in front of them) clapped their hands, bursting with happiness to hear that, “It’s the best Christmas present Santa could ever get me!” the little girl shouted, and joined her mother and the one who she considered her real father in a loving embrace.
*
That happy and blessed Christmas day was coming to an end and after they had bid Della and Frank goodbye, John and Roma held each other and sat in the sofa, in front of a warm fireplace, and the actress admired her beautiful ring, now placed in her finger.
“It’s so beautiful, John... So beautiful...”
“It looks even more beautiful on you, sweetie.” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“Have you any idea how much I love you?”
“Hum... I guess I have...”
They shared a long, loving kiss, full of tenderness and deepest love. Then, Roma gazed him for another long minute, “Now I really don’t want you to go...”
“I don’t want you to go either, uncle Johnny!” Reilly entered the living room now wearing her pink pyjamas and carrying Alice, her inseparable teddy bear.
“Oh, no?”
“No, can’t you just stay here forever and ever?” she asked him with such an adorable face that nobody could deny her anything.
“See? Now your two girls want you to stay, mister!” Roma spoke, both mother and daughter sitting next to him.
“Oh, well... What can I do with you two looking me that way, huh? Of course I’ll stay!”
“Yey!” the little girl shouted, “One more present! Santa is so good to me this year! I thought he was mad at me cuz I almost caught him!”
“Oh, he wasn’t, honey, I’m sure of that!” her mother said, caressing her hair and looking at John with an amused face, “In fact, I guess he’s very happy right now to know that you are happy!”
John kissed their both heads and Roma ordered, “Now it’s bedtime for you missy; did you brush your teeth already?”
“Oops... I forgot!”
“So you can go upstairs and do it, we’ll put you in bed in a minute.”
“Okay!”
She climbed the stairs happily singing a child’s song and the couple looked at each other with brightness in their eyes, “Thank you...” the actress said, caressing his handsome face.
“For what?” he wanted to know, brushing tiny kisses on her forehead.
“For loving us...”
He smiled and placed his hand against her cheek, “That’s what I plan on doing for the next thousand years, honey!”
Their lips collided a second later, and while they shared one more loving kiss, he started to run his fingers through her hair. The couple of actors only parted when air became an issue and the long kiss transformed into tiny ones across her face, “Honey, I was wondering something...”
“What?
“Now that Christmas is gone... what’s gonna happen to Santa?”
They both laughed and Roma grabbed his face in both hands, “Well, I guess he’ll keep on being my hostage until the next 100 Christmases! And he’s not going anywhere away from me! Not anymore!”
“I doubt he wants to!”
The end