Page 104 of Watch Me

“Can we have our presents now?” Cohenquestioned.

“Yes. I need to get going so I can deliver all the presents.” Rhys dug into his red bag again. “I have a busy night, but I wanted to stop by while I was in the neighborhood because of how good you two were this year.” He handed the boys each a pair of slippers. Cohen got The Incredible Hulk ones, and Tyson got Batman ones. They, of course, weren’t wrapped because Santa and his elves didn’t wrap presents. “Now, make sure you wear those tomorrow morning when you wake up and see what I left for you while you’re sleeping.”

“You can’t give us our presents now?” Cohenwondered.

Rhys stood and slung his bag over his shoulder. “No. I don’t have them. My reindeer have them in the sleigh.”

Cohen’s eyes widened. “Where’s your sleigh? I wanna see it!”

“No can do.” Rhys started for the door. “Mrs. Claus is making sure everything is packed inside for the night, and they only have a moment to swing by to get me.”

“Mrs. Claus goes with you?” Tysonasked.

“Of course. She’s the boss and makes sure I stay on time.”

Reagan and I snorted. My sisterwasthe boss, but Mrs. Claus stayed home in all the folklore I’d heard.

“Plus, she loves milk and cookies.”

“We’re going to leave you some before we go to bed,” Cohenstated.

“Chocolate chip?”

Cohen looked over at me, and I nodded. “Yep!”

“Good deal. Now, I better go.” Rhys opened the door and stood a few feetinside.

“Will we see you again?” Tysonasked.

Rhys patted the top of his brown head. “Maybe next year if you’re still a good boy.”

“We will be!” Cohenexclaimed.

“All right, good. Now go to sleep, and when you wake up, put your slippers on before going to see what I’ve left you.”

“Bye!” the boys said in unison, and Rhys closed the door. The boys rushed to it, and when they opened it, he was gone. Rhys, of course, was probably hiding on the side of the house, but the boys didn’t knowthat.

“That was so cool!” Cohenyelled.

“Yeah, it was,” I affirmed. “You better go brush your teeth and get into bed, so when Santa comes back, he can leave your presents.” The boys took off toward their bathroom without another word. “I’m going to tuck them in. Meet you in the shower?” I asked, looking atReagan.

She smirked. “Yep.”

The steam billowed out around me when I opened the bathroom door and I entered the bedroom, a towel wrapped around my waist. Reagan and Ishowereduntil the water started to turn cold. I walked to the light switch and flicked it on, which turned on both lamps on either side of the bed.

Reagan stepped out behind me with a towel wrapped around herself. “Why are you turning all of the lights on?”

“No reason,” I lied. Reagan cocked a brow. “Get dressed, Buttercup. We have presents to put under the tree and cookies to eat.”

We slid our pajamas on and then quietly slipped out of the bedroom, leaving the lights on as we made our way to the living room. I grabbed a cookie and stuck it into my mouth. “Putting gifts from Santa under the tree never gets old,” I stated around the sweet chocolateygoodness.

Reagan grabbed a cookie. “I never thought I’d do this again since Maddie is almost nineteen. It’s fun.”

We went into the garage and grabbed all of the presents we’d bought for the boys. Cohen got a big boy bike and Tyson a Batmobile go-kart that he would have to peddle himself. We placed all the gifts under the tree and stuffed the stockings with candy and such before turning off the lights and heading back into our bedroom. My heart started to race as I felt the ring burning in the pocket of my flannel pajama pants.

“Can we turn off the lights, or are you now afraid of monsters?”

I grinned. “Get in bed. I’ll get the lights.”