Work Text:
Carter tumbled out of bed and onto the floor with a sleepy thump. Whimpering, he untangled himself from the blankets twisted around his legs and rubbed his elbows and knees through his candy cane pajamas. He blinked and gulped back tears as he wished the ouchies away.
Scrambling to his feet, he scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. His gaze hopped around the room. It was dark; only the string of Christmas lights under his window glowed. Was it still night time? Had Santa come? Still rubbing his knees, Carter hobbled to the door, slow like a turtle. Easing it open, softly so it didn't creak, he poked his head through a gap just big enough. No one was there and the hallway was just as dark as his room.
He lifted his chin and sniffed. No stinky coffee smell. Next, he cupped his hand around his ear — it helped him hear better — and listened. He was super quiet — he even held his breath — but he didn't hear the coffee monster burbling or gurgling like it usually did in the morning when it spit out coffee. Mommy wasn't up yet.
If she wasn't up, then that meant he couldn't open presents yet, so he tiptoed down the hallway toward his mommy's room. He was really good at sneaking. One time, he scared his mommy so bad she jumped into the air and screamed a lot of naughty words so loud he had to plug up his ears with his fingers.
Halfway to his mommy’s room, he heard a voice and stopped. It was Mommy’s voice. And it wasn’t coming from her room. He tiptoed closer to the voice and peeked around the wall that opened to the living room.
Christmas lights — wrapped around the tall, fat tree he helped pick out and decorate — blinked from bright and fun reds, blues, greens, and yellows to the plain, boring white lights his mommy liked. Back and forth, they switched. The lights bounced off the pile of presents underneath the tree, making them sparkle.
His eyes widened. Presents? Those weren’t there before! Santa came!
Movement in the corner of his eye stole his attention. There, by the fireplace and three extra-stuffed stockings, was his mommy. Carter rubbed his eyes again to make sure all the sleepy was gone. Santa was there, too. Even though his back was to him, he knew it was Santa because his fuzzy red and white hat flopped down his back and his big, red coat was wrapped around his shoulders. Santa hugged his mommy from behind.
Santa whispered something to her, but Carter couldn't hear what he said. Secrets weren’t nice. It must have been funny, though, because Mommy's head tipped back super far and she laughed.
Carter glanced at the cookie plate. All gone. The milk, too. So what was Santa still doing here?
He watched his mommy turn in Santa's arms and his eyes almost popped out of his head when Santa bended his mommy backward and kissed her. Right on the lips!
Carter’s fingers trembled as he balled his tiny fists. That, that… poopy-head! Santa should be on the naughty list!
It looked like Mommy liked it because Carter saw her smile like she did when Kara kissed her. She once told him that Kara's kisses made her happy like chocolate chip cookies made him happy, like she wanted to dance. Carter had just shrugged. Grown ups were silly. Cookies were way better than kisses.
Boo-boos forgotten, he charged into the living room as fast as little legs could run. He bet he was even faster than Ellie, the fastest player on his t-ball team. He bulldozed into Santa's knees.
"Oof!"
"Stop kissing my mommy!" He screamed into Santa's legs, tears clogging his throat. “I’m going to tell my other mommy and she’s a superhero! And you owe me cookies ‘cause only good boys get cookies!"
Strong arms scooped him up and, suddenly, Carter was face-to-face with Kara in a Santa hat. He lifted it the tiniest bit away from her forehead and peeked underneath. Yep. It was Kara. He blinked at the rest of her. The big, red coat was just a big, red blanket that covered her snowman pajamas and even her hair.
Blue twinkly eyes looked at him. They looked like they did when he fell sometimes and Kara wasn't sure if he was hurt or not.
"What are you doing up?" Kara brushed away his tears with her thumb.
"I'm sorry." He threw his arms around Kara and buried his face in her neck. Sniffling, he wiggled his head to wipe his nose. "I fell out of bed and hurted my knees. Then I saw Santa being naughty."
"Naughty?"
"Yeah." Carter pulled back and looked at both Kara and his mommy. "Only me and you can give Mommy kisses. Santa's not allowed."
"Oh, I see. Well, you have nothing to worry about, then. See?" Kara pointed to the presents underneath the trees then the empty cookie plate. "Santa left a long time ago. It's just me and your mom, and I was giving her a goodnight kiss. Let's all go back to bed."
Carter nodded and dragged his arm under his nose. Santa hadn’t been bad. It was just Kara and Mommy kissing like they always did. “Why can't we open presents now?"
"Well…" Kara lowered him to the floor and looked at Mommy. Her eyes had gone all big and round. She scratched her neck like she had an itchy-scratchy back there.
"Because," his mommy said, snatching a tissue from a box. She wiped his nose, telling him to blow. He scrunched his face up, slammed his lips closed so no air escaped, and blew until his ears popped like a balloon. It sounded like the loudest, most giganticest horn. She finished and crumpled the tissue in her hand. "Santa sent letters to all the parents. It said no one is allowed to open presents before six a.m. and Mommy's first cup of coffee. Santa's rules."
Carter couldn't believe it. Santa sure had a ton of rules. He glanced at Kara. She had that 'sorry' look on her face she sometimes had when he wanted a cookie, but Mommy said 'no'.
Kara plucked the Santa hat off her head and plopped it onto his. The fuzzy-wuzzy, white trim fell over his eyes. He pushed it back.
"He still has toys to deliver," Kara said. "What if you looked out the window and saw Santa and his reindeer at the house across the street? That child wouldn't get presents. Or, what if you heard his sleigh bells jingling? Santa is very secretive."
Carter scratched his puzzler — that's what he called his brain — and thought real hard. He didn't want another kid to be sad so he nodded, the hat slipping back over his eyes."'Kay."
The three of them, with Carter wrapped back in Kara's arms, walked to the bedroom. Crawling into Mommy and Kara's bed, they made a Carter-sandwich. He snuggled between his two favorite people in the whole wide world under the fluffiest, most warmest blankets until his whole body was toasty warm and the ouchies on his elbows and knees no longer hurt.
"I love you," he whispered to both of them.
"We love you, too," they said as they kissed his cheeks, one for each of them, and wished him a merry Christmas.