My Dream Santa

"He only drove the last section."

"I wasn't able to help on the way up, Lisa," Junior explained, "Jen drove up here as far as the airfield, where I leave my plane, so I only drove from the airfield to here."

"Plane?" Lisa, Jack and Stephanie asked together, while Scott looked even more sick. He knew now that he was out of her league and that it was his fault for getting caught playing around in the first place that allowed another man into her life.

"Yes, it's my father's plane, really, not mine. It's not an executive jet or anything, it is really quite an unprepossessing aircraft. Unfortunately, I have been so busy lately that it was impossible to drive up with Jen. Also I needed the plane here for tomorrow night as I have a trip to make and, although I haven't invited her yet, I'm hoping Jen'll come with me, to meet my family for the first time." He looked at Jennifer.

"Yes, of course, I'll go anywhere with you, honey, I think you know that by now."

"That's great, sorry sweetheart, to just spring it on you like that," he got up and pulled her up and they walked towards the tree, where Junior wanted to pick up his sack. To Lisa he said, "We'll leave straight after tea tomorrow evening and I'll have her back here by five or six on Christmas morning, Lisa, I promise."

"Wherever are you going on Christmas Eve?"

"North!" both Jennifer and Junior exclaimed at the same time, looked at each other and laughed.

'O, God!' Scott groaned internally, 'they're even thinking the same thoughts!'

"My family live north of here," Junior explained, "but takes no time at all in the plane."

As Junior reached down to grab his sack, Jennifer spotted a package at the top, partly revealed.

"Oh, I can see the top present," she said, "it looks beautiful. Can we leave that one under the tree and check out the rest in the morning?"

They squatted down together by the tree and Junior pulled out the present, beautifully packaged.

"That is beautifully finished off, Jeff," Lisa gasped, at the quality old fashioned wrapping, the bow and curly ribbons.

"He's magic at this kind of thing, aren't you, dear?" Jen smiled at Junior sweetly.

"I believe that if a gift is going to be gratefully received, it should be carefully selected, and beautifully wrapped and presented."

In a whisper, he said to Jen, "This is Lisa's present. I have addressed it 'To Mum' from both of us, as I have with all the others, including a comprehensive collection of hair products for Scott."

"You think of everything, hon. OK, let's just put this one under the tree and then I so want a private word with you upstairs!"

In their bedroom, ready for bed, Jennifer had finished using the bathroom first and waited for Junior to clean his teeth.

"Sit next to me?" she asked when he opened the bedroom door.

Junior nodded and closed the bedroom door behind him, crossed the room and sat on the bed next to her.

"Do you want me to start talking from the beginning," he asked softly, taking her right hand in his, "or do you want to ask questions first?"

"I have one question, to begin with at least."

"Fire away then."

"Why now?" she asked, "why have you finally made contact with me, outside of whatever dream state I had been in on other visits? Why this Christmas, after my seeing and remembering you every other Christmas? And why me anyway?"

"That's basically two questions," he feigned a protest, but squeezed her hand and grinned, "OK. Why now? We'll get the simple one out the way first. The 'why now' is because now the time is right. There is no Scott, there is no 'Jeff'," he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "The 'why you' is because I was drawn to you from the moment you were born and I didn't even know why to begin with. I didn't know why, in fact, for a long, long time, because nobody bothered to tell me. The first couple of Christmases, you were only a baby. I didn't let you see me those two times, even though I wanted you to. We never let anyone see us. If they do, we make them forget."

"But not me."

"Not you. Never you. So I asked my father, why I wanted to see you and why I wanted you to see me. He knew, he always knows, but he didn't tell me anything at that point. You and I were far too young I suppose. But he did allow me to let you see me. That was when you were three. By the time he explained to me why we were somehow attracted to each other, you were with Scott."

"But you look the same age now as you did, way back then, when I was three. And even now you look younger than me! How old are you, exactly?"

He grinned, "Older than you, sweetheart, but to all intents and purposes we are at about the same stage of our aging development, so basically we are the same sort of 'age'. I can see you look doubtful, but you will find it easier to understand when I get the time to tell you about my history."

"So, was it always a dream when I saw you or was it real?"

"Both, neither, and something else." He smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead, "Explanations will have to come later, my sweetheart. I think you are feeling tired."

"Yes, I am exhausted, yet I felt so full of life earlier."

"Let's turn the light out and get into bed and sleep. I can kiss you goodnight and we can sleep until morning."

"Not sure if kissing you with the lights out is a good idea, Junior."

"The only thing in danger here is our hearts, Jen. You will always be safe. I promised you earlier that you were perfectly safe with me and from me."

"Yeah," she grinned, suppressing a yawn, "but are you safe from me?"

"We are both safe, because you do need your sleep."

"Yes, we need to service the car in the morning."

"Er, no, actually I did that tonight already."

"When?"

"While I was in the shower."

"How?" As she asked she got up and started to walk towards the light switch by the door.

"I'll do the lights," he said, "you get into bed."

"I forgot that you're much more used to moving around my bedroom in the dark than I am!" she laughed as she hung her robe on a hook on the back of the door and walked back to the bed, throwing the cover back and folding it one more fold. "What side do you want to sleep?"

"You pick," he said, hovering by the light switch, having hung his own robe on the second door hook.

"I'll take this side, it is the opposite side to the one ... er ... that I used to have." She looked up at him.

"I know," he acknowledged, nodding, and switched the room into near darkness.

Jen felt the rustle of the bedclothes and the mattress depress, then the warmth of the man now lying next to her, up tight to her.

"When you got out of the car and ran up the drive to the shelter of the front door, I pulled all the service parts and tools I needed out of the sack and shut them in your boot. And I left a hydraulic car jack under your Mum's privet hedge."

"So, how do you manage ... time, walls, lights?"

"You are amazing, you know Jen, amazing. You are completely unfazed and trusting. The sack is a portal through another dimension to wherever the object desired is, in this case a vast auto supplies depot. I can move through walls, that is why chimneys are not needed in modern houses. I could have moved the car to another dimension to work on, but I had everything I needed and as far as anyone is concerned it took a fraction of a second to do. I was in the other dimension and working on the car, jacking it up, removing all the wheels, changing the brakes, draining the oil, changing the filters and spark plugs, topping up the battery, restarting the car, checking emissions, all taking a fraction of a second."

"So you really are Father Christmas?"

"No, my father is Santa Claus, only my grandfather calls him Young Nick, while we call Granddad Old Nick. Gramps is retired now, but still helps us out every year."

"So you just help out too, or are you your Dad's apprentice?"

"Yes, I'm the apprentice, and I'm learning the ropes, ready to take over when Dad's had enough."

"And when will that be?"

"A hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty years' time."

"So how long would we be together then?"

"A lot longer than that, Jen."

"I can't take all this in, honey."

"Then it is time you slept and we'll continue this conversation in the morning and tomorrow night...."

"So, where's my goodnight kiss, then?"

"Here," they kissed and Jennifer relaxed, feeling warm inside and heavy lidded, ready for sleep.

"That's lovely, Junior, I've never been kissed like you've kissed me."

"That's the magic of Christmas, you might have noticed it earlier, when I kissed you, a feeling of energy going through you, yet euphoria too?"

She nodded.

"Now that you are ready to sleep, our kiss helps us both to relax and sleep peacefully."

"So you need sleep too?"

"Yes, Jen, I do need sleep too."

"And this is your first time sleeping with anyone."

"It is a first for me. So goodnight and sweet dreams."

"Good...."

***

The next morning, early, they put out the rest of the presents under the tree. They managed to do it without disturbing the sleeping Scott. For Junior, this quick and quiet way of working was second nature, business as usual, for Jennifer it was a new experience. They were drinking tea in the kitchen when Lisa came in yawning.

"Wow! You two are up early."

"Yes, we've got a few chores to do this morning," Junior answered for them both.

"Oh yes, the car broke down, didn't it? Are you thinking of taking it into a garage on Christmas Eve morning?"

"No, Mum, we're going up to Dad's depot, where Junior can sort out the car and, if we've got time, look over the plane."

Later, in the car, Jennifer turned to Junior.

"Once you get out at Dad's depot, Junior, I'll drive into town, or would you rather drop me off on the way to the airfield?" Jennifer smiled at him as Junior drove her car smoothly down the still deeply snowed covered side streets.

"Why do you need to go to town?"

"To get you a Christmas present, silly!"

"Now, who's being silly?" he patted the back of her hands resting on her knees, "what are you going to get for the man that has everything he could possibly get, except one thing?"

"I don't know," she replied, squeezing his hand in both of hers, "but I'll know it when I see it."

"We'll go to your Dad's depot, there's a gate through the back onto the airfield, right next to the plane."

"That's convenient."

"It is, and, do you know what else is convenient?" Junior asked, as he turned the corner into a service road lined with chain link fencing on both sides of the road.

"No."

"Well, for one thing," he pointed a remote control device through the windscreen and the gates ahead of them began to open, "we are here already..."

Jennifer noticed her father's company logo on the gates. She hadn't recognised where she was, it had all looked so different last night in the dark. Before las night she hadn't been here for over a decade, and was amazed at how large the place was and the number of trucks parked on the site.

"Besides," he continued the conversation, "if you want to get me a present, you could use Santa's Sack."

"No, I couldn't ... wouldn't that be cheating?"

"Are you accusing Father Christmas and his family of being cheats, Jennifer?" Junior's voice was stern, but his eyes were bright and shiny and he couldn't keep the telltale smile off his face.

She waited until he had brought her car to a stop, before she punched him lightly on the arm. They both burst into laughter.

"But honestly, it wouldn't be the same, as choosing a gift ... and paying for it."

"True, nothing is free in this world," he said seriously, as he pulled up the handbrake and took both her hands in his, "it's a good job we get a license fee from every fake Santa, all the toy manufacturers and the purveyors of Christmas foods, otherwise we would never manage to pay for all these presents."

"Really?"

"No, I was kidding. We never get a penny from any of them," he laughed, "everybody makes a fortune out of Christmas and we never get a bean!"

"You!"

"Well, do you want to battle through the shops, or have a spin in those cold, clear, blue skies in the jalope? I'll even let you fly it all on your own once we're up."

"All right, Junior, you sweet-talked me into it."

Together, hand in hand, they used Junior's fob to go through the double gates to the airfield.

"Where's your plane?"

"Look."

He pointed to a nearby plane covered in snow. Or at least it appeared to be, but when she got closer, Jennifer could see that the central part of the light twin propeller aircraft was covered with a tarpaulin. Junior released her hand.

"Just stand there and I will get the plane ready to fly."

She watched as his unhurried and practised movements pulled away the tarpaulin, and with it a lot of powdery snow. He unlocked the door on the far side from Jennifer and extracted a brush and started to brush snow off the nearest wing.

"Can I help with that?" she asked.

"Why not? Just brush from the front to the back of the wing so the snow won't foul the wheels."

He delved inside the plane again and found another brush for her. She started brushing from the wingtip in, but then she found she was standing in the snow she had brushed off. So she moved to where the wing joined the plane and started brushing from there. Junior noticed what she was doing and smiled. Being taller, he had cleared most of his wing by then and moved down the fuselage to sweep down to the tail. By the time he had finished, Jennifer had cleared her wing, except for a thin strip along the leading edge of the thicker part of the wing that she couldn't quite reach. He brushed that off with one sweep.

He opened the door and helped her in, while he went round to the left side, stowed the brushes away and climbed in. She was overwhelmed by the number of dials in front of them, but he switched on the lights and showed her the very few that she would need when she was flying, before he knuckled down to do his pre-flight checks, including getting out again and looking over everything one last time, before shaking and folding up his tarpaulin and stowing that away.

He started up the engines, running them until they were warm, checking over all the oil pressures and temperatures, plus the fuel gauge. He strapped her in and put her headphones on, which cut down some of the racket from the engines. He donned his cans and could speak to her through the earphones. He spoke to the airfield tower, asking for permission to take off. They confirmed he was the only plane taking off today.

"Why are you able to take off and no one else?"

"Skis." Junior grinned, "essential boot wear for planes going to the North Pole. I have snow skis and wheels fitted to this plane, although I can remove the skis and stow them during the summer."

Junior adjusted the throttle and started to move off. With the blanket of snow covering as far as the eye could see, Jennifer had no idea where the paths ran or which open ground was the actual runway, but Junior knew his way about. When they turned around at the end of the field, Jennifer could see their parallel ski and wheel tracks in the snow.

Junior revved the engines. To Jennifer they were loud even through the cans on her ears. Suddenly he let the plane have its head and go. It tore down the runway faster and faster, bumping along until suddenly the ground slipped away below them, the bumping had stopped and they were airborne and apparently free of gravity.

Junior thanked the airfield tower, who wished him a good circuit, then he retuned his radio to area traffic control, who were already expecting him. He gave the plane's height, speed and direction. They directed him to climb another 2000 feet, which he did. Below them the landscape was laid out like a Christmas card in every direction she looked.

Jennifer watched him as he worked, trimming the aircraft, adjusting his course. What was happening to her? She had barely had a chance to think, to talk to Satish, be honest with her Mum, what was she going to say to her Dad when he finds out she slept with his best and, it seemed, favourite driver? Where were they going to with this? This man, this grown man had stalked her, been attracted to her, by his own admission, ever since she was a new-born baby, how by any criteria can that be normal? Yet she felt safe, excited, almost overwhelmed by him, yet it wasn't in any way as abusive, which she had to admit now was the case, with Scott. She had agreed to take this flight, to fly with him again tonight, to meet his family, and consider spending the rest of her life with him.

Unreal, it was, magical, but a dream like all those Christmas dreams she remembered vividly since she was only three. And here he was, sweeping her off her feet at 5000 feet in the air!

But, she had to ask herself, ignoring for a minute the excitement of this new relationship and all that it brought with it, did she love him? Did she even know what love was after her long series of disappointments? And the lies! She coloured up in shame, her ears burning under the cans. Fr every lie Scott told her, she had lied to her mother. Was she worthy of this attention, this strange, unique courtship? He had seemed to be saying the choice for her future lay with her, that he was sort of committed to her, but was she the right choice for him? No, she really didn't think she was. And she was alone in this. She couldn't talk to Mum or Dad, or the rest of the family, it was too fantastic for anyone to take in.

She had to talk to Satish. Smart Satish, who married her strange man on the same holiday that she met him, and lived happily ever after. And Satish didn't even believe in Father Christmas!

She had only been in the air for what seemed only a few minutes before he showed her how to fly the plane, handing full control over to her. Jennifer could feel how responsive the controls were, after her initial panic, but Junior's calm cheeriness filled her with confidence and she relaxed, flying the plane for over half an hour, moving the plane up or down, as required by air traffic control. She was smiling the whole way, matching Junior's satisfied grin.

"I'll take over now," he said, eventually, "we're coming into land."

"Where are we? There's no snow here."

"This is Stopham Airfield, it's only a tiny place, but they have a restaurant that does great fish and chips, using beer in the batter, plus they triple cook the chips, which are incredible."

"Well, I guess we better stop here then, you're far too skinny to be Father Christmas!"

"That's what my Mum always says."

"Am I, er," she asked nervously, "just meeting your Dad tonight, or your mother too?"

"Both, I'm afraid, if you come, it can't be avoided."

"Oh, you sound as though meeting your parents will be an ordeal. Aren't you supposed to sugarcoat it for me?"

As they came in to land, Junior said, "No, I wouldn't sugarcoat it for a girl like you, Jen. I am sure you will take it in your stride, but my Dad is probably the rudest and most miserable Santa in the whole wide world."

Jennifer started having second thoughts.

Stopham Airfield was comparatively mild, compared to home, the restaurant packed with happy eaters, many having the traditional Christmas dinner. They knew Junior well in that restaurant, and found them a table for two. Jennifer followed his recommendation for their fish and chip special, with a glass of their house wine, while Junior opted for a soft drink. Fllying", he said, by way of explanation. The meal did not disappoint. They both declined a pudding, before emerging from the restaurant. The temperature was dropping fast.

"I thought you Father Christmas's all had a sweet tooth?"

"It is a popular conception and, to an extent, it is true. I guess it is unavoidable in our line of business, but today, including tonight, is the longest of the year and I need to stay sharp."