Publication of any and all trademarks contained herein are not authorized by, associated with, nor sponsored by the trademark owners.
~~~
"But Mommy? Are you sure Santa's coming this year?"
Tia Dickinson looked down at her six year-old son, Brandon. Though several inches of snow were thick on the ground, the early morning Denver sun shone in through the window in their apartment, lighting up his features. She smiled at the innocent look on his face.
Having adopted him just after his second birthday, she was ever amazed at their physical similarities: He had her café au lait skin; her sandy-brown, naturally curly hair; her dark, sparkling eyes; her inquisitive, yet bubbly personality. It was as if he were hers biologically.
However, now, his dark eyes were still bright, but were now tinged with a bit of sadness.
"Of course Santa's coming, honey," she said, buttoning his colorful SpongeBob SquarePants coat. Brandon hated the childish coat, now at the age where he preferred to have a big-boy coat. But for now, his current coat would do well to protect him from Denver, Colorado's bitter cold.
Once he was all buttoned up, Tia tweaked Brandon's cute, button nose, causing him to smile; his missing front tooth giving him an impish grin. "It's like I told you earlier," Tia said, "Santa's still coming, but he's just not bringing as much this year. But he's definitely still coming."
The corners of his tiny mouth turned downward. "But how's he going to find us?"
She sighed deeply, remembering how they had to suddenly move from their large, newly built house in a suburb of Denver to an older apartment in a lower-income part of the inner city. "Santa knows everything, honey. He can find us."
"But how?" Brandon asked as she put on his gloves.
"Never you mind," Tia said, finishing his winter wardrobe with a warm hat. "Just do well in school today, and Santa will take care of the rest."
She shuffled him to the door, grabbing her coat and her keys on the way. "And don't forget what I told you before: Toys are good, but family and friends are what really matter."
"I know, Mommy," he said, exasperated. "But how is Santa going to find us?" he asked again as he put his bookbag over his arm.
Tia paused at the doorway. "I'll tell you what. After I drop you off at school, I'll go to the North Pole myself and check. I'll make sure Santa has your list and that he knows where we live now."
Brandon's eyes widened. "You're going to see Santa today? Can I go? Please?"
Tia shook her head as she ushered them out the door and down to her car. "Santa says that all kids have to go to school. So, only grown-ups can go see Santa. But I promise: Come Christmas, you'll have everything on your list."
"Promise?" he asked, once he was buckled into the passenger's seat, his dark eyes looking up at her.
"I promise," she said.
Then she turned on the ignition, and gave him a bright smile, but she couldn't help the tinge of sadness that had suddenly settled deep in the pit of her stomach.
~~~
Later that morning, as she walked into Denver's Cherry Creek shopping center, she was bombarded with the trappings of Christmas. There were brightly decorated trees galore in the upscale shopping center, along with tinsel and miniature bunches of mistletoe. In the center of the mall was the Santa display, with a rotund impersonator cheerfully taking requests from the cute children in the line.
More sadness washed over Tia, and she realized that she had to give Brandon a good Christmas.
He'd simply been through too many hardships that year.
Tia adopted Brandon as a single parent, so there was no father around to help shoulder the load. Her own parents had died years earlier, and, as an only child, the responsibility of raising her son fell squarely on her shoulders.
However, from the very first day, she loved him dearly and happily accepted the responsibility. She loved their time together and worked hard to build a good life for the both of them. The same year he came to live with her, she bought Brandon the house with the big backyard that she wanted him to grow up in. For four years, they lived in a nice home in a brand-new subdivision on the outskirts of Denver. Furthermore, she enjoyed her job as an executive secretary at a Fortune 500 company and was making a great living.
Despite some tough times as a single parent, life had been good to them.
That is, until last year.
In January, her department's budget was cut in half, and she'd lost her job, as did her boss and half of their department. Adding insult to injury, she'd had no luck finding another job that was comparable. Over that year, she eventually found a series of part-time jobs, but they just didn't bring in enough income.
Luckily, the Denver Department of Human Services office granted them a food assistance benefit card, which went a long way towards buying groceries. Unfortunately, making her monthly mortgage payment proved to be impossible. Her caseworker was as helpful as possible, but the burden became too much for her.
This year, faced with foreclosure, she and Brandon had to leave their house and downsize into a smaller apartment. And if things weren't bad enough, her part-time work began to dry up, her hours having been cut, and now even making the rent was uncertain.
Additionally, with the move, Brandon had to change schools. Tia's heart hurt at the fact that her little guy had to deal with even more upheaval. To his credit, however, Brandon was a trooper. He kept a smile and continued to have the bright, sparkling personality he'd always had. As such, she wanted this Christmas to be extra special.
But she had no idea how that was going to happen.
As she made her way through the mall, Tia kept her head up, and silently wished the happy shoppers a Merry Christmas. "No sense in being mad at someone else's good fortune," she said, as she walked past the upscale stores.
Passing by all of the shoppers, she took the escalator to the second floor and headed toward the center display of white artificial Christmas trees. Her heart skipped a beat as she walked to "her" tree.
She peered at the very-familiar spot on the middle of the tree and held her breath.
Then she gasped.
Brandon's nametag was still there.
Her heart dropped.
Through the DHS office, Tia signed up for the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program. Not wanting anything for herself, she signed Brandon up to receive gifts through generous donors.
The day after Thanksgiving, the mall set up trees that had nametags for each of the children in the program. Each child had written a wish list with two or three items, and the lists were attached to each child's nametag. As directed, the mall patrons went to the trees, picked out a name, or names, and bought gifts according to the child's wishes. The donors then took the gifts to the mall office where they were wrapped and prepared for delivery on Christmas Day.
She was a bit embarrassed earlier as she walked by all of the expensive stores on the way to the Angel Trees, but as was explained to her, more affluent shoppers most likely had more disposable income to donate to such a worthy cause.
Tia then noticed that several of the tags around Brandon's name had been selected, but Brandon's tag was still there. Her caseworker had warned her that girls' names usually went quicker than boys' did, but Tia still had faith that a generous Angel would pick Brandon's name and fulfill his Christmas wish list.
With now only two weeks left until Christmas, she sighed as she touched Brandon's nametag.
"I need a miracle, Santa," she whispered. "An Angel. A Christmas Angel. For Brandon."
Then she thought about her empty apartment building, and more importantly, her empty bed. "And for me, Santa, please send me a Christmas Angel too. Someone to love. And someone to love me. Someone kind and good. And someone who loves kids."
Going back to the tree, she silently re-read Brandon's list. A huge wrestling fan, all he wanted was a few WWE wrestling action figures and a miniature wrestling ring. He also wanted a new set of crayons and a new coloring book. And last on his list was a new, big-boy coat.
Tia smiled, wanting to give him so much more, but proud and happy at the fact that out of everything that had happened to them, he still had the ability to dream.
All of a sudden, Tia heard a soft, feminine voice speak. "There's a lot of needy kids out here, huh?"
She spun around and found herself looking into the eyes of the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen.
"Ex..excuse me," Tia stuttered.
The woman smiled as she picked a couple of nametags from the tree. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just noticing how many more names there are this year than last year."
"You've done this before?" Tia asked.
The woman nodded. "I own a company and we adopt several children each year. And every year, there are more and more children to help."
The woman pointed to Brandon's nametag. "You're going to pick that name?"
Embarrassed about her circumstances, Tia took the easy way out. "Yes," she lied. "I wanted to get a boy's name this year."
The woman smiled. "I completely understand. I have a son myself. And secretly, it's so much fun to buy for boys!"
Tia smiled back. In the moments that followed, she studied the stunning woman next to her, who was now looking at more nametags to select.
Tia first noticed the woman's rich, dark skin. The color of deep chocolate, the woman's skin was smooth and flawless. She had long, black hair that was pulled into a long ponytail. The wisps of hair that escaped, perfectly framed the woman's beautiful face and striking features.
The woman's lips were full and luscious, and were colored in a rich berry lipstick. She had gold shadow on her eyelids that made her dark eyes sparkle.
She wore a simple, knee-length, black wool coat, but had a soft-white cashmere scarf, with a matching beret and gloves. She had an expensive handbag slung over her shoulder, along with a short, black wool skirt and tall leather boots that encased her shapely legs.
"Do I pass inspection?"
Tia looked up to see the woman looking right at her. Tia's café au lait cheeks flushed crimson with embarrassment.
"I...I was just..."
The woman laughed. "It's okay. I was just teasing." She now had several nametags in her hand. "Well, I have all my names. It was nice to meet you...um..."
"Tia," she said as she held out her hand. "Tia Dickinson."
The woman's grip was soft and firm all at the same time. "Nice to meet you, Tia. I'm Angela. Angela McKinley." Then she took her nametags and slid them in her purse. "Good luck to you, Tia, and have a Merry Christmas."
