Secret Santa 2019 - Story collection

[PsychicSpy]

Took on this prompt recently to finally give out Emii's Christmas gift of 2019.
Victim: emi
Prompt: Hisao and Hanako open presents during Christmas at the Nakai residence.

THE TWO SANTAS

“But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—’Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!’” Hisao closed the book with a smile. Junko and Renjiro still looked spellbound as they stared up at him from where they were sitting cross legged on the carpet. Their mother, Hanako, lightly clapped for him and they soon joined, giving a small round of applause to their father.

“So Santa really does that? He comes down the chimney and brings presents too?” Junko piped up.

“Yes, for all the good children, like you and Renjiro. He especially loves children who leave out cookies and milk. Come on, we can go get Santa some snacks,” Hanako said warmly as she herded the children into the kitchen, sneaking a covert wink at Hisao as she went out the door.

Hisao smiled happily. He was always happy when Hanako was able to be home for Christmas. In the past, the newspaper that she worked for had her covering events around this time and she couldn’t get off work. The Asahi Shimbun was a prestigious newspaper to be sure, and refusing to cover a story to spend time with family was not an option.

The kids came bouncing back into the room, Junko carrying a plate of cookies while Renjiro brought a glass of milk. They placed them down on the coffee table excitedly and glanced under the tree, as if Santa would appear there any minute armed with presents.

“Ah, Santa has to wait until you’re asleep! Remember what the kids in the story were doing on Christmas Eve? Off to bed.” Hisao said.

“But we aren’t tired!” they protested weakly as he led them to their room. He tucked them in, gave them each a kiss on the forehead, and returned to the living room, where Hanako was waiting for her kiss.

“We should probably get started. After all, Santa doesn’t work by himself,” he said. She giggled as they kissed again and they headed down into the basement to get started on Santa’s work.

******

“Mom! Dad! Wake up!” Hisao wearily blinked awake. He turned his head as his vision cleared and he could read the clock. 7:00 . He felt a jolt as a weight came down on his legs. Junko had jumped on to the bed, while Renjiro was doing the same for their mother. “It’s time to open presents!” Junko clamored.

Hisao sat up, trying to look enthusiastic on the prospect of waking up after the very little sleep he had gotten. He felt a can being pressed into his hand.

“Mommy bought this for you yesterday and told us to give it to you this morning,” Junko said as he saw that it was a canned cofffee. He mentally thanked Hanako for that as he was led by the hand out of bed by his daughter. His wife stumbled along with them, likewise pulled by their son.

They were led to the living room. Squeals came from the children as they saw the presents under the tree. Hanako and Hisao shared a sleepy smile as they went towards the tree.

“Hold on now, you two,” Hisao said, putting his hand on their shoulders. He eased them back onto the couch. “Why don’t we have a bit of patience. Who wants to be Santa first?” Hisao asked, picking up the Santa hat that he had left out the night before.

“Me! Me!” Renjiro snatched the hat from his hands and stuck it on, the brim of the hat slightly drooping over his brow. He scurried over to the tree and read over the labels on them. He picked up a small thin one and brought it over to his older sister. Junko ripped off the paper and shrieked.

“What did you get, Junko?” Hanako asked knowingly.

“Santa brought me Pokemon Sword!” Junko said excitedly, showing the whole room the Nintendo switch game case.

“Very exciting!” Hisao agreed. He lightly pulled at the white ball of the Santa cap, getting the hat off of Renjiro and placing it onto Junko’s head. “Now go get a present for your brother.

She obliged, picking a misshapen spherical object from under the tree. She handed it to him and he eagerly mimicked his sister, tearing it open with wild abandon.

“A volleyball! Thanks, Santa!” he said as he looked at the ball with glee. Hisao felt a rise of joy, seeing his kids so excited for these presents. Junko handed the Santa hat to Hisao.

“Dad, it’s your turn to be Santa!” If only she knew how true that was. Hisao pulled the hat on and selected a present, placing it in Hanako’s lap. She pulled it open a little more gently than the children had done with their presents.

“My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer! Santa was very thoughtful with this gift,” Hanako said warmly. Just then, the ding of a timer went off in the kitchen. “What’s that?” she asked the two kids.

“We turned on the oven so we could make breakfast,” Renjiro replied sheepishly. Both parents held back laughter. Sometimes these two were just too cute.

“Why don’t you go set out some plates and I’ll give Dad his present from Santa,” Hanako suggested. Two two brightened up and raced into the kitchen. Hanako grabbed a slightly larger box and brought it over to Hisao. He turned it over, trying to figure out how such a box could be as light as it was.

“Stop trying to use the scientific method to figure out what it is and just open it,” Hanako said jokingly. “You aren’t at work.”

“I know, I know,” Hisao replied. He pulled at the corners, pulling off the paper to reveal a basic white box. He scratched the tape off as the sound of cabinets opening and shutting loudly came from the kitchen. “Should we?”

“They’ll be ok for a few minutes,” Hanako reassured. He pulled the top of the box off. Moving the tissue paper aside, he found a long, silky ribbon, which seemed to form a certain shape. He looked closer at it before Hanako took it out of his hands. She pulled two parts of the ribbon up to her shoulders, revealing that the ribbon would wrap around her body and come up to a bow over her breasts. His face flushed a little red as Hanako gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“You’ll get to open this present up later, Hisao.” She placed the lingerie neatly back in the box and went to go check on the children. Hisao smiled as he stood to go too. Today really was a Happy Christmas.


Hope you enjoy it!

[Mirage_GSM]

Good thing that timer went off as it did, or they would have had some explaining to do for the kids...

[Chatty Wheeler]

That's one heck of a mistletoe...

Thanks for writing this! Short, sweet, and charming. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and enjoy a story like this at the end of the day.

[Xeraeo]

Heartwarming. Thanks for this!

[ProfAllister]

7:00? I know that holiday fantasies are a common element, but the idea that the kids would let him sleep in that late is pretty far-fetched.

[brythain]

My little 2019 SX story for Downix is now up here. Enjoy!

[ProfAllister]

My little 2019 SX story for Downix is now up here. Enjoy!

If Kenji were everything he believed himself to be, he would be not entirely dissimilar to your Jigoro.

[NuclearStudent]

My little 2019 SX story for Downix is now up here. Enjoy!

If Kenji were everything he believed himself to be, he would be not entirely dissimilar to your Jigoro.

If Kenji were everything he wanted to be, he'd be fairly similar to Jigoro.