Saturday, December 4, 2010

Apples and Water

The last full week before Thanksgiving, Erin and I met at the mall food court one day for lunch. She was jonesing for something from Taco Bell and, while I wasn't especially hungry for much of anything, getting together with her and Lucy was a treat not to be missed.

We went our separate ways to get food: Lucy and me to Burger King to get her macaroni & cheese and apple fries and I got a chicken sandwich. Erin indulged her taste for Taco Bell and we reunited at a table somewhere in the middle. After eating, we were just ambling through the mall and, lo and behold, there was Santa's village all set up and Santa ready to talk with kids.

In the past both Emily and Lucy have screamed bloody murder if we even suggested they go see Santa and (horror of horrors) sit on his lap. So as we're walking closer, we called Lucy's attention to Santa and she waved to him. He waved back. We both tried to stay calm, recalling past experiences.

We said, "Do you want to go see Santa?"

And like a sleepwalker, she walked up to him without any hesitation and sat on his lap. She was still munching on her apple fries so I quickly took them from her hand as he was talking with her. She never took her eyes off him during the whole visit.

Santa asked, "What do you want for Christmas, Lucy?"

Lucy, softly, "Apples."

"What else would you like?" prompted Santa.

"Water," Lucy said decisively.

Hey, it's going to be an easey-peasey Christmas around here, huh?