A soft knock at the door brought me out of my reverie. “Just a moment.†I quickly placed the soft pink bear back into the box and hid it in the closet. “Ok,†I called once I was confident that the bear and box were well hidden. My daughter, Jamie, walked in and plunked herself squarely in the middle of my bed. Though she was only seven, I could already see traces the confident woman that she would become. In her arms she cradled the plush bear that Santa had brought the previous year. I could see that she wanted to ask me something. “What's up?†Jamie fidgeted uncomfortably on the bed, then finally blurted out, “How's Santa gonna find the house if it's snowin so hard?†I smiled slightly, “Oh, is it snowing?†“Mo-om,†Jamie protested, “it's been snowin all day.†“Don't worry, sweetie. Santa has ways of finding the houses where all the good children live.†“But all the houses are covered in snow. How'll he know which one's ours? What if he leaves my pink bear for some other kid?†“What makes you think that you're getting a pink bear? Santa might be all out of pink bears, he might bring you a brown bear.†Jamie scrunched her nose. “But I was real good this year, an I asked when I saw Santa at the mall, an again in my letter. I just gotta get a pink bear. But if all the houses look alike he won't know which house is ours.†I sighed, I knew where the conversation was going. “You know that if you try to stay up all night Santa won't stop. He's a busy man, and he can't afford to take the time to turn around over another state just to come back with your bear.†Jamie scrunched her nose again. “I wanna sleep in the window then, so that Santa sees me and knows where our house is.†“It's cold up in that window,†I protested. “I'll take extra blankets. I just don't want Santa to miss the house.†I sighed. “All right, it's ok with me if your father's ok with it.†Jamie squealed. I could tell by the sound that she had already convinced him. She ran out of the room to collect her blankets. I glanced once more at the closet, and then headed downstairs to where Jamie was already putting together a makeshift bed in the bay window. Watching her dash back and forth at the window, trying to decide which spot was best for Santa to spot her from, my mind drifted to a Christmas only a couple of years earlier. Jamie was five that year, and it was the first time that her grandmother wouldn't be able to make it for the holidays. Her grandmother had started the tradition of the teddy bear. Jamie had been given a teddy bear for her very first Christmas, and every year that her grandmother had visited since she had received another. My husband, John, and I thought that Jamie wouldn't miss the teddy bear that first year without her grandmother's visit, but we were wrong. On Christmas Eve we were in a panic looking for one since Jamie had suddenly become excited about the new bear. We learned quick. After that we started thinking of sneaky ways to determine if Jamie still wanted a bear and what kind of bear she wanted. This year's tactic of a letter to Santa had been especially effective. John wrapped his arms around my waist as we watched our daughter climb into the makeshift bed and stare out the window at the snow that covered the ground. Jamie turned to look at us. “Don't move me when I fall asleep, otherwise Santa will miss the house and I'll be really mad.†John and I both nodded. Jamie gave us a long stare. “Promise?†“We promise,†I said. Jamie laid against the pillows and stared out at the falling snow. Despite her excitement about the next day she fell asleep fairly quickly. In her arms I could see that she still cradled the bear from the year before. John and I finished a few chores before pretending to go to bed ourselves. “What have you got left to do?†John asked as I shut the door to our bedroom. “I have a few presents left to wrap. But not much.†He nodded. “Think midnight is late enough to be sure that she's well asleep?†“I think that should do.†I heard the television come on and the voice of the evening news anchor filled the room as I wrapped the presents. I had barely even noticed the passage of time when John stood up to turn the television off again. “You got everything ready?†he asked, kissing my cheek. I nodded. “Good,†he said as he walked out of the room. I heard his footsteps carry him down the hall and downstairs into the family room. I listened for the sound of Jamie's voice, but only heard the returning footsteps. The sound was different, and I knew that John had decided that it was safe to return Jamie to her own bed. I took the carefully wrapped presents and carried them down to the tree. The empty floor became a kaleidoscope of color as the brightly wrapped gifts spread beyond the imagined boundaries of good taste. As I surveyed my handiwork I realized that I had left the most important present hidden in the closet. I returned and once again removed the pink bear from its box. I was about to head down the stairs again, but stopped at the top of the stairwell. I turned around and walked into Jamie's room. John had allowed the other bear to remain in the window, and there was an empty place in my daughter's arms. With a smile I placed the pink bear that she had wanted into that empty place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Word Count: 996 Dunno where the inspiration for this one came from. Just kinda popped into the braincase, lol.