Santa Has a Boyfriend

After a while, Dad slipped off the bed and sat on the floor, holding his tummy and panting.

“Oh, dear,” he said, “I’m too old for this.”

“No, you’re not!” said Pedro, standing on the bed. “Heads up!”

And he jumped right on top of Dad’s head.

“Hey!” said Dad, trying to pull Pedro off. “Be careful, Pedro! You’ll hurt me!”

But Pedro held on to Dad’s neck.

“Say you surrender!” he said. “Say you give up!”

“Okay, okay,” said Dad, “I surrender, I give up.”

“Yahoo!” shouted Pedro.

“Pedro, please, let go now,” said Dad.

Pedro let go and slipped onto the floor next to Dad. He looked at him and smiled. It was hard to be mad at Dad for too long. He was such a good tickler. But for such a good tickler, he was looking pretty serious right now.

“Little Bear,” he said, “we have to talk. This business with the letter is not funny. What were you thinking?”

“But Dad, I was just trying to help,” said Pedro. “You see, I did this robot portrait thing, and he’s just perfect for both of us!”

“Oh, Little Bear, how do you know that? You barely know him,” said Dad.

“Well,” said Pedro, “I guess I know him just as well as anyone else. And he has everything we need, Dad. You see, he’s fat and tall and he has a beard, just the way you like. And he’s funny and generous and he likes kids, which is just what I like. He’s perfect, Dad!”

“Well,” said Dad. “I must admit that I’ve thought of him a few times myself.”

“You have?” said Pedro, with a big smile on his face.

“Yes, Little Bear, but it’s no use,” said Dad with a sigh. “You see, I think he already has a boyfriend.”

Pedro could not believe it.

“Santa has a boyfriend?” he said.

“Santa? What do you mean, Santa?” asked Dad with a puzzled look. “Nicky has a boyfriend.”

“Nicky? Who is Nicky?” asked Pedro.

“What do you mean, who is Nicky? Nicky! Nicky, the big guy from work. The one who’s playing Santa this year. Who have we been talking about for the last fifteen minutes now?”

“Santa, of course,” said Pedro. “Who else?”

“Santa? You want me to date Santa?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, Little Bear!” said Dad, and he burst into laughter.

Pedro looked at him, amazed. Definitely, there were some things he and Dad would never agree on.