Naughty & Nice

by J. S. Scott

  "You get drunk during the birth of our child, I'll shoot you," she joked.

  "Don't worry Annie, Santa has something for you too."

  He handed over the heavy box and Annie gingerly took it. She slowly opened it and gasped. She ran her fingers over the hard case and then opened the box to show a brand new Smith & Wesson 1911 PD pistol.

  "Her gift is way cooler than mine," Cade joked.

  "Well, she's the one carrying the baby. I thought she might want to shoot you during labor. Could prove to be entertaining," Santa joked.

  "How did you know this was one of the pistols I wanted and one of the few Cade didn't have?" Annie asked. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make out who was dressed up as Santa Claus.

  "I know what all good girls and boys want," he chuckled as he turned to walk off toward Katelyn and Marshall and her family.

  "Okay, I'll let Santa rub my belly anytime if he brings me gifts like that. Who is Santa Claus?" Annie asked Cade as they watched Santa stroke his beard and laugh again.

  Marshall stared at Santa Claus and felt the familiar nagging sensation that told him he was missing something. There was just something about Santa's movement that he knew, but damn, he couldn't place it. When Santa grabbed Katelyn and planted a kiss on her, all he cared about was giving Santa a big fat nose.

  "So who has been naughty and who has been nice?" Santa asked as he reached into his bag.

  Katelyn put a soothing hand on her fiancé's arm and felt the tension subside. Marshall wasn't big on surprises to say the least. Oh, he was great at pulling pranks with his brothers… as long as the prank wasn't on him. So when a man that he didn't know kissed his almost wife and began pulling gifts out of his bag he got a little nervous. He had a feeling that Santa was completely harmless, but kissing his wife had to stop.

  "For the big tough sheriff." Santa smiled and held out a little bag.

  Marshall looked at it as if it would explode. When nothing happened, he slowly raised his hand and took the small red bag into his hands. He pulled out the white paper and almost dropped the small silver whistle.

  "A whistle?" Marshall held it up and looked at it.

  "Blow it. Or better yet, have your beautiful fiancé do the honors," Santa smirked.

  Marshall narrowed his eyes at Santa and Santa's grin just widened. He tentatively placed the whistle on his lips and blew. There must be something wrong with it, there was no noise being made. He tried again, harder this time. There was a scrape at the front door and the round knob turned jerkily. A second later a sleek sable Belgian Malinois with a police vest and a big red bow on his collar came trotting through the door he had opened and headed straight to Marshall. He skidded to a stop and sat down, looking up expectedly at him. Snow melted off his black and brown coat as he waited for his next command.

  "Sheriff, meet your newest deputy. A multipurpose Malinois named Marko, straight from a refresher course in Holland. He's trained in drug detection, tracking, search and rescue, and of course, police tactics," Santa told him.

  Marshall stared down at the dog's black muzzle and thumping brown tail. He couldn't form words. They'd needed a dog to do search and rescue in all the woods surrounding the area for years. And one that was also trained for drug detection! They could canvas the whole school in no time. It was one of the things he wanted to do, raise the $15,000 to get a dog, but their small community couldn't afford it.

  "How?"

  "Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa has connections with other good boys and girls all over the world! A trainer will be arriving next week to stay here for a while and train you to use Marko to the best of his abilities. Now it’s you're turn Doc." Santa handed her an envelope. "Think of it as a wedding gift too."

  Katelyn tore open the Christmas card and pulled out a picture. She looked at it and saw a picture of the front of her clinic. It had to be taken recently as the snow had gotten deeper from the time she had last been there just six hours ago. She flipped to the next picture and saw the back of the clinic. But, it wasn't the back of her clinic, was it? Where there had been a wall was now a large covered area with private dog runs fenced in.

  "Is this my clinic? How could you have built a whole indoor/outdoor run system in six hours?" She couldn't look away from the picture.

  "Santa has his elves. And one little elf told me you needed more room."

  Katelyn threw her arms around Santa and gave him a hug. She guessed the growl coming from behind her wasn't the newest deputy so she pulled back and gave Santa a wink.

  "Watch it Santa. My to be son-in-law looks like he's about to shoot you."

  "Mr. Jacks, I presume. And Mr. & Mrs. Wyatt! Merry Christmas!

  "Merry Christmas young man," Mrs. Wyatt laughed, her huge red hat wiggling as she bobbed her head. Katelyn looked down at Marko and laughed as he kept a close eye on the big red hat.

  "Santa has something for you too Mr. & Mrs. Wyatt." He pulled out a present and handed it to Mrs. Wyatt. Santa watched as she eagerly tore into it like a schoolgirl. She pushed aside the wrapping paper and smiled as she looked down at the shadowbox.

  "Young man, thank you. I'll cherish this. How did you find it?" Mrs. Wyatt lifted up the small sketch of a huge mansion. An antique silver fork lay in front of it.

  "What is it?" Mr. Jacks asked impatiently.

  "It's a sketch of my family home done before Sherman burned it down. And this," she pointed to the fork, "is some of my family's old silver they buried in the back yard before fleeing Georgia."

  Mr. Jacks eyed him and Santa just smiled in return. "Sorry Mr. Jacks, you'll just have to be nicer next year to get a present." With a wink he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Mrs. Wyatt's cheek.

  Santa made his way through the crowd, greeting people and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. He saw Jake and Marcy Davies over in the corner talking to their neighbors.

  "Ho! Ho! Ho! Tell Santa what you want for Christmas little girl."

  Marcy looked at him and smiled softly, "Santa already brought me what I wanted." Her eyes twinkled as she looked at her husband and back to Santa. "But, there's someone over there that would love to see you."

  Santa looked across the room and found who Marcy was pointing at. He grinned and then leaned down for a kiss before heading across the room.

  Chapter Nine

  Tammy Fields excused herself from the always-peppy Pam Gilbert and went to the little half bath downstairs. She slumped against the wall and looked up to see her reflection in the mirror. She was exhausted and it showed. She had studied her ass off this semester and found out that it earned her an A in the class all the while working as a secretary for Henry Rooney, the defense attorney.

  Of course, she was so broke now that she couldn't even buy a Christmas tree and the man of her dreams was out there enjoying the attention of every single woman in town.

  She ran her hand over her short pixie-cut hair. Her blonde hair shined and her makeup was flawless, but she couldn't compete with the Belles, or Kandi. Kandi had her older paws on Pierce Davies while her husband got plastered on the Roses' apple cider. Tammy reached down and pushed up her small breasts. It was no use. She'd never have the attributes Pierce was so drawn to. No wonder the youngest Davies’ boy never paid her any attention.

  Trying to improve her mood, Tammy pulled down her tight red sweater to make the most of her cleavage and then smoothed her hand over her short black skirt. Maybe Santa had a man for her in that bag of his. Well, it was no use moping in the bathroom. She plastered on a fake smile and opened the door, smacking right into Pierce as she walked out. She reached out to steady herself and grasped his arm... his big, strong, muscular arm. Her other hand came to a rest on his stomach. She felt the ripple of a six-pack underneath his shirt and couldn't help but take a moment to enjoy the feel. He smelled like the outdoors. She took a deep breath and wanted to curl up into him.

  "Oh! Sorry. I didn't see you," his deep voice said, interrupting her daydream.

  "It's okay. Merry Christmas, Pierce."


  "Merry Christmas to you too, Tammy. Excuse me for a second."

  Tammy sighed as she watched Pierce walk past her to see Jasmine, the head of the Belles, who was standing right behind her. She felt tears begin to sting her eyes. She'd been pining over him for two years now and maybe she just needed to admit to herself it wasn't meant to be.

  "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Tammy tried to smile as the jovial Santa came over to her. "This can't be little Tammy Fields!"

  Tammy thought for sure she'd cry now. She felt Pierce turn and look at her and she just knew Jasmine was laughing. She'd always be 'little Tammy.’ It was the curse of being so short. It didn't matter that she was a runner and had a trim body. Nope. Because she was just over five feet and had the good fortune to have smooth skin, people always thought she was so much younger than her twenty-four years.

  "Little Tammy has turned into one hot woman now!" Santa boomed, followed with a loud laugh.

  Tammy looked around and noticed that most of the people around her, including Pierce, were now looking at her a little more intensely. She felt her face turn red with embarrassment at Santa's bad joke. No one saw her as hot. They saw her as a little kid they liked to pat on the head.

  "Do you mind if Santa can get a gift of his own? After all, I've been a very good boy this year."

  "Um, okay?" She had no idea what he was talking about and was just petrified he'd do something else to embarrass her even further in front of Pierce.

  Santa grabbed her around the waist so suddenly that she had to throw her arms around his shoulders to keep from falling. Santa was hiding some seriously ripped muscles under his red coat. She felt him chuckle and then his lips were on hers. His tongue asked for entry and when she opened to him she forgot that anyone else was in the room. She felt one of his hands across her back as the other wandered down her side and gave a quick caress to her rear end. Fire shot through her and she suddenly didn't feel like a little girl anymore. She felt like a woman on fire. Would it be bad to have sex with Santa in the closet?

  Santa pulled back from the kiss and nuzzled his lips against her ear. "That should get his attention. Good luck. Pierce has never known a good thing until it jumps up and bites him. But, I guarantee he'll notice you now."

  She felt her mouth form a smile as she realized that Santa just gave her the best gift ever. The Pierce project may take a while and she was a woman after all, so she grabbed Santa's neck and pulled him back to her lips for another searing kiss.

  "Merry Christmas Santa," she said as he put her back on her feet.

  "Best gift I could ever receive," Santa replied, looking directly at Pierce as he did. He saw Pierce's stern set of his jaw and how he looked Tammy over again and knew his business was done here. He had just one more person to see before he left.

  Paige licked her lips and ate another chocolate cupcake. Her stomach revolted for a minute, but gave way to the sweet sugary confection. Okay, so maybe eating six in a row was a bit too much, but they were just so good!

  She and her husband Cole had been talking to Keeneston's two deputies, Dinky and Noodle along with their dates when she had spotted the cupcakes. Her baby kicked and she had to take a deep breath through another stupid Braxton Hicks contraction before trampling over people to get to the dessert table. She had been suffering from these false labor pains since the end of her second trimester and now she just ignored them. She'd been so freaked out the first time she had one that they'd rushed to the ER. Now they didn't even get in her way, especially when she had her sights set on cupcakes.

  "Honey, let's go get something to drink. Those stupid contractions are starting again and it always helps to walk around some."

  Her husband smiled down at her and gave her belly a gentle rub before they excused themselves from the happy group.

  "Who do you think Santa Claus is?" Cole asked as he filled her glass with non-spiked fruit punch.

  "I don't know. Probably just someone the Roses hired for fun. I haven't seen John Wolfe around, so it could be him. He’s been known to dress up as Santa." Paige took a sip of the punch and tried to relax some. The way Santa laughed reminded her of John, the town's very jolly gossipmonger.

  "I sure hope not!" Cole laughed.

  "What? Why not?"

  "Because Santa just kissed Tammy in a very inappropriate way and the way she's grinning I sure hope it wasn't an almost 70 year old potbellied man that put that grin on her face or she'll be devastated."

  "You're right! How did I miss that?" she chuckled.

  "Well, it looks like we may be able to find out soon enough, because here comes Santa Claus." Cole started to whistle the familiar Christmas tune as they watched Santa make his way towards them.

  Paige smacked him and shifted her weight from one foot to another. The false labor pain was gone and now she was just achy. But there was no way she'd say anything to Cade. No way. Not after the lecture he'd given her about staying off her feet yesterday. When he went into the office this morning she might have taken advantage of his absence by washing Chuck and changing the sheets on the bed, and maybe, just maybe she might have gone for a long refreshing walk with Chuck through the park. Now she was paying for it. Her ankles were swollen, her back and hips ached, and she was so sore she couldn't get comfortable. However, there was a high probability of her shooting her husband if he said, "I told you so", so she was keeping her mouth closed.

  "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!" Santa bellowed.

  "Merry Christmas, Santa." Paige said with a smile. She tried to see past the beard and bushy eyebrows, but couldn't tell who it was.

  "Well, look at what we have here. Merry Christmas, Paige." Santa leaned forward and brushed his lips and furry beard against her cheek.

  Paige felt odd. There was something nagging her. She didn't know who he was, but she was positive she knew Santa Claus. It was the way he said her name. For just a split second it sounded familiar.

  "I can see who has been naughty and who has been nice."

  Paige laughed as Santa narrowed his white bushy brows at Cole and then turned back to Paige. Cole immediately straightened to his full height of slightly over six feet and narrowed his own eyes. He unconsciously put his hand on his waist where he normally had his service pistol strapped. Men... she shook her head and turned back to Santa just in time to see him put his bag on the floor and get down on his knees. What the hell was he doing?

  Paige considered crashing the small punch glass over Santa's head, but then he put his hands on her tummy and beamed up at her. Whoever this person was it seemed to mean a lot to him to feel her baby.

  "So, what do you want for Christmas?" Santa asked her as he placed his hand on the top of her massive belly.

  "Having a baby would be great," she laughed. "Do you think you can arrange that?"

  Santa grinned and leaned closer to her belly. "Hello little boy or girl. Santa's here and he really wants to meet you. I'm pretty sure your Mommy and Daddy do too. So, if I promise you a really cool gift, will you come out and meet us?"

  Paige laughed and heard a pop. Did she spill her drink because something warm just hit the leg of her pants? She looked down and saw Santa falling backwards. The front of his red velvet jacket was now wet. Then she felt it, the water running down her legs like a water balloon had just popped followed by intense pain.

  "Dammit Santa! My water broke!" she yelled at her belly. She couldn't stop looking at her belly as she gripped Cole with all she had during the contraction.

  Cole panicked. He was enough of a man to admit that. He froze. He couldn't remember what to do.

  "Cole! Hospital, call the hospital!" Paige said once the contraction subsided somewhat.

  "Oh my god, Paige. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do it." Santa pleaded as he nimbly leapt up and grabbed her other arm as he peeled off his wet jacket and attached padding to expose a tanned and taunt chest and abs. There were a couple of scars, one in particular that Paige focused on. It was a tiny blue circle, like one got when shot with a BB
gun.

  "Cy! I thought you weren't going to make it!" Paige cried.

  Cy was more than a brother to her; he was her best friend. He was the closest in age to her in the large Davies family and they had done everything together, including shooting each other with BBs. But she hadn't heard from him in two months. When they had talked, he said that he wasn't able to make it home for Christmas and would miss the birth of her child.

  "Of course I'm here. I wouldn't miss becoming an uncle for anything." He didn't tell her that he had to leave tomorrow night for work. He had actually planned on coming as Santa and then leaving, knowing his family would ask endless questions if he stayed for Christmas morning only to leave by dinner.

  She squeezed Cole's hand again and blew out a breath as another contraction hit her hard and fast.

  "Okay, let me through. Excuse me please, doctor coming through." Emma Francis said as she forced her way through the growing crowd of onlookers. She took in the scene and reached for her purse and pulled out her phone. Cole still had the deer-in-the-headlights look and a damn sexy Santa had the nicest hazel saucer eyes, not to mention the smoking hot bod. They were going to be useless.

  "Noodle. Get my bag out of the car." She smiled as she watched him run out the door. No panicky eyes there. Yup, she got herself a good man. "How far apart are the contractions?" she asked Paige.

  "I don't know. But, close, very close."

  "Breathe," she told her absently as she dialed 9-1-1. "Dr. Francis here. I have a woman in the final stage of labor. I need an ambulance immediately to Southern Charms on Main Street in Keeneston. What do you mean you can't get an ambulance here because of the snowstorm? That many calls, really? Breathe, Paige. Fine, then send one ASAP." Emma hit the off button and rolled up her sleeves, it was time to get to work.

  Kenna walked to the window and looked out. It was snowing hard, but there were only a couple of inches on the ground. Being from New York she'd call this a dusting. However, she'd learned that in the South this was a massive storm. She was sure the local weather reporters were ecstatic. She could hear them now, "Storm of the Century Slams Kentucky."