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Mathias sighed as he dropped the duffle bag in his spare bedroom. Child Services had just released Mignan into his care in time for Christmas Eve, but it had been a hard fight and the police chief found himself wholly unprepared for having Mingan here today of all days. He wasn’t big on the holiday himself and he didn’t have time to come up with anything special for the kid. Thankfully Henry was on his way over, so at least there would be some decent food in the house.
He took a look around the room, grateful that he had at least had time to make the bed with a fresh set of sheets, then went back to the living room to find Mingan looking through the small collection of dvds by the tv. They both looked up as Henry came through the front door, arms full of grocery bags. The two adults nodded at each other in greeting and Henry gave Mingan a smile that the young teen did not return. Mathias and Henry shared a significant look.
“Mingan,” Mathias said, catching his attention. “I’m glad you could be here for Christmas, but we didn’t know if it was gonna work out, so I don’t have any gifts or anything. But we can go out the day after tomorrow and get something.” He paused and clenched his jaw before continuing. “And since Santa didn’t know you’d be here, I doubt he’ll be able to bring anything tonight.”
Mingan glared at Mathias.
“Santa isn’t real,” he scoffed. “Only babies believe in Santa Claus.”
Mathias let out an exaggerated exhale and glanced up at the ceiling.
“Thank God,” he muttered. “I wasn’t sure I could keep that up.”
Mathias shrugged at Henry’s disapproving look. “What? The last thing I want is another white man trespassing on our land. If that makes me a Grinch or Scrooge or whatever, that’s fine by me.”
Henry rolled his eyes and turned to Mingan. “Would you like some hot chocolate?”
Mingan’s eyes lit up and he nodded.
“Are there any marshmallows?”
Henry smiled. “There are.”
Henry headed to the kitchen to begin unloading the bags while Mathias showed Mingan which remote to use to operate the tv. Once he was sure the kid was settled in and content, Mathias joined Henry.
“I do feel bad that I don’t have a gift for him.”
Henry rifled through the one of the bags he had carried in, pulling out a bag of marshmallows as he glanced up at Mathias.
“You did not think the judge was going to agree to temporary custody,” Henry told him. “Of course you do not have a gift.”
Mathias shook his head.
“That’s the thing, I was going to get a gift regardless but according to his caseworker the only thing Mingan has shown any interest in is the latest Assassin's Creed. And it’s been sold out for weeks. I can’t find it anywhere. Even Amazon won’t have it back in stock until January.”
Henry considered the other man for a moment.
“I will make a few calls.”
Mathias raised his eyebrows then shrugged.
“Knock yourself out.” He grabbed a package of cookies from the counter and went to join Mingan on the couch.
Mingan remained mostly impassive throughout the evening, though he seemed content and Mathias thought he caught the boy smiling a few times while he and Henry sniped at each other over the food and movies, their usual tense rapport seeming to amuse the teen. Henry hadn’t said anything else about his plan to find the game, though he had stepped outside a time or two to make calls on his cell phone. Mathias still felt badly about not having more of a traditional Christmas to offer Mingan - he didn’t even have a tree - but he felt relatively confident that a post-Christmas shopping excursion would take some of the sting out of the loss of the usual holiday display.
Mathias and Henry shared a drink after Mingan went to bed but Henry had nothing to say about the gift. Mathias dumped a pillow and some extra blankets on the couch just as Henry’s cell rang. Henry waved him off and went back outside to take the call.
The alarm clock said 4:30am and Mathias was tempted to go back to sleep, but he’d heard a truck outside and what sounded like the front door opening. He dragged himself out of bed and stopped first at Mingan’s room, a surprising tightness in his chest easing dramatically as he saw the young teen still in his bed. Mathias watched him for a minute then gently closed the door and headed for the living room.
Henry was just coming in from the porch, a few snowflakes clinging to his hair. He looked up and smiled as Mathias approached, reaching into the plastic bag he held and pulling out a copy of the game Mathias had been trying in vain to locate over the past week.
“How’d you pull that off?” Mathias demanded.
“With a little Christmas magic,” Henry replied, somehow maintaining a straight face despite his ridiculous words.
“Say that one more time and I’ll arrest you right here,” Mathias told him. “I don’t care if it is Christmas. How’d you even find a copy?”
Henry smiled slightly.
“Ruby.”
Mathias nodded, understanding immediately.
“Of course. If she can track a phoneless sheriff across the county she can find one video game.”
“Exactly. It took her about an hour, but she eventually located a store with a small stock just across the state line in Montana.”
Mathias whistled then shook his head.
“Damn, I should have thought to ask her myself. I’m guessing that was Walt dropping it off? Sounded like the Bronco.”
Henry nodded and moved to the kitchen table, pulling a small roll of wrapping paper and a large red bow from the bag followed by a large candy cane. Henry stared at the candy for a moment before setting it to the side. Mathias rummaged through one of his kitchen drawers until he found a pair of scissors and some tape. He handed them off to Henry, who immediately got to work wrapping the game.
“I was not sure Walt would make it back before Mignan woke up but it seems the roads were clearer than we could have hoped.”
Mathias leaned back against the kitchen counter and watched as Henry worked.
“That’s a hell of a round trip for Christmas Eve,” he said. “Guess I owe the sheriff a pretty big favor.”
“Just half the cost of the game I think,” Henry replied as he secured the bow with some tape and placed the candy cane on top. “It has been a long time, but Walt and I used to enjoy spending Christmas Eve pulling off similar feats. At least until Cady was too old to enjoy the outlandish decorations and such we would come up with while she slept.”
Mathias didn’t miss the note of sadness in Henry’s tone, but the other man did not seem inclined to continue so he left it alone. They placed the gift on the coffee table by the couch and said goodnight.
Despite the holiday, Mathias was up at his usual early hour. Henry had already made coffee and the two men sat in the kitchen with their drinks until they heard Mingan moving around down the hall. When the teen slowly entered the front room, shoulders hunched down, Mathias nodded towards the couch.
“Something arrived for you last night.”
Mingan frowned then turned toward the couch. Mathias and Henry rose and followed him. They watched as Mingan picked up the package and slowly peeled back the wrapping paper, letting out a strangled yell as he realized what he was holding.
Mingan looked over his shoulder at the adults, a wide grin on his face and his eyes bright with excitement.
“For me?”
Mathias laughed.
“Yeah, for you,” Mathias assured him. He turned on the playstation and gave Mingan one of the controllers before settling back on the couch. He watched as Mignan jumped right into the game, the teen’s features softening into the childlike glee that had certainly been missing for some time.
Mathias glanced over at Henry to find the other man smirking over the rim of his coffee mug.
“What?” Mathias grumbled, though he was fairly certain he knew what was coming next.
“Ready to change your mind about that Christmas magic?”
Mathias glared at Henry but he was smiling as he turned back to watch Mingan’s progress.
“Humbug.”