Pack Plus More

2. Jeremy

Jeremy

December 23rd

“ W hy did you wait so long to get these?” Nate laughed as we made our way through the crowds.

“I didn’t!” I grumbled. “I ordered the gifts months ago, but do you know how hard it is to get them in that size?” I asked, my voice unsure.

I didn’t know if I was making the right call, and I hadn’t spoken to Daisy before ordering these particular gifts for the girls. We had come out solo, Devon had taken the girls, and Daisy was wrapping parcels. This close to the holiday, everywhere was so packed that bringing the girls felt impractical. They were small and easily overstimulated. We had taken them to meet Santa a few weeks ago, when things were a lot calmer. The pictures from that day were now displayed on our walls and I was even using them as my phone screensaver.

“I should have consulted Daisy, shouldn’t I?” I asked as we approached the counter. Christmas music thundered through the speakers, making it hard to hear anything other than the happy Christmas jingles that were impossible to escape.

“They’re going to be awesome,” Nate assured me. “If she wants to wait a bit longer we can just buy bigger ones down the line.”

The ice rink shop was packed out. Everyone was getting last minute Christmas gifts. Despite the last-minute nature of our own excursion, I had planned this gift a long time in advance. My daughters had tiny little feet, and so their skates needed to be custom made.

“Hey, are you Jeremy Monroe?” a voice said next to me. I looked down to see a child, probably no more than ten, gazing up at me.

Crap.

I had worn a baseball hat in an attempt to conceal my identity. Ice rink stores were not the best places for me to remain anonymous. Even though I was officially working into retirement, I was still recognizable.

Nate laughed. “You should have had those skates delivered.”

Ignoring my pack mate, I turned to the kid kneeling, so I was eye level with him, even though I felt claustrophobic with all the bodies around.

“I am,” I nodded, giving him a warm smile.

The child’s eyes lit up and he bounced happily on the spot. “I asked Santa for your jersey for Christmas!” he said, his words almost blurring together in his excitement.

His mother stood next to him with wide eyes, unsure what to make of the interaction.

“Why thank you,” I grinned at him. “What’s your name?”

“Georgie,” he said.

“Well Georgie, if Santa does indeed get you a jersey for Christmas, I'll happily sign it for you.”

“Really?” he asked, eyes wide.

I nodded. “Of course. I'll give your mom my information so we can work something out. How does that sound? Do you play?”

“He’s just started lessons,” his mum said.

“That’s awesome, little man!”

I stood up and quickly pulled out my phone, turning to the mum. “I can give you the email address so he can practice with the team. They often let kids join in our practices.”

“Oh, that would be lovely,” the mum smiled, pulling out her phone.

“Derick on the management team will be happy to help. Just tell him Jer gave you his details.” I said. “I’m sorry I can’t hang about much longer—I’m actually here to grab my girls their first set of skates!” I beamed.

“Don’t apologize!” The mom laughed, “Thank you for stopping. He’s a huge fan of yours,” she said, pulling her son in for a little side hug.

We said our goodbyes and I turned to the counter, but Nate was already there, holding the two little boxes of ice skates.

“They’re going to be so cute!” he declared as we made our way out of the store. “Do you think we have time to pick up more Christmas candy?” he asked.

“For who? We have enough to feed an army!”

“Daisy saw these chocolate-covered almonds online and she didn’t admit it, but she clearly wanted them.”

“Let’s do it.”