Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2019 19:53:45 -0600 From: Eric Murphey Subject: Transitions: First Christmas Ok Ok Ok I hear you. I have received a lot of emails requesting the return of Alejandro and Eric. I have been thinking of the next chapter int he story and am still working on it in my head. So I think it will be returning soon. I had this idea today since well its chilly in New York and it feels like Christmas is around the corner. Well, because it is. I thought htis would be a fn story to tell. I know its been fun writing so far. I hope you like it as much as I am writing it. Since this story is about giving it would be nice if you include Nifty on your christmas list or whatever holiday you celebrate. Or if you dont celebrate even better because you arent buying gifts. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html Peace love and happiness Eric Transitions First Christmas "Poppi what are we going to do for Christmas?" Alejandro asks. "To be honest I haven't every really celebrated Christmas. I didn't really have a reason to until you came into my life. But, now that you mention it I am starting to get excited about. It. Whats say we get a BIG TREE for the entry way and get lots of presents for you, Julius, and Rich." "I don't really want anything Poppi. You have given me so much already. I think I want to be Santa Claus." "How do you mean?" "Well, Poppi I m thinking when I wasn't with you I never had anything. I mean nothing at all for Christmas. I have been saving my allowance you have given me and I think I want to buy presents for lots of kids. Is that OK?" Eric just smiles at him and pulls him into a hug. "Of course that's OK buddy. I couldn't be more proud. But, I do want to get you some presents too. It isn't a way to show love. But, it is something I want to do. Also How about this. Every dollar of things you buy I will buy $20 of things as well." Alejandro starts jumping up and down all excited. "That would be so cool Poppi. We can be Santa." "How about with every present we put in a gift card for McDonald s as well. Say $20 so they can have a fun treat as well." "Shoot yeah Poppi that sounds like great fun." "Now what I will do for you since it was your idea is I know you are going to want to get Cindy, Julius. Julia, and Rich a present. So that you can be a bigger Santa you pick out gifts you would like to get for them and I will pay for them." "Yeah Poppi this is going to be so cool. We can go around Christmas eve and leave them on the doorsteps." "I don't think that's such a good idea. But, so people don't know who it is we can hire someone to hand them out. Or better yet we can have someone we know like Maria pass them out." "We cant have her do it Poppi because I want to get Carlos and them some presents too." "How about Chris he could pass them out?" "No because we don't want people to know it was us. Everyone knows Chris works for you." "I got it. You remember the lady I told you about that works for me and used to be a boy? We could have her hand them out." "Yeah!!!" Alejandro is so full of excitement he is bouncing. "This is going to be so cool." "Well. Buddy lets get it started now. Start making a list of the kids you know in the barrio that you know and write down how old they are and we can start figuring what we can get them. You are so smart and I am so proud of you. We are going to be Santa's. You had such a great idea. Also Why don't you go and get Julius and call Cindy so they can help so we can get more kids presents too. Because they probably know more kids that could use some presents as well. They can be our elves." Eric says smiling. Alejandro races down stairs to find Julius. He knows he is in with Rich like usual. "Julius come on we re going to do something exciting!! Come on Grand Poppi Rich you can help too." Alejandro pulls out his phone and calls Cindy. As soon as she answers he shouts to her. "Cindy come over fast we need some help." Then he hangs up. Rich is getting around pretty well now. But, still kind of slow. Alejandro is so excited he is pulling on his hand to try to get him to hurry. "Calm down Alejandro. You are going to pull my arm off." "I'm sorry Grand Poppi I Am just so excited." As he says this the door bell rings. "Thats probably Cindy. I will meet you guys in Poppi's office." He races off to get the door. Cindy is standing there out of breath without her coat on. "Whats so important? I raced right over is someone hurt?" Alejandro starts laughing. "No I'm sorry I am just super excited. I guess I should have said it a little different. C'mon." He says grabbing her hand and pulling her to Eric's office. When they all get in there Eric is sitting behind his desk just smiling looking at all of them. "OK Alejandro let me begin the meeting and explain what we want to do. Is that OK with you?" "Yeah Poppi!!!" Alejandro answers bouncing around like Tigger. "OK let me begin by saying this is Alejandro's idea. I am so proud of him for it. SO let me begin. First everyone raise your right hand and repeat after me." "I state your name. Do solemnly swear that whatever we discuss here is private and never to be discussed outside of this house or with anyone else other then Julia." They all repeat the oath to him. "OK let me begin the first meeting of the Secret Santa's. club." Eric lays out the plans that Alejandro and he have laid out so far. "Can I donate my allowance too?" Cindy asks. "Without a doubt you can. But, don't feel like you have too." "Oh no I want too." She says. "Me too." Julius says. "Can I chip in too Eric? I don't have a lot but, I LOVE the idea can I help out too?" "Certainly. I will make the same deal to all of you I did to Alejandro Every dollar you donate I will chip in $20 so that way we can make it HUGE. What fun this is going to be. First we need to make a list of everyone we know that we know could use some presents for Christmas." So they all got to work and with all of them Rich too knowing some of the kids in his neighborhood as well that could use some gifts. They came up with over a hundred names, and ages. They broke them down into age groups and families and went through the list to make sure they got appropriate gifts for them all. Just then Julia walks in to the room. "What be goin on in heah?" "You have to promise not to tell anyone Mommy." "I don be telling nobody nuthin." So they fill her in on the plan. She just smiles and says. "They gon be a whole lotta wrappin goin on. An I wanta chip in too. Mr Eric he pay me too much anyway and dis gonna be great fun." So they tally up how much they are all going to donate and figure they need more kids. "I got an idea let me make a phone call." Eric picks up and calls Chris. "Hey Chris this year I want you to make an angel tree in the store. But, every morning when you come in I want you to take them off and bring them to me." "Sure boss. Why?" "Top secret cant tell you." Eric says laughing. "OK sir whatever you want." "I appreciate you Chris. You do a great job for me." "You tell me that all the time." "Because you do a great job all the time." "PSHAW I will talk to you later boss." "Thanks Chris." "OK That should help a lot I think." "When I was in the hospital Poppi It really made me feel special when you brought me presents. Why don't we take some presents to them too." "Alejandro I know I keep saying it. But, dammit I really am so proud of you. You have an amazing heart." "What about the foster kids too? The ones that aren't in foster care I bet Joy can help with that." Rich chimes in. "Oh my goodness you guys are simply amazing." Eric says. "I know we cant give them all homes. But, how about something for the homeless kids?" Cindy says. "Yet another brilliant idea." "I want every kid in the county to have a present this year. If I can help it and I CAN I will try to do it. Lets go gang and start figuring out the best toys for all these kids." So the next several hours the kids chose toys that they would like to get and Eric was added things to the cart on Amazon like nobodies business. "We got about a month to make this happen. So we better keep cracking. Everything will be here in two days because we ordered so late. This is going to be GREAT fun."