I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Hi, my name is Kojo, and it's Christmas! It's my favorite time of the year, because Christmas is for wishes. When I was living in the shelter, I made a Christmas wish to be adopted, and soon enough, my mom, Lucy, adopted me! She's the best! She gives me the warmest cuddles, lots of kisses, and sometimes extra treats if I ask nicely enough. Of course, my dad, Tim, is pretty great, too. Together, we watch a special game of fetch called "football", go on extra long walks sometimes, and he makes me the most delicious breakfast called "salmon and eggs". I've got the best parents now, which brings me to my NEW Christmas wish- the same one I've been making every year since I got adopted. My new Christmas wish is for my mom and dad to get together. My mom doesn't live with my dad. She comes over sometimes to see me, but every time she leaves, dad and I miss her all over again. I think it makes Tim extra sad; even though he doesn't say anything, he always pets me for an extra long time or gives me another kiss after she leaves, so I know he wishes she would stay.

I don't know how to get humans together. All the National Geographic shows about other creatures that I watch make getting together look easy, but humans are DIFFICULT, so I do the only things I can do- beg Lucy to stay every time she tries to leave and make my Christmas wish, so Santa can help.

My ears perked up when I heard keys jingle in the door- it means someone's coming, so I ran over to greet them. The door opened to reveal dad holding a box, and guess who was behind him? MOM! I started wagging my tail super fast and panted louder, so she knew how happy I was that she came.

"Hi, Kojo," Lucy said while struggling with the box in her hand. After Tim set his box on the kitchen counter, he took the one out of her hands. Immediately, she bent down to pet me and give me a kiss. I think she missed me, too.

"Really, Kojo? No 'hello' for me?" Tim asked, sarcastically.

"He sees you every day. I haven't been over in a while," she rationalized.

Lucy is right. It's been a lot of days since she was over last. Actually, the last time I saw her was when I had to stay with her after dad went to the hospital. He hurt his back and was walking slow, so Lucy and Tamara took care of me for a couple days. Lucy was VERY insistent about it, and don't worry, even though my dad is stubborn, he knows mom is always right.

"I guess you haven't," he reflected and his eyes met hers. He always looks like he wants to say more, but instead stays quiet. Humans are confusing, so I don't bark to make sure I can hear what they're saying. I don't always understand, but I like the sounds of their voices.

"We should get these boxes unpacked," Lucy finally said uneasily and stopped scratching my favorite spot behind my ears.

"I can't believe Smitty's mistake means I have to host the station's holiday party at my house."

"Grey asked, but you didn't have to say 'yes'."

"What was I supposed to do? Smitty said he had a friend's bar lined up but booked it for NEXT December, and Grey asked if my house was available. How do I say 'no' to Grey?"

"Well, then this place really needs to look more festive." She looked around the house with zero holiday spirit in sight.

"You know I don't really care about decorating for Christmas."

"That's why I brought over MY decorations! Let's get this place looking Christmassy!"

"That's not a word," he scowled.

"Shut up and string some lights!" She ordered with a smile.

As long as I've known mom and dad, I know that they're great at working together. They put up all sorts of stuff that dad didn't seem to think was necessary, but mom just kept ordering him around, and he listened. I didn't know how much time had passed, but soon, the house looked bright and sparkly and festive! Then, I heard the doorbell ring. In case the humans didn't hear, I barked to let them know someone was waiting outside.