Underneath The Mistletoe {Phan} (Book Three)

🌨Four🌨

I surprised myself the next morning by waking up before everyone else did. Though now that I'm thinking about it, it really isn't that much of a surprise because thoughts of Ellie going to live with my great grandmother after Christmas was over kept me from falling into a deep sleep. For most of the night, I stared up at the ceiling while Dan was laying next to me and snoring softly. I would glance at the alarm clock, hoping that it would be a decent hour so that I could force myself to get up. But I was always met with disappointment because I would see that it wasn't.
I remember every single minute feeling like an eternity.

I forced myself to get out of bed and walk over to the window. I pulled the curtains back and groaned as I was hit with sunlight upon opening them. I looked out the window after silently praying that it would be either snowing or that there would be snow on the ground. I also prayed a tiny bit that there would be snow on the ground and it would be snowing at the same time.
But of course, I was met with disappointment.
There wasn't even a single snowflake on the ground or in the sky.
I sighed and closed the curtains, not wanting to look or see outside anymore because of just how disappointed I was.
"Phil?"
My heart skipped a beat as I heard Ellie's whisper. The door was opened slightly so it was possible to hear her from outside the room. Upon hearing her whisper, I walked over to the door and slowly opened it so that I wouldn't wake Dan up. I bent down slightly so that I would be more on her level.
"What's the matter?"
"I..." She trailed off and looked down at the ground.
"You what?" I whispered, speaking gently in order to encourage her to speak whatever it was that she wanted to tell me.
"I had a nightmare." Her voice was barely audible and I was hardly able to make what what exactly she was saying.
I frowned when I realized what she was saying. "Oh, I'm sorry Ellie." I pulled her into a hug, mostly because I didn't know what else to say.
"What..." I trailed off at first, not sure if I should ask her this. Only a moment passed before I decided that I would ask her what I wanted to ask her. "What was your nightmare about?"
"It was terrible." Ellie whispered as I felt the grip she had on me tighten. "You and Dan gave me away because you said that you didn't want me anymore."
I opened my mouth to respond but found that I was completely and utterly speechless. What the hell was I supposed to say that? Her nightmare was half true. Dan and I were indeed going to give her away, but it wasn't because we didn't want her.
"Good thing it was just a nightmare, huh?" I mentally shook my head at my weak attempt to try and make her feel better. I was ashamed of myself that that was the best I could do to comfort her.
"I guess so." She shrugged slightly before looking me directly in the eyes. "Can you promise me something, Phil?"
I nodded, feeling unsure of myself and whether or not I was actually going to keep her promise or not.
"Can you promise me that my nightmare won't become a reality?"
My heart sank. I felt my bottom lip start quivering as I struggled to hold back tears. After a few moments, I somehow managed to keep my ground, despise being pretty damn close to reaching my breaking point.
"Yes, I can promise you that your nightmare won't become a reality." I forced myself to smile so that I would be more convincing.
Ellie seemed to be convinced because she smiled brightly and hugged me tightly once more. "Thank you so much. Phil, I... I..." She shook her head. "Never mind, it's not important."
"Are you sure?" I wouldn't blame her for not wanting to tell me whatever was on your mind because I had just lied straight to her face.
She nodded. "Yes, I'm sure." She was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Hey, what are we doing today?"
I silently sighed with relief because I didn't know how much longer I could hold back tears as my lie continued to eat me up inside. I wanted so badly to tell her the truth but at the same time, it was better that she didn't know quite yet because I feel like it would ruin any chances I had at giving her a wonderful Christmas.
"Well, I was thinking that we should go and see Santa in the mall."
Ellie's eyes widened. "Santa's here?!"
"Of course Santa's here." I couldn't help but smile a bit. "Why wouldn't he be there? He has to find out what everyone wants for Christmas."
"My mommy and daddy said that Santa doesn't leave the North Pole until Christmas Eve so that he can deliver all his presents though."
"That's not true." I replied, not really knowing any other way to say it. "How would you feel if you were stuck in the same place all year round and you could only leave one day a year."
"I wouldn't like that very much. It'd get to be really boring."
"That's right. So not only does Santa leave the North Pole because he has to find out what everyone wants for Christmas, but he also has to leave the North Pole because he's been stuck there for the entire year and he wants to see other places."
"Poor Santa. He must be lonely at the North Pole while he's forced to stay there."
"He's not lonely." I reassured her. "He has Mrs. Claus, his elves, and all his reindeer to keep him company."
Ellie smiled a bit. Her smile widened a moment later after she seemed to get an idea. "Hey Phil, I know that this is something that you do on Christmas Eve, but do you think that we can make cookies for Santa and take them with us when we go and see him at the mall?"
I smiled back at her. "I think that that's a great idea. What kind of cookies do you want to make for Santa?"
She tilted her head slightly to the side and placed her index finger on her lip as she thought about my question.
"I think that we should make him chocolate chip cookies." She said after a little bit of time had passed. "With extra chocolate chips, of course."
"I agree with that." I ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, so I'm going to have to go to the stop and pick up everything that we need. While I'm gone, will you wake up Dan? He'll get mad if we make cookies without him."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure that he wakes up." Ellie laughed a bit.
"Thanks." I laughed a bit as well. "I'll be back in a little bit."