That evening Pippa and I are walking home from the mall together. Pippa is dragging her doll along with her, and once again it feels like I’m walking along with two kids as the doll is almost the exact same height and size as Pippa is. It’s really freaky.
“How come Blizzard’s dad is really Santa Claus?” Pippa asks suddenly.
I stare at her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say eventually.
“You don’t have to treat me like a baby,” she says. “I know he’s different. The others have all been men playing dress up, but he’s not the same. You can tell he’s different. I know that you know, Kaity.”
“He’s just a guy who loves Christmas, Pips,” I say. The last thing anyone needs is Pippa going to school and telling everyone that he’s the real thing. “Besides, don’t you think Santa is super busy this month at the North Pole? No way does the real Santa have time to stop in a shopping mall in December. Think of all the presents he has to prepare.”
Pippa rolls her eyes and clicks her tongue like I’m being incredibly dense, and it would be annoying on anyone other than my five-year-old little sister.
“Do you think Mum and Seth have gone already?” Pippa asks, changing the subject.
“Probably,” I glance at my watch. “Which means I’m in charge of tea. What do you want?”
“Peanut butter,” she grins. “Peanut butter and banana sandwiches and Ribena. Can you do that, Kaity?”
“Not a problem,” I say.
“I don’t like Seth,” she says out of the blue. “I want Daddy back.”
“So do I, honey,” I say. “But we have to be patient. Dad hasn’t gone very far for now and we’re lucky that we can still see him. I’m sure he’ll move back in soon so we just have to be patient until then.”
Even as I’m saying it, I realise how much doubt is forming in my mind. Maybe that’s what Santa was trying to say to me today. I briefly wonder if maybe getting Pippa’s hopes up is the right thing to do.
“I hope he does,” Pippa says. “I don’t like Seth living in our house. The bathroom always smells after he uses it.”
I can’t help the snort of laughter. “I know, sweetie, it does.”
“Kaity… Do you think these snowmen are weird?” Pippa asks after a pause.
We’re almost on our street now, there’s a snowman in every garden, and it still feels like they’re watching us. Also, as if things couldn’t get any weirder, we haven’t had any more snow since yesterday morning, and the sun has been out and shining today, and yet these snowmen are just as perfect as they were days ago. You would think they would have started to melt or something by now.
“A little,” I say to Pippa. “They just sort of sprung up, didn’t they?”
“It’s like an army,” Pippa whispers. “I feel like they’re watching me.”
“I know. I feel it too. But the important thing is not to worry. The fact of the matter is that they’re just snowmen. They can’t move. They can’t actually do anything. They’re inanimate objects, so try not to worry too much, okay? They can’t hurt you.”
“I know they can’t hurt me, Kaity,” she says like I’m the stupidest person in the world. “They’re snowmen. They’re just kind of creepy.”
Says the girl pulling the life-size walking doll along the road with her. Because walking dolls are way creepier than an army of snowmen all right.