“Your sister not wanting to do the Santa thing must have annoyed the grandmother who got them the elf,” Ruby said.
Rashid huffed a laugh. “You have no idea. There are people in their father’s family who believe that Jasmine is teaching them to be extremists. Which is hilarious because none of us are very religious. But they hearMuslimand believe the stereotypes. They’re from a small town, but I don’t think that’s an excuse.”
Ruby could believe it. She’d lived all over the country, and Canada wasn’t the tolerant utopia that some people thought it was. “That must be hard for the girls. To be pulled in different directions like that.”
He nodded. He looked less annoyed right now. Or more like annoyed at the situation, not at Ruby. Maybe he was happy to have someone to talk to about this. “It’s very hard on them. They grew up with Christmas, but this year it’s been taken from them, and they’re confused. It’s not their fault that their father is the asshole of all assholes. That’s why I agreed to come today—the girls deserve a Christmas. Even if it’s not my cup of tea.”
Ruby smiled. It seemed this Grinch’s heart was already three sizes bigger than Ruby thought it was. “That’s really kind of you. I’m sorry you ended up having to spend the day pretending not to hate me.”
He turned to Ruby, one brow raised. “I don’t hate you. I barely know you.”
“Okay, but you find me annoying.”
He shrugged. “I find a lot of things annoying.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I don’t doubt that. They’ve all been gone awhile. Hope they’re okay.”
He picked up his phone, no doubt to text his sister. “She says there’s a big line.”
They watched the next float go by—a re-creation of Santa’s workshop sponsored by a big hardware store. Rashid shook his head. “Every Christmas sentiment must be sponsored by a corporation. The holiday isn’t magic. It’s a great big advertisement.”
“True, but someone has to pay for all this,” Ruby said. “Look at all the kids enjoying it. When they grow up, they’re not going to remember that the Santa’s workshop float was sponsored by Canadian Tire; they’ll remember the elves making toy cars and sewing dresses for the dolls. They’ll remembercoming to the parade every year with their family and waiting for Santa to show up. If we have to put up with a bit of commercialism to get those memories, then it’s worth it.”
He looked at her with a curious expression. Like he saw her point, just like she saw his about the elf. Their eyes were locked for several seconds before Reena’s voice behind them broke the spell. “What’s worth it? L’Oréal?” Nadim and Jasmine were behind Reena. “Ooh, is he giving you skin care recommendations?”
Ruby smirked. “I know better than to askhimfor skin care recs.” She and Rashid seemed to be finally getting along, but she’d rather not be on the receiving end of another rant about luxury skin care.
Rashid chuckled at Ruby’s comment.
“Rashid Uncle! We got you a plain coffee because Mommy said you don’t like things that taste good,” the curly-haired twin said. That was the most either of them had said all day.
Rashid laughed at that. Like an actual full, joyful laugh as he took the coffee cup from his sister. It was the first time Ruby saw a look of genuine enjoyment on his face, and it looked so good on him. When not smiling, Rashid had a classically handsome face—strong jaw and dark intense eyes. But when he smiled, he looked… cute. It was a childlike smile. His eyes were the kind that twinkled. She wished he would take that hat off so she could see if his forehead wrinkled when smiling.
After everyone was back in their spots with Nadim wearing the baby carrier with Aleem in it, they watched the rest of the parade. The girls were a little more talkative—but only to their mother and uncle. Aleem slept through his first Santa Clausparade, and it looked like Nadim might have joined his son, as his head was leaned back on his folding chair.
“He was up all night with the baby,” Reena said, leaning close to whisper in Ruby’s ear. “So, did you and the Grinch have words while we were all gone?”
Ruby smiled and waved at the women walking by in red and white Victorian dresses. “He’s very frustrating, but we were fine,” she said quietly enough so only Reena would hear.
“He’s a cutie though. And a doctor.”
“So?”
“So, isn’t finding a single doctor the South Asian dream?” Reena said.
Not for Ruby it wasn’t.
“Plus, remember what Shayne said,” Reena added. “He’ll know a lot about… anatomy.”
If Nadim, Jasmine, two children, and a baby weren’t right next to Reena she would have told her friend to get her head out of the gutter. “Pay attention to the parade, Reena. Santa’s watching you—you don’t want your stocking to be empty, do you?”
The rest of the parade was… fine. Ruby didn’t have a reason to talk to Rashid again, which was good. She had no idea if he was enjoying the event—she assumed he wasn’t—because he was pretty preoccupied with his nieces. Which was… sweet.
Ruby knew that men could be great with kids. She’d seen Nadim step up to the plate and be a fantastic father in the three months since Aleem was born. And she’d known lots of othermen who were great fathers and uncles, too. But seeing a grown man be patient and gentle with children was something that Ruby always noticed. Especially if the children were girls. Ruby herself was not planning to have kids—for many reasons—but that didn’t mean she didn’tlikekids. But her own father never seemed to like kids, and he was definitely disappointed that his only biological child was female. In all her years on planet Earth, Ruby had learned that the biggest red flag when it came to men was when they saw children as a giant inconvenience… or a nuisance.
Rashid Hakim had a lot of red flags, but at least one giant green one, too.
After Santa and his sleigh full of animatronic reindeer arrived with much fanfare and cheering, the parade was over. The crowd dispersing was a bit of a nightmare. Their group of eight managed to get out of the crush without losing any children—or adults, for that matter. It was only a four-minute walk to the French bistro where Ruby had made reservations for a late lunch. She’d picked the restaurant because they had tables big enough for all of them and, despite being a bistro, had a kid’s menu.
