“Every wish this year has been wonderful to share with you all, but the next wish is one that truly warmed our hearts hereatToday, Tomorrow.To tell you all about it, we have Augustus Harper here with us today.”
“Hi,” Gus says, as the cameras swing around to include him in the picture. He lifts one of his little hands and waves. “I’m Gus.”
Charlie and Cristieawwtogether, then Cristie says, “What are your favorite things about Christmas time, Gus?”
He tells them about the market and about havingdog-nogwith his mom, which only makes them laugh more. Jules shakes her head and presses her fist into her mouth, smiling so hard it looks painful. The studio audience is eating Gus up, laughing at his quirks.
Then, still laughing, Charlie asks, “Okay, Gus, so we have your letter to Santa right here,” she leans forward, whispering, “it comes to us first, but don’t worry—we’ll make sure Santa gets it.”
“Okay,” Gus says, nodding and clasping his little hands together sensibly on his lap. The audience chuckles.
“Would you please tell us about what you asked for this Christmas?” Christie says, and something on her face gives me pause.
“Okay,” Gus says again, nodding. Then, he turns and looks right at us, giving us a lopsided smile, a little gap where he’s missing a tooth. Looking at Jules, he says, “For this Christmas, I asked for a daddy.”
Jules goes completely still at my side. The audience is quiet. I look from Gus to the hosts, who are both facing him.
“Can you tell us about that?” Charlie prompts, her voice soft. “Do you remember what you put in your letter, Gus?”
He nods, sits up a little taller, and finally pulls his gaze away from Jules. The moment he’s not looking at her, she turns and pushes into my side, and I hold her while Gus continues speaking on stage.
“I want a daddy for me, and for my mommy,” he says. “She works a lot. And if we had a daddy, we could watch more movies.”
“You want your mommy to watch more movies with you?”
Gus nods, “And sometimes she has to go to places by herself. And Ettie says kids and
moms are okay without dads. I still want one. So, I asked Santa. And my mommy says I’mverygood.”
Jules’ shoulders start to shake, and I hold her as she begins to cry silently, her face buried in my shirt.
Gus asked Santa for a dad, and the audience is eating it up. I’m even feeling a little teary as he talks, imagining a life with one more person in his life.
“…and we could go to the aquarium together.”
Christie and Charlie are eating all of this up, and Charlie opens her mouth to speak, but Gus has one more thing to add.
“And!” he says, lifting a single finger, which makes Charlie laugh. “Also, if I could have a little brother, I think that would be nice.”
Christie wipes under her eye, nodding as she says, “I think that would be really nice, too, Gus. Well,Today, Tomorrowcan’t give you the dad or little brother, but we’ve partnered with Disney+ and AMC to make sure you and your mom can watchsomany movies together. We’ve also got family passes to the Field museum, Shed Aquarium, and the Chicago Children’s Museum. And, Mom?”
Jules straightens up, quickly wiping at her face, before the cameras turn and focus on her. I stand at her side, feeling protective and wanting to take her somewhere else. But Jules is smiling through the tears, and I’m not quite sure what’s going on in her head.
“For Mom, we can’t quite bring you the man,” Christie winks here, and Jules laughs thickly. “But we’ve got you set up withan all-inclusive spa pass, daycareincluded. And I’d say the massages over there arebetterthan any man!”
The audience laughs, the cameras move away from Jules, and Christie and Charlie start to wrap-up the segment. Gus is still kicking his feet and making the audience laugh, and Jules buries her face in her hands.
“Hey,” I say, turning to her, pushing her hands to the side, and cupping her cheeks in my palms. When I catch her gaze, I command, “Take a deep breath with me, come on.”
Someone—an assistant of sorts—passes us a tissue, and a minute later, Jules is done crying and dabbing at her face.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“You have nothing to apologize for.” It’s hard for me to read what she’s thinking—if it was me, I might be pissed about being blindsided like this. Is she worried about Gus? Wondering what the studio audience thinks about her?
“I just wish,” Jules whispers, clearly trying to get herself together before she has to see her son again. When she tips her head up to look at me, still dabbing under her eyes, she says, “that I could give Gus the life he deserves.”
“You’re Russell Burch.”
