“Now what?”
“Now we go pick out your winnings,” I said. “To the ticket counter!”
We got in line to wait, and I watched a little boy of maybe six press his nose against the glass, leaving smudges behind as he whined at his mother for some candy. It made me wonder… Would our daughter be that exuberant? Perhaps a bit more well-behaved, though.
As we reached the ticket counter, the young man wearing the Ticketland badge weighed the tickets on a digital scale. “1,200 tickets,” he announced.
“Wow,” Sky said. “That’s a lot.”
“Look at all the things you can get.” I pointed out the different prizes—plushies of all shapes and sizes, nicknacks and statuettes, t-shirts and hoodies, all the way down to toys and candy for the kiddos. Everything was labeled by how many tickets it cost, with the higher-priced things on taller tiers. Some things cost over 10,000 tickets! That was a lot of gaming.
Sky looked around, studying the things on the shelves, but his gaze kept lingering on the small plasma ball, its little electric “fingers” dancing along the purple-tinted glass.
“That’s cool,” he said, pointing at it.
I grinned. “It’s only a thousand tickets.”
“I want that, then.”
“Sure thing,” the employee said. He snagged one of the boxes off the shelf behind the display item and handed it to Sky. Sky held it as if it were something fragile that might shatter at any given moment. “You still have two hundred tickets left. Anything else catch your fancy?”
Sky glanced over at me. “Fletcher?”
I gave my head a shake, still smiling. “I’m good, but thanks.”
“Adam?” Adam did the same.
Sky looked past us, to where the family with the little boy stood off to the side. His mother was chatting with someone—another mother, with a stroller and twins in tow—and the little boy wore a frown, his arms crossed over his chest. He never got that candy.
For a moment, Sky watched the boy scuff the toe of his shoe along the carpet, then he turned back to the guy behind the counter. He pointed to the candy behind the glass and said, “Give me however many suckers two hundred tickets will buy.”
The man nodded and used a small scoop to fill a paper bag with probably at least twenty small lollipops of varying flavors, each individually wrapped. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Sky took the bag and, without hesitation, he walked over to the little boy and knelt down in front of him. “Hey. What’s your name?”
The boy made a face, obviously uncertain whether he should talk to strangers, but the paper bag in Sky’s grip had him curious. He tilted his head to the side, sizing Sky up. “Jacob. What’s yours?”
“I’m Sky. I heard you wanted some candy?” Sky’s lip curved into a small smile. “I had some spare tickets, so here you go. Merry Christmas, Jacob.” He handed him the paper bag, and Jacob’s eyes went wide when he peered inside to see all the suckers just waiting to be unwrapped and devoured.
“Wow! Thank you, mister!” he exclaimed, then ran over to his mom, tugging on her jacket sleeve. “Mom look! Suckers!”
His mother looked perturbed. “What? Where did you get those?”
Jacob pointed to Sky, who stood to his full height. “He did! He had extra tickets and bought me candy!”
Sky offered a hesitant smile. “I hope that was okay. It’s the holiday season, and I wanted to spread a little Christmas cheer.”
“Oh, yes, it’s okay. You didn’t have to do that, though, but thank you.”
“Merry Christmas. Hope Santa brings you awesome gifts this year, Jacob.”
“Thanks, mister.” Jacob had already unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth, sucking away happily, a big smile on his face.
Sky turned and headed for the exit. Adam and I exchanged a look, wished the mother a Merry Christmas, then followed our Omega out into the cold. Snow danced from the sky, fluttering around us in little white flakes.
I caught Sky’s hand in mine. “Aww, look at you. Being sweet.”
“Oh, hush. I wasn’t gonna use the tickets and kids love candy. Besides, it’s the holidays. Thought I’d do my good deed, so Santa Claus will bring me presents.”
