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He loved the holidays more than anyone I’d ever met His wardrobe had beco he earing red and white striped leggings and a green T-shirt with a picture of a nutcracker on it The caption said, “Put your nuts in h

I asked hiain?” Then I almost sat on Kel I hadn’t seen him at first, since he was buried under a pile of blankets on the couch

As I circled the coffee table and sat down on one of the chairs, Lark looked at me ide eyes and nodded “There are so many,” he said “I don’t knohere they all came from”

I’d decided to play Santa for the three guys I lived with and had been buying thes every ti I thought wouldup this holiday season

“What does the tag say?”

“This one says, ‘to Lark from Rudolph’ There are others from the rest of Santa’s reindeer, too”

“I think you and Kel should both open a gift today,” I said “Rudolph would want it that way”

Kel sat up and blinked a few times His pink hair looked like it hadn’t been co the half-bald chinchilla to his chest The rodent blinked too, as if neither of theht of day for a while

Lark’s eyes grew huge as he asked, “Which one should we open?”

“You both have a gift froood one to open early,” I told him

Lark dove under the tree and ruift Then he handed it to his friend Kel put the rodent on his shoulder, and both guys tore open the brightly wrapped packages at the same time

The boxes contained the stuffed goats Theo and I had found at the craft store Lark burst into tears as he hugged the toy and whispered, “Thank you, Casey I know you’re really Rudolph”

Kel , too