The Millers owned the local supermarket. They had a well-established business and could well afford to organize and provide for some extras for the community. One of those things happened to be hiring a Santa for the Christmas holidays. That way, the children could come and see Santa and tell him their wishes for Christmas.
Their regular Santa was no other than Henry Dobbs. He had filled Santa’s shoes for years. He had never failed the Millers.
As the local children grew older and realized that Henry was their Santa, they liked him even more. He was great for the job. A gentle man with a lot of patience, yet a strong voice, he was perfect. His wife, Lily, used to look forward to the holidays, mainly because of Santa’s involvement. In a way, she felt as if she were Mrs. Santa.
Lily would say, “I really look forward to every Christmas when the children so eagerly come to see Santa. Henry gets so anxious about the whole affair. He is definitely more excited than the children; I can assure you of that!” She adored her husband, and whatever he enjoyed doing was fine with her. Not too many people have the privilege of marrying their soulmate.
The year that Lily passed away — in October — Henry had a hard time doing his job. However, he couldn’t very well let the Millers down. At the end, as a special thank-you, the Millers included him in their Christmas celebration.
“Henry, how would you like to join us for this year’s Christmas dinner?” Anna gently approached Henry after the last day of his tedious time with the children. She knew that some of the children had asked him why Mrs. Santa wasn’t there this year. Henry gently informed them that Mrs. Santa had gone to another place where she could feel better on account of her asthma.
The Millers also provided plenty of treats for the local children. The Preston and the Lambert children were among them.
George and Anna Miller had three sons, Greg, Dan, and Robert. They also had a daughter named Marianne. One after another, they were being trained to help in the store, making it a family business. Even during their elementary school years, they had to do their homework after nine p.m., since they worked in the store after school. They were all paid for their work, and on Sundays, they were free to do whatever they wished, considering their ages. Those kids worked hard.
When Dominic reached the age of twelve, he approached one of the Miller boys, asking him, “Dan, do you think I stand a chance to get a part-time job at your store?”
“You will have to ask my parents about that, but I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t.”
“That would be great, Dan, thanks.”
He followed up by speaking to George Miller, who was glad for the extra help; his mother allowed him to work there after school, but only until seven o’clock so his school marks wouldn’t suffer. Besides, he was so thin that Miller felt the boy needed food more than work. Dominic was allowed to help himself to an apple or two for his after-school snack and often to some other food as well, in order to have the energy to do the work. When he first started working, Sasha often came in to visit him, but he quickly dismissed her in order not to cause him to shirk his responsibilities. He loved his sister and she was very much the reason for his wanting to earn some money — to take care of her.
“Sasha, do you miss Dominic while he works here?” Mrs. Miller’s voice could be heard. “You are very welcome to come and see him every once in a while. However, right now he has to help with an urgent matter. So you go on home — and give my regards to your mother.” The Millers were very happy with Dominic and his hard work; since their own children were by now much older, they had greater responsibilities in the business and they needed a few younger boys to do certain errands. As for Sasha, she would have loved to do the cash. Being a cashier at the Millers’ store would be heaven. At her age, to even think about a job was quite unusual. But that was wise little Sasha, who had to learn things as they came along. Her brother was a good influence.
Nicole and Dominic were very much alike in many ways. Secretly, Barb often wished that she could trade him for Olivia. Yes, she loved her daughter, but she felt estranged from her quite often. Olivia was one of a kind. At eleven years of age, she was in love with love. She liked quite a few boys, without having a clue as to what love was all about. It was just a fantasy many young girls tend to experience. Luckily, her school marks remained satisfactory. She could have done much better had she concentrated more on school and less on the boys.
Nicole looked up to Dominic. When they were all younger and sometimes played together, she always found his company the easiest. He was never intrusive and always gave the girls some space. On the other hand, he gave Trevor a hard time, and Trevor loved it. They were buddies as far as Trevor was concerned.
“It is awful nice of you to pay so much attention to Trevor,” Nicole confided to her friend. “He looks up to you and brags about it at home to our parents. I wish my dad would spend more time with him, but he is hardly ever home. I know that he can’t help it — his job takes him away; but Trevor needs him. I can feel it in my bones. I feel sad for Trevor at times when he gives Dad that look as if to say, ‘Dad, I am here and I have been waiting for you to come home.’”
It was Sunday and Dominic was ringing the doorbell at the Dobbs place.
“Good morning, Mr. Dobbs. May I take Serge for a run?” As Henry opened the door and saw young Dominic in front of him, he was amazed at how this young kid could possibly be awake at this time of the morning after working those late hours at the store! Not that it was that early, but boys his age usually refuse even to acknowledge that another day had arrived, especially on Sundays. But there he was.
“Why, Dominic, what brings you here so early on a Sunday morning?”
“Oh, I just like to spend some time with Serge and this seems like a good day to do so. Is it okay?” Serge could be heard whining by his master’s legs, bursting with excitement and ready to go with the boy and have some fun.
“Sure; you have a good run, and by the time you return, you both can have a nice breakfast.” As the two of them left, Henry started preparing bacon and eggs for all three of them. By the time the two of them returned, Henry had only to add the eggs to finish preparing the breakfast. However, young Dominic had no intention of staying there for the meal.
“Thank you, Mr. Dobbs, but I have to get back home and prepare breakfast for the three of us.” At the same time, he felt bad to disappoint Henry. So Henry thanked him, and off he went. In his more vulnerable moments, while talking with Dominic, Henry would say, “Life is a precious thing but it is never perfect.” Those words of wisdom would forever stay with Dominic.
Susanne had become quite overweight, due to lack of exercise, and she was sinking deeper and deeper into depression, at the same time refusing to do anything about it.
In some communities, word spreads when there is a divorce, and little is hidden. The Millers were more or less aware of what was going on in young Dominic’s life, and Anna cautiously approached Susanne, asking her if there was anything she could do for her. She assured Susanne that her concern had nothing whatsoever to do with Dominic; they were very happy to have him. Susanne was quick to say that he had never complained about anything at home about the store (which he hadn’t).
“Susanne, could I have a word with you?” Anna offered Susanne a job at the store if she was interested. “You don’t have to decide right now.” She could take her time, and when she decided one way or another, she could let them know.
The next day, Susanne showed up at Barb’s place. “The Millers have offered me a job if I am interested.”
This prompted Barb to go on a mission and try some magical persuasions in order to get Susanne going. “Surely you said yes? Just think how much you could accomplish by having a job and how the children would be proud of you!” Barb was bursting with energy over this offer that Susanne was so unsure of. She wanted to slap her friend’s face in order to wake her up, right out of her depression. What does one do to penetrate the mind of a depressed person? Barb felt like screaming.
“Are you telling me that I should take her offer right away and say yes before I know what they would be willing to pay me?” Susanne felt offended by all this fuss regarding this “pitiful job offer,” as she called it. Unbelievable!
Barb was afraid to open her mouth, in case she said something that she might regret.
That day, Susanne plunged into drinking. She would show the world that she was in no need of pity and she promptly blacked out, since she took too many pills to begin with and then mixed those with hard liquor. That night, Barb had a premonition of what just might be happening. She was unable to sleep and couldn’t figure out why. She decided to call Susanne’s place.
It’s only eleven-thirty. I have to find a reason for the call but since I can’t sleep, I might as well take the risk, no matter what she says. Both Susanne and Barb usually went to bed around midnight, so it wasn’t too late to pretend that she had forgotten to tell her something. As the phone kept on ringing, she figured they went to sleep. Suddenly, somebody picked up the receiver and just as soon dropped it. Then she heard someone calling “Help!” Susanne had fallen down the stairs and woken up the children, who were both exhausted from their mother’s ranting and yelling earlier. At this point, Dominic had already called 9-1-1 and was waiting at the front door for the ambulance to arrive; and young Sasha was freaking out. Those poor kids.
Barb ran down to their house and saw the paramedics entering the house. She ran inside and saw Susanne staring blankly at the ceiling. She was unconscious. They worked hard to revive her. She seemed to be suffering from head injuries and more.
Now it was time to remove pale-faced Sasha from the scene. Dominic was fine, considering, and very much in charge.
“Dominic, are you all right? Can you tell me what happened, or would you prefer to be left alone?”
“I am fine, Aunt Barb, but I would appreciate it if you could take Sasha with you until I find out what is going to happen with Mom.” Susanne seemed to be conscious by now but not coherent. Dominic went with his mom in the ambulance to the hospital on Barton Street, while Barb took Sasha home with her, where she calmed the poor girl down; and then Sam took over.
“I wanted to be with my mom, but my brother always pushes me out of any complicated situation. He thinks that I am a child, but I really prefer to be on the scene because that way I know what is going on. It scares me less if I see it myself.” She was beside herself mainly for being rejected, even if it was for her own good. It took a while, but finally Sasha agreed to spend the night at the Prestons’ house with Nicole, whom she liked very much.
“Sasha, I will go to the hospital to join your brother and check on your mom. I promise you I will bring your brother back with me and tell you all about your mom’s condition. No lies!”
Barb left shortly after that and found a very worried Dominic sitting near the emergency room, waiting for news. Barb brought him a drink and a snack, but he was unable to eat or drink.
“I understand, Dominic.” She was at a loss as to what to say to the boy, who was taking it all very well.
At three a.m., Dr. Thomas came to look for some family members in order to have a talk with them.
“Are you Dominic?”
“Yes, sir. How is my mom?”
“Your mom is going to be all right. She was repeating your name during her initial effort at coming to. She has suffered a head injury as well a couple of cracked ribs.” It would take a while, but with a little luck and a lot of willpower and determination, Susanne would fully recover. He advised them to go home and get some rest. Susanne was in good hands.
“You may come back in the afternoon to see your mother; by then, she will be happy to see you.”
Dominic insisted on going home and promised to come by in the morning.
Pale-faced and slightly shaken, he rang the doorbell at eight a.m., asking about Sasha. After they all had breakfast, Barb had a proposition: she gently suggested that the Preston children go to school, while Dominic and Sasha would stay there and get some rest. She would call the school and excuse the two of them. Everyone seemed satisfied.
“Honey, I have to leave now,” Sam called. He left Barb to deal with all kinds of situations. He always claimed that he was no good at dealing with other people’s problems. This was nothing unusual. She managed just fine. Early in the afternoon, she took the two children to the hospital. However, there had been a change of plans regarding their mother, and she was in surgery.
“Unfortunately, a blood clot forced the doctors to make a snap decision to operate.” A young intern was sent to explain the situation to the family when they returned in the afternoon. And after waiting for hours, the children were finally allowed to see their mother.
Barb was sure that Susanne was aware of her children’s presence. “Don’t you worry; I am positive your mom is well aware that you are here,” Barb tried to console the distraught children. However, Sasha seemed all right after seeing her mother, regardless of her condition. They basically just wanted to see that their mother was still alive. It made things easier to deal with. The visit had to be cut short so that Susanne could rest. Then Barb took them home to change and relax for a bit, at which point they both quickly surrendered to a long sleep. In the meantime, Barb tidied up a bit, did the laundry, and prepared food for all of them as best she could. She decided to write a note telling them that she was just going to the store to grab a few things; Dominic woke up and asked her to take them with her. They told the Millers all about it.
“Oh, this is totally my fault for asking her to come and work for us. If I hadn’t bothered her about the job, she would still be all right,” Anna Miller burst out.
But Dominic knew better. He knew his mother very well. He loved her but he knew her faults as well as her weaknesses. She blamed everything on her husband even when he wasn’t to be blamed. “Mrs. Miller, you are wrong about that, I’m afraid. Our mother has issues beyond her willpower.” He assured Mrs. Miller that their mother should be seeking help but refuses to believe that she has problems. And for the first time; Sasha totally agreed with him, which surprised him very much. So, his little sister was not so little anymore. He was proud of her. He hugged her and thought to himself: We are going to be okay. On their way home, Sasha, in order to impress her brother, offered to make a snack. He promptly agreed to it. Barb had to laugh, as she was way too tired to do anything else. After she dropped them at their house, she went home, where she found three very anxious children waiting to hear all about developments regarding Susanne.
That evening, they all went to see Susanne. Even Sam joined them, which made Barb very happy. Susanne was aware of their presence and tried to speak, but she had a bit of a problem concentrating. She was visibly happy to see them.
“Don’t you worry about your young people; they will be just fine . . .” Barb admired both of them and she knew that they would be all right. She just made sure there was food in the refrigerator. This incident had shaken all of them quite a bit.