Mummah and Savvy are snuggled up on their couch in the living room, watching an old Christmas cartoon that always makes Mummah cry. Savvy holds her hot chocolate in her lap and lets the waves of excitement roll through her whole body while she tries to pay attention. She rocks with the waves—sometimes she shakes her feet to make it feel better. Sometimes she bobs her head from side to side. Sometimes she wiggles her whole body. It helps.
“Savina, child, stop it,” Mummah says. She’s all-the-way tired. Her voice is hoarse from announcing stations, talking on the walkie, and dealing with passengers on the commuter rail all day. Ever since Halloween, Mummah has been doing extra shifts. Tonight’s was the last-last one.
Savvy tries to put her nervous energy in her big toes and drink her hot chocolate and watch the old cartoon with the nice music but not much else. When she complained about having to stay up and watch, Mummah said, “It’s a classic. That matters, you know! You have to watch the classics!”
Savvy isn’t so sure about that.
She wiggles all of her toes. She’s been as chill as she can be all day: at school, at Mars’, and during dinner. Now she wants to be in her room with her headphones on to have a little dance party real quick. Then she knows she’ll be good to go to sleep and wait for Santa to drop off her doll.
The wiggle goes up from her toes to her ankles. The couch vibrates. Mummah breathes in deep and puts a hand on her arm. “Sweetie, baby, please. I just want to watch my little cartoon, ok?”
Savvy lets the wiggle come up her leg. “Mummah, I’m thinking about Santa and I’ve been real good all day, and I really want to go to my room, and—”
“Savina, I’ve been workin’ so hard, and I want to spend time with my baby girl. We’re gonna sit here and watch this cartoon together. I’m askin’ you for fifteen more minutes. You can do it.”
Savvy feels her shoulders come up to her ears and the tingle that made her wiggle rise up past her knees. She needs to get up. She puts her hands together and squeezes them. She rubs her knuckles. She pinches herself. Anything to stop thinking about that tingly feeling.
It kinda works. Her shoulders come down. Her legs stop moving. She feels a little better.
“That’s my girl. You’re a good girl and I love you.”
Savvy really does try to be a good girl. She really does. She’s not sure why having the wiggles isn’t good girl behavior, but she does her best to be a good girl for Mummah and for Mars and for school… and sometimes she can’t do it. But she’s been working so hard at it. She looks over at the end table where she set Jerome to sit against the lamp and she feels calm. She knows Jerome has seen how hard she’s been working.
Savvy also knows that tomorrow she’s going to get her Sojourner doll. Santa comes through for the good girls. She knows that for a fact.
And once she has her doll, she knows she can convince Mars to play with her Ida doll and not cut it up. They’ll play together just like they’ve always done. New dolls, new adventures.
Savvy’s worked so hard for this. She can make Mars understand. She thinks about what she’s going to say tomorrow when she sees Mars at the Big Brunch and that helps make the time go by.
Before she knows it, the old cartoon ends. Mummah shifts and yawns, leaning over on the arm of the sofa. Savvy is so happy to wiggle off the couch. “Good night, Mummah.”
“Good night, my Savvy child. Merry Christmas!”