Widower gets a special visitor on Christmas Eve.

By PaulStevens. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy stories.

Dan felt like a small child, sitting up watching his phone for alerts that his midnight delivery had arrived. It was like he was waiting for Santa or something, well in his case, more like a Mrs. Claus. Not that Elly was as saintly as the real Mrs. Claus, but she was getting him out of a jam with his 9-year-old daughter this year, and that made her saintly enough.

In Jane’s last difficult months of life, Elly was her faithful friend. In the months since Dan lost Jane, Elly continued to help him navigate the challenges of raising 2 kids alone.

For Elly, it was a blessed distraction from her own failing marriage.

Finally, Dan heard his phone buzz, and looked down to see the text; 'Here', on his screen. He hopped up and went to his garage and let Elly in the side door, before leading her into his shop, where he knew they would not be overheard, should someone be awake & snooping.

"Evening Elly, did you get my delivery?” Dan asked. “Everything look okay?"

"Yes, absolutely.” Elly said, cheerfully. “It looks fantastic, thank you so much for assembling that. You were a life saver, just sorry I missed you. Gracie will be thrilled when she sees it in the morning."

Dan was mesmerized, staring at the glorious pair of jugs protruding from under Elly’s red silk blouse. He quickly recovered himself. "Glad I can help! Assembling dollhouses I can do, clothes buying and fashion, not so much. Did you have any trouble at the mall?"

Elly smiled, "Nope, as I told you, I was buying for Gracie and Josie anyways, picking up a few things for Samantha was no problem, and you do fine. Seriously, I'm not great at trends either, but at least they'll all match each other, so they can suffer together. I got some of Sam's stuff a size up from what you said by the way, her birthday isn't for ages, and she won't make it to the fall in the size she's in." Elly said handing Dan a stack of packages that, he noticed she had wrapped neatly for him, another thing off the list, tonight. “I hope you don't mind?”

"Oh, not at all, I hadn't noticed, clothes were clearly not my department. Jane usually;" he stopped; thinking of his late wife; and fighting back the grief, "anyways, thanks."

"Hey, Dan don't feel bad, like I said, you're doing great. These are minor things considering what you three have been through, given Jane's