"Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but what we give."

~Ben Carson

"Dammit. I think I got another paper cut."

I set the wrapped package down in front of me, looking down at my already cut index finger. Ty was looking up from where he had finished wrapping another present on the loveseat and dropped it into the red bag on the floor beside him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, resting his hands on his knees as he prepared to stand up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I muttered, "How are you managing to wrap all of those without getting paper cuts?" He shrugged, looking down at his perfect hands, clear of any sign of cuts.

"I guess I just have a way with wrapping things. Know any place that hires people that can do that?" He joked, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Actually, I-"

"I was being sarcastic, Alyssa." He stood up, shaking his head as he walked toward the kitchen to grab more tape.

I continued to wrap the Barbie doll in my hands in Christmas tree wrapping paper, hissing whenever the cut would brush against the paper.

"You need some help?" Ty asked, crouching down beside me, holding the tape out in front of me. I looked up and over at where the pile of the toys he should have been wrapping were supposed to be, but were no where in sight.

"You're done?" I gasped, surprised. I still had most of my pile beside me.

"Yeah. I can help you if you want." He whispered, sneaking a smile in my direction. I moved over a little and tossed a board game into his hands, then the wrapping paper.

"Thanks." He nodded, reaching across my lap to grab the scissors. We stayed quiet for a while, sitting side by side and wrapping the remaining presents. Sometime during it, I started humming an old song my sister had been obsessed with under my breath, Ty glanced toward me every once and a while and just stared, as if he were trying to place the song.

"Can you sing?" He finally asked after we cleaned up and shoved the supplies back in the closet.

"Steph used to say I could, but I hate my voice." I responded, shifting on my feet awkwardly under his curious gaze. He reached up and rubbed the five o' clock shadow that had begun to grow again, his lips tugging into a smile again.

"I'm sure you're great." He said, making a gesture with his hands, "Sing something." I shook my head, tucking my hair behind my ear as I grabbed one of the red sacks full of presents from the floor and set it on the couch.

"Come on, Alyssa. I want to hear it." He tried again, taking the other sack from the floor before I could and setting it on the couch in front of us.

"Fine. But if your ears start bleeding, it's not on me." I joked, shutting my eyes as I let out a nervous laugh. I started to sing my sister's favorite song, shutting my eyes as I listened to myself. I barely made it through the chorus when I felt tears starting to sting my eyes.

"Man In The Mirror?" Ty cut my singing off, obviously aware I was about to start crying, "By Michael Jackson. Was that her favorite song?" His tone was so soft that I barely heard him. I reached up and wiped the tears from my eyes. 

"Yeah." I mumbled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to start crying." He smiled sadly, touching my shoulder comfortingly. 

"I understand, you don't have to apologize." He whispered, and he slowly opened his arms up, offering me a hug. I hesitated for a second before taking it, burying my face against his shoulder.

It wasn't much, not at all. But it was the first time anyone had shown me any type of comfort in the last month, and he wouldn't even begin to understand just how much I appreciated it.

*

It was hard not to start laughing the second Ty came out of the Men's bathroom at the shelter in a Santa outfit.

"Do I look that bad?" He raised an eyebrow, reaching down to touching the fat suit he had put on. I shook my head, finally letting out the laugh I had been holding in.

"No. You look. . . you look like Santa Claus." I replied. He gave me a confused look as he pried my fingers from the red sack in my hands and slung it over his shoulder.

"I don't know how to feel about that." He looked over my simplistic outfit, "How come you didn't have to dress up as Santa?" I fixed my elf ear and grinned.

"Because you were here and you make a much better one." I slapped a hand on his shoulder as I responded, my smile stretching across my face even more. "Plus I'd have been Mrs. Claus, not Santa and the kids would have been asking all kinds of question."

"Yeah, yeah. Way to make a guy feel better." I followed him down the hall and toward Vanessa Abrahams standing in front of the play room. I'd met her once before and I was sure she probably didn't recognize me, as I'd been fairly young myself and hiding behind my brother the entire time. 

"Alyssa Morrison?" She guessed, outstretching your hand, "I'm Nessie, I think we spoke on the phone." I nodded, taking her hand.

"We did. Thank you for letting us do this." She waved her hand, her green eyes bright.

"No, thank you for doing this. The kids are ecstatic." She gestured into the room behind her. "I'm so sorry about Steph, she was such a beautiful soul. We all loved her here."

I thanked her quietly, hoping she wouldn't press the subject further. I probably wouldn't be able to hold it together much longer. Christmas had always been Steph's favorite holiday, so doing this was a reminder of her in itself. 

She asked us about the guard's inspecting the gifts and everything before she pushed the door to the room open and started clapping so she could get the kids attention.

"Hey there, kiddos! We've got some special guests here for you today!" Nessie said, gesturing at us. I saw the few women in the room look up in surprise, while most of the kids froze and looked at us, awestruck.

"Now, we're going to be polite, right? Santa and his little helper are going to give you a present, but you have to ask your mommies or me if you can open it, okay?" All the kids nodded eagerly, a few of them dancing in anticipation. The few that were in wheelchairs looked toward their parents in excitement. I glanced sideways at Ty, catching his eye and smiling.

"All right, go on." Nessie nodded at us as she let the kids move toward us. I felt my heart clench a little when I saw a few of them were in wheelchairs, some were walking with a limp as well.

"Hey there, kiddo!" Ty knelt down in front of the first boy in line, pulling a present out and made sure it would be boy oriented or gender neutral.

"Hi." He said, his eyes drifting from Ty to me, "A. . . A. . . Are y. . . y. . .you Santa's e. . .e. . .elf?" He asked. I felt my stomach twist again at the his stutter, my lips tugged up into a grin despite my emotions trying their best to get the best of me. 

"I am. I hope you've been a good boy." He nodded.

"I h. . . have b. . . been." He replied. Ty handed him the present, watching with a brightness in his blue eyes as the dark haired boy walked away, hugging the package to his chest.

A lot of the kids introduced themselves and why they were here when they reached us, some of them hugging Ty and me, and some of them took the box skeptically, as if they were afraid it would get ripped away from them seconds later. 

"Ally!" I looked up at the familiar squeak, a smile stretching across my face as Ty lifted his head, recognizing his daughter's voice immediately. 

It had been about a week since we had been to his parents house. His mom had allowed him to talk on the phone with Tessie for an hour all week.  She had actually been fairly nice as well, not snapping at him when he did or making unnecessary comments as she had while we'd been at the house.

"Hey there, Tessie!" I said, kneeling down and hugging the little girl. I looked up to find Ty's mom standing at the door, holding three fingers up before she turned her back to us and walked out.

"Santa." Tessie gasped, gaping at Ty in the Santa suit in front of her. She looked as if she had just been let loose in a candy store for the first time.

"Hey there, Tessie." Ty said, crouching down in front of his daughter. She threw her hands over her chest, hopping up and down.

"He knows my name! Santa knows my name!" She exclaimed, grabbing my arm excitedly.

"Have you been a good girl?" Ty asked her. She nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, I promise." I leaned down and ruffled Tessie's hair.

"I'm going to tell you a secret." I whispered, "That isn't Santa, that's Daddy in there." She frowned, then moved closer and inspected Ty's face. After a second, she threw her arms around him and whispered something in his ear.

"How?" He mouthed. I smiled, backing toward the kids sitting on the couches unwrapping their presents with their parents. 

"I'll explain later." I mouthed back before turning around and joining the kids behind me. I sat down beside a little girl and her mom, playing with an American Girl doll. 

"Thank you." She said quietly, brushing a strand of her daughter's blonde hair behind her ear, "I told her she wouldn't be getting anything for Christmas because we couldn't afford it." The little girl held up the doll, giggling.

"But I did, Mommy. See?" She handed the doll to her mom, watching as she nodded.

"You did, baby girl. It's so pretty." She handed the doll back to her young daughter and mouthed another thank you. I reached into the bag beside me and held out a small gift to the girl's mother.

"Here. We got a few things here for all your incredible mom's as well." She looked surprised as her hands slowly peeled the paper off. She blinked in surprise when she found the gift card, perfume, and letter with money inside it.

"No, darling. I can't take-"

"You can." I responded, pushing the box back toward her once she had held it back out to me, "I can't even imagine what it would be like to live with someone like. . . like that." I saw tears fill her eyes as she laughed quietly.

"I hope you don't ever have to, sweetheart. But Hearts For Hearts here has done more then I could ever ask for. And you, you coming here and doing this for my daughter and all these kids, it's unbelievable that there are people out there with such big hearts." I stood up, returning her smile.

"It makes you think about things, you know? Just when you think the world is terrible, that it's bad, people like you come out of the woodworks and give me faith in the world again."  

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

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~ChasingMadness24