"A-A-Antonio," Andrea stuttered, looking like the blood had drained out of her face, as though she was looking at a ghost.
The little boy stared with admiration at the man before him and shouted alarmingly, "Santa's in Town!"
He wiggled his little body out of her arms and offered to carry the hats in. Antonio insisted that he'd do that himself but placed one on the little guy's head. John thanked him and rushed back in excitedly.
"W-What are you doing here?"
"Oh where are my manners not replying to your greeting. Merry Christmas to you too Miss Santa," he said sarcastically, causing her to roll her eyes with a chuckle.
"Merry Christmas to you too Santa Claus. But what are you doing her?"
"What do you think? I came to adopt. It is an orphanage after all," he said nonchalantly.
"Huh?" she asked stunned.
"Except that I'm hearing from sources it would be easier if I had a wife. But how would I get one who would actually like orphaned kids they barely know. Most of the women I know aren't so sentimental. It would be hard," he said and leaned closer to her, making her blush tremendously. "I think you'd be a perfect fit," he whispered into her ear, allowing his warm minty breath to brush her neck and earlobe. He slowly moved away to see her now crimson face. The supposed hard girl image he had of her slowly faded away. She was really cute. She wore a pair of red denim pants and fluffy red winter boots. She wore a white off-shoulder fitting long sleeved top with a fluffy red and white Christmas themed coat and white fluffy earmuffs.
Antonio placed one hat on her head and winked at her. "Unbelievable," she said with a scoff and walked off. Just when she opened the door, the kids rushed out to meet their new found Santa Claus. Antonio clearly looked stunned and was about to back away when he heard the sound of trucks approaching. He whistled at one teenage boy and tossed the box to him. After, he picked up the littlest kid, who was just barely 2 years old, to prevent him from being trampled over by the jumping older kids. He tried to calm the kids down so they don't get too close to the road but they just seemed too excited.
Hopeless and worried about the kids and the approaching trucks, he did what he knew best.
"If you don't calm down, Santa will put you on the naughty list and won't give you the gifts he has," he said sternly. The kids immediately calmed down, quite intimidated by the aura he suddenly began to emit. "Now, Santa is the boss so you have to do as he says. Got it?"
"Ai ai captain," they all said uniformly, which amused him. 'Kids aren't so hard to control after all,' he thought with a satisfied smirk. "Now, I want you all to get behind the man with the box."
"I'm only 15 sir."
"I was considered a man at your age," Antonio said with a confident smirk making the guy chuckle. Once everyone was in position, he turned to open his car, still carrying 2 years old Jordan, who kept staring at him with a smile.
"Cheeky," he said after looking at the little boy.
"Chigi," the boy said back, amazing Antonio.
When the door to his car opened up, there was a uniform "Wooooow" sang by the children behind him. Antonio rolled his eyes with a chuckle and took out a huge Santa Claus coat from the passenger's seat. He stared at it for a little while. It was once his dad's. He had worn it every Christmas to entertain Antonio.
Mother Tiana and the rest of the caretakers in the orphanage came out, wondering what was happening on the street. They had been busy packing the packages Andrea brought inside and didn't even know Antonio arrived.
"What on Earth is going on in the streets. So much noi..." she was saying before she spotted a familiar yet unfamiliar face on the front yard with the kids. She turn around to look at Andrea who seemed busy videoing everything with her drone hovering over the front yard.
"Antonio Robles!" Mother Tiana and the three other caretakers said in utter shock.
"What's that?" one little girl asked and attempted to rush to check on the street. Fortunately or unfortunately for her, Antonio swiftly placed his coat on her little body, causing her to halt. With his hand still on her frozen body, he turned her head 180 degrees and took the coat back. "I said to maintain position," he said sounding like a captain, playfully.
"Roger that captain," she said like a soldier and saluted, marching back to her position.
'I thought the trucks would be here by now. How is it still getting louder? It almost sounds like a tra...' he didn't get to complete his statement when three trucks looking like trains, literally, parked in front of his car, fully loaded.
The worker Antonio spoke to this morning rushed out immediately. For a second, he was frozen and didn't move. 'Is he actually carrying a child leisurely?' he thought and brushed it off. "Sir, per the list you sent, there were so many things so we needed to get an extra train truck. They vehicles were exciting, that's why I picked those. What do you think boss?" he asked nervously and quite pleased with his choice.
"I think it's good. Well done. You and your people have earn a good bonus for Christmas," Antonio said, almost smiling.
"Bonus? Thank you so much boss," he said so excitedly. Antonio had always been generous when his workers do a satisfying job. However, he would often just add the bonus when that happened, like it was already part of their pay. Everyone new that once he said he was giving a bonus, it didn't mean mere addition to the pay but rather multiplication of the pay.
"Boyos," the baby in Antonio's arm said, trying to repeat the word bonus.
"The paparazzi was right behind us. They should be here so..."
The chattering of people with cameras and microphones suddenly cut him. "They're here now."
"Alright kids. At ease," Antonio said like a commander and chuckled when they all released a breath he didn't know they were holding. "Put on your best smiles for the cameras. You'll be on TV soon." The kids were amazed staring at everything going on before them.
The paparazzi suddenly surrounded Antonio but his men made sure they didn't get too close to him or the kids.
He allowed them take as many photos as they liked as the men set up the play ground for the kids at the front and back yard. They also set up a brick and metal fence to separate the front yard from the road. They took pictures of the kids and spoke with them. The entire place was active and full of excitement, with some of the reporters playing with the kids.
The teenage boy, Fred took the little boy from Antonio to go enjoy themselves. He was the oldest kid at the orphanage.
Everyone was having fun. However, someone was missing. Antonio looked towards the house and got a glimpse of Andrea's coat at the window side. He quietly went into the building and snuck up on her.
"What're you doing?" he whispered into her ear from behind. She jumped to her feet, almost dropping the controller of her drone.
"Geez! Antonio! Quit doing that," she said flushed. He smiled with satisfaction at her reaction.
"Why are you videoing from here," he asked.
"Because there are cameras everywhere," she said focusing her attention back to her controller. "As I said, I have no interest in attracting so much attention."
"And let me guess, once you step out, all the cameras will be drawn to you because you're too stunning, huh?" He said cheekily causing her to turn back to him with a little frown. "Because you're too gorgeous the camera men won't be able to focus the cameras anywhere else but on your captivating appearance," he said getting closer and closer to her, "Your walk will get heading moving to the melodious rhythm of the clicks of your heels and rhythmic swaying of your perfect hips. A mere glance at any of the men working would be deemed seductive enough to cause them to lose focus and injure themselves. The guards' visions would turn blurry to everything other than you....because, damn, you're hot. Is that it?" At that point, Andrea was backed against the wall and Antonio had trapped her with both his hands blocking her at the sides. She was absolutely flushed and even cuter than usual. In no time, their faces were barely an inch away. Andrea's mind was a mess. She was being towered by a muscular dominating man. She could barely focus on anything other than the hazel brown eyes staring down at her so intensely with an expression she couldn't read. His hot pink sumptuous lips tensed her up even more as the slightest move could whined up in a kiss.