"Now what?" I asked.

  "Ju-Ju!" he said and pointed.

  "Was she teasing you again?"

  He nodded with a sniffle. "I miss my binky," he said, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "She called me a baby."

  I smiled and took Will in my arms. "You're not a baby," I said. "You're a big boy now. A big boy who doesn't need his binky anymore."

  He sniffled again, then nodded. "Big boy."

  "There you go."

  "Mo-om?" It was Julie. She came into the bedroom too, Tobias right behind her.

  "It's a party now," I said smiling.

  "When are we going to Disney World?"

  I sighed. It was a question the kids asked every day now. I had promised I'd take them, but I was worried about Sune. Would he come? I had told him it was probably not a problem to navigate a wheelchair around Disney World, but he didn't seem very thrilled about the idea of spending the entire day there, having all those staring eyes at him and kids pointing fingers and asking their parents What is wrong with that man? Or even worse, hearing the parents tell them Not to stare.

  I had kept postponing it, but time was running out. Christmas was coming up in a week and it had to be before then. Plus, I was eager to get out of this strange house and maybe even the entire town. It was starting to get on my nerves.

  "You know what? Let me talk to your dad about doing it tomorrow, okay?"

  58

  "I’m not going."

  "You can't be serious."

  I was looking at Sune. As usual, he was sitting in the media room, looking out the window, his back turned to me.

  "Well, I am. I’m not going to Disney World."

  "Sune," I said. "Your kids have been looking forward to going ever since we told them about this trip. They want you to be there. They want to experience it all with their dad. Don't you get that? You're missing out on everything. This trip could have been so much fun if you took part in some of the stuff we do. Going to Kennedy Space Center would have been a lot more fun if you had been with us. The kids asked about you all the time. Tobias was so worried, he could hardly enjoy it. You can't seriously tell me you don't want to go to Disney World?"

  He shrugged. "Well, I’m very sorry that the fact that I can't walk has destroyed your vacation time."

  "That's not what I meant and you know it perfectly well. You're twisting my words again."

  He sighed. "It's not like I’m missing out on anything. I can't go on any rides anyway."

  I stomped my feet in anger. "Damn it, Sune! We're not going to Disney for your sake. We're going for the kids. Go for them, not yourself. For once, get your head out of your bellybutton, will you?"

  I growled, turned around and left, slamming the door behind me. I was so sick of this, so tired of him feeling sorry for himself.

  But as soon as I had slammed the door, I was overwhelmed with guilt. Who was I to get angry with him? I knew nothing about what it was like to be in his position.

  "I take it he's not coming?" Tobias said.

  "Are we not going to Disney tomorrow, then?" Julie asked concerned.

  William looked up from the drawing he was making on the breakfast counter, a whimper emerging from his lips.

  "Oh, we're going," I said as I opened the fridge and pulled out some dough to make a fresh batch of cookies. I was determined to make this the best Christmas ever, no matter whether Sune participated or not.

  "And we're going to have a great time."

  The kids looked at one another. Only William cheered. The two others smiled but didn't dare say anything out loud.

  The next day, when we were all getting ready to go, the door to the media room suddenly opened and Sune pushed his chair out.

  I stared at him, mouth agape. "You dressed?" I looked at his wet hair. "And showered?"

  He smiled. "I can hardly go to Disney World wearing the same thing I’ve worn for the past week, now can I? I mean, I might meet Mickey and you can't be dirty when meeting Mickey, can you?"

  The kids could hardly contain their excitement, and frankly, neither could I. "Let's go then," I said and shooed the kids into the car, then helped Sune get in as well.

  "I might have made a mess on the bathroom floor," he said in a low voice. "It's a little flooded."

  I smiled, then leaned over and kissed him. It took both of us by surprise. We hadn't been close in a very long time. "I'm sure it's okay," I said. "I’m sure it will be just fine."

  59

  Disney World's Magic Kingdom was even more overwhelming than I had imagined. And so perfect for Christmas. Everything was dressed in lights and the whole atmosphere was so magic.

  I had bought tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, that started late in the afternoon. As soon as we came up to the main entrance—after taking the boat ride across the lake to the entrance—I saw Elsa in a holiday outfit, holding a sign for the Christmas Party. We followed her so we could enter via our special party tickets.

  "Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration will be on the stage in front of the castle and the Oh-so-Jolly Holiday Parade is at six o'clock. Here's all the info you'll need," a lady wearing antlers said and handed me a brochure. "Have a great time."

  The first thing I saw when we entered was Cinderella's castle, all dressed in lights, making it look like a giant ice sculpture. It was breathtaking. So were the shops and the streets, dressed in Christmas decorations. I was quickly so filled with music and Christmas spirit that I found myself pushing Sune up Main Street, humming along to Christmas carols, and eating snickerdoodle cookies. The kids walked beside me, eyes wide and mouths open, till someone handed them a cookie to stuff their mouths with. I have never seen so many cookies in my life. Or so many different types. Besides the snickerdoodles, there were snowman sugar cookies, gingersnap molasses cookies, and peppermint bark cookies. We had barely made it to the end of Main Street before William complained of a stomachache. I told Julie and Tobias to take him on a ride somewhere to get his mind off of it.

  "Something gentle, not spinning too much or he might throw up," I yelled after them, but they were already gone. I had promised the big kids that if they took Will on a couple of small rides, then they could be off to the bigger ones by themselves and I would take care of Will the rest of the time.

  I swallowed another cookie and washed it down with the coffee I had bought on the way. Sune seemed to enjoy his as well. I found a bench and parked him there, right in front of the castle, and we sat for a little while in silence, sipping coffee and eating cookies that were so good I was certain I would never bake any again since they would never be as moist or have the same nice texture, fluffiness, or flavor. My days as a cookie baker were over, I thought to myself with a chuckle.

  Sune smiled as he spotted Donald Duck wearing a Christmas outfit. There was a long line of kids waiting to have their pictures taken with him.

  "Do you want to go see Mickey's house?" I asked. "When the kids get back?"

  I felt his hand on top of mine. "I’m so glad I came."

  I smiled. It was almost like seeing my old Sune again. "Well, I’m glad you did too."

  "This is much better than just sitting at home all alone," he said. "So what if I have to experience it all from a chair? At least I always have somewhere to sit, right?"

  The kids came back, their faces red with excitement, their hair wild. "Mom. Mom. Santa is in the Town Square," Julie said.

  My heart stopped. "Really?"

  "Yes," she said panting from running. "Can we take William to see him?"

  "I…I…"

  "Of course, you can," Sune said, looking at me annoyed. "What's wrong with you? It's Santa."

  60

  I followed them closely, pushing Sune in front of me.

  "Why are you all worked up?" Sune asked.

  "You know how I feel, Sune," I said.

  "To be honest, no, I don't. I know you’ve told me something crazy about seeing blood in the chimney and hearing sounds coming from it. I also know you've been meeting with that detective and talked to him about some old story about a boy being trapped in the chimney and now he's haunting people or something ridiculous. What was it you said again? Oh, yeah, killing people, especially kids, all through December as a revenge. I swear, I don't know where you get all these stories from, Rebekka, but it’s sounding more and more crazy and I’m getting a little worried about you."

  "Right now, I’m a lot more worried about William," I said, ignoring his remarks about me being crazy.

  "Well, stop it, will you? Don't ruin this trip to this magical place by worrying about something that doesn’t even exist. Please? Don't make me regret coming with you."

  I sighed when I spotted Santa sitting in his sleigh in the middle of Town Square. Kids were already lining up to meet him. Including mine.

  "I mean, just look at him for cryin' out loud," Sune said. "He's the merriest, jolliest fellow in the world. Look at those red cheeks, at the belly that jumps when he laughs. How can anyone be afraid of that?"

  I looked at Santa sitting in his sleigh, then felt a shiver go down my spine. Was Sune right? He was the happiest guy on the planet who loved children and gave them presents. What's not to like? Why did I insist on having this dread inside of me?

  "I…I just…Well, maybe this Santa is fine," I said and pushed Sune closer to make sure I was close enough to my kids to help if they needed it.

  "You're darn right he's fine," Sune said with a laugh. "You worry too much, Rebekka. It's not good for you."

  I drew in a deep breath of air and calmed myself down the best I knew how. The kids were so excited. I could tell by looking at their faces. Especially William. He was about to explode. Maybe I could finally get him to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.

  "What's so creepy about him anyway?" Sune muttered.

  "What's not creepy?" I asked. "I mean, come on. If anyone else acted like Santa, they'd be arrested. Think about it. He sees you when you're sleeping? The idea of an old man looming over my bed at night while I sleep isn't exactly comforting. He comes down my chimney? We let him into our houses every year and he just comes down the chimney, doesn't even use the door. He wants kids to sit on his lap? How creepy is that? He knows when I’m awake? He writes a list of people's names? Who else writes a list like that? Serial killers, that's who."

  "Rebekka. You're rambling."

  "I know," I said, wiping my forehead. "It's just…so many strange things have been going on lately and it's freaking me out. I’m scared, Sune."

  Sune turned his head to look at me. "You're scared? That's ridiculous, Rebekka."

  I nodded. "I know that's how you feel; I just can't help it after all that has been going on."

  It was William's turn now and he walked to Santa and up into his sleigh where he sat on his lap, causing my heart to stop. I walked closer to see what was going on, and I heard them chatting.

  "So, Will. Have you been a good boy this year?"

  "Yes," Will said.

  "Good. Good. And what would you like for Christmas?"

  I smiled, listening in, hoping to finally figure out what to buy the boy, but then realized that whatever we bought over here would need to be transported by airplane back to Denmark. It had to fit in our suitcase.

  I was afraid he might ask for a bike or something. In that case, I'd have to make up some story about his bike being at home and he'd get it when he got back. Yes, that is it, I thought. I'll tell him Santa brought it to his real house. It'll work.

  But Will didn't answer. Instead, he shrugged and said: "You know what I want."

  "Ho. Ho. Ho. How can I know if you don't tell me?" Santa asked.

  But still, Will didn't tell him.

  Santa was about to put him down when Will turned to him and asked: "Santa? Do you still have my binky?"

  Santa then reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "Of course, buddy."

  "Can I get it back? I miss it."

  "Ho-Ho-Ho, of course, Will. Of course, you can."

  61

  William wanted to meet Mickey next so we took the railroad to Mickey's Toontown Fair. Tobias and Julie wanted to go to Space Mountain, so we split up once again. I was freaking out after Santa gave Will his binky back. I was in a hurry to get out of there, get away from Town Square. As we sat on the train, chugging through the Magic Kingdom, I thought I could still hear Santa laughing. It made me shiver even though it was eighty degrees.

  I didn't feel like telling Sune about any of this since he was actually enjoying himself for once. I didn't want to spoil it.

  We found Mickey and Minnie and got in line for a meet and greet. It took about an hour in line before it was finally William's turn, but it was worth all the wait once we got the pictures taken and to see the happy face on William.

  After the photo session, we went through Mickey's bright yellow house. It was fun for William to see his kitchen, his living room, and especially Pluto's doghouse in the yard. They had put up a Christmas tree inside Mickey's house and William and I approached it to look closer at the decorations, but then I stopped. There was a snow globe on top of the fireplace. Something was inside of it, it was snowing like someone had just shaken it, but there was something else. There was other movement inside of it. I approached it, even though Will tried to stop me, telling me I wasn't allowed to touch things. I grabbed it and held it in my hand, then nearly dropped it as I realized that inside of this globe, inside the snow, was a small Santa, waving at me. The snow in the globe soon turned red and the crimson mass ran down the glass, smearing it and making it impossible to see anything inside of it.

  I gasped and put it back, then grabbed William by the hand and pulled him out of Mickey's house. Sune had already made it outside and was smiling as we got out.

  "That was fun, huh, buddy?" he said to William.

  "Yeah," Will said.

  "I bought this for you," Sune said and handed Will a huge lollipop. It was bigger than his entire head. William lit up and grabbed it with a loud shriek.

  Sune laughed. "Thought that might make you happy."

  "That was nice of you," I said, still looking back over my shoulder at the house, wondering about that snow globe.

  "What do you want to do next?" Sune asked, clasping his hands. "You wanna see Tomorrowland, maybe?"

  William shook his head.

  "All right, then how about we go see Captain Jack Sparrow at Pirates of the Caribbean?" Sune asked, sounding like a pirate by adding an arrg afterward.

  William whined and then winced.

  "He doesn’t like pirates," I said. "The movies scare him."

  Sune looked surprised. "Okay, then. You tell me, Will. What would you like to see next?"

  "Belle's house," he said, his cheeks gleaming with joy.

  Sune gave me a look. I shrugged. Beauty and the Beast had been Will's favorite movie for a long time, though we skipped the scary parts when the Beast fought Gaston on the roof and when he was too scary, yelling at Belle. William loved Belle and thought she was beautiful.

  "Belle's house it is, I guess," Sune said as he grabbed Will and put him on his lap and rolled forward.

  It warmed my heart to see the two of them together and especially seeing Sune trying so hard. William was happier than I had seen him in a very long time and I could actually say the same for Sune. This was good for them.

  I looked back at Mickey's house and thought I saw something—or someone—peeking out behind the chimney. I shook my head. I simply had to keep it together. I just had to.

  62

  Belle's village was quaint and very much like in the movie. We started out in Maurice's cottage, the house where Belle grew up. It was a small, cute house nestled up in the woods. The inside of it could best be described as whimsical, just like Belle's father in the movie. I really enjoyed it because whoever decorated it had been very true to the movie. And that just made it even more fun for William, who knew every part of the movie by heart.

  The living room surrounding the fireplace—which wasn't a real fireplace, I was happy to realize—was peppered with books, thick books, thin books, books of all colors. On the wall, they had even drawn measuring marks for Belle, where her dad supposedly had recorded her height as she grew up. William pointed at them excitedly and told me it was just like what we had on the wall at grandpa's house. He spoke while chewing on his binky and the sound made me cringe.

  We walked through a door and entered Maurice's workshop, where Maurice's many inventions were hanging or sitting everywhere, along with his tools and his drawings of upcoming inventions. William's favorite thing was a winged light fixture hanging under the ceiling; it kind of looked like Belle's dad had been inventing something that was supposed to fly but then made it into a lamp instead since he didn't want to throw anything away.

  "Where is Belle?" William asked as we continued through.

  "She's probably at the castle," I said, smiling. I knew there was a place where we could meet and greet Belle and decided we had to do it after this.

  "Of course," Will said.

  Sune told us he was feeling too hot and wanted to go outside and get some fresh air and we agreed to meet him out there, then go to the Beast’s castle, and grab something to eat at the Be Our Guest Restaurant.

  We stopped in front of a beautiful gilded mirror hanging on the wall. As we admired it, the mirror came alive, shining bright green, looking like pixie dust was coming off of it.

  "Whoa," Will said and stepped backward.

  A movie of sorts played inside the mirror, telling us this mirror was a portal, taking us now to the castle. In the mirror’s movie, we flew across the forest and could see the castle in the distance, then stopped at the front door. The mirror told us we were about to meet the first friend Belle ever made at the castle and that was when the movie stopped.