She called my name.

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Everyone has so many wishes and desires for Christmas. How they wish to spend time with their loved ones, family, and friends.
The fantasy stories are told to little children about Santa Claus and its magical ride. The stories of making a wish when your tooth falls out and then hoping the tooth fairy will grant your wishes. Well, these were stories told to us by our grandparents, to our parents, and then to our generation to come. Those stories have created a magical memory from my childhood, but now, as an adult, everything became clear to me.

The clock ticked at 9 p.m. making a loud announcement. I sat quietly on my work desk, as I kept staring at the blank white A4 paper with a silver pen at its side waiting for the owner to fully it's the purpose of creation. But, no, I sat still, pondering on what to write on. What to fill on that fresh white A4 paper.

My mind was colliding with words I couldn't process or put together. I was lost in my thoughts, but still, I could hear the cry of my little-year-old daughter, Clara, who couldn't talk yet but had the strength of a little unicorn. Her mother couldn't take away anything she was holding without my intervention. A year-old baby with a strong grip. Lol.

Her crying kept increasing accompanied by continuous screaming, maybe her mother took something from her. Despite her screaming, it couldn't break me out from my deep thoughts, as I kept staring at the paper. Then, my mind traveled back home. Back to when I was a little boy.

It was far back in 1990 when everybody came back home to celebrate Christmas with their family and loved ones. That was when I celebrated my tenth birthday. The only time I could remember the smile of my father before he crossed to the cold hands of death.

The Christmas celebration was amazing, all my cousins, brothers, and sister were back home after some much adventure and search for greener pastures, which many did find and some didn't give up for the search. The happiness in the air was over 100%, as everyone brought back home with lots of gifts and surprises.

A lot of sweets and foreign chocolates were painted on my teeth with different colors causing pain to my teeth. But in the pain, I couldn't let it wary me down, as I continued to have fun with my cousins, despite the warning from my father to stay behind and rest. But I couldn't. My energy was at its peak and it needed to be discharged.

Food and drinks were everywhere, as neighbors came in to join the celebration. The time came for food to be served by our mothers, then my father called out for me to wait with her.

"James… James…" He shouted.

"Yes, Daddy," I replied from a far end.

"Come over here and eat with me because it's getting late."

With joy, I left what I was doing and ran towards my father, and sat on his lap. He had that unique scent that could stick to one's cloth, something I wonder if it was natural or his perfume. When the food was brought to the table, my father was served. I was curious to know what was inside those plates. I could feel the movement of my saliva move up and down in my throat because of the food aroma.

My father looked at me and laughed at my curious look, as he slowly opened the plate. And it was boiled yam and a hot chicken pepper soup, which had four boiled chicken laps with pepper sauce on them. Salivating right?

Immediately, I jumped down from my father's lap to take a bite of one of the boiled chicken lap. Suddenly, my dad held my waist, slowly carried me, and placed me on his lap back. Then said, "James, Slow down. I'll feed you this time." He smiled at me.

"Okay, Daddy."

He took his fork and cut a small part of the boiled yam and placed it in the pepper soup then fed me continuously. But I was growing tired of eating just yam, without having a bite of the boiled pepper sauce chicken lap.

"Daddy, can I have a bite of the chicken lap?" He noticed how impatient and tiring I was of eating just the boiled yam and pepper soup.

"Alright, son. Go ahead. Take a chicken lap. It's all yours."

Immediately, I stretched out my hand towards the plate and grabbed the chicken lap, then straight to my mouth. Suddenly, I shouted.

"Ahh…. My teeth…" I cried bitterly.

"Oh, my poor boy. Your teeth just fall off. Sorry, son." He tried calming me down, but the pain was unbearable, as I cried uncontrollably till I was carried to my bedroom to sleep. Then father told me a short story about tooth fairies and their magical gift. He asked me to make a wish on my teeth and place it under my pillow, then sleep on it, which I did.

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The next morning, I woke up without pain, then I remembered my fallen tooth under my pillow. Without hesitation, I raised my pillow up. But to my surprise, my tooth was gone and replaced with a silver ring that had a word inscribed in it. "Believe"

As I took the ring. I ran to my daddy's bedroom, shouting. "The tooth fairy gave me a ring."

Suddenly, I felt a touch at my feet. Immediately I regained myself and remembered what I was about to do. Then I looked down at my feet to see what touched me. And that was little Clara, looking at me with her cute curved eyes like a puppy, raising her hands for me to carry her. Then I slowly bent down to her level and lifted her to my lap, while I was seated on my work desk.

I looked into her eyes. I could only see innocence and peace. She stretched her left little hand to touch my cheek and then said. "Da… Daddy "

My eyes widened in shock. "She called my name?" "Honey… She called Daddy." I shouted with joy in my heart. My daughter's first word was perfect.

Merry Christmas everyone.

_{The End}