Teddy Bear Christmas

By CC Bridges

Two lonely men, a lost teddy bear, and a sprinkle of holiday magic….

On a snowy night before Christmas Eve, Tyler Martin finds himself stuck in a Chicago airport, unable to get home to his family on the East Coast. After missing last year due to his jerk of an ex-boyfriend, the idea of not making it this time hurts. When he finds a lost teddy bear in the waiting area, his night changes for the better.

Aaron Klein is a bored airport worker, taking the Christmas shift because he’s Jewish. He doesn’t expect to hit it off with the hot guy who brings a lost teddy bear to his desk, but it might end up being everything he didn’t know he was looking for.

T
YLER
WINCED
as his body connected with the back of the plastic airport chair. These things were not meant for comfort. He pressed his phone closer to his ear, trying to make out his mom’s voice over the sounds of the other travelers milling around and the voice droning over the PA. At least for the moment, the instrumental versions of the greatest holiday hits had paused.

“It’s delayed, Mom. Not canceled. I’m gonna wait it out.” Maybe, just maybe, he’d make it home for Christmas Eve dinner after all. He tucked his feet in to avoid tripping a family scrambling past. The father figure had a literal sack over his shoulder, filled with what looked to be wrapped presents from what Tyler could see peeking over the top.

“Maybe it’s best if you don’t come.” His mother’s voice sounded tinny down the line. “It’s safer.”

He stilled at her words. Not come? Tyler wouldn’t even consider the possibility. He wasn’t missing the Feast of the Seven Fishes this time. He hadn’t appreciated it as a kid, but now as an adult, he needed that connection with his family and his heritage. “I’m already at the airport. Took my shoes off for TSA and everything.”

“There’s six inches of snow on the ground.”

And what were the odds of that? His first winter in Chicago and it was his parents who had gotten the Christmas blizzard. “I won’t get there till tomorrow anyway. They’ll clear it all away by then.” Tyler didn’t know who he was trying to convince. “I’ll call you when I find out what’s going on.”

They said their good-byes, and he tucked his phone back in his pocket. Tyler wiggled his ass and tried to make the seat a little more comfortable. Maybe if he took his coat and made himself a cushion? It was stupid hot in the airport, but Tyler couldn’t check his jacket, not when winter waited outside for whenever he’d make it off that airplane.

Tyler had just pulled his tablet out of his carry-on bag when he saw it. In one of the chairs directly across from him, a teddy bear sat. It looked well loved, with plaid ears and a pink ribbon tied around its neck. It even had a little felt suitcase attached to one hand. Sitting there alone, the teddy appeared to be waiting for a flight.

Chuckling, he snapped a picture and posted it to his Facebook with the caption: “My traveling companion.”

Some kid would be disappointed. Tyler looked around to see if any children nearby seemed to be looking for something, but they all were either glued to a digital device or shrieking at the top of their lungs. The bear couldn’t belong to the elderly couples on either side, although he supposed it could be a gift.

Why sit it on an airport waiting chair, then?

He’d give it a few minutes longer. Maybe the poor bear’s owner would show up before too long.

The waiting area around the gate filled and emptied twice. Other planes were taking off, but not his. Tyler pulled up the airline app and frowned at the blinking
delayed
. He tucked his tablet away and realized the bear still sat there, staring at him with its pretty brown eyes. Tyler scooped it out of the seat. Poor little guy. His owner had probably already left by now. Time to take him to Lost and Found.

Gamma Airlines had a concierge kiosk in the middle of the waiting area, in the center of the gates. As Tyler approached, he got a good look at the guy manning it, currently on the phone. He took a moment to appreciate the dark wavy hair and the broad shoulders. Then the guy looked up, and he had amazing pale green eyes. Wow.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, no one has brought anything like that in.” He nodded at Tyler and held up a finger as he continued the call. “I can certainly leave a note and tell them to be on the lookout for it.” He pulled out a pen and started to jot notes on a Post-it. “Pink ribbon? Where?”

Tyler looked at the bear in his hands. Could it be? He plopped it down on the desk. “Is this it?”

The man looked at the bear. “Ma’am, does it have plaid ears?”

Tyler could hear the loud squeal through the phone from where he stood. He bit his lip to keep from laughing.

The guy winced slightly, but calmly took down the caller’s information. “Stop at the concierge on your return trip, ma’am. We’ll have it in storage.” He set down the phone, and only then did Tyler notice he had a name tag that said “Aaron.” “You have absolutely perfect timing.”

“I knew someone had to be missing this little guy.” Tyler shrugged. “And it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do, with my flight delayed.”

“East Coast? Yeah, bad weather out there right now. Did you want me to check your flight status?” Aaron had set the bear down in front of his computer, and it looked like the bear was typing.

Tyler couldn’t help himself. He took out his phone and snapped a picture. “Sorry,” he apologized immediately after doing it. It probably seemed a really weird thing to do. “It looks like the bear is manning your desk.”

“His name is Oliver,” Aaron said very seriously, his lips quirking a bit to betray the smile he was hiding.

Tyler did laugh. “Well, Sir Oliver clearly has a very busy night ahead of him.” He told Aaron his flight number and got the disappointing news that there still was no update, other than a delay. “Great. I was really hoping to make it home for Christmas this year.” He’d promised Mom.

Aaron’s fingers continued to move on the keyboard. “Would you like me to try to get you on another flight? There’s one leaving tomorrow morning… oh.”

“Yeah, the waiting list for that one is like a hundred people deep.” Tyler had already been through this.

“I’ll add you to the list, just in case.” Even Aaron didn’t seem convinced.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Tyler went back to his seat and dug out his headphones. He only put one bud in so he could still hear if they announced his flight, but otherwise he was going to lose himself in his favorite podcast and hope he’d soon be cleared for take-off.

T
HE
NEXT
hour flew by, although Aaron had hardly realized it until Janelle arrived to give him his break. He flexed his hands, trying to work out the kinks in his fingers from typing flight numbers in so many times. Lots of planes were still stuck on the ground. What shitty luck for some people. This was the absolute worst time to travel, weather-wise, and of course everyone needed to be on the other side of the country posthaste. It seemed a lot of work for only one night of presents.

“I’d keep this list up,” he told Janelle. “It’s what I’ve gotten the most questions on.”

“Okay, but what am I supposed to do with this?” She held up the teddy bear he’d left by the computer.

Aaron could feel his cheeks heat. “Oh, that’s for Lost and Found. I have the owner’s name. They’ll pick it up on their way back through the airport. I’ll take care of him.”

“Him?” She laughed before turning to the person who’d come up to the counter.

Aaron figured he’d best escape now if he wanted his lunch break.

He’d left the men’s room when he spotted the hot guy from earlier still sitting at the gate. Aaron felt a bit like a creeper, having gotten the guy’s name from looking up his flight information. At least he knew it now, so he wasn’t thinking of “Tyler Martin” as “Flight 292.” Tyler was farmer’s market hot, with tousled dirty-blond hair, honey-colored brown eyes, and enough scruff on his cheeks to make Aaron want to run his hands through it. It was the kind of light beard that would feel good against his inner thighs.

Wow, that escalated quickly. He purchased a bottle of water with his lunch and held it to his forehead to cool down. Aaron barely knew more than Tyler’s name. He shouldn’t be cooking up sexual fantasies about him.

“Hey.”

A voice from behind had Aaron jumping and dropping his water. Aaron bent to pick it up and nearly collided with Tyler, who’d also crouched to give him a hand. Great, if he didn’t look totally klutzy before, this clinched it.

“Sorry, sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.” He handed Aaron back the bottle, condensation dripping down its sides.

Aaron clutched the bottle close to his chest, next to his packaged sandwich. “You surprised me.” Especially since he’d seen Tyler sitting a few minutes before. Did that mean he’d been watching Aaron? Maybe this evening wasn’t completely crappy after all.

“That’s why you jumped ten feet?” Tyler grinned, a sweet smile that made him look like a devilish boy. “Sorry about scaring you half to death.”

“I’m still alive, so no problem.” Aaron racked his brain for a way to keep this conversation going. Even on his best days, Aaron wasn’t great at flirting—or attempting to flirt, even—never mind after a long and busy shift. “You grabbing some food? The pastrami isn’t bad.”

Great, now he was giving deli advice. Flight delay information and food court director.

“Sure. Want to get a table?”

“Um.” That meant Tyler wanted to eat together? “Yes, that’s a great idea.” Aaron nodded for good measure.

A few minutes later, they were standing around a tall circular tabletop in the center of the food court, unable to find any place to actually sit. Someone had left behind a crumpled Christmas decoration, and Aaron pushed it aside with his tray. They’d be finding glitter and stuff like that for weeks afterward. He couldn’t wait until the airport cleared out and he could get back to the relative peace of his early-morning shift.

Tyler took a bite out of his sandwich and then stopped to lick stray crumbs off his plump lips. The action had Aaron twisting to keep his footing, so he almost missed Tyler’s next comment. “This must be a great place to do some people watching.”

“Oh, sure, I guess. I help so many different people….” Aaron struggled to pay attention to the conversation and not the crumb hanging off Tyler’s chin that begged to be brushed away. There was no point in getting attached if Tyler played for the wrong team. And Aaron couldn’t get a read on Tyler yet. It wasn’t like they were pressed together in a club, where he could smell the musk and sweat coming off his body and knew his attraction was matched.

“And wrangle lost teddy bears for frantic moms.”

“That too,” he laughed. “So where exactly are you headed?” Tyler had said “home” before, but Aaron was really wanting to know if home meant back to visit family or returning from a trip, maybe to see a long-distance girlfriend.

“New Jersey. To visit my parents and the large Italian side of my family.” Tyler ducked his head, and Aaron found it so adorable. “It’s like a bad sitcom come to life, really. My mom has four sisters.”

“You didn’t go last year?” Aaron wanted to keep him talking. He grasped every detail, to try to figure out who Tyler was.

“Yeah, I missed out last Christmas for a stupid reason. I was seeing this guy, and he wanted to spend the holidays together… too bad the relationship didn’t last.”

That saved Aaron the trouble of asking awkward questions about possible girlfriends. He felt a flare of anger for any idiot who’d let Tyler go. “Well, that sucks.”

“Trust me, I’m better off without him.” Tyler sipped his drink. “What about you? Drew the short straw and now have to work the Christmas shift?”

Aaron laughed. “My normal Christmas celebration includes Chinese food and whatever’s playing at the local movie theater. I’m Jewish,” he clarified at Tyler’s puzzled expression.

“Ah.” Tyler nodded. “Is there anyone special you celebrate Hanukkah with?”

“Is that a thinly veiled attempt to find out if I’m dating anyone?” Would it be too much if Aaron ran his foot against Tyler’s leg under the table? Unfortunately it wasn’t like they weren’t in full view of everyone in the airport. He’d better not risk it.

“You didn’t answer the question.” Tyler leaned forward, one eyebrow raised as he waited for a response.

Aaron held up his hand. “I’m more single than any of Beyoncé’s ladies.”

Tyler threw his shoulders back and laughed. Aaron flushed with pleasure at someone actually appreciating his jokes. He looked at his watch. “Damn it, I have to get back to the desk.”

“I’ll be around. Obviously. Until this airplane shows up.”

By the time Aaron had gotten back to his desk, he hadn’t decided if Tyler meant that as an invitation or not.

T
HE
LATER
it got, the more the airport emptied. So many people were traveling today, most weighed down with extra luggage—even, in one case, a small potted Christmas tree. Maybe it had its own seat.