Santa Claus Meets Taylor Swift(Martha Huett) Coconut the kitten, a rescued bottle baby whose tiny ears would wiggle as she fed, was glad she was also a little night owl so she could watch through a snowy window as Santa Claus guided his reindeer and sleigh, carrying a wide-eyed and star-struck Taylor Swift, across the darkened sky and onto the roof of her foster mom's Maryland home.

Cats, including kittens like Coconut, have a precise and innate ability to detect who among us love them. And Santa Claus and Taylor Swift, an American song-writing music megastar, most definitely love cats.

"I'm obsessed with cats", Taylor had even outted herself to Santa on their way across the continent to special deliver Christmas gifts to cat shelters and feline rescuers.

"Ho Ho Ho", the jolly man in red and white had laughed. To enlighten her as to why she had been, just moments before, zipping through the frosty high-altitude air with him in his reindeer-led sleigh, he'd added, "That's the very reason I asked you to come along on this leg of my trip - your love for cats, for people, and for the Christmas season. You're perfect for the job!"

Surprised and delighted, the Grammy award-winning musical artist had beamed. "Besides," Santa Claus had revealed to her, "Mrs. Claus is a cat lady and she really wants to meet another self-proclaimed cat lady who also grew up on a Christmas tree farm."

Taylor Alison Swift had actually grown up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania. "In a gingerbread house, deep within the yummy gummy gumdrop forest. Where, funnily enough, this song is their national anthem”, Taylor had joked on social media about her new track, Christmas Tree Farm, released in December a few years back.

When Taylor, at the age of 14, and her family had moved from Pennsylvania to Nashville, Tennessee to allow her to pursue a singing career in country music, she'd brought her love for Christmas with her. Taylor's birthday, being on December 13, was close enough to the blessed day to make her feel a more joyful anticipation of the Christmas holidays than most. Reminiscing of her time growing up on a tree farm and of her December birthday, she'd told Esquire magazine in an interview, "It has cemented in me this unnatural level of excitement about fall and then the holiday season. My friends are so sick of me talking about autumn coming. They’re like, ‘What are you, an elf?’”

In fact, earlier that night on Christmas Eve, Taylor had indeed slipped into her favorite elf onesie, slipped on her elf stocking cap, and had snuggled down to sleep with her beloved 'children' - cats Olivia Benson (named after a TV detective on Law & Order: SVU), Meredith Grey (named for a TV physician on Grey's Anatomy) and Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt's fictional character in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Taylor was more than ready for bed; she was exhausted. And she was glad for it.

Happiness for Taylor Swift is working. At 33, she is a dedicated and generous philanthropist to dozens of causes, an award-winning songwriter, an accomplished musician on the piano, guitar, ukulele, drums and other instruments, a globally-renowned singing sensation of record-breaking proportions, a music video director and most recently, a short film director. "The more things I make, (then) the more things I make, and the happier I am," Taylor had recently told a fellow film director. And on that Christmas Eve day, Taylor had happily worked for hours and hours in her home recording studio which she'd named Kitty Committee Studios. Her tiredness was a satisfying one that often guided her into a healing sleep.

You know that gentle, fuzzy time between wakefulness and deep slumber that can happen on a night of joyful anticipation such as Christmas Eve? Well, that's what our elf, Taylor Swift, was experiencing when she thought she heard the jingling sounds of sleigh bells ringing from her roof. Soon thereafter, she heard a swooshing noise come down the chimney in her living room. Gently lifting the still-sleeping Olivia Benson from her chest and maneuvering around the other two cats, whom she was loathe to disturb, Taylor rose from her bed and padded in her elfin pajamas toward the Christmas tree in the living room. What she saw made her heart soar.

"Santa!" she squealed loudly enough to wake her 'itty bitty pretty kitty committee' still in the bedroom. Within a whisker's breadth of a moment, however, all three cats came running for their own Santa love.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" Santa Claus laughed as Taylor Swift threw herself into his arms and hugged her holiday hero tight.

"Oh, Santa. I love you so much!" Taylor gushed. "And look. My cats love you too!" she remarked at the three felines wrapping themselves around Santa's booted ankles. Benjamin Button was purring so loudly that Santa reached down and lifted him up to his beard so snowy white. "A real purr box," he observed admiringly and planted a few Santa kisses on Benjamin's soft, little face.

Over milk and cookies that Christmas Eve night in Taylor Swift's kitchen, Santa Claus explained how he needed her help to deliver gifts to cat shelters and cat rescuers. And he wanted an elf who could do that with just the right combination of feline love and Christmas cheer. "You're even dressed for the job!" Santa noted about Taylor's elf outfit.

"Yes yes yes! I'll come with!" Taylor exclaimed, then burst into happy holiday tears and laughter. "Can I bring my children?" Taylor asked, referring to her three cats who traveled with her everywhere.

"Mrs. Claus was so hoping you would bring your cats, Tay-Tay, so yes! They won't even need their carriers," Santa assured her, using Mrs. Claus's favorite nickname for Taylor Swift.

And so it was on a snowy Christmas Eve in Nashville that Santa Claus and his newly-minted elf, Taylor Swift, and her three cats rose upward in a red sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer and a ninth red-nosed reindeer. Their heading was north by northwest, directly to Santa's and Mrs. Claus's home and workshop in the North Pole.

If you were in Nashville and naughtily still awake, you might have heard Santa's instructions to his team as they lifted off from Taylor's roof...

"Come now, Dasher and Dancer,
And Prancer and Vixen,
And Comet and Cupid,
And Donner and Blitzen!
And Rudolph, the most famous red-nosed reindeer of all!
Let's fly!"

Off they flew and within a blink of a shooting star, the reindeer team and their sleigh's passengers were landing on a snowy North Pole lawn with Mrs. Claus waving from the doorway of a cute gingerbread house. Santa's other elves came running with hay and buckets of water for the reindeer as he, Taylor and her cats climbed down from the sleigh and stomped snow off their feet and paws before they entered the warm home that smelled of sugar and spice and everything nice.

"Girl, I've been wanting to meet you since you were ten years old and singing at festivals and fairs," Mrs. Claus greeted Taylor Swift with a tender hug. "And I've been after my husband to get you up here since you released your first single when you were only sixteen!" she added giving Taylor another hug and inviting her to sit. "Sit!"

Taylor and Mrs. Claus, mutual admirers and self-declared cat ladies, sat at Mrs. Claus's kitchen table while Santa and his elves selected and loaded presents into Santa's magical bag and onto the sleigh.

"Where are all your cats, Mrs. Claus?"

"All nine of my little darlings are in the reindeer barn on blanket-warming duty."

"Blanket-warming?"

"Yes, Tay-Tay. Each cat sleeps for hours on a folded up reindeer blanket, warming it up down to the last thread. Nine reindeer, nine blankets, nine cats! Works out perfectly."

Taylor laughed in comprehension. "That's brilliant!"

"The cats sleep extra long hours on Christmas Eve so that when Rudolph and all of the other reindeer return from their globe-trotting gift deliveries, they'll each have a cozy blanket to warm up under," Mrs. Claus explained.

Mrs. Claus and Taylor Swift chatted and laughed like old friends. Their bonding was immediate and understandable; both were women of big hearts and everlasting generosity.

Taylor was enjoying a piece of her favorite food, cheesecake, and answering questions about her boyfriend as her three cats sat in varying positions on Mrs. Claus.

"I'm sorry, Tay-Tay. Benjamin Button is purring in my ear so loudly I didn't hear how long you and Joe have been dating," Mrs. Claus explained about the cat sitting on her shoulder and rubbing against her soft, grey afro. She really loved love, called it a miracle, and wanted to hear more about Taylor's long-time boyfriend.

"We've been together for six years, and we, uh, usually split our time between Nashville and London," Taylor answered a little hesitantly in between bites of cheesecake about Joe Alwyn, a British actor.

"Well, then. I know you both are very private about your relationship so we'll leave it at that, dear," Mrs. Claus responded, understanding. "But could I get you to sign my autograph book?" She scampered away and returned with a thick book of signatures from the many celebrities and luminaries who have visited her in the North Pole throughout time. Mrs. Claus thumbed through the pages and found just the right alphabetical spot between Tatum O'Neal and Tina Turner.

"Wow. I'm honored to sign my name between these two!"

"Honey, they were both such a delight," Mrs. Claus responded about Tatum, an accomplished actor and Tina, a legendary singer and songwriter.

Taylor signed her name with an indulgent and affectionate smile for Mrs. Claus, a sweet, timeless lady with skin the color of milk chocolate.

As Taylor was finishing up the last crumbs of her cheesecake, Santa Claus burst through the front door, his face jolly with cheeks like shiny apples. "The reindeer are restless, the sleigh is packed and ready. Tay-Tay, let's ride!" Santa cried.

After farewell hugs and well wishes, Taylor climbed aboard Santa's sleigh carrying a slice of peppermint cheesecake wrapped carefully in parchment paper with candy canes on top. Mrs. Claus assured her that her appetite would be up after helping Santa deliver presents to all the cat shelters and rescuers around the country. Taylor eagerly agreed and waved goodbye, blowing kisses to Mrs. Claus as she, Santa Claus and his team lifted into the gentle, snowy flurries of the Christmas Eve sky.

Back in Maryland, Coconut the kitten, ran to wake her foster brother Bubblegum who was curled up next to Louise Holton, a hero to cats and cat lovers because of her work as the founder and director of Alley Cat Rescue. Both cats were careful not to awaken Louise as they knew she was dedicated to making this a better world for them through her Federal Fix Challenge, a trap, neuter and release program for feral cats and for establishing foster care programs like the Cat Actions Teams throughout the States, in addition to founding an international project to Save the African Wildcat in South Africa and overseeing Ally Cat Rescue and its comprehensive website, saveacat.org.

Louise needed her rest, so Coconut and Bubblegum decided to greet Santa Claus and his elf as Alley Cat Rescue ambassadors. They headed toward the fireplace where the jolly, fat man came sliding down feet-first onto the cooled ashes.

"Santa!" chirped Coconut and Bubblegum at the same time.

To Taylor's surprise, Santa spoke in sign language as he softly verbalized his words.

"Shhh! Quiet now. We don't want to wake Louise," Santa signed and said gently. "Let's use our inside voices, little ones."

Coconut was over the moon. Santa Claus could sign! Like many all-white cats with blue eyes, Coconut was deaf. She could easily communicate with other cats through eye language and vibratory purring, of course, but with some humans' limited method of communicating through speech alone, Coconut was often at a disadvantage. But on this merry little Christmas Eve, she could understand everything.

Santa Claus explained all this to Taylor and through the magic of Christmas, he gave her a one-second crash course on ASL, American Sign Language and KCSL, kitty cat sign language. With her newfound fluency, Taylor signed as she spoke to beckon both cats onto her lap for purposes of adoration and affection.

While she lavished a heaping helping of holiday love on Coconut and Bubblegum with well-placed scritches and kisses, Santa Claus was placing gifts for Louise and her organization's cats under the tree. Cat toys of all kinds and blankets and beds and scratching posts and treats and bowls all found their way beneath Louise's tree. Santa even replaced the small, round vacuum robot that Coconut had broken when she rode it in reckless fun and accidentally smashed it against the sturdy leg of Louise's sofa.

Christmas is magic. It has to be, Taylor thought, because otherwise she wouldn't just happen to have her checkbook for The Taylor Swift Charitable Fund sitting in her elf pajama's pocket at the precise moment she wished for it. Reaching around Coconut and Bubblegum who had fallen asleep purring in her lap, Taylor pulled it out in wonder as a pen magically appeared in her other hand. She happily wrote out a very generous donation to Alley Cat Rescue and handed the check to Santa Claus who placed it on Louise's Christmas tree.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas brings out the best in us," Santa said and took a big bite of an exquisitely gooey brownie, then chased it with a gulp of egg nog. "Let me finish these treats that Louise left out for me and we'll be off. Want a bite?"

Taylor Swift was wiping brownie crumbs from the front of her elf PJs when Rudolph's nose glowed bright red and the reindeer team stretched their hooves for the now starry Christmas Eve sky. All throughout their time together that night, Santa and Taylor visited countless cat shelters and cat rescuers. From Wilmington, North Carolina, leaving presents for Monica Filyaw and her staff and their cats at All 4 Cats, a no-kill cat rescue and community outreach program. To Florence, Oregon, where Santa Claus left gifts for all the volunteers and cats at the Oregon Coast Humane Society. And, in that glorious spirit of Christmas giving, Taylor left donations and loved on every single kitten and cat she encountered on the best Christmas Eve she'd ever had.

On the way home, Taylor Swift was tired but a little concerned. "Santa, are you sure we got everybody?" she asked sleepily as the reindeer team banked the sleigh sharply eastward toward Tennessee.

Santa Claus, at the reins, smiled to himself and thought of his passengers of Christmases past, "They all ask me that question...Lil Nas X, Dolly Parton, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, everybody!"

Santa Claus was right in remembering that the concern for others and a thoughtful kindness can befall us all during this cherished holiday season. Generosity and charity never felt better than at Christmastime.

Upon hearing that yes, yes they did get to everybody on Santa's list, Taylor sighed happily and closed her eyes in relief...

"Wait, what?"

Taylor Swift abruptly sat up in her bed. Her elf stocking cap tumbled from her blond head. Her three cats were wide awake and staring at her, startled at her cry and the jerky movement.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you guys. I just had a really awesome dream that I guess I didn't want to end," she signed to them in KCSL.

"Hold up," Taylor whispered and looked at her hands. "But, how, uh, how did I learn kitty cat sign language?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Taylor reached for a tissue in her elf pajama's pocket and instead pulled out an empty checkbook from The Taylor Swift Charitable Fund. "What's this doing here?"

Remnants of her dream started coming back to her. Taylor Swift sprung out of bed and rushed to her Christmas tree, hoping for more clues. It wasn't until she saw a small parchment paper-wrapped package with candy canes on top sitting on her coffee table that her entire 'dream' rushed in to fill her Christmas Eve memory. She really did get to meet Santa Claus!

Taylor's dream-come-true was confirmed when she heard tiny hooves patter along her rooftop as Rudolph and his team of reindeer pulled Santa's sleigh to take-off speed. Once in the air, the sleigh bells jingled, reigning the sound of joy and peace onto all below.

And finally, Taylor Swift, with hands clasped and a happy smile lighting her face, heard the words she'd always wanted to hear in Santa Claus's very own voice...

"Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!"

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