My Christmas Star ( A Santa Clause Story Ft Bernard x OC)

Part 5; Chapter 1: Moving On

"Holly-Joy! Nicholas Scott! Get over here right now!" Stella yelled from the children's room. The two four year olds made their way over to their mother, giggling as they did so. Stella was once again pregnant and very, very, very moody. Probably ten times worse than her last pregnancy. Her hair was a mess and she was in a robe.
"Untie Curtis. Now!" she said, strictly to her kids. The kids exchanged looks and giggled before they untied Curtis.
"Stella, I swear. I dozed off for just a second–"
"--It's fine, Curtis. Next time just be more alert," Stella said, annoyed.
"I don't know why you couldn't just have Crouton do this..." Curtis muttered.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Stella exclaimed. Curtis turned red before he ran for his life. Stella stomped after him and the twins laughed hard as they watched their mother chase after their poor excuse for a babysitter.

Bernard shortly after walked into the room.
"What are you two doing by yourselves?" Bernard asked the twins.
"Daddy!" The two twins yelled in unison as they went over to tackle their Dad with a hug.
"Where's Curtis?" Bernard asked.
"Mommy chased him," Holly-Joy replied.
"She looks so funny with her big belly. She looks like Grandpa," Nicholas giggled.
"Hey, hey. We do not make fun of mommy's belly. She's carrying your new brothers and sister in there.
"But, how?" Holly-Joy asked.
"Magic," Bernard replied.
"What kind of magic?" Nicholas asked.
"The kind that only grownups use," Bernard replied.
"Like Mommy's magic?" Holly-Joy asked.
"Not, exactly. I'll explain it to you when you're older," Bernard told his daughter. The two twins paused for a second and waited before saying. "Okay, we're older now!" in unison.
"Oh, you two troublemakers, come here!" Bernard said before he grabbed the twins and tickled them. The twins cackled as Bernard tickled them. Just then, Stella walked in, her hair a mess. Bernard noticed and stopped ticking the twins.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
"Ever seen a pregnant lady run?" she asked. Bernard shook his head.
"Well, you missed the perfect opportunity," Stella said, out of breath.
"Darling, you know you're not supposed to do that," Bernard said as he stood up, the twins by his side.
"Sometimes I forget that I'm carrying three kids. You should've seen the look on Curtis' face, he was absolutely terrified," Stella said with a chuckle.
"Oh, I would've loved to have seen that," Bernard laughed.
"Daddy, Mommy! Look what I can do!" Holly-Joy said. She then squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists as if she was thinking real hard. She then disappeared and reappeared at the other end of the room.
"We know, Muffin. We've seen you do that a million times," Stella said as she picked up Holly-Joy and brought her back over to the group.
"Remember when she first did that? How terrified we were?" Bernard asked.
"Oh yeah, we had to go to Elfcon 2 before we could find her. She almost became a gingerbread cookie," Stella said with a laugh. Holly-Joy laughed.
"I love gingerbread cookies! Can I have one now?" asked Holly-Joy.
"Have you had your breakfast yet?" asked Stella.
"Yeah," Holly-Joy said, hesitantly.
"You little liar. Let's go down to the kitchen and finish your breakfast, then you can have a cookie," Stella said as she took her daughter's hand.
"Nicky didn't finish his either!" Holly-Joy tattled as she pointed to her brother.
"Tattletale!" Nicky yelled.
"Alright, you two. Why don't we all go down to the kitchen and get some breakfast, then we can get in on Ginger's gingerbread cookies. How does that sound?" asked Bernard.
"Yay!" the twins yelled in unison.

***

"Stella!" yelled Crouton. Stella, who was in her office, took off her reading glasses and got up to see what was the matter.
"Yes, Crouton?" Stella asked. When she entered the playroom, it was an absolute mess and Crouton was tied up in a toy chair in the middle of the room. The twins and Cal were now six, the triplets were two and Sandra was three.
"I'm running a daycare, not a ninja training ground!" Crouton yelled as he struggled in the bonds. Stella sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger.
"Holly-Joy! Nicholas! Untie Crouton!" Stella yelled. The twins giggled and untied Crouton.
"Joe! Chris! Clean up the mess," Stella told the two toddlers. The two boys were a dead ringer of their father. Black curly hair, brown eyes and pointy ears.
"Evangeline, clean up those cookie crumbs," Stella told her youngest daughter, who was also a dead ringer for Bernard. Black curly hair and brown eyes, but her ears resembled her mother's.
"And you two," Stella said as she pointed to her youngest brother and sister. "Straighten up the toys, please," she told them. All the kids got to work. Sandra went to help untie Crouton and even helped him up.
"This is why Sandra is my favorite," Crouton said as he got up. The other kids looked at Crouton and glared at him.
"Be careful what you say, Crouton. They may be kids, but they're extremely smart for their age," Stella warned before she left the room.

Stella returned to her desk and placed her head on her desk in defeat.
"I can never get any work done anymore," Stella groaned. Just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Deal with it yourself, Crouton!" Stella yelled.
"It's your Dad," came Scott's voice.
"Come in," Stella said with a groan. Scott walked in and noticed how stressed his daughter was.
"What's wrong, buttercup?" Scott asked his daughter as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Stella lifted her head.
"It's hard being a mom and your assistant AND Christmas Spirit Herself. One second I'm paying attention to my work and my kids make a huge mess. Then when I pay attention to my kids, something in the workshop goes wrong, then I have to fix it–it's just–Ahhh!" Stella screamed.
"I know exactly how you feel. You, Charlie and my job were hard to juggle, that's usually why I left your mom to do it because I could only handle so much at the time. I'm a lot better at it now, but it's also not my first time. It is, however, you and Bernard's first time, so–yes, it's extremely hard juggling your kids and your job."
"Yeah, but I have TWO jobs," Stella replied. "Bernard only has one job and he's able to perfectly balance spending time with the kids and doing his job. The kids are always more excited to see him than me and it makes me feel...like...I'm a bad mom," Stella said, guiltily. Scott held his daughter close as she began to cry.
"No, no, no. You are NOT a bad mom. You're a great mom. You're just having a hard time finding that perfect balance," Scott said to his daughter.
"Dad...I think it's time..." Stella said. Scott paused and stared at his daughter. "I'm just so stressed and I don't want to mess up being a mom. I'd hate to have my kids grow up to hate me because I wasn't there. I think it's time that I retire," Stella said. Scott stared at his daughter and sighed.
"Okay. If you think it's time to retire the good ole' green hat, then it's time. Just let us know when you're ready and we'll make the announcement together," Scott told his daughter.
"Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate it," Stella told her Dad. The two embraced tightly.