Magical

Chapter 4

Necklace that Bernard gives her up above^^
      Rose woke up to the sound of Charlie yelling about Christmas presents. Rolling her eyes, she yawned and stretched, then pulled back the covers and got up. For a second, she was confused. She was in her bed at home. She could've sworn she'd been at the North Pole!
      Memories came back to her from last night. Charlie woke her up, her dad putting on the Santa suit, the workshop, the Head Elf, Bernard. It must've been a dream, she reasoned. That's all it was. Just a dream.
      Looking in her mirror, she was surprised to see herself in a long white nightgown like the one in her dream. Then she shrugged it off. It was just a coincidence.
      Instead, she began looking for something to wear, finally settling on a black tank top, white sweater, blue jeans, knee high black boots, and light blue scarf. She looked around for her black trenchcoat before finding it folded over a chair, along with the other clothes she could've sworn she'd worn to bed last night.
      Shrugging off the weird feelings again, Rose grabbed it and headed downstairs where Charlie was already sorting through presents.
      "Hey, lil monster!" She called out, hugging her little brother. "Wait for dad to wake up."
      "Should I go get him?"
      "No. Let me make his coffee first."
      Rose went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Feeling a bit hungry, she pulled out a couple skillets and began cracking open eggs in one and tossing in bacon in the other. Grabbing a couple Eggos, she stuck those in the toaster.
       A few minutes later, breakfast was ready. She sat Charlie down with the food and a glass of chocolate milk. Making a cup of coffee for herself (with tons of sugar and creamer added), she sat down and ate with Charlie. When she finished eating, she went to wake up her dad. He groaned as he tried to get out the bed but did so.
      By the time that Scott made it downstairs and was over his little panic attack from thinking his dream was real, Rose had already cleared breakfast away. He sat down in his favorite chair and she brought him over some coffee and breakfast.
      Then she started going through the presents with Charlie. The first few were normal until Charlie pulled out a small package, saying, "This one's for you."
       "Who's it from?" She asked, checking the small box. There was no name on it.
       Cautiously, she opened the package to find a strange looking necklace inside. She lifted it out the box in wonder. There was a note under it and she pulled that out as well.

                     Dear Snowflake,
     Merry Christmas! I hope you got this gift alright.
     It's special. If you ever want to see me again, spin the vial around and say my name. I will come as soon as I can.
     I wish your family good luck and well wishes in the coming months. I can't wait to see you on Thanksgiving!
     Take care of Charlie and your father for us here at the Pole.
                       Love,
                         B

      She reread the note, finding it didn't tell her much. Who was B? The Pole? See who on Thanksgiving? She'd made no plans.
     Pushing the thoughts aside, she smiled before putting the necklace on.
     "Who's it from?" Her dad asked.
     "Bernard." Charlie answered.
     "Who's Bernard?"
     "Dad, he's the Head Elf, remember? We met him at the North Pole."
     Now Rose was really confused. Did she tell Charlie her dream this morning without realizing it? Scott had a similar look on his face.
     At that moment, they heard a knock at the door. Rose went to answer it to find her mom at the door. "Good morning, Rose! Merry Christmas! You look so beautiful!"
     "Thanks, mom. Merry Christmas."
     "Do you have your things ready?"
     "Almost. I just have to grab my overnight bag."
     With that, Rose ran off to get it. Charlie ran into his mom's arms. Laura smiled at Scott and asked about his PJs which resulted in Charlie talking about the North Pole and everything that went on there. "And Rose has a boyfriend there too, mom. Bernard really likes her. He got her that necklace and gave me this snow globe!"
      "Well thanks for keeping his feet on the ground." Laura said.
      After a small bit of bickering, Rose was downstairs, overnight bag in hand. Giving her dad a quick kiss on the cheek, she ran outside. A few minutes later, Scott and Laura were following their kids as Scott tried to explain what happened.
      Rose shook her head. "Mom, this is all a case of a simple misunderstanding. I got dad those pajamas ages ago and this necklace was a Christmas gift from a friend. The rest of it was all a dream I had. I told Charlie and he's just having fun with it. It's ok. Just let him have his imagination."
     Neil shot her a dirty look but Laura smiled. "Oh. Well that explains a lot. Bye, Scott."
     Scott shouted after them as the car sled off, "It was just a fantasy! I don't even wear pajamas! Normally I sleep naked! BUTT NAKED! Haha!"
     Rose facepalmed in embarrassment.
                                 * * * * *
     "So remember kids: there is nothing more painful than third degree burns."
     It was Career Day at Charlie's school, a few weeks after Christmas, and the parents had been doing their part. This parent, however, made the students more than a little uncomfortable.
     "Well, thank you, Fireman O'Hara!" The teacher said. "And I think the whole class will join me in saying sorry about your partner." The fireman walked off with a nod. The teacher turned back to the class. "Well I think this is a good time to bring up the psychiatrist. Charlie?"
     Neil started to get up but Charlie said, "I want dad to go first."
     "Well if that's how you feel, Charlie."
     "That's how he feels, Neil."
     Charlie and Scott walked up to the front of the class room. "This is my dad, Scott Calvin. He's got a real neat job. My dad's Santa Claus."
      The whole class laughed.
                            * * * * *
      A few minutes later, Scott, Laura, and Neil were in the principal's office arguing.
    "We're here because this is far more serious than a boy believing or not believing in Santa Claus."
     "That's right because Charlie actually thinks this whole thing really happened."
       Neil jumped in. "Scott, what was the last thing you, Rose, and Charlie did before you went to bed Christmas Eve?"
     Scott, being a smartass, replied, "Let's see...we shared a bowl of sugar, a couple shots of brown liquor, field dressed a cat, looked for women...oh come on! Rose read him a book!"
     "What book?"
     "Hollywood Wives." A pause. "The Night Before Christmas."
      "And did you go to the North Pole?"
      "This is ridiculous. I don't have time for this."
      "Ridiculous or not," the principal said, "for Charlie this isn't some dream. It is real. You need to sit down with Charlie and explain to him that you are not Santa Claus."
                             * * * * *
     Rose shook her head as she walked up the steps to her mom's house a few days later. She had been more than a little annoyed with her mom, stepfather, and the school when Scott told her what had happened. Sure, she didn't believe for a second that what had happened Christmas Eve was real or that her dad was Santa but she still wanted Charlie to have the chance to be a kid and have an imagination.
      Especially since hers had been cut short. To be Charlie's age and hear your parents screaming at each other and then 11 years old and the only kid with divorced parents, it was brutal for her. And that was when she'd stopped believing in Santa. So for her mom and stepdad to start drama like this just for her brother having a vivid imagination, words couldn't describe how angry she felt at the situation.
      So whatever reservations she had, she simply would have to find a gentle way of explaining to her little brother that what had happened wasn't real. Her father couldn't do it because Charlie was a stubborn kid but Rose had faith that since she was so close to Charlie, she could talk him out of the Santa Claus thing.
      She knocked on her mom's door and was answered, thankfully, by her mom. "Hi, mom."
      Laura smiled and hugged her daughter. "Hey, sweetie."
      "Where is he?"
      Laura made a face. "Well he might be in his room, listening to old records and jumping up and down on his bed wearing galoshes."
     "I don't care what Neil's doing." Rose said.
     "Charlie's in his room."
     Rose nodded and opened her brother's door to find him playing Santa Claus. This was gonna be harder than she thought.
     "Hey, lil monster. You ready for some brotherly-sisterly bonding?"
      Charlie jumped up excitedly. "Yea! Let's go!"
      A few minutes later, the two were walking through the park and Charlie made a comment about some of the animals being not as awesome as the ones in the North Pole.
      "Charlie, we need to talk about that. You know you can't go around telling people that dad is Santa Claus, right?"
      "Why not? He is Santa!"
      Rose contemplated her next words carefully. "Hey. I know that, you know that, and dad knows that but not everyone is a believer. So I need you to do me a little favor, ok?"
       Charlie looked at his sister with his big brown eyes and asked, "What's that?"
       "For now, let's just keep this a secret, just between me, you, and dad. That way, it'll be more special."
       "Oh! I get it!" Charlie said. "It could be a thing that helps us bond."
       "Exactly, Charlie! See? You're such a smart boy!"
       "I'll keep it a secret, sissy! I pinky promise!" He said, holding up his pinky.
       "Even from Mom and Neil?"
       "Ok."
                            * * * * *
      After Rose dropped Charlie off, she returned home. "So how'd it go?" Scott asked.
      "We're good now, dad. I told Charlie to keep it a secret between us for now."
      Scott let out a sigh of relief. "Good. We don't have to worry about the Santa Claus thing anymore."
      He had no idea that it had only just begun....