Reindeer James

Chapter 8

Mrs. Claus had gone all out with dinner. Heaping bowls of mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green beans circled the roasted goose in the middle of the table. Dark green napkins folded into pine trees sat propped against Christmas crackers begging to be opened.

The whole Claus family sat at the table. No matter how hectic things got at the North Pole, they always made time to eat dinner together every night. With how busy his dad was, sometimes this was the only time James got to see him.

He had to make this count. He just needed to find the right moment to ask him if he could work at the stables.

"How was everything in the factory today?" Mrs. Claus asked. "Must be busy now that December's finally here."

"Video game production is up fifty percent this year," Nick said as he carved himself a thick slice of steaming white meat. "We're still seeing a lot of requests for action figures though, so we're probably going to have to repurpose one of the water gun lines to meet demand."

"There was a bit of a mishap on the dinosaur line," Santa said.

"That I fixed." Nick's knife scraped across his plate.

"Again." Santa sighed. "It would be a shame for children to wake up to a disappointment on Christmas. You know how popular those things are."

"I know!" Nick put a hand over his mouth as if he could push the sharpness in his voice back inside. He coughed and adjusted his tie. "I know."

Silence fell over the table. James slid his green beans off to the side for Clarice to help him with before grabbing his fourth crescent roll of the evening.

"Why don't we open the crackers now?" Mrs. Claus said.

James gave her a grateful smile. They usually saved those for after dessert, but they definitely needed the distraction now, especially if he was going to get his dad to let him work with the reindeer.

Four loud pops burst around the table.

Clarice absentmindedly fiddled with the wire puzzle that came out of hers. "I swear one of these is going to put someone's eye out someday."

Santa chuckled as Nick struggled to fit his paper crown over his head. "Would you like to wear my hat instead?"

"I've got it," Nick said, although the rip forming at the base of his crown said otherwise.

Everyone else hadn't had any issues with their crackers, but James's just wouldn't open no matter how hard he tugged.

"Need some help, dear?" his mom said. She set aside her miniature deck of playing cards and held out a hand.

"One sec." He strained against the paper with his tongue poking out of his mouth. How was he supposed to convince his dad he could help take care of the reindeer if he couldn't even open a stupid cracker? "Come on..."

BANG!

A plastic top shot out of the cracker and landed in the cranberry sauce. Redness splashed across Nick's suit. "I just got this cleaned," he grumbled as he rubbed at the dark circles under his eyes.

"At least we didn't have to break out the scissors this time," Santa said. "So, Clarice, how'd he do in wrapping today?"

"He's got a good eye for patterns," she said, "but he was definitely a lot happier when Susie asked him to go check on a delivery with her."

Now was his chance. "Dad, I was wondering if—"

"Ho ho ho, I'm sure you did great." Santa finished off the rest of his plate before patting his stomach. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm ready for dessert!"

Which meant everyone else had to be too, or else there wouldn't be any cookies left for them. Santa was known all around the world for his boundless generosity, but when it came to cookies even he wasn't the best at sharing.

Now that the main course was finished, a small team of elves in chef's hats came to clear away the plates. James's mouth watered as the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies filled his nose. The chef elves carried a platter of them into the dining room before pouring everyone some milk to go with them.

"Is it just me, or do these have less chocolate than usual?" Nick scowled at a cookie as he held it up for closer inspection.

James rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Things got a bit crazy in Ornament Forest, but Ruby and I got most of the ingredients to the bakery."

"Ruby?" his mom said. "Now there's a name I hear a lot. She has a bit of a reputation down at the stables. And you managed to ride with her all the way there?"

"Of course he did," Santa said. "I bet those two get along like hot chocolate and marshmallows."

"Could I work at the stables?" James asked. "Wrapping's a little... um..."

"Ho ho ho, you can call it boring!" Santa said. "Gabe is picky about who he works with, but I'll have a chat with him and see what I can do."

They all helped themselves to the cookies. James smiled as warm, gooey chocolate filled his mouth. As delicious as the cookies were, knowing he'd get to see Ruby again was twice as sweet.

But not everyone was as happy as he was. Nick barely nibbled his cookie as he scowled at his plate.

"Are you alright, Nick?" his mom asked. Concern crinkled the wrinkles around her eyes. "You look like someone replaced your chocolate chips with raisins."

"It's nothing," he said softly. He dabbed crumbs off his face and got up from his chair with his shoulders slumped. "I need to go do some research. That dinosaur machine's not going to stop overheating on its own."