Love At The North Pole

Chapter Eighteen- Molarnator

I continued to tie the string around the door knob while Dad sat nervously with the other end of the string tied up to his tooth.

"I hope he doesn't have too many stops to make tonight," I worried while continuing to wrap the string tightly.

"You and me both, honey. Okay. Let's just get it over with," he pushes, his nervousness showing through his stuttering speech.

I gave him a worried smile and placed my hand on the frame of the door, preparing to slam it. "O-Okay."

"One, two... three!" I shouted before slamming the door shut.

Apparently, we chose the wrong door because the old knob blew right off and came back to hit Dad in the face. He yelped and fell back into the stairs, grabbing his forehead in pain.

All of a sudden, Neil comes barreling out of the bedroom, his sleep hair a mess and his eyes widening at Dad laying on the stairs rubbing out the growing knot on his head. "What's going on down there?"

I came into view and waved up at my stepfather whom I hadn't seen in quite a few years. "Hi, Neil. Everything is all right. Just dealing with some Santa stuff."

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After waking Mom and explaining his idea, all of us adults stood in our positions. Dad and Neil stood at the upstairs balcony while Mom and I stood at the bottom, preparing ourselves to catch the toaster.

"Are you sure about this?" Mom asked while keeping her arms wrapped around me tightly. Clearly, she missed me.

"What? The old toaster trick? When we were kids, we used to do this to get a little extra cash. Works every time!" Neil explained with the most excited-sounding tone.

I looked at Mom and watched her 'Mom' instincts kicking in. I knew the feeling. "I can't watch this."

"You ready?" Neil asked with a smile as he held out the toaster over the balcony.

"All right. Let her rip," Dad answered while making sure the string was tied tight.

"One, two, three!" Neil shouted before chucking the toaster over the balcony.

The toaster trick soon became the worst idea as we all watched Dad flip over the balcony and fall down the remaining stairs until he landed on the last landing, letting out a groan after hitting the bottom.

"Oh, Scott!" Mom exclaimed before running over to check on him. "Scott, are you all right?"

Dad groaned while trying to slowly move up from the floor. Then as if it were magic, Lucy came down the hall calling for Mom.

"Yes?" Mom called up to the little red-haired girl who stood beside her Dad on the balcony.

"I lost another tooth!" She showed us the tiny little tooth with the biggest smile. "Should I put it under my pillow?"

"Yes!" Dad pointed up to the little girl with wide eyes.

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Lucy soon went back to bed, Mom and Neil went back to their bedroom as well, while Dad and I waited for the Tooth Fairy to make his way to the Miller house.

I was sitting against the hallway wall with my legs pulled up to my chest while Dad stood quietly outside Lucy's bedroom door. All of a sudden, the sound of Lucy's shutters clanging outside and the sound of her window opening caught our attention.