Hey Guys!!
I just wanted to give all of you a real quick thank you!! This book has reached 8 thousand readers, which is incredible!! All of you are so so amazing, and I'm so thankful for each of you! You all give me so much motivation to keep writing with your kind comments and encouragement. You're the best!!
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming :)
Bernard and I entered the reindeer stables, where Dad was getting a very unhappy Comet ready to leave. "Comet, I don't want to take Prancer. I wanna take a trip with you." Dad said as he put the reins onto Comet. "When's the last time we had a cruise?"
Comet grumbled some more and Dad patted his neck. "I love you, buddy...besides, Prancer ate too many apples. We know what that means."
"Hey, Dad!" I greeted.
"Hi, (Yn)." He said, smiling at me.
I looked at Comet, and then at Dad. "You're about to leave?"
He nodded. "Now I'm just trying to convince Comet to take me."
Bernard pulled the watch out of his pocket and smiled. "Before you go, take a look at your watch."
"Hey! Can't go anywhere without that." Dad took the watch from the head elf and admired it.
"I've done some work on it."
Dad smiled. "It's beautiful, Bernard, it really is."
"You like it?" Bernard checked, nervously smiling, hoping to get Santa's approval. I knew how much he prided himself on his work.
"I love it!" He replied. "The workmanship is fabulous!"
"It has a power reserve that measures how much magic you have left," Bernard explained.
"It's at ten," I added.
Dad nodded. "That should be enough."
"But if you use any magic for any reason, the level drops." The head elf warned. "Santa, if it gets to zero, you won't be able to return to the Pole." He nervously spoke.
"Okay..." Dad leaned closer to us so none of the elves who were in the stable could overhear him. "Then let's not let it get to zero."
Bernard smiled at Dad and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look at me. What's the most important thing?"
"For you to not touch Santa?"
Bernard quickly removed his hand. "For you to come back!" He lightheartedly spoke, chuckling a bit. I could tell just how nervous he was.
I approached Comet and gently stroked his muzzle. "Take good care of him, boy." Comet nodded in reply and I gave him a carrot, which he happily scarfed down.
I walked over to my Dad. "Please come back home safe."
Dad quickly pulled me into a hug and held me tight. "I'll be home soon. I'm not planning on retiring just yet." he joked.
I chuckled through my nerves. "You got this, Dad."
"Thanks, sweetheart."
As I hugged my dad I rested my head against his chest. "I love you," I whispered.
Dad patted my back. "I love you, too."
:-:-:-:-:
Watching toy Santa was a major responsibility. He had to be watched almost constantly, he was always getting into random things, and his voice was so annoying. It reminded me of when I babysat back when I was still human, except ten times harder.
I sighed in annoyance as Bernard, Curtis, and I stood beside the mirror in Dad's office, watching as toy Santa practiced his "Ho Ho Hos." Even after fifteen minutes of practicing, they weren't getting any better.
"I am Santa Claus." He spoke, still staring into the mirror. "BOO!" He burst into a fit of laughter.
Bernard nervously nodded. "Yeah. No, no, I think that this is gonna work. G-Good job, Curtis." He struggled to say.
I scoffed. "Are you staring at the same disaster that I'm staring at? Because I don't think this is going to work."
"Would it kill you two to be a little bit more supportive?" Curtis frowned.
"Curtis, I don't want to be rude or anything, but this is bad. How is anyone supposed to believe that that's Santa?" I gestured to the heap of plastic and rubber in front of us.
Curtis ignored me. "Santa?"
Toy Santa looked away from the mirror for the first time in over fifteen minutes. He walked over to us and started swaying his arms back and forth.
"I need you to take a look at this," Curtis spoke, holding up the Santa Handbook.
"All right!" The toy Santa stared at the book for a moment. "Nice."
"No," Curtis forced a smile. "I need you to read it."
"Well, let's try to be specific, shall we?" He smirked before snatching the book. "I'll take a look at it over at my desk."
As toy Santa walked over to Dad's desk, Bernard looked at Curtis. "How does he know where his desk is?"
"I programmed him that way," Curtis explained. "He has most of Santa's memories."
"That's kinda creepy..." I muttered.
As Curtis walked over to the toy to continue explaining things, I tugged on Bernard's sweater and pointed to the hall. "B, we need to talk," I whispered.
Bernard nodded. "Curtis, (Yn) and I are going to step in the hall for a minute. She uh...heard Chet crash and wants to check on him."
"Okay!" Curtis replied, not taking his eyes off the rule book.
Bernard and I walked into the hall outside Santa's room. "What's wrong, Snow Angel?"
"I don't know...there's just something off about toy Santa..."
The head elf shook his head. "I know what you mean. I don't have a good feeling about this."
"What should we-" Suddenly, a wave of lightheadedness crashed onto me, and I stumbled back a bit. Bernard quickly caught me before I could fall. "Oh my, Snow Angel, are you okay?"
I slightly nodded. "Y-Yeah..." Almost instantly, I felt drained...magically drained. I placed my fingers on my ears and gasped. "T-They're shorter...and rounder." My heart sank.
Bernard nervously looked at me. "Hey hey hey...it's okay! It's not too late to fix this!"
I slowly held out one of my hands and focused on my breathing.
In. Out. In. Out.
I channeled my magic towards my hand, but when I tried to create a simple light beam, it shined half as bright as it used to. "Bernard...my magic's fading..."
Bernard's eyes widened. "Oh, Snow Angel..." He gazed at my worried face for a moment, a frown growing across his lips. "Y'know what?" He looked at me with a soft smile. "You need to get your mind off things. How about we get lunch together?"
I stared at him, my weakened state fading away just as quickly as it arrived. "But what about the workshop? It's too close to Christmas. Not to even mention Mr. Rubber-Butt in there." I rolled my eyes.
Bernard chuckled. "Curtis can handle him. I think we can take a couple of hours off to ease the stress."
I faked a shocked expression. "Take off a couple of hours to ease stress? Who are you, and what have you done with Bernard?" I joked.
He laughed. "I don't wanna hear it. You're the one who insists that I take more breaks."
I shrugged. "You got me there." I took his hand and intertwined our fingers as we began walking down the hall. "So where do you want to go? The Cocoa Hut? Peppermint's Diner?"
"Actually...I have a better idea."
:-:-:-:-:
One very short walk later, Bernard and I were standing in the elf kitchen.
I stared at the kitchen full of elves busily working baking cookies and gingerbread houses, and then back at Bernard. "Have you drunk too much eggnog? I can't cook to save my life."
It was true. Mom and Neal actually banned me from cooking in their kitchen after I almost burned down the house trying to cook bacon and eggs for Lucy three years ago.
As I looked around at the beautiful elf kitchen, I almost felt guilty that I was standing there. The kitchen had candy cane pillars lining the room, and ornate stonework was carved into the walls. The massive industrial-sized ovens had no trouble warming up the room, and everyone inside. Everything was so perfect that the thought of messing something up terrified me.
"It's okay." Bernard wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Luckily for you, I can bake...sort of."
Bernard led me to an unoccupied corner of the kitchen, and I leaned against the counter as he began rummaging through the cupboard, looking for baking supplies.
"Go get some cinnamon, sugar, and flour from the pantry, will ya?" He pulled out a bowl and a couple of other baking items from the cupboard. "I'll get the milk and eggs from the fridge."
I jokingly saluted him. "Aye aye captain." I headed into the pantry and gasped. Like audibly gasped. The elf pantry was absolutely massive! Rows and rows and rows were filled with various cooking and baking ingredients. It was like a grocery store. I wandered up and down the halls occasionally spotting an ingredient and picking it off of the shelf.
When I left the pantry with my bounty, I dropped it all on the counter and smiled at Bernard. "Now what?" I asked.
"Now," Bernard handed me a measuring spoon. "We bake."
"What is it that we're baking, anyways?"
Bernard grinned at me. "Cinnamon gingersnap cookies. My very own recipe."
I help up my measuring spoon and clacked it against the one that Bernard was holding. "Let's do this."
As Bernard gently lead me through the steps of baking, I smiled to myself. Bernard was showing me his nurturing side, which was rare for me to see, even though I was his girlfriend. His soft and sweet tone was soothing. Even though I went into this activity with a less-than-hopeful outlook considering my baking experience, this was the best possible thing for me to take my mind off of all of this. Bernard somehow knew exactly what I needed.
I whisked together the ingredients, as Bernard stood behind me, resting his head on my shoulder, gently holding onto my hand helping me to keep the correct pace for whisking. I gently pecked his cheek. Bernard softly smiled as I gazed into his sparkly eyes. "Thank you for this, B."
"It was my pleasure, Snow Angel."
I beamed at him, with nothing but pure love for him inside of me.