"You brought Charlie to a Santa themed park??" Dad woke me up the next morning, shaking my bed. "What made you think that was a good idea??"
"Did Neal call you?" I yawned and sat up groggily.
"Yes, "Neal called me", and he's very concerned! Why would you bring him there of all places?"
"It was cheap and had good reviews!" I defended myself, "Tell Neal not to think so hard about it. Charlie knows that it's just a theme park and nothing else!"
"Angie, he thinks I brainwashed my son!" He was frantically pacing around the room, his arms tucked neatly behind his back.
"Let me talk to them, it was my idea to bring him to a park, not you." I slid out of bed, "Just calm down, it's going to be fine! Neal is just doing his weird judgy thing where he hyperanalyzes things and-" I went to grab my phone but his words cut me off.
"They want to take Charlie away from me, actually, legally! You just need to be careful!" Dad grabbed my shoulders, interrupting me. I could see the panic in his eyes.
"You mean... they're actually wanting to do that?" I asked softly, taken aback. I knew it was a possibility, but hearing those words come out of his mouth meant it was real.
"Laura and Neal have been threatening to go to court about my custody." Dad sat down on the edge of my bed. "They say that if I keep up this whole Santa thing, they aren't going to let Charlie come around at all."
"That's why you've been going to go to their house to see him?"
Dad nodded. "They don't think it's a good idea that I'm alone with him."
"I'm sorry..." I said after a quiet moment. "I just wanted to give Charlie more opportunities to talk about everything and ask questions."
"I understand, you just need to be careful and think things through! For me, and for you! I can't lose Charlie too." His voice sounded very broken and full of emotions. It wasn't often that I saw him like this.
"Dad I just don't know what we're supposed to do! Charlie knows about it, whether we'd like him to or not. And we are both changing, we can't hide that. Soon we'll have to leave, and that's going to look even worse. It's not only hard for Charlie, but it's hard for me to pretend that everything is normal, I can't do that. You can't do that!" It was difficult, I wanted to make my dad feel better, but there was always the truth that we couldn't avoid.
"We just have to pretend for a little longer!" He looked at me with pleading eyes.
"Can't you just show off some of your Santa powers so they know it's real and stop messing with you??"
"That breaks the Secret of Santa rule. Bernard made it clear that I couldn't do that." Dad shook his head with a defeated sigh. "It's alright kid, we'll find something to make this work. Laura and Neal need to believe for themselves before I can do anything... and I'm technically not "actually" Santa until I get to the North Pole, so I'm limited on magic anyways."
I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off.
"And no, before you ask, you using your magic in front of them also counts as part of that rule."
I frowned, "Fine. I just don't think it's fair that they get to act like that when they have no idea what's actually going on."
"I know, kid." Dad put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder."
Dad walked downstairs, and a second later, I heard him mutter. "Great" under his breath. "Angie, Bernard is here," He yelled upstairs with a slightly agitated voice before opening the front door. "Oh hey Benson, you're here early. She's upstairs."
Bernard was finally getting used to knocking on our front door like a normal person, which was nice. It happened after he "popped" into the kitchen one day when I wasn't home to see Dad in his underwear making an ice cream sundae. Yeah, I'd want to knock after that too.
I groaned and faceplanted into my pillows. It was a Saturday, and I really wanted an "actual Saturday", but I knew that wasn't in my plans. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and the door to my room open a moment later.
"Go away, I'm sleeping." I muttered into my bed. I didn't care that I looked like a mess in my pajamas, he had barged into my room so many times by now that he's gotten used to this lovely messy face of mine. I wasn't in the best of moods either, definitely not in the mood to practice memorizing every single elf's name in the whole North Pole, or whatever weird "practice" Bernard would come up with today.
"I know you aren't sleeping." Bernard's voice could be heard from across the room.
"Shh, I can't hear you."
"We'll need to catch up on the day we lost yesterday. Get up."
"We practised some last night when we got home. Why doesn't that count?" I whined. Last night's practice was exhausting, he had me going to every town I could picture in my mind from memory, and popping in and out of that many places drains a person.
I turned my head to look at him standing there, his weight shifted to one leg, and his arms crossed like normal. He was wearing his regular clothes again, along with a large tan backpack. I gave him a drowsy glare, but he just glared back, tapping one foot on the ground. After a long moment of a determined staring competition, he sighed and shifted his head to the side.
"Oh great wreaths of holly, you are such a child." He sighed loudly. "I thought we could go to the Pole today-"
I sat up suddenly, interrupting him excitedly, "Really!?" All at once, I was no longer tired.
"IF" you get up and practice today. I think you are about ready."
"You said I'd need to teleport there, you think I'm ready for that?"
"You've managed to go between both towns and a few states last night. I think if you go by smaller distances it would be plausible. We'd just need to go up through Canada, then over to Greenland. It'd be a day long journey, but you could stay overnight... or however long you'd like once we get there. It'd be a good time to get some clothes tailored for you."
"Do I need to bring stuff with me?" I was a bit doubtful of this idea. Going that far in one day sounded fatiguing.
"Just pack like you normally would for a day trip. I packed a big tin of hot chocolate, soup, and pastries. You'll find that you won't get as cold as you normally would as we go further North, so wear something warm, but nothing suffocating. And, if it's too far of a distance for you, we can always do it in two days, or I could bring us the rest of the way."
"Where would we stay if we needed to do two days?"
"Oh you know, the snow." Bernard said sarcastically with a straight face. "I don't know, a hotel or something obviously. I'd get you your own room, so don't worry."
Dad was not as excited upon hearing about our Northbound plan.
"You are bringing my daughter on a 3,000 mile trip all by yourselves and think I wouldn't have anything to say?!" Dad flabbergastingly responded to us telling him about our endeavor to the North Pole.
"Dad, I'm 20! I can make a trip to the North Pole if I want to!" Those were words I never thought I'd hear myself say before last Christmas.
"No offence sir, but It's crucial for her training. She won't be able to aid you much on future Christmas's if she isn't able to teleport you out of dangerous situations."
"Wait- What does that mean?" Both my dad and I looked at Bernard.
"I thought I had told you-" Bernard seemed surprised by this himself. "A chosen elf doesn't become just any regular elf. You'll go with Santa delivering toys each Christmas. You keep him safe when he's vulnerable, for example, if his back is turned putting down presents. You are the one to make sure the kids are asleep, the alarms are frozen, the dogs don't bark. Does that make sense?"
"Why am I just now hearing about this??" It wasn't necessarily surprising, I did follow Dad down into every chimney... big or tiny little heat vent-sized last year, but it would appear that this was my "destiny" now.
"I just forgot to mention it, okay!?" Bernard seemed a little embarrassed by this, as his cheeks were a little pink, although it could be the sunburn from the day before.
"Okay, okay. Well how long will you guys be gone?" Dad didn't seem happy about this trip still, but he wasn't outright putting his foot down which was good. He knew that I was just as stubborn anyway, so there wasn't much use in arguing with me.
"I was actually thinking of staying. For a while..." I tugged at the end of my hair before Bernard could answer, waiting to see how Dad would respond.
Both Bernard and my Dad looked at me with surprised expressions.
"No way! You can't leave-" Dad firmly stated.
"Wait really? That's great!" Bernard responded with a small smile.
Two very opposite responses at the same time.
"I thought that it might be easier to practice somewhere more magical." I bit my lip, thinking for a moment. "And besides, with Charlie right now... I thought it might be easier if I wasn't here right now, at least until everything gets sorted out."
"Now Angie," Dad stepped closer to me, leaning down so he was at eye level and placing his hands on my shoulders. "You know that isn't true. Charlie needs you."
"I'm part of the problem though! As long as I'm here, Charlie will continue to ask questions, and inevitably relay some of that information back home. I can't risk it... especially after," I stopped talking, feeling my throat beginning to tighten up.
It was a hard decision to make, but I had to think of what was best for Charlie and my Dad. Especially thinking about my conversation last night with Bernard, the last thing I wanted was to leave Charlie alone. I thought at one point that it was good for him to ask questions about the North Pole and magic, after all, that's where half of his family was going to be living soon. But now, it scared me, and I was rethinking everything I ever told him about it. Maybe I shouldn't have allowed Bernard to get so close to him either, Charlie really liked him, and I knew it was only going to make it harder. I didn't want to leave Charlie alone, but I couldn't let him lose his dad either.
"I know- But..." Dad sighed. "How long will you be gone?"
"I don't actually know..." I didn't think it through. "I still want to bring Charlie trick or treating this October, but do you think that's a good idea?"
"I guess it depends on what you feel." Dad shrugged sadly.
"I'll plan on coming home in October then. After that, I'll stay here until Thanksgiving, and go back to the North Pole with you then, okay?"
Reluctantly Dad agreed to this. "What will I tell Laura and Neal about you being gone?"
"Just tell them that I'm... touring colleges or something?" I suggested, unsure. College was something they would think I would be interested in. I took the last year and a half off of classes to earn some money, so the excuse would make sense.
This whole time, Bernard stood there, slightly leaning against the wall, with the tiniest of grins, it was apparent that he was trying to hide it. He seemed to actually be a little excited. I was excited, although there were many mixed feelings involved.
"I guess that works," Dad sighed. "Okay, make sure you have enough food and clothes, and don't forget a toothbrush! Or a hairbrush, or extra socks, or water, you have to have water!-"
"Dad, I know how to pack, I'll be alright." I chuckled.
It turns out that I didn't know how to pack. I forgot most everything at home, mostly because I was too focused on getting to teleport all the way to the North Pole, it was exciting. Bernard assured me that anything I forgot they would have there, and all my stuff would be sent up during Thanksgiving anyway, so I wouldn't have to worry.
"I'm so glad you decided to stay for longer, I didn't think you'd want to. This will make everything much easier with us both in one place." Bernard finally broke out his full grin when we stepped outside after saying our goodbyes.
"Does this mean you'll still be popping into my room at random hours of the day with no notice?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Of course." He said with a sarcastic smirk, then quickly looked away quite awkwardly. "Um, okay," He pulled a map out of his bag. "So I was thinking that we could try to get to Ontario with our first try?" He pointed to the large Canadian province.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to picture for Ontario, I've never been there." Part of teleporting included having to be able to clearly see your destination in your mind, which was pretty much impossible if I had never been there.
"Well lucky for you, I've brought some elf training destination flash cards for you." He handed me the map, then pulled out an envelope filled with pictures, all on a little metal ring, each of different labeled locations. "We made these for elves learning how to teleport. They can be a little tricky to learn with, but all you need to do is picture the spot in the picture, while also keeping the name of the location in your mind."
"What happens if I go off somewhere I've never been and you aren't able to follow?" I raised an eyebrow, becoming a little nervous about going that far.
"I've linked us in a way that it will allow me to follow you in the case that we do get separated, but as long as we link arms I sould be able to go along with you. Don't worry, I've trained much more spontaneous elves before." He chuckled.
We traded the maps and pictures, and I flipped through the thick stack until I found the one labeled "Ottawa, Ontario" under O's.
"Okay, study the buildings, the sky, the details of the surroundings. When you are ready, let me know."
I held the picture tightly in my hands, trying to imagine myself there. Perhaps I imagined too hard, because I blinked, and the next thing I knew I was standing exactly where the photo was taken. I was slightly impressed with myself, but I also felt bad, considering I left Bernard hundreds of miles away without notice. Surely enough though, a few moments later he showed up. I thought for sure that he would be annoyed, but he had a smile playing on his lips.
"That's how you do it!" He said excitedly, "That's the furthest you've gone!" He patted my shoulder. I had the strangest urge to hug him and had to stop myself.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you in the smoke," I laughed, "I would have given you a heads up if I knew."
"No no, that was great!" He grinned at me. "How do you feel?"
"I'm doing great! That felt amazing!"
"Good! Do you want to go again, or would you like to wait for a little first."
I looked around Ottowa. It appeared we were in a downtown area, with lots of people walking by. That was probably why it would be a good city for practicing going from place to place, as it would be less noticeable than an open area with a few people. It was a very cool area, with tall buildings with many windows. It was very beautiful here, but nothing could beat the North Pole in comparison.
"I think I'm ready. Where do we go next?" I was too excited to get there to want to do too much sightseeing.
"La Baie, Quebec would be the furthest town you could get to." He pointed off into the horizon, supposedly in the direction of Quebec.
"Wouldn't it be quicker to just go straight up and skip the cities?"
"Hypothetically yes if you knew where you were going, and have been doing this for a while. We don't bring new elves there though, because there's always the risks of landing on a tree, or a bear cave, or off the side of a cliff- let's just say that takes a lot more experience." Bernard said with a shudder, making a face with each example. Something told me he had that experience.
"Alright, I'll stop complaining." I chuckled, seeing his expression. "You'll have to tell me about those "examples" later."
"Not likely." He shook his head with a small smile as he took the picture from my hands and handed me the next photo. "Okay, as a precaution, I'm just going to grab your arm now. This is a shorter jump, so you shouldn't have any problem."
In La Baie I began to feel tired, so we took a couple of hour break to eat and drink hot chocolate. There, we chatted about more elf things, mostly me bombarding him with questions that I'd usually say were from Charlie. From there we went to Nain, and I about collapsed on arrival.
"Darn, I thought I was getting better at this." I huffed from the ground where I was laying. "I don't think I can do that again."
"You are getting better at this. You just went further than you have ever before. Don't beat yourself up." He offered me a hand up but I shook my head.
"No I'm fine on the ground, I'm just going to sleep here." I said half sarcastically. We had landed in a field of grass far enough away from the town to be noticeable. It was much cooler here than at home, but not uncomfortably so. The grass had a layer of dew over the surface, which felt really nice on my sunburnt neck. It was late afternoon, around 5 pm and the sun was just beginning to set.
Bernard sat down next to me. "You are going to soak through your clothes."
"Then why did you sit next to me?" I turned to look at him. He thought for a moment but didn't give me a real response other than keeping his mouth open for a split second.
"Um- so do you want me to bring you the rest of the way there, or would you like to stay here tonight?"
Nain was a small town, no, tiny. I could see the whole town from where we were sitting. I couldn't tell if there was even a hotel there. "I don't know If I could take another step."
"I could carry you." Bernard glanced down at me, "I wouldn't mind."
"No, then you'd get all tired, and I weigh too much... I'd feel bad."
"Angie, you currently weigh approximately the same weight as a seven year old child, I think I can manage." Bernard gave me an amused grin. "I could get us there faster too, so you can get better rest tonight."
"What about loss of progress in training?" I asked him, with a tired yawn.
"Don't worry about it, you did a lot today."
Reluctantly... or not so reluctantly, I allowed him to carry me the rest of the way. He scooped me up princess-style and quickly popped us to the next place. At first, it was awkward, I tried to imagine how I'd feel about being in this situation at the beginning of the year. I used to dread when I'd see him again, and now he was carrying me to the North Pole. I felt very stiff in his arms, unable to relax. It would be weird If I laid my head on his shoulder... right?
I also couldn't help but notice things about him up close like this either. For example, he always clenched his jaw right before he was going to say something, or when the sun hit his eyes they would turn a soft amber color, and Charlie was right... he did smell like cookies. Cookies and peppermint.
He noticed me staring at him at some point, because all he said was, "You can relax you know. I'm not going to drop you." Before turning away, avoiding eye contact. I felt my cheeks heating up a little, and I swear his did too, but of course, I blamed both on the sunburns.
At his words, I slammed my head on his shoulder, perhaps a little too aggressively. I saw his face flinch and I squeaked out a quick apology. We continued to pop here and there, I lost count, and eventually, I dozed off, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, which sounded suspiciously like a Christmas song beating.
A/N:
Guess who had the fun opportunity of having a 103-degree fever just a few days before Christmas!? It's me. It's not fun. At least I have my cats and my computer to keep me company.