Christmas with the Calvins

Chapter Forty-Six

"Bernard!" Curtis huffed when he spotted Jess and the Head Elf walking hand-in-hand to the workshop. "I had nothing to do with it, I swear!"

"Had nothing to do with what, Curtis?" Bernard growled. He put his hands on his hips, waiting for an answer from his number two.

"Curtis, don't answer that." Jess interrupted. "You're temporary Head Elf. Whatever happens for the rest of the day is your responsibility. So if one of the baby reindeer somehow squeezed its way into the workshop and trampled over all the Easy Bake Ovens you have to figure out how to fix it."

"How did you know a baby reindeer got in here?" Curtis asked with wide eyes.

"A baby what?" Bernard choked out. He thought his wife was just making up a story when she said baby reindeer. "Where? Which one?"

"Day. Off." Jess snarled at her husband. She could be pretty stern when she wanted to, and she wanted nothing more than for Bernard to relax for the rest of the day. "As for the reindeer, it was a lucky guess." No wonder Bernard was so high strung. The guy left for a few hours and reindeer were running the place.

"Is it back at the stables?" She sighed. Curtis nodded. "Good. Then gather whoever's not on vacation from kitchen staff and who's left in the toy oven division and start cleaning up. If you need anything, find Santa." She pulled the still sputtering Head Elf away from a guilty looking Curtis without another word.

"How did he even get a reindeer into the..."

"Never mind that." She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It will all be taken care of before you get back to work tomorrow."

"But if he can't handle the reindeer, that means he can't handle the elves..."

"Bernard," Jess warned. "Day..."

"I know, I know. Day off." He huffed before folding his arms over his chest.

"There you are!" Scott greeted as his daughter and son-in-law stepped into his office. "I was starting to worry that we might have to go back and collect you guys. Carol..." He called for his new wife.

"Oh good, you're here!" Carol smiled as she entered the office from an attached room. She and Scott shared a look before the former principal spoke. "Jessica, since you were sick, you didn't get to spend Christmas Day with your family."

"Right, so Carol and I, well we figured we'd do the next best thing..." Scott added.

"And bring the family here!" Charlie announced, stepping out of the adjoining room. Laura and Neil followed after him with little Lucy in tow. Immediately Jessie gave Bernard a sideways glance to make sure he wasn't going to have another panic attack or pass out. He seemed to be fine, so Jess flung her arms around her younger brother. Tearful hellos and other happy greetings were exchanged between Jess, Bernard and the rest of their family.

"I'm so glad you guys are here!" She grinned, breaking away from a hug with her mother. Having her family around was the best gift her Dad could have given Jess for Christmas. She had felt so bad about missing their Christmas Day together.

"Yeah, it's amazing..." Neil said, taking in Scott's office with an open mouth. It was the first time he and Laura had been to the North Pole since his stepdaughter's wedding and he had forgotten how picturesque the place could be.

"It is amazing." His stepdaughter agreed kissing Neil on the cheek. "And we, that is Bernard and me, have some amazing news of our own..."

"Jessie, what are you doing?" Her husband whispered into her ear nervously. She could tell his voice was getting panicky.

"We have to tell them eventually." She answered back. "And I don't want you passing out in the middle of dinner or something. Better to get it over with now, don't you think?"

"Have to tell us what?" Neil, who was standing the closest to the couple, asked.

"Jessica, is everything alright?" Scott jumped in, his dad voice in full force.

"Everything is...is fine." Bernard assured him, trying to sound confident despite his speeding heart.

"Better than fine." Jess said, looping an arm through one of her husband's. "Everyone, Bernard and I...Well, we are having a baby." The Calvins and the Millers reactions varied throughout the room. Laura and Carol both looked thrilled. Scott looked worried, Neil seemed to be some variation of intrigued. Charlie was smiling, and Lucy wasn't sure how she felt about it yet.

"I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother!" Laura gushed. She seemed overjoyed and began chatting cheerily with Neil.

"Oh, a baby?" Scott smiled. "So that's why the two of you were acting so weird."

"We just found out this morning." Bernard gulped.

"And that panic attack you had this morning?" Carol's face softened.

"He was just worried about how everyone was going to react. Which of course was silly." Jess said. She laid her head against her husband's shoulder. "Right, Dad?"

"Well..." Her father pretended to be upset, but everyone knew there was no truth to his glare. Everyone except Bernard. The Head Elf paled as his father-in-law spoke. "Oh-ho-ho come now, Bernard!" Scott laughed. He slapped the elf on back. "I couldn't be more thrilled! I get a wife and a grandkid in the same week!"

"Oh gosh, Carol!" Jess vocalized sympathetically. In all her joy she had forgotten that Carol had only been her step-mother for a few days. "You've been part of our family for less than a week and I've already made you a grandmother."

"It's alright. I'm learning that you Cavlins like to move fast." Mrs. Claus joked. She laughed and it spread like an infection around the room.

"How small are elf babies?" Lucy interrupted. She wanted to be well informed before she decided if she liked this baby or not.

"Well all babies are small at first." Bernard told her. He crouched down and talked to her eye to eye just like she liked. He and Lucy continued talking when Charlie asked a question of his own.

"So are you guys hoping for a boy or a girl?"

"Girl." Bernard answered quickly before returning to his conversation with Lucy.

"Boy." Jess answered at the same time. Everyone else laughed again.

"So I guess there's no point in asking about names yet then?" Scott joked.

"Well, we have plenty of time to figure all of that out. Twelve months apparently." His daughter tried to sound casual as she mentioned the detail that had her most concerned about pregnancy. "Neil, are you alright?" Up until this point her step-father hadn't given his opinion about the baby either way.

"I'm just...fascinated with the science behind all of this." He mumbled. "Twelve months? That's a long time..."

"Well, if you like Dr. Miller, I could set up an appointment with one of our doctors. you all must have a lot of questions. I know Lucy does." Bernard suggested with a wink at his sister-in-law. "Um, after we exchange gifts of course."

"Yes, presents first!" Scott insisted rubbing his hands together excitedly. He'd almost forgot that Christmas was what had brought them all together in the first place. Besides exchanging presents would give them all time to process the news about Bernard and Jess' baby. "Now we're talking!" He reached behind his desk and pulled out his magic red bag. "So, who wants to go first?"