Love At The North Pole

Chapter Twenty- A Happily Ever After

"By the powers vested in me by me, I now pronounce you Santa and Mrs. Claus," Mother Nature finishes the marriage ceremony with a smile.

Dad nervously looks around at Tooth Fairy and me and Bernard before Mother Nature speaks up again. "Well, go on now. Kiss her!"

The two newlyweds turn to each other and smile before leaning in to meet in a kiss. All of the elves 'aww' and I laugh while leaning into Bernard's chest, little Holly squealing at all of the excitement around her from Charlie's arms.

The bell tolls that it's officially Christmas Day and Dad starts Santifiying once again causing all of the elves to erupt into cheers.

I hug Bernard and give Curtis a great big thumbs up as everyone soaks in the success of Christmas. I look over at Charlie and he smiles big with his missing tooth magically reappearing back into his mouth.

Dad laughs and turns toward the rest of his family, pulling me into a hug before Charlie informs him that it's time to go. He hands me back Holly after giving her a kiss and I give him a hug myself as a goodbye.

Our little family walks down to the sleigh and Dad and Charlie hop in. "All right. Well, Mrs. Claus, you might want to get some rest. You see, tomorrow begins vacation season for me, which means a three-month honeymoon for us."

I nudge Carol and she giggles like a schoolgirl while Dad finishes off his look with his hat. "Nothing tropical. You do not want to see this in a Speedo."

"Don't be home too late," Carol jokes.

Dad looks over at Charlie with a smile and I giggle. "And so it begins. Boys, we've got some toys to deliver! Hyah! Hyah!"

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I watched Dad through my snow globe and saw that he had finally made it to Mom and Neil's house. I grab my winter gear and prepare for the cold winter in Chicago.

"Alright, B, I've gotta head to Mom's real fast. I won't be long," I tell my husband who was sitting on the couch with Holly sleeping peacefully on his chest.

"See you soon, honey," he smiles and I give him a quick kiss before tapping my nose and disappearing.

I reappeared on the street in front of Mom and Neil's house, the lights from the Christmas tree visible in the front window. I made my way into the house and took a seat on the chair near the Christmas tree.

Charlie slowly came into the living room with a tired Lucy in his arms. I smiled at my half-sister and watched her look at Charlie.

"Hi, Lucy," I said softly and the little girl turned to look over at me.

"Clara! How did you get here?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, just a little bit of magic," I smiled and looked over at the fireplace. "Watch this, Lucy."

The fireplace expanded a bit and Dad dropped down, shaking off the feelings from his shift to get down the chimney.

Lucy smiled as Dad carefully walked into the room, waiting to see if she noticed who was under the white beard and red suit.

"Uncle Scott?" She asked.

Dad leaned down with his rosy cheeks and looked around jokingly. "Do you have any twos?"

Lucy gasped. "Go fish! You are Santa! I knew it was you all along."

"And you were right."

"Uncle Scott, you look all rosy? Are you feeling better?"

"I'm feeling much, much better."

"Is there anything else I should know about?" She asked.

She looked over at me and I walked over to her before slowly taking off my snow hat to reveal my pointy ears and a better look at my glittery rosy cheeks.

"You're an elf! Can I touch them?" She exclaimed and I moved closer so she could feel my ears.

I laughed as she cupped my face in her little hands. "I knew there was something going on!"

"You're a smart girl, Lucy," I said while smoothing out her hair. "There's also something Charlie needs to tell you."

"Okay," she nodded while turning to look at her older brother.

"You know, Lucy, I was exactly your age when I found out my dad was Santa. But I couldn't tell anybody," Charlie explains.

"I can't tell anybody either?"

"No. But knowing it isn't a burden. It's a gift. You know, most kids stop believing in Santa when they grow up. But I get to believe in him forever.

"I love you, Charlie. Thank you," she says before giving her brother a hug.

Charlie looks up at me and Dad and we give him a smile for being such a good big brother.

"But do I still get toys?" Lucy exclaims at Dad.

"If you ever get to bed and go to sleep like the other kids."

"Oh. Okay."

"Merry Christmas, Lucy."

"Merry Christmas, Santa."

"Sport, I gotta fly," Dad says while making his way to the fireplace.

"I'll be disappearing for the night as well," I sigh and put my hat back onto my head.

"Goodnight, Lucy. Merry Christmas," I smile before tapping my nose and disappearing right in front of her eyes.

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"Well, Christmas was successful for yet another year," I huff while plopping down on the couch into Bernard's arms.

"Indeed, it was. How about a nice glass of special eggnog?" Bernard asks while pushing some of my hair behind my ear.

"Oh, yes. That sounds lovely," I smile and clap my hands together excitedly.

Bernard kisses the top of my head before getting up off of the couch and going into the kitchen.

I take this as my time to get up and turn on the tv, placing It's A Wonderful Life into the player.

"Clara," Bernard whines while bringing out the serving tray with two glasses of eggnog and some cookies to the coffee table.

"What? It's a classic, Bernard. You know I don't get to do stuff like this anymore," I pout and stick out my bottom lip.

Knowing that he already gave in, I plop back down onto the couch and pull the big blanket over us, grabbing my glass of eggnog before leaning back into my seat.

"Cheers to a successful Christmas and many more to come," I say with my chin held high but my glass held higher.

"Here, here!" Bernard smiles and kisses me, following with a big sip of his drink.

"I love you, B."

"I love you too, doll."

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Word Count: 1034