A Clause Journey (The Santa Clause story) 🎅🏻

chapter 12= The in-laws know!

Y/n's POV

I found myself back in the alley that I was eavesdropping on my uncle and Jack and gasped in hope. I looked round the corner to see my uncle and Jack back to normal. My uncle was santa....again!
"Uncle Scott!" I said with relief.
"Y/n! You're here!" Scott said happily.
"Yep! Still alive!" I said, patting myself down.
Then, my uncle and I saw Carol, Bud, and Sylvia walking side by side.
"Carol!" My uncle yelled as we ran up to them.
"Well, that didn't work out the way I'd hoped!" I heard Jack say.
"Carol!" I said, chuckling.
"Oh, Scott, y/n! We've been looking everywhere for you two!" Carol said, making her way over to us.
"Oh, come here. Oh, Mrs. Clause! I've missed you!" Scott said, pulling Carol into a hug.
"Wait, it's just been a few minutes!" Carol said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"It's only been a few minutes?" My uncle suddenly realised and chuckled.
"Of course. It only takes a few minutes to see the truth of an entire lifetime!" I chimed in.
"I don't understand!" Carol said.
"A man goes out into the world and expects his dreams to come through, and then, the unexpected happens," my uncle explained, waving to Bud and Sylvia.
"You pick up a red coat and become Santa Clause! That's big, that's huge! And it's a lot of pressure! I mean, taking care of all of the children of the world, and the elves and the SOS, and the North Pole. But, he loses sight of what's really important: a woman who falls in love with him and gives him a baby, a niece who loves him uncontrollably and her loving husband who puts his back into everything he does. I love being santa clause and I love you guys!" Scott said.
"I love you too!.... Have you two been drinking cocoa?" Carol asked. I giggled.
"No. We're back!" I said, opening my arms.
Carol covered her mouth, stopping her happy tears.
"I've missed you both very, very much!" Carol said.
"We've missed you too!" My uncle said, pulling us into a three person group hug.
"Hey, you guys know what happened?" My uncle suddenly said, walking over to Bud and Sylvia, pulling me with him.
"No." Bud said flatly.
"We ticked each other off. That's it!" I said.
"Just like families all over the world are doing on Christmas! They're lovin' each other: tickin' each other off! And it's okay! And we don't have to be perfect to be good families!" My uncle said.
"We just have to be together!" I butted in.
"I'm still so very sorry that we added to all this pressure that you're under! And I think we should apologise. Don't you, honey?" Sylvia said.
"No, it's good! I'm tough on him. I'm his father-in-law! It's my job!" Bud said. Carol and I laughed.
"Yes, as long as you promise to do it, every Christmas, it's fine with us!" My uncle said.
"Well, we'll see about that. I'm a very busy guy." Bud said.
"And so are we. And we'd like to show you what we do." Scott said.
"No, Scott, the SOS." Carol whispered.
"The SOS is about secrets, and secrets aren't for families. We're tired of keeping you from your family! So, if you guys will follow us to my uncles factory." I said, walking to the workshop. They slowly trailed behind. I pushed open the big doors and Scott walked in and called out.
"Elves? Elves! Stop working for a minute! We'd like you all to say hello to the in-laws!" My uncle announced.
"Hello, in-laws!" The elves said in unison.
"Hello!" Sylvia said.
"How ya doin'?" Bud said.
"Elves!" Bud said.
"Oh, my!" Sylvia said.
"They're not little Canadians. They're elves! Listen, if they're elves, this is not a toy factory. This is...this is probably Santa's workshop! And if this is probably Santa's workshop, then,... He's the guy!" Bud said. The in-laws looked over at my uncle and I and he was in his famous red suit and I was in my Elf outfit.
"Hey, you... you're the guy. You're father Christmas!" Bud said.
"It's a little freaky, but.... You'll get used to it!" I said.
"....Whoa!" Bud said.
"Wow!" Bud said. Sylvia gasped and raised her hand to her chest in joy. I smiled, and my uncle did as well.
"If you're father Christmas, that means....  I'm father Christmas' father-in-law!....that means I'm.... I'm father-in-law Christmas!" Bud exclaimed.
"And- And I'm Mother-in-law Christmas!" Sylvia added.
"Hi, santa!" Called a voice, we all turned to see the Easter bunny, pushing a cart.
"Hi, Bud!.... Sylvia! Haha!" Easter bunny chuckled. He then looked behind him and said, "Oh, the little pellets behind me? I'll clean those up later!"
"Santa, y/n! Where do you keep the Phillip screwdrivers?" Cupid asked, flying down to us.
"Oh, uhhh... Elf construction! Talk to Irv, okay?" My uncle said. Then, Cupid flew off.
"Oh, oh, Cupid!" I quickly called. He flew back down.
"At this altitude, you might want to consider an under-diaper!" I suggested.
"I don't mind the draft!" Cupid said before flying off again.
"So, who's your husband around here?" Bud asked me.
"Oh, Bernard? Well, around here he's known as the head Elf!" I said. Bud suddenly realised and chuckled.
"That was Cupid!" Sylvia said.
"Yes!" My uncle said.
"Hello, Santa!" Father Time said, throwing us a peace sign.
"Father Time!" My uncle said.
"Father Time! What next?" Bud said.
"Well, hello, santa! This is a blast!" Mother Nature said, swiftly stepping through the crowd of elves.
"Mother Nature!" I whispered to Bud.
"How can we ever thank you for this?" My uncle asked.
"Awww! Don't thank me! He's the one who brought us here!" Mother Nature said. She then looked over at one of the toy stations.
"Hey, Dad! Hey, y/n!" Charlie's voice came.
"Charlie!" I exclaimed happily, running over and giving him a hug.
"Hi, santa!" Tooth Fairy called.
"Hey, Tooth!" My uncle said.
"Hi, santa!" Sandman said while yawning.
"Sandy!" My uncle said.
"Just checked with Curtis and heard you were behind, so I decided to call in the professionals!" Charlie said.
"Haha!" I laughed.
Then, a little, scared voice broke the happy moment.