The Workshop: A "The Santa Clause" Fanfiction. (Bernard x Female OC)

Forced Family Time is Still Family Time After-All

"One moment he's being all flirty and sweet, then this stupid meeting happens, and the next thing I know he pushes me out of the room! And my dad even agreed with him! I thought that it was my job to help with things like this," I sighed. "It's my job to help Santa, I'm like... I don't know, whatever the person next to the Head Elf is supposed to be, right? That's one of the things it said in my clause!"

Judy and I sat in one of the private booths near the kitchens, each with a cup of cocoa in our hands. She listened, nodding occasionally, as I filled her in on what had happened in the meeting and how completely and utterly unreasonable Bernard and Dad were being.

After a moment, she opened her mouth but paused for a second. "Well Angie, I mean, I hate to take their side, but don't you think they might be right?"

I stared at her, not knowing what to say. It was the complete opposite of what I thought she would do.

"I'm not saying it was right for them to make you leave the room like that, but if Santa doesn't need your assistance, then you should be taking every opportunity to spend with your family while they are still here."

"But they do need assistance!" I sighed, feeling as if she didn't catch anything that I was saying. "If you only saw how stressed he looked. I haven't seen him that way since... last year when Dad, Charlie and I arrived here."

"Angie listen, part of Santa being Santa is him having to learn how to make some of these decisions. You obviously care a lot for your Dad and Bernard, but there are other ways you can still help. You aren't just here to help Santa, you do technically come above Curtis in "command"... Think about it, they're going to be preoccupied and stressed. Curtis... well, we all know how he likes to run the Workshop when Bernard isn't around, so maybe that's an area you can oversee, if you are that restless." She leaned her chin in one hand and took a sip of her drink.

"That's actually a good idea-"

"But the way I see it, you had a birthday cut short, your family is here for this week only, and I think that you should spend time with them, let us do all the running around and stuff."

I sighed again, tapping my fingers on the edge of my mug. "I was just hoping that they'd get to spend time with Bernard, I wanted them to get to know him."

"I know," Judy gave a soft smile, "There will be plenty of chances, we just need to wait for this whole thing to blow over." She patted my arm. "Your family is all in the living area, I can walk you there if you'd like. I got to spend quite a bit of time with them the last two days, they really are lovely people."

The two of us left the booths and walked down to the "Santa" living areas. My grandparents were playing Go-Fish with Charlie, who was obviously getting restless from being cooped up. Once he looked up and saw me, he jumped up and ran over.

"Angie, I never got to give you my birthday present because the meeting thing last night and you were so busy today!" Charlie tugged on my arm.

"I'm sorry bud," I pulled him in for a hug, making me realize how much taller he had grown.

Charlie led me over to the couch, where he pulled a present from behind a cushion. "It's a cocoa cup that never gets cold!" He announced before I even opened the box. "Mom helped me make it!"

Inside was a traveling coffee mug. There were pictures of Charlie, Dad, and me all over it. "Wow Charlie, this is great!" I smiled.

Charlie beamed back proudly.

"Thank you," I ruffled his hair with my hand. "Hey Judy, can you bring some more cocoa in so I can put this mug to the test?"

"Right away!" Judy smiled and quickly returned with a platter of hot cocoa, as well as several extra cups for everyone else. "Here you are," She filled up my mug.