we were crowded around my dad as he fixed one of the elves cars. we cheered when we found out it was fixed. he gave the elf advice and we started walking again.
sammy walked up to us and smiled at my dad. "do you want a cookie santa?" i smiled at the sight and my dad joked around, "so i want a cookie? yes! what's fresh?"
she handed him a cookie and he started eating it. we went to another elf and when my dad was talking to the elf i whispered into bernard's ear. "i want children. not now... but think about it."
that left him with an even redder face than before but he didn't say anything. i just smirked and walked with our group to the next elf.
"hey, joey! how's that static-free tinsel coming?" my dad yelled up to joey. soon the four of us were covered in tinsel. my dad walked outside to play football with the elves and i followed him out.
i looked next to me and didn't see bernard but then he came out the door with curtis. we watched the game and bernard put an arm around my shoulder. i put my arm around his waist and my other hand held the one on my shoulder.
the three of us walked up to my dad and bernard sighed. "santa, we need to talk." i gave bernard a confused look but he just placed a kiss on my forehead and we walked to my dad's room.
-•••-
i sat in my dad's desk chair with my feet on his desk while he judged himself in the mirror and bernard grabbed his coat.
"these fit yesterday, didn't they?" he asked me and i just shrugged. abby walked in with a smile, "hot cocoa for you, santa."
"this is not a good time, abby." bernard said and i shot him a glare and he shrugged and continued helping my dad.
abby completely ignored him, "i sent dasher down for some brazilian cocoa beans." my dad walked next to me and rose an eyebrow at abby. "what's the bad news?"
"what do you mean?" abby said in the same tone, now i could tell that this was a fake smile. "whenever you play the designer bean card, you have bad news."
her smile dropped as she handed the naughty-and-nice list to my dad. "what are you doing with the naughty-and-nice list?" my dad asked her as he took it and unrolled it.
"just don't shoot the messenger." she said and i took the mug of hot cocoa. "it's charlie." my dad rose an eyebrow, "sheen? i thought he straightened out."
i took a sip of the hot cocoa but started choking on it when she said, "not that charlie." the three looked at me and i apologized as i stopped choking. i could kind of see bernard laughing on the inside and i playfully rolled my eyes.
"my charlie. my son charlie? he's on the naughty list? there's gotta be a mistake." he said. i stood up and went over to bernard who put his hand on the small of my back and rubbed small circles.
"we don't make mistakes." abby shook her head. "i'm sorry santa. please excuse me." she sadly walked out of the room and i frowned.
"how could this happen? is this what you and curtis were trying to tell us?" my dad complained. curtis walked in the room with the magnifying glass. "great! you told them! let's get you dressed for that meeting."
my dad walked over to bernard, curtis, and i. "i cant have the meeting here. i'm gonna have to see charlie."
"number two, tell them right now." bernard glared at curtis. "tell us what, guys? come clean." i glared at the both of them.
"santa. there's a clause." curtis said. "that would be me." my dad pointed out the obvious. curtis rolled his eyes, "no, i mean there's another clause"
"that would be meadow." my dad said. i rolled my eyes, "dad, i think he means that there is another santa clause"
"guys, if you haven't noticed, this time of year, the malls are filled with other 'santa clauses'." my dad said and i silently groaned.
"yes, but there's another santa clause. there was a first clause, but also a second clause. when the last santa fell off your roof and you put on his coat, you found this." curtis said as he put the card on the stand.
"right, he who wears the coat takes on the responsibilities of santa claus.. something like that. and of course the rest would be history, right?" my dad briefly explained.
"but it seems out number two elf, the keeper of the handbook, overlooked the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT DETAIL IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS!" bernard yelled and i pulled him back a little.
curtis kept a straight face, "wow. one mistake in 900 years." bernard sighed and flipped a magnifying glass.
"i can't see that." my dad complained. bernard kept going until he flipped the biggest one. we huddled in to look through it.
"'the card holder acknowledges a woman of his choosing... true love... not valid in the state of utah... holy... matrimony'?! I GOTTA GET MARRIED!"
