knj imagines

twinkle || jc caylen

I woke up to my son trying to scale his way up on my bed, giggling at the extreme bed head he was rocking. I scooped him up and began fussing over his hair, but his excited bouncing was making it incredibly difficult. "Where did all the ants in your pants come from, Eli?"

"We have to see where Twinkle is!" A yawn escaped my lips and Eli shook his head forcefully. "No more sleeping, Twinkle is downstairs! Please, Mommy!"

"Okay, okay, let's go find him." I helped him jump down and let him lead me down the stairs. Twinkle was his Elf-on-the-Shelf that Santa had brought him last year and now that it was finally December, Twinkle was back from the North Pole to visit. "Where to first?"

He went to the living room, pulling couch cushions off and unfolding all of the blankets, basically trashing the room I had just cleaned the night before. He opened the cabinets under the TV stand and got on his stomach to look under the couch before heading to the kitchen.

I heard him gasp and he pointed to where Twinkle was sitting on the top of the fridge with a basket he had filled with things to make hot chocolate and have a cozy movie night with Jc when he came over. "Look Mommy, he brought us a present!"

I pulled the basket down and put it on the table so he could look at everything. "Oh my goodness, look at all this! What do you say to Twinkle?" Eli whispered a thank you and climbed up to sit at the table, admiring his present. "Now that Twinkle is found, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Please say pancakes," Jc said from behind him, making him jump. He had snuck in sometime during our search and he pressed a quick kiss on Eli's head on his way over to me. "Good morning baby."

"Good morning." I smiled as Jc wrapped his arms around me and turned my attention back to Eli. "Pancakes?" He nodded enthusiastically and Jc did a happy dance at the thought of food.

He pulled away from me and walked back over to Eli, ruffling his hair which made it look ten times worse. "What's the plan for today, little man?" Eli launched into all the things he wanted to do with Jc, complete with a blanket fort in the living room which made Jc smile.

"And then we're going to watch a movie and eat snacks that Twinkle brought me."

Jc frowned and glanced over to me for help. I nodded over to the top of the fridge and he walked toward it for a closer look. As if in slow motion, I watched his hand reach up and I couldn't get to him quick enough to stop him.

Eli watched in horror as Jc picked the elf up before letting out a scream. He jumped, confused at the glare I shot him as I snatched Twinkle from his hands. The poor guy looked clueless as I pulled Eli into my arms, sitting on the chair with him on my lap "It's okay, sweetheart, don't cry."

"No it's not, now Twinkle will never come back because Jc touched him," he hiccuped out, clutching onto my shirt.

"I'm not allowed to touch the elf?"

Jc was still hovering near the fridge and I motioned for him to come over so I could fill him in. "Santa sent Twinkle here last December to watch Eli and then report back to the North Pole if he was naughty or nice, but if you touch Twinkle then he can't come back."

"Oh my gosh, little man I'm so sorry," Jc said, kneeling down to be face level with him. but Eli buried his head in my shoulder to avoid him. Jc looked hurt and I was so desperate to smooth the situation over that I didn't think about what I said next.

"You know how I know Twinkle will come back though?" Eli sniffled as he looked up at me, curious to see what I could possibly say to fix this. "We aren't really supposed to tell you this, but Jc knows Santa. He'll make sure Santa knows that you were a good boy and didn't touch Twinkle."

His mouth dropped open and he caught Eli as he launched off my lap and into Jc's arms, completely over the moon that Jc was a personal friend to Santa.

"Jc, why wouldn't you tell me!" Jc gave him a smile and shrugged, saying Santa swore him to secrecy. "Have you ever been to his workshop in the North Pole?"

"Um," Jc looked at me for help and I shrugged, motioning for him to keep talking. "Uh yeah, I have actually. It's a lot like how they show it in the movies."

"And the elves?"

"Just like the movies too, with the little shoes with the bells and everything." Eli giggled at that, asking if he was as tall as them. "Just a little taller, but super close."

I could tell Jc was beginning to have fun with this new game and Eli was so invested that I decided to play along too. "Tell him about the reindeer. Rudolph is one if his all time favorite movies."

"Oh my gosh the reindeer! They are so cool dude, you would love them. Especially Rudolph. Do you know why his nose glows?" Eli looked up at him with big eyes and shook his head. "The movies say it's Christmas magic but they just don't want to give the real secret away."

"Can I please know?" Jc looked to me for my opinion and I shrugged.

"You think he can be trusted with the secret?" I nodded and smiled at the gears turning in Jc's brain. "It's glitter," he whispered and Eli gasped like it was the most amazing thing in the entire world. "Isn't that totally crazy?"

"I promise I won't tell anyone, pinky swear." They linked pinkies as I put a plate down in front of each of them, earning a big smile from Eli. "Thank you Mommy."

"Thank you Mommy," Jc echoed and I slapped the back of his head playfully.

When Eli was distracted by his food, I leaned close to Jc and whispered a thanks for playing along.

He looked at me with a serious expression and shook his head. "I'm sorry you have to find out this way, but I really am Santa's friend. I hated to keep the secret from you but like I said, sworn to secrecy."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck. "And this is why I like you so much."