Long Lost Elf

Chapter 13- DeSantafication

"Okay, try it now," Dad said.

The elf revved the car engine. It growled and the elves cheered in success. I smiled as Dad got up from underneath the car. "Okay, alright. Here's what we need. We gotta get one more bowl for that-"

"This is working so well," Bernard whispered. "All thanks to you."

"What do you mean? I've done nothing these past few years," I looked up at him.

"What do you mean?" he retorted. "You came back, you helped your adoptive Dad settle in, we got married, and you helped make production more efficient," Bernard listed as we walked.

"Hey, Joey! How's that static new tinsel coming?" Dad called up to the balcony.

"Hey, guys! Santa wants to see the new tinsel!" Joey yelled with a mischievous grin.

A ton of tinsel was poured on us in red, silver, and gold. I laughed as mostly silver covered me. I looked up at the kids, crossing my arms as I shook some of the tinsel off of me.

"You know, I could come up there and deal with this the ugly way. Or, we can go outside and play some football," Dad compromised.

The elves cheered as we took some of the tinsel off of us. Bernard smiled, pulling a piece out of my hair. I did the same with a piece of red and kissed him. Elves were unpredictable, but it's really funny sometimes what the final outcome might be.

Bernard then turned to his intern. "Curtis, you need to tell him right now!" Bernard demanded.

"I don't know. He's so happy right now. And why do I have to be the one to tell him?" Curtis said unsurely.

"Because! I'm the head elf, I don't give bad news. It's one of the perks of my seniority. Now, tell him!" Bernard grabbed his shoulder.

I kissed his cheek, catching his attention. "I've got jewelry to make. I'll see you at lunch, yeah?" I asked.

He nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said, turning around and walking away with a smile.

I love making jewelry, I absolutely love it. In fact, Bernard and I actually designed each other's wedding rings. I loved making jewelry, especially because of how beautiful it turned out in the end.

I was humming Christmas carols as I worked around the shop. I shaped the crystal in my hand with the machine. It took me a couple hours to do a couple gems for a single piece of jewelry, but this one only had one crystal in it, so it only took an hour to get it into the ring.

I walked down to Dad's room after making a couple pieces of jewelry and knocked on the door. It swung open as Dad looked at himself in the mirror. He was getting thinner.

The deSantafication process had begun.

"Hot cocoa for you, Santa," Abby said as Bernard helped Dad put on his coat.

"I sent Dasher down for some Brazillian cocoa beans," Abby added.

"What's the bad news?" Dad smiled, looking at me and Abby.

"What do you mean?" Abby asked in the same tone.

"Whenever you play the designer bean card, generally, you have bad news," Dad explained.

"He caught on," I whispered softly to Bernard and he nodded.

Abby frowned as she handed him the Naughty list.

"What are you doing with the Naughty and Nice list?" Dad asked.

"Just don't shoot the messenger," Abby frowned.

Dad put on his glasses and unrolled the list. "It's... Charlie."

"Gene? I thought he straightened out," Dad looked at Bernard.

"Not that Charlie," Abby shook her head as Bernard took my hand nervously.

"My Charlie. My son, Charlie? He's on the naughty list?" Dad looked at me. "Did you try to talk to him?"

"I wanted to see what you wanted to do before I jumped into anything. I didn't want to make it worse," I explained quietly.

"There's gotta be a mistake," Dad looked at Abby.

"We don't make mistakes. I'm sorry, Santa. Please excuse me," Abby said monotonously and walked out of the room.

"How could this happen? Is this what you and Curtis were trying to tell me?" Dad sighed.

"Great, you told him! Good! Let's get you dressed for that meeting," Curtis said as he pushed in something.

"I can't have the meeting here. I really can't. I'm gonna have to go see Charlie," Dad said as Bernard fixed his suit.

"Number two, tell him right now," Bernard sighed.

"Tell me what? Come on, you three, come clean," Dad said, annoyed.

"Dad, there's a clause," I started.

"Yeah, that would be me," Dad replied.

"No, she means there's another Santa clause," Curtis continued.

"Curtis, in case you haven't noticed, this time of year, the malls are filled with other Santa Clauses," Dad said sarcastically.

"Yes, but there's another Santa clause. There's a first clause, but there's also a second clause," Curtis explained.

"Get on with it!" the puppets said.

"The last Santa fell off of your roof, you put on his coat, and you found this," Curtis put the card in a slot.

"Right. He who wears the coat takes on the responsibilities of Santa Claus, and, of course, the rest would be history, right?" Dad asked.

"Yes! But it seems our number two elf, the keeper of the handbook, overlooked the single, most important detail in the history of Christmas!" Bernard said angrily.

"Honey," I whispered, trying to calm him and taking my hand in his.

"Why are your fingers cold?" Bernard looked at me, concerned.

"Probably because I was working with metal for a while. It's not a big deal," I brushed it off.

"Look," Bernard hissed, pulling up a magnifying glass.

"I can't see that."

He pulled up the second one. "Better now?" he pulled up the third one and put down the second one. "Or now?"

"Eh," Dad said.

"Now?"

"It's getting better."

"Now?"
"I can't see anything," Dad sighed.

Bernard pulled up the biggest magnifying glass. "I see. Good, good. I see it. Okay, well."

I didn't have to stand there. I've read that card a dozen times to our Santas. One of them didn't get married; it was sad to let him go so soon.

"The cardholder acknowledges... a woman of his choosing... not valid in the state of Utah... holy matrimony. I gotta get married!" Dad yelled.

"Yes, it's the missus clause," Bernard explained.

"What if I don't want to get married?" Dad said as he fixed his belt. His rounded stomach disappeared.

"Uh oh," I said worriedly.

"The deSantafication process has begun!" Curtis said quickly.