The magic felt weird and familiar at the same time. It wasn't the first time I had experienced Santa magic, after all. The lights burrowed into me, not leaving a mark of course, but the magic wrapped around me, infusing me, and I knew I had no choice. The room returned to normal, but there was nothing normal about how I felt.
"You could have come back on Sunday," I said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Tabitha," he said. "You know it takes a while for the Santa magic to settle in. You can't show up at the last minute and just become Santa. It's a process. You aren't going to have enough time as is. I wanted to get you the minute Santa broke his leg, but your dad wouldn't allow it."
I sighed again. "Can I at least give her the courtesy of a phone call to cancel?"
"Of course," he said. "Just because she's on the naughty list is no reason to be rude."
I fished my cell phone out of my purse and made the call.
"Hello, Tabitha," Charity said in answering. "I am so looking forward to tomorrow night."
"I was too, Charity," I said quietly. "I have a family emergency. My dad had an accident. I have to go. I'm sorry. I'll be gone at least through Christmas. I'm not sure when I'm going to be back, but it won't be for at least a week."
I could hear the frown over the phone. "Cold feet?"
"No, Charity. You know I've been trying to get you to agree to a date for months. I'm really sorry. I'm leaving as soon as we disconnect. Maybe you'll let me have a rain check."
"Sure," she said, but it didn't sound like she meant it. "Call me, you know, whenever." And she hung up without another word.
I glared at Lachlan while putting the phone back in my purse.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Honestly I am, Tabitha, but she wouldn't have made you happy. She is not a nice woman."
"I wasn't after nice, Lachlan, and you know it."
"You can do better," he said.
"Have you ever seen her, Lachlan?" I asked. "And she wanted me."
"Not very much if she is going to dismiss you because you are dealing with a family emergency. Tabitha, it's not what she does with her girlfriends that earned her a place on the naughty list. It's what she does afterwards with them."
"I know, she loves them and leaves them," I replied. "That's all I was after."
"No, Tabitha, that is not what she does. She loves them until they fall in love. Then she leaves them. Every time. And she's very good at it. She loves breaking hearts."
"You did this on purpose!"
"I didn't," he said. "I can't lie to you any more than you can lie to me, and you know it. Now, finish your cocoa."
I glared at him before slugging down the rest of the cocoa he had made for me. "You promise there's more on the sleigh."
"And cookies. And your mom sent you a hot roast beef sandwich."
Mom's roast beef sandwiches were legendary, just like the elf cocoa. And everything would stay toasty warm, waiting for me. Good old Santa magic. I know: I'm spoiled.
"All right," I said. "Let's go."
I led the way into the living room, reaching the fireplace. I didn't bother locking up. No one would break into my house. Yes, Santa magic. Oh, if someone was truly in need of a warm retreat from the cold, the house would be entirely inviting, but in this day and age, that never happened. I checked the flue: it was open. Then I gestured, and Lachlan stepped into the fireplace. The magic did it's thing, and I watched him sucked up the fireplace. I followed him, and a moment later we stood side by side on the roof.
Lachlan looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "You may want to dress properly."
It was chilly, and I knew it would be a cold sleigh ride. I nodded, held my arms from my sides, and began twirling slowly in place, around and around. I began to glow, and after exactly six and three quarters turns, I felt my red wool jacket, complete with white-lined hood, settled in place around me. I wore red leggings and black leather boots with a matching black leather belt and red gloves.
I looked down and smiled. "You look a lot better in that outfit than your dad does, Tabitha," Lachlan said. And I did. I had a good, fit figure, and the outfit was quite dashing. When Dad dressed like this, it looked quite archaic, but somehow the magic worked a little different when I did it. I looked quite stylish.
"You forgot something though," he said, gesturing to my head. I lifted my hands and discovered I wasn't wearing the hat.
"I hate the hat," I said. But I knew I would need it. I twirled twice more and then felt the hat settle down, giving me an instant case of hat hair, but my ears were already warmer.
The sleigh was pointed away from me, but the reindeer were all looking over their shoulders at me.
"Hey, guys," I said. I stepped past Lachlan and the sleigh, walking up to the reindeer. "How are you guys doing?"
They snorted at me, reindeer greetings. Prancer stuck his nose into the pocket of my jacket, looking for treats. I turned to Lachlan. "Dancer and Prancer? I bet that was a fight." The reindeer were mated pairs, of course. Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, et cetera. I couldn't believe Vixen would let Prancer go anywhere next to Dancer.
"Vixen is expecting," Lachlan said "Didn't you know?"
I turned to Prancer. "Congratulations!" I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You're going to be a daddy. Again."
The other reindeer all snorted. Prancer stood straight and tall, preening. He was an amazing reindeer dad. And he had even forgiven me for the little incident with his second daughter. You know, the overladen sleigh over the cliff incident. She had healed, after all.
I took my time greeting each of the reindeer. Lachlan didn't rush me. It would have been rude to behave any different, and he knew the reindeer loved me as much as I loved them. I'd grown up with them watching over me, after all. Each of the reindeer sniffed me for treats, but I hadn't come prepared, and I had to apologize. I received a few snorts in my face for the lack of little nummies for them, but they were a pretty forgiving bunch.
I gave them each one more pat, thanking them for carrying us through the night, then climbed into the sleigh next to Lachlan. We settled in and he turned to me. "Did you want to drive?"
Grinning, I took the reins.
"All right, guys!" I yelled. "Take us home." I swished the reins, which was customary and, oddly enough, required for the magic. Prancer and Dancer glanced at each other and then all four of them were in motion, pulling the sleigh across my roof. Right at the edge of the roof, they leapt into the air, and we were away.
* * * *
We set down right in front of the house I still called "home". I turned to Lachlan. I should help him with the sleigh.
"Go on," he said. "I've got this."
I didn't argue. I hurried into the house.
"Mom! Dad!"
"Living room, dear," I heard Mom's voice. I followed the sound. Mom met me at the door with a warm, welcoming hug and kiss, then I searched the room with my eyes.
Daddy was in his chair, his leg wrapped in a bright red cast and propped on a footrest. The elves had all signed his cast. I stopped and stared.
"It's not that bad, honey," Dad said. "Come kiss your dad on the cheek."
I rushed over to him and tried not to cry. My dad was hurt. He'd always been the rock in my life, a mountain of a man who would pick me up when I was the one hurt, and now here he was, his leg wrapped in plaster, and he looked almost... frail. When had that happened?
I kissed Daddy. He squeezed my hand. "I'm sorry, honey," he said.
"It's not your fault," I said.
I turned to Mom, and then I realized there was grey in her hair. When had that happened? How could that have happened? Mom shouldn't be aging until someone took over.
And I wasn't taking over. I wasn't!
I didn't want to see my parents grow old.
"So, Tabitha," Mom asked. "Have you had dinner?"
"I could eat," Dad said immediately. Dad could always eat. It was part of his magic. It didn't matter how much he ate; he would always be rolly-polly. He
could eat like a bird, and he was rolly-polly. He could eat like six horses, and he didn't gain a pound.
Mom's sandwich had been a long time ago. "A bite would be great, Mom, if it's no trouble."
"No trouble at all, Dear," she said, "but maybe you'll lend a hand." Mom never asked for help in the kitchen, so if she was asking, she wanted to talk to me.
"Sure, Mom," I said. I kissed Daddy on the cheek again and followed Mom into the kitchen.
At first, we focused on preparing dinner. Mom handled most of it but gave me things to chop. I'm sure it was busy work, but I did what she asked and waited for her to tell me what she really wanted.
"It's good to see you, Tabitha," she said.
"You look good, Mom," I said. She had been timeless for years, looking to be thirty-two years old the entire time I've known her. She was thirty-two when she married Daddy, and she hadn't aged a day since. But now she had grey hair, just a few streaks, but grey, nevertheless.
She smiled at me. "You're a sweet girl," she said. "I'm so sorry. I know this wasn't what you wanted."
"It's okay," I said. "I'm sure Dad didn't break his leg on purpose. I missed a date, but there will be more dates."
She looked at me sadly for a moment. We both knew I was in denial.
Mom stepped closer. I fingered her hair. "Mom?"
"Don't worry, Dear, we're going to be around for a long, long time."
And then I was in her arms.
Preparations
Saturday morning, I went to work. I'd helped Dad deliver the presents before, but I'd never done it myself. Last night, it hadn't really settled in yet. I was so worried about Mom and Dad, and I guess worried about missing my date, that I hadn't thought about my new responsibilities. But now I had to step up.
The elves always handled everything, but they needed Santa to supervise. It was part of the magic. The elves made everything, and they assembled the lists and made kept up with the maintenance on the sleigh. They handled the training of the reindeer and they wrapped all the presents.
But things fell through the cracks, and it was Santa's responsibility to find the problems. Dad had been trying to do it, but now it was up to me. I got up Saturday morning and met with the head elves, lead by Lachlan. Buttercup and Petunia were both there, too, and I quickly hugged my two closest friends.
We started a tour. Right away, I found problems. Of course I would. Santa had to supervise, or things slowly, or sometimes quickly, devolved. I corrected the problems, putting the factory in order. Then I reviewed the Naughty and Nice lists.
How did I review a list with millions of names?
Magic, of course.
There were errors. There always were. For some reason, everyone who had been rude to me on my most recent job assignment was found on the Naughty list. I gave Lachlan a dirty look. He didn't even have the grace to look chagrined.
Then it was time to visit the stables. The reindeer all looked good. I couldn't find any problems. I eyed Lachlan carefully, but he wasn't offering any hints. I knew there had to be something wrong out here, but in spite of my best efforts, I couldn't find it. I checked food supplies, which were good. I checked all the reindeer. They were all happy and healthy. The tack was good. The sleigh was good.
Finally, I shrugged, trusting that if there was something wrong, we would deal with it.
After that, it was time to begin memorizing the Nice and Naughty lists.
Yes, with millions and millions of names, and I would be memorizing the list.
I did mention magic, didn't I?
But just because magic was involved, didn't mean it was easy. And I had months of catching up to do.
It was a late night. And so were the remaining nights until Christmas Eve.
For Santa, Christmas Eve is, of course, the busiest day of the year. The first presents can't be delivered until midnight, Christmas morning, in Japan, but of course, the final preparations begin hours before that.
I woke early on Christmas Eve, half awake as I stumbled into the shower. I stepped out of the shower, dried my hair, then held my hands from my body and began to twirl. The lights twinkled, settled around me, and soon I was dressed in boots, leggings, and a tunic. I looked in the mirror and groaned.
Overnight, I had gained weight. A lot of weight. Not like Dad, but where I'd been slender I was now, well, I decided to call it "well curved". It wasn't fat. I actually felt good, perhaps better than I ever had, but I had liked my old figure. I had worked hard for it all my life, and now, all at once, it was gone.
I stumbled downstairs, my eyes down. Mom and Dad were in the kitchen, and Mom saw my expression. She opened her arms, and I stepped into them. "You look lovely, Dear," she whispered into my ear. "This is a good, healthy body. You were boney before."
"I looked good," I said. "None of my clothes are going to fit. It's going to take months to lose this weight."
I was still in denial.
But I didn't have time to wallow. The presents must be delivered. I ate a hearty breakfast, and then Lachlan, Buttercup and Petunia were waiting for me. It was time to review the final preparations.
Of course, there were things to fix. Again, the reindeer were all perfect, even though nothing else was. When I didn't find anything to correct, Lachlan looked at me nervously. But there wasn't anything he could do. If Santa didn't fix it, it stayed broken.
Mom was waiting with lunch for me, and I took a nap after lunch.
I didn't wake until Buttercup was sitting on my bed, teasing my cheek with my hair. I batted at her, but she continued to taunt me. "Wake up, Santa," she said.
"Don't call me that!" I told her.
"Of course not. Santa."
"Stop it!"
But I let her pull me out of bed. It was time to go.
Mom had a snack for me, plus a basket of more food to take with me. It would stay hot. Petunia had a thermos of chocolate, and I thanked her.
And then it was time.
Dad climbed to his feet, supported by his crutches. We stepped outside, and I was immediately struck by how cold it was. I held my arms out, spun around six and three quarters times, and the world glowed, my clothes glowed, and I glowed. And I was dressed for the weather, as were Mom and Dad. The elves were on their own.
Together, Mom, Dad, Buttercup and I walked to the stables. The sleigh was already hooked up and the reindeer were in the traces. Dasher and Dancer held their lead position, the same as always. Then, alone, Prancer stood in his traces on the right, but Vixen was standing off to the side, not hitched up. Of course not: she was pregnant. The other four reindeer were already to go, but of course, we couldn't go anywhere so unbalanced.
Everyone turned to me. "Did you forget something?" Lachlan asked.
"Not at all," I said, "but this is all wrong." I stepped forward and whispered quietly into Dasher and Dancer's ears. Then I unhitched both of them. They stepped to the side.
"What are you doing?" Dad asked. "Dasher and Dancer always take the lead."
"Not quite," I said. "For the last forty years, Rudolph has held the lead position. Where is he, anyway?"
I heard stomping behind me, and there was Rudolph with his mate, Maggie, and two of his kids with him. I ran to them, wrapping my arms around furry reindeer necks. "Thanks for coming!"
I kissed the reindeer kids, hugged Maggie once more, then turned back to the hitched up reindeer. I pulled Prancer out of position then hitched Dasher and Dancer in Prancer and Vixen's spot.
"That's not going to work!" Dad said. "You need eight."
"I know, Dad."
Then I hitched Prancer into the lead position and called to Rudolph. He stepped up, and soon I had eight reindeer hitched to the sleigh. The reindeer staying behind nosed about, and I saw Vixen talking to Prancer for a bit, then she crossed over to talk to Rudolph as well.
I turned to Dad and raised an eyebrow. He smiled. "I didn't think of that. I was going to put Rudolph in front and ask Maggie if she wanted to take Vixen's spot." Vixen rai
sed her head and gave Dad a dirty look. She was pretty territorial around Prancer.
"Vixen," I called out, "is this all right?"
She turned to me, tapped the ground with her forefoot several times, and nodded her head up and down. Then she gave Rudolph a quick kiss and another to Prancer before trotting over to stand next to Maggie. Maggie wasn't at all as territorial as Vixen was. Maggie grinned at Vixen, the two of them friends.
I checked the sleigh. I checked the packages. I checked that I had treats for the reindeer and dinner, breakfast and lunch for me. Buttercup gave me a thermos of hot chocolate, and then I turned to Mom and Dad.
Mom gave me a hug and a kiss. "I'm so proud of you, honey."
Dad gave me a hug and a kiss, and I saw a tear crawl down his cheek. "Be careful over Nova Scotia," he said. "There's a blizzard going on."
"Rudolph will guide us well," I replied. "We'll be fine, Dad."
"I know you will." He sniffled. "Your mother and I love you very much."
"I love you, too," I assured him.
I turned away, climbed aboard the sleigh, then stood in place, looking out over the reindeer. I was suddenly nervous. I'd flown small sleighs, and sometimes Dad let me lead the entire time, but I'd never done this entirely by myself. I took a deep breath, sat down in the seat, and then smiled everyone.
Then, it was time to activate the magic. I raised my voice.
"Now Prancer and Rudolph!" I cried out. "Now Dasher and Dancer! On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!" I paused, and the entire world began to glow. The sled glowed. The reins glowed. The reindeer glowed. And I knew I glowed. "To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now fly away, fly away, fly away all!"
And then, after just the tiniest of pauses, I swished the reins, and in an instant, the reindeer sprang forth, running three steps along the snow before Rudolph and Prancer, with a glance at each other, leapt into the air, side-by-side. Dasher and Dancer leapt next, then Comet and Cupid and finally Donner and Blitzen. And drawn along behind all of them, one large sleigh, well-laden with packages for all the children of the world, along with one, very small Santa Claus.
The Emergency Claus Page 2