Christmas with the Calvins

Chapter Eleven

At the Miller's house Neil, Laura and Jessie were arguing about something when Scott and Charlie returned there.

"Mom?" Charlie yelled, standing next to his dad in the living room. At first the others couldn't hear him over their own voices. "Mom! Neil! I'm home!"

"Isn't that Charlie?" Bernard, who could hear above the chaos with his elf ears, questioned. Jess, Neil and Laura listened for Charlie's voice. When they heard him the family raced to the living room.

"Charlie!" Laura shouted with relief at the sight of her son. "Charlie, oh my god! Sweetheart come here." Charlie did what he was told hugging his mother as she clung to him. "Oh my boy." She mumbled stroking his hair.

"Mom, I'm fine." Charlie assured her impatiently. "It's okay."

"I don't have a lot of time." Scott interrupted when he heard the sounds of siren's approaching.

"Did you leave the gifts Jess and I made under the tree?" The nine year old boy asked his dad.

"You bet I did." Santa promised.

"We'd better go then!" Charlie tugged on his Dad's sleeve.

"No, Charlie!" Laura said immediately. "No, no, no..."

"It's okay, Laura." Scott promised. He gave her a look, ensuring that he would take care of things properly this time. Charlie, who was afraid his mom may want to keep him away from his dad, was hiding behind his sister. "Actually Sport," Santa crouched down to look his son in the eyes. "I think it's a much better idea, for both you and Jessie to stay here with your Mom and Neil."

"Really?" Laura didn't believe what she was hearing.

"But, Dad..." Jessie and Charlie both started to argue.

"No buts." Their father told them firmly. He put his right hand on Charlie's shoulder and used his left hand to hold one of Jess's. "I can't be selfish, kids. I can't be with you all the time. We're a family. The two of you, me, your mom..." He looked over his shoulder where Neil was leaning forgotten against the wall. "And Neil." The stepfather smiled back it was nice to be recognized even if it was by a crazy person. "They need to be with you too."

"I'll miss you too much!" Charlie wailed. He gripped his father tight and began to sob. It was all happening too fast for Jessie. She'd lived with Scott her whole life, even after her parent's divorce. It was always her and her dad against the rest of the world. Biting back tears of her own, Jess watched as Charlie cried into his father's shoulder.

"Listen to me," Scott said peeling his son off of him. "There's a lot of kids out there, okay? Millions of kids. And they're...they all believe in me. They're counting on me Charlie and I'm not going to let them down. I've got a lot of work to do."

"So I can't be selfish either." His son snuffled.

"You gave me a wonderful gift Charlie. Listen, a wonderful gift." Santa explained. "You believed in me when nobody else did. You helped make me Santa. Selfish? Come on. You're the least selfish person I know."

"I love you Santa Claus." Charlie said as he wiped away the last of his tears.

"I love you, Son." The father of Christmas stood and turned over to his ex-wife. "Laura, what do you think, Christmas Eve I'll spend it with Charlie and Jessie?"

"Oh my god." His ex-wife remarked when she truly saw him for the first time. Her own tears brimmed over and dripped down her face. "It's you. It really is you. You really are...Santa Claus."

"Pretty cool, huh?" He laughed. "And you're parents thought I'd never amount to anything."

"Wait, don't go yet!" Laura ordered. "I have something for you..." She ran from the room. Neil was still entirely convinced this was a delusional episode. Charlie had his arms wrapped around Scott's waist, and Jessie had a hand over her mouth. She didn't speak for fear of completely losing her composure.

"Princess, don't look at me like that." Scott begged his daughter.

"You can't leave!" She managed to choke out.

"What's all this boo-hooing goin' on here?" Bernard demanded. The family hadn't even noticed the elf slip out of the room. He wanted to give them a chance to figure things out on their own, but it was starting to get depressing.

"I'm just saying goodbye to Charlie and Jessie, Bernard." Santa Claus explained.

"What, goodbye?" Bernard was confused. "Charlie you've still got the glass ball I gave you last Christmas, right?"

"Yeah. " Charlie kept it by his bed so he could watch it come to life before he fell asleep each night.

"Well all you've gotta do is shake it whenever you want to see your dad." The elf promised. "He can come back to see you anytime day or night. And Jessie, you'll be eighteen in a year. Once you're finished with school, you can come live at the pole if you'd like."

"Really?" Charlie was the one who asked, but both he and Jess looked relieved.

"Hey, have I ever steered ya wrong?" Charlie shook his head no and Laura returned to the room with a folder in her hands.

"Here." She stood by the fireplace and held the folder between her hands. "It's um...well it's my Christmas present to you. It the...ah, it's the custody papers." She said before throwing the papers into the fire. "And I want you to come and see the kids as often as you can."

"You can count on it." Scott looked over at his two kids. "Thanks, Laura."

"Merry Christmas." She replied.

Scott and Bernard had to leave to deliver the rest of his presents, which gave Neil and Laura plenty of time to talk to the police. Charlie and Jess went upstairs to clean out the guest room. Which had just become her room. There was a knock on the door and Neil entered.

"The police are taken care of." Their stepfather said. "Jessica could I talk to you?"

"uh, yeah, Charlie why don't you give us a minute?" Sensing this wasn't a conversation he wanted to witness, her brother scurried out of the room. "What's up?" She asked Neil, sitting on the bed.

"Well, I just wanted to say that I know you and I haven't always been on the best of terms." He sat down next to Jess. "You and Scott have always been very close, and you must have felt like I was putting a wedge between that. I've never wanted to replace your father..."

"I know that Neil." she assured him. "I just...I always wanted to be normal. You know one dad, one mom. When I was ten, I was the only kid in my class with divorced parents. A few years later you and Mom were married. Then I was the only kid with a stepfather. Now, my Dad is Santa Claus."

"Not everyone who has two parents is normal either."

"Yeah, I know. You should meet Brian's parents, they're a wreck." She rolled her eyes. "I guess my point is, by the time Id realized that there wasn't anything wrong with having divorced parents or a Stepdad, the damage was already done. So I kept treating you badly because that's how things had already been."

"Well, maybe since you'll be staying here, we can get to know each other better." Neil suggested.

"I'd like that."

"MOM!" Charlie was yelling from downstairs.

"Just when I thoughts things were quieting down." Neil sighed. At the bottom of the stairs Neil and Jess saw Charlie violently shaking his snowglobe.

"This stupid Ball's not working!" Charlie complained. Scott stepped through the front door with his bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hey Sport, you missed me already?" he laughed. "I've been gone, what thirty minutes? give me a break. I was on my way to Cleveland." Charlie didn't say anything, He just launched himself into his dad's arms. "Do you wanna come for a quick ride?"

"Please, Mom?" He begged Laura who was standing right behind him.

"Go on, get out of here!" She waved the two off.

"Wait Dad!" Jess called from the stairs. "Can I come too?"

"I thought you hated flying?" Scott asked.

"Just once couldn't hurt." She sighed. "Just um not over any oceans or not too high..."

"Let's go, I have a lot to do in just one night!"Santa said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.