Christmas with the Calvins

Chapter Sixty-Five

Jessica woke one morning feeling well rested for the first time in a long time. She rolled over, expecting to see Bernard sleeping peacefully next to her. Only he wasn't there. Concerned, Jess got out of bed and began to search for her Husband. She felt guilty for not being completely fair to him. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't remember the past eight years. He was great with the kids and he was doing an amazing job keeping the house running.

Jess checked in on her son and her daughter who were both sleeping soundly in their rooms. She wished she had more time to spend with them and promised herself that after Christmas she would take a vacation and finally be with her family. She would move on and accept New Bernard for her who was. They had to start making a life together and she had to stop living in the past.

She walked downstairs, still looking for her husband, and was greeted by the warm scent of coco and...waffles? Bernard was cooking breakfast. That's where he'd gone off too. She leaned against the kitchen doorframe and watched him. He was methodical, working deliberately and systematically to prepare the food in the most efficient way possible. He spotted her in the doorway when he turned for more waffle batter.

"Oh! Morning, Darling. I wasn't expecting you to be up so early. There's just enough time for breakfast before I get to my meeting with Curtis." He explained before turning back to his work.

"Why do you have a meeting with Curtis?"

"It's my pre-Christmas meeting." He explained. "I have one every year. Are you feeling alright?"

"But you don't-you-re not Head Elf anymore. Why would you..."

"What are you talking about Jessie? Of course I'm head Elf! Who else would it be? Curtis? Over my dead body!" He insisted, waving the spatula at her. Jess was worried. Had Bernard suffered another bout of amnesia, one where he now couldn't remember even the last two years?

"Bernard, what year is it?" She tried to remember the other questions the doctors would ask.

"2006. Jessica are you sure you're feeling alright? If you're not, I'm sure the Painting Department can last a day without you." Bernard looked concerned. He put his spatula down and studied his wife's face. She wasn't making any sense to him and it was troublesome. "You could stay home with Nick and Noel, Or I could ask Judy to watch them for the day. Of course Santa could probably use the practice himself..."

"You remember everything?" Jess gasped. "Our kids, who I am? You remember that we're married...all of it?"

"Of course, Darling." Bernard pressed the back of his hand against his wife's forehead. "You're not warm. Why don't you tell me what's going on? We're really close to Christmas, but I'm sure Curtis can manage for a day if you need me here."

"What-I...I was having this dream...nightmare I guess. You were changing the lights and you, well you fell off the roof! Dad and I told you to get down, and when you started to climb onto the ladder, you fell. It was days before you woke up. Might have even been weeks. It felt like a lifetime. I was afraid you'd never wake up and when you did you...you didn't remember who I was. You didn't remember we had kids, you didn't remember we were married...and-and..."

"Alight, come here." Bernard pulled his wife into his arms. "I could never forget about you, Jessie, you know that." He tried to calm her down by stroking her hair. "It's okay, I'm right here, Jess..."

"Jess! Jessica!" She woke from her actual dream to find Curtis standing over her. Jess pulled herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. This wasn't the first dream she'd had like this, but it was the first one that had been rudely interrupted by Curtis. A perfect dream world where Bernard remembered everything. A world where Bernard and Curtis could go back to their respective jobs and not leave her to be awakened so early by the temporary Head Elf.

"I was sleeping!" She groaned, getting up off the cot. At first she'd been ashamed to admit to Curtis that she was sleeping in her office. She could only imagine what he must have thought of her. How horrible she was for leaving new Bernard with the kids all the time. But Curtis was understanding. He promised to keep it a secret from everyone, even Santa.

"We don't have time for sleep!" Curtis answer her in a huff. "It's two weeks before Christmas and there is still so much to do!"

"so much to do?" She questioned, rubbing the side of her neck. As it turns out sleeping on a cot in your office is not the most comfortable thing in the world. "I thought you said we were right on track?"

"That was weeks ago! Santa's been too busy with Mrs. Claus we've fallen behind! He hasn't checked his list even once! We still have to map out the sleigh route, painters are out of paint, there are fifty seven hammers missing..."

"Curtis!" Jess raised her voice to get his attention. "Breath. There that's better. Ok, whatever's wrong it's not too late to fix it. So how about we sit down and make up a list of everything you want done. The we'll divide everything up. It'll be a piece of cake.

"Easy for you to say." Curtis sighed. "Santa listens to you."

"Well then I'll add my dad to the top of my list." She scribbled "Scold Santa" across the top of a sheet of parchment and looked up. "What's next?"