Scott Calvin has been Santa for Twenty-Five years. He's seen his daughter Jessie grow up and become a parent herself. His son Charlie has had a successful twelve year long career as Jack Frost. But it's his youngest son, Buddy, whose convinced Scott...
"Say Bernard, you got a second?" Charlie, now dressed in his Might Ducks Hockey jersey, leaned on the door frame of the living room and waited for his brother-in-law to answer him.
"Hmm?" Bernard looked up from the research in his lap.
"It seems like it's gonna be awhile before Jess gets here." Charlie told him. "I thought we could go for a walk. Maybe Buddy or Lucy can watch the kids?"
"I'm busy." Buddy mumbled, not looking up from the Nintendo Switch in his hands.
"I've got it covered." Lucy volunteered. She was sitting on the floor between the twins already, coloring in a picture of a haunted house. Bernard thanked her before getting up and following Charlie out into the backyard.
"Sooooo..." Charlie stretched out the word as long as he felt comfortable before whistling lowly.
"Jessica told you already?" Bernard guessed with exasperation.
"She tells me everything these days." His brother-in-law shrugged.
"Yeah, well I guess that's easy when you control the North Winds." Bernard folded his arms over his chest.
"Don't be like that." Charlie huffed. He awkwardly rubbed the toe of his foot into the ground, grinding away some of the grass. "You know I've been doing this for twelve years?" He looked up at Bernard, trying to read his expression.
"I told you not to take it on in the first place." Bernard complained. That wasn't exactly true. The Truth was Bernard hadn't been consulted at all when Charlie decided to take up the mantle of Jack Frost. It had happened behind closed doors during an emergency meeting of the Council of Legendary Figures.
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"It's the dead of winter!" Father Time had remarked at the time. "How would we train someone to take over as the Winter Herald in the middle of the season?"
"How hard could it be?" Charlie asked without thinking.
"How hard?! Does anybody hear this kid?" Cupid gasped.
"What I mean is, Frost has been up here for weeks causing havoc at the North Pole and he was still able to do his job. I think that Cupid or Easter Bunny's jobs must be much harder than Heralding a season. That's all." Charlie shrugged.
"Oh? That's all!" Now Frost was scoffing too. "The job's not all Snowflakes and gentle breezes, kid."
"I think Charlie could do the job and do it well too!" The Toothfairy defended Charlie. "He'd make a great Frost. We already know that he'd be able to work closely with Santa, he could learn the role easily, and let's be honest, we all love Charlie."
"It's a big responsibility, kid." Father Time told him. "You'd have to give up your human life, and you know what can happen if you don't do the job right."
