Bernard x Oc

Saying Goodbye

"Mom? Mom! Neil. I'm home!" Charlie unlocks the house's front door, calling out to his mother and stepfather. Neil and Laura jogged out of the kitchen and spotted Charlie standing in the hallway.

"Charlie?" Neil and Laura gasped and bolted over to Charlie, hugging him.

"Charlie." Neil presses Charlie against his chest. "Oh, my God, Charlie. Sweetheart. Oh, God. Come here. Come here. Oh, my boy. Oh, my sweetheart. Oh! My boy, you're home! Oh, I missed you so much. How are you?" Laura kisses her son.

"I'm fine, Mom."

 "Are you okay? Look at me. Oh, Charlie. I missed you, honey."

 "Mom, I'm fine. It's okay." Charlie squirms in his mother's arms uncomfortably.

"We were so worried about you. Look at you!" Laura continues smoldering her son as Neil runs his fingers over Charlie's hair.

"Mom put me down. Stop kissing me!" Charlie whines.

"I don't have a lot of time." Santa interrupts the moment after picking up his hat. Laura and Neil stared at Santa.

"Did you leave the gifts I made under the tree?" Charlie breaks from his mother's grip and dashes up to his father. Santa kneels at eye level with Charlie.

"You bet I did." 

"We better go." Charlie moved away from his father and was about to head outside, but the sound of his father and mother calling out stopped him. "No, Charlie. No, no, no." Santa quickly stands up, his hand trying to grab his son's arm.

"No! No, wait, Charlie." Laura stammered. Santa raises his hand, stopping his ex-wife, "It's okay, Laura." Then, he turned to his puzzled son, "Actually, I-- I think it's a much better idea... that you stay here with your Mom and Neil."

"Really?" Laura tears up as she smiles at Santa.

"But, Dad-" Charlie whines.

Santa shook his head, disapproving of Charlie's attitude, "No buts, Charlie. I can't be selfish; I can't be with you all the time. We're a family. You, me, your mom..." Santa quickly glances at Neil, "and Neil. And they need to be with you too."

Charlie pouts as tears fall from his eyes, "I miss you too much."

"Come here a minute. Ah, listen to me. Come on, listen." Charlie steps up to Santa as he hugs his son, "There's-- there's a lot of kids out there. Okay? Millions of kids. And they're-- they all-- they all believe in me. They're countin' on me, Charlie. And I-- I'm not gonna let them down. I got a lot of work to do." Charlie sniffles and wipes his eyes.

"So I can't be selfish either." He whimpers as his bottom lip trembles.

"You gave me a wonderful gift, Charlie. Listen, a wonderful gift. You believed in me when nobody else did. You helped make me Santa. Selfish? Come on. You're the least-- the least selfish person I know." Santa comforted, rubbing his son's head as he hugged him close.

"I love you, Santa Claus," Charlie murmurs and wraps his arms around Santa's neck.

"I love you, son. Shh. It's okay. Okay. It's okay. Shh." Santa peeks up to see Laura tearing up at the scene in front of her. Santa adjusts his hold on Charlie as he wipes his eyes and stares at his mother sadly.

"Laura, what do you think? Christmas Eve you guys spend with Charlie?" Santa suggested.

"Oh, my God. It's you; it really is you. You really are... Santa Claus." She grinned widely.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Oh, my God." Neil whispers, disbelieving.

"And your parents thought I'd never amount to anything." Santa joked.

"Oh, wait. Don't go yet. I have something for you. I-- It's Santa!" Laura shakes Neil's arm as she sprints out of the hall.

"Scott," Neil remarked, studying Santa.

"Neil."

Neil blinks at the man before him before squeaking his name, "Santa?"

"It's okay, Neil," Santa assured. Neil throws his hands on his head before turning away in shock just as Laura leaps around the corner with a folder.

"Here. It's, um-- well, it's-- it's my Christmas present for you. It's the, um-- it's the custody papers. And I want you to come and see Charlie as often as you can." She effused before throwing the folder in the fireplace.

"You can count on it. Thanks, Laura. Merry Christmas." Santa promised. Bernard and Alfina stood in the kitchen, hearing Santa making a promise to Laura. Alfina glimpsed over her shoulder to see Bernard grab Neil's stuffed sandwich and take a bite. Bernard holds her hand and studies the atmosphere.

"What's all this boo-hooing goin' on here?" He questions with his mouth full, scaring Neil. The elf peers at Neil, "Hey, how ya doin'?"

"It's nothin', Bernard. I'm just saying goodbye to Charlie." Santa answers, standing up on his feet. Bernard frowns at Santa, "What, goodbye?" But then turns his head to Charlie, "Charlie, you still got the glass ball, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, all you gotta do..." He swallows the piece of the sandwich, "is shake it whenever you want to see your dad."

"Really?" Charlie's face brightens up, hearing that he can see his father.

"He can come back to see you... anytime day or night. Hey, have I ever steered ya wrong?" The elf smirks before facing Neil. "Nice sweater. Hey, did we make this?" Bernard pokes at Neil's sweater with curiosity, making Alfina snicker.

"Laura. He's sucking us into his delusions. Look at the elaborate measures he's taken." Neil spoke before snatching the sandwich from Bernard. The elf stared at Neil in shock before grabbing Alfina's hand. Alfina waves goodbye to Santa and Charlie as they disappear. Bernard and Alfina reappear in a dark house. The girl inspected the rooms and realized where they were—her home.

"Bernard? W-why are we here? My parents are gone." She faces the head elf in puzzlement. Bernard takes the twelve-year-old's hand and leads her to the living room. The two sit on the couch in silence. Bernard fixed his eyes on the girl before him, "Alfina, I have something for you," He stated; reaching in his bag, the elf pulled out two snow globes, "If I need you, I will shake this," He held up one snow globe and sets it next to him, "This snow globe is for you. Same thing. If you need me, I will come."

"I don't understand-"

"Alfina, you've saved the elves. You saved me. If Krampus returns, we will call for you-"

"I wanna stay with you-"

"Alfina!" Bernard barks unintentionally, causing the girl to jump. Bernard sighs, "I'm sorry. That wasn't polite of me. Mmm... You have a life here still. We can visit each other, okay? The reason why I brought you home is that your parents will be here tomorrow morning."

"So my parents are returning?" Alfina grumbled, crossing her arms. Bernard sighed and cupped her cheeks, "Please, Alfina." He brushes his thumb on her cheek and pecks her forehead, "One day, we will see each other again."

The twelve-year-old sighs, dropping her head as she gives in, "Okay..."

Bernard stood up and spotted the tears in Alfina's eyes. The elf leans towards her and brushes the tears away, "I love you, Alfina." The girl snaps her head to Bernard, but the elf has disappeared. She drops her head, curls up, and lies on the couch. Before closing her eyes, Alfina mutters quietly.

"I love you too, Bernard..."