Stubborn Love

You Were Wrong Bernard

~ALLIE POV~

"Married?" I repeated.

"What if I don't want to get married?" Dad asked.

Dad pulled the end of his belt through its buckle. It yanked further than usual, making us all look worried.

"Oh no. The De-Santafication process has begun!" Curtis exclaimed.

I looked down at the short boy. "The what?"

"The De-Santafication process," Bernard said, he held a 'I'm better then you' look. "It means that if you don't get married soon...You can no longer be Santa."

"What? What about the elves? What about you guys? What about Allie?" Dad asked.

"Sadly, Allie will still be here, and she'll be the second in command, and would take over if something were to ever happen to me," Bernard explained, an unpleasant look on his face. "But it's not completely hopeless, sir. You still have time to find a wife."

"Well how much time do I have exactly?"

"Twenty-eight days."

"So he has to be married by Christmas?"

"Christmas eve." Bernard corrected with that same smug look.

"I guess it's over then." he sighed.

"Come on, Dad." I said. "You've still got time."

"She's right, Santa." Curtis said. "You can't give up hope. Because if you do, then we all have too."

Dad looked at us and nodded. "You're right. Whelp, I better go get ready for this meeting. See you guys in a few minutes."

I sighed, rosing myself into Dad's chair.

"Hey Bernard," Curtis said, though he didn't look up from his book. "You were wrong."

"What did you just say?" The black curly haired elf demanded.

Curtis looked up, and he had a small smile on his face. "You said that if anything were to happen to Santa, Allie would be the second in command. But in reality, she would take your position as head elf and you would become second in command."

A smile grew on my face as Curtis read from his handbook. Bernard's face grew angry. "It doesn' matter, because Santa isn't going to disappear, and I'm not going to lose my spot to Allie."

"You might," Curtis shrugged.

"Go clean the reindeer stables." Bernard demanded. "And leave the handbook here."

I smiled as I watched Curtis walk away. Bernard shook his head and stomped off, muttering about the stupid handbook.