Happily Ever Christmas

~Thirty-Three~

I stared down at the stunning ring, tears filling my eyes.

But they weren't tears of joy or because I was feeling so very touched, sentimental, or swept away.

No, these were tears of anger and I wiped them away impatiently when they began to roll forth.

How dare he put me on the spot like this in front of my kids? Who were now looking up at me with hope and wonder on their little, innocent faces.

"Steve..." I whispered, looking into his beautiful, crystalline blue eyes. "We can't stay here, you know that. This-this isn't our home. We belong back on Earth, with other humans."

"What? Mom, no, you're supposed to say 'Yes'!" Olivia blurted.

"Yeah, Mom, can we stay? Please, Mom? I like it here, I wanna stay forever!" Bradley started to cry just at the prospect of leaving.

"And I wanna go to school here with the elves! And there's other humans, too, special ones like us! Say yes, Mama! Don't worry about us, all that matters is you love Santa Claus, right, Mom?" Olivia blinked her hazel eyes up at me as if she were being perfectly reasonable.

"I-I..."

"Yes, Emberly Faust. I think that is what matters most here; the one thing I cannot argue with, the one thing I cannot change." Steve slowly stood up to his full height, still holding the little black box in his hand.

I gulped as I stared up at him.

"Do you love Santa Claus?" He asked me softly. He smirked a little, but it was a faint ghost of amusement and a thin attempt to cover up how scared he was.

This, all of this, was tearing me apart.

But it wasn't just me that I had to think about.

Maybe if I was single, no kids, and still in my twenties, I would be all about it, but I was a mom, dammit, and I couldn't just let myself get swept off my feet by some mysterious man, no matter how charming, handsome, sweet, wealthy, powerful, kind, or how good he was in bed...

I shook myself.

Steve and my children were still waiting for my answer and I knew it was time to break their hearts with a cruel lie; for the greater good.

"No." I said quietly. "No, Steve, I'm sorry, but I just don't think that I feel the way that you want me to feel. I-I don't Love you. I don't think I ever will."

*~*~*~*

I was being torn apart inside.

I hated this, but I was also convinced that this was the right thing to do, for everyone.

"Alright, well, that's that then, eh? Kids? Grab a little bite of something off the buffet table there, okay? Just to keep your blood sugar up.

"Then we have to get you guys ready to go home, back to your own time, okay? So you'll wake up in your Nana's house, in your own beds, and it'll be Christmas morning. This will all feel like a dream."

"What?! We have to leave? No, please, Steve, we wanna stay! Please let us stay, please, oh, please!"

"Guys!" I shouted, my own nerves stretched to their very breaking point. "This is not up for discussion! You need to say your goodbyes to Santa now, okay?!"

They stared at me, tears brimming in their big eyes, lower lips trembling in unison.

I sighed and squatted down before them to look into their little faces. "Look, guys, I know this has been a fun vacation, for all of us, but now it's time to go back to our home, right? And our real lives."

Olivia's eyes filled with tears anew and these spilled down her rounded, freckled cheeks. "But I don't wanna go back! I want this to be our home now. I don't like my school, Mama, the kids are mean. I like it here, where everyone's nice."

This wrenched at my heart, it really did, but it wasn't enough to sway my decision on this.

"Honey...school can be hard anywhere, it's something we all go through. Some kids will be nicer than others. And we might not be at Nana's much longer, so you'll have a new school soon and things will always look brighter tomorrow. Okay, kiddo? But we've gotta go back and face our fears, and be with our real family. Earth; the USA, remember? That is our home.

"Now, don't you two miss Nana? She would be so hurt if she knew you guys just wanted to up and leave, without even saying goodbye!"

Olivia sniffed and Bradley looked down at his toes in a characteristically guilty expression. "I miss them." He said quietly, with uncharacteristic somberness. "But I still wanna stay."

"We could say goodbye to them-I'm sure we could visit them, too, right, Steve?" Olivia wasn't ready to give this up without a fight, I saw.

She turned to look up at Steve; already turning to him as if he was her other parent and somehow had a say in her life.

I didn't much care for that.

"Olivia, that's enough!" I said, a bit more harshly than I intended.

This only pushed her closer to Steve, of course.

Luckily, Steve was a mature enough person to take my side.

"Hey, now, kiddo. I'm bummed, too, okay? But it's your mom's decision and you have to honor and respect your mother, always. So be brave, alright? Don't cry, you gotta be strong for your big brother and your mama now, ya hear?

"Now, come here and gimme a hug goodbye, kiddo. Don't be sad. You might be seeing me sooner than you think."

I dried my eyes and sniffed back my own tumultuous feelings as both my children hugged Steve one last time.

Just as Steve had said to Olivia, I was really the one who needed to be strong, for Bradley and for her.

Steve straightened up to face me with a small, sad, rueful sort of smile. "Well, this is it, I guess. It's been fun, kid."

"It's been fun?" I scoffed.

He shrugged. "What else are you supposed to say when you've just had your heart broken?"

"Steve," I said bracingly, but not without caring, "we hardly know each other."

"So? I didn't realize love had a specific schedule. At what point am I allowed to fall for you, exactly, according to this strict calendar of yours? Is three weeks appropriate or more like three months?"

"Steve." I said again. "Please, this isn't easy for me, either."

"No? But you are the one with the power here, to change things. Just remember that."

"Steve..."

"Alright, come on, you three troublemakers." Steve turned away from me, speaking louder now to get my kid's attention. "Time to send you back home."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanks so much for reading! Happy Winter Solstice and happy holidays!

HRH