Barbie in the Nutcracker: Beauty is Skin Deep

Home Again

(Aaron's POV)

The sound of a grandfather clock chiming wakes me up, and I open my eyes to see that I'm back in my room at Uncle Drosselmeyer's house. Wait, what? Was it all a dream, then? I get out of bed and I hurry out of my room to go to Nevaeh's room, but when I turn a corner, I end up bumping into Nevaeh.

"Nevaeh!" I say.

"Dad!" she responds, and she and I share an embrace. "It wasn't just a dream then?"

"I guess not," I reply as we pull away, and she sighs sadly as she closes her eyes.

I can understand why she's upset about this. She just found her true love, and we were still brought back home. But how is that possible? That owl said we would only come back if Clara opens that locket. But Clara couldn't have opened that locket. She said so herself, she wanted to stay, and I was fine with staying with her and my daughter.

"Come on, let's go talk to Clara," I tell her.

We hurry to the parlor, and we hear Uncle Drosselmeyer's voice coming from the parlor.

"What's all this foolishness? Perhaps I should send for a doctor," he says.

We enter the parlor to see Clara (who is back in her nightgown), Tommy, and Uncle Drosselmeyer.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Nevaeh, Uncle Aaron, have either of you seen my nutcracker?" Clara asks us.

"He's not with you?" Nevaeh asks.

"And this is where my brother and I grew up," Elizabeth says from outside the parlor, and she enters.

"Aunt Elizabeth, have you seen my. . ." Clara starts to say, but then two men enter the parlor. ". . . nutcracker?"

My jaw drops when I realize one of the men is Eric! He's here! The other man looks strangely familiar. He seems to be a man in his thirties. He has gray hair with a thin gray mustache on his upper lip. He is carrying a golden walking cane with a ruby on top.

"Look who I ran into while I was taking my morning stroll! Uncle Drosselmeyer, Aaron, Nevaeh, Clara, Tommy, this is Eric, the son of a dear friend of mine," my sister introduces us.

"And this is Adam, a friend I made on the way here," Eric says.

(Nevaeh's POV)

My eyes widen when Eric says that. He and Eric are here?! I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I met him. But how is this possible? Adam's gaze lands on me and he smiles lovingly, and he walks up to me.

"I'm very happy to. . . meet you," he says.

He takes my hand and plants a kiss on it, making me blush. Eric does the same to Clara. This really appalls Uncle Drosselmeyer.

"Such familiarity! In my day we would never have—" he starts to scold Adam and Eric.

"I've taken the liberty of asking Eric and Adam to stay for Christmas dinner," Aunt Elizabeth interrupts.

"But this is a most—" Uncle Drosselmeyer starts to protest.

"—wonderful idea," Clara and I finish.

"I couldn't agree more," my dad says.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have the young men stay for supper," Uncle Drosselmeyer grumbles, and he walks away.

Clara and Eric join hands, and Adam gently places a hand on my cheek. Aunt Elizabeth drags Tommy away from the gifts and out of the room.

"But what about the presents?!" he protests.

My dad pats Adam on the shoulder with a knowing smile, and he leaves as well. Eric puts something in Clara's hand, and Clara and I smile when we see it's her locket.

"May I have this dance?" Eric asks Clara.

We look up at the owl on the grandfather clock, whose eyes twinkle in the morning light. Clara puts the locket on and turns to Eric.

"I couldn't say no to the king," Clara says, quoting Aunt Elizabeth.

He leads Clara to a free space, and Adam looks at me.

"Shall we, my darling?" he asks, holding his hand out to me.

"But of course," I reply, taking his hand.

The four of us waltz in the parlor. I am so happy that the man I love is with me. I know for a fact that this is the best Christmas ever.

The End

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Sorry if it wasn't all that great. I was hoping to get this story done before Christmas, but I also wanted to keep it interesting. I hope you all enjoyed it.💖