The Santa Clause Fanfic

Santafication Process

For the past few months, Merry has been keeping a close eye on her father during the Santafication process. So far, Scott has been putting on some weight, or rather a lot of weight, his hair is starting to go gray, even starts having a craving for sweets such as cookies or milk. Without realizing, Merry was also going through some changes herself. Her hair grew longer, her cheeks became a bit rosy, and even a few little sparkly freckles showed up here and there. But the biggest change of all was yet to come. When Merry wakes up to take a shower, midway brushing her teeth, she takes a look in the mirror. It looked like something was pointing out of her long brown hair, like an extra limb or a tumor. The moment she tucks her hair back, Merry's ear was rather long and pointy, much like an elf. She rubs the remaining sleep out of her eyes in case she was still half asleep, even wipes the mirror to see if it was playing tricks on her. Once Merry came to realize she was turning into an elf, she let out an ear-pitching scream in horror and shock.

Merry slowly makes her way to the bathroom mirror, reaching for her right ear to see if it was real. She gasped softly once her fingertips made contact with it, slowly tracing it to the very tip of it. A knock was heard from the door, followed by Neil's voice, "Merry? You okay in there? I thought I heard you scream"
"Uh, just a second!" said Merry, looking around the bathroom for something to cover her ears. She quickly grabs a robe and a shower cap before making her way toward the door.
"Yes?" she asked innocently
"What's with all that screaming, young lady?" said Neil, "It's too early for that kind of nonsense"
"Sorry, I put the water on too hot. Nearly got burned, but I'm okay. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for school"
"It's Saturday"
After hearing no response from the teenager, Neil just walks away muttering to himself on his way to the kitchen. Merry peeks her head out of the bathroom to check if the coast was clear so she could make an escape to her bedroom.

Once Merry arrives in her bedroom, she frantically rummages through her things to find the silver bell and holly necklace and rings it furiously. A hand stops her midway, seeing it was Bernard who finally arrived. "I'm here, Sugarplum" he said, "You know I'll come when you ring three times, not a million"
"I'm sorry, but this is urgent" said Merry, "Something has happened"
"Of course, something happened. You're dad's slowly becoming Santa Claus through physical change as well as mentally changed. I told you, it's perfectly normal-Oh!"
Bernard froze seeing Merry's ears peeking through her long brown hair. A blush crept on his cheeks, of course he knew Merry was pretty, but he never thought she was THIS pretty, even as an elf. It was hard to even pay attention to what Merry was saying, it felt like the head elf was shot by Cupid's arrow through his red Christmas sweater chest.
"Bernard!" Merry called, snapping the elf back to reality, "You have to help me, I'm freaking out right now"
"Okay, okay, don't panic" he said, "As I told you before, you and your dad are in a binding contract, which means while he becomes Santa Claus, you become an elf"
"And there's no way out of this?"
"I'm afraid not"

Merry groaned in frustration, throwing herself onto the bed, facing the ceiling, "What am I gonna do?"
Bernard did feel sorry for the teenager, slowly making his way toward Merry and gently sat beside her. "It's not as bad as you think, Merry" he said calmly, "Sounds a bit scary at first, but over time I think you'll like being an elf"
"That reminds me" Merry sits up on the bed with a stuffed animal in her arms, "How come you don't look like the other elves? I mean, if anything, you look around my age"
Bernard hesitates before answering the question, "To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself. I've been alive for 1600 years and I've never figure out why"
"How are elves created anyway? By Christmas spirit or something?"
"Somewhere along the lines, yes. Elves are born through the spirit of Christmas, and children hold the spirit of Christmas within their hearts"
Merry listened carefully as Bernard explained the tale of the elves and how they were created. While the head elf spoke, Merry couldn't help but smile at how passionate Bernard was about the spirit of Christmas. This was the moment Merry realized she may or may not have a crush on Bernard, which made her blush at the very thought of it.

A knock on the door was heard, causing Merry to gasp and stare at the door. "Merry! I'm coming in!" said Charlie, earning a sigh of relief from the teenager until she remembered her ears. She quickly grabs a pillow to cover her head until Charlie barges into the room. A smile appeared on his face when his innocent eyes glanced at the head elf, "Bernard!"
"Hiya, sport" said Bernard, ruffling the boy's head in greeting
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, I came to check on your sister"
Charlie glanced at the nervous older sibling holding a pillow over her head and ears. He tilts his head curiously, "Are you okay, sis?" he asked
Merry laughs nervously, "Never better"
"You know it's soccer practice today, right? Are you sick? I can get mom"
"No!"
Charlie froze
"I-I mean, please don't tell Mom or Neil, especially Dad"
"Why?"

Merry glanced at Bernard, who nodded silently in approval, before slowly removing the pillow to reveal her elf ears. Charlie stared in awe before walking up to his sister and gently touched them for a moment, "You're an elf" he said
"Apparently" said Merry, "Promise me you won't tell anyone about this?"
"I promise. I can also help with your hair if you like"
"Really?"
"Yeah, let me get some stuff, wait here"
Charlie rushed out of Merry's room to fetch some hair accessories while the teen watched. "That went better than I thought" she said
"See? I told you being elf isn't too bad" said Bernard, "Eventually, you'll probably learn a thing or two about magic"
"I have magic?"
"Not yet, but you will eventually" Bernard stands up and faces the teen. "I'll send you a note when it's time for you lessons, keep an eye out"

With that, Bernard vanishes into thin air once Charlie returns with a brush and hair accessories.
"Where'd Bernard go?" he asked with a small pout
"He went back to the North Pole, kiddo" said Merry, "But he'll come back another time"
Charlie smiled before climbing the bed, struggling while doing so since his hands were full, which made Merry giggle before helping him out. Once the boy makes it on the bed, Charlie gets started on his sister's hair right away, making sure not to hurt her while doing so, as well as her elf ears are not shown. Some trial and error did occur, but eventually Charlie finally found the perfect hairstyle to hide Merry's ears. A neat yet messy low bun with a few strands on the side to make it more natural. Merry glances at the mirror on the wall to examine it. "Very impressive, Charlie" she said, "Good job"
"Thanks, Merry" said Charlie.

The two siblings hugged for a while until their mom showed up at the door, "Time for soccer" she said as Charlie rushed out of the room with a smile. Laura took notice of Merry hair and smiled, "Oh, that's a lovely look" she said, "Did you do it yourself?"
"Actually, Charlie did it" said Merry, "He insisted"
"Well that's very nice of him"
Merry grabs her bag and leaves her room while Laura watches her kids for a brief moment. This was the moment the woman decided to step into her daughter's room to see if she was going through the same thing as her son. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until she noticed the doll sitting on the dresser. Laura distinctly remembered Merry stopped collecting dolls a long time ago, but then noticed the little note. She picks it up and reads it, raising a brow in confusion and concern before placing it back and leaving the room.

A few weeks went by and it was time for Charlie's soccer game. Scott decided to join Merry in watching the game wearing a red hoodie, white t-shirt, and gray sweatpants, complete with gray hairs and a beard. Everything was going peacefully until a random child made her way to Scott and told her what she wants for Christmas. Laura and Neil arrive at the game only to witness Scott talking to kids forming a line in front to speak with him. Laura was horrified and marched straight to Scott to confront him while Merry watched from the side in worry. A small tug caught the teen's attention, looking down at a young elf boy in normal clothes. "Are you Merry Calvin?" he asked
"Yes, I'm Merry Calvin" she responds as the male elf presents a note.
"This is for you"
"For me?"

Merry accepted the note until the elf disappeared. She looked around to see Laura and Neil confronting her father and dragging Charlie to the car in the middle of the game. The teen had to quickly apologize to the coach before grabbing her brother's things, along with her own, and making her way to the car. She gives her dad one last apologetic look before Neil calls for the teen to get inside the car. Merry mentally rolled her eyes, marching towards the car and placed the bags in the trunk, joining Charlie in the backseat. Merry wraps an arm around her little brother to comfort him, doing everything she could to distract him from all the sudden drama that happened earlier today, all the while hiding the note in her pocket.