The Santa Clause Fanfic

Visitation Rights

Days turned into months and it was close to Thanksgiving break. Merry was worried about her brother Charlie after hardly visiting their Dad since last summer. Of course, the Santafication process was going extremely well for Scott. He's even starting to look like Santa Claus the closer it got to the holidays. Merry was also practicing her magic whenever she could outside of school and in the comfort of home without her parents noticing. Sometimes, Charlie would stick around and be a study buddy at times. At this moment, the teenager was in school, taking notes on American History, but also making small doodles of a certain head elf without realizing. Merry blushed when she noticed the doodles and quickly erased them before the door of the classroom opened to reveal the principal.
"Merry Calvin?" asked the principal, "Your parents are here to pick you up"

Merry was confused but collected her belongings before leaving the classroom, making sure to hide her elf ears as best as possible with her hair and winter hat. Once she made it to the office, her mom and Neil were sitting in the waiting area until they noticed the teen. Laura was the first to approach her daughter and hugged her tight, "So glad you're here, honey" she said softly, "We need to go right now"
"Where are we going exactly?" asked Merry, "Is it Charlie? Please tell me he's okay"
"He's fine, kiddo" said Neil, "We just have court today"
"Court? Don't tell me it's about Dad"
"It is, now let's go. Charlie's in the car waiting for us"
The teen couldn't believe her ears, was this really going to happen? Have they lost their minds completely? Just because her father is Santa Claus, doesn't mean they had to take him away from his own children. The more Merry thought about it, the angrier she was. Of course, she had to keep her cool and stay quiet until they talked to the judge.

The teen was the first to talk while Charlie and their parents waited outside in the waiting room. The questions were typical, asking if she believed her father was Santa Claus or if this was all for attention. Merry felt bad for lying to the judge, but it was the only way to keep her dad safe as well as the SOS. Once she was done, Charlie was next to speak with the judge, which made the teenager rather worried. She held onto the silver bell around her neck tight, taking a deep breath to calm herself down while her mother paced around the room. Neil was rather calm and quiet before Laura finally broke the ice, "Are we really doing the right thing?" she asked
"Something needs to shake Scott" said Neil
"Yeah, but, to take away my dad's visitation rights" said Merry before Neil holds his hand up to stop the teen from speaking any further
"Sweetheart, the man is delusional" he said

Laura decided to break the conversation before Merry could cause an outburst. The teen was thankful her mother stopped her, otherwise her magic might've been exposed or something far worse.
"Maybe I'm having second thoughts, kind of. I just..." Laura paused, "I mean what was so bad about Charlie believing in Santa?"
"Well, he's a little old" said Neil
"He's eight, Neil" said Merry, "Lets not forget, he's just a kid"
"Oh, come on, Merry, Laura. Don't you remember when you stopped believing in Santa Claus?"
Merry went silent as Laura explained that she was around Charlie's age when she stopped believing in Santa. She remembered writing letters to Santa every week that year asking for a Mystery Date game. But when Christmas Morning came, she had amazing gifts, but not the Mystery Date game.

Neil sighed before telling the ladies that he stopped believing in Santa when he was three, all because he never got an Oscar Mayer Weenie whistle for Christmas. Merry glanced out the window before the man asked, "I'm sure you stopped believing in Santa when you were Charlie's age, right, Merry?"
The teen responds, "I never did. Even after mom and dad told me there was no such thing as Santa Claus, I never stopped believing. Sure I didn't get every gift on my Christmas list, but Charlie was the most treasured gift I've ever received and that was enough for me"
Just when Neil rolled his eyes, Laura hugged her daughter tight until Scott finally made his appearance. He had a white beard and matching white hair, wearing a black suit with a red tie and matching red dress shirt. "Where's Charlie?" he asked after running toward the family, "I want to talk to him"
"He's with the judge" said Merry
Right on cue, Charlie comes out of the room and immediately rushes toward his father with glee. "It's all okay" the boy whispered to his father, "I told the judge everything about you and the North Pole"

Laura and Neil didn't seem to hear what Charlie said, but Merry did thanks to her elf ears. Scott and Merry shared a worried glance before the judge finally came to a decision. Sadly, Scott has lost all his visitation rights on his son and daughter, claiming full custody to Laura and Neil. Once they came home, Merry didn't speak to either her mother or step father, marching toward her room with Charlie following behind. She immediately locked the door and glanced at her little brother, tears falling from his sweet innocent face after hearing the news. Merry tries to put on a brave face and picks up her little brother to join her on the bed. That night, neither of them came out of the room, Charlie crying in his sister's arms while Merry soothes him and holds back her tears. "It's okay, Charlie" she whispered, "It's okay"

It didn't take long for Charlie to fall asleep after crying so much. Merry tucked her brother into bed, placing a stuffed animal next to him for comfort. She then removed the bell around her neck to summon the head elf. Bernard appears in the teen's bedroom in confusion, until Merry runs straight into his arms, sobbing softly in his shoulder. "Hey, hey, what's wrong, Sugarplum?" he asked, "What's all the boohooing for?"
Merry looks up at Bernard with tears in her eyes, "Dad lost his visitation rights" she said, "Charlie and I can't see him anymore, I should've said something to defend Dad"
Bernard gently cupped Merry's face, wiping her tears with his thumb, "Don't blame yourself, Merry" he said, "It's close to Thanksgiving, so don't lose hope just yet"
Merry sniffed as she looked at the head elf, a sad smile appeared on her face. "I'm scared, Bernard" she said, "I'm honestly not looking forward to Thanksgiving"
"Don't worry, Sugarplum. You'll be able to see your Dad in a couple of days"
"How do you know?"
"I always do"

Merry hugs the head elf once more, but this time Bernard hugs her back. The scent of peppermint and cocoa filled the teen's nose before slowly pulling away, "You think Charlie would be okay?" she asked
"He can come to the North Pole if he wants to" said Bernard, "Of course, that's also up to Santa"
Merry smiled and wipes the last of her tears, "I'm sure he'd love to take Charlie with us"
Bernard smiled and pressed his head against Merry's, "Just be patient, okay? I promise I'll come as soon as possible"
"I'll be waiting then" said Merry, opening her eyes to see the head elf vanishing into thin air. She glanced at her little brother one more time before joining him in the bed.