The Santa Clause Fanfic

Merry Christmas to All

Neil and Laura were sitting in the kitchen, their sad gloomy faces shown as the man was making himself a sandwich and waiting for the news about the kids. The front door opens and they perk up hearing Charlie and Merry calling out for them. Laura rushed to her daughter while Neil rushed to hug Charlie in a tight embrace. The two parents exchange kids to hug until their eyes meet Scott Calvin's. Scott was grabbing his hat and sack and making his way to the chimney before turning his attention to his daughter, "we better get going, Merry" he said
"I know, Dad" said Merry, adjusting the hood of her shoulder cape to hide her ears. Charlie makes his way towards his dad, asking if he left the gifts he made for his mother and Neil. Scott assures his son that he did, showing him the gifts until Charlie makes his way to the chimney. "Charlie, where are you going?" asked Merry
"We have to go, don't we?" asked Charlie
"Well, Dad and I do"
"What do you mean?" asked Laura, "Merry, you're not going anywhere with your father"
"I have to, Mom, it's part of the contract"
"What contract?" asked Neil

Merry hesitates to remove the hood, glancing at her father and Charlie, before finally revealing her elf ears. Laura silently gasped while Neil's eyes grew wide as saucers. The teen was ready for a scolding from her mother, but instead she was welcomed with a warm embrace. "Oh, honey" said Laura, "What happened to you?"
"I'm sorry, Mom" said Merry, "When dad became Santa, I became an elf. It's part of the binding contract we had since last year"
Laura pulls away and cupped her daughter's face, "You look so pretty, Merry. It suits you so well"
Merry smiled with tears in her eyes, hugging her mom until Charlie gently tugged his sister's dress.
"Can we go now?" he asked innocently
"Charlie-"
"It's okay, Merry" said Scott, standing tall before looking down at his son, "Actually, I... I think it's a much better idea that you stay here with your mom and Neil"
"Really?" asked Laura.

Charlie looked hurt by his father's words, on the verge of tears until Scott made it clear that he couldn't go with him and his sister Merry. "I can't be selfish," he said, "We can't be with ya all the time. We're a family. You, me, Merry, your mom... and Neil. They need to be with ya too"
Charlie hugs his father tight, sobbing in his red suit, "I'll miss you guys too much"
"We'll miss you too, Charlie" said Merry, kneeling to her brother's height, "But listen, kiddo. There's a lot of kids out there. Okay? Millions of kids."
"Merry's right" said Scott, "They all believe in me. They're counting on me, Charlie. I... I'm not gonna let 'em down. I got a lot of work to do and so does Merry"
"So I can't be selfish either" said Charlie through his tears.

Santa smiled and wiped his son's tears, "You and your sister gave me a wonderful gift. Listen, a wonderful gift. You two believed in me when nobody else did. You helped make me Santa"
"And you help me become an elf" said Merry, "Just like Bernard did. And let's be real, Charlie, you are the least selfish person we know"
Charlie starts to cry, hugging his father and sister in a tight embrace. "I love you, Santa Claus" he whispered, "And I love you, Merry the Elf"
Santa and Merry held Charlie tight, glancing at Laura who was smiling through her tears at the beautiful sight. Inside, the woman felt like she was a kid again, meeting Santa Claus for the very first time in decades. She quickly wiped her tears and left the living room to grab something quick. Neil stood there stunned at what he was witnessing, finding it rather hard to believe that his own wife was falling for this 'delusion' of Scott's identity.

The moment Neil looked into Scott's eyes, his inner child came out and said, "Santa?"
Merry holds back her laughter and smiled at her step father, "It's okay, Neil" she said, "Take it all in"
Neil snaps back to reality, trying to get back to his senses until Laura comes back with the custody papers in her hands. Without hesitation, she threw it in the fireplace as a Christmas Present, asking Scott and Merry to come visit Charlie as much as possible. Laura also gives her daughter the doll she saved in her bedroom in her left hand. Merry smiles and kindly accepts the doll, holding it against her chest, thinking of finally going back to the place she could finally call 'home' for real this time.
"What's all this boo-hooing going on here?" asked Bernard, who mysteriously appeared from the kitchen eating Neil's sandwich, making his way to the living room, "Hey, how you doin?"
Neil steps back in shock at the head elf's sudden appearance.
Merry happily made her way to the half elf and stood beside him with a smile, "I'm glad you came, Bernard" she said, making the head elf blush a bit.

Santa reassures Bernard that nothing's wrong and he was just saying goodbye to Charlie before he and Merry had to leave. Bernard raised a brow, "What goodbye?" he asked before turning to Charlie, "You still got that glass ball, right?"
"Yeah" said Charlie
"Well, all you gotta do is shake it, whenever you want to see your dad"
"Really?"
"He can come back to see you anytime, day or night. Hey, have I ever steered ya wrong?"
Charlie shook his head in response before glancing at his older sister, "Bye, Merry"
"Goodbye, Charlie" said Merry, a sad smile appearing on her face as Bernard was checking the tag on Neil's sweater. Neil on the other hand was still not buying any of this, even stealing his sandwich back before Bernard could take another bite. The head elf pouts until Merry took his hand, "Come on, old man" she said, "Let's go home, we got work to do"
"Alright, Sugarplum" said Bernard, vanishing into thin air along with Merry.

When the two arrived at the North Pole, Merry sighed and held the doll in her arms. "You kept it?" asked Bernard, "I thought for sure you'd give it away"
"You gave it to me, so of course I kept it" said Merry, "After all, seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing. It was a very lovely gift, even this"
The female elf then shows off the silver bell and holly necklace to the head elf. Bernard smiled and pressed his forehead against the other, smiling down at her, "Merry Christmas, Sugarplum"
"And Merry Christmas to you, Bernard"
The moment they looked into each other's eyes, something clicked. When Bernard leans in to kiss the girl, Merry smirks and pulls his barrette down to cover his face and walks away giggling. The head elf pouts and adjusts his hat before following the now troublemaking elf down the workshop. "She's gonna be the death of me" he mumbled to himself.