Alice Lennox

Chapter 15: There's Just Too Much Going on Right Now

It had been a few years since the "Toy Scott" incident. Things have been going well here. Carol was enjoying her new job at the school, and was adjusting well to living here. I had done my best to help her out since I also essentially dropped everything to move up to the Pole. I told her about how I was there when everything started and my involvement in it all, as well as a bit about my human life.

Sometime later, Carol had come to me with the exciting news that she and Scott were going to have a baby. I congratulated her, and started spending a little time helping her out as needed, even though I had no idea what I was doing. A few months of this passed, and I was walking through the center of town with Bernard when a large crowd began to form a walkway. We ran over and asked what was going on, and supposedly Carol was going to have her baby, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

After all that, we headed back to the workshop to try and help out and keep an eye on things like we always did. We also tried to do a bit more, since we knew Scott was struggling with doing his job but also taking care of Carol, so we did anything we could to reduce some of the stress on the work side. Curtis, however, seemed to only add to it. Sometimes, it could be annoying. Today especially. Things were especially crazy today, and Curtis just had to go bother Scott about it. I tried to tell him not to, but he was gone before I could stop him. Not long after, we were notified that the Council was calling an emergency meeting and needed Scott to be there. I volunteered to give the message, and found him with Carol, Curtis, and the doctor.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but I got something important." I say. "I was just informed to tell you that the Council of Legendary Figures have called an emergency meeting."

"I can't leave the Pole and go to a council meeting tonight." Scott says.

"They know." I told him, "That's why they came here."

"Here?"

"Here."

"Where?"

"In the kitchen."

"In the kitchen?"

"Yeah, that's what I just said."

Carol was clearly getting stressed and decided to get up and leave the room. I whispered a quick apology to her before following her out to meet back up with Bernard. Scott and Curtis were quickly out after me and followed Carol, but I told him that maybe just a little distance might be best for now. Still, we followed Scott and Carol as they talked, although I couldn't hear most of the conversation. From what I did pick up, it sounded like Carol missed her family back home. I didn't blame her, as I knew how she felt. There had been a few times I had left to see my mom. Usually it was during "off season" if such a thing existed here.

Scott then got the idea to bring her parents up here, which clearly worried Bernard and Curtis. They reminded Scott about the importance of the Secret of Santa and how bringing Carol's parents up could basically be the end of everything. I understood how big of a deal it was to keep all this a secret, but sometimes it felt like an annoyance. Then again, these guys have been dealing with this for centuries, and I've only been here for a few years.

However, this only gave Scott the idea to try and go around it, and decided to disguise the place as a small town in northern Canada. To be honest, I thought the idea was crazy, and I was a bit skeptical after last time, but I kept this to myself and instead spoke up about something else.

"I hate to be that guy, but... meeting? Important? Now?" I say.

"Right." Scott says, "Alice, you and the guys come with me."