Santa's Son

Chapter Four｜Santa School

❅ L E V I ❅

"NO WAY."

"Levi—"

"Are you kidding me? Be you? Do— do I look like I'd want to— are you kidding me?"

I watched Dad try to say something to me, but he coughed instead. He used one hand to brace his forehead as he crouched over his desk. Mom came around him and placed an arm over his shoulders.

"You need some rest," she told him. I forgot all complaints in that moment and came around to his right, then mom and I helped him up.

"Son," he said as we made our way out of his office. "I wouldn't be asking this if I didn't have to. I just—" His words were caught in a fit of coughing. I had to use extra strength as he doubled over.

"Dad!" I said, lifting him up to his feet. I sighed, glanced at my mom, and closed my eyes.

I can't believe I'm saying this. "It's okay. You don't have to explain. I'll... I'll do it."

Dad smiled at me as we walked through the hallway to his bedroom. "I think you'll enjoy it, Levi."

"Eh..." I mumbled as we helped him into bed.

✧

It's been four days, and I'm almost ready to throw Marcus out a window.

"AGAIN! What do you do if a child wakes up?"

I groaned as loudly as I could, letting my head hang back. "Marcus we've been over this fifty times! If a child wakes up, I stay calm and turn on the cloaking mechanism on my watch. Then I stay still until they go back to bed."

"This is important stuff, Mr. Kringle! You have no experience in the field!"

"The field? Marcus—"

"Don't, Mr. Kringle. Just move on. Next, use your watch to turn on the cloaking mechanism."

Biting back a remark, I turned the outside dial on the watch I was wearing ninety degrees clockwise. A cold sensation overcame me, like I was dunked in a freezing lake. I wrung my neck to get used the feeling and sighed.

"How do I look?" I asked, holding open my arms.

Marcus was looking at me with a satisfied look, so I assumed it had worked.

Turns out, until my dad could look the part of Santa Claus, he used a watch to cloak himself in the Santa appearance so if he was seen, the image of his legend could be consistent. Since I'm still... well, seventeen, I have to practice turning it on and off. That and as many other protocols as the elves could cram into my brain have been engraved into my memory, ever since I agreed to do this. Especially now that tonight's the night, everyone's on edge. Even me, I think.

"Good, good," the elf mumbled, checking another thing of his list. I braced myself for another instruction, but then he said something that surprised me to my core. "I think you're ready, Santa Claus."

I gulped. In my panic I spit out, "Uh... m—my name's Levi."

The elf smiled at me and turned around. I turned the dial on the watch back ninety degrees and shivered. I don't care how many times I'd do this, that would never feel normal.

Placing the trinket back on the table with all the others, I grabbed my hoodie (I had to take it off for training) and walked through the doors that separate the training wing from the rest of the manor. I stood there for a moment, unsure of where to go. But I quickly decided to wander until the nerves were shaken out of me.

I made my way down the hallway on my right, until I reached an almost-empty room. Across all the walls were paintings of past Santa's. Ever since the tradition began. I paused for a moment and walked to the left, watching the eyes of my ancestors. Then I stopped, right before the window that looked out to the backyard, where the reindeer pens stood.

This picture was a painting of a broad-shouldered, leader kind of man. He had cut his white hair so it was basically shaved off, and through the red sweater you could see a trace of muscles.

Grandpa Luke, fifteen years ago.

Now, at eighty years old, he lives in Greenland with Grandma and their dog, Rudolph. (Yeah, he wasn't the most creative man that ever lived.) Legend has it he spent so much time up here in the North Pole that if he goes anywhere warmer than seventy degrees, his body can't handle it and he passes out.

My eyes drifted over the proud smile on his face.

Look at him, I thought, fighting to shove a smile on my face. I bet he knew what he was doing.

"There you are." Making me jump a few feet, the sound of a woman's voice carried through the room like a soft echo. I turned around to see Mom striding in carefully, as if not to scare me too bad.

"Oh, hey," I said, then turning back around to face the painting.

"I was looking for you. Marcus said you wandered this way."

"Yeah, we just finished Santa School."

She smiled, chuckling at my joke. Once she was behind me, her hands came on my shoulders and held me there. I heard her take a deep breath as I continued to look at Grandpa Luke.

"I wonder how he's doing," I thought out loud.

Mom tightened her grip for a split second. "You know, as much as he loved his job, I think he's glad to be away."

Now I turned around to face her. "Really? I thought he loved being Santa."

She brought her arms in front of her, one holding the wrist of the other.

"Well, yes," she answered, glancing at him then me. "but not always. It takes quite a bit of stress to do it well."

"Great..." I mumbled.

Mom gave me a quiet look in that moment. Her hair was pinned back with a clip and she had on what looked like a bright red robe. When my eyes fell to the floor, I saw she was in slippers. I smiled.

"You'll be great," she said, breaking the silence. I lifted my head and looked at her with eyebrows raised.

"I really don't think I will."

"Levi, Dad trusts you. I trust you. Plus, he wouldn't ask if he didn't think you could do it."

"You sure? Because I think he was just getting desperate."

"Levi," she repeated, her voice a little more stern than before. "your father is a great judge of character. I know he sees himself in parts of you. Don't be ashamed of that. He has a kind heart, incredible work ethic, and passion for any project he's given. And so do you."

I looked away, biting my lip. I didn't want to tell her that I wasn't exactly excited about staying up all night and risking the chance of ruining the secret for our entire family. I mean, there was a very good chance I'd be that kid. The one that ruined it for the entire freaking world.

A shiver went down my spine as I thought about the numbers. After another moment spent in silence, I took a deep breath and met Mom's eyes again.

"I gotta go take a nap. I have," I checked my watch. "a little under four hours before it's go time. I'll... I'll see you, Mom."

"Okay," she said. When I walked out of the room, something told me she understood an aspect of this I was about to learn myself.