Where Are You Christmas? (A The Santa Clause Fanfiction)

Chapter 14: I Love You, Santa Claus

"Where are you Christmas~?" 

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Heidi's POV 

(Time skip)

I opened the front door, and we walked in. Me, Charlie, and dad.

"Mom?" I called out.

"Mom!" Charlie said. "Neal? We're home!"

"Charlie? Heidi?" Neal asked. Mom and Neal ran into the room. They ran up, and hugged us.

"Charlie? Heidi?" Mom said.

"Charlie. Heidi." Neal said, hugging us.

"Oh my god. Charlie! Heidi!" Mom said. "Sweethearts. Oh god. Come here, come here." Mom picked up Charlie, as Neal hugged me. "Oh my boy. Oh sweetheart. My kids, you're home! I missed you two so much. How are you two?"

"We're fine, mom." I said.

"Are you okay? Look at me." Mom said. "Charlie, Heidi, I missed you, sweeties."

"Mom, we're fine. It's okay." Charlie said.

"I was so worried." Mom said.

"Mom, put me down." Charlie said.

"Let me look at you. Let me look at you." Mom said.

"Stop kissing me." Charlie said.

"I don't have a lot of time." Dad said, making mom stop. Mom put Charlie down. We walked over to dad.

"Did you leave the gifts we made under the tree?" Charlie asked.

"You bet I did." Dad said.

"We better go." Charlie said.

"No, Charlie. Heidi. No, no, no." Mom said.

"No! Wait, Charlie, Heidi. It's okay, Laura." Dad said. "Actually, I......I think it's a much better idea that you two stay here with your mom and Neal."

"Really?" Mom asked.

"But, dad...." Charlie said.

"No buts, Charlie. I can't be selfish." Dad said. "I can't be with you two all the time. We're a family. You guys, me, your mom.....and Neal. And they need to be with you guys, too." We hugged dad.

"We miss you too much." Charlie said. Charlie started crying, and I had tears in my eyes.

"Come here a minute." Dad said, and he sat down in a chair. We stood in front of him. "Listen to me. Come on, listen. There's a lot of kids out there. Okay? Millions of kids. They all believe in me. They're counting on me, guys. I'm not gonna let 'em down. I got a lot of work to do."

"So we can't be selfish either." I said, my voice cracking. He wiped a tear off my face. 

"You gave me a wonderful gift. Listen, a wonderful gift. You two believed in me when nobody else did. You two helped make me Santa." Dad said. "Selfish? Come on. You two are the least selfish people I know." We hugged dad.

"I love you, Santa Claus." We said.

"I love you, kids." Dad said. We sniffled, and I heard Charlie crying. "It's okay. Okay. It's okay." We pulled away. Dad set us on his legs, as we wiped away our tears. "Laura, what do you think? Christmas Eve, you guys spend with the kids?"

"Oh my god." Mom said, and she laughed. "It's you. It really is you. You really are...Santa Claus."

"Pretty cool, huh?" Dad asked.