This is the first of five installments (hopefully, we'll see how finals go) in volume 3 (!) of Merry and Bright this year. This chapter is set in my "Unconventional" universe, as per the request of my lovely friend flabbergabst on Tumblr. Enjoy!

"Can we just get started with the team meeting?" Jax asked, slumping down in his chair on the bridge, "I've got stuff to do."

"What stuff?" Ray asked skeptically.

"We're not starting the meeting until Mr. Snart arrives," Rip replied.

"I don't think he'd mind if you started without him," Sara shrugged, smirking when Rip rolled his eyes.

A moment later, Leonard walked onto the bridge.

"Elsie's asleep," he told Sara.

"Nice," she replied as he sat next to her.

"Let's get started," Rip said, "First."

"Guess what!" Ray interrupted. Out of the corner of his eye, Leonard saw Rip sink slightly in his chair in defeat, "I've been keeping track of the present day calendar and December first is in two days. We should celebrate the holidays this year!"

"That'd be fun," Kendra nodded.

"Yeah, let's do it," Jax said.

As the team began chattering about the holidays, Sara leaned towards Leonard, balancing her chin on his shoulder.

"We should think of things to do with Elsie," she said, "It's her first Christmas with us."

He nodded.

"You guys should do Elf on the Shelf with Elsie," Ray said, looking over to them.

"Eavesdropping, Ray?" Sara asked, a joking smirk on her face.

"Elf on the what?" Leonard asked, although when he glanced over to Sara he didn't see the same confusion.

"It's this stuffed elf and it comes with a book that explains how it works," he replied.

"How it works?"

"Yeah, the elf watches you all day and then at night it reports to Santa how you were. It comes back and hides in a different spot and you have to find him — but you can't touch him or he loses his magic."

"You do know it's not real, Ray," Sara said skeptically, "Right?"

"Yeah I know," he replied, his shoulders slumped, "It's just one of those things I wish was around when I was Elsie's age." He perked up slightly as he said, "You guys should do Elf on the Shelf with Elsie! It'd be fun!"

Sara shrugged, looking at Leonard.

"She might be a bit too little still but we can try," she said. Leonard tipped his head to the side in agreement, "Gideon, can you make an Elf on the Shelf for Elsie?"

"Of course, Miss Lance," Gideon replied, "It will be ready in the fabrication room shortly."

Ray turned to face the rest of the team once again.

"So we're celebrating Christmas on the Waverider?" he asked everyone. There was a chorus of agreements and nods, "Great! This is going to fun!"

"Well I think this was a productive meeting," Mick said, getting to his feet. The rest of the team began following suit.

"No, that wasn't what we were supposed to—" Rip's protests were cut off when Mick clapped him on the back as he walked by.

"You'll get 'em next time, Captain," Leonard said as Sara took his hand and started pulling him towards the doorway.

The next evening, Sara brought the new Elf on the Shelf book (the actual elf was stashed in her and Leonard's closet up on a shelf Elsie couldn't reach) to Elsie's room.

As the doors slid open, Sara saw Leonard helping Elsie pull her pajama shirt over her head.

"Len," Sara said, "Mick and Ray need your help with something in the lab"

Leonard nodded as Elsie pushed her arm through the last sleeve.

"Night, Elsie," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Night-night Daddy," Elsie said as Leonard stood up and headed towards the door.

"Ready for your story?" Sara asked as the metal door slid closed.

"Uh-huh," Elsie nodded. Sara sat in the overstuffed chair and waited while Elsie climbed up next to her.

"You know what tomorrow is?" she asked. Elsie shook her head, "Tomorrow is December first, and that means Christmas is coming. Do you remember celebrating Christmas in Norway? Did you do anything special?"

Elsie shrugged.

"You don't remember?" Sara asked. Elsie shook her head, "Did Santa Claus visit you?"

She hesitated before nodding.

"I made him cookies and then he ate them when I was sleeping and he brought me presents," Elsie replied.

"Well guess what."

"What?"

"Santa Claus is gonna come bring you presents here too," Sara told her. Elsie's face lit up, "We're gonna celebrate the holidays on the Waverider with everyone. Does that sound like fun?"

"Yeah!"

"And there are some new things about Christmas since the the last time you celebrated it so I thought our story for tonight could be about one of them," Sara said. She held up the Elf on the Shelf book so Elsie could see the colorful cover. "Ready?"

"Ready," Elsie nodded as she snuggled closer to Sara.

"So what do you think?" Sara asked when she finished reading, "Do you think an elf is gonna be here tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Elsie giggled, cuddling further against her mother's side.

"Well, you should go to sleep and then you'll find out."

Elsie nodded and let Sara lift her up and carry her to bed.

She crawled under the polka-dotted quilt, fishing her blue stuffed elephant out from within the folds of the rainbow patterned sheets.

"Good night, my love," Sara said, kissing Elsie's forehead, "I'll see you in the morning."

The following day, Elsie woke up before her parents. On mornings such as these, she pulled the fuzzy blanket off her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cape, then went into the room next door and climbed into her parents' bed.

Sara woke up a half hour later. Even before looking she knew her daughter was there. She heard Elsie's quiet whisper, followed by Leonard's low voice as he murmured something back to her. She couldn't ever hear what their quiet conversations were about, but she never found that she minded. There was something about seeing the bond between the two that made her feel a warmth she almost forget she could feel. She looked over and smiled when she saw their daughter lying across Leonard's chest, her soft gray blanket over her back. Elsie's hair, messy and tangled from sleep, blocked both of their faces from view.

"Hey," Sara murmured, running a hand up and down Elsie's leg, "Do you wanna go get some breakfast and let Daddy sleep?"

Sara saw Elsie nod before she lifted her head.

They left the bedroom and headed for the mess hall. Ray was already there, standing in front of the stove with a spatula in his hand.

"What are you making?" Sara asked him.

"Christmas pancakes," Ray said cheerfully.

"What are Christmas pancakes?" she asked, thinking as she did that she probably shouldn't bother asking him such questions anymore.

"Pancakes shaped like Christmas trees."

"Right," Sara said, shaking her head.

"Really?" Elsie exclaimed.

She leaned forwards and watched Ray carefully spoon pancake batter onto the frying pan in a shape that vaguely resembled a tree.

"Is today Christmas?" Elsie asked.

"Today's the first day of Christmas," Ray replied. Elsie looked to Sara, confused.

"Christmas is in twenty-five days," Sara explained, "but people start celebrating on December first, sometimes earlier." She then remembered the book she had read to Elsie the night before, "Hey, do you remember the story from last night?"

Sara watched Elsie think for a moment.

"Uh-huh," she replied.

"Do you wanna see if an elf came?"

Elsie nodded, curiosity in her eyes, and Sara lifted her off of the stool.

"Hey, what about pancakes?" Ray asked, sounding somewhat dejected.

"We'll be back, Ray," Sara said as she headed for the door, "Okay Else, where do you think an elf could be?"

She felt Elsie shrug.

"What about your bedroom? Did you see an elf in there when you woke up?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Then where else? Maybe…" Sara looked to the ceiling, pretending to think, "…on the bridge?"

Elsie nodded.

Sara walked with Elsie to the bridge and set her down on the metal floor.

"Go look," she murmured, giving her a little nudge. Elsie cautiously stepped forwards, her big blue eyes roaming around the bridge. Sara leaned against the metal doorway and watched her daughter wander curiously around the room. Finally, she saw Elsie's eyes widen with excitement. She looked to Sara and pointed to her chair.

"Did you find something?" Sara asked, unable to conceal a smile when she saw Elsie give a shy little wave in the direction of what she found. She walked over to Elsie and saw the small elf dressed in red and white sitting on Elsie's chair, one arm bent upwards in a wave-like gesture. She crouched down, wrapping her arms around her daughter, "Wow, an elf really came! Isn't that so cool?"

Elsie nodded and Sara gave her a little squeeze.

"Look, there's a note."

Sara pointed to a piece of white card-stock with a candy cane stripe border that was taped to the arm of Elsie's chair.

"Can you read it?" Elsie asked.

"Uh-huh," Sara nodded, "Dear Elsie, I come from the North Pole and bring good cheer. Santa sent me this year to be his eyes and his ears…" Sara read the whole note to Elsie, a poem that explained the "rules" of the elf. It ended with, "No worries my dear, there is lots of fun to share. You never know when Alfie will show up somewhere. Love, Alfie."

Sara looked at Elsie to see a big smile on her face.

"Is the elf's name Alfie?" Sara asked her. Elsie nodded, still smiling, excitement making her blue eyes shine, "You're so cute when you're sleepy, you know that?"

Elsie giggled, turning around to hug her mother. Sara lifted her up as she got to her feet.

"Let's go get some breakfast."

Fifteen minutes later, Leonard walked into the bridge to see Elsie eating breakfast at the counter and Sara standing by the coffee machine. Jax was at the counter too, eating a bowl of cereal.

"Daddy, an elf came!" Elsie exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Really?" he asked as he took the coffee mug Sara offered him.

"Uh-huh," she nodded, "His name is Alfie and he writed me a letter."

"Well I guess you're gonna have to make sure you're good," he said.

"She's always good," Sara said, planting little kisses on Elsie's cheeks, "She's my perfect little baby."

In the stool besides Elsie, Jax snorted.

"Really?" he said incredulously, "Yesterday, your perfect little baby tried to—"

"No-o!" Elsie shrieked, clapping a hand over Jax's mouth, "Don't say it! Alfie can hear you!"

Leonard chuckled into his mug as he took a sip of coffee, thinking as he did that they were all in for a long twenty four days.