An unexpected Christmas Gift
After he'd become a guardian, and after the children finally started to believe in him, Jack thought his loneliness would vanish. For a while it seemed like he was right but now, he realized he was still alone.
It happened around Christmas, sad as it may be. The frost elf was out and about doing his job and having fun playing with the little children of the world, making their days colder and funner. It seemed like a normal day until the sun went down and the kiddies packed up their stuff and went to their homes leaving Jack by himself.
It didn't bother him though, he could always go see some of his friends to subdue his growing boredom...He'd forgotten that it was Christmas and most would be busy.
Oh sure, he'd been surprised when he went to the warren and Bunny hadn't been there but he just shrugged it off. The rabbit was fond of wandering around and scouting out new places to hide his eggs. So Jack moved on and went to The Tooth Palace, what he saw threw the window as he was about to knock on the door surprised him though.
Tooth, Bunny, Sandy and all the little fairies were eating a large, appetizing dinner and laughing and smiling. Even Bunny looked to be having a good time which was good because lately he'd been a real crank-pot!
Jack watched them and their fun for a minute before turning and heading back out the way he came. It was their Christmas dinner and he didn't want to impose.
So, The Guardian of Frost moved to the next place to visit. Namely, the North Pole. North might not have been there at the minute but surely the yetis wouldn't mind if Jack hung around and waited for him to return.
He was caught-off guard when instead of North, a yeti or an elf opened the door but a woman did instead.
She was plump with strawberry-blonde hair put up in a bun and jade green eyes that sparkled. She smiled when she saw Jack, "You must be the new guardian!" She said, speaking in an accent similar to North's, "My husband has told me all about you!"
Husband...Mrs. Claus?
"Uh...Hi..." Jack stammered, he'd heard the stories of Mr. and Mrs. Claus but she hadn't been around when they were dealing with Pitch... "Is North in?"
Mrs. Claus's expression fell, "He is out delivering the presents right now but if you are willing to wait, I'm sure he'd love to introduce you to the rest of the family!"
Rest of the family...
Like she could read his mind, Mrs. Claus grinned and started naming off family members on her fingers. "There are mine and my beloved's 4 children: Noel who is our oldest at 8 right now. Candy and Kane, the twins, who are 5 and little Carole who just turned 2. Then there's my parents visiting, they never really got over that I married Santa Claus by the way, my sister, her husband and their 2 kids. My brother and his son, grandma, cousin Rouge from France, North's old chum Peter and-"
"Wow big family." Jack interrupted and Mrs. Claus laughed.
"Yes, I guess we are darling." She said happily and Jack was already starting to see why North married her. She was one of the most cheerful people He'd ever met! "But I'm sure we could find a spot for you at our table-"
Jack took a step back from the door, "Oh no, you really don't have to do that! Christmas is a family thing and you already have so many people in there already, I feel like I'd be barging in and ruining your good-time!" He forced a grin, "Tell North I stopped by to say Happy Holidays though!"
Mrs. Claus's expression fell to one of disappointment like she had been waiting for Jack to show up all night and he never came. "Oh...Well...If you're sure. I'll be sure to tell him you stopped by." She smiled again,"Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" Jack echoed and started off on his way.
So that's how we got to where we are now: The guardian of fun sitting on a bench in the park, all alone again and on Christmas of all times. He sighed and moved his staff along the ground, making patterns on the already frozen ground.
He didn't realize that two sets of eyes were watching him curiously from the tree-line.
As Jack used his frost-patterns to distract him from his boredom and loneliness, one of the two started moving over to him. The guardian didn't notice, he was too busy with his art to pay attention to the snapping of twigs and the soft crunching sound as the braver one moved over the frosty ground and sat down on the bench beside Jack.
"Hello."
His head perked up and he looked over his shoulder at the small 6-year-old boy sitting next to him. His hair was jet-black and shaggy, hanging into his pale blue eyes that were focused on Jack with an intensity. His clothes were old and worn and there was a hole in his black boots but the boy didn't seem to notice.
"I said Hello!" The child repeated and Jack couldn't help but smile at the cuteness of the child.
"Hello."
"My name is Joshua!" The child grinned pointing at himself,"And he," Joshua gestured towards a boy almost completely identical to him with the exception of chocolate brown eyes instead of pale blue hurrying to stand beside Josh."Is my little brother Shadow!"
Jack's smile grew, "Shadow huh? That's a cool name!"
Much to Jack's surprise, the younger of the two boys scurried to hid behind his brother, peaking out to look Jack over.
Joshua rolled his eyes,"Excuse Shadow. He's really shy."
"I understand," Jack said softly,"I'm Jack Frost-"
"The Guardian!?" Joshua asked eagerly, eyes big with wonder and grinning madly. Shadow whimpered and ducked behind the bench.
Jack chuckled,"Yep that's me!"
"Wow!" The older boy's grin grew,"You're the guy who leaves the pretty pictures in the ice?!"
The snowy-hair teen smirked,"Well it wasn't the Easterbunny!"
Joshua laughed,"Daddy told me about him and mommy used to talk about Easter when she was a kid!"
Jack smiled and looked around, he didn't see any adults...in fact it looked like he, Joshua and Shadow were the only ones there.
"Where are your parents anyway?" He asked.
Josh's eyes darted to the ground, "Daddy's working right now but told us that after school we should come and play here and wait for him to arrive to take us home."
"And mommy?" Jack asked.
"Daddy says that Mommy can't be with us anymore but that she loves us, is proud of us and watches over us all the time to protect us." Joshua spoke in a quiet voice and Jack frowned.
"Oh..." He said awkwardly,"...I'm so sorry...I don't have a mom either."
"Do you think your mommy watches over you?" The blue-eyed child questioned and Jack shrugged.
"I hope so...I hope my sister and my dad is with her too." He smiled sadly,"It would be nice to know that they're all happy.
Joshua smiled up at Jack,"Maybe our mommies our friends."
"Maybe."
"You know it's kinda cool, you watch over us children and our mommies watch over us all." The little boy grinned at the thought of his mother still being with him and being able to see him and Shadow right now.
"I don't think I ever thought of it like that before," Jack mused, thinking over the idea of his beautiful mother, his father and Pippa along with Shadow and Joshua's mother watching over the Guardians and the children, keeping them safe. "I hope that it's true though."
"Daddy says it's true." Shadow spoke up from his spot behind the bench and Jack smiled again.
"You know you don't have to be scared of me," He told the younger brother in a soft-tone. "I don't want to hurt anybody, Adult or child."
"It's alright Shad!" Joshua called to his brother,"Jack is nice!" The older brother moved over on the bench, making space for his little brother. "Come sit with us!"
Shadow hesitated for a minute before hurrying up onto the bench, taking the spot his brother made for him. "Thank you Joshy."
Joshua smiled at Shadow,"No problem Shad."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle at the brothers and their cuteness. He worked with children all day long but never before had he seen two brothers get along so well. He saw about of himself in Josh, being braver and protective of his younger sibling and Shadow reminded him of Pippa. Shy, sweet, adorable little Pippa.
Joshua, Jack and Shadow spent what Jack was sure was over an hour just sitting and talking about themselves and The Guardians. Joshua was eager to hear all the stories Jack had about snow-storms and blizzards and fighting bad-guys well Shadow listened eagerly as he talked about his human life in colonial-times and all the differences in the world as time went by.
It appeared that well his brother was quiet, shy and liked history, archery and music, Joshua was more fond of technology, photography and daredevils.
The Guardian was right in the middle of telling the boys about the blizzard of '68 when he felt another presence in the woods. Looking around, Jack caught sight of something moving. Someone who made his blood run cold...
He gritted his teeth and stood up from his spot on the bench, taking a defensive stance in front of Shadow and Joshua. "Stay back boys..." He instructed them and they both froze.
"Jack? Jack what's going on?" Joshua asked but Jack shushed him.
"Just be quiet okay? Everything's going to be fine..." He held his staff firmly in his hands, ready to deal with the oncoming danger. "...I got this."
"Jack, Jack you're scaring us." Shadow whimpered and moved closer to his brother, who in return held him close. "Jack...Jack what is it?"
Jack didn't respond, instead he held out his staff, ready to blast his villain away. "What do you want Pitch?"
The Nightmare said nothing as he stepped out of the shadows to stand in the moonlight. He looked just like he had when he tried to destroy Jack only a few months before. He pursed his lips and watched as Jack glared at him.
"Relax Frost I didn't come to fight you." The boogeyman held his hands up in defense. "I just came to-"
Jack didn't let him finish, he charged at Pitch with his staff raised, ready to strike him down when he heard Joshua and Shadow screaming things at him.
"JACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"STOP IT!"
The Frost-elf stopped and stared at the boys, both were looking at him as if he'd just changed into a horrifying monster. Shadow leapt up from his spot and the bench and started running in the direction of Jack and his nemesis. At first Jack thought that the boy was running to him but it caught him completely off guard when the younger of his two new friends ran past him and clung to Pitch's leg.
"Jack don't!" He cried out, burying his face into Pitch's leg,"Don't hurt our daddy!"
Jack's eyes widened and although he had a thousand different things racing threw his mind all at the same time, he couldn't find the strength to say anything. The Guardian watched as Joshua scrambled after his little brother and attached himself to his father's other leg.
"Y-Y-You have..." He stuttered,"I mean you ar-ar..."
"A Father? Yes, I am." Pitch said and ruffled Josh's hair while doing so."It may surprise you Jack but I am alive, I do have feelings and I do have family."
"Yo-you-you're the boogeyman! You scare kids!"
"I scare everyone, it's my job! Just like it's your job to make it snow and put your frost-art-stuff all over windows! Doesn't mean I can't have kids!" Pitch smiled down at his sons,"Besides. I couldn't give them nightmares If I wanted to, they can't have dreams. Not good ones not bad ones. When my boys fall asleep they could be asleep for hours but it would only seem like a minute to them, with the exception of feeling refreshed."
Jack looked down at the frost-covered ground, suddenly feeling guilty for thinking that Pitch was out to harm Joshua and Shadow and alone.
Even Pitch Black had a family to spend time wit on Christmas!
Joshua saw the sad expression on the Guardian of fun's face and whispered something in his father's ear. Pitch raised an eyebrow but didn't saw anything to protest his son's suggestion, he always spoiled the boys and it was Christmas.
Putting Joshua on his shoulders and picking up Shadow in his arms, the nightmare king looked over at Jack in his loneliness and sighed.
"Frost, Josh and Shadow would like to know if you wanted to spend Christmas with us."
Jack stared at Pitch for a minute, looking him over to see if this was some ploy to lure him into the clutches of the boogeyman. Then he realized it, Pitch was being sincere. He and his sons really wanted him to spend Christmas with him!
And he kinda wanted to see what Pitch was like when he wasn't flipping out and trying to take over the world...
Jack smiled,"Alright. I'd love to spend Christmas with you guys."
Jack never thought that it was possible but he actually had a good time with Pitch, Joshua and Shadow. When he wasn't trying to destroy guardians so children would believe in him, Pitch wasn't that bad of a guy and if you didn't believe Jack, you just had to watch him with his sons.
He deserved an award for how good of a father he was to them and if two. sweet little kids liked him how bad could he be?
The Guardian of fun had already made plans to drop by next Christmas...
...Or whenever he got lonely again.