December 22nd, 2012

Kerry stared down at a reindeer. Vixen to be precise. She put a hand to Vixen's head. "Sorry Vix. I have no idea what's wrong with you." She glanced around the stable where the rest of the reindeer didn't look much better, "But I'll figure it out-"

She peeled off her gloves and dropped them in a biohazard bag and sealed it. All the elves who cared for the reindeers including the veterinarian had already been in to try and figure out why the reindeer were sick. Even Dr. Hismus, another doctor who served the humans and elves in the town, had taken a look at them. No one could figure out what was wrong.

Kerry walked to the exit of the stables and was met by a running Henry. It almost seemed as though he was growing inches every day. He was only eight, going on nine in January, but was going to be taller than his Mom Sandy or any of those in the Lopez family were. "Mama- can you help me?"

Kerry pulled herself out of her head and pushed her glasses up on her nose. She'd stopped wearing contacts a few weeks after getting to the North Pole because the dry air was killer on them. "Of course. Lead the way kiddo."

She followed Henry out of the stables and into the town's square. Elves went this way and that. All of them busy getting ready for Christmas Eve.

She spotted Curtis gesturing furiously at a shorter elf, who was giving it back just as well as he got it. Curtis as Arch Elf tended to micromanage just a bit.

Henry took her to the medical facilities. As she passed through the door she rolled her eyes. Why the elves had named it the Elfirmary she still didn't understand.

Henry stopped outside of one of the exam rooms. "SJ's hurt."

Kerry's gaze pinned her son, "Henry..."

Henry gestured towards the closed door, "I- it-" He retreated, "I'm gonna go tell Carol." And he was gone.

Kerry knocked on the door, "Scottie, are you okay?" She poked her head in and winced. SJ Calvin's right arm and leg were covered with scrapes and his face was covered in tears. He sniffed, "It hurts."

Kerry held her hand out and SJ gripped it so hard one of Kerry's knuckles popped. "I'll make it better."

SJ sniffed again as Kerry let go of his hand and went over to the sink. She washed up and got the supplies ready, then rolled her chair over to SJ.

She started to clean one of the cuts, "What happened?" Kerry had an idea, based on what she was pulling from the scrapes, but she wanted to distract the almost six year old.

SJ sniffed, "We were playing snowball fight, and I was chasing Henry, and totally was gonna get him, but I slipped and there was a stoop there, and I... slid, and it... hurt." He sucked in a breath as Kerry pulled out a particularly large piece of pavement. "Oww..."

"Sorry bud, but I promise it'll hurt less once the ucky pavement's out."

SJ let got a small sigh as Kerry continued her work, methodically cleaning up SJ's arm and down his leg. "Mom's gonna be mad, right Mama?"

Funnily enough, with all the changes that living at the North Pole presented, that had been the hardest thing for Kerry to get used to, Carol's son calling her Mama just like Henry did.

When SJ had started doing it Kerry and Carol had even talked about it. Kerry smiled to herself, that had been a weird discussion that had not ended the way that either of the women would have guessed. Carol had started with an apology of all things.

"I'm sorry."

Kerry chuckled, "For what, I'm acquainted with the term. It was Henry's first word."

"No it wasn't. His mouth wasn't able to fo-" Kerry cut Carol off with a kiss.

"Trust me, it was his first word."

Carol sat back on the couch and stared at the large Santa fireplace. "I know, it's just- I know we haven't talked about the future much."

Kerry turned on the couch, tucking her feet under her, "So, that's why you haven't married me-"

Carol abruptly stood and paced to the mantle. Family photos lined the mantle all in a row. One of Neil, Laura, Lucy and Charlie. Next to that one of Scott, Charlie and Carol. Then Charlie, Carol and a baby SJ. Next to that a picture of Carol's parents, one of Henry, Sandy and Kerry. And the final picture on the mantle was the newest, taken the previous year. Carol, Kerry with Henry, SJ and Charlie.

Carol picked up the last one. "I love you Kerry, and I love Henry too. But, I- I can't put you through what I went through. Losing Scott."

Kerry stared at Carol's back for a long, silent, moment. Then stood. "When you figure out what you just said wrong, I'll be in the Elfirmary teaching Bernard something."

Kerry was relieved when Bernard was in the medical suites, rearranging all the supplies. He looked up when she entered, "Ma'am. I thought that today you were taking a brief respite. It will be the final one before... the rush of Christmas Eve."

Kerry gave Bernard a friendly pat on the back as she went by, "How are you doing with the chapters I gave you on blood borne illnesses."

Bernard regarded Kerry for a moment, "The first thought that comes to mind is... ew... ma'am."

Kerry smiled just a bit, "Indeed. But, you're understanding them?"

"I am. Thank y-"

Kerry held up a hand, "Bernard, if you don't stop thanking me for being your teacher, I'll have to start calling you Bernie."

Bernard winced and fell silent, going back to his reorganization. Kerry had been teaching him all she knew about medicine with the help of books and a little help from Dr. Hismus, although the elf doctor complained the whole time he helped his former Arch Elf to learn something new. And, Bernard was pretty good at it, and, despite Dr. Hismus' oft kvetching, it was very good to have another set of hands when Chet went waywardly into the schoolyard, or every elf in the North Pole got the elven flu at the same time.

It wasn't too too long before Carol appeared in the Elfirmary and Bernard made himself scarce with a mostly lame excuse.

"I'm sorry. You lost Sandy, and... of course you know what I went through. I'm sorry."

Kerry blew out a breath, "You're an amazing woman Carol. Perfect in almost every way, except... you're Santa Claus, and so, sometimes you forget that not everything revolves around you, is about you."

Carol was stunned into silence for a bit. And Kerry took over the counting of supplies where Bernard had stopped. Carol put a hand on Kerry's shoulder and turned the shorter woman around, "I apologize. For three years before I met you it was just me and SJ. It may- it may take me a bit before I get it through my thick head that you're right, that life isn't just about me anymore. To get over my self-involvement." She got down on one knee, and a box with a ring seemed to appear from nothing.

Kerry mumbled, "Show off."

Carol smiled, "Will you give me the a chance to change? Guide me in my change to be a better woman?"

Kerry took Carol by the hand, ignoring the box and ring and pulled her up, "Yes. Yes I will."

"Mama?"

Kerry was brought back to the present by SJ's voice, "Ah, sorry buddy. You're good to go."

SJ leaned forward and kissed Kerry on the cheek. "Thank you Mama-" Then he jumped from the exam table and push his hands and forehead on her belly and spoke softly, "Bye bye brothers or sisters."

Kerry smiled and rested on her belly as SJ went to go find someone to play with. She felt a change in the room, a warming of it, and looked up, "Hi."

"SJ okay?"

"Yes. Just bumps and scrapes. Boys being boys."

Carol rested her hand over Kerry's. "Are you okay?"

Kerry raised an eyebrow, "I'm two weeks late and way too many years old to be doing this, and yet..."

Carol collected Kerry in a hug, "And loving every minute of it."

"Yes." She paused, "But Carol if..."

Carol interrupted Kerry, "This isn't Earth, I mean, it is, but... here in the workshop it's more complicated than that. You will be fine, and so will Thing 1 and Thing 2 when they're born. Magic does that."

Kerry laughed, "Have you been reading Dr. Seuss to SJ?"

Carol groaned, "Every night. These two'll have your brains though, maybe I'll get to read them Shakespeare or something instead of 'The Sneetches'."

Kerry put an arm around Carol and guided them towards the room's doorway. "What are you doing here? Isn't there some sort of list you're supposed to be checking on?"

Carol smiled, "I left Curtis obsessing over it. He still holds his breath every Christmas, wondering whether it'll all fall down, and I'll start de-santifying."

"Well, since you're still Santa, I should get back to figuring out what the heck's wrong with the reindeer."

Carol guided Kerry towards the front door of the Elfirmary. "Oh, look, Mistletoe."

Kerry laughed and pulled Carol down for a long kiss, "Go figure out your coal situation."

"Love you Kerry."

Before Kerry could respond Carol was gone. Kerry shook her head with a smile and put her hands on her belly, "She'll slow down on Christmas Day- now, let's go see if we can fix the reindeer before they have to go to work."

She walked back to the stable, whistling. She was happy, happier than she'd ever been before. She had her son, and an amazing step-son, not to mention a wife she loved, and then there were the elves. She'd always been a loner, but, one of the things about becoming Mrs. Claus was that the elves, the grumpy ones, happy ones, and all of them in between, became her family. She'd thought that she would have hated it. She loved it.

She jerked to a standing position and turned as the air around her went cold. Her eyes scanned the entire stable, but no one seemed to be there, only the reindeer. Then, there was a hand over her face, it felt female. And then, everything dissolved into a haze of green and black.