A/N: Day 16 of 25 Days of Christmas. Prompt: Santa Claus

Happy Reading!

xxx

3 times Klaus was Father Christmas and the one time he was the Grinch

The first time was on the 1st of November. Halloween was just over, the whole Mikaelson and co. clan had gathered in his Milan Mansion for Caroline's ridiculous Halloween Party the evening before, and apparently Christmas started as soon as Halloween was over in the 21st century.
Klaus woke up to an empty bed (no morning sex for him, apparently) and just went downstairs to get himself a blood bag and glass of water. He firmly planned on returning to the warmth and darkness of his beautiful master bedroom afterwards.
But as fate had it, he was greeted by his sister and his girlfriend, dancing through the kitchen in their nighties, singing along to 'Santa Claus is coming to town' while they made pancakes. Now he didn't understand how he hadn't heard them from miles away (probably because a cloaking spell or something sage-related was involved), but he instantly regretted leaving his bed.
"Nik! Just on cue! We were singing about you keeping track of who's naughty and who's nice after all." Rebekah said, smiling sweetly as he growled at her. That was one of the reasons he never spend the festive season around his family. The 'Santa Klaus' jokes just made him want to dagger them and that would ruin Christmas for everybody.
"He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so you better be good for goodness' sake! That sounds really creepy, are you sure Santa Klaus is the right man for you, Care? He sounds like a creep." Rebekah continued, sounding way too delighted for 9 o'clock in the morning.
"Aw, Bekah, now you're just being mean. You know I can't resist a man in a suit. Especially a red suit." Caroline replied. The girls started laughing when Klaus turned around, his fists clenched as he left the two of them to their way too early Christmas spirit, grumbling about how much he hated Yuletide.

The next time Klaus had to endure the company of his siblings was not even three weeks later for Thanksgiving. He easily forgave Caroline for the jab (she had two very convincing arguments and made a strong case after all), but he was still wary about Rebekah. But she wasn't the one he had toworry about, this time Stefan and Marcel had it in for him.
Insisting on 'Friendsgiving' as a tradition Caroline practically forced Klaus to invite the people who were close to his family and Marcel obviously was one of them. Despite Klaus' glowering Stefan and Marcel easily befriended each other, mainly on the base that they loved to crack jokes about Nik's past. So when they teamed up during Thanksgiving dinner to make those two hours the worst of Klaus' immortal life they completely and utterly succeeded.
"Hey Nik, why so pale? Oh right, because you spend most of your year on the North Pole." was the one that got it all started, and it only got worse from there.
"Klaus, are that coals or grilled Aubergines on your plate? Because your elves knows you've been a naughty boy." was one of the others.
"Is Caroline's nose red or am I going mad? Because I could've sworn that she rode Santa Klaus' sleigh last night." was Caroline's personal favourite.
And "Santa, could you hand me the pheasant?" was the one which almost got Stefan's neck snapped. If it weren't for Caroline 'Friendsgiving' would have turned into 'Friendskilling' that night.

The third time around Klaus didn't expect it.
Him and Elijah were on business in Paris and they passed this little boutique which just screamed Caroline, so Klaus made sure that they'd pass it again so he could get her a present in there. Elijah didn't mind it, he still had to get something for his sister-in-law anyway, so they stopped by the little shop and spend quite some time and money in there. They were just leaving the shop when Elijah's comment slipped out.
"Surprised you're even getting her something." he said.
Klaus furrowed his brow. "You know Caroline would have my head if I didn't."
"Just because, well you're Santa Klaus and Caroline hasn't exactly been nice recently, has she?" Elijah retorted, continuing towards their cab.
And in that moment Klaus felt such a deep betrayal, because Elijah wasn't supposed to be humorous on Klaus' expense and a tiny bit of shame, because he so obviously walked into that one.

"You know what? I'm done. We're not celebrating Christmas." Klaus announced on the22nd of December that year. He had it with the stupid Santa related jokes on his expense and he wasn't sure whether he would actually be able to spend the Holidays with them if they continued like that.
"You can't cancel Christmas." Caroline deadpanned, her brow furrowed.
"But I can. I could write over the ownership of this house, compel them to let me in and nobody else and I would finally have my peace." Klaus replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Caroline copied the posture.
"Well, how about I make you a deal? Only one Santa related joke per person throughout the rest of the Holidays and that's it." she offered.
"No jokes at all and you'll get to chose the location for New Year's Eve as well." Klaus negotiated easily. Caroline bit her lower lip on contemplation. She really wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve in their London apartment and Klaus wanted to celebrate in Russia. It was his year to chose the location, but if Caroline took the deal...
"Okay, New Year's Even in New York and no more Santa Klaus jokes." she agreed, smiling sweetly as she took his hand and shook it,
"Now, I think you owe me a proper apology for all those jokes." Klaus leered as he pulled her flush against him, his free hand on the small of Caroline's back.
"I'd love to show you just how naughty I am." Caroline replied, giggling when Klaus sighed, rolled his eyes and threw her over his shoulder to carry her into their bedroom.