Chapter 4
It was Christmas Eve Eve, and Santana and Brittany had been in the North Pole for five days. True to their word, they made good on their offer to help. The first three days were spent volunteering in the stables, toyshop, and vault respectively. The fourth day was split between the wrapping and inventory rooms, and the fifth day started in the cafeteria kitchen making cookies for Christmas Dinner. After lunch, they went to the stables, because Santana really wanted to see the reindeer. The stable staff was happy to see them again, because they could always use a few extra hands with preparing the deer for Christmas Eve.
They were tasked with brushing the reindeer and making sure that they were fed and watered. Since the feed could be heavy, and Santana didn't have Christmas magic to help in lifting the bags, she started brushing the reindeer while Brittany took over moving the bags and filling the buckets so she and Santana could distribute them later.
Santana hummed to herself as she brushed Pop's coat. She was enjoying the work she was doing, because it didn't feel like work. The toyshop and caring for the Reindeer were her favorites so far, but she had had fun in the other departments as well, because once she was shown what to do, she found she was good at it.
She giggled as Pop nuzzled her cheek with her nose. As much as Santana loved all the reindeer she had attended to, Pop and Lock were her two favorites because they were the ones that she met first, and when she saw them again, they instantly remembered her and wanted to see her.
"What?" She said lightly as Pop nudged her cheek again.
Pop tilted her head to Santana's coat pocket and sniffed it, knowing that she had something tasty in there.
"Do you want a treat?"
Understanding, Pop grunted and lifted her head.
Santana giggled again and put her hand into her pocket. She pulled out a baby carrot and held it out for her in the flat of her palm.
Pop eagerly gobbled up the treat, grunted again, and put her nose to Santana's pocket again.
"Now don't get greedy. I gave you five already." Santana said and rubbed under her chin. "I have to give some to the others too."
"She doesn't like to share, especially when carrots are involved." Mike said coming up to her from behind.
"She knows what she wants." Santana said and gave Pop a little kiss on the bridge of her nose. "Nothing wrong with that."
"I guess not." Mike said with a chuckle. "And a few extra carrots won't hurt since she's flying with Santa tomorrow night. She needs all the energy she can get."
Pop and Lock had easily secured a spot on the team, along with Twinkle, Snowflake, Tinsel, Belle, Ginger, and Glitter.
One of the first things that Santana learned from Brittany about the North Pole two years ago was that Santa did indeed use eight reindeer to pull his sled, but their names weren't always Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. It wasn't until after 'The Night Before Christmas' came out in 1823. Santa had enjoyed the poem so much, that he named the next group of deer after them. Then, when the story of 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer' came out in 1939, one of the newborn calves was named Rudolf. Santana was happy to know that at some point those were the actual names of Santa's reindeer. It was not just a made up story. It was real and it made that part of the Christmas tradition so much more special.
Currently there were over thirty reindeer living in the stable, and all of them had flown on Christmas Eve with Santa. There wasn't just one exclusive team. Every year the team was chosen in June from the top eight finishers of The Reindeer Games, where the deer would compete in a series of sporting events that measured agility, speed, endurance, and strength. The Games lasted four days, and it was almost as popular as Christmas.
When Santana heard about it for the first time, she couldn't help but to compare it to a dog show. According to Brittany, the deer enjoyed it, because it was a break from their routine. It gave them something else to do than just flying back and forth delivering goods between the North Pole and the rest of the world.
"So what are you and Brittany doing tomorrow night?" Mike asked.
"Umm, I don't know. Brittany says the toyshop is busy right up until Santa leaves, so we're going to volunteer in the toyshop early tomorrow, but after that, I don't know. Whitney and Pierce haven't mentioned any plans for Christmas Eve."
"Well, a bunch of us were talking earlier and we're going to go to The Chimney, if y'all want to come too. A lot of Brittany's friends will be there."
"The Chimney?"
"Yeah." Mike chuckled. "It's a club. We'll have a couple of drinks, dance a little…it'll be fun."
"Yeah, it sounds like fun. I'll talk to Brittany."
"Talk to me about what?" Brittany asked as she walked into Pop's stall with twenty buckets of deer feed levitating behind her.
Santana couldn't help but to giggle at all the floating buckets. She just loved Christmas magic.
"A bunch of us are going to The Chimney tomorrow night." Mike said.
"Oh really?" Brittany asked perking up. "It's been a while."
"We used to go all the time." Mike told Santana. "I can't tell you how many times we closed that place, got three hours of sleep, went to work, and then did it all again."
Brittany chuckled. "I don't think I could do that now without hating myself. After I turned ninety-five that got a lot harder to do."
"Grandma." Santana teased. Even though they were relatively the same age, and Brittany's human age was listed as thirty, there was a seventy year age difference between them, and sometimes Santana liked to tease Brittany about being 'old'.
"Oh really, Miss Thirty?" Brittany said. "Who was the one a month ago that told me they had to go to bed early when I asked them go to a nine o'clock movie?"
Santana balked. "That's not fair. You knew I had a presentation the next day."
"We would have been home before midnight and you didn't have to go to work 'til noon." Brittany countered. "You could've slept all morning."
"It wasn't because it was too late to go out. I just wanted to be prepared for my presentation." Santana said adamantly.
"Mm-hmm." Brittany said with a tone that said she didn't believe that for a second.
"So are y'all in?" Mike asked.
Brittany and Santana looked at each other, and without words they knew what the other's answer was. "Yeah, totally." Brittany said with a smile.
"Awesome!" Mike chirped. "Santana, Tina will be there too, so you can meet her then."
Santana recognized the name as Mike's wife. "Yeah, it should be fun." She said as Pop nudged her cheek again and then put her nose to her coat pocket.
"Well, I better run, I have three sleds to service…I'll let you get back to being extorted for treats." Mike said, winking at Santana.
"I am not being extorted." Santana said putting her hand in her pocket and pulling out a carrot, holding it out for Pop. "I'm giving them to her willingly."
"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that." Mike said and waved at them before he left.
"You know that you really are a big sucker, right?" Brittany teased when Santana gave Pop another carrot.
"I am not." Santana said and scratched under Pop's chin. "She's my buddy, aren't ya?"
Pop grunted and nuzzled Santana's cheek again.
"See?"
Brittany chuckled. "I have to admit, the deer all love you. They're going to be sad to see you go."
"Me too. I wish I could take one home with us, but that might be suspicious."
"Yeah, a reindeer roaming around our backyard would definitely draw some attention."
"I guess we'll just have to stick to more socially acceptable animals for our life in human suburbia."
"Well if you want, we can get a dog or a cat." Brittany said wrapping her arms around Santana. "I know we talked about adopting a baby soon, but we don't know how long it will take once we start the process. It could take a while, so a sweet fur baby that we can spoil and give all our love to would be nice while we wait. Then once the baby comes, we can spoil both of them."
Brittany and Santana couldn't wait to have children together. The plan had always been to wait a few months after they got married to enjoy their honeymoon phase, and then start expanding their family. Neither one of them were keen on the idea of going through pregnancy and childbirth, but they wanted children, and since they couldn't have a child that was biologically theirs together, adoption seemed as if it was the perfect option for them. They loved the idea of giving a child who had no one a loving and caring home.
"You want a pet, Britt?" Santana cooed.
Brittany smiled and nodded. "But only if you want one too."
"Which one would you like?" Santana asked.
"Maybe a cat." Brittany said. "I love dogs too, but ever since my cat Charity died a few years ago, I've been missing having a cat around."
Santana leaned in and kissed Brittany softly on her lips. "When we get home let's go to the shelter and have a look."
Brittany beamed and kissed Santana again. A moment later their kiss was interrupted when they were pushed by Pop accidently bumping into them on her way over to the floating buckets, her nose sniffing wildly.
"I think she's hungry." Santana said with a chuckle.
"I couldn't tell." Brittany said with a wink and reached for a bucket, pulling it out of the air and pouring it into Pop's trough. "I better go. All the other deer are going to be waiting, and I see Lock looking over here. You better make sure you have a enough carrots. I'm sure she's been watching, and she won't take kindly to you spoiling Pop more than her."
"I've got it covered." Santana said and pulled a big bag of baby carrots out of her deep pocket.
"You catch on quick." Brittany said smiling. "I'll see you in bit." She said and gave Santana a peck on her lips.
"Love you." Santana said.
"Love you too." Brittany said with a wink.
-()-()-()-()-
The next day, Santana and Brittany were hard at work, assembling baby dolls. Santana was surprised that even an hour before Santa was scheduled to leave for his flight, they were still making toys. They were in 'crunch time' as Brittany called it. Every year, they were busy right up until departure, but every year they made their deadline.
"You know, I was never much into dolls." Santana said as she fluffed the doll's purple dress. "But just the idea that this doll is going to bring some child a lot of joy, and we helped to make that happen really makes me feel good."
Brittany smiled, primping her doll's hair. "I know. It always makes me feel good too. I love giving gifts so much more than receiving them."
"True." Santana had to agree. As much as she loved getting gifts, especially the sparkly kind, she loved seeing the faces of the person she was giving the gift too. It was one of the best feelings in the world.
"What do you think Santa is up to now?" Santana asked.
"Oh, he's probably in the vault, going over the list one more time."
"I still can't believe he can read it that fast."
"Well he's a demigod. He has powers and abilities even elves don't have." Brittany said with a shrug.
Santana chuckled. "Who knew speed reading was a superpower."
Brittany chuckled too. "Mm-hmm."
Once they were finished with their last toy and placed it on the conveyor belt to be sent to quality control, they checked with the supervisor to see if they were needed elsewhere, but all the stations were finishing up, so they were thanked for their help and then they left to get their coats from the coatroom. They planned to go down to the courtyard where Santa always said a few words before he left.
When they walked out of the workshop's 'big castle-door', as Santana had started calling it, they saw a large crowd had already started gathering.
"Hey, look over there." Brittany said pointing down to the large sled with a huge red and white bag in the back. Some of the stable crew were in the process of hitching the reindeer to the sled and there was an elf on a ladder, putting a few last minute gifts into the bag.
Santana couldn't help but to gasp when she saw the sled for the first time. She couldn't believe that she was actually looking at Santa's sled. After being in the North Pole for almost a week, she knew she shouldn't have any expectations based on human folklore, but she halfway expected the sled to be red and festively decorated, but that was far from the case. In fact, she liked the reality so much more. It was modest, but beautiful, constructed of fine mahogany with simple carvings in the wood and a fresh polish that made it shine as the town's lights shone on it.
"How in the world does he get all the presents in that bag?" Santana said in awe. She had been in the inventory room, and while they had already started loading the presents, there had been a lot of presents still waiting to be loaded.
"Really?" Brittany asked with an amused smile as they walked down the marble staircase to join the crowd.
"I know; I know…Christmas magic. It's the answer to everything around here." Santana said.
"Yes, Christmas magic. There's a charm on the bag that allows it to hold more than it appears." Brittany elaborated.
"Do you think I can get one of those as a purse?" Santana asked very seriously.
Brittany snorted. "That's the last thing you need. Your purse is already a bottomless pit. You don't need to be able to put more in it."
"Hey, I live out of my purse when I'm not home. If I had a magic purse, I could carry a smaller bag, and I wouldn't look like I was carrying a small suitcase around."
Brittany playfully rolled her eyes. "I can see it now, I'd get you a magic purse, and I'll find your car in it one day."
"I can do that?!" Santana blurted.
"No." Brittany said with a smirk. "But you should have seen your face. I bet you would have tried to do it."
Santana lightly pushed Brittany on her shoulder. "You're mean."
Brittany giggled and kissed Santana on her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too…sometimes." Santana said crossing her arms and pretending to be annoyed with her.
"You love me all the time." Brittany said and uncrossed Santana's arms, sliding her hands down the sleeves of her parka and taking both of her gloved hands into her own. "Even when I tease you."
"You better be glad you're cute." Santana muttered, trying to stifle an amused smile.
Brittany wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at her, causing Santana's façade to fade and she giggled. "I'll see what I can do about getting you a magic purse. Just don't pull a Mary Poppins and put a potted plant or something like that in it, okay?"
"But, you know a potted plant would look great in my office at work." Santana joked.
Ten minutes passed as they waited, and just as Santana was starting to feel cold from standing in the same spot without moving, the crowd of elves around her started to clap and cheer when Joy and Santa stepped up on to the sled and faced them waving.
"Hello all!" Santa said to the crowd. "Another year has passed and as always, we have had a successful run! None of this would be possible without you. It amazes me what you all can accomplish and it truly warms my heart to see how much effort you all put in to everything you do so others can have the merriest of Christmases! That selflessness and love are what this world needs now more than ever. So from myself, and my lovely wife Joy, we thank you. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping to bring a little bit of happiness into the world. Now, please enjoy your Christmas Eve with your friends and family. Celebrate all the great things you have accomplished this year, and tomorrow we'll all dine together for Christmas dinner!"
Santana and Brittany clapped along with the crowd, both of their hearts full.
"Does he go by himself?" Santana asked as the crowd started to disperse.
"No, he has two assistants that travel with him."
"That's cool. At least he isn't alone."
"Mm-hmm. So is there anything you want to do before we go home?"
"I think I could go for a hot chocolate."
Brittany smiled widely. "I like where your head is at."
-()-()-()-()-
Later that night, after a nice family dinner with Whitney and Pierce, they all opened one gift that was under the tree, and then Santana and Brittany left for The Chimney, while Whitney and Pierce went to meet up with their friends at The Nog, which was a piano bar that appealed to an older clientele.
When Santana and Brittany arrived, the music was blaring, the dance floor was busy, and the bar was hopping. Santana quickly noted that with the exception of all the people having pointy ears and magic powers, it could have been a club anywhere in the world.
After they checked their coats, Santana held onto Brittany's hand and looked around as Brittany pushed through the crowd looking for her friends. It took a few minutes, but she found them at a table right off the dance floor.
"Hey guys!" Brittany said.
"Hey!" They all cheered.
"Brittany, it's good to see you, but we know you, introduce us to your girl!" One of the guys said with a chuckle.
"I was getting there, don't rush me, Artie." Brittany playfully admonished. "Guys, this is my wife Santana. Santana…Mike and his wife Tina…Quinn and her husband Puck…Finn and his girlfriend Rachel…Kurt and his husband Adam…and Artie and his girlfriend Kitty."
Santana had met a few of them over the past few days. Of course she remembered Mike and Quinn, she had spent a lot of time with them when she volunteered in their departments, and she remembered meeting Finn and Puck. They worked in the stables too, but she didn't spend a lot of time with them when she was there.
"Here, have a seat." Mike said motioning to the two open chairs that had been saved for them.
"Thanks." Brittany and Santana said at the same time as they sat down. "So just a little back ground in what everyone here does, Tina and Rachel make ornaments." Brittany said. "Kurt and Kitty are in fashion. Adam makes bells, and Artie is a list keeper, like Quinn."
Now that Brittany had told her what everyone did, Santana felt as if she should do the same. "I'm in marketing, nothing as cool as what you all do." She said and she meant that. She made a good living in marketing. She was good at it and she loved her job, but after volunteering around the North Pole for a week, she was convinced that it was the best place in the world to work.
"Marketing is pretty cool too." Tina said with a warm smile. "Don't put it down."
"Where is Mercedes?" Brittany asked.
"She couldn't come. Shane and the baby both have a cold, so she's at home taking care of them." Kurt answered.
"Oh, that's too bad." Brittany said with a frown.
"They said they're going to try to come tomorrow, if everyone is feeling up to it."
"I hope so." Brittany said. She'd hate for them to miss Christmas dinner. It was the most popular event in the North Pole. "So what have you all been up to? Tell me everything!"
It had been a year since Brittany became human and moved to Ohio permanently, so it had been that long since she really was able to spend time with her friends. She had talked to a few of them on the phone, but it wasn't the same as sitting down with them in person, kicking back, and having a few drinks.
They talked for almost two hours, Brittany catching up with her friends, and Santana making new friends. They shared several bottles of wine and beer before Brittany and Mike's favorite song came on, and they rushed to the dance floor together.
Santana smiled as she watched Brittany and Mike tear up the dance floor. She knew that Brittany loved to dance. They danced at home all the time and they had gone out a few times to a club to dance, but seeing her dance with Mike, and how easily they moved with each other, amazed her. She had never seen Brittany dance like that.
"They're really good together." Santana said.
"They are, but they've had a lot of practice. They used to do this all the time." Tina said. "They've won so many dancing competitions here, I've lost count."
Santana nodded. She didn't know that.
When the song ended, Mike and Brittany came back to the table. "Guys, knock back those drinks so we can hit the floor!" Mike cheered and downed what was left of his beer, waited for Tina to finish her drink before grabbing her by the hand, and pulling her to the dance floor.
By then, they all had a good buzz going, so even the most reluctant dancer of the group had let go of their inhibitions and picked up their drinks.
"Come on, babe! I wanna dance with you." Brittany said bouncing on her toes.
"Okay, okay." Santana said with a giggle and finished the last of her wine.
No sooner had Santana set down her glass, was Brittany pulling her to her feet. When they got on the dance floor, Brittany wrapped her hands around Santana's waist, pulling her flush against her, and together they moved to the beat of the music.
They danced to several songs before the D.J. finally turned things down and played a slow song.
"Are you having fun?" Brittany whispered in Santana's ear as they turned in a slow circle.
"Yes." Santana breathed.
"Everyone loved you. I knew they would."
"I like them too. They all seem great…well Rachel and her damn gold stars ornaments are ridiculous, but she's still okay, I guess."
"Trust me, we all have our moments where we can't stand Rachel, but she's not all bad."
"I'm so glad that I got to meet your friends."
"Me too."
Santana bit her lip for a moment before she asked, "Do you miss living here?"
"What?" Brittany asked and pulled back a bit so she could see Santana's face.
"I mean, now that I've seen how great it is here, and your friends and family are here, I know you have to miss it."
Brittany shook her head. "I do miss things here, but I have friends and family in Lima too. I love our life there. I don't regret moving for a second."
"But Lima is so shitty compared to the North Pole."
"No it isn't. It's just different."
"I can't believe you gave all of this up for me." Santana said feeling a lump form in her throat. She wasn't sure if it was just the alcohol that was making her feel emotional or if she was just feeling overwhelmed that Brittany gave up such a great life for her.
"Honey…I'd give up a thousand North Poles for you." Brittany said and kissed Santana softly. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you, I love our life together, and I love the future we're going to have. It doesn't matter to me where we live; all that matters to me is that I'm with you."
Santana swallowed hard. She needed Brittany's reassurance. "I love you too."
Brittany kissed her again and Santana deepened it. When they parted, Brittany rested her forehead on Santana's as they swayed to the music. When the song ended, a faster song came on. "Do you want to leave?" Brittany asked.
Santana shook her head. "No, I want to stay. I was just having a moment, but I feel better now."
"Are you sure?"
"Mm-hmm." Santana said smiling.
"Alright." Brittany said kissing Santana's lips one more time, before she found the beat to the music and swayed her hips into Santana's. Santana melted into Brittany, allowing her to guide her movements until they were moving as one.
For the next two hours, they danced, shared kisses, had a few more drinks with their friends, and danced some more until the D.J. made the announcement for last call. It had been such a fun night, Santana was sad that it was ending.
"We all have to go out again before you leave!" Kurt said a little too loudly as they were walking out of the club.
"Absolutely." Brittany and Santana said at the same time.
"New Year's for sure!" Puck slurred and slipped on the ice.
"Okay, I think it's time to go. This one is done." Quinn said picking Puck up from the ground.
"Yeah, I think this one is ready for bed too." Mike said with his arm around Tina who was giggling incessantly at every little thing.
They all bid each other good night and went their separate ways.
"I had so much fun!" Santana chirped as she and Brittany walked home.
Brittany giggled. "Me too."
"We have to do this more often."
"Clubbin'?"
"No…well yes, but here. We need to visit more often. This has been the best vacation ever! I just love it here!" She cheered as she raised her hands in the air and turned around in a circle as a light snowfall fell around her.
Brittany giggled again and wrapped her arm around Santana's waist, twirling with her for a few turns before pulling her into her and kissing her deeply.
Santana returned the kiss until she was out of breath and reluctantly had to pull away for air. She looked Brittany in the eyes for a few moments, before she whispered, "Take me home."
Brittany nodded and she wrapped her arm around Santana's waist leading her back the apartment. Santana nuzzled her nose into Brittany's neck, placing kisses there every so often as they walked.
When they arrived, they hurried up the stairs, both giggling as they closed the door behind them and started to shed all their layers of clothing. Brittany snapped her fingers twice- once to light the logs in the fireplace, and once to assemble a blanket pallet on the floor in front of the fire- before she wrapped her arms around Santana, picking her up, and kissing her as she carried her to the blankets and laid her down. They made love over and over again, until they only energy they had left was to pull a blanket over them before they fell asleep on their fluffy makeshift bed.
-()-()-()-()-
Six hours later, Santana woke to the feel of Brittany's arm draped over her waist and her lips placing a slow line of kisses across her shoulder blade.
"Hey, Britt-Britt." She cooed rolling over to face her.
"Hey, San. Merry Christmas." Brittany cooed and leaned in, kissing Santana softly.
The kiss lingered between them and when they parted, Santana nuzzled her nose with Brittany's. "Merry Christmas, Britt."
Brittany kissed Santana one more time, just because she felt like it. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay. Good." Santana said. She had had a lot to drink the night before, but she stuck to wine, so she thankfully didn't feel hungover. "I'm a little thirsty though. What about you?"
"I'm good. Just a little thirsty too." Brittany said. "Are you ready to have your first Christmas at the North Pole?"
Santana's face broke out into the widest smile as she nodded. "Yes! Let's go!" She cheered sitting up, the blanket that was covering her fell into her lap.
Brittany chuckled. "Okay, well you might want to think about putting some clothes on first."
Santana looked down at herself and Brittany, seeing that they were both still naked. "Right…that might be helpful." She said laughing.
"Just put on some jammies and your coat. We don't have to get showered and dressed until later."
"Okay." Santana said pecking Brittany on her lips one more time before she hopped up to find her pajamas.
Once they had dressed and brushed their teeth and hair, they put on their boots and coat and hurried from their apartment to the back door of the house. As soon as they walked into the kitchen, they found Whitney and Pierce in their pajamas making breakfast.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" They both cheered when they saw the girls.
Brittany and Santana both chuckled. "Merry Christmas!" They both said at the same time.
"What time did you get home? Did you sleep well?" Whitney asked.
"About two-thirty, and we had the best sleep ever." Santana answered for them.
"That's great." Whitney said. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Hot chocolate?"
"Yes, please." Brittany said and Santana nodded.
Pierce poured them two mugs of hot chocolate and told them to sit at the table in the dining room while he and Whitney brought the food in.
The table was already nicely set with the fancy dishes that were only used on Christmas and other special occasions.
After a hearty breakfast, they went into the living room to open presents. Santana was surprised to see that there was only the presents that they had put under the tree. There didn't appear to be a single present from Santa, which she thought was a little strange.
"Santa probably isn't back from his trip, so he doesn't have time to put our gifts under the tree before we wake up, so he always gives them to us at the party." Brittany said reading her mind.
"Oh okay." Santana said with a nod. That made sense to her.
"Okay, who wants to go first?" Whitney asked.
"You go Dad." Brittany said.
Pierce beamed at being told to go first. He reaching into the pile and pulled out a gift from Whitney. He tore it open to find a sweater that Santana would classify as an 'Ugly Christmas Sweater' but he seemed thrilled with it.
"Brittany, your turn." Pierce said.
Brittany reached in pulling out a gift that was a joint gift for her and Santana from Pierce.
They tore the paper off to find a toaster. They both raised their eyebrows in surprised because it seemed like an odd gift, seeing as they had a toaster at home that worked just fine.
"Your mom told me at your wedding I had to give a toaster, but I couldn't find one, so I decided to save it for Christmas."
"Pierce, I said you had to give a toast, not a toaster." Whitney clarified.
"Oh." Pierce said sheepishly and his smile faded.
"Well it's still a perfect gift." Santana said. "Our toaster is a few years old, so we definitely needed one."
"Great!" Pierce chirped, perking up, a proud smile forming on his face.
Brittany took Santana's hand into her own and lightly squeezed it, silently thanking her for making her father feel better about his gift.
"Mom, your turn." Brittany said.
Whitney picked a gift from Pierce and when she opened it, she found it was a matching sweater to the one that she had given him.
"Twinsies!" Pierce and Whitney cheered at the same time and they leaned in front of the girls so they could give each other a kiss.
Santana couldn't help but to chuckle and Brittany just shook her head in amusement. Her parents we definitely one of a kind.
They took turns opening the rest of the presents, then, as was tradition in their house, they watched a few Christmas movies before they had to get ready for dinner at the workshop.
"You look beautiful." Brittany said as she came into the bathroom to find Santana putting the finishing touches on her make up. She was wearing a red sweater dress, thick stockings, and leather boots that came up to her upper-calf.
"Thanks. You look beautiful too."
Brittany was wearing a pair of silver dress pants and a sparkly blue sweater.
"Thanks, babe." Brittany said with a wink and gave her a little pat on her bum.
"Do you think I'll be warm enough wearing this?" Santana asked looking at Brittany in the mirror over her shoulder. She was now second guessing her choice in clothing.
"Just wear the full length parka you brought and you should be fine."
"Alright." Santana said and rubbed her lips together before turning around.
"Ready?"
"I am so ready. This is going to be the best Christmas party ever." Santana said as they walked into the living room to gather their things.
"Don't tell your mom that. It might hurt her feelings." Brittany said with a chuckle.
"I mean, my mom's Christmas parties are great, but I just don't think it will compare to one at the North Pole with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and a bunch of Christmas elves. It is the ultimate Christmas party."
"That's true." Brittany said having to agree.
"But when I talked to her earlier, I didn't tell her we were going to a party; I just told her we were having a family dinner at your Uncle Kris' house."
"That was smart. She didn't ask me what we were doing tonight when I talked to her. She just asked me what I thought of the bracelet you got me. Apparently you took forever making a decision and dragged her from store to store, and then bought the first one you liked at the first store."
Santana rolled her eyes. "Traitor…she wasn't supposed to tell you that."
"I think it's cute that you fussed over it so much." Brittany said and twisted her wrist flashing the white gold bangle. "And I do love it."
"And I love the earrings that you bought me. What do you think?" She said flipping her hair out of the way to show Brittany the diamond studs.
"Very pretty. And they go well with your wedding ring." Brittany said with a smile.
"As much as I like my earrings, I think my magic purse is my favorite gift." Santana said lifting the black medium sized leather bag. "How in the hell did you pull this off? We were just talking about it yesterday and there was no way you could have gone to the store to get this. I was with you the whole time."
"I may have made a quick, sneaky phone call to Kurt when you made a trip to the bathroom. I told him what your style was and he picked it out, wrapped it, and then gave it to Carol to give to my parents while they were at The Nog. They put it under the tree when they got home."
"Well I love it. I'll have to thank Kurt when I see him. He has impeccable taste."
"He'll appreciate that." Brittany said and then she noticed the time. "Oh, we better go. Mom and Dad will probably be waiting on us."
Once they were bundled up, they went to the house to meet Whitney and Pierce and then they all walked to the workshop. When they arrived, the 'castle door' was open to accommodate the influx of people. After they checked their coats, they made their way to the busy and mostly full cafeteria, where they looked around until they found the table next to Carol and Burt that they saved for them.
They hadn't been there long before an elf that Santana didn't recognize walked up the table.
"Brittany? Santana?" She said looking at them.
Brittany recognized her immediately. She was Santa's administrative assistant in his office. "Hey, Marley." Brittany said with a smile. "What's up?"
"Hey. Santa sent me to tell you that he would like to talk to you two in his office."
"Now?" Brittany asked.
Marley nodded. "Yes. He needs to speak with you right away."
Santana and Brittany both looked at each other puzzled.
"Do you know what it's about?" Brittany asked, sounding concerned. She couldn't think of a reason that Santa would need to see them so urgently.
"Umm…well, yes, but I'm not sure it's my place…actually, it would be better if you talked to him." The pensive tone in her voice told Brittany that something was definitely up. This was not a request for a social visit.
"O-okay." Brittany said standing up and taking Santana's hand. She glanced at her, and Santana looked worried.
"Brittany, should we come with you?" Whitney asked. Now she was concerned.
Brittany shook her head. She knew if Santa wanted them, he would've asked for them too. "I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just wants to talk to us about giving the reindeer too many carrots." She said with a smile hoping to calm her mother.
Whitney nodded, but she didn't seem convinced.
Santana and Brittany followed Marley through the crowd of people and into the hallway towards Santa's office.
"Are we in trouble?" Santana whispered to Brittany.
She couldn't think of anything they had done since they arrived that would get them in trouble. As far she knew, they had followed all the rules of the village. Even when she talked to her parents earlier, she didn't tell them their true location. They were under the impression that they were in Alaska, because when Brittany's parents visited Lima for the first time, they were afraid they'd accidently slip and tell them they were from the North Pole, so they told her parents that Brittany's parents lived in North Pole, Alaska.
"I…I don't know." Brittany said unsure. She couldn't think of anything they did that would get them into trouble either, but they did have a lot to drink the night before, so maybe her memory was skewed. What she did know for sure was that whatever the reason was, it was serious.
-()-()-()-()-
A/N: I hope you all have had a happy new year! Chapter 5 is written, I just have to review it before I send it to my beta. It will be out as soon as possible. Thank you for reading! Please send me your thoughts if you have a chance.
Thanks to my beta naynay1963 for proof reading. Also, I'd like to thank my friend FloatYourBoat21 for her help with this chapter as well!
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.