A/N:
I. am. so. sorry.
I trully have no excuse as to why I didnt update sooner. I was just caught up in the Holidays and the fact it was Winter break and i didnt have to do school work and i just forgot about my promise about undating this story every 2 days and getting it done before December was over. (sad face) both of those promises have come to an end. this story is half way over and i might have it done maybe within the next two months.
I'm just so sorry. i feel so terrible. :(
anyways, another time skip. oh well. after this chapter it starts the romance of Trish and Bernard (i wonder which one of them will realize their feelings first...) who do you think? anyways enjoy this chapter guys and I'm sorry again :(
i do not own The Santa Clause 1, 2, or 3. I only own the idea of this story and Trish.
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Chapter Ten: Christmas
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It was a week before Christmas and everyone was working as fast as they could. Bernard was doing inventory and checking up on the elves who were fixing up Santa's sleigh for that Christmas, to make sure nothing broke or would fall off during flight, aka, Charlie.
Trish and her department wasn't as busy as the other elves, considering it was a week before Christmas and all the difficult toys children asked for had already been designed weeks before. It was very unlikely a child would send in a letter the day before Christmas Eve asking for a bicycle that had a built in radio and a gum dispenser that never ran out. So most of the time the last week before Christmas the elves in the blueprints room were dismissed early and they'd help out around the shop.
Trish knew she couldn't really "help" anyone after the last thing that happened on her first day in the factory, so she helped Abby and Judy bring trays of hot chocolate to Santa and his family and the elves around the factory making sure not to enter the kitchen again, afraid she'd get in trouble.
At the current moment, Abby was acting in a rush and told Trish she didn't need any help at the moment. Same with Judy, so Trish decided to pay her favorite Reindeer a visit: Comet.
But, when Trish got to the stalls of the reindeer, Comet and Vixen were gone and so was Santa's sleigh.
Trish stared around the stalls, wondering where Santa could have gone until she spotted Bernard standing where the sleigh was suppose to exit and enter out of.
"Hey! Bernard!" Trish called, running up to him. He looked slightly nervous when Trish got a look at his face, "Where's Comet and Vixen? And Santa's sleigh?" she asked. Bernard nodded, "Right, right, no one's told you." he mumbled.
"Told me what?"
"Santa went to get his family for Christmas." Bernard told her. "Family? But Mrs. Claus and Buddy are already here."
Bernard nodded, "Remember when I explained to you the Clause of Santa?"
Trish nodded.
"Well, Santa, before known as Scott, had a family. He was divorced and has a son named Charlie. They found out about him becoming Santa, Charlie being able to come to the pole the night Scott became Santa, and they also helped him find a wife, Mrs. Claus, who was Charlie's principal."
"So that's why she's the teacher of the Elfementary School?" she asked, slightly chuckling. Bernard nodded, "Yes and this is the last Christmas Charlie will have before he goes off to college and Santa wants him here, which means Charlie's mother and step father and little sister will be coming too."
"Oh that's so great! What are the others names?" She asked. "His mother's name is Lora, Step Father is Neil and little sister is Lucy."
The two of them stood, waiting until they saw the red sleigh fly in to the pole. Bernard and Trish quickly moved out of the way as Comet and Vixen came in for a landing. Trish watched, trying her best at holding back her excitement to see new people that were family to Santa.
A tall boy with messy brown hair jumped out of the sleigh; Charlie, "No matter how many times I ride your sleigh dad, that never gets old." he grinned. Santa stepped out of the sleigh, handing the reigns over to the elves who worked with the reindeer, "Glad to hear that, sport."
A woman with dark hair stepped out of the back of the sleigh with a man with reddish brown curly hair and they both helped out a young girl with bright red hair; Lora, Neil and Lucy.
"Uncle Scott, I have to agree with Charlie! Riding your sleigh is so much fun. It's one of my favorite things about visiting you and Aunt Carol." Lucy said, walking up to Santa.
"I have to give you credit, Scott, if Neil was Santa I don't think he'd ever be able to make a smooth landing like you always do." Lora chuckled. Neil gave her a look, "Hey!" but he ended up chuckling look.
Bernard walked up to them, and Trish followed him, but stood behind him. "Welcome back Santa." he said then turned to Charlie and his family, "I hope you all had a good trip." he said.
Charlie smiled, "Yeah, thanks Bernard. Good to see you too."
Bernard chuckled and slightly nodded his head. "We have your rooms all set up that are right off Santa, Mrs. Claus and Buddy's rooms." he explained.
"That's right, so let's get going because it's a week before Christmas and we have a lot of work to do here!" Santa said enthusiastically.
"Oh, I'll help with the bags Santa!" Trish butted in, grabbing two of the bags out of the sleigh. "Oh, who is this?" Lora asked.
"Oh, sorry ma'am. I'm Trish. I'm new to the Pole. It's nice to meet you." she said to them.
"Well it's nice to meet you too." Lora said smiling. Charlie leaned into his father, "I don't know how to do it dad. I could never remember all the children's names of the world and the elves too." he chuckled. "Yeah well it's easy to remember her name since she's Bernard's roommate and it's still a shock to Me." he chuckled.
"What?!" Charlie asked, half shocked half trying to hide his laugh. Bernard gave them a look, not hearing the conversation the two had just had.
Santa shook his head to Charlie mouthing 'not here' to him. Charlie nodded and the group walked out of the stables and down the colorfully decorated halls of the workshop.
Lucy trailed behind the group and stood next to the railing and watched the elves on the first floor making the toys and wrapping the presents. Trish, who was standing next to Lucy, stared at her. I'm only a little bit taller then her. She thought.
Santa opened the door to his office/home living room and Carol was sitting on the sofa feeding Buddy some crackers. Her face lit up, "Oh! It's so great to see you all!" She said happily, standing up with Buddy in her hands.
Charlie smiled, "It's nice to see you too, Carol. Can I?" he asked. Carol gave him a look. He half smiled, "Sorry. May I?" he asked, holding out his hands. Carol smiled and nodded handed the small toddler to Charlie. "Hey Buddy. Remember me? You're big brother Charlie?" he asked, smiling.
Carol gave Lora and Neil a hug then bent down slightly to hug Lucy, "Did you guys have a good sleigh ride?" She asked. Lucy nodded, "Uncle Scott even made a detour so we could fly over the Eiffel tower!" she said happily.
Bernard walked over to Trish, who was trying to pick up another bag that Neil and Lora set on the floor once they walked in. He tapped her shoulder, "Their rooms are right next door. Lora and Neil's are the room on the right, Charlie and Lucy's room is on the left, alright? I'll help with the bags." he said, picking them up. The two walked out of the room and Charlie waited until the door closed to lead his father over to the book shelf.
"Alright, so I thought Bernard never wanted a roommate? that's why he lived alone." Charlie asked.
Santa nodded, "That's what I was thinking when Trish left permanently, I thought he'd be happy to have his home back again. But not even a week of Trish gone she moved back in with Bernard as his permanent roommate."
Charlie thought for a second, "Permanent? So they're like toge-"
"No." Santa interrupted. "She's just not going to be looking for her own place now. She is gonna live there until, I guess, she or Bernard starts a relationship with someone."
Charlie nodded, "yeah, so if Bernard got married she'd have to leave since it was his house first."
Santa nodded, "And if she left because of the same thing she can't kick him out since it was his home all along. But," Santa chuckled and pointed to Carol, "She thinks those two will end up liking each other."
Charlie half smiled, "I don't really know that Trish girl that well, but it's kinda hard to see Bernard liking, in that way, her or anyone. And I'm not trying to be rude to Bernard either."
Santa nodded, "Yeah, Bernard's more of a worker not a lover."
"Cupid!" Buddy said, his hands in his mouth covered in drool. Carol looked at the boys and walked over to them, taking Buddy away from Charlie, "I think I know what you two are talking about, and you have no right to talk about someone's love life." They heard the door open and they saw Bernard and Trish reappear without the bags. Carol leaned in and whispered, "Leave that up to Cupid. Right Buddy?" she asked. The toddler nodded and they walked back over to Lora and Neil.
Lucy walked over to Trish, "I don't remember seeing you last time I was here. And you said before you were new here."
Trish nodded, "Yeah I showed up in a few days before October. I work in the Blueprints room and I'm Bernard's roommate."
"What do you mean you showed up?" Lucy asked. Lora interrupted, "Lucy, don't be rude." Lora told her, "Sorry Trish." She said to her. Trish nodded, "its fine. I don't mind telling. I was Jack Frost's elf before he was defrosted, then he let me go and a few years later I came here." she explained, shortening the original version.
Lucy nodded, "Did you know Jack Frost froze my parents and I was the one who defrosted him on Christmas Eve?" she asked. Trish laughed, "No, I didn't. When Jack came home he didn't really tell me how he was defrosted, just told me I was free to go and I left."
Lucy nodded, "You live with Bernard?" she asked, causing Bernard to look over at the two girls. Trish nodded, "Yup, we're roomies!"
Trish thought for a moment, "Hey, how about I take you to get some yummy chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate in honor you coming to the pole?" She asked. Lucy's face brightened and she ran over to her mother, "Can I go with Trish, mom? Please?!" she asked.
Lora looked at Trish, "Um, have her back before dinner time, alright?" she asked. Trish nodded and she and Lucy walked out the door.
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Later that day
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Trish and Lucy had become instant friends, both laughing about silly jokes and how stupid some kids could be because of boys or celebrities. Trish found it funny she was connecting to an eleven year old, but she pushed it aside and they continued talking about whatever their minds fell to.
"What do you think you'll get for Christmas, Lucy?" Trish asked as they walked a little farther away from the village.
Lucy shrugged, "I've been asking my parents for a cell phone. I've wanted one and Charlie got one when he was twelve and I turn twelve a month after Christmas, so it's only fair."
"Did you ask Santa for anything?"
"Uncle Scott? Yeah, I've sent him a latter asking him to talk my parents into it. It's the only thing on my list. I hope he's talked to them about it." Lucy explained.
Trish nodded and, subconsciously, Trish pulled at her ears and then dug her hands into her coat pocket. "What do you want, Trish?" Lucy asked.
Trish raised an eyebrow, "Me? I'm an elf; I don't think I can ask Santa for something for Christmas."
"But the elves should get something for Christmas. Uncle Scott told me that he gets a three month break after Christmas and so do the elves and then in April they all start back on preparing. Don't the elves get presents too?"
Trish nodded, "We can buy presents for each other, but I don't think Santa comes to each of our houses and gives us presents. We could have made our own presents and then Santa just delivers them."
Lucy nodded, slipping the take-out cup of Hot Chocolate she ordered at the last Cocoa place they stopped at, "Who do you think will buy you a present?"
Trish shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I'm living with Bernard but I don't think he'd get me a present and I don't know that many people that well for them to get me something."
"Did you get him one?"
Trish nodded, "I didn't get him one, I made him one. I drew him a picture."
Lucy's face brightened, "Oh, that's so nice! My mom's always saying how homemade gifts mean more because they're from the heart!"
Trish grinned, "Ha, thanks. I only drew the picture though because Bernard is a hard-to-figure-out kind of guy. I can't really think of what he'd like as a gift. Maybe next Christmas I'll know what to get him. But this year he's stuck with my drawing."
"You're an elf that works in the Blueprints room, right? So that means you're a great drawer! I'm sure he'll love you're picture!" Lucy said.
Trish nodded, "Yeah, and maybe he'll hang it up because he doesn't have any pictures hanging on his walls. It's so plain." she laughed.
Trish turned stopped and realized she was straying too far from the factory, "Oh, we better turn around. It's almost six and I have a pretty good feeling that's right before dinner time, as your mother put it. Let's go."
Lucy sighed, "oh, alright." and they turned around and walked back.
"Is there anything you want for Christmas though, Trish? If you didn't ask Uncle Scott for anything." Lucy asked. Trish pulled at her ears again, "Well…I kinda gave my hat away to these elves who were building a snowman, so I need a hat but I just haven't had the time to get one. So, yeah a nice hat would work as a present." she explained.
Lucy nodded and then challenged Trish to a race back to Santa's office, Trish happily taking Lucy up on the offer. Lucy threw her cup away and they ran in the snow back to the factory.
They were completely out of breath once they got to the second floor of the factory and to the door of Santa's office/living room area. Trish opened the doors for Lucy and they walked inside, still trying to catch their breaths.
"You guys run all the way here?" Santa asked from the couch. Trish grinned, "Could you tell?"
Lucy plopped down on the couch next to her mother and Trish backed away to the door, "Well, since you're family's here Santa," She paused for another breath, "I'll leave you now. Nice meeting all of you." and she left.
Lucy watched Trish leave and then saw Bernard walk in from the opposite direction from where Trish left. He walked over to Santa and whispered something to him, causing Santa to stand up, "Excuse us a moment. Their's a problem in wrapping. I'll be right back."
"Oh, mind if I come along dad?" Charlie asked. Santa shook his head, "Naw, come on, Sport." and Charlie followed them to the door.
Lucy quickly stood up and ran over to Bernard before he walked out behind Santa and Charlie, "Bernard, wait!" she called.
Bernard stopped, a slightly anxious look on his face, "Yes, Lucy?" he asked. Lucy stood extra close to him and pointed for him to bend down to her height. He did.
She covered her mouth and his ear and whispered to him, "Trish would like a nice hat for a Christmas present, just so you know." And then she turned and walked back to the couch. Bernard gave her a quizzical look before turning and walking out of the room.
I completely forgot about a Christmas gift for Trish. He thought, before pushing it aside and turning down a hallway to the wrapping room.
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Christmas Eve
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It was eleven twenty Christmas eve, and Trish had snuck away from the factory to finish wrapping Bernard's gift.
She had framed the picture she drew for him and wrapped it in a green paper and used a red ribbon with gold trimming and tied a corner. She wrote a small note on the cover:
For Bernard. Merry Christmas and thank you so much for letting me be your roommate. You should know you're one of my closest friends, Bernard. Sincerely, Trish.
She walked out of her room and down the hall and back to the door to Bernard's bedroom. She knew she didn't need to knock; Bernard was at the factory helping load Santa's magic bag with the presents.
She quietly opened the door and stepped inside. The room was still as plain since the last time she was in there. She walked up to his bed and placed the present on his bed and then quickly left the room. She ran to get her coat and scarf and left the house to return to the factory.
She walked into the factory and saw all the elves putting their finishing touches on the last of the presents and cart by cart carried to Santa's magical bag in the sleigh.
Trish ran up the stairs, making sure not to get into anyone's way and into Santa's office. Even though Santa was busy talking to either Bernard or Curtis on his cell phone, everyone was sitting around the coffee table with an ice cream cake sitting in the middle and a candle that looked like the number "3" on it that was lit. They were singing happy birthday to Buddy.
Trish smiled and sat next to Lucy, who motioned her over to sit with her. Carol helped Buddy blow out his candle and everyone clapped, cutting the cake and passing it around.
"It's so cool how Buddy gets birthday presents Christmas Eve and Christmas presents Christmas day." Lucy said, taking her cake from Carol.
Carol shook her head, "Actually, Scott and I decided we'd have cake and everything on his birthday, but he won't open any of his presents until Christmas day. So they'll be mixed in with each other." she explained.
Santa finally hung up his cell phone and made his way over to the couch. He kissed Buddy on the top of his head and took a freshly cut piece of cake, "Happy Birthday, son."
Charlie finished up his cake quickly, "Hey, be careful dad. Don't fill up on cake when you have a world full of cookies and milk waiting for you."
Santa laughed, "Please, one piece of cake won't cause me to lose my filling of milk and cookies tonight."
They all finished the cake and walked out of the room, following Santa to the stables where the reindeer and sleigh was waiting for him. Charlie suited up, putting on his heavy navy green jacket and black ski cap, stuffing his gloves in his coat pocket, just in case. Bernard appeared outside the entrance of the stables holding Santa's red coat, hat and leather gloves.
He handed the coat first to Santa, then gloves and lastly the hat. They made it to the sleigh and Santa hoped in, Charlie getting in on the other side. Santa kissed Carol goodbye and then gave Buddy a kiss, while Charlie hugged his mom and Neil then lastly Lucy.
"Do you have the list, sir?" Bernard asked. Santa nodded, pointing to the list hooked to the inside of the sleigh.
"Alright." he said before stepping aside. "Be safe, Scott. I love you." Carol, like every Christmas Eve, told him smiling. He smiled back, "I always am. I love you two, too." He turned to Charlie, who was strapped into the seat and smiling out of excited, "Ready?" Santa asked him.
"Charlie nodded, "Ready dad."
"Let's go!" Santa said before snapping the reigns and the reindeer flew out of the stables and out of the pole.
All the elves and everyone ran after them to watch, and once the sleigh was out of sight, they all cheered and danced, happy that it was twelve o'clock and Santa was off to deliver the presents to the nice children.
Trish and Lucy hugged and jumped, both caught up in excitement from that night.
Bernard leaned up against the stable wall, arms crossed and grinning proudly. As the crowd decreased to everyone moving from group to group to talk, he saw her. Trish smiling happily and hugging Lucy, them jumping in circles with their arms clutching each other at the elbow.
He didn't know it, but his grin turned into a smile that actually showed his teeth, and it stayed planted on him until Trish's eyes caught his and her face sank from the excitement to a blank, shocked face. He quickly averted his eyes and looked over at the other elves. Slowly, the toothless grin came back to his face.
Trish walked up to him.
"Merry Christmas!" She shouted slightly over the crowd. Bernard nodded, "Merry Christmas."
"Why aren't you jumping and celebrating?" she asked. Bernard shrugged, "Never really found it that necessary." He glanced behind her at Lucy, "You and Lucy have become great friends, haven't you?"
Trish looked behind her and then back at Bernard, showing her happiness, "Yeah. I mean, their might be a one thousand four hundred and ninety-nine year old age difference but I don't let that get in my way. We really hit it off."
Bernard nodded and started to walk away, "Where ya going?" Trish called. Bernard turned around, "Home. It's been a long day and I don't ever stay after for the big Christmas party the elves have. Good night Trish and see you tomorrow." he said, waving to her and disappearing into the crowd.
Trish stood there for a moment, another blank look across her face and then a cold chill before Lucy ran up to her and hugged her again, snapping her out of her daze, and then Trish returned to her excitement.
Bernard was half way home and he could still hear all the excitement that was happening in the factory.
He knew that they always had one of the elves DJ-ing the Christmas party until two. Which is why Santa had his home and office sound proof, so the noise wouldn't disturb Mrs. Claus and Buddy and their guests when they wanted to sleep and the elves were still celebrating, but the only people Bernard could think of that wouldn't stay up was Buddy, only because he was three and tired.
A few days before Trish had set up a few outdoor fairy lights in the bushes outside Bernard's house and they lit up, flashing, making the house light up. He opened the door, not surprised it was unlocked, since Trish hardly ever remembered to lock the door.
The Christmas tree lights were on too, and the candles for Santa's Village were lit too. He hung up his jacket and scarf, and took a moment to stare at the sparkling tree. He and Trish really did do a good job on the decorating.
He made his way to his room, but when he opened the door he was surprised to see the green wrapped gift on his dark red comforter.
He walked up to it and picked it up, reading the note in his head and smiling, "That can't be right. She must be closer to Judy or Abby then me." he said half heartedly.
He pulled off the wrapping, being careful not to rip the note and pulled out a picture frame.
The picture in the frame was him. A hand drawn picture of him. It was black and white, and he was working in his recliner in the living room. You could see the fireplace on the right side of it, but it slowly faded out of the picture, as did the rest of the shadows and lines that weren't of Bernard and his chair. In the upper left hand corner it said "Bernard at Work" and in the bottom right hand corner under the faded fireplace it said "By Trish"
He half smiled, touching the glassed that separated his figures from the paper. He walked over to his closet and grabbed a red sparkling bag that was sitting on the shelf by the door and ran out of his room into the living room.
He placed the red bag with the green thin paper inside of it on the coffee table and Bernard started digging through the Christmas boxes that were set up in the corner behind the tree. He pulled out a hammer and ones of the nails Trish had used to hang up the reefs and walked over to the middle of the room, hammer and nail in one hand and the picture in the other.
Finally he picked a spot. He walked behind his recliner and the small table next to it and placed the picture on the small table and started hammering the nail into the wall at an angle. He placed the hammer down and hung up the picture, making sure it was perfectly straight.
Now when she comes home she'll see I opened it and hung it up. He smiled, taking another look at the picture.
He walked around and grabbed the red bag and placed it next to the tree, facing the doorway so when Trish came home she'd see the present also.
He took the tag that was on the bag's handle and opened it up so anyone could see it said "To Trish, From Bernard." on it.
He then stood up and went into his room for a long deserved sleep.
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An hour later
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Trish slowly walked into the house. She had drunk her weight in hot chocolate and yummy foods that were at the party. She believed she'd never be hungry again until next Christmas. She hung her jacket and scarf on the hook next to Bernard's and when she turned around to look at the living room the light brown frame on the wall caught her eye.
She smiled, her left hand clutching her right arm's elbow, He opened it.
She was about to walk right past the tree until the rainbow colored fairy lights lit up the red sparkly bag on the floor and Trish stopped.
Meanwhile, Bernard heard the front door open and close and he instantly sat up in his bed. His hat was on his nightstand, and instead of a matching pajama set, he was wearing a white tank top and gray, loose fitting sweat pants.
He heard footsteps out in the living room and he got up from his bed. He slowly and quietly opened his bedroom door and walked quietly down the hall to the living room. He finally felt like a child on Christmas Eve when they heard Santa down in their living room, and how they'd be extra quiet sneaking downstairs to see him, scared that if they made a noise he'd disappear. He leaned on the edge of the wall, behind the recliner and next to his picture.
Sitting on the floor, staring at a lavender ski cap with a green and red zigzags going around it, was Trish. She stared at the hat, and didn't notice Bernard at all. He placed his hands deep in his pants pocket and wondered what the blank look on her face meant.
Finally he decided to speak up,
"I love you're drawing."
Trish blinked and looked over at Bernard. She looked back down at the hat and then back at Bernard, a smile on her face, "Thank you."
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To be continued…
A/N: did you like it? yeahh...i kinda went against the law of age in this chapter....i wrote before that it was 3 years after the 3rd movie, and if you read online like i did, in the 3rd movie it was 3 years after the second one, and in the second one Charlie was (most likely) in his first year of high school and in the 3rd movie he was (most likely) in his senior year of high school. So right now in this chapter he should have been in his (probably) 3rd year of college....hehe...but i ignored that and forgot about that fact. and i couldnt change it cuz i just realized that now as I'm publishing this. ^^; haha so sorry about that. just ignore it. lol okay, so after this the Bernard and Trish romance BEGINS (you mean it hasnt started?) haha. their might be some moments in past chapter but I plan on giving them more moments ;) haha oh and i dont think i'll be able to update every 2 days like i planned :( but I'll try to update as soon as i can! oh, and on a side note, any of ya'll read the book "The Lovely Bones"? Cause i just finished it and i cant wait for teh movie to come out!! haha I'm excited about that :D and the trailer for the movie has been playing a million billion times on all the stations I watch. so i'm even more excited XD haha....anyways.... review/alart/fave/all that jazz tootles! ~~~Taylor