HALT! This is the second part of a triple update! If you haven't read the previous chapter, go back and do so!
That being said, on with the chapter!
~ First Christmas ~
Guys.
Guys, guess what.
I, Jack Frost, despite my long history of pain and suffering, of isolation and loneliness, of various other pairs of negative nouns that mean roughly the same thing, have officially—
Won.
At.
Life.
And how did I do this, you may ask? Well, I'll gladly tell you! Tonight is Christmas Eve, and rather than spending it sitting alone in a random snowy forest somewhere like I used to, I'm in none other than Santa's sleigh, helping the man himself deliver presents! And I even got my own official Santa hat too!
That's right. Be jealous.
Okay, so in all serious, earlier today, I kind of begged North to let me come with him on his route tonight. I had been helping with wrapping some of the last remaining presents when the idea suddenly occurred to me, and I all but ran straight up to North to ask him. It was honestly kind of an embarrassing display that I'll probably be teased about later on, but...I don't care. It worked, and that's good enough for me!
Admittedly, I haven't actually been able to ride in the sleigh again since coming back from my Guardian ceremony, and let me say this: it's so much more enjoyable when you're not being attacked by mini Nightmares, frantically rushing around trying to collect thousands of teeth, or dead tired after defeating the Nightmare King himself.
In a word, the sleigh is awesome. It's just like North always says! Everyone loves the sleigh.
(Except maybe Bunny. Pretty sure he's still scared of it.)
Anyway, most of the trip just consists of us flying around and talking, then stopping at houses and me waiting while North drops off the gifts inside. However, now, we've gotten to a certain little town in Pennsylvania that I know and love, where both of us are entirely sure that two certain little believers will be awake, eagerly awaiting North's arrival.
Sure enough, when North and I both enter the Bennett household, both Jamie and Sophie excitedly jump up to greet us.
"Hey, North, hey, Jack!" Jamie says brightly, waving to both of us.
"Hey, Jamie!" I reply with a smile as North returns his wave.
"Santa!" Sophie exclaims, beaming. "And Jackie!"
I laugh slightly and pick her up to give her a hug. "Hey, Soph!" I greet in return. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" she replies, hugging me back.
"Yes, Merry Christmas, indeed!" North laughs with a nod and a smile. "How have you two been? Enjoying holiday?"
"Uh huh!" Sophie answers, bobbing her head excitedly. "Christmas fun!"
North gives a loud laugh once again. "That is good!" he tells them. "Now, we can't stay long...still lots of presents left to deliver! But first..." He reaches into the sack slung over his shoulder. "Here are yours!"
To the kids' delight, North begins carefully positioning several colorfully-wrapped packages underneath the glittering Christmas tree, as well as fitting a few smaller gifts into their stockings over the fireplace. Once he's done, he turns back to them and gives a wink and a knowing smile. "Remember, no opening any of these until morning, got it?"
"Got it!" they answer simultaneously, despite still practically bouncing with excitement.
I smirk slightly. "I, however," I cut in, stepping forward. "Have a gift for you both that I'd like you to open now, okay?"
At their hasty agreement, I smile and pull out a small present wrapped in blue, frosted paper, then hand it to them. Upon opening it, they see that my gift to them is a crystal-clear ornament carved from ice of my own creation that I've ensured will never melt or even shatter. It's in the intricate shape of a snowflake, and in the center of one side, a "J" for Jamie is engraved, as is an "S" for Sophie on the other side. As both of their faces light up at the side of it, I can't help but let my smile broaden.
"Pretty..." Sophie breathes, eyes wide in awe.
"It really is..." Jamie agrees. He looks up at me. "Did you make this...?"
I nod, grinning slightly. "It's carved by my own hand," I reply. "Merry Christmas, you two."
Almost immediately, Sophie runs forward to hug me while Jamie quickly picks out a spot on the tree for the ornament. Once it's safely hanging on a branch towards the very front, he too comes up and hugs me.
"Merry Christmas, Jack!" he says happily as his sister quickly nods in agreement.
...God, I love these kids. They really know how to warm my ice block of a heart.
Speaking of heartwarming, Jamie soon breaks the hug to go retrieve something from the couch on which he had been sitting before. First, he gives North his traditional milk and cookies, then he turns towards me.
"And...here's some cookies for you!" he says, thrusting a little bag in my direction. "And a card we made!" He gives me the homemade card as well, which is a folded piece of blue construction covered with glitter glue, crayon drawings of snowflakes, Christmas trees, and even a few of me, all tied together with a message reading, "Merry Christmas, Jack!" followed by messy signatures from both Jamie and Sophie.
Yep. There goes my heart. It's just...a puddle now. It has completely melted.
Many more "thank you"s and "Merry Christmas"s are exchanged after that...but soon, it comes time for North and I to get going once again. After some final hugs, we depart, heading back up to the sleigh on the roof, and allowing Sandy's dreamsand to slip inside to sprinkle softly on the kids' eyes.
This has been amazing.
As I sit back down in the sleigh, North turns to face me with a wry smile on his face and a small gift bag in his hand. "You know," he says to me. "I was going to wait until tomorrow to give you this...but I'll let you open it now."
...oh my God I'm getting a Christmas present from Santa Claus.
Once he hands me the bag, I attempt a slight smirk to hide my childish excitement. "Aren't I on the naughty list?" I ask, chuckling slightly. "What is this, coal?"
North merely laughs and shakes his head. "Naughty List or no, family always gets presents," he assures me. "Open it!"
Without further ado, I comply and open the bag. I reach inside and pull out...a tiny, silver globe flecked with a few softly glowing blue lights.
My eyes widen. I whisper, "Is...is this...?"
North nods and smiles. "Your own Globe of Belief," he confirms. "Is to keep track of only your believers...you will be gaining plenty more in no time at all, I know it!"
...if possible, my heart melts even further.
"I...God, thank you so much North..." I breathe, unable to keep the wide smile off of my face any longer. "This...this really means a lot..."
He merely gives me another smile and replies, "Merry Christmas, Jack."
A very merry Christmas, indeed.
One more chapter to go in this update!