December 24th: Christmas Eve
20 Years later
"Kira!" Bernard called and I beamed up at him. His dark eyes had softened at the sight of me and I felt my face burst into a smile.
"Bernard!" I called back. My stutter had all but vanished, with the occasional word or two here or there if I were particularly nervous, but most of the time it was smooth sailing.
Our house hadn't changed, still the enormous mansion of the head elf, seeing as Bernard still had the same position. He was crossing the entryway, the door swinging shut behind him as he strode towards me, the stress of work fading away from his face with every step.
Our wedding had been wonderful. A valentines day wedding which the cupids insisted on planning and paying for, despite Bernard's protests. They set up the entire cupid palace so that everything was just right. We had the wedding at night, and sky was clear so every single star could be seen. The cupids made my dress and Bernard's suit, and even set up the dinner. The ceremony was short, but the reception lasted almost three days. My dress was made out of silk, or something a lot like it. The cupids called it petal silk, a new fabric they had been working on, and though it shimmered a deep blue in certain light, it glowed under the stars. I had been given a bouquet of Moon Lilies and Ice roses, my two favorite types of flowers, and when I threw the bouquet Melody caught it, running up to Quinton and leaping in his arms.
Bernard danced with me for almost every song, except five, when I danced with my sisters, brothers and mother.
I couldn't even remember what I said for my vows, probably stuttering and stammering all the way, but no one really cared. Bernard pretended to be grumpy during the ceremony, but when the 'I do's came around he couldn't keep the smile, or the blush off his face.
When he reached me he wrapped an arm around my waist and dipped me into a low bow, so far my hair brushed against the ground, and he planted a kiss on my lips. When he broke away he touched his forehead to mine, smiling slowly.
"I missed you." He said as he kissed me again and I wrapped my arms around his neck. It was a routine of ours, and I never got bored of it.
"I missed you more." I said. He let me up out of the bow and kissed me again.
"I missed you most." He teased when there was a shrill squeak from the banister above the stairs.
"Daddy's home!" Called the little girl, at the top. Her messy brown hair stuck out wildly from her head and her bright turquoise eyes gleamed. She climbed on top of the banister, her face gleaming with excitement as she started to slide down the railing and Bernard scowled.
"Rita Thortae you get down from there this instant!" he demanded, but she wasn't listening, speeding down the banister while she giggled excitedly.
"Daddy!" squealed two other voices in unison. Bernard turned behind him only to be tackled by two flying children, both laughing loudly. Leon, Rita and Kairi, our three triplets.
Leon, the only boy of the three kids, had straight black hair like me, with dark brown eyes like Bernard, though I could tell he took more of my traits. He always stuck close behind Rita or Kairi whenever they went anywhere, and even closer to Bernard or me whenever we went out. He would hide and cower and I was sure he was starting to develop a stutter, just like I did, but once he got used to the people around him he got much more comfortable.
Kairi had a little bit of both Bernard and me, though she looked more like me. Her hair was messy and unruly, but a raven black, and her eyes had brown along the edges but the middle was a bright blue. Kairi tried to stay out of trouble, but would jump in to stop a fight if she could. Most of the time she stuck by her sister, keeping her out of trouble, but she liked to protect Leon too, and worked as a bridge between the two siblings.
Rita was the most unruly. With wild hair like Bernard's but eyes identical to mine, she was constantly bringing in animals from outside, once even managing to lead a wild polar bear into the house, feeding and petting it like a lion tamer. Somehow we never could get rid of the polar bear, because it kept coming back home with Rita, and so we kept him, naming him Fluff. Rita constantly got into fights, because the amount of magic she got made her extremely emotional, but most of the time we managed to keep her calm.
Rita joined the pile on the floor as she reached the bottom of the banister and I giggled grabbing Kairi and pulling her off Bernard.
"Alright, you ghouls, let your father up." I sighed, putting Kairi down and picking up Rita next. Bernard lifted Leon into the air then tossed him, suspending him in mid air with magic. Leon giggled squirming excitedly as Rita and Kairi both took to the air as well, propelled by their own magic.
"Be careful, you Ghouls!" he laughed as they floated towards the ceiling.
The triplets were odd, because they took nearly two months longer to develop than most elf children, but it wasn't uncommon in cases with multiple kids. Because of their slightly hindered growth they managed to be born just before midnight on October 31st, Halloween. They all loved the idea that they had just managed to make it out on Halloween night and constantly teased that they were secretly ghouls in disguise, thus Bernard and I had taken to calling them 'the ghouls'.
"Merry Christmas Eve, Daddy!" Kairi said, landing back on the ground next to her father. She hugged his leg and he laughed shaking his head.
"Christmas? What's this Christmas you speak of?" he teased. Rita and Leon landed, Rita hanging off of Bernard's arm and Leon grabbing my hand.
"Daddy, you know what Christmas is!" Rita whined and he shook his head.
"No? What is it?"
"It's where we get to stay up all night!" Kairi beamed, "And we all get to eat good dinner and cake and get presents from Santa!" she squealed and Bernard shook his head, looking up at me.
"What are they talking about, Kira?" he continued, pretending to be baffled about the idea.
"I haven't the slightest idea!" I exclaimed, grabbing Leon by the arms and picking him up.
"Mommy! Not you too!" Leon said, looking terrified at the thought. Bernard and I started to walk towards the sitting room. On Christmas night, we pretended not to have a Christmas tree surprising everyone when we went in there by the enormous amount of presents and the beautiful glowing tree. The kids weren't old enough to realize we were just teasing, so they continued to whine about what we did on Christmas in the past as Bernard walked, lifting up Rita and Kairi with his legs as I threw open the doors to the living room.
All three children screamed with delight, immediately bursting into the room excitedly and gaping at the Christmas tree and their stuffed stockings.
"You were teasing us!" Rita exclaimed accusingly. All three children stared at us with shock and Bernard laughed.
"Yes. Otherwise it would have ruined the surprise!" he said and they all grinned happily.
"Thank you Mommy and Daddy!" they said in unison before they went to set out on the presents.
"Ah ah ah!" I frowned. "Is it Christmas yet?" I asked and they slumped.
"No." they sighed and Bernard frowned, giving me a look.
"I think Santa will forgive them if they open just one present each." He said, unable to take the pouting of the three. I sighed and looked between both Bernard and our kids and rolled my eyes.
"Alright but just one each, and you all have to want to open the big one for anyone to open it." I said and they all frowned.
"What big one?" Leon asked and I raised my eyebrows.
"The big one for all three of you, of course." I smirked. I pointed over to the corner and suddenly an enormous box materialized, as if appearing out of thin air and all three of them squealed.
"The Big One! The Big One!" all of them took off towards the box when Bernard leaned over to me.
"What's in the big one?" he asked and I looked at him smiling.
"You'll see." I whispered, kissing him on the cheek. "I have a surprise for you, too." I said and pulled out a box. Inside was another card, and a brand new scarf, and Bernard smiled at the sight.
"This is magnificent. Thank you." He whispered and I blushed.
"The scarf will always keep you warm, and if you ever get lost, it will lead you back home. You can also put it on over your eyes and say someone's name and it'll show you where they are." I said, touching it lightly. Bernard smiled and kissed my cheek.
"I love it." He whispered and pulled out a small blue velvet box. "I got you a surprise too." He said and I took the box from him, opening it gently. Inside was a silver locket, with the words 'I trust you' embedded into the front. I opened the locket and smiled. Our song started to chime from the tiny silver ornament and snow started falling from above me, gently floating down on my hair.
"It's amazing." I whispered, looking up to try and find the source of the snow.
"I remembered you loved the snow and I thought you'd like it to snow wherever you went. Whenever you open the locket, it will start snowing above you." I kissed Bernard on the mouth and smiled.
"There's something else Bernard." I whispered and he wrapped me in his arms, swaying back and forth to the music.
"What is it?" he whispered and I smiled.
"I'm pregnant again." I said and a smile lit up his face.
"How many this time?" he asked and I kissed him again.
"I don't know. I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow. I just found out I cant use magic today." I said and he grinned, kissing my cheek before pulling away and frowning a little.
"You aren't joking are you?" he whispered and I smile shaking my head. "That's wonderful." He said and I beamed.
"I thought so too. Bernard I'm so happy." I said and the children squealed with joy from the corner.
"Mommy Daddy come look at this!" they called and Bernard looked over, frowning.
"What is that?" he snorted and I grabbed his hand laughing. Ahead of us sat a silver doorway. At first glance it looked as though it didn't lead to anywhere, but after staring at it a moment longer, the space in the doorway shimmered, like glass refracting the sunlight. Though the kids weren't visible in the doorway we could hear their shrill squeals of delight as they ran through the other side of the doorway.
"I got them a magic house. It has an endless maze of tunnels, clearings, streams, and adventures they can interact with if they want. They'll never get lost or be in danger though, it's part of the magic." I promised and Bernard eyed it warily.
"Are you sure it's safe?" he asked, eyeing the structure.
"Positive. Santa assured me himself." I smiled and Bernard laughed.
"Okay. I trust you."
"Mommy?" Kairi asked emerging from the doorway and I turned to look at her.
"Yes, my little Ghoul?" I smiled and she smiled back holding out a small, poorly wrapped box.
"Merry Christmas!" she beamed and I gasped, taking the box from her.
"Oh, Kairi! Did you do this all by yourself?" I stared and she smiled, nodding.
"And I didn't use magic!" she said proudly and the other two stepped behind her, both holding similarly misshaped boxes.
"We wanted to give you a present!" Rita smiled, adding her box to Kairi's.
"Because you're the best Mommy in the world!" Leon said, placing his box on the top. Bernard smiled down at the three. Kissing me on the cheek while he added another box to my pile of gifts.
"Merry Christmas, Kira." He whispered and I beamed.
"I-I- Thank you." I said, planting a kiss on all three triplets foreheads and giving Bernard a long kiss on the lips.
"Can you open them?" Rita asked, squirming impatiently.
"Oh, I think we have to wait for Santa." I teased and suddenly there was a loud rambunctious laugh from behind the fireplace. We all turned, eyes wide as Scott stepped out of our large fireplace.
"I think it'd be fine if you opened them now." He winked and the kids screamed with delight.
"Santa's here!" they shouted running up to him and grabbing hold of his hands, pulling on them as though they couldn't believe he was real.
"Woah there you little Ghouls." He smiled and Bernard smiled.
"I thought you were going to the Caribbean." He said, pulling one of the kids away to shake Santa's hand and give him a hug.
"Well, I had to stop by here before you put the little monsters to bed." He teased and the three giggled excitedly. "I have something for you all." He said pulling out his bright red bag. "For Rita, a cute little kitty, complete with care products," Santa smiled, pulling the kitten out of the bag and handing it over to Rita, Bernard scowled but I smiled, laughing a little as Rita gently took the kitten from Santa, stroking it. It was cream coloured, with a light brown splotch going across it's back. "But if you want her, you have to take care of her." Santa warned and Rita grinned nodding.
"I will." She promised.
"She always does." I sighed grabbing Bernard's hand. He emptied out the rest of the kitten care, before turning to Leon.
"For Leon, a brand new guitar." Santa said pulling out a beautiful black guitar with silver strings. Leon's face lit up with shock and surprise as he took the beautiful guitar from Santa, strumming it so a note rang through the room.
"How did you know?" he whispered staring at Santa with awe and wonder.
"I have my ways." He whispered back, adding, "And here are some books on how to play it." Santa smiled, pulling out some music notebooks and putting them down beside Leon.
"Thank you, Santa." Leon said, hugging the guitar tightly.
"You're welcome." He replied before turning to Kairi.
"I don't need anything Santa." Kairi said pleasantly and Santa smiled.
"I know you don't, but I'm going to give you a special present anyways." He said and reached, not into the red bag, but into his back pocket, pulling out five tickets.
"These are tickets to any amusement park you want to go to. They will work anywhere, and you can go with your whole family, and they'll never run out of uses." Santa smiled and Kairi's face lit up and her eyes filled with tears.
"R-Really?" she sobbed. Santa drew back with surprise but I smiled, shaking my head.
"She's just happy, Santa. Don't worry." I said and Scott visibly relaxed, ruffling Kairi's hair and putting the tickets in her hand.
"Really." He said and Kairi smiled through her tears, but went back into sobs again.
"Thanks Calvin." Bernard said, eyes softening at his children. "You made their Christmas, coming here." He said and Santa laughed.
"That's not all." He smiled, "I was going to offer you two something." He said and Bernard frowned.
"Scott-"
"Trust me. You'll like this." He said as Leon suddenly started strumming the guitar, and a few short chords rang through the hall. "I was wondering if you and Kira wanted to go on a sleigh ride." He smiled and we both gaped. It was the highest honor for elves to be invited over the sleigh, almost like a commoner being asked to marry royalty.
"Scott that's a bit much. I mean have you thought this over?" Bernard frowned and Santa nodded.
"I'm positive. Since you and Kira came to the workshop, everything has been better, and when you two got together-" he whistled then gave us a meaningful look, "Let's just say you both caused me a lot more trouble when you were apart." Bernard blushed and I grimaced.
"But what about the kids?" I sighed, looking at our precious children. They were barely twenty years old, not nearly old enough to be by themselves.
"That's the other part of this present." Santa smiled. "I brought Melody, Quinton, the twins and Kalen and Galen." I grinned, grabbing Bernard's hand excitedly.
"Really?" I gaped and Santa nodded.
"Once you get back from the sleigh ride, you all can spend some time with each other and they'll watch your little monsters while you're gone" He said laughing a little and I beamed up at Bernard.
"Can we Bernard?" he smiled back and nodded, looking up at Santa.
"Well, how do we get on the roof?" he asked and Santa smirked, pointing at the fireplace. Bernard's smile quickly fell away.
"Scott." He growled but Santa had already started to slink up the fireplace and I grabbed his hand. It was an odd sensation. As though my entire body lost all feeling and I slid through the chimney. I felt Bernard's hand grab hold of mine and he hissed with annoyance. At the same time I was painfully aware of Melody suddenly appearing in my living room. Laughing as the triplets ran up to her, shrieking with delight. Melody's bulging belly stretched her dress as she hugged all the kids and I smiled.
Quinton and her finally were finally able to have a kid of their own, though he was still on the way, so I hadn't seen my sister for almost three months because of her pregnancy. It would be great to catch up with her when we got back. I thought when suddenly everything I saw disappeared and suddenly we were standing on the roof, perfectly safe. Bernard grimaced shaking his head and shaking his hands.
"That felt weird." He groaned and Santa laughed.
"There's one other catch for your Christmas present." He smiled and Bernard froze, glaring at Santa.
"What sort of catch? You aren't going to drop us off somewhere are you?" he scowled and Santa shook his head, pointing across the roof. We turned and I gasped, Bernard staring in awe.
There was a two reindeer sleigh, just for the two of us, and Santa climbed into his own sleigh, throwing the bag into the back.
"I won't be going with you. That sleigh will take you all around the world. It works just like my own, but the only difference is that you don't have to deliver presents." He smiled, "and you get to keep it." He added and Bernard shook his head.
"Santa, this is too much." He said and I gaped at it.
"It really is wonderful, but we couldn't possibly-"
"Listen." He smiled, "I'm not going to make you take it. I don't want to do that to you, but I don't know how else to show my gratitude. This is just something I had to do for you." He said and Bernard scowled for a moment before sighing.
"Rita is going to explode when she learns we have two reindeer." He lamented and Santa's face grew even rosier.
"Enjoy yourselves you two!" he called before climbing back into his sleigh and disappearing into the night.
"What do you think, Kira?" Bernard smiled, pulling me into a tight hug. "Should we go for a sleigh ride?" he said, kissing the top of my head. I nodded and Bernard climbed into the sleigh ahead of me, holding out a hand.
"Are you coming, my beautiful wife?" he whispered and I smiled, two happy tears rolling down my face and crystalizing in the cold as I grabbed his hand and he hoisted me onto the sleigh.
I looked up at Bernard as he clutched to the reins and frowned, trying to figure out how to work the sleigh. I rolled my eyes and looked over the side, seeing the names of the two reindeer.
"On Ashtoreth and Alistair!" I called and the reindeer reared, leaping off the roof and Bernard jolted backwards, eyes wide with surprise. After a moment the clouds faded away and Bernard repositioned himself, wrapping an arm around me and smiling. I blushed, shy at first but leaned onto him. I had found my confidence when I married Bernard, though I still was a little shy.
"I love you." I whispered and Bernard's face turned red as he stared at me.
"I love you more." He said and I smiled leaning on his shoulder.
"I love you most." I finished and he leaned down, kissing me passionately.
"I don't think that's possible." He smirked and I put a finger over his lips.
"Listen." I whispered and he cocked his head frowning.
"What is it?" he growled, looking around protectively.
"It's the sound of you being wrong." I teased and his expression softened as he shook his head.
"That's ridiculous." He scoffed, but a smile was playing on his lips and I giggled.
"Can't you hear it? It's saying 'Bernard you're such a liar'." I whispered in his ear and he laughed.
"Oh is that a challenge for me to prove it?" he teased and I couldn't help but grin.
"It's a challenge for you to try." I teased bumping his nose and his lips crashed into mine as the stars flew past our heads. Far below us the world was frozen in time, gentle snow stuck in the air as it fell to the ground, but we didn't take any notice.
The only thing that mattered at that moment in time was each other and our children.
That was all we needed.
And we were happy.
((Merry Christmas Everyone! I thought it would be a nice christmas present to you all if I wrote an epiloge, so here it is. I hope everyone has a great year, and happy holidays. I was originally going to re-write this, but I didn't have the time, so I hope this will do. I deliberately ended with 25 chapters, because christmas is on the 25th, and I thought it would be fun if I pretended it was over until Christmas when I released this final chapter. I thank you all so much for everything, and hope you enjoy. :D MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT!))