Warnings: Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.
Disclaimer: I claim no copyright ownership to Rise of the Guardians or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.
Chapter Nine
"Okay got it, push!"
With a war cry, Alice gave a forceful tug and the tree was able to slip through the threshold of the door with only minor branch casualties. She wasn't too torn up about the ones that broke off because one of the small branches managed to slice through her glove and scratch her.
Her boots were nearly soaking from the melted ice that littered her front porch and as she directed them which way to go, the boots squeaked on the wooden floors and left glimmering wet footprints in their wake.
She paused when they reached the living room, surprised that she actually felt hot in the nearly freezing weather, and pointed towards the empty space she cleared for the tree. "Right here is fine. Thanks, Derek."
The two of them lifted the fresh tree right side up and put it into place before the aforementioned Derek began to untie the bungees he wrapped around it. He glanced up at the tree top as he tossed the bungees aside for the time being and helped readjust the branches. Little pine needles sprinkled onto the carpet and Alice loathed thinking about vacuuming them up. She'd definitely be finding them around the house for the next two months.
"Pretty risky buying an eight foot tree," Derek commented as he took a step back to admire the placement.
Alice shrugged with a half grin. "Good thing we've got nine foot ceilings."
He grinned back but pointed his gloved hand towards the upper half of the tree. "You won't have much room for a topper unless you get a small star or something."
Alice brushed herself off and rubbed her gloves together before shrugging. "We'll figure it out. The important thing is that we actually have a tree to decorate."
"And only a week and a half before Christmas too," Derek smirked and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. He admired the tree again. "I'm surprised you were able to find one. They're usually sold out by now."
"I guess it was just meant to be," she said proudly.
Derek was a co-worker she almost always shared a shift with. He was a part-time teller and part-time trainer for the bank and he helped train her on their computer systems, not that they were all that complicated. He was a nice guy who constantly brought in hot chocolate and shared some with whoever happened to be working that day. Which was very lucky for Alice, though she had a feeling he was really turning her into a hot cocoa addict. He put nutmeg and vanilla powder on top which she had no idea she liked until he convinced her to try it.
He rubbed his jaw absently before heading towards the front door with his bungee cords in hand. He had a five o'clock shadow and midnight black hair that shimmered blue in natural light. Alice had a feeling he was a couple of years older than her but she couldn't really tell and she didn't feel comfortable enough to ask. He had big green eyes that reminded her of a friend's back home except his were slightly more washed out, though the familiar twinkle was still present within them.
He was a nice guy, as she said before. He was a nice guy and he was also quite nice to look at.
"Thanks for letting me use your truck," she told him appreciatively as they made their way down the driveway she attempted to shovel earlier that morning. Technically she hadn't used the truck herself since he was the one who drove it but he smiled at her anyway as he tossed the bungees into the bed of the truck. It was shiny and blue and looked fairly new.
"No problem. As entertaining as it would be to watch you try and stuff an eight foot tree inside that tiny little car, I figured I'd spare you. 'Tis the season and all."
Alice laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha," she deadpanned.
He leaned against the passenger door with his arms crossed and a hint of a smirk was ghosting his lips.
"Well," he exhaled and it sounded like it could either be construed as the start of a goodbye speech or an offer to begin a new conversation. And Alice couldn't tell which direction he wanted it go. She figured he was probably leaving it up to her to decide which most people who knew her should know that's never a good idea.
"So thanks again," she said, nerves coiling in her stomach almost painfully. It came out louder than she intended and she had to forcefully refrain herself from wincing at how awkward she'd become around guys. She didn't need to be reminded of her social ineptness thank you very much. "I literally couldn't have done it without you. Well, I could've… I could've maybe strapped it to the top of my car but I'm not very good at securing stuff like that so it probably would've ruined the tree and the tree costs more than my car so…" she trailed off lamely. It was a bit of an exaggeration but not too much of a stretch.
Derek's smirk widened at her ramblings. "Well I guess it's only fair since the tree is slightly bigger than your car."
She narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed outright.
"Okay, I guess that's my queue to leave," he announced, not unkindly. He tapped the side of his truck like almost all truck drivers seemed to do before he started making his way around to the driver's side. He gave her a friendly wink. "I'll see you later, Alice."
She stepped back and waved as he revved the engine. He waved back before he pulled out onto the road and made his way down the neighborhood. She watched him go with her arms crossed over her chest and a wistful smile on her face.
Later that evening Aunt Liza and Pippa were over to help decorate the tree and put lights and garland around the house while Uncle Kevin worked late. Alice lit a few apple-pie scented candles which both made her hungry and also made her wish she knew how to bake something that wasn't already premade and frozen.
Max was more interested in Alice's old game boy (that somehow still worked) than he was in decorating, but he helped wrap the lights around the tree with as much enthusiasm as a seven year old boy could muster when dealing with glittery lights. His nose was still a little runny but he'd suffered through the cold for nine days now so it'd about ran its course.
Aunt Liza brought over some gingerbread cookies that everyone snacked on while they stuck to their specific areas of the house they felt the need to make festive. Pippa had some tinsel wrapped around her neck like a scarf as she went between taping lights to the fireplace and taping lights to Alice who kept throwing more tinsel at her.
"How did you manage to get this tree over here?" Aunt Liza asked as she finished hanging ornaments. "It's almost bigger than ours."
"This guy Derek helped me pick it up and bring it over," Alice said, pulling some stockings out of an old storage box that she planned on writing hers and Max's names on. One was velvet red and had an intricate stitching of Santa and his reindeer while the other was blue and sparkled white with a snowman.
Aunt Liza made a surprised sound in the back of her throat, interest piqued.
"Who's Derek?" Pippa asked loudly.
Alice flicked more tinsel at the girl. "A friend from work."
"And is this a… 'special' kind of friend from work?" Aunt Liza asked without even trying to be suave or elusive. She temporarily retired from tree-decorating to dip some of her cookies in milk as she watched Alice with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.
Alice made an exasperated noise. "This isn't an interrogation, is it?" she practically whined. "He is just a friend from work who happened to own a truck that I found to be useful in this particular endeavor. Nothing more."
"Mhm," Aunt Liza hummed disbelievingly. Alice pursed her lips. Her mother had never hassled her about boys. It just wasn't in the nature of their relationship. Sure, she would tease her mercilessly whenever Alice had a boy over but that was about as far as it would go. It seemed to be Aunt Liza's duty as an aunt to be that person who embarrassed her around the clock because she knew Alice didn't have anyone else in her life to do it.
"When was the last time you had a boyfriend?" Aunt Liza asked. Alice gave her a withering look. The woman raised her hands defensively. "No ulterior motive. Just asking. As a meager third party observer."
Alice shook her head with a tiny smile. She shrugged a shoulder feebly and went back to sifting through the box of decorations. "I don't know. Two years I guess, the first half of senior year. We weren't together very long," she left it at that.
Aunt Liza sensed she didn't want to expand on it so she didn't push the subject. "You ever thought about going out with someone? For coffee or something?"
The question was innocent enough but it made Alice narrow her eyes a little at her aunt. She made her way over to the counter the woman was leaning against and filled her own glass of milk to eat her cookies with.
After swallowing the first bite, Alice asked, "How would I have time to do that? When I'm not working I'm with Max. When I'm not with Max, I'm working."
Aunt Liza wiped the crumbs off her shirt. "It may not seem like it now, but one day you'll be able to make time," the older woman tilted her head at Alice and she could sense a serious talk coming.
Alice was grateful that Pippa and Max were otherwise occupied to where they couldn't hear it.
"I know that you're still trying to figure stuff out. With Max and all," Aunt Liza said sincerely. "It'll take time, but you also have to take your own personal needs into consideration. You need a private life, Alice," her tone weighed heavy on the air and Alice glanced down at the cookie in her hand absently as she listened. "It's not healthy to only dwell on Max's happiness. I'm glad that you're focused on it, believe me I am and it deserves to be a priority, but if you don't have your own happiness too, life is going to seem very dark and before you know it it'll just fly by and you'll feel like you missed out on all the big things."
Alice bit the inside of her cheek. "What if Max is my happiness?" she asked quietly. "What if he's all I need?"
Aunt Liza smiled a genuine, tender smile. "For a while he will be. But you'll soon find out that you have room in your heart for one more person that can make you as equally happy, just in a different way."
Alice pondered her aunt's words, understanding them to be true. It made sense when it was explained to her in that way, but when she thought about love and what it encompassed, it seemed like this faraway thing she'd never be able to reach.
Love was a complicated emotion she wasn't sure she understood anyway. She'd never been in love with someone before and she didn't know what it meant or felt like to love someone unconditionally. She loved her parents and she loved Max and everyone in her family, but that was a different kind of love. It was a love that she didn't have to give herself to. It was a love that was as easy as breathing in the air on a warm summer day. It wasn't something she had to question or rely on or even try to think about because it was just there. It was a part of her.
She didn't know how to love someone any differently. She didn't understand what it meant to trust someone with her heart, if that's really what love entailed. She couldn't imagine putting that much faith into another human being. Maybe that was the cynic in her talking, or the fact that she had such a small group of people in her own little circle of trust.
Alice knew comparing past relationships was no way to look for one in the future that would hopefully last. Not that she necessarily had any bad experiences, but most of them had felt strained and false. A means to an end. Whenever she dated someone, she mostly felt like she did it because it was something everyone else did so naturally she had to do it, too. Not that she lacked intimacy or anything because she was human. It felt nice to have someone to talk to in the middle of the night or someone who could wrap their arms around her when she was feeling sad.
But that's all it was. Nice. There were no deep feelings. It didn't go past face value. Sure, she maybe had a crush on a guy because he gave her a smile on the first day of English or because he didn't say much at all and it made him dark and mysterious. Alice figured those relationships you had in high school were important because they prepared you for the real thing. And in most cases, they taught you what not to do. But she was scared of actually trying the real thing out. Part of her didn't want to become dependent on someone else. Not while she already had a kid that was dependent on her.
Besides, she was still a kid herself, wasn't she? She was still learning how to live on her own and do her own taxes and attend parent-teacher conferences. She was still trying to grasp the complexity of her emotions and how she felt inside her own skin.
How could she love someone if she didn't even know how to love herself?
"You have plenty of time," her aunt's voice disentangled her thoughts. Alice blinked out of her stupor, eyes glazed over, and glanced at the woman who gave her a relaxed smile. "You're only nineteen after all. But it's just something to think about it."
Alice smiled a little in silent thanks. She doubted she'd actually think about it at all.
"So," Aunt Liza's cunning smirk returned and Alice felt wary again. "What kind of things do you like about a boy?" she asked, ever the gossiping teenager trapped in a thirty-seven year old woman's body. "What's your type?" she took a bite of a cookie with a cheesy grin.
Alice snickered. "Tall, dark and handsome," she answered with a grin.
"And is Mister Derek tall, dark or handsome?"
She rolled her eyes. She couldn't help but love that woman. "A bit of all three," she said. He kind of was.
After all the decorations were hung and organized, Aunt Liza left in a hurry to make dinner for Uncle Kevin as he was on his way home and though Pippa begged to stay a little longer, Aunt Liza commanded her daughter home to help with the meal much to the girl's displeasure. Max had been too engrossed in his game of Scooby Doo to really be too upset over their departure.
"So I was thinking we could decorate these stockings with our names and stuff," said Alice. She arranged some old glitter and material glue that she found tucked away in a box full of old coloring books and markers that she wasn't sure were her old things or Max's, and she secretly hoped the glue hadn't dried out yet. She put the two stockings on display as Max walked up to the counter curiously. "Pick one."
Max immediately snatched up the blue stocking and Alice wasn't even a little surprised. "Okay so I have some silver glue, gold glue and all different kinds of glitters. Just sprinkle the glitter on the glue before it dries and go nuts."
"Okay!"
The two of them sat in silence for a good twenty minutes decorating their stockings. Max clearly already had a theme established for his as he added some silver glue and white glitter to make more snow underneath the snowman. Held in the snowman's stick-arm was another stick that was modeled into the shape of a question mark – Max's doing. He drew a few snowflakes wherever he could find empty spaces before writing his name in capital letters at the top of the stocking.
Alice had her name written in the best cursive she could muster and peppered some gold glitter over the glue. She added a single snowflake in the upper corner of her stocking because it only seemed fitting and sprinkled a pinch of blue glitter to accent it.
"All done?"
When Max nodded and admired his handiwork, the two draped their stockings over the sink and shook out the excess glitter before hanging them over the fireplace to dry. They took a step back and admired the view. Alice had a proud smile on her face and Max seemed satisfied only for a moment before he began the search for his game boy again.
Alice rested her hands on her hips. She liked seeing their names next to each other on the stockings. It made it feel even homier, like it belonged to them and only them. "That'll do," she said quietly with a content smile.
That weekend Max was able to get back outside and play. The weather had dropped a few degrees as Burgess welcomed the end of the year. Alice made sure he dressed in about three layers of clothes to be safe. She would have been happy with a fourth layer but Max scowled at her when she tried coaxing another jacket on him, claiming that he looked like a marshmallow. But he was bundled up well, so much so that whenever he came inside he started to sweat. Alice felt satisfied.
Grocery stores and clothing shops were playing all different kinds of Christmas music. Fortune and good cheer seemed to spread like wildfire around the town and as the holiday neared, more and more people started to crowd the streets of every shopping center to cross items off their Christmas lists.
Max was upset that he hadn't seen Jack in a while. Alice had to constantly reassure him that this was the winter spirit's season which meant snow was in high demand and he was a busy guy. Obviously Jack had made some sort of an impact on the town because the weatherman was always going on about how there was less snow than they expected for this year. It was still going to be a white Christmas but they weren't going to be up to their ears in snow which was an oddity for Burgess apparently. Alice idly wondered if Jack had superiors to report to that were berating him for depriving the rest of the world of their snow storms and blizzards or if he was his own boss and made his own decisions on which city to hit next.
Either way, it seemed like Jack was making up for lost time as the news occasionally reported random blizzards in other states leaving their residents to shovel five inches of snow out of their driveways and closing the schools until the roads were safe for travel. The kids in Burgess seemed sour that they still had class. The town had practically set a Guinness world record for snow days.
Alice watched from the kitchen as Max and Pippa had a snowball fight in their backyard. The house smelled chocolate-sweet and fruity as Alice made her mother's famous white chocolate cranberry blondies. She about had the recipe mastered and was finally able to make them on her own without digging through her books for the step-by-step directions.
She quickly rinsed her hands off in the sink before sticking the pan in the oven for the blondies to bake. She set a timer and untied her apron to drape it over the stool across from her before putting away the ingredients and wiping down the counters.
There was a shriek of laughter outside followed by loud chatter and Alice quickly looked up just in time to see Jack pelting Max and Pippa with glowing blue snowballs. Max quickly wiped his face clean of the chunks of snow before he started chasing after Jack who taunted him, telling him he better run faster if he watched to catch him. Alice grabbed her coat off the hanger near the backdoor and threw it on as she watched Pippa sneak up behind the winter spirit who was too distracted by Max to notice her.
Pippa thrust her palm forward that was full of snow and stuffed the white fluff into Jack's hoodie. Jack quickly jerked around, snow flinging out of his hood as he spun, and Pippa became his new target. She laughed, tossing her head back, as Jack glared at her before his scowl transformed into an evil smirk and Pippa's laughter was cut short. Her eyes widened before she yelped as Jack reached forward to grab her and a new chase was on.
Alice pulled open the backdoor, huffing as she tried pushing it closed behind her and her breath fogged up her glasses. It hadn't been nearly as cold before Jack showed up.
"Any last words, Pip?" Jack threatened playfully. Pippa's back was to Alice but she could've sworn the girl tensed up as a ball of snow formed in the palm of Jack's open hand. He grinned at Pippa's nervousness. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"
Pippa quickly shook her head and made to run a different way. Jack didn't even need to take aim. He pulled his arm back and threw the snowball at her. She slipped in the snow as she tried getting away and she fell at the very last second. The snowball whizzed by her head, just barely grazing her fuzzy hat, and Alice didn't even have the chance to blink before her face was pelted with something very cold and very wet.
There was a new wave of laughter as Alice stood frozen in her spot, shocked still as she asked herself if that really just happened. Chunks of snow splattered against her coat as they trailed down her face and she quickly wiped the remaining snow off, feeling her nose and cheeks turn numb. Her glasses were crooked on her nose, one side partially hanging off her ear and Jack snorted in the back of his throat before clutching his stomach as he cackled at the look on her face.
Alice slowly pulled her glasses off and sat them on the nearest table. Even though the world around her became very fuzzy and distorted, she was ninety percent sure her eyes were set on Jack. With narrowed eyes, she bent down to grab a handful of ice and mushed it together to form a perfectly round snowball. The laughter stopped and Max and Pippa ooh'd in anticipation.
"Catch you off guard there, Chaplin?" Jack mocked, not sounding the least bit concerned. Alice found herself grinning inwardly because this winter spirit had certainly never had a real snowball fight until he had one with her.
"You better run," Max warned with glee before Alice broke out into a sprint, aiming for the blue and white blob that waved its arms around in a 'come get me' gesture before dodging out of her way. She turned to face the direction he took off in and she prepared a quick aim before throwing the snowball with all her might. She heard a satisfying splat as the snow smacked the silver-haired boy in the cheek.
She didn't have to see him very well to know that he was smirking again. "Oh, it's on."
Not a minute later, snowballs were being flung back and forth through the air. Max and Pippa went between cheering on Alice or Jack and joining in the fight as they took sides. It eventually evened out to boys versus girls and Pippa hid behind a column on the porch, firing whenever someone ran past her while Alice threw herself in the thick of it head first because she had nothing to lose.
By the end of it Alice's hands were nearly frozen stiff since she forgot to put her gloves on. She was lying in the snow between Jack and Pippa, breathing heavily and somehow ignoring the cold that was soaking in through her coat and jeans underneath her. Her hair had fallen out of her ponytail ages ago and her wild red curls fell into her face as she slowly sat up. Jack was leaning back against his elbows, looking casually pleased.
"How's that for a snowball fight?" Alice smirked proudly, brushing invisible dirt off her shoulders in victory.
Jack rolled his eyes in a devil-may-care sort of way. "Okay so I'll hand it to you. That was pretty good. I could have beaten you but you'd probably call it cheating."
Alice pointed accusingly at him. "So you admit you can't beat me unless you cheat."
"I didn't say that," he squinted.
Alice narrowed her eyes at him and he stuck his tongue out at her.
"So when did you get back?" Max asked him as he rested on his knees in front of Jack.
Jack sat up a bit and grinned at the boy. "About an hour ago," he said. "I stopped by Jamie's first."
Max looked a little torn that he hadn't been Jack's number one priority but he didn't comment on it.
"Yeah, you've been MIA for a few days," said Alice. She leaned back on her arms. Their knees touched as she bent hers to sit Indian style and tried to ignore how cold she felt, both from the snow she was sitting on and the boy she was sitting next to.
Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Miss me, princess?"
"Deeply."
He laughed. "I had some stuff to do, if you're so curious."
"I saw the havoc you wreaked on New Jersey," Alice said, shaking her head. "Those poor, innocent people."
"You flatter me," he put a hand to his chest in mock sincerity. He thrust his arms behind himself and leaned back to rest his weight on them, mirroring her position, and crossed one of his legs over the other as he relaxed, seemingly comfortable in his element. Alice was momentarily distracted by something slipping out of his hoodie pocket and she perked up a bit. It sparkled in the faint sunlight and Alice squinted at the object's familiarity.
"Is that that time turner thing?" she asked, gesturing towards it. Jack glanced down at his stomach and pushed the little device further inside his pocket and out of sight. "Are you even supposed to have that?" she asked, only half-joking. The curiosity was eating away at her as he never actually ended up telling her what that was all about.
"Wouldn't you like to know," he side-eyed her with a boyish grin.
"What would you do if I said yes?"
"I'd tell you that someone did tell me to not take it," he informed her with a raised eyebrow.
She waited. "And?"
"And I didn't exactly follow those orders," Jack told her, smirk widening a bit as she gave him a bland look. It's not that it was a secret Jack didn't follow the rules, but Alice didn't know if there were higher powers out there that could punish him for doing something he wasn't supposed to.
It was hard for her to imagine him having a life outside of Burgess, though rationality dictated that he had some sort of personal life they didn't know about. Like… Guardian stuff. She didn't know what it was he did in his free time besides create snow storms and invoke happiness in children all across the globe. Which, that in itself sounded like a big task she didn't know how he managed to have time for. It was probably none of her business what Jack did in his spare time. But she still felt wary. What if someone found out what he did when he took her to the Library of Congress? Would he get in trouble for that?
Jack bumped shoulders with her when her face gave away her thoughts. "Don't worry about it," he said to her. Their shoulders continually brushed against one another after that but she wasn't necessarily opposed to the contact. He gave her a winning smile and she smiled back because it was hard not to. If he wasn't worried then she wasn't going to be either.
"So," he announced loudly and Max and Pippa looked at him. "Who's looking forward to Christmas? It's right around the corner," he sang and the two grinned like Cheshire cats.
"Is Santa going to come by?" Max asked. He couldn't suppress how jittery the thought made him.
"Why wouldn't he?" Jack grinned crookedly. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "I heard he's getting the sleigh ready. Do you know how fast that thing is?" Max shook his head with a wonderstruck look on his face. "It's the reason he's able to deliver all the presents on time."
"Jamie told me about how North crashed the sleigh in front of his house!" Pippa said, building up a pile of snow before smacking it down. "He said it sounded like a motorcycle."
"Does it?" Alice raised her eyebrows. Max flicked snow at Pippa because some of the snow from her pile hit him in the head.
"Yeah, it's pretty bad ass," Jack murmured to her, quiet enough to where the kids couldn't hear him, before he smiled in their direction as if he hadn't said a word and she choked back a laugh. He glanced at her and gave her a quick wink, blue eyes glowing with mirth.
"Who's ready for another snowball fight?" Pippa demanded. As it turns out she was making a nice pile of ammunition instead of actually building something in the snow like Alice had thought.
Alice glanced at Jack out of her peripherals and he gave her a knowing look. He then suddenly gripped Alice's arm tight and jerked her upright with him like it was an effortless thing to do. She wobbled slightly and grabbed onto him for support, feeling dizzy at being so suddenly upright.
Jack helped steady her only for a second before he took off with his cold hand wrapped around her wrist and she struggled to keep her footing as she ran after him. "You'll have to catch us first!"
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light.
From now on your troubles will be out of sight…"
Christmas Eve
Lights twinkled blue and pink and red along the branches of the small douglas fir tree. A soft glow emitted from the lit fireplace as the embers burned and crackled on their hearth. Two figures were curled up on the loveseat resting before the flames that warmed them as whispers of Christmas music echoed faintly in the distance of one of the rooms in the house.
Max was tightly wound up in a soft red blanket, mouth open wide and sound asleep, with Alice coiled around him. Her head was perched precariously on her hand that was resting on the arm of the loveseat, head ever so slowly tipping forward as she fell in and out of consciousness. It was close to midnight and the two had tried their hardest to stay awake so they could sneak a peek at 'Nicholas St. North', but the minute they sat down at a quarter 'til eleven they started dosing.
Alice hadn't stayed up past ten thirty in who knows how long. It took a lot out of her to watch and play with Max and she wasn't in the best shape to begin with. You couldn't ask her to run down the block and back without wheezing and gasping for air. She blamed the school system and their ignorance when it came to gym classes. She was only required a gym course her freshman year. The rest were voluntary. Of course she wasn't going to take a class that wasn't mandatory. And now look where she was. Unable to run for more than thirty seconds at a time.
Max was in good shape though and had plenty of energy for the both of them. He was seven years old for crying out loud. So she didn't know what his excuse was. He fell asleep before she did. And he had been so adamant about staying up all night long.
Alice was startled for the third time as her face made its final slip off her hand. She quickly jerked her head up, the sensation of falling making her stomach drop uneasily, and she blinked herself awake. The lights were fuzzy little blobs of color in her vision and she wiped her eyes to chase away the sleep. Wiping a hand down her face, she glanced at Max who was breathing deeply and snoring softly with his face smashed against the arm of the loveseat.
With a tired smile, Alice wiped the white-blonde hair out of the boy's face before her eyes searched for a clock. 11:56pm.
Careful not to wake him, Alice slowly disentangled herself from around him and pulled herself over his sleeping form. She jostled him a bit as she stood but he only stirred for a second before the soft snores continued. She licked her lips and tiptoed out of the living room to her bedroom where she opened her closet door and dug two elegantly wrapped presents out from underneath a pile of clothes.
She silently made her way back into the room following the sounds of Max's snores and she knelt before the Christmas tree to place the presents underneath it. It wasn't that she didn't believe Jack or Jamie when they said Santa existed. It's not that she was skeptical he paid a visit to every house. She wasn't. But just in case if something were to happen and he didn't show up, she wanted to be sure that Max had some gifts to wake up to. He'd be so downcast that he hadn't seen Santa – or 'North' rather – that Alice would just tell him they slept through his arrival.
Besides, there was nothing like a new Xbox and Batman sheets to cheer a kid up on Christmas morning.
After making sure that Max was still out like a light, she ambled into the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water. It was chilly and the flames were dim on the wooden logs in the fireplace. She rubbed her hands along her arms in hopes of warming herself up. She had a pair of fuzzy slippers on and thick pajama pants to match so there wasn't much else she could do.
She leaned against the counter as she sipped idly on her water. Snowflakes were calmly floating in the air outside, seemingly not in a rush to reach the pearly white fluff that coated the ground beneath them. The moon was glowing brightly, illuminating the kitchen with a soft blue glow and Alice reveled in the serenity of the moment before a loud thump caused her to nearly drop the glass in her hand.
She glanced up out of instinct, almost certain that the noise had come from the attic. Or the roof, rather.
It took her a good ten seconds to register what the sound could have been and when she did she almost dropped her glass again.
She quickly sat the half-empty water on the counter, facing Max to see if the sound had woken him at all. It hadn't.
Alice unconsciously turned towards the fireplace. A hint of smoke was pillowing from inside the hearth, signaling that the last remaining flames had burnt out. She could smell the fresh scent of firewood as it filled the house and she waited with baited breath. Tilting her head, she listened carefully for anymore sounds. Besides Max's quiet snores and her heavy breathing, she couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. She furrowed her eyebrows.
I know I heard something, she thought.
She checked the time. It was twelve o'clock on the dot.
"Hm," she cautiously returned to sipping on her water.
She made to finish the rest in a big gulp but some of it accidentally spilled. She quickly wiped her chin and eyed the area around her feet, seeing a few wet spots glimmering in the moonlight. She reached out to grab a towel hanging on one of the cabinets and crouched down to wipe it up before it soaked through her slippers.
As she was beginning to pull herself back up, there was a rustling of fabric a few feet away and the second her head lifted over the counter, she caught sight of a large, burly figure dressed in red with its back to her. She gasped quietly, nearly hitting her forehead on the edge of the counter as she jerked back down into a crouch. She eyed the figure over the edge of the counter with a look of wary disbelief. There was an unmistakable head of snowy white hair spilling out of a fuzzy black hat that rested on top of his head.
Alice stared, wide eyes catching the black fleece along the edges of the cloak he was wearing. His back was firm and taught, more so with muscle than fat, as he rifled through a round, full sack. A red sack.
Her jaw would have dropped if it hadn't already been hanging open. She didn't know what to think. Her mind seemed to have drawn a blank and all she could hear was white noise, like static, as her brain malfunctioned. This was him. It had to be him. Nicholas St. North. The Guardian. Santa Claus.
"I don't believe it," she whispered even though she clearly did. Suddenly, a soft yellow glow emitted from the palm of Santa's—North's—hand and the stack of presents under the tree sparkled and twinkled gold, on display and ready to be grabbed by a child's eager hands. The man—North—stood straight and proud as he admired his own handiwork for a moment before turning to smile at Max who continued to sleep peacefully on the loveseat. Alice caught sight of his round, rosy red cheeks and bushy salt and pepper eyebrows. She gripped the corner of the counter tightly, feeling too many emotions for her body to focus on one.
North turned, looking ready to move on to his next destination, and Alice found herself jumping up and nearly tripping over her own two feet as she did so. She wasn't quite sure why, but she just couldn't let him get away. Not yet.
The clatter of her catching herself on the kitchen counter must have alerted North because he jumped a bit at the sound and quickly turned on his heels. Alice winced as her hip collided with the corner of the counter and a sharp pain stung her side. Her mouth was open in silent pain but it quickly morphed into shock as her eyes carefully met his.
For a good ten seconds the two of them just stood there staring at each other.
Alice's grip on the counter tightened a bit and her shoulders tensed before she subtly rubbed the sore spot on her hip that would no doubt be an ugly bruise in a couple of hours.
"I—Uh…" she stuttered. She felt like a kid who'd just been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Well this is new," said North in a thick Russian accent. Santa was Russian. That was unexpected.
"Hi," she said in a small voice. She carefully made her way around the counter and wiped her hands nervously on her pajamas.
North eyed her from head to toe and she could practically hear him estimating her age in his head. His eyes crinkled as he gazed at her. "Are you a believer?" he asked quietly, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself.
"Um," she fidgeted. "I guess you could say that."
He had an overwhelming presence. His demeanor seemed to command the room and as her gaze continued to meet his, she felt something swell in her chest. It was probably the most cliché thing to ever happen to her but she felt very calm and at ease, like there was a lightness to her that she never felt before, and she had no doubt North was the reason for it. He was the epitome of Christmas and all the joy and happiness that came with it and she was practically being slapped in the face with more joy and happiness than she had in years.
"I have never seen such an old believer before," he squinted at her in something akin to confusion, though his cheeks were just as bubbly and flushed as ever, and she inwardly laughed at his idea of 'old'. "How do you know of me?" he asked her, sounding genuinely curious but she couldn't overlook the underlying hint of suspicion in his tone.
The sack he had with him sparkled and glimmered to life at his feet before vanishing out of thin air in a puff of red smoke and she was momentarily distracted by the empty spot it once occupied. North didn't seem concerned, like it was an ordinary thing that always happened, and she assumed the sack disappeared because he wanted it to. Which was an overwhelming thought all on its own but Alice tried not to dwell on it.
"Um, besides children's stories?" she asked meekly before swallowing her nerves. She never imagined that meeting Santa Claus would leave her starstruck but there was a first time for everything apparently. "Jack," she said, as if that were answer enough.
"Jack?" North's bushy eyebrows furrowed in confusion before his blue eyes nearly ignited in recognition. "Jack Frost?" he clarified and she nodded. He narrowed his eyes before demanding, "What did he do?"
"Oh," she said, startled. She shouldn't have been too surprised. She already assumed that Jack had a reputation for doing things he shouldn't. "Nothing. He didn't do anything. Bad, anyway," she wringed her fingers together. "He kind of… saved my life?" North seemed visibly shocked by that and she quickly shook her head. "It's a long story but the Spark Notes version is I believed in him because he saved my life and in return he's told me all about you guys – The Guardians – and, well, it's kind of hard for me to not believe in you after seeing him with my own eyes."
North appeared to mull over her words before something deeply concerned him. "What is Spark Notes?" he asked.
"It's…" she paused before huffing a laugh through her nose and shaking her head slightly. "It's not important," she said, smiling slightly because she just couldn't help herself. North brushed some imaginary dirt off his coat before resting his massive arms on his hips. "It's just… I can't believe I'm actually getting to meet you. I never thought something like this would ever happen."
"Well the honor is all mine," North declared with a delighted smile. He approached her from where he stood near the tree. The darkness of the house cast shadows across his face but didn't hide the warmth in his eyes. "What is your name? I forget. When children grow up, more come along and there are so many more to memorize," he said apologetically and it blew Alice away that he managed to remember the names of every child he delivered presents to.
"Alice," she said with a crooked smile. "Alice Chaplin."
"Alice," he repeated with an earnest grin. He reached a gigantic hand out to her and she shook it, watching as it swallowed her own hand whole. The sleeve of his coat bunched up a bit and she caught sight of very intricate black ink on his skin. She tried not to stare. "It brings me great pleasure to meet you!"
"Likewise," she smiled in a daze, only to be interrupted by a fitful snore. She jerked her head a bit and caught sight of Max tangled up in his blanket on the loveseat. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind, Mr. North—"
"Just North is fine," he smirked from the corner of his mouth, rustling his white moustache and beard.
"North," she corrected, removing her hand from his. "If you wouldn't mind, there's actually someone who really wants to meet you. It'll only be a quick second."
He tilted his head in agreement and she quickly breezed past him to kneel before Max. She shook him a bit to rouse him out of his sleep and he blinked his eyes up at her blearily after the first few tries.
When his eyes settled on hers, he asked hoarsely, "Did I miss him? Did Santa come?"
Alice gave him a soft smile, stomach coiling with excitement. "Actually, he's right here."
Max seemed confused and not fully awake yet to understand her words. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his fists before Alice slid out of the way and Max was met with a pair of large black boots. He blinked a few times, eyes slowly widening as his gaze trailed upward from the man's toes to his head. When he reached his face, Max's mouth formed a perfect 'o' as North laughed jovially at the boy's reaction.
"Max, this is North," she said with a gleeful smile, gauging the kid's expression that went from dumbstruck to ecstatic as he grinned widely with all teeth. Alice laughed a little under her breath before turning her head to meet North's gaze. "North, this is—"
"Maximilian!" North bellowed, thrusting his arms up. Alice was taken aback only for a moment before she remembered that North knew every kid's name and she relaxed. "How are you, son?"
Max shrunk back in his seat, shyness getting the best of him. "Hi," he said in a small voice. It'd been so long since he'd been called by his full name which probably threw him off.
Alice crooked a grin at North. "I'm guessing you know Max well enough? Or at least, know of him?" she asked.
"But of course! He is one of children on top of Nice list! Has been for many years," North announced with a friendly wink. Alice wasn't at all surprised by that fact, but she felt pride swirling in the pit of her stomach. It meant something completely different coming from North. She gave Max a winning smile and squeezed his shoulder.
Max fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he opened and closed his mouth, as if trying to find the right words to say.
Finally, he managed, "Did you bring any presents?"
Alice had to bite her lip to keep from laughing but North didn't hold back and he hollered another laugh from deep within his belly.
"Of course, of course, take a look!"
Max followed the arm North extended to the bottom of the tree and he gasped in excitement when he saw the twinkling stack of presents, piled high and ready to be torn open. Alice almost had to physically hold him back from pouncing on them. North was visibly entertained by Max's giddiness.
"Well," North clapped his gloved hands together and it sounded like thunder. "I must be off! Many presents to deliver yet and only five hours to go! It was honor to meet you Maximilian," he was able to get an unsteady handshake out of Max who went back to curling into himself with chagrin. Alice snickered with a roll of her eyes before she shook the hand North held out to her. "And you, Alice. It is refreshing to see such an old believer. Maybe there is hope yet," he winked and Alice quirked a half grin.
She stood up and straightened out the wrinkles in her shirt awkwardly. She didn't really know how to see him out. Was he going to disappear up the chimney?
"Thanks again," she said quietly as Max began pawing at the presents under the tree whilst keeping a close eye on North who would raise an eyebrow at him every time he tried to subtly rip open one of the gifts. He quickly stopped once realizing he was caught and a cheeky grin splashed across Max's lips. "For staying to meet him," Alice clarified, shaking her head at the exchange between the two.
"It is no trouble at all," North waved her comment off. She was beginning to get a crick in her neck from tilting her head so high up to look at him. He stepped back towards the chimney and tilted his furry black hat at her in salutation. "Merry Christmas and please," he gestured towards the mound of gifts. "Please enjoy."
And with that, he shimmered a bright white before the glowing light disappeared up the chimney and Alice was left once again with a slacked jaw. She had a feeling she would never get used to magic because one minute he was there and the next he wasn't.
"How am I not dreaming?" she murmured to herself.
She felt a pair of hands grip her pajama pants tightly and she looked down at Max who was gazing up at her with wide, excited eyes. She quickly knelt down next to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"We just met Santa Claus," he said, voice shaky and uneasy with barely concealed enthusiasm.
"We just met Santa Claus," she repeated and the two of them shared a laugh (of disbelief, of joy, of amazement) and fell onto the floor in a mixture of limbs. Max turned his head to face her as they laid there for a second, chuckling every few seconds until the exhilaration was out of their system. She gave him a small smile and he returned it, blue eyes nearly glowing in the lighting of the tree and the look in those eyes spoke volumes. Alice felt a warm tingle in her chest.
Max then sat up and she followed him. "Can I open my presents?" he asked and the hopeful look on her face dared her to say no.
Alice rolled her eyes before nodding. "Okay, go!" she pushed him forward with a laugh and he dove into the gifts, ripping them apart and yelling excitedly every time he saw something he'd been wanting. Christmas morning be damned.
Alice grinned brightly as she watched him. It'd been a long time since she'd seen him that happy. Though, she figured he probably looked a lot like that when he first met Jack.
Alice stood from her seat on the carpet and made to turn and head into the kitchen for some hot cocoa but something caught her eye under the tree and she stopped. She furrowed her eyebrows, squinting a bit as she tried to read something that was written on one of the presents. Max was distracted by the gifts on the other side of the tree so she got on her hands and knees and crawled over to where the mysterious gift was perched underneath a much larger present.
She pushed it out of the way and examined the gift. It was wrapped in simple red paper and on the center of it in sloppy text was written ALICE. Tilting her head in confusion, she picked up the gift. It felt slightly heavy and was rectangular in shape. She sat back and tore the paper off, the spine of a book catching her eye. It was rigid and leather-bound which explained why it was so heavy. She ripped the rest of the paper off and gold, medieval lettering flashed in the light of the Christmas tree.
The Original Folk & Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, it read.
"Huh," she muttered. The cover was deep red with the silhouette of a tree and two small figures, presumably children, surrounding it. The illustration on the cover was texturized she noticed as she ran her fingers across it. She opened the book and it protested against the pressure. Clearly the book had never been opened before. She flipped through the pages, the fresh scent of ink and paper filling her senses.
There was chapter after chapter of folklore and legends of mystical fairy tales. Ominous was the dark cover of the book which, judging by the content she skimmed through, wasn't too far from the truth. Some of the stories seemed rather grim, which was quite fitting and a bit ironic considering the title of the book.
The Brothers Grimm seemed familiar to her, though Alice was almost positive it'd just been a passing fancy in her childhood. Maybe something she came across in a bookstore once or something her parents might have mentioned. It was nothing she knew anything about really besides the fact that the Grimm brothers did exist some time ago and were known for their dark writings and storytellings of children's stories.
Her lips turned downward in idle curiosity as she shrugged. She supposed it could be an interesting read one day.
But she couldn't help but wonder why North of all people would give her such a book.
I got this chapter finished sooner than I expected. Mostly because I couldn't stop writing the chapter which I hope won't confuse people since it sort of does a bit of skipping around. I tried to make it smooth transitions but you know, sometimes it doesn't translate as well on paper (or, Microsoft Word, rather) as it does inside my head so. I apologize for that if it seems rocky.
Also real quick… I hope I didn't build up the anticipation of Christmas too much. I hope you guys didn't think the major plot of this story was going to revolve around Christmas or anything. I only say this because the chapter did take a bit of a time leap. But I mostly wanted to speed it up to Christmas to introduce North (however briefly!) because I love him.
So yes. This is where the story really begins. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am. I have so much planned and I'm so glad to have you guys here to tag along for the ride.
