Chapter 2: Friends, New and Old

"We're at Elfcon 4! All clear" Santa sighed as he looked down at his Number Two Elf, Curtis, who had almost exposed them to a passing plane because of his music. "Curtis, what do you say we get you a nice pair of headphones for Christmas" Bernard looked at Curtis sternly as Santa left. "Curtis, you're nine - hundred years old. Grow up" "Bernard" Bernard followed Santa after giving Curtis a 'you - are - so - annoying' look.

As they walked across the town square Curtis tried desperately to defend himself. "You know I wasn't breaking any rules. According to the Santa Handbook . . ." "The Handbook. Curtis, do you go pee - pee with that thing" Curtis chose to ignore Bernard's comment. "It says that elves are encouraged to listen to music. It helps them be more creative and, well, more alert. LOOK OUT" All three of them ducked, as a reindeer flew over their heads, only to crash not too far away.

"Whoa. IS HE ALRIGHT" Some of the elves ran over to examine the fallen creature, then shouted back. "HE'S OKAY, SANTA" Santa directed his next series of questions at Bernard and Curtis. "Wow. Was that Blitzen? It looked like Prancer. Who was that" Curtis smiled and looked up at him. "That was Chet." "Chet" "One of our reindeer - in - training." Santa seemed satisfied. "Please tell me it's early in his training."

That's when Santa noticed Judy running over to him, probably about their guest. "Judy! Is or guest settled in" Judy, pausing to take a breath, nodded. "Yes, Santa. They're very happy with the arraignments. Abbie and I are giving them the tour now, so we might see you in the workshop." Bernard and Curtis happened to eavesdrop on their conversation. "What guest? Who're you talking about?" "Let's just say it's an old friend of mine."

Bernard, Santa, and Curtis were making their daily inspections when they saw Abbie and Judy walking over leading a human girl around by her hands. The girl was wearing a silver short-sleeved turtleneck with a black skirt with pleats. She also wore a pair of black ankle - high boots with white socks. On one side of her head she'd braided a long, skinny braid into her strawberry blonde hair with three strands of silver tinsel in it. Bernard thought she looked a little familiar, but Curtis had never seen her before in his life.

"Santa, how'd a human get here? Isn't this a security breach or something" Santa was about to answer him when the three girls reached them. The girl gave Santa a huge hug. "Long time, no see, Mr. C." Santa laughed at the sound of his old nickname. "Feel free to call me Santa. I'm sure you didn't forget Bernard." Laughing, the girl turned to Bernard. "Of course I didn't. I only hope he didn't forget me." Suddenly, a memory of eight years ago sprang into his head.

Flashback:

Bernard stared down at the two children that had suddenly appeared behind Santa. "Who're they" Santa/Scott looked down at them. "This is my son Charlie." He pointed to the boy right by his leg. He had somewhat messy brown hair and brown eyes. "Hiya,sport." Charlie was amazed. "Did ya hear that, Dad? He called me sport, just like you do." Bernard smiled; he was always glad to make a kid happy.

"And this is his friend, Erin." The little girl shyly stepped forward, her eyes cast down to the floor. Her hair was reddish - blonde and in two ponytails on either side of her head. He bent down to where he was at eyelevel with her. "Hi Erin. My name's Bernard." She tilted her head up, and Bernard noticed her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue - green.

"Hi, Bernard." She smiled, showing braces with red and green bands. He laughed a bit. "At least someone likes to show their Christmas spirit." This made Erin laugh. "Why aren't you at home in bed" "The doctor told my mom to take a vacation by herself, so I got to stay with Charlie. I have an older brother, too, but he's at Justin's instead."

End Flashback:

Bernard couldn't believe his eyes. "Erin" She giggled a little. "Nice to see you to, Bernard." "Ahem. I'm still here." Curtis was getting a little annoyed because they were ignoring him. "Oh, Erin, this is our number two elf, Curtis." "Hi." She grinned at him. "Hi, Curtis." "Alright, I'll take over the tour now. Girls, back to work." "But Santa" "Don't 'But Santa' me, you two." "Aww." The two girls trudged off after saying bye to Erin.

As the four of them walked around, a little elfess in a baker's hat walked up to them. "Do you want a cookie, Santa" "Do I want a cookie? Yes. What's fresh" She handed him a sugar cookie. "Mmmm. Sweet just like you." She smiled a sweet smile and was about to leave when Santa stopped her. "Kim, I want you to meet Erin." "Hi, Erin. Do you want a cookie" "Sure. Thanks, Kim." And she accepted the chocolate - chip cookie before Kim left.

They followed Santa around until he stopped near a balcony on the second floor. "Hey, Joey" An elf wearing a green hat with a red pom - pom on the end leaned over the railing. "How's that static - free tinsel coming" The elf smirked, and then called behind his back"Hey guys! Santa wants to see the new tinsel." Suddenly, tons of red and silver tinsel rained down on them!

Most of it landed on either the floor or Santa, but Bernard's head was covered as well. Erin and Curtis, fortunately, were standing a bit farther away than them, so no tinsel landed on them. As all the elves burst into laughter, Santa began speaking to the tinsel dumpers"You know, I cold come up there and settle this the hard way" He paused for dramatic effect before adding"Or, we could go outside and play some football." This caused the elves to cheer like crazy. Anxious to see the North Pole version of the NFL, Erin ran after Santa, unaware that Bernard and Curtis were lagging behind.

Erin was so exited! She was going to witness something no other human had ever seen - Santa playing football with his elves. As Bernard and Curtis caught up to her on the stairs, she couldn't help but giggle a bit. "What" "You looked so ridiculous with your head covered in tinsel. You still have some in your hair, by the way." Blushing a bit (which was really weird for him. He never blushed.), he began to pick tinsel out of his hair while Erin continued giggling.

The quarterback began to shout their play while Santa tried to seem intimidating. Erin noticed that the lines came from one of her favorite carols. "SEVEN SWANS - A -SWIMMING! SIX GEESE - A - LAYING" "FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!" "HUTT" This was a brilliant play. All but a few elves ganged up on Santa, preventing him from tackling the ones with the football.

Once the one named Joey scored a touchdown, they all dog pilled Santa. All the spectators, including Erin, cheered. Then, as all the other elves went back to work she, Bernard, and Curtis walked over. "You guys aren't elves, you're wizards! No matter how many times you call that play, I never see it coming" Then Bernard broke in. "Santa, we need to talk."