Ella made a beeline for her room after she got home from the courthouse with Charlie, Laura, and Neil. She slammed the door, changed into her PJs, grabbed her Pooh Bear doll, buried herself under the covers, and cried. I'm never going to see my Daddy again. She thought. It's not fair! All because Mommy and Neil don't believe that he's Santa. Ella continued crying until she fell asleep. She could also hear Charlie crying in his room. A few hours later, Laura walked to Ella's room to check on her. She carried a tray that had a plate of her favorite homemade meal and dessert: grilled cheese, tomato soup with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese, and two scoops of double fudge chocolate ice cream.
Laura set the tray on her daughter's desk and walked over to her bed. She sat down and rubbed Ella's back.
"Ella?"
She didn't answer her mother.
"Honey, come on out from under there. We know you're upset that you won't see your father, sweetheart," Laura continued. "I'm sorry. It's just only going to be for a little while." The little girl still didn't answer. "Your supper and dessert is on the desk when you are ready to eat. We can talk when you come out as well." Laura got up and opened the door. Neil was waiting for her outside.
"Any luck?" Neil asked when Laura came out of the room. She put a finger to her mouth and shook her head. Laura asked her husband if he tried talking to Charlie. Neil shook his head. Charlie wouldn't answer him either. Neil told Laura that all they could do is to let the children have time to cool down. The two walked down the stairs to the living room.
Meanwhile, Ella got out of bed after she heard her stomach growling. She walked slowly to her desk and sat down to eat her dinner. She took a few bites of her sandwich, then dipped it in her soup. She finished her sandwiches in about 10 minutes. While taking a few spoonfuls of her ice cream, Ella thought of something that she wished that she could do for her father. Even though he wouldn't like it, Ella decided that she could run away to her father's house. She grabbed her backpack from the back of her desk chair and put it on her bed, then walked over to her closet to grab some clothes and two toys. Ella was so busy trying to pack her bag, she didn't hear a knock on her door.
"Ella?"
"Go away!" she answered.
"El, it's only me." It was Charlie. "May I come in?"
Ella walked over to her door and opened it to let her brother in. Charlie's mouth dropped open when he saw what his sister was up to.
"Ella, what are you doing?" he asked. "You're not trying to run away, are you?"
"Yes, I am and you can't stop me, Charlie!" Ella whispered as she folded her clothes and put them in her backpack. "I'm going to Daddy's house."
"But, Ella, if you run away to Dad's house, then he'll be in trouble."
"I don't care, Charlie!" Ella retorted while trying to fight back tears. "I miss him and I want to see him right now."
"You will."
"How do you know?" Ella asked.
"Because Thanksgiving is coming," Charlie answered as he put his hands on his sister's shoulders. "Remember what Bernard said? Dad will be going back to the North Pole to fulfill his duties as Santa after that." Ella realized that she forgot what the Head Elf told her father when they were at the workshop. Her face started to light up, but frowned again.
"But Thanksgiving is a few days away. How can we still convince Dad that he's Santa?"
Charlie looked at Ella's snowglobe sitting on her dresser. "I have an idea. What if we call Dad on Thanksgiving while Mom and Neil are not looking, wish him a Happy Thanksgiving and tell him that we wish we could celebrate with him. Then, we can bring our snowglobes down to the table before we eat."
"Come on, Charlie. What's the point in that?" Ella interrupted.
"Let me finish. If Dad comes to see us, then we can still convince him that he's Santa."
"Do you think this will work?" Ella asked.
Her brother nodded. "I know it will work. Trust me, Ella."
"I trust you, Charlie," the little girl said. She gave her brother a big hug.
On Thanksgiving morning, the Calvin children placed a call to their father, who sounded happy to hear from them. The children told their father that they wish that he could come see them. Scott sadly said that he also wished that he could see them, too, but he knows that he can't. The children said goodbye and hung up the phone. Thinking that their plan didn't work, Charlie and Ella both exchanged worried looks saying, What do we do now?
That night, Scott decided that he was going to take a walk to look at the Christmas lights. A few blocks later, he stopped at Laura and Neil's house and looked in the window to see his children having dinner. He thought about what his children said over the phone and walked over to the house and rang the door bell. Neil and Ella answered the door.
"Hey, Neil, Ella Bella," Scott greeted. He picked Ella up and gave her a quick kiss before putting her down.
"Scott. You're not supposed to be here." Neil warned him.
"Don't make me beat you up, Neil," Scott threatened as he put his hands over his daughter's ears.
"Oh, would Santa really beat someone up?"
"I'm this close."
"So, you still believe you're Santa?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Charlie questioned. "Of course you are, Dad. How can you say that? Think of all those kids."
"The only kids I'm thinkin' about are you and Ella, Sport," Scott replied.
"Daddy, we're fine," Ella countered. "You can't let them down. They all believe in you!"
"Ella, listen," said Neil.
"You listen!" Ella countered. "You think you know who he is, Neil? You don't!"
"Ella. Honey, listen," Laura tried to help her husband. "You and Charlie are confused."
Ella looked at her mother. "We know exactly who he is, Mommy."
"Ella, he's not Santa!" Neil said sternly.
"He is too, Santa!" Ella argued. "We went to the North Pole together. Charlie and I saw it. The elves are real old even though they look like us. Bernard called me "Ella Bella" and Charlie "Sport" 'cause he knew everything." Ella turned to her father. "Right, Daddy? Remember!" She tossed her snowglobe into Scott's hands after Charlie gave it to her.
Scott looked in the snowglobe and saw it turn into the North Pole. Realizing his true fate, Scott smiled at his children, who ran over to give him a hug.
"Thank you, kids," Scott said. "Thank you."
"We love you, Dad," his children replied. Scott looked up at Neil and Laura. "Could you guys leave us alone for a minute? I mean, so I can say goodbye to them properly?"
"You saw! You saw my ball come to life," Ella spoke up after her mother and stepfather walked to another room.
"You bet I did," Scott replied. "Well, kids, I guess I better go."
"I'll get my stuff." Ella began to go up the stairs.
"Wait for me, Ella!" Charlie went after her.
"Well, wait, kids. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Scott stopped them. "I think it's a much better idea if you just stayed here with your mom."
"We wanna be with you, Daddy."
"Boy, I love hearing you say that," Scott chuckled.
"You mean Charlie and I can go?" asked Ella.
"Boy, this bird is dry," the Calvin clan heard a familiar voice. "Haven't you people heard about basting?"
"Bernard!" the children cried happily.
"Hiya, Sport. Ella Bella," Bernard greeted as he ruffled Charlie's hair.
"Bernard, can we go? Please, can we go, Bernard?" Ella and Charlie begged.
"It's okay with me," the Head Elf agreed. At that moment, Scott, Charlie, Ella, and Bernard magically disappeared to the North Pole.
