Christmas Wish
Chapter 3
Kate's mind wasn't on her work. She kept messing it up and was ready to scream. Bridgett held her tongue and let Kate work it out.
Kate kept remembering that little girl. She didn't look like an Elf. Not like she did. Then there was her dad. He didn't look like an Elf either. But he was so handsome, which drew her to him. Her mind was hooked on him.
Just then, Kate's needle snapped and tore a hole in the fabric. "AHHH!"
Bridgett couldn't take it any longer. "What's wrong, Kate? You're not like this."
"Nothing, I'm fine." The one she just messed up went into the trash. She decided to cut out some new pieces. She couldn't screw that up.
~oo0oo~
Rick and Alexis were back in the house with Abagail. "Your 24 hours are almost up," Abagail told them.
"I have questions first." Rick wanted information and wouldn't decide until he had it.
Abagail sat there and waited for his questions. "You can begin anytime."
"First. Every building looks small on the outside, yet they're bordering on huge on the inside. How is that possible?" Rick queried.
"Noticed that, did you?" Abagail was ready for that one. "That is dimensional Elf magic. There is a limit to the amount of space that the inside can be. It allows us to have a small footprint. You will have noticed that there is only the main street with a building on either side.
"For example, as big as the cafeteria is on the inside, there are apartments above it. The theater has apartments above it. The only buildings that don't have apartments above it are this house, the stables, obviously, and the dormitories." Abagail folded her hands on her lap.
"Interesting. Okay, second question. Is this the North Pole?" Rick queried.
Abagail confirmed it. "Yes."
"But there's no snow out there. In fact, the space is nice. Like really nice, the sort of nice you would find only in the Caribbean." Rick didn't understand it.
"We live in a globe. Think of a hollow ball." Abagail demonstrated a ball using her hands. "Everything inside the globe is nice. Everything on the outside is not."
"Three. We've been to the North Pole. There's nothing there but ice and snow." Let's see her explain this one.
"You only think you've been to the North Pole when in reality, you have not. Our footprint is small, and our globe is undetectable," Abagail said.
"Say this globe exists. How do Santa and his sleigh get out of it?" Rick thought he had her now.
"The Reindeer and the sleigh can simply pass through it. What is on the sleigh goes with it, meaning you and the presents. Let me beat you to the next question. You will not notice the cold once you penetrate the globe." Abagail was quite pleased with herself.
"Damn it," Rick swore since, so far, she had an answer to every question, even the ones he hadn't thought of yet. "Answer me this. How can you feed everyone? Given you live in a globe. There has to be what, thousands of Elves living here?"
Abagail rolled her eyes. "Ask me a hard one next time. It's not like we have a slaughterhouse. We use hydroponics. Everything we eat is Vegan. The meat you think you are eating is plant-based. It, like every other building, uses dimension magic."
"Really? Plants?" Rick wasn't sure he could believe her.
"Plants?" Alexis tried to picture that. How could meat be plants?
"That is one thing you will find here. Elves do not lie. Not ever. We tell only the truth even if the truth hurts. Speaking of which, yes, there is a hospital. Accidents do happen, though Elves are naturally healthy. We tend not to get sick.
"Which brings me to one last thing. Should you accept the job, you two will be converted to Elves. You will look the same as you do now, but inside, you will be Elves," Abagail told them both.
"Elves? We'll be Elves?" Rick hadn't really thought of that.
"Elves?" Alexis questioned.
"We'll be Elves," Rick said flatly, not believing her. "We need to talk first." Rick wanted to include Alexis in this decision. It affected her too.
"Of course. I will be in the kitchen." Abagail stood and walked into the kitchen, leaving these two alone.
"Do you understand all that?" Rick asked his daughter.
"I..." Alexis wanted to say yes, but the answer was no. She didn't follow all of what her daddy had asked her. "No." Alexis suddenly looked smaller.
"It's okay, sweetheart." Rick hugged her to him. "Just focus on you being an Elf. That's all you need to worry about."
Alexis smiled at him. She liked the idea that she would be an Elf and her daddy would be Santa. How cool was that?
~oo0oo~
Rick and Alexis entered the kitchen to deliver their answer. "We've talked about it and decided to accept your offer."
"Excellent, I knew you would." How could he possibly resist being Santa?
"You have everything here from your old home that you need. You no longer need to worry about what anyone thinks or says back home. Your old home, the things you had there, the people you knew there. You belong here now. This place is your home.
"You will be changed to an Elf come morning. You will wake up an Elf. You will not feel any different, and you will not look different, but you will be an Elf," Abagail told them.
"Be ready. Tomorrow you start your new job. Building maintenance, the Naughty and Nice list, and all that comes with being Santa. I suggest you spend some time with the Reindeer and let them get used to you. You've made an excellent choice. I will leave you two to discuss what comes next. Oh, starting tomorrow, Alexis needs to go to school, so I suggest you find the school and enroll her." Abagail left them to discuss it.
"School, yay!" Alexis smiled widely just thinking about it. She loved school!
~oo0oo~
They entered the cafeteria. Yes, they had a kitchen, but the cupboards and refrigerator were bare. There wasn't even so much as a bottle of ketchup.
Alexis went first and pointed at what she wanted. She didn't want much, so her tray was light. Now, Alexis walked amongst the tables, looking for someone. Someone in particular.
At last, she saw her. She wasn't alone this time, but that was okay. "Hi, Kate." Alexis set her tray down and sat down. Her tray was a little high for her, but she could manage.
Kate remembered her name. "Alexis! Hello, where's your dad?"
"He's in line." Alexis didn't even look for him. She was sure he would find her. After they ate, they would find the school so Alexis could take classes. She was really looking forward to that.
Rick finally saw his daughter. "There you are!" He sat down next to her. "You're Kate, right?"
"I need to get back to work," Kate told them. She got up and left hurriedly, leaving Bridgett in her wake, who was unsure of what was happening.
Rick was confused. "Was it something I said?"
"Excuse me." Bridgett got up and left. She soon caught up to Kate. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Kate told her.
"He's handsome," Bridgett said.
"I know." Kate kept walking, but she was moving a little faster than before.
"His daughter is cute," Bridgett told her.
"I know," Kate replied just as she reached her station.
"I think he likes you," Bridgett told her and watched for some reaction.
Kate ignored that comment and began working.
"The little girl likes you," Bridgett said.
"I. Know." Kate tried to ignore her and focus on her job.
"What's your problem then? You should have stayed and talked to them." Bridgett didn't get it.
"I'm new here. I don't even have the slightest memory of what came before what I have now," Kate told her, feeling her heart begin to ache.
"So?" Bridgett didn't understand. Bridgett knew her lunch break wasn't over yet so didn't start her work.
"So, I don't need another complication," Kate said bitterly.
Bridgett just shook her head. Then she got an idea and left Kate. She retreated to the cafeteria and searched for the little girl and the man. Finding them, she sat down across from them.
"Her name is Kate," Bridgett told them.
"It doesn't matter," Rick said. "She doesn't like me."
"On the contrary, I think she likes you, but she's afraid. She's new here and has no memory of what came before she came here," Bridgett said.
"My daddy's Santa," Alexis told her, thinking he could help.
"You're the new Santa? Really?" Bridgett was surprised to learn that.
Rick nodded. "I start my duties tomorrow. After this, we need to find the school and enroll Alexis in classes. Maybe I can help," he offered. "I am Santa. Or will be."
Bridgett looked at Rick in a new light. "You're Santa. Maybe you can help. So, she lives in a dormitory and works in the area that puts stuffed animals together."
Alexis piped up with, "Monkey Bunky!"
"That's Alexis' favorite stuffed animal. Stuffed animal station, huh?" Rick thought about that. "I think maybe I can find that."
"Good. Well, I need to get back. Remember, her name is Kate. I'm sorry, but I don't know her last name," Bridgett said.
"It's Beckett. Her full name is Katherine Houghton Beckett," Rick told her. "How did I know that?" Rick didn't understand.
"Beckett, huh? Thanks." Bridgett now knew something she didn't before. Something she could use. She got up and hurried away.
"You're Santa, Daddy." Alexis knew why and she had learned something too. Kate was Kate Beckett.
"I guess. It's just that I thought it wouldn't start until tomorrow," Rick told her. He was apparently wrong. "Are you done? We need to find this school." But Alexis shook her head.
~oo0oo~
Getting Alexis signed up for school had been easy. Alexis even got to meet her new teacher. She seemed nice.
They were back in the house when Rick realized that he still didn't have any food. So out he and Alexis went, looking for a grocery store.
Rick used a cart to fill it with all of his purchases. It was then he learned he didn't need to pay for anything. He had forgotten to ask Abagail about that. He also worried he had bought too much and would never get all this home. At that moment, he found out there were volunteers to carry it all home for him.
"Thanks, guys," Rick said gratefully.
"We're happy to help, Santa," was someone's response.
"You know about that?" Rick was quite surprised. He had only just agreed to it.
"News like that travels fast. Enjoy your day," he told him. And the small army of helpers left. What they didn't help with was putting it all away. Rick spent the next hour putting it away and searching the kitchen for cooking utensils.
~oo0oo~
"Now, what should we do?" Rick asked Alexis.
Alexis had an answer to that question. "Find Kate." She smiled at him since she wanted to go and see Kate.
Rick snorted, "You just want to find some new stuffed animals." That got her to shake her head. Alexis only wanted to see Kate.
"All right, let's see if we can find the stuffed animal section." Rick let Alexis go first.
~oo0oo~
Rick knew exactly where to go – the second floor and where Kate's station was. It was uncanny how he knew that.
Rick stopped right behind her. "Hi." He was thankful that Alexis didn't say anything.
Kate turned around, taken aback to see him and her. It was him. "What are you doing here?" It was all Kate could think of to say.
"I came to ask you on a date," Rick told her.
"A date?" He wanted to date her. Why her? She was no one special.
"Yes, a date. Surely you've been on a date before?" Rick inquired.
"Well, yeah. No, I haven't. I mean, I don't know if I have or not. It's complicated," Kate sighed
"Complicated?" Rick wasn't sure what she meant by that. Then he recalled what Bridgett told him about not remembering much of anything before being here.
"Yes, complicated," Kate told him. "Why me?"
"I like you, isn't that enough?" Rick asked.
Feeling overwhelmed, Kate tried to back out of going on a date with him. "I… I can't date you."
"Sure you can," Rick said gently. "Let's try tomorrow night at 6 o'clock. Unless you have tomorrow off."
"She does," Bridgett said, earning a glare from Kate.
"That's great! We can spend the day together. In that case, I'll pick you up at 9 o'clock. Except I have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Rick cursed his luck. "You can help me, it'll be great. Tomorrow morning at 9' o'clock. Wear something comfortable, simple," he suggested. "I can hardly wait to see you!" He beamed at her and turned to leave.
"Come on, Pumpkin, we need to let Kate work." Rick had gotten what he hoped for.
"Bye." Alexis smiled wide, happy that her dad was going to date Kate. She liked Kate. She didn't understand why, but she did.
Alexis followed her daddy back downstairs and outside.
Kate turned on Bridgett as soon as Rick and Alexis were out of the building. "What did you do?"
Bridgett held her hands out. "I didn't do anything except tell him you had tomorrow off. You do have tomorrow off, right?"
"Yes, but what if I don't want to go out on a date with him?" Kate demanded petulantly.
"Of course, you want to date him. You like him, Kate. Just admit it. Now, wear something nice but comfortable. This should be fun." Her friend was dating Santa. The new Santa.
For a while Kate stared at where Rick had gone. She got back to work, eventually. Kate wasn't even aware of the grin on her face while she did her job. And she didn't make a single mistake for the rest of the day.
~oo0oo~
"What put that grin on your face?" Kate's roommate asked her while she tried to decide what to wear for her date.
"Me? I don't have a grin on my face." Kate grimaced at her just to show she didn't.
She rolled her eyes. "Riiight, whatever you say." But she didn't give up. "Then why are you having trouble deciding what to wear?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I have a date, okay?" Kate told her.
"A date! With who, the new Santa?" She doubled over laughing at her, not expecting it to be anyone important.
There was a knock on their door. Males weren't allowed in this part of the dormitory, so it couldn't be her date. Could it? She went to the door and opened it. It was a man!
"You're not Kate. You're not Abagail, you're not Bridgett, and you're not Vicki. Your name is Jenny, Jenny Carlisle." Rick knew instinctively that that was her name.
Jenny eyed him suspiciously. "How did you know, and how did you get in here?"
"I came in the front door. Is Kate here," Rick inquired.
"Just a minute," Kate called out. That told Rick she was there, so he waited patiently.
"Wait, you're the new Santa, aren't you?" Jenny asked eagerly.
"I see word travels fast." Rick was surprised that she knew.
"Oh. My. God! You're really Santa!" Jenny all but screamed it. It was loud enough for Kate to hear her... along with everyone else in the hall.
Kate was ready to leave. "You're Santa?"
"I am. Pretty cool, huh? Are you ready to go?" Rick asked.
"You're really Santa Claus?" Kate hadn't thought anything of it. He was a guy with a little girl asking her on a date. Now she was dating Santa.
"Come on, we have places to go." Rick motioned for her to go first.
"How did you get in here?" Kate asked while they walked to the elevator.
"I came in the front door. Why does everyone want to know how I got up here?" Rick didn't get it.
"Men aren't allowed in here, only women," Kate explained.
He closed his eyes and groaned. "I didn't know. I'm with you now, so it should be safe." Rick put his hand on her lower back as they walked toward the lobby. "Do you have a problem with me being Santa?"
"No… Yes… I mean, I don't know." Kate sighed. "Maybe I should go back to my room."
"Nonsense. You're here and I'm here. And it's too late, we're almost to the lobby." Rick held his hand out and waited for Kate to join him.
"Where are we going?" Kate asked once they were outside.
"I'm supposed to be working. The Naughty and Nice list, Maintenance and such, and other things. I'm also supposed to be getting used to the Reindeer, so I thought we could go there first. It's this way." Rick started to walk and noticed Kate wasn't with him.
Rick held out his hand. "Are you coming?"
"I guess." Kate took his hand. Together, they walked hand-in-hand to the stables.
~oo0oo~
"This is Comet, and this is…"
Kate interrupted him. "I can read, you know."
Rick cringed. He felt awful for doing that. "I'm sorry."
Edgar approached him. "Good morning, Santa."
"Good morning. I'm supposed to spend some time with the Reindeer to let them get used to me," Rick told Edgar.
"Of course, and who is this?" He had an Elf with him.
Rick smiled. "This is Kate. We're spending the day together, a date, actually."
"I see. Well, I'll leave you to it." Edgar withdrew.
Kate petted Comet's nose. "It's so soft." She was surprised. Kate stayed with Comet while Rick moved on to all of the others.
Edgar came back to feed the Reindeer. "May I help?" Kate asked.
"Certainly, just measure the grain using this and put it in the bin for them to eat." He demonstrated, getting Kate to do as he did.
Rick helped with a few of them. And the two of them stood there, watching the Reindeer eat. "How about a movie next?"
"O...kay? We have a theater?" That was news to her.
"So I'm told." Rick held out his hand. "What say we find it together?"
~oo0oo~
"Where's Alexis?" Kate inquired while they tried to find the theater.
"She's at school. She'll be out around 3 o'clock," Rick replied. "Are you interested in her?"
"No, I mean, yes. I mean, just wondering," Kate said nervously.
"She likes you, you know," Rick told her. "I can tell. She went looking for you in the cafeteria."
"That's…nice," Kate stammered. She wasn't sure. Kate felt like she wasn't interested in children. She didn't know why, it was just a feeling. Yet Alexis was different somehow.