Chapter 3: The Troubles Begin


The twins were fast approaching their eighth birthday. Christopher deemed "Chris" by the other elves and Melody, had the same rambunctious and joyful attitude as any normal children. Any time during the regular daylight hours, the elves could see the two of them frolicking in the workshop.

Due to the heavy workload of Bernard and Noel during the Christmas season, they were under the supervision of various babysitters. More often than not, Judy took on the role and was revered by the children as their favorite. Less often, Curtis was called in to help out and was often found tied up or covered in flour by the end of his shift. It was no secret that he wasn't the best elf to baby-sit, and the children left him with no doubts about their feelings towards him.

So when Melody and Christopher went running and giggling through the technology department, Quinton couldn't help but laugh. The head tech elf pressed the intercom button in front of him,

"Noel?"

Her voice came crackling back, "Yes?"

"The twins just came through here and Curtis wasn't with them."

He heard her sigh, "Thanks Quinton, I'll go check on him."

The truth was that Curtis had already released himself from the gift-wrap tie-up that the kids had done and was tracking them. While most elves saw the twins as occasionally a bit mischievous, he took greater issue with them.

Outside the door, Curtis waited for the pair to come running through. When the wooden door swung open, he grabbed onto Christopher by his collar and caught Melody around her waist.

"You two!" He was angry and breathing hard, "When your parents hear about this."

Christopher struggled at first but fell back eventually. Melody almost immediately went into a pout. Curtis moved his hand to hold onto her collar too and dragged the twins to the main workshop.

The younger ones dragged their feet and tried their best to delay the inevitable.

Bernard met them on the upper level, "What happened here?"

Curtis forced the twins before their father, "These two tied me up yet again, and they've been running wild around here all day!"

The head elf got down on his knee to address his children face to face, "Did you do that?"

Christopher refused to look at his father, while Melody hung her head so far forward that he brown curls covered her face.

"I think that's a yes." Muttered Curtis, tightening his grip on their collars. Bernard noticed this and pulled his hands off.

"Curtis, I don't think you need to drag them around like that."

The younger elf threw up his hands, "I can't baby-sit them anymore Bernard! They're causing too much trouble for me."

Bernard rolled his eyes slightly, "I'll get Judy then," He looked back at his children, "You two stay here for just a minute."

The moment that the head elf was out of sight, Curtis turned his still lingering anger on the two children, "I know it was you two that broke that machine in the workshop."

Christopher became defiant, "We did not!"

"Yeah!" Yelled Melody crossing her arms.

"Then who did? You know how much work I have to do? How many rules you've broken?"

"I hate your rules!"

"Well you have to live by them!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do! You have to if you want to be somebody someday! There aren't any good elves that don't follow the workshop rules."

The twin's eyes narrowed, wondering if he meant what he seemed to be saying to them. Behind Curtis, they saw Judy walk up the stairs in time for his mistake.

"And right now, you're not good elves. You're awful and I don't want you in my workshop!"

"Curtis!" Yelled a shocked Judy, standing frozen at the top of the stairs.

While Christopher and Melody may not have respected or even really liked Curtis, they felt incredibly hurt by his outburst.

A muffled sob brought Curtis' attention from Judy back to the twins. What greeted his eyes were the miniature forms of Bernard and Noel's son and daughter with tears running down their sparkly cheeks. Their little forms shook with each gasp of air that it took them to cry. Without warning, the pair ran past him towards the side door, their whimpers and sobs filling the air.

Judy walked up to Curtis and paused only a moment before chasing after the hurt little ones, "How could you say that? They're just babies!"

Curtis stared after them, his mouth open in disbelief, "I didn't mean – "


With only a couple of days before Christmas, Scott had invited Charlie and Jennifer up the North Pole for a short vacation and to join in the festivities that would be taking place.

Mr. and Mrs. Clause went out into the courtyard to greet the couple. Bernard and Noel were not far behind and ran to catch a glimpse of their friends.

Brought in by Chet, who begged for the privilege, Charlie and Jennifer hugged their family and friends with the greatest warmth they could muster.

"So how is everything?" Asked Charlie in earnest.

"Good, good, everything is right on schedule."

Jennifer turned her attention to Noel, "Where's Christopher and Melody?"

"They were giving Curtis some trouble so Judy took them to their rooms. You'll see them later."

Over the past several years, Noel and Jennifer had formed a close friendship bond. They hugged, but as Noel pulled back, she noticed a different, pleading look in the eyes of her friend. Mouthing the words, "What's wrong?" Jennifer responded by mouthing back, "Later."

As the group walked inside to escape the cold, Charlie walked up close to his father, "I want to know if I can talk to you."

"Sure son, anytime."

"In private."

Scott stopped and turned. Over Charlie's shoulder he caught the downcast eyes of Jennifer, "What's going on?"

"Please, let's just go and talk about it."

Noel turned to her husband, "I'm gonna go talk to Jennifer. Maybe you and Carol can take control of the shop for awhile?"

He gave her a kiss, "Sure."

Noel wrapped her arm with Jennifer's and led her to the now empty café. The head elfess poured two glasses of hot chocolate and placed one in front of the human.

Jennifer played with the steam with her fingertips, obviously a bit unsure of herself.

"C'mon hon, tell me what's going on."

Jenn sighed and tilted her head to the side, "Charlie and I are having some problems."

"Problems?"

"Yeah."

The Elfess was slightly confused. Marital issues were not her forte, as she and Bernard were one of only two sets at the North Pole.

"Neither of you is cheating?"

"No, it's not that. It's just," She paused again, "I think maybe I got married too young? Like I haven't seen the world and I limited myself."

"Oh." Noel nodded, "I don't know how much I can help you. I'm over 3000 years old practically. I didn't even meet Bernard until I was 1000."

"I know. Do you think maybe we should do like a trial separation?"

"A trial separation? I don't know. Do you think it would really help?"

"We haven't even slept in the same bed in two months."

"Two months?"

"Yeah. It's just… the finances and the constant arguing about what to do when we're older. If we should move to get better jobs, and then there's the whole thing about when to have kids."

"Well, maybe some sort of separation would be good for you two. Then you'd realize how much you missed each other."

"What if it doesn't work though? What happens if Charlie decides that he's better off on his own? What if I decide that I want to get a divorce?"

"Not every marriage works out. As much as I want you and Charlie to stay together, there's always a possibility that the marriage isn't meant to be."

"I don't want it to be like that." Jennifer was close to tears now. Noel pulled her friend in close for a long hug. Jenn cried and soaked Noel's green shoulder cloth with her sobs.

"I think you and Charlie need to have a long talk about this, but I think you need some time alone first before you do. Don't just jump right to divorce."

"I can't. What am I gonna do?"

"Just think about it for awhile."

"It's not that." Jennifer held her face in her hands.

Noel blinked a couple of times, "Am I missing something here?"

Though they were alone, Jennifer leaned in close to her friend, "I think I might be pregnant."

"Oh!" Gasped a startled Noel, "Oh no."

"Yeah," The human nodded, "This isn't good. I can't even tell him. If he stays with me because he thinks there might be a baby, then what's the good in that? He always talks about how he hated having his parents divorce at such an early age."

"I know dear."

There was a silence that fell over the conversation until Noel was brave enough to break it, "I hate to say this, but I don't know if this is the right place for you two right now. You two should probably go back home and talk this out in privacy. If you stay here, you're just delaying the inevitable."

Though neither of them knew it, Charlie was getting the same advice from his father.


Christopher and Melody ducked into the stables to avoid Judy. Chris was still crying slightly, and Melody wiped away his tears with his sleeve.

"Don't be sad. Daddy always says that Uncle Curtis isn't very nice."

"I know."

Melody cuddled up next to him, "I wish Christmas was over. Then we'd get mommy and daddy back."

"Yeah." Chris suddenly raised his head, "Let's go see Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jennifer."

"And Aunt Lucy!"

The pair snuck around to the stalls, looking at all the reindeer. They asked each one to give them a ride, but to no avail. Each of the older reindeer shook their heads no and resumed eating.

Finally, they came upon a baby reindeer much like Chet had been. Lucky. After a few pets of his soft nose and a few words, the baby was ready to fly. They flipped the latch to let him out and he lay down to allow them to climb onto his back.

In his stall, Prancer kicked and butted his antlers against the wall. He seemed to be ordering the young reindeer not to go.

Lucky didn't listen however. With a yell of delight, the baby took off at full speed onto the snow runway and went unsteadily into the air. The children clutched to each other and his neck, holding on for dear life.

Trying desperately to prove himself, Lucky soared through the North Pole gateway and onwards towards the Miller's households.


"You guys just need to go home and talk this out." Santa suggested. Carol, Bernard, Noel, and Scott had assembled to see the couple off less than an hour after they'd arrived.

Scott had called for two reindeer to return the pair, and was astonished to see a panicked Prancer and Chet come flying up. Both seemed agitated and appeared to be trying to tell them something. Their fast dialogue proved to be unintelligible to Santa or anyone else. Thinking quickly both of them calmed down and made it clear that the trip back to the mortal world was extremely urgent.

Charlie climbed on Prancer and Jennifer went to Chet. The two adults took off at top speed towards the gateway, barely giving the couple anytime to wave goodbye to their friends and family.


Lucky was having a hard time landing. It was true that he was going to land, one way or another, but the method wasn't exactly a polished one.

As they flew back to earth, he kicked his legs and pulled up, trying desperately to stop. Christopher and Melody's eyes grew wider and wider with each approach, grasping even tighter to his neck and hoping they wouldn't be hurt.

In the end, it was Lucky who took the force of the impact to the ground. The twins landed roughly, yet without injury, and rolled. The baby reindeer however, had suffered a broken leg and curled up on the ground, whimpering.

"Lucky!" Yelled Melody running to him. She placed her tiny hands on his head and petted in the same manner as a child would a beloved pet.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know. We can't go home."

They looked at each other and bit their lips in confusion, "Maybe if we find Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jennifer. They can help us."

"Yeah." Melody jumped up and looked down at Lucky, "You wait here, we'll be right back."

The children looked back and forth, realizing that all the houses in the area looked the same.

"Which one's theirs?"

"I don't know."

A sense of fear was beginning to take over the twins. Behind them was what appeared to be an expansive forest, in front of them, houses that looked familiar but not necessarily exactly what they had known.

Holding hands, they approached the nearest house and knocked on the back door. They waited for a few minutes before a man appeared at the door. He was large and tall, dressed in an evening robe. His gruff voice stung their little pointed ears, "What do you two want?"

Melody and Christopher screamed before running at full speed into the woods.

The man at the door looked after them for a minute before realizing the impact of what he'd done, "Poor kids."

Charlie and Jennifer landed only a few moments after the scream of fear had vanished. Lucky had landed far enough away to be just out sight of Prancer and Chet. All in all, it was an entirely unfortunate situation.