Chapter 2: Here to Stay?

Brooke blinked her eyes open. The first thing she saw was a young boy staring at her. She sat up in alarm. She felt someone sit up beside her. He turned to see her sister and held onto her tightly.

"Hey, they're awake!" the boy cried.

"What's going on?" Brooke whispered fearfully.

"I don't know," Sophia said with a shake of her head. "Where could we be?"

Two more people ran to their side. One of them was a man with a long beard and red overalls. The other was a young man with brown curly hair and a dark green hat who didn't look much older than the girls. He had a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Are you guys alright?" Scott Calvin asked them gently.

"That depends on what you mean by alright," Sophia replied sarcastically. "And where we are."

Brooke glanced from Bernard and Curtis to Scott. "Hey! I know where we are!" she exclaimed suddenly. "We're in Santa's workshop!" She pointed at Scott. "You're Santa! And you two are elves!" She turned to Curtis and Bernard.

"I like this girl, she's smart," Curtis commented. Bernard nodded in agreement.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sophia cut in, waving her arms in distress. "We are not in Santa's workshop because there is no such thing as Santa!"

Bernard rolled his eyes. "Typical," he muttered. "No sane teenager still believes in Santa Claus."

"Hey!" Brooke exclaimed in protest. Bernard raised his eyebrows at her, but did not offer an apology. Brooke rolled her eyes in response. Bernard chuckled softly to himself.

"Well, I'm sorry to say, I am in fact Santa Claus," Scott said. "This is my Head Elf, Bernard, and the Second Elf, Curtis." Bernard and Curtis each nodded in turn.

"Nice to meet you guys!" Brooke said cheerfully. "I'm Brooke, and this is my sister, Sophia."

"Nice to meet you guys too," Curtis said with a smile.

"Excuse me, but is this a joke?" Sophia asked, a little calmer this time. "This is a joke, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid not," Bernard said, shaking his head.

"How about we forget about that for now and you two tell us what you're doing all the way out here?" Scott suggested.

Sophia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Brooke took a deep breath before replying for the both of them. "We come from Minnesota, so it really wasn't that far." She let out a sigh. "Our parents just died… in a fire. They're all we really had left. We don't have any more living relatives. There was nothing left for us there." She looked down and wiped her eyes with her arm. She felt her sister put her arm around her. When she looked up she got Bernard's eye. His face was full of sympathy. Brooke took another deep breath. "We had to leave. We couldn't let them put us in an orphanage. They would be sure to separate us! Besides, we've already been through that… when we were six."

"You see, our birth parents died in a car crash," Sophia explained for her. Brooke blinked at her gratefully. "It's lucky we weren't with them."

"So, why did you come to the North Pole?" Bernard asked softly.

"We didn't know where else to go," Brooke went on. "They could still find us if we went anywhere else in the continent. And we couldn't risk going overseas…"

"So I decided we should come here," Sophia explained. "I had a crazy idea that we could build our own place here, away from everyone, like you sometimes see in movies." She shook her head, chuckling softly. "I never imagined someone else could already be living here."

"You won't send us back, will you?" Brooke asked, a hint of fear in her voice. She looked up at Scott hopefully.

Scott let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "I'll have to think it over. Bernard, can you show them to a room?"

"Sure," Bernard agreed with a brisk nod. He looked at the twins. "Come with me, girls."

Brooke and Sophia stood up and briskly followed Bernard out of the room. Bernard looked around in awe as she saw many elves busily making toys. "Look, Sophia!" she squealed in delight. "This is Santa's workshop!"

Sophia just rolled her eyes. "It's all an allusion," she mumbled.

Brooke looked up at Bernard, who shrugged in return. He eventually led them into a large room. The whole room was covered in red, like the previous one was. There was a queen bed on the far wall. Opposite it was a balcony.

"This place looks great!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Are you always this cheerful?" Bernard asked with amusement.

"Usually," Brooke said with a shrug.

"It can get really annoying," Sophia added. Her sister shot her a look.

"Why don't you two get settled her," Bernard said. "I'll send an elf to get you some pajamas and food. I have to go back and talk with Santa."

"Ok," Brooke said with a nod. "See you soon!"

Bernard smiled warmly at the girl. "Goodbye, Brooke," he said before leaving the room.

When he was gone, Brooke immediately turned to Sophia. "I like him," she commented.

"You would," Sophia said, rolling her eyes.

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Brooke questioned suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Sophia said innocently.

Brooke wasn't convinced, but she didn't push the water. She walked out tot e balcony and gazed out at the city. "This place sure is beautiful," she murmured.

"What do you think, should they stay?" Scott asked the small group consisting of Carol, Bernard, and Curtis.

"They've come all this way, I don't think it would be fair to just send them back," Carol said.

"But what are we going to do with them? Humans don't belong here!" Curtis pointed out. "Besides you two," he added, referring to Scott and his wife.

"So what? They seem like nice girls," Bernard put in. "At least Brooke does. I can't say much for Sophia."

"But what will we do with them?" Scott inquired. It was a fair enough question.

"They could work here," Curtis suggested, shrugging.

"We do need more workers," Bernard continued. "I was already thinking about going down and recruiting more elves. This could be the perfect opportunity. Everyone wins."

"I don't know…" Scott trailed off.

"They want to stay," Curtis reminded him.

"Let them stay, at least for now," Carol said.

Scott let out a heavy sigh. "All right," he said at last. "They can stay."