Alaia Skyhawk:
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.
~(-)~
Chapter 66: Summer Fun
It was just after the start of Northern Summer, when Jack playfully descended through the sky down towards the Workshop. Yeah sure, he could have gone straight there with a mirror, but riding the winds was always fun. And on this particular day, the winds had taken great delight in tossing him around like a snowflake. He did however use a mirror to by-pass the doors once he actually arrived, seeing no point in waiting for a yeti to answer the door when he was welcome to come and go here as he pleased... Well that and the fact he didn't plan to stage another 'Break into Santa's Workshop', until at least November.
Once inside, Jack idled his way in the direction of the main workshop area. Again, he could have gone directly with a mirror, but this way let him snoop about as he went. He had a bit of spare time, so he might as well take a look around on his way to see North.
He found the Guardian of Wonder, as expected, at the toy manufacturing levels. And upon reaching him, Jack immediately began to pester him.
"Do you ever take a break? I've been in here nine times since the Easter fiasco, and every time I come, no matter the day, I seem to find you either in here or your workroom. Do you even sleep?"
North, in the middle of inspecting a new design of toy, glanced at him.
"Of course I sleep, once a week, on Tuesdays. I probably sleep more than you do."
Jack raised his eyebrows.
"So you sleep for what? Six hours each week?" North nodded, and Jack continued. "So that's three-hundred and twelve hours a year, or thirteen days solid." He smirked a little. "Sorry, I beat you. If I add up all my usual naps, and my post-Northern Winter hibernation, I sleep for twice that."
North moved on to the next toy to be inspected, frowning a little.
"Does this conversation have a point, Jack?"
Jack rolled his eyes.
"Um, yeah. It's called 'take a break, North, relax, and have some fun for a change'. Seeing you working every time I come in here, makes me itch to get you out and about. I am the Guardian of Fun, remember? And from what I can see, you don't spend enough time enjoying any."
North set aside that toy and sighed.
"Jack, I'm sure you can see I am very busy. And it's Southern Winter, yes? Don't you have work too?"
The Spirit of Winter grinned, leaning casually on his staff.
"Southern Winter is one of my quietest times of year, due to the relatively small area of land where snow falls in the South of the World. I have nothing to do until at least the end of the week, and even then it's minor. I've been doing far more work for my Guardian duties, than I have for my Seasonal tasks. Come on, stop being a wet blanket and take a day off for once."
North eyed him, starting to become suspicious.
"Why you being so pushy about this?"
Jack rolled his eyes again.
"And why do you insist on holing yourself up in the Workshop all year. You admitted it yourself, you haven't spent time with kids for centuries. Apart from the kids at Santoff Claussen for the victory party. You've not budged out of here since then, and that was three months ago."
North blinked.
"You want to take me somewhere to spend time with children?"
Jack ran a hand over his face in exasperation. He clearly thought that it should have been obvious.
"I now have free rein to go wherever I want, as often as I want, no matter the season. The Summer Fayre is taking place in Burgess in a few hours time, and this'll be my first chance to attend it. I figured you might want to come along."
There was a pause before North pointed at Jack.
"But won't children recognise you, and ask why you are there in middle of summer?"
The Spirit of winter dead-panned.
"Um, you've seen me in my 'Jackson Overland' disguise. That Christmas you left me that paper-weight snow-globe of the Workshop. The kids won't recognise me, and if we dress you right as well, they won't realise you're Santa. Only Jamie, Sophie, and his friends saw you that night, and he won't be telling anyone. The rest of them think it was just a dream." He started to smile. "We put you in a pair of shorts, a non-garish printed shirt, and add a cap and some light-weight shoes or flip flops... And you'll blend right in with the other grandparents and older uncles who show up to look after grandkids, nieces, and nephews at the fayre."
North pointed to himself.
"You want me to wear shorts? Shirt? Flip flops?"
Jack raised his hands.
"Chill out! I'll be wearing them too! It's not like I'm suggesting it to embarrass you. You're the only other Guardian that could come with me. Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy would be impossible to disguise, and you know it."
There was a long pause as North regarded Jack in bemused silence, before he sighed and mutters something in Russian under his breath.
"Fine, fine. I will go, if you will sort out clothes. But only for a few hours."
Jack, grinning, conjured and reached through a mirror to pull out a large bundle with a pair of white flip-flops on top. He shoved the pile of clothing into North's grasp.
"Already sorted. Ombric helped me make sure they were your size. I'll be back in fifteen minutes once I've changed into my disguise."
Jack expanded his mirror and vanished through it, leaving an extremely bemused Russian stood there. When he returned, he found North fidgeting uncomfortably. The Guardian of Wonder was wearing pale grey shorts that came down to just above his knees, a white shirt with large pale-blue flowers printed on it, and a grey 'tennis cap', the sort of hat that is just a visor with a headband to hold it on. He looked vaguely ridiculous if you happened to know he was Santa. But for anyone who didn't know that, he'd pass for someone's jolly uncle or grandfather who knows how to be laid back and have fun.
Jack looked him up and down in appraisal, garbed in his own attire of brown wig, navy-blue vest, red shorts, and another pair of white flip-flops. Side-by-side, it was clear to see he'd approximately flipped their usual colour schemes. He was wearing the reds and dark blues, and North was wearing the light blues and greys. Jack was also absent his staff, and he smiled.
"Well it fits, and it looks good. You just need to stop looking so self-conscious." He poofed North in the face with some mild frostdust, causing the Russian to relax and smile despite his nerves. "There, much better."
North frowned a little.
"Where is your staff?"
Jack shrugged.
"Winter Sanctuary. I can do all of my usual things at short range without it, even if it's a bit more effort than I usually care to bother with. I can do my mirrors without it, so there's no need to worry I'll get stranded or something like that. If that's what's worrying you." He tapped the mirror beside him with a finger, changing the location to the woods near the pond in Burgess. "Shall we get going?"
North regarded the mirror, then Jack, before letting out a large sigh of resignation.
"Yes, let's. And we will see how 'fun' the fayre will be."
They stepped through the mirror into the warmth of summer, at which point North felt the cold around Jack immediately retreat as the Spirit of Winter reined his powers in close. They then began to stroll towards the obvious sounds of many people on the other side of the park, at which point North changed the subject.
"So how is Kiyiya? I've not heard anything since after the party."
Jack shrugged, but his smile meant it wasn't a dismissive one.
"Yuki is looking after him, showing him around the world, keeping him out of trouble while it's Northern Summer. She's keeping him from thinking about his family too much, while he's still adjusting to being an immortal. Kinda like how I distracted myself for most of my first year. He'll be able to make better decisions by the time October and November roll around."
North glanced at him.
"And what about you? Has any of the other immortals given you trouble while you work?"
Jack's expression turned sly.
"Oh, there's been a few grumbles, some glares, a few immortals wanting to be my Lieutenants despite the fact that before now they'd never have given me the time of day. I've surprised a few too. Flora, the Roman 'goddess' who took charge of the May Day festival, was looking decidedly glum when the day came and at the main event that she attends it was pouring down with rain."
North raised his eyebrows.
"What did you do?"
"Doused the whole area with some extra frostdust, on top of the daily dose that I'd already spread." Jack grinned. "Kids don't mind getting wet so long as they're having fun, so by giving some extra childlike fun to the adults, I got them all out into the rain. Laughing and smiling and having fun. The festival went great after that... And the look on Flora's face when she saw me was priceless. She looked all set to drive me away at first after my frostdust revealed I was there, until less than thirty seconds after that people began coming out of the pavilions despite the weather. I just gave her a cheerful little salute and flew off."
North's eyebrows went up further.
"You've been using frostdust to help festivals go better for everyone?"
Jack gave him a bland look.
"Not all of them." He sighed. "Well ok, all of them. But I've only been deliberately showing my face at a few, and putting a touch of extra effort into those. The winds tell me what's going on where, when I check the wind patterns before frostdust distribution every day. So it's no big deal for me to add a little bit of extra kick to the dust for those regions when there's something on. But if I just did that, then none of the other Immortals would even notice what I was doing. By making a few personal appearances, I'm rubbing their noses in what I'm doing."
They reached the edge of the grassy area of the park, looking out over the mass of people, stalls, games, and other things going on there. North then smiled.
"And since it's not an actual part of your job to make their festivals go better, even if weather is bad, many Legends will begin to want to stay on your good side. They will value you for the help you can give them, and in time that may become respect."
Jack snorted derisively
"You mean grudging respect. There are more than a few I can think of, that will accept my help with one hand while making insulting gestures behind my back with the other."
North gave him a small nudge.
"Is like that everywhere. It cannot be avoided, even among the Immortals. We're too mixed a group of people, from too many eras and places, for all of us to agree with each other." He paused, thoughtful. "A pity, since it might be quicker for us to work out what is going on right now, if we could sit down and talk without arguing for hours."
Jack glanced at him.
"What's going on?"
North shrugged.
"I've not experienced it myself, and I'm not sure if I truly believe the stories. but rumour going around is that adults have started seeing some of the Immortals. Just here and there, rare occurrences happening at festivals or a few other places. Right now even those it has happened to, aren't sure if or not they just imagined it."
Jack let out a whistle, barely managing to keep a straight face.
"Well, now isn't that something. I guess we'll know more with time." They reached the edge of the grassy area of the park, and he smiled as he changed the subject. "Right. We stick to the grass, so we don't get walked through by the people on the paths, and we just enjoy ourselves. Come on!"
He ran off over the grass, North following at a more sedate pace as he was led here and there seemingly at random for the next hours. It was then that they came across Jamie and Sophie near the swings, and Jack swept him up off the floor and spun him round. Once Jamie recovered from the dizziness that caused, he grumbled in mock annoyance.
"Uncle Jack! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Sophie bounded over, tugging on the edge of Jack's vest.
"Unc' Jack!"
Jack grinned at them.
"Hey guys. You having fun?"
Jamie grinned back and winked.
"Of course! Why wouldn't we be, with the Best Uncle Ever making sure everyone has fun today?"
Jack laughed, looking cheerfully proud of himself.
"Guilty as charged." He nudged Jamie. "Do you have the wallet I left at the house?"
Jamie reached into a pocket and handed over a slim white wallet.
"Dad said he put twenty dollars in there, in bills and change. Those sculptures you made to sell went for a lot at the art auction last month. He had all the money transferred to your account. So if you need more furniture for the Sanctuary, you've got plenty of cash for it right now."
Jack nodded at that, still smiling.
"Great, and that means I can buy a new shipment of the latest books for Ombric too."
Jamie now noticed a certain Russian stood awkwardly off to the side, blinked at him for a moment, and then he gawked in surprise.
"Wait, is that North?"
Jack waved the Guardian of Wonder to come over, chuckling as he answered.
"Yep! I talked him into taking a day off. I figure I'll take him to get something to eat, now that I have my wallet." He nudged Jamie again. "I'll tell you later, how he reacts."
Jamie began to grin wickedly, chuckling as he turned and towed his sister off towards the nearby merry-go-round. Jack then sauntered back over to North, and tilted his head in the general direction of the food stalls.
"We'll stop by Jamie's house later, before you head back to the Workshop. But for now lets go that way. I don't think you've ever had a proper look at mine and Thaddeus Burgess' statues yet, have you?"
The piqued North's interest, and he was far less hesitant now about following Jack past the crowds of people who could not see them.
"No, and when I was last here I did not have time for sightseeing." There was amusement in his tone now. "You are proud of your statue?"
Jack glanced back and grinned.
"Of course I am! One of my sister's descendants was the one who carved it." He dashed ahead to the now nearby statue, and then gestured to it flamboyantly. "So, what do you think?"
North came over and began to circle the plinth, looking at the statue from all angles. It depicted Jack with his staff held at a jaunty angle, and he had a perpetual smile of fun and mischief on his face. In all it captured his personality perfectly.
North smiled.
"Is definitely 'you'."
Jack waved to him, now pointing to another statue.
"This one is of Thaddeus, his wife, and his children." When North came over to that one, Jack continued. "I helped design this one, since I was the only one who knew and remembered what they looked like at this age. I owe him so much. Without him, his belief and willingness to teach that belief in me to others, I could have been forgotten in my own valley. I'll have to introduce you to his descendants, closer to Christmas. The Burgens still live here in the town, even if their name has changed since back then."
North twitched.
"You're suggesting I take another day off so close to Christmas?"
Jack glanced at him, raising his eyebrows.
"And are you suggesting to me that the yetis couldn't manage without you there, after centuries of practice at the whole Christmas Gig? Can you imagine the wonder on children's faces, if you spent a few days each year in December randomly travelling to places around the world to visit the kids and ask them what they'd like for Christmas? They get excited enough with the fake Santas. If they meet the real one they'll be happier than anything."
North blinked for several seconds, before his expression became thoughtful.
"Hmm, now that you mention it." He started to smile. "You are right, it would be good. Very good. It will bring them much wonder, and it will bring me happiness as well. You must try get Bunny to do something similar."
Jack grinned wickedly.
"Don't worry, I've already got that planned. When it gets to the start of January, I'm going to pay him a visit and suggest he turn finding him into part of the egg hunts. He picks a spot at one of the egg hunts, leaves a small trail of eggs leading to it, and rewards the kids who find him by letting them chose an egg from his basket. If he times it right, he can probably pull off four or five appearances an hour over the course of the twenty-four of the day. He can switch up the locations each year, to give other places a turn."
Jack turned on the spot casually, noting the nearby hot-dog stand before starting towards it.
"Hey, you want something to eat?"
North turned sharply, staring.
"Jack! That would be stealing!"
Jack ignored him, went up to the lady on the stand, and blew a touch of extra frostdust into her face. He then spoke.
"Excuse me, could I get two hot-dogs please?"
The lady blinked at him for a moment, in the usual 'oh, just noticed you were there' way, and she smiled.
"Of course. What do you want on them?"
Jack began rummaging in his wallet.
"One with onions and ketchup, and the other with..." He paused, turning to look at North. "What do you want on yours, Uncle North?"
The lady on the stand did another blink, before her gaze snapped firmly onto the Russian who stood there looking rather stunned as she called out to him helpfully.
"We have mustard and pickles too."
Jack smothered a chuckle when North remained silent, and answered for him.
"Just make that two with onions and ketchup."
He handed over a five dollar bill, collected his change, and a few moments later was walking back over to North to hand him his food.
The Guardian of Wonder was practically gawking, before he realised the woman could likely see his reaction and he quickly composed himself. North waited only so long as for them to be out of her line-of-sight, and anyone else's earshot for that matter, before quietly confronting Jack.
"How did? You just? How is that possible?"
Jack blandly pointed to the hot-dog now in North's grasp.
"Aren't you going to eat that? I didn't go to the trouble of buying it for you, for you to waste it." He grinned. "I'll get us some ice cream later too. The local parlour has a stand here too, and they do the best strawberry ice cream you've ever tasted. Their chocolate one great too."
He took a bite of his hot-dog, totally unrepentant for the mental turmoil going on in his fellow Guardian's head. North was still staring at him, seeming almost on the verge of some sort of emotional outburst or breakdown, before he let out a sudden exhale of surrender and ate a bite from his own hot-dog.
He then paused, pleasantly surprised by the food item which he'd never tried before, and took another breath. This time he was rather more composed as he talked.
"You don't seem all that surprised at that woman being able to see you... And now I think about it, you didn't seem that surprised about other immortals being seen by adults too."
Jack swallowed another bite, and chuckled.
"Um, you already know that Jamie's parents and grandparents can see me, and that I've been interacting with my sister's descendants for three-hundred years. Did you really think the wives that married into the family, could see me before they did that?"
North stared, an idea dawning.
"Wait, are you saying you know what is causing adults to see immortals?"
Jack snorted.
"Of course I know, because I'm the cause." He grinned. "I've been using my power to rekindle the childlike belief of the wives of the Bennett Family, for all of these years. I'm also quite an expert on the matters of Dumb Adult Logic."
North, who had been absently eating his hot dog while listening, downed the last of it and frowned in confusion.
"Dumb Adult Logic?"
Jack turned, gesturing to the gathering of people in the park.
"Dressed as I am right now, brown hair, normal clothes, shoes on feet, no staff or displays of magic... Everyone here who has heard of 'Jackson Overland', Jamie Bennett's distantly related uncle, can see me. They can see me because all of them have been exposed to frostdust within the last few hours. That lady on the hot-dog stand saw you, because I brought her attention to you and you're dressed to look like a standard normal person in summer. Hearing disembodied voices wasn't logical for her, so her mind grabbed the only working solution which was that the two of us were there. Frostdust opens the doorway of childlike belief, that people lose when they get to the point in life that their view of the world becomes jaded."
North's eyes had gone wide.
"They can all see us?"
Jack shook his head.
"Most of them can see me, because they've heard of me by my old mortal name. But if I were to pull my wig off, fly over to her or anyone else, and wave my arms around in front of them, they wouldn't see me. Not even after seeing me less than five minutes ago. The way adult minds can blank out immortals is so stupid. That's why I call it Dumb Adult Logic. Once you know how it works, it's really easy to work around so long as you can make yourself look normal. That trick I did there would never work with Sandy, Tooth, or Bunny... Or Pitch, so don't stress yourself over that possibility."
North, once again stunned, sank down and sat on the grass. Trying to get his head around what Jack had just revealed.
"It's really that simple?"
Jack sat next to him, some of his mirth fading into sympathy for his peer's confusion.
"Yeah, it is. Of course it only works when belief's door is opened, and the frostdust I spread across the world every day is milder than the stuff I usually use to rekindle belief. But as time goes on, more and more adults are going to start seeing immortals. It's inevitable."
"It's a disaster."
Jack blinked at that statement.
"What are you talking about? Will it really be that bad for adults to see us? ...After all, it wasn't a bad thing during the Golden Age."
North went rigid, utterly still for almost a minute, before he turned his head slowly to look a Jack.
"This could be start of a new 'Golden Age'?"
Jack nodded.
"Yeah, if we believe. I mean sure, there's going to be the expected crazies who want to worship us. There's going to be some who try to set us against each other's believers, but we've already got laws in place for that."
North gave him a long look.
"Do not be so dismissive of that, Jack. There's no telling what such people might try to do."
Jack rolled his eyes.
"You mean rant at us? North, they can rant at us all they like, and we'll just ignore them for the idiots they are. Fanatics kinda lose their influence, when the very 'godly forces' they claim are on their side won't even give them the time of day. And especially if all the Immortals repeatedly denounce their actions."
"And what about those fanatics that try to declare us frauds, or some sort of demons or evil sorcerers?"
Jack's expression became serious, his gaze hardening.
"We lead by example, and don't rise to the insults. Because despite our own disagreements with each other, the Immortals all respect and adhere to the rules we have. We're meant to be guides, teachers, and role models. With time, the mortals will follow our example, and that's when we'll have that New Golden Age. We can't guide and teach them if they can't see us."
Silence fell between the two of them, dragging on for what seemed an eternity before North sighed and looked up at the sky. The moon was a pale shape near the horizon.
"You make a good point. We cannot guide those who cannot see us, not properly. Does Manny know your power causes adults to start seeing us?"
Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Well I've been doing it around Burgess for three centuries, so he'd have to be blind not to have noticed. He has been keeping an eye on me right from the start, since he planned for me to be a Guardian. I'm sure he already began making plans about a new Golden Age, as soon as he became aware of what I could do. For all we know, he may have picked me knowing that 'fun' could open the doors of belief. After all, neither you or I know how Immortals first became visible to all during the old Golden Age. It could have been something similar."
North nodded.
"A catalyst of some sort. Your power doesn't make the adults believe, but it makes it easier for them to do so. Once belief is there, your frostdust wouldn't be needed anymore. Not in that way. It would only be needed to keep Fearlings in check." The Russian frowned. "Speaking of which, have you seen any around during your travels?"
Jack started to smirk.
"You mean the pathetic little wraiths that scurry off and hide the moment they see me? That wail and whimper every time a breeze brushes past them carrying some of my frostdust?" He snorted. "Trust me, they're not going to be a problem ever again. Between me and Sandy, they've been completely cut off from their main source of power. All they get now is ambient fear, and there's not enough of that around for them to be a threat."
Jack got to his feet, and yanked North up as well.
"Now, enough of all the gloomy talk. We're here to have fun! So let's go get some ice cream, and this time don't stand there like a deer caught in the headlights. You're going to tell the stall-owner what flavour you want, and what toppings, and they're going to hear and respond to you. And after we hang out for the rest of the day, enjoying the fayre, we're going to have dinner at Jamie's house. Got that?"
North started to grin, with an almost feral anticipation that belied his past as a bandit. He was game for a bit of mischief.
"Race you to the ice cream stall?"
Jack started to laugh, before they both took off at a run.
"You're on!"
~(-)~
"You should have seen it, Dad! I was trying to win the really big toy rabbit from the coconut toss, but kept missing. But then North asked Jack to frostdust the stall-owner, and came up saying he would win the toy for us. And after the owner blinked a bit, and stared, he saw North! So Jack gave him the fifty cents to pay for a go... And North hit every single one of the coconuts! It was awesome!"
North, sat comfortably in an armchair in the Bennetts' living-room, preened at his beard a bit and smiled at Jamie's praise. Sophie was sat on the couch cuddling the oversized toy rabbit, and didn't look like she intended to let go of it any time soon.
"Well, I defeated a whole regiment of cavalry once, with a bent steak-knife. While eating! Taking down a few coconuts was simple!"
Over by the door to the kitchen, Craig chuckled as he leaned against the door-frame.
"It seems you've become quite taken with Jack's little trick. He discovered it the night he babysat Jamie for the first time, when Mrs Werrin knocked on the door and he panicked because she thought Jamie was in the house alone. After pranking Laura with it the following morning, I took him to the diner and he ordered a milkshake for himself for the first time. He's been sparing with the trick since, but for the most part he uses it to either buy milkshakes or ice cream at the diner or the ice cream parlour."
Jack piped up from where he sat on one of the windowsills.
"And pizza! Remember when you held that movie night at your parent's place last year?"
Jamie burst out laughing at that, North looked puzzled, and Craig coughed into his hand. It was Laura who peered around him from in the kitchen, and explained to the confused Russian.
"Jack walked to the pizza shop, ordered the pizzas, waited for them, and paid for them. All normally. But on the way back he got stuck waiting to cross the road in the middle of town... So he decided that it didn't matter if people stopped seeing him since he already had the food. He ducked into an ally, pulled his wig off to negate his disguise, and then flew over the road."
North frowned a little.
"And why was that bad?"
Jack winced a little, but was still grinning.
"Um, things we're holding aren't invisible if we've only just picked them up within a few minutes. The people driving by could still see the pizza boxes, so they saw flying pizza boxes... There was a three-car pileup on main, caused by a non-local driver who thought he saw a low-flying UFO and slammed on his brakes."
North winced, picturing it.
"And how you know he wasn't local?"
Craig answered that one, as he moved over to sit beside Sophie.
"Random small flying objects are common in Burgess during winter, when Jack is hanging around the town. Anyone who has been here at least a few years, wouldn't give even a second glance to a pizza box flying past. It would just be 'Jack's playing games again'."
North glanced at Jack, his expression amused, and he chuckled.
"Your reputation precedes you. Burgess must be an interesting place to live, with you coming here so much."
Laura called out from in the kitchen.
"And the people of Burgess wouldn't have it any other way. Life without Jack here every winter, would be boring by comparison." She came to the door again. "And this Northern Winter is going to be extra special. We're going to hold a Bennett Family Reunion, and get together everyone who knew Jack as a child but moved away, and their families. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure."
Jamie grinned at the obvious.
"Well yeah, because more than half the people there won't have ever believed in or seen him before. Since they grew up outside of Burgess. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a few cousins running for the exit because they think there's a ghost in the room."
Laura moved away from the door to resume her cooking, but her voice was still clear to be heard.
"Well that won't be a problem, because the venue isn't in the middle of town."
When North raised his eyebrows in query, Craig answered.
"We're planning to hire the lodge at the camp-site near the valley edge. The site is closed during winter, but the lodge is available for parties. The manager is a family friend, so we'll be given the keys to lock up afterwards ourselves so he doesn't have to hang around. It means we can guarantee that only members of the family will be there."
Jack slid off the windowsill and sauntered over.
"Although there's not going to be a huge number of people there. Just Andrew's brother's family, and his sister's family." He began ticking off names. "So that means we have the main branch of the family, which is Andrew, Claire, David, Marie, Craig, Laura, Jamie and Sophie. Then there's David's brother Ian, Ian's wife Jena. Their son Timothy, and their granddaughter, Lisa. Then we move onto Andrew's brother's daughter Bethany's family. Only she can come, along with her son Harry and his wife, Helen, and their daughter Sarah. Then there's Andrew's sister's family. Mary and Paul will be coming, along with their son Edward, he's divorced. Then there's the grandson, Tristan, and his wife Kay, and their kids Liam and Simon."
Jack grinned in success at reeling off the list. "So that's twenty-four family members in total, of which only ten have seen and believed in me, spanning four generations. The oldest is Andrew, in his eighties, although his sister Mary is only four years younger than him. The youngest person there will be Sophie."
North's eyebrows had slowly migrated upwards towards his hairline.
"Are you sure is good idea to try introduce so many to Jack all at once? What if they panic?"
Jack grinned.
"Sandy's coming too. If things get out-of-hand, he'll just knock out all the ones that are screaming or in hysterics."
Craig tossed a cushion at Jack.
"Jack, I highly doubt it'll be that bad. Everyone who is coming knows the stories about you, even if living outside of your old Range of Belief meant they couldn't believe in your truly." He started to smirk. "Of course, if you're that nervous about the party-"
"I'm not nervous!"
When Jack's outburst cut off Craig's sentence, everyone but Sophie burst out laughing. The little girl staring at them wondering what was so funny, before she started giggling anyway because they were laughing too.
Jack flushed slightly pink, the equivalent of a full blown blush for him, and he turned to hide his face and cleared his throat.
"Ok, so I'm a bit nervous. I'm just worried that there'll be members of the family there who blanket refuse to believe I'm real."
North glanced at him, then at Craig and the others, before musing to himself with a small smile.
"Then what you need is moral support! It's decided, I will come too! And I will invite Bunny and Tooth as well. Is that alright with you, Mr Bennett?"
While Jack gaped, Craig nodded and smiled.
"It's fine with me. With six kids attending, the oldest being Sarah who's eleven, they'll love having you there. The party is going to be early in December anyway, so it can double as a visit from Santa for the children. They'll love seeing the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Sandman too."
"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait a minute, don't I get a say in this?"
At that moment, Laura peered out of the kitchen again.
"The answer to that would be 'no'. Now get in here and start setting the table, Jack. The food is ready."
When Jack just stood there in abject shock, the rest of them began laughing again. Eventually he too began to chuckle, before he stalked towards the kitchen wearing an expression that promised a prank in the nearby future. And for North, sitting with the Bennetts in their living-room brought back good memories of when he'd been new to Santoff Claussen. Of being with the children, making them smile and enjoying spending time with them.
Jack wasn't going to have to remind him to go visit children in the run-up to Christmas. In fact, if anything anyone would have a hard time stopping North from doing so... And he was beginning to plan it all in his head already.
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: Here's the family tree Jack reeled off, for those who are interested lol. Man, I've never had to come up with so many names at short noticed before. And lol for the hot-dog stand! I loved doing that bit, and the bit about the "low flying UFO" hehehe! :D
(Added) fixed the Family Tree thing. FFnet cut out the tab-spacing so the columns got muddled together :S
Top row is great-grandparents, 2nd is grandparents, 3rd is parents, and 4th is the current generation of kids. Andrew, Callum, and Mary are siblings. Wives/husbands that married into the family are on the right of each pairing, separated with a -
.,.,.,...Andrew - Claire .,.,.,.,..| Callum - Jenny ..,.,.,.| Mary - Paul
David - Marie | Ian - Jena .,.,.| Bethany - .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.| Edward -
Craig - Laura | Timothy - ,.,.,.| Harry - Helen.,.,.,.,.,.| Tristan - Kay
Jamie, Sophie | Lisa .,.,.,.,.,.,..| Sarah .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,. | Liam, Simon