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"Great! You told him. Good. Let's get you dressed for that meeting," Curtis exclaimed happily before looking at Noelle who was frowning, she shook her head to signal that they had not said anything. "I-I can't have the meeting in here. I-I really can't. I'm gonna have to go see Charlie," Santa told the two as Noelle walked up to them, Nicholas yawned and snuggled into the crook of his mother's neck. "Number two, tell him right now," Bernard demanded. "Bernard..." Noelle breathed out before looking at Curtis with a gentle smile on her face, "Honey, you should tell him now." Santa looked between all of them in confusion. "Tell me what? Guys, come on. Come clean now," Santa encouraged him.

"Santa, there's a Clause," Curtis informed him. "Yeah, that would be me," Santa replied to him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "No, I mean there's another Santa Clause," Curtis corrected him. "Curtis, in case you haven't noticed, this time of year, the malls are filled with other 'Santa Clauses'," Santa told him putting Santa Clauses in quotation marks. "Yes, but there's another Santa Clause," Curtis said emphasizing the last word with Bernard moving his head encouragingly. "There was a first Clause, but there's also a second Clause," Curtis explained to Santa. "Get on with it!" The puppets exclaimed with Santa waving his hands to say the same thing as the puppets.

"When the last Santa Clause fell off your roof and you put on his coat, you found this," Curtis pulled out the car and slipped it into the holder on the magnifying machine. "Right. 'He who wears the coat takes on the responsibilities of Santa Claus'-- Something like that," Santa recited before continuing, "And, of course, the rest would be history, right?" Noelle chewed on her bottom lip after smiling at the sight of Nicholas asleep in her arms. "But it seems our number two Elf--" Bernard turned from Santa to Curtis, "--The Keeper of the Handbook overlook the single most important detail in the history of Christmas!" Noelle rested her hand on Bernard's arm as he had raised his voice, he took in a slow breath.

"Wow. One mistake in nine hundred years," Curtis replied to Bernard who turned and raised the first magnifying glass, "Look!" Santa leaned down to look through it, "I-I can't see that." Bernard switched the first for the second, "Better now?" Santa shook his head prompting Bernard to switch to the third, then the fourth, then the fifth and finally the sixth. "I see. Good, good, good. I see it," Santa muttered out as he looked through the magnifying glass at the card to read the new Clause. Bernard and Curtis stood either side of Scott while Noelle sat down in the nearby armchair, her feet were too sore and she had already read the new Clause.

"Okay, well, 'The cardholder acknowledges... woman of his choosing... True love... Not valid in the state of Utah... Holy...'" Santa read out before his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "'Matrimony?!' I got to get married!" He turned his eyes to the two Elves before stepping back and looking at Noelle who sighed and tried to send him a reassuring smile. "Yes. It's... the Mrs. Clause," Bernard informed him, the puppets began singing. "What if I don't want to get married?" Santa asked as he tightened his belt around his coat which made him realise that his stomach had gotten smaller. "The De-Santafication process has begun!" Curtis exclaimed aggressively.

"The De-Santafication?" Santa questioned Curtis who nodded. "Are you telling me that in that Clause, it says that if I don't get married... I don't get to be Santa anymore?" Santa asked the two Elves. Santa sighed, "What happens to Noelle?" The mentioned woman looked up at her father, "I'm protected by my acceptance as the Christmas Spirit. It won't affect me... hopefully." Santa frowned before exhaling deeply and letting go of his belt. "W-What about the kids? What-- What about the Elves?" Santa asked them as he sat down in his armchair, "And w-what about you guys?" Noelle smiled softly at this side of her father, it was a vast difference to the father she had growing up and she was glad he had shown this side of him.

"It's not completely hopeless, sir," Bernard assured him, he couldn't risk anything potentially happening to his fiancé and children nor did he want the North Pole to lose the only Santa they had that truly understood them as people and not just workers. "You still have time to find a wife," Bernard continued with his hands behind his back, he stood by Noelle's chair. "Right. How much time do I have, Curtis?" Santa asked the second-in-command. "Twenty-eight days," Curtis answered him. "Twenty-eight days," Santa repeated before shrugging, "So I've got to find a wife by Christmas." Noelle interlocked her fingers with Bernard's as she spoke, "Actually, Christmas Eve."

"Guess it's over," Santa muttered in defeat. "What?! No!" Noelle exclaimed gaining her father's attention, she had teary eyes. "You can't think that way! Please don't give up hope. 'Cause if you do... then we have to," Curtis told Santa, Bernard sat down on the arm of the chair and rested his arm around Noelle who sniffled as a tear rolled down her face. They all watched in shock as Santa's beard grew shorter showing them that the process was growing faster, "Christmas is getting very complicated." Noelle nodded in agreement with her father's words. "Your meeting, dad," Noelle reminded him before she got up and made her way out of the room with her son, Bernard watching her leave with a slight frown on his face.

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After laying Nicholas in his bed and tucking him in, Noelle made her way out of his room and into the living room to finish folding clothes and to clean up her son's toys. The door opened and Bernard made his way in, his eyes landed on Noelle and he instantly made his way towards her. "Snowflake?" Bernard spoke up, she sent him a smile before focusing back on the clothes. Bernard sighed before waving his hands, small sparkles appeared and the clothes magically folded and floated into their rightful places followed by the toys floating back into the box where they were usually stored. "I was getting to it," Noelle told him.

Bernard sat down on the couch and pulled Noelle into his lap, his arms gently wrapped around her waist as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. "I know you are worried about this situation but we both know how much Scott loves being Santa and he'll find a way to stay," Bernard assured her, his thumb rubbing against her hip in a soothing motion. "And Charlie is having a moment of rebellion. I'm sure we'll deal with that when Nicky is older," Bernard continued, he placed his thumb and pointer finger on her chin and lifted her head to make eye contact with her, "We just need to hold on to that faith. And everything will work out fine." 

Noelle nodded at his words before leaning in and kissing him, he didn't hesitate to reciprocate the kiss. She trusted his words more than anything, her faith was faltering but with Bernard's gentle words, she was reminded of who her father is. Calvin's don't give up, they stand their ground and continue to fight even when it seemed helpless. She just had to hold on to the hope that whoever her father falls in love with is worthy enough to take the role as Mrs Clause. But those doubts were washed away by the feeling of Bernard lifting her up and walking towards their bedroom, she giggled when he smirked mischievously at her.

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Rosemary Speaks

It's almost 4AM, my eyes are drooping and honestly, grammar.ly is the only thing saving majority of this chapter... so yeah, enjoy that.

Any thoughts or questions?

See you in the next chapter!