I sat back and decided to stop asking questions. They were getting me nowhere fast.
Chapter Eighteen
Aideen
It was not a long ride on the sled, but it was stunning. Everything was white with snow, which made sense since we’d traveled north all day. To the North Pole. It still seemed so unreal. I’d been a believer longer than most of my friends, but at some point, even I had been willing to say Santa was just my parents. And that was all right. It was nice that they loved me and went to so much trouble to give my siblings and me a Merry Christmas.
But here I was, skimming along in the snow with the three guys I was dating, who happened to be reindeer shifters and presumably about to arrive at the North Pole. At least, I hoped it would be soon because the cold was starting to seep in a little bit even tucked in with them. But as we continued to travel and no cute village like on the postcards appeared, I began to worry about how long we’d be out here in the wind. It was starting to snow as well, big, fat flakes. Gorgeous, but was there really going to be somewhere we could get out of the weather?
And then, with no warning, everything blurred, and when it cleared up, the sight before me was so much more than even my little-girl self dreamed of as I lay in bed on Christmas Eve. Bigger, for one thing, so many more buildings. But they were all charming, fairy-tale structures that I thought had probably been the same for centuries. The snowmobile slowed and stopped in front of a largish home.
“Is this…this really is the North Pole, isn’t it? I’m not dreaming?”
“No. Not a dream.” Dash climbed down from the sled and held up his hand to help me. “It’s where we spend our time whenwe aren’t working at our own toy shop. This is where our other job is.”
They led me down a pathway past a few more homes, my head swiveling back and forth trying to take it all in. Elves were everywhere, bustling back and forth, carrying boxes and pushing buckets with mops. To all appearance doing cleaning tasks, maybe closing down one season before starting the next?
“How soon do they have to start making toys for the coming year?” I asked. “In all the movies, it was the day after Christmas, wasn’t it?”
“Not in all of them,” Comet said. “Some got it closer to right. We always have a party between Christmas and New Year’s, then we go home, but the elves and others here take some time to reset and clean everything up. It can get a quite chaotic as Christmas Eve draws close, and kind of a mess there at the end.”
“Then,” Dash added, “they take some more time off before beginning again. Santa and the Mrs. usually go south for a few weeks, as well, to recharge.”
“Did I hear my name?” A man with a long white beard wearing a plaid shirt and jeans strolled across the street, his arm linked with a beautiful older woman. “What are you saying about me, Dash?”
Dash colored a bit but then smiled. “Just that it’s about time for your annual vacation, Santa, but I’m glad you’re still here since we brought the item we promised.”
Santa’s face lit up in a smile, and he started to reach out then pulled his hand back. “That’s good. You can bring it by the house later or tomorrow.”
“That’s what we will do.” Blitz held a bag close to his side. “It’s nice to be back so soon.”
“Maybe someday you’ll agree to stay year-round,” Mrs. Claus said. “Especially with a family.”
“Maybe one day,” Comet agreed. “But we’re always grateful to have our home here. And we can’t wait to show our mate the place. She asked us why we don’t decorate down south. She’s a big Christmas fan and I think we had her worried.”
Mrs. Claus broke into a smile as big as her husband’s. “Another person who loves Christmas. What a perfect choice for the three of you.” She held out her arms, and I stepped into her warm hug. “Wait until you see how your mates really feel about Christmas. I don’t know what we’d do without them, especially on Christmas Eve.”
And my brain, already overstimulated and exhausted from travel and the discovery that Santa and the North Pole were real, clicked into place. Dash, Blitz, and Comet were not just cute names because they were reindeer shifters. These were Santa’s reindeer, among those who pulled his sleigh through the sky on Christmas Eve.
“Do they really fly?” I asked Mrs. Claus.
“Oh yes.”
“But only up here in season,” Comet said. “We can always shift, but not fly without Christmas magic. Otherwise, we could have just flown you up here on our backs.”
Could this all be a dream?
Chapter Nineteen
Aideen
A beautiful, curvy woman just hugged me and told me she was glad to meet their boys’ mate.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
I had manners even if I thought everyone in this place had lost their marbles. Either that or I had. I was beginning to believe the latter.
She was Mrs. Claus.
