Winter Dream (Bernard the Elf x Reader)

Chapter 3- The Head Elf

I smiled as I gently played with Charlie's brown hair, being extra careful not to wake his sleeping form. I felt nothing but love for my little brother, the same way I felt when mom and dad came home from the hospital and I cradled my new brother in my arms for the first time.

Charlie had fallen asleep in my lap a little over an hour ago, about six hours after we started delivering gifts to the children of the world. I was amazed at my dad. Dad wouldn't even dress up as Santa for his company's annual Christmas toy drive, and yet here he was, playing Saint Nick himself, just to make his children happy. Not only that, but after a little while he actually seemed to start enjoying himself.

Now, as the sun peeked over the horizon to greet the new day, we were finally heading home. I spoke to my dad as I watched the sunrise paint the clouds different shades of pink. "This was the best night of my life."

"Oh really?" Dad chuckled as he firmly grasped the reigns. "And all it took was traveling around the globe."

I playfully jabbed him with my elbow. "You know what I mean, dad." I looked back down at Charlie. "This was the best night because we spent it together. Charlie's finally going to have a good memory with his dad and big sister. I'm finally going to have a good memory with my dad."

Dad scoffed, not taking his eyes off the sunrise. "Oh, thanks a lot." He teased.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. I didn't want to hurt dad's feelings, but I also knew I needed to say something. "It's just, you're never around...you're either at the office or working at home. I can't even Remember the last time we spent quality time together." I quickly scanned my memories, which only proved my statement to be correct.

"(Yn)..." Dad finally looked at me, and slightly frowned. "I'm-" He stopped talking as a cold and snowy gust of wind blew onto us.

I pulled my coat closer against my body and shivered. Why was it snowing so hard at home? Was there a blizzard coming that I hadn't heard about? I carefully moved Charlie off of my lap and scooted to the edge of the sleigh. My eyes peered down below us, and a gasp escaped my lips. Below us were mounds of snow and ice, as far as the eye could see.

Dad gave me a nervous look. "What? What is it?"

"I don't think the reindeer are taking us back to our home..." I said, my teeth already chattering from the extreme cold.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!"

"We're at the North Pole!" Charlie exclaimed, suddenly awake. He must've woken up when I moved him a few moments ago.

The reindeer suddenly landed on the icy ground, jolting the three of us forward. We sat in complete and utter shock for a moment, while snowflakes danced around us, nipping at our bare skin. Finally, Charlie's meek voice piped up. "Is this okay, (Yn)?" He asked, looking up at me with worried eyes.

"Uh..." I didn't say anything else, not wanting to scare Charlie.

It turned out that I didn't have to say anything else because Dad said exactly what I was thinking. "No, it's not okay!" Dad looked at the reindeer. "Hey! Does this look like home to you?!" He shouted.

The reindeer exchanged glances with one another and then dashed away into the snow.

Dad threw his hands up in exasperation. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Hey! Hey, where are you going?! Come back here!" The reindeer ignored him and disappeared into the icy wasteland. Dad groaned in frustration as he sat down beside us.

Charlie shivered and I zipped open my coat and wrapped half of it around my brother. I stared at my feet. This is bad...we're going to freeze to death out here! I thought to myself.