Winter Dream (Bernard the Elf x Reader)

Chapter 36- Total Chaos

Bernard sighed as he entered his office where I was waiting for him. "Was showing my family around the workshop that bad?" I asked, looking at his defeated state.

Bernard ran his fingers through his hair. "They were running around the workshop touching everything! It's like they became toddlers!"

"The Pole does that to people." I chuckled. "Besides, I'm sure they'll calm down once the adrenaline wears off," I spoke, approaching Bernard. I wrapped my arms around his torso from behind and rested my head against the back of his shoulder. "I know this is super stressful for you, love, but you're doing amazing."

Bernard turned around so he was facing me, and he embraced me. "Thank you, Snow Angel." He gently spoke, kissing the top of my head.

We stood there in comfortable silence, not leaving one another's arms. In the silence, however, I could hear Jack's words echoing in my mind: "I bet you can't even start a family anymore." Finally, the worry I had been keeping for everyone, even my husband, spilled out of me. "Hey, B?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you...are you u-upset that we'll never be able to have a family of our own?" I looked up at him with worried eyes.

Bernard stared at me with confusion at my abrupt question, but his face slowly morphed into a frown. "What?"

"I-I know that neither of us wants kids right now, but what about in the future? What if centuries from now we'll decide that we want to have kids, but we won't be able to because we're elves?"

Bernard looked at me with sad eyes, as though he was hurting for me. "Snow Angel...how long has this been on your mind?"

We both knew what the answer was: too long.

"I just...I don't ever want us to be unhappy." I sighed. "I'm sorry, this is dumb...forget I ever said anything." I slowly pulled away from Bernard's loving embrace, and Bernard took hold of my hand.

"(Yn)...you don't have to apologize for your feelings." He gently spoke. "I should be the one who is sorry, you've been dealing with this all alone."

My (ec) eyes met his brown ones. "I just feel guilty bringing it up. I knew going into our marriage that children were off the table, but I'm still nervous about it. What if we want to have children someday and we can't? We're going to be alive for all eternity...aren't you worried about the unknown?"

"No..." He gave me a small grin. "And you know why? Because I'll be with you. No matter what happens, we'll always be there for one another."

I smiled up at him. "And we'll face whatever the future brings together." I felt my spirits lift a little bit; I felt a little voice inside of my head telling me that everything was going to be alright. I knew that Barnard and I could take on any challenge that the future brought.

"Exactly." The head elf winked at me. "I am a little confused though...why are you suddenly bringing the topic of having kids up? I thought you told me back when we were still dating that you never wanted to have children."

I sighed. "I was talking to Jack..."

Bernard scowled. "That little-"

Suddenly, the door to the office flew open, and one of the elves from the naughty and nice center poked their head in.

"Sir, we have a problem." They urgently spoke, fear and worry in their eyes.

"Can it wait, Jaiden?" Bernard sighed, annoyance growing in his voice. "I'm kinda in the middle of something here."

They shook their head. "I'm sorry sir, but we need you on the floor immediately."

Bernard groaned and grabbed his satchel from off of his desk. "Son of a nutcracker..." he muttered under his breath.