Family Obligations

Cole wiped his hands on the rag that had been hanging on his belt as he moved to the front of the shop. “Can I help you?” he asked the man standing at the counter.

“Nicholas Kringle?” the man asked. “I’m Davin Elfstar from the Christmas Village.”

“I think you have the wrong person. I’m Cole Porter,” Cole responded, his hand clenched tightly on the rag. “I have no idea who Nicholas Kringle is.”

He opened his mouth to shoo the man out of the shop when a high, piping voice cried, “Daddy!”

He turned to see his auburn haired little girl racing towards him. Holding out his arms, he scooped her up as she reached him, plopping her on the counter. “What’s wrong, sugar plum?” he asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

“I woke up and you were gone!” she cried. She clutched at his plaid shirt as tears formed in her blue eyes.

“Ma poupée, je suis désolé.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I didn’t mean for you to wake up alone. But I was only out here and you found me with no problem.” She sniffed her nose and rubbed it against his shirt.

The man sighed as Cole looked back at him. “Mister… Porter, as you insist. I’ve been sent by your father to bring you home. He’s… ill, Mr. Porter, and you must return to the North Pole.”

Cole lifted his little girl off the counter and set her down. “Go get a snack,” he instructed her, “and you can have tablet time if you want.” He waited until she’d run off before turning his attention back to the other man. “I left the North Pole almost fifteen years ago,” he said in a low voice. “I am not going back.”

“Your father is dying, Nicholas,” the man replied. “You are the heir. You must return.”

Cole slammed a hand on the counter. “I forfeited that life when I left.”

The man shook his head. “It does not work that way. The magic will find you no matter what happens.”

As if his words had conjured it, a swirl of snowflakes and bright flashes surrounded Cole, enveloping him. He shivered as it touched his skin and he breathed in deep, feeling the magic settle into his bones.

When Cole opened his eyes, the man in front of him looked completely different. Instead of a bland looking forty something man, a white haired elf looked back at him. His face indicated that he knew exactly what had happened to Cole. “Sir, we need to leave for the Pole as soon as possible. If the magic has joined with you, your father does not have much longer.”

Cole looked down at his hands, which now glowed with a golden light. He could remember his father creating pictures for the stories he told by the fire with that light when Cole was a child. Cole would lay on his back on the rug in front of the fire, watching as his father created. But now the magic in him meant that his father was soon going to die. “I can’t leave my daughter,” he said in response to Davin’s statement.

Davin bowed his head. “Of course not, Your Highness. We’ll take her with us.”

Cole had to admit that the idea of taking his daughter home was one that had crossed his mind before. He longed to show her all the delights that he’d grown up with, but he was also afraid that she wouldn’t understand. And that was his fault. He’d never even shared her heritage with her. Although he’d never told her the tale of Santa Claus, he knew that his father looked in on her each Christmas Eve. He also knew that Santa Claus had been a topic of conversation at her daycare so she did believe.

Finally, he nodded. “I guess I don’t really have a choice. May I have a few hours to get things together?”

Davin bowed lower, folding his hands in front of him which Cole recognized as the genuflection given to his father on formal occasions.

This was really happening.

* * * * * * * * *

Four hours later, Cole had managed to shut the shop up for a few days. He had a feeling that it was going to turn out to be longer, but he had only committed to a visit, not moving. He’d explained to his daughter that they were going to visit family, but not anything else. It wasn’t an easy conversation to have and he preferred to put it off. Davin was waiting when they returned to the shop after packing two small bags. “Are you ready, Your Highness?” the elf asked.

Cole nodded, picking his daughter up and settling her on his hip. “As ready as I can be.”

With another bow, Davin turned to the wall of the shop, pulling a candy cane out of a pocket. Holding the candy cane by the crook and using the end of it, he sketched the shape of a door on the wall. The last bit was the doorknob and then he reached out, pulling the door open. “Your Highness?” he asked. “They’ll be waiting for you.”

Cole gripped his daughter tighter and stepped towards the portal. “Daddy, is that magic?” she asked.

He paused to answer her. “We’re going far away and it takes many hours and different types of transportation to get there. So we’re using a different way.” At her look of confusion, he said, “Yes. It’s magic.”

“Am I magic?” she asked.

Cole chuckled. “Maybe one day, ma poupée, but not yet.”

She pointed at the portal. “Let’s go! I wanna see magic!”

Cole stepped through, knowing he was stepping into the next stage of his life. The feeling of the transfer was completely different with the magic of Santa Claus clinging to him. He had no idea what he would be facing, but he knew it was his destiny.

To be continued...

Google translation:

Ma poupée, je suis désolé.: My darling, I'm sorry.

Thanks so much to Betsy for looking this over.