Page 11 of The Elf’s Naughty Toy

“She’s not the one to blame for this, Mildred.” I look toward my dad, who now sounds angry toward my mother. “I’m the one that fell in love.”

Fell in love?

“How could you, John? Twenty years of marriage, our beautiful daughter—how could you destroy us? And for what? A twenty-year-old girl who only cares about your money. I thought you were a better man than that, John. I thought you valued marriage.”

The words are coming out fast, and I don’t understand what is happening. I need someone to explain. Everyone looks upset. Well, everyone except for Margot. For some reason, she looks happy that my parents are fighting, which makes me angry. My mom is upset over something that has to do with her, and Margot’s just sitting there smiling. It’s rude, and it’s making me hate the woman.

“It wasn’t planned, Mildred. It just happened. And as far as Millie goes, she’s always going to be my daughter. I’ll always love you, Millie bear.”

I swallow back the lump of unease that’s stuck in my throat. The pieces are slowly starting to come together, the image becoming clearer by the second. I think my father is in love with Margot.

“So, when were you going to tell us?” my mom asks, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. I rush to her side and hug her tight, hating that my father is causing her this pain.

“I was going to tell you after New Years,” he states. “But since you just learned the truth, I guess there’s no point in delaying the inevitable. I already contacted an attorney and will be filing for divorce after the holidays.”

The tears start streaming down my cheeks. My parents are getting a divorce. My dad is leaving. He’s leaving us for Margot.

“So, I gave the girl the truth for Christmas. That way her father could stop pretending like he was away, and he could spend more time with her. It seemed like the perfect present to me, but Santa didn’t like it.”

I pull out of his arms and sit up, the cold truth crashing in. He’s the one that made us discover my dad’s affair on Christmas morning. He’s the one that shattered us that day.

“Why would you do that?” My voice comes out harsh, causing him to jerk back. “Don’t you know how devastated my mother was? She cried for weeks. I didn’t think she’d ever stop. The look in her eyes as the truth settled in still haunts my thoughts.”

“You were that little girl?” He sits up, looking shocked, but almost happy by the fact. “Wow. I can’t believe it. How uncanny is that? Out of all the humans that I could’ve fallen for, it’s you.”

He doesn’t even get it. He doesn’t understand the mass destruction he caused in my life. All he’s focused on is the fact that us meeting is some kind of ironic coincidence. Doesn’t he see what he did? I know he didn’t cause the affair to happen—that is all my dad’s fault—but he caused the most amazing woman in the world, the brightest light I’ve ever known, to hate Christmas. Mom having to find out about the affair the way she did was the worst possible scenario, especially on what’s meant to be the happiest day of the year. Now every year, when the stores start putting the Christmas crap out in August, she immediately goes into a downward spiral. Every Christmas song that plays, every house that’s decorated in lights brings tears to her eyes. It ends up being the most miserable time of the year for us.

“You don’t get it, do you?” I shake my head, climbing off my bed. “You destroyed her. She was so happy. So full of life andjoy. And you took that from her.” If she had found out after the holidays, on some random day, with a sit-down conversation from my dad, and not abruptly walking in on his special little morning with his mistress, it would’ve been easier for her. She still would’ve been hurt, still would’ve hated my dad for what he did, but she wouldn’t have associated the pain with the holiday season.

“I gave you both the truth, little dove, which is much better than the lies and deception your dad was dishing out.”

“Leave, Brawn,” I grit the words through my clenched teeth, the mass of emotions balling up in the pit of my stomach becoming too much to bear. “Get out and never come back.”

He shifts toward me, and I take a step away from the bed. “I don’t understand, Millie. I didn’t mean to upset you or your mother. I thought I was helping.”

“Go, Brawn. I never want to see you again.”

The pain in his eyes as he vanishes into thin air breaks the dam on my emotions and the tears flood down my cheeks. I collapse to the floor, wallowing in my misery. I thought that he was the one. I thought that the magic of the universe had brought me the most incredible being I could’ve ever asked for. After ten years of living in the rubble of my broken family, I felt light and happy again, but it’s gone. The joy, the merriment, the hope—it’s all been ripped away and replaced with dark, miserable heartbreak.

11

Brawn

Idrudge through the cold snow, bracing myself against the bitter harsh wind as I make my way into the abominable forest, searching for the entrance to the wishing cavern. Legend has it that if you give your soul to the Keeper of Magic, it will give you anything you want. I want to take my girl’s pain away. I want to change what I did all those years ago and fix my mistake. It obviously hurt her and her mother deeply, and I know it made Santa hate me, so I need to take it back.

The ringing of sleigh bells from above has me ducking for cover. Santa must be getting the reindeer warmed up for Christmas Eve. They need to stretch their legs after such a long hibernation. All of a sudden, the sleigh touches down about ten feet in front of me, and when Santa’s eyes turn in my direction, I know I’ve been caught.

“Brawn? What on earth are you doing out here?”

I shake my head, turning toward the cave mouth before he can stop me and send me to the South Pole where I’ll be forcedto spend the rest of my years in dark misery without any hope of giving my little dove a happier life.

“Brawn!” Santa stops right in front of me, blocking my path. “Stop. What is going on?”

“Move, Santa. I need to do this.”

“Do what, son?”

He’s not going to let me pass if I don’t tell him the truth. He has the strength and magical power to block my way. “I need to fix my mistake, Santa. I hurt them. It’s worse than what you laid before me, and now she hates me for what I did to her mother. But if I give my soul to the Keeper of Magic, I can fix it.”

---