Page 79 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

Santa Trouble

Nothing But Trouble

Santa Trouble

Jack didn’t mean to listen to the grownup conversation going on in the office. He was supposed to find Papa since they were mostly done with their schoolwork for the day, and they really wanted to shift and play in the backyard.

Normally, they sent Ollie since everyone knew Papa didn’t like to tell Ollie no, but Ollie wasn’t done practicing his letters so Jack was supposed to ask instead. Everyone also knew Papa didn’t like to tell any of them no— as long as they did their schoolwork— so Jack figured it didn’t matter who asked.

Besides, he was supposed to start speaking up and saying what he wanted instead of getting his brothers and sisters to ask for him. Daddy said so.

The only problem was that all the grownups were in Daddy’s office which Papa used mostly to keep track of all their lessons and books. They had a schoolroom upstairs where they all sat around a big table, but Papa liked to work with them one-on-one too.

Jack liked his special time with Papa. They learned about Ancient Egypt. It was his favorite. They were building a pyramid out of popsicle sticks which Daddy said was the coolest thing he’d ever seen.

“The kids don’t know anything about this,” Nana said from behind the closed office door. “It’s going to be a challenge explaining all the details.”

Jack froze, wondering what he was supposed to do. Papa said not to listen, but he couldn’t help it if he could hear. Could he?

“How are we supposed to explain Santa Claus to them?” Pop-Pop asked. Pop-Pop sounded very concerned.

“Do we have to explain it?” Daddy asked.

Jack heard multiple gasps in the room. It sounded serious. Who was this Santa Claus person? And why were they all so worried about him?

“Like I said,” Nana said— and she sounded super grumpy which made Jack even more worried— “it’s going to be a challenge.”

“Look,” Grandpa William said. “They’re smart kids. Just… tell ‘em. They’ll figure it out.”

Jack couldn’t help the little flutter of fear in his belly. Something strange was definitely going on. He didn’t like the sound of this. What exactly did they need to figure out about this Santa guy? Was he after them?

“We’ll ease them into it,” Grammy said. “They’ll be fine. We’ve got a few weeks. They’ll learn.”

“Weeks?” Nana said. “Goddess, I need to get busy. How does time always go so fast this time of year? We need to get the house prepared especially with the kids being here this year. They’re going to have a lot of work to do.”

What kind of work? Jack wondered. Did it have to do with the Santa challenge?

And then, the weirdest thing of all happened.

Daddy started singing. Jack had never, ever heard his alpha sing before. Worse yet, the words were terrifying.

“You better watch out. You better not cry.”

Daddy continued singing as Jack backed away. He turned and ran upstairs, only stopping when he’d plastered himself against Ben’s side. His big brother would know what to do. Ben was the smartest person Jack knew except for Daddy, and Papa, and all his grandparents. But this sounded like a job for them. And they only had a few weeks to get ready.

“Jack?” Ben raised his head from his schoolbook and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I… think they were warning us. Daddy can hear us when we come close, right?”

“Yes,” Ben said. “He’s a good listener.”

“So he heard me go down the stairs? So he knew I was there and it was a clue?”

“What?”

Jack repeated what he’d heard, including the ominous words to the song. “Ben, who is Santa Claus? Is he going to hurt us?”

“No way,” Ben said. “Alpha wouldn’t let that happen. He promised and you know what he always says.” Ben sometimes still called Daddy alpha instead of Daddy. He told them it was because he’d always wanted an alpha more than a Daddy. Jack always wanted both. “Alpha’s don’t break their promises.”