Page 92 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

“We can beat the challenge, Daddy,” Natasha said. “Don’t worry. We have a plan.”

“Challenge?” Papa asked.

Papa looked really sad, like he might cry. Daddy looked really upset too. Ollie had no idea what was going on. He looked at Ben and the rest of his brothers and sisters did too.

“We, uh, heard about the challenge,” Ben explained. “We know we aren’t supposed to listen to grownup conversations, but it was an accident. And then we started listening to all the clues you were giving us. We know we don’t know all the things other kids do, but we’ve been working really hard to protect the house and prove we can do it.”

“Protect the… wait.” Nana made a weird sound and Ollie looked at her. “Why do you think you have to protect the house?”

“You said, Nana,” Ollie explained. “He sees you when you’re sleeping.”

“He knows when you’re awake,” Jack added.

“You said we better watch out,” Emily said. “So we made a plan.”

“Yeah, and even though some of the words were confusing, we figured it out.”

“Con...fusing,” Papa said. “I’m a little confused myself.”

“Don’t worry, though,” Ben explained. “We borrowed a drill from Brooks. He said it was the quietest one he had. So the holes are covered. I mean, if you wanted to give us another clue as to where to put them all…”

“Holes?”

“Silent night. Holy night,” Natasha explained. “Grammy said all would be calm and bright, but we figured we had to get the holes in quietly, probably to let in the moonlight so Henry could make his wards. It was a good clue, Grammy.”

“Th-thank you,” Grammy said. She squeezed Ollie a little tighter. She sniffed a little too.

“Why are you crying, Grammy?”

“I’m… I just am.”

Pop-Pop sniffed a little too.

“And Nana got us some ribbon so we could put bows in the halls. I mean, we aren’t really sure why we have to punch them first, but we’re going to. But maybe that’s how we get them to stick? And I’m not really sure why this Santa guy will be afraid of bows? But Henry’s going to put wards on them just in case. And since bow and bow are the same, ‘Tasha got Aunt Calli to teach her how to use a bow and arrow. But Aunt Calli won’t leave it here because it has to be under adult supervision. So we’re hoping it’s bows and not bows and arrows even though we asked Teague to bring us some holly branches that we’re going to try to make into a bow just in case.”

Henry nodded. “And I made extra sure I asked Zaire about putting a ward on the chimney since that’s how he’s supposed to get in the house.”

Henry’s grin got bigger and Ollie giggled. “We’ll light his pants on fire!”

“Goodness gracious,” Nana said.

“So,” Grandpa William said loudly. “As you can see, we had a bit of a problem on our hands. Santa said that you guys hadn’t heard the right story about him, so he wanted to give me a new mission. I had to straighten everything out but don’t worry. I’ve got this under control. And Santa isn’t going to hurt anybody. He also said that you guys had a master plan. I didn’t know what he meant at the time, but now that I’m hearing it, I understand. You guys would totally have beaten the challenge if the challenge was real.”

Papa made a weird groaning sound and put his head on Daddy’s shoulder. “We’re never going to hear the end of this one.”

“Probably not,” Daddy said. “But like Santa told Grandpa, you have nothing to worry about. All Santa’s going to do is drop off a load of presents for you guys. That’s it. And like Grandpa said, he won’t even come in the house since you don’t like it. And just so we’re clear, there is no challenge. You are my kids. Period. No one will ever challenge that, or they’ll deal with me. And Uncle Meshaq. But mostly me.”

Ollie looked at his brothers and sisters and made sure he understood. “So Uncle Meshaq will get Santa if he’s bad, right?”

Daddy sighed. “You know I’m supposed to be the scary one, right? Everyone knows that? I’m the alpha?”

Emily patted Daddy’s arm. “Yes, Daddy. But Uncle Meshaq is scarier. And, let’s be honest, you’re not very scary. You can’t make flamey eyes or anything. And you can’t use a sword like Aunt Calli. And you can’t do magic like Aunt Zaire.”

Pop-pop snickered and pulled Ollie onto his lap next to Jack. “You feel better now, little man?”

Ollie shrugged. “I mean, as long as Uncle Meshaq says it’s…”

Daddy groaned. “Will someone call Meshaq please?”