Does it Matter?

Santa sat the next day busily absorbed with the second checking of his list, when a knock on the door interrupted him. Judy poked her head in with a tray of cocoa in her hands.

"There's someone here to see you, sir," she said as Santa noticed that she had put two cups on the tray instead of one.

"Is it Cupid?" he asked, willing to put everything aside if it was.

As she nodded her conformation, the door blew open and in flew Cupid. "Can't stop to chat long," the small man announced cheerfully as he set aside his bow and arrows and sat down in the chair opposite. "So, Santa, what was so urgent that I had to reschedule all my appointments for the day? You're not in love are you?"

"No," Santa said, offering him a cup of cocoa which he gratefully accepted, "but I think my daughter may be."

"Serena?" he asked. "Well, she's what, seventeen or eighteen now right? It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"She's eighteen," Santa informed the winged man. "I suppose what I really want to know is why you would shoot her with one of your arrows without giving me any advance warning."

"Come to think of it," Cupid said, "I haven't been anywhere near her since last year when I made her high school principal fall in love with a teacher. I haven't shot her with any of my love arrows."

"So she isn't really in love? This is just a crush, right?"

"We'll soon find out," Cupid said, taking a pair of what looked like pink-tinted sunglasses from his arrow shaft. "Where is she?"

Santa led him to a large window in his office where he could look out over the entire toy workshop. He pointed out his daughter to the small man who had to flap his wings a few times to get his head level with Santa's.

Serena was carrying a basket of cookies, making sure all the elves had something to snack on while they worked. As she offered one to Bernard, who blushingly accepted it, Cupid put on his glasses and peered down at the two of them for a moment.

"I see what you mean," he said finally, removing his glasses and landing delicately in his chair, "but you can relax, she really is in love, and if I'm not mistaken, that young elf down there is quite taken with her also."

"But you said that you hadn't shot them with any arrows," Santa said, confusion evident on his face.

"Ah, but you didn't tell me that she was in love with anyone magical. You see, my arrows don't work on people like you or me, because we have magic of our own. Naturally, because elves use magic my arrows have no effect on them either. So in cases like this, we must consult the book."

He rummaged around in his arrow sheaf a bit more and pulled out a large book that didn't look like it possibly could have fit inside the tiny sheaf. The book was gold and was embossed with silver lettering. It simply said, "Love."

"Now, what I'm about to show you is strictly confidential, and the only reason I'm doing this is because you're my friend, and I trust you." Santa nodded for Cupid to continue. "In situations like these, where one or both of the people are of magical descent, when they are born, their names are entered into this book as well as the names of the people they are meant to be with."

He flipped through the book, muttering to himself before allowing Santa to view one of the pages. Bernard's name was there coupled with the name of his daughter, Serena Calvin.

"But I don't understand," he said, shaking his head. "Serena wasn't even born yet when Bernard was born. I wasn't even born then!"

"Yes, but I get my information from the stars and they never lie," Cupid told him. "The second Bernard was born, the stars shifted to make room for him, and it was entered in this book that the person he was to fall in love with would be Serena Calvin, your daughter. It doesn't matter that she wasn't born yet. The stars already knew of her because they can see centuries into the future. Why this declaration of their love is nearly one thousand years old. Now, you can hardly question the validity of something like that, can you?"

"I suppose I can't," Santa said, leaning back in his chair, relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with any broken hearts at their busiest time of the year. "I just can't understand why it would be Serena, of all people."

"Hey, as to why the stars make their decisions, I can't say," Cupid told him, taking up his bow and preparing to leave. "I may never know the answer to that question, but I do know this: the stars are never wrong. If they say Serena and Bernard are meant to be together, then they will be."

"What should I do?" Santa asked. "Should I ask her about it or should I just go on as if I didn't notice anything?"

"Don't breathe a word of this to either of them," Cupid said firmly. "It will only complicate things, and they're going to have a hard enough time of it as it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just a hunch, but I've seen these situations enough to know how hard it will be for Bernard." Seeing the confused look on Santa's face, Cupid explained, "Think about it from Bernard's perspective. He's no doubt already fallen in love with her, but he's going to do everything in his power to suppress those feelings. Why? Because she's you daughter. He'll probably view it as inappropriate that he has feelings for her. He's also got to get round the fact that she's so young, although if I may say so, she certainly acts more like Bernard's age than some of those awful teenage girls I'm forced to work with."

"I think I see what you mean," Santa said.

"Oh, and one more thing," Cupid said, already half out the door. "Save yourself the trouble of worrying about them. I can personally tell you that they'll be fine. Just try to let things take their natural course. With situations like these, when two people are genuinely in love, things may seem to move a little quickly to the careful observer, but nothing ever happens that they are not ready for. In relationships like theirs, everything happens when it should."

With a wink and a fluttering of wings, Cupid was gone. Santa leaned back in his chair to ponder all he had learned, his list laying forgotten on the side of his desk. He knew it would be hard for him to suppress his protective feelings if he felt anyone was moving too fast with his daughter, but then again, this was Bernard. Every time he reminded himself of that, all his worries disappeared. He knew Bernard better than any of the other elves and he knew that he could trust him not to do anything with his daughter that they weren't ready for. Besides, there wasn't anyone he'd rather have as a son-in-law. . .

********************

For poor Bernard, the past few days had not been easy. He had given up on trying to avoid Serena altogether, because in such a small place, they were bound to keep running into one another. He caught himself watching her from across the room, taking in every feature of her beautiful, petite frame. Noticing how hard she worked at any task she was assigned and how kind she was to everyone around her.

The pain in Bernard's back had grown dramatically worse with each passing day, but it was nothing compared to the ache he felt in his chest every time he thought of Serena. She was always on his mind when he was awake. He simply couldn't forget about her no matter how hard he tried.

He hadn't been getting any sleep, either. Whenever he did manage to drift off, he always dreamed of her and woke up either with tears on his cheeks or feeling shameful and aroused.

He knew he looked awful and that the elves were whispering to one another about his disheveled appearance behind his back, but he was too exhausted to care, and he hurt so badly, both inside and out.

One morning, after this had been going on for about a week, he had been carrying a box of ornaments up the stairs when his back completely gave out. The word spun around him and he found himself sprawled on the stairs, gasping in pain, the ornaments having tumbled to the foot of the stairs, probably broken.

As soon as he had comprehended what had happened, he felt a strong pair of warm arms wrap around him. He could faintly hear Serena tell Judy and Trevor to take charge of the other elves while she took care of Bernard.

Oh, now this really isn't fair, Bernard thought, but he was in no condition to argue. He let Serena pull him to his feet and pull one of his arms around her shoulders. She kept both of her arms securely around his waist as she led him up the stairs.

"I'm going to take you to my room," she told him. "It's closer than yours, and you don't look like you can make it very far." He simply nodded, too tired to protest.

When she reached her room, she helped him in before shutting the door behind them. "Is it still your back?" she asked. He nodded, and she helped him to lie down on his stomach on her bed.

He stretched out on the soft bed, his face on her pillow. He could smell the sweet scent of her hair, and he could have easily drifted off to sleep if it hadn't been for Serena's next actions which woke him up instantly.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he felt Serena begin to undo the numerous buttons that lined the back of his shirt.

"I'm going to see if I can work some of these knots out of your back since you're too stubborn to see a doctor," she said, her fingers nimbly working their way down his buttoned shirt. "I could feel how tense your back was when I was helping you up the stairs. You really shouldn't let yourself get so worried and stressed. What on earth has been wrong with you these past few days? Surely it's not just the ever approaching deadline that's causing you so much worry?"

"No, it isn't that at all," Bernard said, praying that she wouldn't ask any more questions.

Thankfully, Serena knew Bernard well and she knew that if she pushed too much then she'd never get any answers out of him. She could be patient and wait for Bernard to tell her what his troubles were when he was ready.

She undid the last button of his shirt and gently slid it back around his shoulders. Bernard jumped as he felt her soft, warm hands touch the bare skin of his back. The most intimate contact he'd had with anyone before this point and time was a simple handshake. Feeling her fingertips running along his skin as she felt the muscles underneath for signs of tension, it was amazing. Her fingers seemed to leave a trail of fire wherever they ventured.

Gently, Serena began applying firm pressure to the knots in Bernard's muscles. He gasped in pain and relief as he felt the first muscle she worked on give away under her caress. She worked her way slowly down Bernard's back, applying pressure until the muscles loosened, and then gently caressing each spot to help relieve the pain.

Bernard felt himself relaxing little by little. It hurt when the muscles in his back first began to loosen, but once they did it felt so good, and he couldn't help the groan of pleasure that escaped his lips when she began to work on his lower back.

After she was sure that his muscles were no longer clenched, she began to slowly rub her hand up and down on his back. Her touch was so soothing that, combined with the scent of her hair on the pillow; he couldn't help but fall into a peaceful slumber.

***********************

He awoke at about one o'clock that afternoon, feeling better than he'd felt in ages. His back was no longer stiff and sore, and he was sleeping on something soft and warm.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Serena's sweet face. She was dozing in an armchair by the bed. His shirt was buttoned up his back once more, and she had covered him up with a warm comforter.

She's stayed by my side this whole time, Bernard realized, his heart swelling with love.

As though sensing his gaze, Serena's eyes fluttered open, and when she realized that Bernard was awake, she was down on her knees beside him in a flash. "Are you feeling better?" she asked, smoothing the curls on his forehead, something she had always wanted to do, but had never dared try before.

"Yes, thanks to you," he said smiling warmly up at her.

Everything seemed so perfect there in that moment in time. For just a few brief seconds, he allowed himself to pretend that she was there by his side, not because she cared for him as a friend, but because she loved him with the same intensity that he loved her.

As wonderful as it was, he pulled himself out of his little fantasy before he could say or do something that he might regret. "I'm sorry that I've been so much trouble," he said, sitting up.

"Bernard, perhaps you shouldn't get up just yet," Serena said, concern etching itself once more across her face.

"No, I'd better get out of your way," Bernard insisted, swinging himself out of bed and grabbing his hat from where Serena had carefully placed it on the bedside table.

"Please don't go," she begged. "At least tell me what was wrong."

He was already making his way to the door when her words stopped him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, not turning to face her, "but I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you."

He marched straight for the door, but Serena darted in front of him quite suddenly to try to get him to rest a bit longer. He hadn't been expecting this, and he walked right into her, causing her to lose her footing and stumble backward.

Reflex took over, and he shot out his arms to catcher and pulled her safely against him. He froze, realizing how close they were. Her face was only about an inch away from his, and he could feel her warm breath on his face.

Bernard was never quite sure if it was her or himself that closed the distance between the two of them. All he knew was that their lips had somehow met, and that sweet, innocent kiss was all it took for his self-control to momentarily break.

He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. Her lips were so soft and warm. He couldn't get enough of her. He hesitantly extended his tongue and her lips parted instantly to allow him to explore her mouth further. She made a soft noise in the back of her throat that only encouraged him, and she brought her hands up to tangle her fingers in his dark curls, causing his hat to tumble off his head and onto the floor.

It wasn't until lack of air forced them to part that Bernard fully understood what was happening. "Serena, I'm so sorry!" he gasped, pulling away from her. "I don't know what I. . . I-I just. . . I'm sorry."

Tears poured down his cheeks as he raced from the room, not stopping till he had burst into his own room and slammed the door angrily behind him. Putting his head in his hands, he wondered, How could I have been so stupid?!

***********************

Fifteen minutes later, Judy came up to see if Bernard was alright. To her surprise she found Serena sitting alone on the floor of her room, Bernard's hat lying in her lap. "Serena, what-"

"Judy," Serena cut her off. "I think I need your help."