Elfemies to Lovers

by Jennifer Chipman

This was my favorite time of year. And not just because of the holiday cheer, the peppermint hot chocolates, or the gingerbread cookies. No, it was because this time of year, everything felt truly magical.

I’d watched enough Hallmark movies to never say never, but she was probably right.

“Any plans for tonight?” Sarah asked me as she headed towards the door. I laughed. “You know me. Going to go home and curl up with a good book.”

People were so entitled. They thought they could complain about every little thing just because they’d paid to be here.

“I don’t know why I just told you that.” She mumbled something under her breath. But I did. It was the same reason little kids liked to tell me what they wanted for Christmas.

Christmas in a tiny, snow covered town? It sounded like something out of my dreams—or maybe a romantic Christmas movie.

What sort of Hallmark movie did I wake up in the middle of?

“I’ll have you know Rudolph was one of the best reindeer of all time.”

It was clear no one had ever put her first before. There was no world where I wouldn’t come to her rescue if she needed it.

What she didn’t know was that I would have searched the entire world for her.

Rudolph had always been my favorite Christmas movie growing up like some part of me had related to him. Because no matter how hard I’d tried to fit in with the other kids and to make friends, I’d never quite felt like I did.

A warm smile filled her face. “I think that maybe Christmas means something more with the right person by your side.”

“Love is always a risk, Theodore. But it’s worth it.”

You and I have been destined from the beginning, Ivy. You were made to be mine, just as I was made to be yours.”

Home was being wrapped in Teddy Claus’s arms. I knew that like I knew it was the air I was breathing and that Christmas magic was real.