~Little Tooth~

Chapter 8:

Christmas

-...-

"Baby Tooth."

Baby Tooth groaned, twisting in her covers. They were so warm and soft.

"Baaabbyyy Tooottthhh."

Baby Tooth felt someone nudging her, and every so slowly, she opened her eyes to get up. She turned to face up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Once slightly awake, she turned to see Jackson. He sat down next to her bed and was resting his head on the side of the mattress while poking her. She smiled as they locked eyes.

"Finally. Do you know what today is? I mean really." He grinned.

"No-" But then it hit her in the head faster then the speed of light. She jumped up on the bed with a huge grin. "It's Christmas!" How could she have forgotten!?

"Come on then!" Jackson stood up and helped her off the bed.

Jackson, grabbing Baby Tooth's hand, pulled her out of the bedroom and out into the hallway. Their feet hitting the wooden floor was the only sound that could be heard. The two were so hyped up, and Jackson knew everyone was waiting on the two of them. As they reached the end of the hall, they turned and the first door they saw was their destination. Jackson was quick to open it and pull the younger girl through with him. They were greeted when a room full of the rest of the 31 children and the workers, including Mr. Frosten and Mr. Kirkland, whom don't spend very much time around the children.

"Finally! We were all waiting on you two!" Ms. Elizabeth exclaimed with a grin on her face.

"Yeah!" Some of the anxious children agreed.

"Alright!" Mrs. Hamilton smiled "With everyone here, I believe it's time for present opening!"

And with that, all the children ran towards the huge, light up Christmas tree in the center of the room. As Mr. Auditore, Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Elizabeth, and Mr. Frosten watched over the kids and made sure no one got hurt during the rush to the tree, Mr. Kirkland watched in amusement and Mrs. Overland chuckeled, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. Baby Tooth was about to walk over to the crowd around the tree, but noticed Jackson had not moved. She looked at him to see worry in his face as he stared out into the crowd of children.

"Jackson?" Baby Tooth asked.

"What are you two waiting for? It's abnormal for a child to act this way Christmas morning." Mrs. Overland asked, walking towards Jackson.

Jackson frowned, looking at Mrs. Overland and narrowing his eyes. His grip on Baby Tooth's hand tightened, and Baby Tooth could feel something was wrong.

"Where is Norm?" Jackson asked, or more rather demanded.

Baby Tooth's eyes got bigger and she turned her head to scan the crowd of happy children. Norm was indeed not one of them. She looked back and saw Mrs. Overland sigh, then frown at the young teen.

"I'm so sorry. He had to leave last night." Mrs. Overland explained. "He revived an urgent call that the collage he was preparing to leave to had some problems with his paperwork. In order to fix it, he had to leave early."

Baby Tooth felt sad. She was looking forward to spending Norm's last week having the best time with him, but now he was gone. He hadn't even said goodbye. It didn't snap in her head, but when she suddenly felt a thick, dark, and frustrated emotion seeping out of Jackson, she could tell something wasn't right. Mrs. Overland was confused by the boy's reaction, so decided to avoid it and walk away.

"Bullshit." Jackson hissed under his breath, forgetting the girl next to him. "Norm wouldn't walk out on us just like that. He'd refuse the collage if he had to leave us without saying goodbye."

"J-jackson?" Baby Tooth began to feel frightened by Jackson.

Jackson didn't realize Baby Tooth was still there until she yanked his arm, probably pulling a mussel or something. He softly gasped and turned to see the girl, who's face showed a mixture of confusion and fear. He suddenly felt guilty, pulling his hand away from her and rubbing the back of his head.

"Forget what I just said, Baby." He changed his tone completely, going back to normal. "So how 'bout them presents, huh?"

Baby Tooth stared at him. She wasn't stupid. She just saw scary Jackson. She could tell he was hiding something. But mother said it was impolite to get into other people's business, so she turned away from the boy and walked towards the presents. Jackson followed and the two retrieved the last to presents under the tree.

-...-

North sighed, sitting back in a big, red, fluffy chair. He was done delivering presents, and was so sleepy. Later that night, he'd have to get ready for the rest of the guardians so that they could have a Christmas dinner together like always. He did try to look for Baby Tooth while out and about, but came up with nothing like before.

Suddenly he heard a door open and close, looking up to see Jack. He looked out of breath and tired, just like him. North ready knew why, seeing this boy had been working extra hard this month with his job in keeping the snow where it should be. That and he probably has been playing with Jamie a few times too.

"You don't mind if I crash here for a few more hours, do ya?" Jack sighed, setting his staff against the wall and slumping into a chair a few feet away.

"Within those few hours the other guardians will be here for our dinner. You've arrived early, you could say." North smirked.

North and Jack turned to see a yeti walk in with a bunch of little elves running behind. North adjusted his spot in the chair and looked up at the yeti. It walked over to him, speaking some words and pointing at a list. A name on a list.

"What?" North looked skeptical at what the creature told him, causing Jack to walk over in curiosity.

North looked at the yeti, and then at the paper. It was a long, LONG list of names of the good children of the world. On the list, in alphabetical order, was a name most familiar to the guardians.

Baby Tooth

In parentheses, it said Toothiana, which confused North even more. When children had other names next to their real name, it was a name that most knew he or she by. Like how an orphan may be named Lilly, but the people who took her in call her Sally. Both names would be there. It made it a bit easier in terms of presents being deliverer.

"Why is her name on the list?" Jack asked, reading it by looking over North's shoulder.

"That, Jack, I do not know."

The yeti went on to say a few more things.

"What do you mean a present was made for this person and delivered without fail? Baby Tooth received a present?" North stood up. "Where was it's destination?"

The yeti shook it's head.

"You don't know!?" North asked.

Now you'd think North knew about every child on earth, and he did, but new names took time to remember. New names would just appear, and presents would be made for them with nothing said. North read the names several times each year, but he seemed to miss the name Baby Tooth. He felt bad. If he had noticed this before Christmas, then he could have tracked her present and found her location.

"should we get Tooth?" Jack asked, worried over the current situation.

North shook his head. "I'm going to find out more about this. You stay still. We'll tell them when they get here."

Jack watched at North left the room with the yetis and elves. Jack could tell that North felt bad about something, and was probably getting a headache. The immortal boy sat down on North's red chair, thinking about what just happened.

As he thought, he began to wonder. Names were added to the list when a new human child was detected on Earth. Only Human children. So Baby Tooth's name couldn't be there unless she had been a human. Jack shook his head. This wasn't possible. Who had the magic to turn a mini Tooth into a human anyway?

Jack decided he shouldn't think about it too much, and with his eyes getting heavy, he headed off to one of the bed rooms within North's work shop. It was about time for a long sleep. Well, as long as he can get with North's Christmas dinner in a few hours.

-...-