Wynter

The next morning, Nick, Uncle Richie, his wife Grace and I travel to the Warehouse/ factory. They were staying an extra week since they were kind enough to help me. Jingles was at the end of our pack, neighing and jingling his bells with excitement. He wasn't allowed in the factory but I insisted he be let in.

"Okay so this is the south side of the factory. This is Garland, he is in charge of the elves and their work.
He was a fatter man with a brown beard and a friendly face.

"Hello Mrs. Clause" he bows in reverence. "It is pleasure to meet you"

"Likewise Garland" I smile politely. Hopefully he was nicer than Kringle. Where was she by the way?

"She's in the office" Nick answers. I frown and give him a look. He knew I didn't like him reading my mind. He smiled sheepishly and kisses my cheek apologetically. "Sorry. Wyn"

Uncle Richie and his wife lead me further down the factory, introducing me to the workers and giving me a tour of all the conveyor belts and such.

"And this is Joy. She is head of operations and warehouse logistics" Uncle Richie explains.
The first thing I noticed about Joy was that she was very tall. She bows to show me respect and bows to Nick and his family. Everyone was so friendly, I was surprised they were taking me in with no questions asked.

After a few more hallways and hidden rooms, Uncle Richie suggest Jingles and I go back to Nick's office to take a breather. Nick, him, and Grace still needed to go over some last minute logistics before the new year came.

I see Kringle perched over her desk observing some papers. She made it her mission to avoid greeting me but I wouldn't give her that satisfaction.
"Hello Kringle" I smile, ingenuity cloaking my lips.

"Oh! Wynter! I didn't even see you there!" She pretends to gasp in shock.

"Hmm. I'll tell Nick to find some glasses for you. That should help" I try to sound as nice as possible. I take a pen and paper from her desk and write out a baseless note, purposely showing off my diamond ring that was on my left hand. The glare of the ring was too bright for anyone to ignore. "Shoot!" I curse, looking at my ring with fake disappointment. "This ring is so big, it always gets in the way when I'm writing" I frown, showing it off to Kringle. "See jingles" I show him to be impartial. He rolls his eyes and pushes me towards Nick's office.

"We'll, be well" I wave, taking the note and walking to Nick's office, shutting the door behind me.

" Hehe" I chuckle to myself. I never was one to brag about my accomplishments or my ring but Kringle deserved it. Jingles watches me and shakes his head, disapproving of my actions.

"You would do the same too Jingles. You know she's obsessed with Nick" He neighs but still frowns. I stick out my tongue at him and skip to Nick's computer.

I shake the mouse but a password wall greeted my sight.
"What's his password?" I peek behind the monitor too look at Jingles. He was already drifting off to sleep in the cushions of the office.

"Drew?" Incorrect.
Hmmm. What about Jingles? Incorrect
Umm... NickClaus1? Incorrect.

I was getting annoyed now. I pull out my phone to text him but just as I was about to, I had a though. Maybe...no,it couldn't be.
"WynterRyder"

I almost cried as the password went through. Nick always surprised me with the little details he paid attention to. It made me love him even more.

My mouth twists in distaste as I see his bland computer background filled with nothing but blue and orange pastels. I send a photo of us to his computer and put it as his background picture.
Much better! He would thank me for it later.

I decided to go on the internet but it was splotchy and lagged. I had forgotten technology interfered with the magic in the Pole. No matter, I would snoop at the folders and documents.
I continue on, smiling as I see documents of finances and expenses.
I must have been snooping for an hour before I saw a folder titled "The Great War"

It looked as basic as the other folders but something about the name caught my attention.
I open it and see a whole bunch of documents and notes. And then...
I saw it!
It was a pictures...endless of pictures of Santa Claus and blood and gore. On his coat was a thick stream of blood. Then another picture was of a line of elves, piled up...dead.
What? I try to not throw up as I see the amount of bloodshed and gore. But it was the last picture that made me sick to my stomach.
I see Nick, and his father...standing over a pile of dead bodies. They looked like...humans? But...why would there be a pile of...

"Wyn!" I hear Nick's voice in the distance. "Wyn!"

My fingers rush to the mouse and I close out every tab and document. There was only one more picture left before Nick burst through the doors.

"There you are!" Nick smiles. A man in a black suit came behind him and smiled. He looked a bit older than Nick. He was tall, with dark coffee skin and brown eyes to match. "Wynter. This is Mitch" Nick introduced. He extends his hand and smiles.

"So you're the famous Mitch" I smirked. He looked at my features in awe, approving me immediately before staring at Nick. "So what did Nick promise you?"

"Pardon?" I smile.

"Was it money? A yacht? Because there is no way he charmed you into being his wife" he teased.

Nick rolled his eyes and pulls me into his arms, kissing my cheek. "Wyn. I think it's time to fess up" he sighs.

"Well Mitch, you're right. Nick did promise me something."

"I knew it" he clapped.

"He promised to love me forever."

"That's it?" Mitch scoffed in disbelief.

"And he made me into a Barbie" I winked.
Mitch looked confused at first but clapped as he realized the similarity between the recent Winter Barbie doll and me.

"Ahh!! I knew it. Nick you sly dog" he daps him up and sits at the chair across his desk. They had a few things to attend to, business stuff, so I let them be, waking up Jingles and taking him for a walk.

——-

Jingles flew me to the North Pole center where all the elves and villagers were housed. Some of the people recognized me as the new Queen and bowed to show their respects. I thanked them kindly and continued on, observing the city center and the beautiful Christmas decorations. It really was a city within itself. Tall wooden buildings decorated the snow filled street ways. The people used sleighs instead of cars to get around which were all powered by magic lines. It was an advanced city besides the lack of technology.

I picked up a few dozen deer claws from a bakery whose delicious scent preceded them and gave a few to Jingles.

The faint outline of the sun was setting so I figured Nick and Mitch must have been done by now.

Kringle was tying her scarf to leave as I entered through the office door.
"He's still in there?" I ask her.

"He said it was going to be a long night. Whatever that means" she pouts.

"You can go Kringle. And here" I pass her a deer claw. She looks at it suspiciously but takes it. "Thank you" she whispers before heading out. Jingles fly home okay? Tell Drew we're coming late and not to wait for us for dinner.

Jingles whinnies and makes his way out the factory to fly back to North Pole Castle.

——

I lean against the door and smile as I see Nick on the couch looking over a series of prints. He had thick dimmed glasses that made him look even hotter.
"I brought snacks"

"What kind?" He asks, never looking up from the stack of papers.

"Deer Claws" I brag. He smirks but was quiet. He was too focused to take a break.

"Mitch probably chewed into you after I left?" I said, unwrapping a deer claw and taking a bite.
"mmm!" I exclaimed looking at Nick, they were delicious.

Nick still focused on the budgets and papers around him.

"Here" I snatched his jaw and forced him to take a bite. He took a tiny one and immediately turned back to his papers.

"I thought I could look over budgets and figures. I'm trying to make a miracle happen without doing budget cuts but..." he sighs and takes off his glasses, rubbing his face with his fingers, "can you give me CEO expertise Wynter Rider?"

"Fine." I dust my hands off of powder sugar and walk over to the couch to read a few graphs and figures of the year's projection.

"Is it good or bad?" Nick asks, watching me as I paced the room.

"Good and bad." I shrug. I move to sit in his lap and take the rest of the papers from him. He puts his arm around my waist so I could be closer.
His warmth was electric. These were the small little gestures I cherished.

"Let's see. Overhead is too tight.
I feel like there's so much to optimize
You can cut the costs down by 20% if you expand here and here"

He nods, staring at the graphs.

"And this? Way too much costs. If you take overhead from here and funnel it into the manufacturing costs it would leave enough room for the budget you want here" I point at the figures.

"We'll the workers were supposed to get a raise this year but I don't think I can stretch it."

I nodded and marked a few more things. "Okay, so take a chunk and disperse this here. Easy fix. Problem solved."

Nick smiles in awe. "You did what I couldn't in 5 minutes" he sighs before wrapping my other leg around his waist. "I can't believe my wife is a CEO" he kisses my lips passionately. "I never told you, but I have a thing for CEO's?"

We break and I smile, wiping off the gloss from his lips. "You didn't tell me this" I giggle. He stares at me and frowns. "You miss this? Doing numbers. Being in charge?"

"A little." I shrugged fumbling through the papers to see more numbers. "But I am Mrs. Claus and duty calls. I must go to the kitchen and bake 3k cookies and keep house."

Nick frowns trying to show sympathy.

"It's whatever Nick" I mumble trying not to meet his eyes. Before I could stand he forces me back into his lap.

"No it's not...who says you have to do that?" He challenged.

"Tradition, Nick we've been over this"

He smirks. "But I'm Santa Claus. I have the power to make day become night and night day. I am in control." He says it like a revelation just came to mind.

"Wyn. As of today you are the CEO of the North Pole. And Claus Family Inc"

"Nick! Be serious?!" I frown. He lets me go and runs over to the computer.

"I am serious! Why didn't I think of this sooner! You do numbers and you were CEO of your company? He looks down at the charts on his monitor and smirks. "There. I emailed Mitch."

"Nick!! I didn't say yes"
He walks over to me and pulls my hands into his x
"Wyn, I need you. Please say yes."

I couldn't believe Nick was asking me to take control of his company. I didn't mind it...I was actually quite excited for it. I missed Nubia Cosmetics but having a title at the Pole would serve me well.

"I mean..." I try to find my words. "Yes! Yes! I'll do it"

"Yes!" He smiles, kissing me appreciatively before lifting me in his arms and and placing me above his desk.

"I can't believe it! I'm a CEO again" I clapped excitedly. We kiss more passionately this time, excited with the new reality.

"So we need to get you an office" Nick says, carefully pulling away my coat.

"And a desk" I hum, pulling away his tie.

"I'll tell Kringle to oversee that" he says recklessly. I stop and stare at him. "Actually no." He caught himself. "I'll tell Drew." He whispers against my lips.

"Good" I whisper. We continue kissing, knocking everything off his desk before commemorating the special day.

——-

Author Note
Those photos on Nick's computer...we need to unpack that...