Found the story: The year without a Santa
Every 1st of December the magic of Christmas settles its mantle of power on a Klaus. Male or female, didn't matter, all the magic cared about was who was the jolliest elf.
By the 5th of December, the person began to get rounder.
By the 10th of December, their eyes twinkled.
By the 15th, their cheeks became rosy.
By the 20th, their body was plump and their dimples, merry.
By the 23rd, their "Ho, Ho, Ho" could be heard throughout the North Pole.
But this year, this year was different. The 1st of December came and no one felt different. The 5th of December came, no one got rounder. By the end of the first week, the Klaus family was beginning to panic. They raced to the vault. Mama carefully lifted out the family tree.
"Look Mama" said Holly, the oldest of the girls, "in the corner". Mama looked and sure enough, in the corner was a shimmer around a portrait they didn't recognize.
Nicholas Klaus (adopted by Jack Frost)
"Oh boy" said Papa "this is gonna be a tough one".
"What do you mean, Papa" said Little Jack, the youngest of the boys. "Just call Uncle Jack and ask him"
Mama and Papa exchanged a look with Merry, their middle daughter. She sighed, "I'll go Skype him."
Other side of the North Pole
"Merry, long time , no see" said Jack cheerfully.
"It's bad, Jack."
Jack's brow furrowed. "What's bad?"
"The magic of Christmas has chosen Nicholas."
"What! How can that be? He has nothing to do with the North Pole or the Klaus family."
"It gets worse. The book shows our connection"
"Oh, Merry. Come home, love. We'll talk more when I can hold you." Jack disconnected the call.
Beside Merry a single snowflake floated to the desk. Picking it up, she went in search of her family.
"Mama, Papa, I'll be back tomorrow."
"Do you need a ride?"
"No, Jack..." Merry's voice trailed off.
They nodded. "We'll talk tomorrow". Giving her a hug, they rejoined Holly and little Jack in the dining room.
Kissing the snowflake, Merry opened her eyes. Seeing the tears trailing down her cheeks, Jack scooped her up.
"Oh, Merry, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just missed you."
"It's only been a couple of days, Merry. What has you this upset? Did they give you a hard time about the baby?"
Added 1/28/21:
"No," said Merry, "I hadn't even gotten to talk to them about it yet. All they can see is that we are bound. Unfortunately, with this whole Nicolas business, we will just have to call him home. I know he doesn't want to come deal with all of this but I just can't do this without you. You know the doctors said it was a miracle we were able to even get pregnant. They said to keep my stress levels down and you need to be close in case the baby starts to freeze me from the inside out."
"I know", sighed Jack "We were hoping to wait to tell Nick until after the holidays when the first trimester was over, but it looks like we have no choice but to call him now."
Somewhere in the snowy Mid-West
"Hey, dad, what the hell is going on?" Nicolas greeted his adoptive father. "Something is seriously wrong with me. The coach is rabid. I put on some serious weight, and it's not muscle".
Jack looked at his son, "Wow, Nick. I can see that the coach is right. Can you come home? I know that the school has winter break coming up soon but can you come now? Are you all done with your classes? If you can talk to your coach, let him know you will be back by the start of next semester but you have a family emergency that you need to attend, immediately."
Nick starts to look worried. "Sure dad, I can come home. Give me a couple of day and I will be able to catch a flight."
Jack looked at his son. "I will send a snowflake, it will be faster. The sooner you can get here, the better"
Nick's eyes grow wide. "Ok, give me a couple of hours and I'll be in the apartment off campus. Just send it through the mail slot. I'll be home soon. Love you."
Jack release a deep breath. "Love you too. See you soon".
After hanging up the video call, Jack looked in on Merry, who was sleeping in the bedroom. Please let this go smoothly, prayed Jack. After giving Merry a quick kiss on the forehead, Jack strode outside to send his son a snowflake to come home.
Two hours later, somewhere in the snowy Mid-West
Nicolas was just picking up his bag when a snowflake floated through the mail slot of his apartment. Here goes nothing, he thought. Placing the snowflake on his tongue, he closed his eyes. Moments later, he was standing outside of his father's house. Knocking, he twisted the doorknob and walked inside.
