"But why can't I go? You said yourself that it was getting harder and harder to make the whole circuit in one night. I can help you unload the gifts."
"Because I can't take the extra weight. Every year the cargo gets heavier and the reindeer are at their maximum now."
"Well, why not add a couple of extra reindeer?"
He paused trying to think why such a simple idea would not work. He studied the corral, stroking his chin, and realized for the first time he had more than enough reindeer..
"Hmmmmmm. Might work at that," he said. "By golly Mrs. Clause, you have yourself a deal!"
"Oh Mr. Clause, thank you," she said excitedly. She waddled over to him and their large bodies pressed against each other as she planted a long kiss on his lips. Because of their size and heavy clothing the best they could do was hold each others arms as her breasts and belly pressed against his torso.
He stroked her grey hair pulled back in a bun saying, "You are still so beautiful. Hard to believe we were once young and skinny."
Her smile was enigmatic as she replied, "You are still the most handsome thing around. I love you so very much."
One of the executive elves in charge of packing cleared his throat. The Clauses' broke their embrace looking at each other's shy smiles and red faces.
"Get four extra reindeer ready for the journey" he said to the elf. "Mrs. Clause is coming along tonight."
"Whaaaaat???" replied the incredulous elf. "With all due respect sir, you are leaving in a couple of hours. We don't have enough time to get the extra harnesses and rigging ready. We need to do trial runs to make sure all the reindeer will work well together. We may need to reconfigure the sleigh to handle the extra weight of Mrs. Clause with the extra reindeer power. We will also need to..."
Santa held up a black gloved hand.
"I suggest you get moving since you only have a couple of hours," he said.
The elf tried to present more arguments but Santa walked away to do some last minute inspections. The 2nd Executive Elf in charge of Packing sighed and began making arrangements with the other departments using his cell phone.
Santa laughed to himself as he overheard the elf say "Central Control? We have some BIG last minute problems...."
The two hours were a blur of activity as established procedures were modified to accommodate Mrs. Clause and the extra reindeer. But, with 60 seconds to spare, everything was ready.
He stared at the extra reindeer calculating how much more strength he would need to guide them. Small roofs could be a problem, but he was confident the sleigh could handle it. He reasoned they could always land on the yard and just do extra levitating to go up and down the chimneys.
His wife of many years was wearing a hooded, long sleeved, red dress which came down to her ankles. He could just barely make out the black boots. Her hands were snug inside an old black fabric hand warmer.
They snuggled next to each other on the sleigh. Mrs. Clause smiled at her husband. He kissed her lightly on the nose then gave the commands and they were off in a flash.
She was amazed at how effortlessly the reindeer flew and how quickly they arrived at the first home. Without saying a word, she helped him with gift transfers and arrangements as they went from house to house. She was able to save him a half second here, a tenth of a second there, by adroitly handing him the gifts as he held out his hand so they were able to finish in record time.
"I should have done this years ago!" he said as they headed back home.
