The Alien Reindeer's Christmas Miracle Read online

  The Alien Reindeer’s Christmas Miracle

  A Sci-Fi Alien Holiday Romance

  Zara Zenia

  Starr Huntress

  Illustrated by

  Nancey Cummings

  Edited by

  Elizabeth Lance

  Copyright © 2019 by Zara Zenia

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Nancey Cummings

  Edited by Elizabeth Lance

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Preview of In Love With Alien Santa Claus

  About Zara Zenia

  Also by Zara Zenia

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  Chapter One

  Janice

  “Welcome to Helsinki! If you are meeting a connecting flight, your baggage will be delivered to your connecting plane. If you are continuing on with us to Rovaniemi, please remain seated. As always, thank you for flying Finnair.”

  I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my face. I’d been traveling since five a.m. this morning. First on Delta, from the Indianapolis airport to JFK in New York City. I’d never seen New York and half wished that we’d had a longer layover, but it wasn’t to be. I’d been lucky enough to get a window seat and was able to see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, but it probably wasn’t the same as going to see them in person and touring them. From JFK we’d hopped on the Finnair flight to Helsinki.

  The other college doctorate, his girlfriend, our assistants, our advisor and I were headed to a remote village in Lapland, Finland to research the local folklore on Christmas and Santa Claus. However, we still had another hour at least in the air to Rovaniemi and then we had a car rental waiting for us and a two hour drive to Sodankylä and that still wasn’t our final destination. No that would be the Joulupukki village just north of Lake Ahvenlampi near the Pyhä Luosto National Park. Joulupukki, literally translated meant ‘Christmas goat’ and was a popular Finnish Christmas figure who was basically, from my research, Santa Claus. Near as I could figure.

  I was excited to get there and start delving into the research, but right now, Smoochy — my gorgeous, black Persian cat — and I, really just wanted to get out and stretch our legs. Unfortunately, we still had hours to go. Smoochy meowed in complaint and I stuck my fingers into the carrier to sooth him. I’d had to pay extra to bring him on the flight, but it was worth it. Smoochy was really the only real family I had left. My mom had passed away years ago, and my dad… well, my dad was an asshole.

  I sighed as thoughts of Dad flitted through my mind. I’d spent forever trying to please the man, but nothing I did seemed to make him happy. And ever since he’d married the Wicked Witch of the East and started a new family, it was as if I didn’t exist to him. Fuck him, I thought, stroking Smoochy’s fur. I have Smoochy and I don’t need anyone else.

  “Heyyyy, Jannnice, doowe wanna shpendd ssoome time in Ravanneeeeme?” Professor Carl Eaton, my mentor slurred as he leaned down over my seat partner and best friend, Dee.

  I frowned, apparently he’d managed to drink all the liquor on the plane. “Professor, we have reservations in Joulupukki, remember? They were quite hard to get for the six of us, they barely had enough open accommodations. Luckily, Mike and Erin are going to share a cabin. I think we need to stick to our itinerary, don’t you?” I asked, hoping he could at least see reason. Taking a breath, I added, “And maybe no more liquor, Professor? At least until you eat?”

  “Mmm fine, Jannnice, can d-drink what I wann.”

  “Professor, I have a bag of pretzels, do you want them?” Dee asked as she pulled the bag out to show him.

  Professor Eaton looked from her to the bag and frowned. “Okay.” He took the bag. “Wash about Ravammmeni?”

  “Rovaniemi, and no, I think we need to go on to Joulupukki.”

  “I’m anxious to get settled, Professor,” Dee said in her chirpy voice, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear and looking up at him anxiously. “Is that okay?”

  He nodded. “Yesh, just thawed it be fun. Santa village annnn all.”

  “I think that’s the point, Professor. It’s a tourist destination, it’s meant to be fun, but not really what we’re here for. We’ve only got a little more than six weeks to get all the research we can in before next semester starts.”

  “Pffft.” He munched on several pretzels, and then said. “Fine, I’m a-go bat-ta my seat.”

  As he stood up and bumped his way back to his seat, I sighed. “Thanks,” I said to Dee with a smile. “I think the divorce is hitting him pretty hard. Cheryl took the kids and moved to her mother’s in Texas. I know he’s not been coping well, but I’ve never seen him like that. I wasn’t sure how to handle him.” If that’s what love does to you, I want no part.

  Dee nodded. “Hopefully that bag of pretzels does the trick to sober him up some.” Her eyes moved to Smoochy. “How is he doing in there? I can’t believe he’s made it this whole trip so calmly.”

  I smiled. “Smoochy is doing good, aren’t you, baby? The vet gave me some tranquilizers for him to keep him calm and told me not to feed him until we get to Joulupukki and to only give him a minimal amount of water, so he won’t have to potty. Still, I put a small box with litter in there at JFK and he did his business, so he should be good until we get to Rovaniemi.”

  “That was smart,” Dee said with a grin.

  She looked like a little elf with her pixie cut and bright blue eyes. She was generally always in a good mood and she was fun to work with. I was happy to have her as a grad student assistant and as a good friend. She’d been the first to volunteer to go on this trip, even though it meant missing Christmas with her family and most likely below zero temperatures.

  “I think I’m going to try and take a nap, I really don’t want to deal with jet lag when we get to Joulupukki,” I said as the plane once again lifted into the air.

  “Good idea,” Dee agreed. “I don’t want to either.”

  Smiling, I leaned my seat back, fluffed the pillow the flight attendant had given me earlier, and closed my eyes.

  “Janice.”

  I felt someone shaking my shoulder and blinked awake. Yawning, I blinked again, seeing Dee gather up her stuff.

  “The plane’s landed, we’re here. Well, at Rovaniemi anyway, come on, let’s go get something to eat before we pick up the SUV.”

  “Is everyone going to eat first?”

  “Yeah, that’s the general consensus.” Dee nodded.

  I moved into the aisle following Dee and grabbed my carry-on luggage from the overhead bin. “Are we getting our bags first?”

/>   “Yeah, we should,” Dee agreed.

  I followed her, as the rest of our group deplaned. We all made our way to baggage claim with Erin loudly complaining about the cold. I had no idea why she even agreed to come. We were going to be in close proximity to the Arctic Circle, surely she knew that the temperatures weren’t going to be hot!

  Shaking my head, I pulled my three additional bags from the baggage belt. Thankfully, the largest one was on wheels and I could load the two others on top of it and still carry my carry-on and Smoochy’s carrier.

  “Did you bring the kitchen sink too, Janice?” Mike snorted.

  I rolled my eyes and ignored him, as I usually did. Mike Mills was the bain of my existence. At twenty-seven, Mike had originally thought he’d had a chance with me, but when I’d shot him down, he’d gone on to make my life as aggravating as possible by considering me a rival for everything in our field. Which was why he’d signed up for this particular trip too. He wasn’t even remotely interested in Finnish folklore, but here he was, trying to horn in on my interests.

  We found the little Rovaniemi Café and looked over the menu. I decided on the flatbread with salmon, and a coffee. I was afraid I was going to need it. The little café included a selection of confectionary treats, flatbread sandwiches with reindeer or salmon meat, and at appropriate times, they had buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, we were much too late for dinner and just a bit too early for breakfast, with it being 4:45 a.m. I was just glad they were open. I ate my sandwich, drank my coffee, and then wandered around the little duty free shop connected to the café. I purchased a bag of treats, as well as some fruit and a travel coffee mug, which I filled with coffee for the trip to Sodankylä.

  Once we all finished, we headed to the car rental and picked up the SUV they had waiting for us, a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which thankfully, easily sat all six of us and accommodated all of our luggage. We headed outside, and after letting Smoochy do his business, I dumped the box in the garbage. Everyone loaded up the luggage in the back of the SUV and I handed Dee Smoochy’s carrier and then climbed into the driver’s seat, setting my coffee mug in the cup holder.

  “I don’t see why you get to drive,” Mike complained.

  “Mike, I’m freezing, stop arguing with Janice and get in the damn car,” Erin said, pulling her fuzzy, pink, snow hat down over her ears. Her silky, dark hair was in braids and made her look about twelve instead of twenty-six.

  Mike climbed in and closed the door behind him. “Whatever. Still don’t see why Janice gets to drive.”

  “Because I’m the one who took the international driving test, not you. So shut up and buckle your seatbelt.” I turned on the car and the lights came on automatically. When I’d studied for the driving test, I’d found out it was a law in Finland that lights were to be on at all times, and seatbelts were required by law for everyone in the car. So I wasn’t moving until they were all buckled. “You too, Professor, everyone has to wear a seatbelt. I’m not risking a ticket.”

  “But I’m in the back,” he said, sounding more like himself before the divorce.

  “Doesn’t matter, sir, everyone has to wear one.”

  “Fine.”

  “Everyone ready?” I glanced up into the review and counted heads, the Professor and Mary were in the back, Mike and Erin in the middle and Dee sat next to me with Smoochy.

  I pulled out my phone and turned on the GPS to get us to Joulupukki, and then turned onto the road, following the directions. It was a quiet drive, as the others all opted to sleep. There wasn’t any sunshine in Sodankylä in December, so pretty much what we were seeing was about as bright as it was going to get through most of our stay. Still, it was pretty, kind of magical actually, as everything shimmered in the bluish light. It was a nice drive and with the heat on in the car, we didn’t really feel the frigid temperatures outside. Almost two and a half hours later, we pulled up to the Joulupukki resort.

  “We’re here,” I said loudly, waking everyone. Taking Smoochy’s carrier, I hopped out and stretched. “Let’s leave the bags until we know which cabins we need to go to.”

  “Sounds good,” Dee agreed.

  I walked into the main lodge of the resort and up to the counter. A short, older man sat behind the counter, his eyes closed. He had a grizzly type, gray beard and short gray hair, wore a plaid flannel shirt and thick, tan pants and black boots. He reminded me of a gnome. I pushed the bell on the counter, waking him up.

  “Hei, miten voin auttaa sinua?” he said.

  “Do you speak English?”

  He frowned. “Joo. What do you want?” he said grumpily.

  “We have reservations. Under the last name White, I think?” I replied.

  He nodded. “Joo, five cabins. Credit card?”

  I handed over the card and signed the papers. We’d decided on using one card, mine since my credit was the best, and they would all chip in their share, paying me for the cabins via Venmo.

  “Here’s your keys. Enjoy your stay.”

  “Thank you,” I said, passing out keys. “Um, how do we get to the cabins?”

  “Drive round the back, there’s parking by each cabin.”

  “Okay, thank you.” I smiled and herded them all back out again.

  We all climbed back in the SUV and I drove around the back. The cabins were all fairly close to each other. The parking extended the length of each row of cabins. We, fortunately, had cabins all next to each other, with mine in the middle, so I parked in front of it.

  Climbing out, I clicked the button to open up the back and grabbed my stuff. It was really cold, so I hurried to my cabin door, shoved in the key and dragged my stuff inside. I set Smoochy’s carrier down, shut the door and turned on the lights. The cabin was lovely, and quite warm with a fire already set and crackling in the fireplace. It had a rustic front, with wooden logs, like a traditional cabin, but the back part of the main living room, was all windows, from the floor to even part of the ceiling with wooden beams between panes. I knew that one of the big reasons people visited Finland was to see the Aurora Borealis, so the windows made sense. I had to wonder what kind of glass it was though that it kept out the cold. I strode over to it and put my hand against it. I couldn’t really feel the cold.

  I looked around the rest of the cabin and then decided I should let Smoochy out to stretch his legs too. As soon as I started to open the carrier, I heard two men arguing outside. One voice I recognized as Mike and I groaned. How has he managed to piss someone local off already? I wondered.

  With a sigh, I opened the door and headed out to break up the argument.

  Chapter Two

  Oskar

  When Sven told me he was having American college students as guests for six weeks, I was ecstatic. My species fed on, and enjoyed spreading good cheer, joy, and happiness especially this time of year, and American’s were always good recipients. Normally American’s tended to stay in Rovaniemi where most of the touristy things were. We didn’t normally get American visitors in Joulupukki, but I was happy to have them here. I hoped that it would help keep my people fed through the long winter. Of course we ate regular food too, but in order for our species to survive, we needed to feed on the emotions of happiness and good cheer. We didn’t harm any Humans in our need to feed, in fact we usually left them feeling quite full of happiness themselves. Living where we do, it’s been hard for all of us to get fully fed though. So having a group here now, was wonderful.

  Sven had mentioned that the American’s were the nerdy studious types, but I hoped that they would be up for some fun. I urged my dogs to pull the sleigh up to the back of the lodge and then I got off and unhooked the four dogs, letting them into the warmed kennel. They went happily into the building and found spots to rest. I turned and surveyed the parking lot and noticed a cute little girl with silky black braids struggling with a large bag in the back of a large vehicle. She looked Asian though, and really young, not college age as I was expecting. Maybe someone brought the
ir daughter? I hurried over to her, so I could help her get the large bag down from the vehicle.

  “Can I help?” I spoke in English, hoping she’d be able to understand me.

  Her face lit up and she smiled. “Oh, than—”

  “What the fuck, Erin! We’re here five minutes and already you’re flirting with some local yokel?”

  I set the bag on the ground for her and turned to see a short, chubby, brown haired man with an unkempt beard charging toward her. He grabbed her arm and I grabbed him, making him let her go. “There is no need for that,” I said sternly.

  “I don’t know who the fuck you are, asshole, but stay away from my girlfriend, you hear me?” His nasally voice was really annoying.

  “I was merely helping the lady with her bag, obviously you couldn’t be bothered to help her.”

  The door to the cabin just behind the young man with the Napoleon complex opened and out marched the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I took her in, she was a petite little thing, with bright red hair pulled up into a loose bun on top of her head, and big blue eyes behind a sexy pair of glasses. As she approached, I noticed she wasn’t as short as I first assumed, she was taller than the young man who was still cussing at me, and the small Asian woman who seemed to be wishing she was anywhere but here.