Buddy and Jovie are now married and they have a Teenage Daughter, Susie. Buddy has become a successful children’s book author, specializing in Christmas stories, of course. Even though everyone thinks his stories are imaginative and creative, all Buddy’s doing is telling real stories from his childhood.
One night, Jess’s father, Mr. Spicer, invites Buddy, Jovie, and Susie, over for a dinner party, which is the perfect chance for Buddy to prove that he’s normal. But, during dinner, the a-hole Mr. Spicer secretly dresses up as a leprechaun, and pops back into dinner pretending to be Buddy, acting as weird and awkward as possible. Susie now knows the truth – that her dad will always be the butt of the joke, and no longer wants him as a father.
As if that isn’t heavy enough, Buddy learns that Papa Elf has just been kidnapped by the South Pole (this happens on page 80 by the way). Snowy the Snowman dematerializes and flies to New York to recruit Buddy to save Christmas. But Buddy’s not Buddy anymore. He’s Brian. So he refuses. With every aspect of Buddy’s life falling apart, he’s unhappy for the first time. Will he become an elf again and save the day? Or will he stay true to being the normal guy his daughter demands that he be?
