Mrs. Claus gets rehired as KFOX-14 cameras roll

'Twas the nightmare before Christmas for Santa's better half.
She said heartache took over. There was no room to laugh.
Center stage in the mess? The Mesilla Valley Mall.
Mrs. Claus told KFOX-14 the manager there fired her for losing her car.
But pushing and fighting, the mother of Christmas finished victorious.
The mall rehired her while KFOX-14 cameras were rolling, and then she felt glorious.

The Mesilla Valley Mall reinstated its Mrs. Claus --  a.k.a Gail Larkin -- on Friday after firing her on Thursday for what Larkin said managers told her was a "publicity nightmare."

Larkin returned to the parking lot from a special Santa breakfast at the mall last Saturday to find her Silver 2005 Subaru Forester missing. She reported it, the Las Cruces Sun News ran an article about it, and she was fired.

"I felt like I was being punished for something that was totally out of my control," Larkin told KFOX-14 at her Las Cruces home. "I didn't ask for my car to be stolen. I think it was totally inappropriate on the part of the general manager."

That manager is Candy Allen, who KFOX-14 visited at the mall on Friday.

"We have apologized and (Larkin) will be back to work on Saturday," Allen told reporter Jacob Rascon, and she refused to answer questions about the firing.

After being fired, Larkin called Allen's boss, who she said apologized to Larkin and said things would be made right. While talking with KFOX-14, Larkin took a phone call from a mall manager officially inviting her back to work.

"I will be delighted to be there," Larkin said on the phone. "I'm looking forward to it."

She said she feels relieved but isn't ready to take Allen off her "naughty" list and said Allen is "definitely getting a lump of coal in her stocking."

Larkin said she looks forward to seeing the Mesilla Valley children again.

"(They sit) on Santa's lap, asking for a coat to keep them warm in the winter, or for shoes for mommy because she doesn't have shoes without holes," Larkin said. "They don't ask for much and (I love) the joy on their faces seeing Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa."

Larkin's husband plays Santa at Fort Bliss. This is the couple's first year in the Santa business.

Larkin is still missing her Subaru. If you have information on its whereabouts, you're asked to call the Las Cruces police department at 575-528-3043.