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[center][b]December 25th, 10 years ago[/b][/center]
	“Wake up, Chris! Wake up!” An elementary school aged Veronica burst into Chris’ bedroom and jumped onto his bed. When Chris simply rolled over, she began to bounce on his mattress, making it impossible for him to rest in peace.

	[color=c0c0c0]“What time is it?”[/color] Chris groggily muttered as he reached for his alarm clock, which said that it was only five in the morning on Christmas Day. 

	“It’s time to open presents!”

	[color=c0c0c0]“But what if Santa hasn’t come yet?”[/color] Chris tried to make an excuse to head back to bed. However, it did not seem to work on his half-sister.

	“George told me that he already came,” the girl told her brother as she began to tug on Chris’ arm.

	Chris sighed as he tossed his sheets aside so that he could get out of bed. Since Chris was home for the holidays from his forth year in his PhD program, he thought that he would at least get some sleep. But he was obviously mistaken. He then slipped into his slippers and tossed on his robe before he followed Veronica out of his room.

	The staircase had garland wrapped around the banisters and the lights that went with it illuminated the way. At the bottom of the staircase was a giant, 14-foot Christmas tree, decked out with a variety of ornaments, tinsel, and lights. Underneath the evergreen, there was a giant stack of presents, all wrapped in the same gift paper. George was also waiting for Chris and Veronica at the foot of the staircase.

	Veronica practically flew down the stairs towards the presents that Santa had brought her. She even slid across the floor, stopping right in front of the Christmas presents. While she started to shake her presents so as to decide which to open first, Chris took his time making his way to the tree. Once there, he pulled up a chair while he and George watched Veronica shred through the wrapping paper that covered her presents.

	Chris remembered when he used to believe in Santa Claus. He too would wait anxiously all night for the jolly old man to bring his presents on Christmas Day. Even on multiple Christmases in the past, Chris had woken up at the crack of dawn because he was extremely excited to see what old Kris Kringle had brought him. He knew the excitement of ripping off the Christmas wrapping paper and seeing what it had hidden. But that time had long past. He had not believed in that little white lie since he was Veronica’s age. Nevertheless, he was just happy to see that his sister was enjoying this Christmas day.

	However, once his half-sister had torn through all of her presents form Santa, a frown appeared on the girl’s face.

	[color=c0c0c0]“We still have the family present,”[/color] Chris tried to console his younger half-sister.

	“But Santa didn’t bring them,” Veronica began to cry.

	[color=c0c0c0]“Santa didn’t bring what?”[/color] For a moment, Chris was puzzled, since he thought he had gotten everything on Veronica’s Christmas list that was feasible for him to buy.

	“Santa didn’t bring mom and dad back.”

	His little sister’s comment pierced Chris’ heart. This was the first Christmas that they had celebrated since their parents had been murdered by Chris’ deranged mother, who had become his father’s ex after he had divorced her for the woman who would become Veronica’s mom. Although Chris had issues with his father for how he handled the divorce, that did not mean he did not love his father.

	“Are the other kids right? Is there no Santa Claus?”

	[color=c0c0c0]“What? Of course there is a Santa Claus!”[/color]

	“Then why didn’t he bring mom and dad back?”

	[color=c0c0c0]“Do you remember Miracle on 34th Street?”[/color] Chris asked his half-sister, who nodded. [color=c0c0c0]“If Santa doesn’t bring something on your Christmas list, he usually has a good reason. When I was a kid, I asked for Uranium one Christmas. But he didn’t bring it as a gift because any responsible adult would know not to hand a radioactive element to a child.”[/color]

	“But I miss them so much!” Veronica began to bawl as he hopped up from her spot on the floor next to her Christmas presents and wrapped her arms around Chris.

	[color=c0c0c0]“I do, too.”[/color]