It was Christmas eve, and six year old Temperance Brennan sat bundled in the car seat of her parents old car, the tinny sound of the radio playing Christmas carols as they drove through the city streets. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder as they drove through the streets of the city, pointing out the lights on different homes. She watched her daddy point different places out as her mother sang along to the songs that were playing on the radio, and her brother sat beside her, looking out the window as they drove.
"Look at that one, Dad!" Russ exclaimed, pointing out the brightly lit house that they were driving near. "That one is my favorite."
"It's my favorite too." Temperance chimed in, smiling at her mother's bright grin as she turned to watch her little girl enjoy the Christmas spirit.
"It's not your favorite, you have to pick your own favorite." Russ argued, scowling at his little sister.
"It's my favorite." Temperance said, watching her father's eyes in the rearview mirror.
"Tempe can have the same favorite as you, Russ. It's not going to make a difference." Matthew Brennan said, watching his son glare at his sister.
"But I said it was my favorite first."
"Don't be stubborn, Russ." Christine replied, watching her son. "It's Christmas, there's no need to be grumpy."
"Daddy?" Temperance said from her seat, she sounded eager and Matthew looked to his daughter to see that her focus was out the window. Up high in the sky, a red light was blinking on and off. To everyone in the car, they could see it was simply the red light atop a radio tower, blinking to warn off airplanes of its height. Temperance though, she had another thought in mind. "Daddy, what's that?"
"That red light up there?" He asked, watching her nod her head eagerly.
"Is that Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, Daddy? Is that Santa?" She asked, feeling her heart beat faster, her excitement bubbling up as she waited for her father's answer.
"It most certainly could be Rudolph!" Matthew replied. "We had better get home then! We need to get a certain little girl and little boy to bed before Santa gets there!"
"Hurry, Daddy! Hurry!" Temperance exclaimed. "He's following us now!" She said, turning her head as they passed the tower.
"Dad?" Russ called from the back seat, knowing full well that he was telling a little white lie to his sister. He caught his mother's eye, and she gave him a little wink. He smiled at her grin, and nodded, catching on to what they were doing. "You had better make sure you get us home in time to put milk and cookies out for Santa!"
"Milk and cookies! Milk and cookies!" Temperance exclaimed, and then burst into song despite the currently playing song on the radio. "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer! Had a very shiny nose!" Temperance began to shout and sing on top of her lungs. "And if you ever saw him! You would say he glowed!" She sang, happily, the rest of the car's occupants erupted into song as well, singing their way back to the Brennan household to prepare their home for visit from Santa Claus.