Timothy and Angela sat on the floor in the sitting room that Christmas Eve as Shelagh sat on the settee with Teddy in her arms with Patrick beside her. They were all in their pajamas and Patrick had the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas in hand and started reading.
"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there"
"Who is St. Nicholas?" asked Angela
"That is another name for Father Christmas" Shelagh answered
Patrick continued to read the poem, but this year it took longer than normal because of Angela's questions. Shelagh did not mind because it was a sign that she was entering the magical age of believing in Father Christmas which excited her. Almost all of the answers were easy until Patrick read the line "Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound: He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot"
"What about old flat?" questioned Angela
Shelagh wasn't sure what she meant at first, but then when she repeated the line in her head and it hit her, Angela wanted to know how Father Christmas got into their old flat without a chimney. Shelagh was able to determine that Patrick figured it out too when they looked at one another with panic, not sure what to say.
"Every year I would leave a key under the mat with a note on the doorstep telling him where the key was so he could get into our old flat" Timothy answered with ease
They looked down at him with a look of gratitude and Timothy smiled at them. They were able to finish the poem with only three more questions from her that were easy to answer.
"The end. Now that we have read A Visit from St. Nicholas, that means that it is time to go to bed so Father Christmas can visit" said Patrick
"No Daddy" Angela said
"You don't want to end up on the naughty list do you?" Patrick asked in a light tone
"No" Angela replied
"Then why don't you go up to bed and we will tuck you in" Shelagh told her
"Okay Mommy" she replied and ran up the stairs to bed
Shelagh and Patrick were downstairs late that night putting out the presents that "Father Christmas" would bring for the children. They were trying to be super quiet because it took Angela longer than usual to fall asleep and so Teddy wouldn't cry which would wake the whole house. As they were about to start placing the presents into different piles, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs and they froze in a panic. "What if Angela sees?" Shelagh thought "Her belief in Father Christmas would end before it ever really started". Shelagh and Patrick huddled by the pile of presents as best they could to hide them. She let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding when she saw Timothy walk into the sitting room.
"What are you doing?" Patrick asked him in a whisper
"I wanted to help with Father Christmas duties" he whispered back
"We were just about to sort the presents in piles if you want to help" Shelagh whispered to him
"Sounds good" he replied in a whisper
They sorted the presents in three piles in the sitting room quickly between the three of them. When they finished, they walked into the kitchen and each grabbed a biscuit from the plate left for "Father Christmas" and they all took a bite.
As they ate their biscuit, Shelagh whispered "Thank you for having such a clever answer earlier and for playing along with all of this"
"You're welcome. It is a lot of fun seeing Angela so excited about Father Christmas and I want to help keep this going for her and someday Teddy as long as I can" Timothy whispered back
"You are such a good older brother" Patrick whispered to Timothy
"Thank you, but do you want to know the real reason I came downstairs?" He asked them in a whisper
They gave him a confused look and he said "Because I wanted to eat every biscuit on this plate" he whispered in a joking tone. They laughed a noiseless laugh and finished their biscuits. They tiptoed up the stairs very carefully and walked silently down the hall to their bedrooms.
"Happy Christmas" Timothy whispered before going into his room
"Happy Christmas" Shelagh and Patrick whispered in unison and they went to bed