A/N: The third of our five Christmas themed stories, has little Molly Sherwood sending Santa Claus a tall order. Will he be able to deliver or will this precious little girl lose her hope and ability to believe in magic forever.

TJ LeBlanc was a good kid but like his mother the poor kid had a big mouth, it was close to Christmas and all the little ones were excited about getting presents from Santa which all the parents thought was adorable, Molly had been talking about it for weeks, but one day when Trevor, Roxy and the kids came over TJ said something that upset Molly, and his little brother "Santa isn't real."

Three year old Molly Sherwood had her father's temper, she got up off the floor and pushed him on his behind, "That's not true, TJ Leblanc," she shouted. "Daddy says there is to a Santa Claus!"

"No there isn't!" he said.

Molly flounced to kitchen where the adults were visiting, her little blonde curls bounced and he little green dress swished, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

"What sweetie?" he asked smiling.

"He's mean, he's a mean boy!" Big tears were running out of her little blue eyes.

He picked her up and rocked her. "Who's mean baby?"

"TJ, he's mean and he lies and I put him on his bottom," she said firmly. "He does lie, doesn't he Daddy?"

Denise spoke up, "Molly, that's not nice, we don't call names."

"I just did," she said pouting at her mommy. "He's a big mean liar"

"Molly, if you don't be a nice little girl and stop saying mean things I'm going to call up Santa Claus," Denise threatened irritating her husband, he had Molly spoiled near to rotten.

"You will not!" Frank snapped. "She's not doing anything wrong!"

"She's not being a nice little girl and she knows how to..." Just as ten year old Finn came out. "Mom, TJ's making the little kids cry."

"Damn it!" Roxy swore and went to get TJ.

"I told her," Trevor sighed. He whispered, "TJ is the only kid in Junior High that believes."

"He is real," Molly said. "Right, Daddy?"

"Of course he is Peanut," Frank told her. "Isn't he Finn?"

He nodded "He is, my brother's just a jerk. Come on Molly, let's go play"

Sara Elizabeth came out a minute later crying, "Uncle Frank, is it right Santa's not real?"

"No sweetie," he said. "It's not true."

"Well is it true that Santa's white and he doesn't give presents to black kids?" she asked. Since the day he watched her almost four years ago she'd loved him to bits.

Denise's eyes widened, TJ had taken this way too far.

"Come on up here," Frank said and put her on his knee. "You're not tiny like Molly so you can know the real truth okay? Can you be a big girl and keep a secret for me?"

She nodded.

"Do you know the poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas"?" he asked her. Denise loved this, how he connected and interacted now, so much more his true self than ever.

Again the little girl nodded.

"Well, that's not the book's real name," he said. "The real name is "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" and it was written by a Daddy whose little girl was very very sick, they thought she might even not be alive on Christmas and she wanted to hear a story about Santa so badly her Daddy looked in all the stores in the entire county to find one, but none was written so he sat down and wrote her the story himself, and that story is Twas the Night Before Christmas...You see, honey, no one really knows what Santa looks like, the Santa pictures we see come from a story book, he might look like me, or you, he might even be a she...We don't know, but little kid, they like to think the Santa in the mall is the real Santa Claus, but we know better than that, don't we? We knew he's just a special helper."

"So he's not real?" she said her little lip quivering and tears pooling in her eyes again.

"OH, no no, baby," Frank said. "Santa is very very real, he comes down the chimney and leaves presents and eats cookies...But the man in the mall or on the corner, he's not actually Santa, Santa is soooo busy in the North Pole he can't be down here. You know how Aunt Roxy runs a bar and Mr. Chief cooks, we don't see Mr. Chief a lot do we?"

"No."

"That's right, because he has to make all the food and make sure the right food goes to the right table...He's like Santa...the waiters tell Mr. Chief what to make...well the helpers, like the one in the mall, they tell Santa what to make, but instead of a waitress bringing the toys, Santa does that himself because it's an extra special job. Do you understand?"

She smiled and nodded.

"That's a good girl, so we don't know if Santa is an old man in a red suit, but he is very very real." He kissed her cheek. "Run along and play."

She nodded and ran off to play with the other children; Frank looked up to see Denise glaring at him with her arms crossed.

"What did I do?" he asked. "Honestly Denise, what have I done now?"

"You let our daughter by with murder," she said sharply.

"I did not," he said getting up. "If the kid said that he deserved it." This as Roxy brought a crying TJ out, Trevor was just shocked.

"What happened?" Denise asked her friend.

"I think I made a mistake," Roxy replied. "We're going home for a talk, Finn, come on now. I'm sorry about Molly."

"It's okay," Denise said and the LeBlancs left the house and Denise left the room, she wasn't in the mood to fight with Frank.

"Come on Molly," Frank said. "Time for your bath."

Molly smiled at her daddy and put her arms up for him to carry her.

He picked her up, "Come on my princess!"

She smiled and laid her head down on his shoulder and let him carry her.

He set her down on toilet lid and ran her bath, "Okay, get on in the tub."

She nodded and got in. "Can I play in the water for a while?"

He nodded, "You bet you can. He's your bath baby and your boat."

She smiled and started playing with her toys.

Frank loved to watch her play; she washed that baby doll like a real little mother. Soon though her mother appeared, "Frank it's past her bedtime."

"Okay, Molly, Mommy says we have to hurry and get you bathed, it's past your bed time," he said.

"Okay, Daddy," she said and stopped her play. Frank bathed her good and dried her off. Denise was waiting, "Bed Molly, too much playtime is no story."

"But Mommy!" she whined.

"Dee," Frank said gently and raised his eye brow.

"No Frank," she said firmly. "Bed Molly, go."

"Can't you tuck me in?" she asked her mother. They always tucked her in.

"Yeah, come on," she said.

Denise took Molly and tucked her in bed and got up to leave the room, Molly was crying, she wanted a story and she didn't get it which did not make her happy.

"Molly, you know your bedtime is 8 o'clock and you know if you play in the tub sometimes you miss your story, it's almost 9, now lie down and sleep and tomorrow you can have a story if you're in bed on time. Goodnight."

"Daddy!" Molly cried.

Denise just left her hoping she'd settle down.

"Why is she crying?" Frank asked getting up to go to her.

"I told her no story," Denise replied sitting down. "Frank, do not go back there. We need to talk."

"Denise I cannot let her cry like that!"

"She's three and half, she can calm herself down, now have a seat, you'll see," Denise told him trying to be sweet.

He sighed but sat down

"Frank I know you love her but you're spoiling her, she always gets her way, it's not good for her."

"What do you mean it's not good for her, she's a child," he said.

"Yes, but she has to learn and the younger the better there are rules, limits, boundaries in life and you have to stay within those boundaries," Denise sighed. "We have to have a set of rules that we both agree on and stick to them we can't argue in front of her that's a recipe for a disaster."

"Okay," he sighed. "You're right." Just as he said that he heard Molly call for him.

"Dee..." It was killing him.

"Let her cry, she'll eventually fall asleep," she replied. "She'll forget all about it by morning, but it's good for her to know she can…" He wasn't buying it.

"Let me at least reassure her, I won't read to her."

"Go ahead," she sighed giving in. It was hard on her too but she did this with Jeremy and…it cost them both.

Frank got up and went to check on his baby girl.

She was sitting up in her bed, with her knees up to her chest crying her heart out.

He went and sat on her bed, "Okay, Sweetie, time for sleep. Snuggle down."

"No, Daddy. Mommy's mean," she said reaching for him.

He didn't lift her; he pushed her back to her pillow. "Mommy's not mean, Sweetie. I think Mommy's sad."

"She's mean to me," she said still crying.

He shook his head, "No honey. Daddy will talk to Mommy but let's try to give her extra love okay? Do you know why Mommy's heart is hurt?"

She shook her head.

"Because of your brother," he replied. "That's not an easy thing for a Mommy and she's missing him a lot. So we just need to love her harder and she'll feel happier and get nice again, okay, Princess?"

She nodded and snuggled down. "Will you stay with me?"

"I can't," Frank told her. "I need to go work on loving Mommy but you can help by being a good little girl and going to sleep."

She pouted a little but nodded and closed her eyes.

Frank went back to the living room, "Off to dreamland, but we do have a problem."

"What?" she asked.

"Molly asked me why her Mommy is mean," he told her sitting beside her. "I tried to explain why you are so easily upset..."

Denise sighed and closed her eyes to keep from crying, she missed her son and it hurt that he wasn't there, he'd been gone more than a year, and they finally accepted he wasn't coming home, but with Christmas coming up, it was too much on Denise's heart.

"I miss him too Dee," Frank said reaching for her. She hadn't been letting him comfort her at all.

She wouldn't let him hold her, she missed her son and it was his fault he was dead, he was the one who thought it was a good idea for him to enlist, and now he was dead.

He just sighed, "I'm going to bed, if you want me you know where I'll be."

She let him go but she cried harder, she wanted him but she was angry with him. She was confused and didn't know what to do; she laid there on the couch and cried herself to sleep.