The snow was falling outside the Heartland ranch house while the Fleming-Bartlett-Morris-Stillman clan was gathered around the dinner table to enjoy the goods the whole family had spent endless hours on these last few days.

Jack was master on making the turkey, Georgie had been assigned to prepare the mashed potatoes and Lou had taken out her best gravy recipe, while Amy had tried her take on the cranberry sauce. Lisa decided the table couldn't go without a roast beef, as Peter and Katie had been in charge of the pumpkin pie. Last but not least, Ty had taken on the task of creating raisin pudding, which was something he had never tried before, but he nevertheless enjoyed the challenge.

Tim, of course, had not put in any effort, but spent the whole time yapping and testing everyone's Christmas spirit while repeatedly asking if the dinner was ready yet. Casey had gone to spend time with her family, so it weighed on Tim and the rest of the family had decided to be understanding with him and his somewhat grumpy attitude even when it wasn't easy.

The Heartland house was usually very lively, with people coming and going, but this was one of the rare occasions when no one was busy or hurrying anywhere. One day where all of them gathered together, put their differences aside and really took time to enjoy the roasting fire of the hearth, Jack's guitar ballads and a game of cards while enjoying the ginger bread and hot chocolate.

It was Christmas.

"Mommy, can we open the presents, pleaseee?" Katie begged as the family was stuffing their bellies full of Christmas deserts. Amy, Ty, Jack, Lisa, Lou, Peter, Georgie and Tim all watched the youngest member of the family in her red Christmas dress and smiled fondly.

The little girl had not been interested in the raisin pudding or the pumpkin pie, so when she was excused from the table, she of course found her way to the beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the living room and the carefully wrapped presents underneath it.

"Well, I guess we could", as Lou could no longer resist the baby blue eyes of her youngest daughter. Katie had been asking about the gifts the whole day, begging and whining, but Lou had remained strict and told her it was not time for them yet - until now.

The mother of two asked everyone to leave their deserts be for a while so they could receive the presents "the Secret Santa" had gotten them this year.

It was a new tradition, something Lou was hoping could turn into an annual thing for the generations to come. She didn't like the idea of Christmas turning into a materialistic holiday, because that wasn't what it was supposed to be about.

But since no presents felt a little too drastic for a family that still had young kids, Lou had decided that each member of the family would be assigned a person buy for, by drawing a name from a hat, to whom they would anonymously give a gift. That way memories were made and fun could still be had.

"Okay, so who gets the first one?" Georgie asked. "How about… Katie?" she prolonged the guessing game, knowing that the little girl couldn't hold back her enthusiasm.

"Yes, yes!" Katie jumped up and down, clapping her hands together in delight.

"Okay, so which one is for Katie-Kat?" said Peter as he went to rummage through the presents. He then found a square shaped box, wrapped by someone who had appreciation for horse stickers and glittery things. "This says Katie", said the father as he set it back down and continued to look through the presents.

"That's me, Daddy!" she said as amused Peter reached down to pick up the present again and handed the gift to his daughter whose eyes widened as she saw the beautiful present.

"What is it?" Katie asked.

"I don't know. You have to open it", Peter laughed.

Georgie's dimples showed as she tried to hold back her smile. She had drawn Katie and for the older sister, the task had been easy. For someone who spent hours playing with the little girl, she knew Katie's interest in My Little Ponies and Georgie had decided to spent her Secret Santa money on buying the pony that Katie was still missing.

Katie ripped open the wrapping and exposed the pink box with the rainbow decorations and stars.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Katie shouted immediately as she recognized her present.

"Flutter-what…?" Tim frowned trying to see what his granddaughter was holding. He saw a yellow pony with a pink mane and shook his head. "What? They call that a horse?"

"It's a pony, Grandpa!" Katie corrected him, throwing everyone into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, a pony. Well, that makes all the difference…" Tim said grumpily, but was secretly a little amused by Katie's notion.

"Who's next?" Peter asked.

"How about Georgie?" Lou suggested. She thought it was better for the girls to get their presents first, because their attention span was shorter and the older people weren't as concerned about the gifts they were getting.

"Okay!" Georgie said impatiently, coming closer to the Christmas tree. The rest of the family watched as Peter tried to locate the present assigned to Georgie.

Amy, standing next to her newly wedded husband, turned to whisper something in his ear. Ty's grip around her shoulder tightened as he pressed his wife closer.

"It's from me", Amy told Ty.

"You mean Santa's not real?" Ty asked, acting like he was surprised.

"Santa's not what?" Katie immediately picked up on the word. Amy and Ty turned toward her in horror, wondering if they had been the ones to ruin the innocence of her Christmas.

"Santa's not here", Ty quickly said, hoping that Katie would believe that she had heard wrong. Charmed by her new toy pony, Katie accepted the explanation and Ty sighed out of relief and a bit of pride as he had escaped the close call with a satisfying performance.

"Great, you almost ruined it for her", Amy scolded in a playful manner and then giggled a little. Ty laughed too and leaned his forehead against Amy's blonde hair.

Meanwhile, George had unwrapped a big white box and was now wondering what was inside it. She placed it on the couch and opened the lid, then seeing a beautiful white cowboy hat.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" Georgie said, immediately putting it on her head. "I love it! Thanks, Secret Santa!" she looked around, wondering who had given her this amazing hat.

Amy was pleased to see her niece's happiness. Georgie's smile had been absent for a while, and since her parents were going through a separation, this Christmas could very well be their last one together. If Amy was in any way able to bring Georgie happiness through her passion of riding horses and looking the part, then the hat had been worth every penny she had spent on it.

"That looks really good on you", Lisa commented, making Georgie wonder if Lisa had been her Secret Santa. The girl was still smiling from ear to ear, when Lou decided it was time for Lisa to have her present.

"Okay, let's see", Lisa received an envelope from Lou and was unknowingly dealing with her own Secret Santa. Lou really hoped that she had bought her the kind of gift Lisa would appreciate, since as one of the wealthiest woman of Hudson she had pretty much everything she could need.

Lisa opened the envelope and pulled out a pair of tickets to theater to see a play that had been highly acclaimed.

"I've been meaning to see this!" she exclaimed, bringing her eyes to Jack, hoping the second ticket would be enough to convince him to come along. Jack had always been very hesitant in participating to these types of events, even the polo club felt "too fancy" to him, so Lisa had sneaking suspicion he'd find a way to decline.

Jack noticed the suggestive look on Lisa's face and wondered how to turn down the woman as gently as he could. To him theater sounded like a perfectly good way to put himself into a sleep.

"I, uh…" Jack stumbled with his words.

"If he doesn't go, I will!" Jack smiled as he had been saved by the bell by Lou. "I hear that's amazing!" she continued.

"Okay, you're on!" Lisa said, laughing, and for once feeling relieved that she didn't have to convince (or force) Jack to do something that he didn't want to do. No matter the company, Lisa would still be able to see this play and even if she would have loved to share it with Jack, she didn't mind Lou's offer either. They both loved culture and having intellectual conversations about the themes and metaphors, while simultaneously having some quality step-grandmother-granddaughter bonding time.

"Time for the next one", Peter decided. "How about… Jack?" he suggested.

"Well, that is fine by me", Jack said as Peter handed him the small present. He didn't spend time putting up a show of wondering what it was, but went straight to unwrapping it. When Jack opened the box and pulled out a gorgeous leather belt, Lisa immediately took notice how similar it was to the ones he already had.

"Well, whoever got you that one really knows your taste", Lisa had to give it to his Secret Santa.

"I know. Who better to know me than me", Jack said and smiled.

"Wait a minute…" Lou stopped him. "You got yourself for Secret Santa?"

"I did indeed", Jack confirmed. Half of the family laughed, but Lisa and Lou sighed in confusion.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lisa asked.

"Why would I? At least I know I would get exactly the kind of present I would want", Jack said and made his wife hum and slap him gently on the chest.

"Typical…" Lisa commented apologetically. Lou shook her head a little, but eventually found the whole twist of events amusing.

"Okay, moving on", Lou decided. "Next up… Dad."