A/N 1: So this is a different take on the Lake Freeze scene from The Christmas Raccoons. I hope you enjoy it.
A/N 2: A big thank you to lkcrm94 for pointing out my misspelling of Schaeffer. It has been fixed.
It wasn't supposed to end like this, he thought. Bert looked around him, watching as the moonlight danced off the fresh snow. He sat down, wrapping his tail around him for warmth.
They were homeless. Their tree had been taken by two kids and a dog, along with their Christmas stockings. Having no home made the victory against Cyril and his son seem pointless.
He wiped a tear from his eye, shivering. "No home. No stockings. This is the worst Christmas ever."
"Bert?"
He looked up. "Oh, uh hey Ralph."
"Bert, where have you been? Melissa and I were worried about you."
"Just…here. Watching the snow."
Ralph sat down next to him. "What's wrong Bert? It isn't like you to be this quiet."
"I dunno." He brought his knees up to his chest, staring across the frozen lake. "Ralph? Will we ever, you know, have a home again?" He swallowed.
"Of course we will Bert. Look around; there are still plenty of trees even though Mr. Sneer cut a lot of them down."
"Yeah…but they're not our tree. Our home."
Ralph sighed, wrapping an arm around Bert's shoulders. "I don't know Bert. But…we'll get through it. It's not so bad. I mean—"
"There you are!" Melissa came running down a nearby snow bank. "Look what I found!" She waved something in the air.
"Our stockings!" Bert jumped up, grabbing his stocking and clutching it to his chest.
"Melissa, where did you find them?" Ralph asked, taking his stocking from her.
"Schaeffer found them! I was sitting in the snow thinking about going to look for you guys when he bounded out of the house. His kids had them all along!"
Bert held the stocking to his nose, breathing deeply. "It-it smells like home!"
Ralph smiled. "See Bert? You don't need a physical place to have a home."
"That's right Bert," Melissa added. "We're a family. As long as we have each other, we're always home. It doesn't matter where we live."
"Yeah…" his eyes saddened. "It would be nice to have a home though."
"Yes, it would," Melissa sighed sadly.
Ralph looked between his wife and Bert. The snow had started to fall again. "Well, we better find some place to stay for the night. Looks like a storm might be brewing. "
"But Ralph, where will we go?" Melissa asked.
He forced a smile. "We'll go back to Schaeffer's. It's not much, but at least we have a friend there. Maybe we can curl up on the porch." He pulled them close. "Come on guys, things will look better in the morning."
"You're right Ralph." Melissa took her husband's hand, looking over her shoulder. "Come on Bert. We need to get going before the storm really hits."
Bert walked behind his friends, hugging his stocking. Well, at least it's a piece of home.