"It's Christmas Eve! It's finally Christmas Eve!"

The little tawny haired girl Freya bounced about excitedly with her bow bouncing in her hair with her leaps of joy. Like her words state, it is indeed Christmas Eve and naturally, she, her family and hundreds of others living among them are excited to spend the evening happy in each others' company.

And in Christmas Eve, a family dinner with guests is a traditional occurrence and the little girl's family is having just that - She could tell just by taking whiffs of her mother and uncle's cooking in the kitchen.

Galileo, Freya's bespectacled twin brother, rolled his eyes at his sister's boisterous hype from where he was readjusting the Christmas tree's tinsel. "Freya it's only four thirty, it's barely even evening and it's still bright outside. Technically, Christmas Eve hasn't started yet!"

Freya stopped in her tracks and frowned. "So? It's only two hours and thirty minutes left till then! So it still counts!" She twirled and with a yelp, accidentally fell back…

A teenager's arm swung out and quickly saved the little girl from her fall just as Galileo sighed in relief. Freya smiled at her eldest brother Odell who helped her to her feet with a chuckle. "Somebody's extra hyped for tonight," Commented the young teen. "But you know, Leo's got a point, Freya," Odell shrugged meekly. "It's still bright outside and besides, mom and dad said that the Christmas Eve celebration will begin when everyone's arrived in the evening!"

"Two hours and thirty minutes to go, Sis" Galileo intelligently quoted out with a raised finger and Odell nodded to show his agreement. The girl sunk in defeat and went to sit on the couch with a disappointed sigh. "But that'll take forever!" She muttered and laid back with her feet in the air…

From the kitchen, the children's mother wore a concerned look and beckoned for her husband who had just slipped the dinner's poultry into the oven. The man didn't take long to realize what's amiss from the gestures his wife gave and he went to hang his apron on the doorway, before going to his three children.

"Daddy!" Freya squeaked and she was hugging her father's leg in an instant. "Woah Freya, take it easy - you're extra jumpy today!" The man laughed from suddenly being surrounded by all three of his bundles of joy. Just as their mother had 'told' him, their two boys are taking it cool and naturally, deemed their little sister's hype as unnecessary.

"So I'm hearing you two are say that Christmas Eve isn't until later?" The man asked the boys who nodded.

"It's true dad, four-thirty is still away from evening, it's in the book!" He quoted out with Odell shrugging and rolling his eyes. "Which book did you get that from?" He murmured inaudibly. Freya pouted in disappointment and tugged at her father's shirt. "But it's still the day of Christmas Eve daddy!" She whined. "Leo's being a Scrooge!"

This made Galileo gasp and make a comeback. "Am not! I'm just stating the facts!"

Freya huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Which makes you like Scrooge because you're not excited for Christmas Eve!" She pointed out to which Galileo protested.

"Hey of course I'm excited for Christmas Eve!"

"You're not!"

"Am too!"

"You're not!"

"Am too!"

Odell steadily backed away and gave his dad a worried look. "Dad they're fighting again. What do we do?" He winced at his squabbling kid siblings. If there's anything he disliked from the two, it's them squabbling on a day like this and, hours away from their first big Christmas Eve dinner.

The children's father looked at him, the twins and back with a mused grin with a slight chuckle. "Don't worry Odell, I got this," He winked at the teen who returned his gaze on his siblings before stepping in between the younger children.

Freya and Galileo were now quiet with the latter sulking with offense at his sister for calling him that name. The man sighed. His children arguing on Christmas Eve is a big no. Hopefully he could fix them before the big evening. He reached to his chin in thought. Now what could he do…

His eyes widened as a certain memory and idea lit up in his mind: An idea that will hopefully make the kids forget their anger and perhaps, keep them and Odell busy on behalf of their mother and uncle who continued to work in the kitchen. A little ghost tale won't hurt...

"Freya, you do realize that Galileo isn't like Scrooge, right?"

The twins perked up with confused looks, Freya looking the most confused. "He's not? How?" She glanced at her brother who wore a questioning look and back at her father with a head tilt. "Scrooge is a man who's never excited for Christmas Eve, isn't he?" Her father held up a finger with a thoughtful look. "Ah not exactly, sweetheart. Yes you are right about him not excited for christmas," He paused before continuing. "But unlike Galileo, Scrooge is a horrid man who actually hated celebrating Christmas."

The little girl gasped in shock as did Galileo, the tension vanishing instantly. "But why would he hate Christmas?!" Freya exclaimed in pure horror. "That's just horrible!"

Her father sighed and nodded slowly. "It sure is, and everybody's miserable because of that," He tilted his head before smiling. "But that didn't last for very long as it turns out that even the coldest man like Scrooge can change and learn to love Christmas, just like all of us!"

The twins were silent as they took it in. "A greedy man changing to love Christmas? How is that possible?" Galileo questioned with a look of disbelief. Freya is just as doubtful and even Odell is rendered surprised from hearing such a thing.

The father noticed the looks of curiosity overcoming the once frustrated faces of the twins and he wore an inviting grin. "I tell you what, how about I tell you the story about Scrooge to pass the time?" He offered while glancing briefly at the clock on top of their chimney place. "Think of it as a pre-Christmas Eve story! Also it should help pass the time too so we don't get ourselves bored waiting. What do you say?"

He didn't get a proper reply as what happened next occurred in a split. Immediately, the twins are scrambling up for his lap once he's seated on the couch; Though unfortunately, there's only room for one so Freya was given her father's lap while Galileo was quick to sit between Odell and their father. The father gave an amused grin. "I'll take that as a yes then," He laughed and drawing his children close, begun the tale.

"It all began on one snowy Christmas Eve…"