The sound of a wail jolted Carter Grayson from a dead sleep. His eyes snapped open and he rolled over to look at the clock beside the bed. Red numbers blinked back at him- 4:34 AM. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Next to him, Dana shifted in her sleep. "I've got him," she mumbled into the pillow.

Carter yawned. "No, my turn," he said. He swung his big frame out of bed and padded across the hall. Eighteen-month-old Troy was lying on his back in the crib, fists clenched, eyes squeezed shut in tears. "Hey, buddy," Carter whispered, reaching over the sides and picking him up. Troy squirmed and whimpered until he found a comfortable spot against his father's muscular chest. Carter patted him on the back. "Couldn't give Mommy and Daddy a few more hours, huh?" he asked his son. He looked outside. The sun wasn't even a thought. The Christmas lights that wound around the eaves of the house made the front yard glow red in the darkness. "Come on," he said.

He shifted Troy to the other shoulder and went into the living room, where the Christmas tree lights washed the room with a white glow. "Look, Troy," Carter gasped dramatically, "Santa ate the cookies!" He held Troy over the empty plate. His son wiggled at the word Santa and looked down. "Where'd the cookies go?" Carter asked Troy. Troy gave him a gap-toothed smile. "Santa's definitely been here," he continued. "Look at what else I see." He carefully sat down and held Troy in his lap and pulled out a wrapped box from under the tree. "Think Mommy will mind if we open one without her?" he asked. His son bounced in his lap, grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, let's go ahead," he said. "We'll save ones Santa got you," he decided. He found a box that was labeled FROM GRANDPA BILL and tugged it out from under the tree. He handed it to Troy and popped open one flap of wrapping paper so Troy could get a grip on it. He held the box as his son awkwardly tore at the wrapping, bouncing all the while. He knew Dana had gone shopping with her father and brother while Carter worked an overnight with the Arson Squad, so he didn't know what it was. It took a few minutes but Troy finally managed to tear the paper enough for Carter to help pull it the rest of the way off.

"Seriously?" Carter snorted as his son grasped the edges of a plastic box with an action figure inside. The action figure was him, in his red Lightspeed Rescue ranger uniform.

"You just couldn't wait, huh?" Dana's sleepy voice said from the doorway. She was leaning against it in her purple pajama pants and tank top. She pushed off the door frame and sat down next to them on the floor.

Carter shrugged. "Hey, I got him to stop crying, didn't I?" he countered. "A Power Ranger action figure?" he asked his wife. "Seriously?" He held up his son's hands. Troy had a firm grip on the sides of the packaging and was still bouncing excitedly.

"It was Dad's idea," Dana told him. "It started out just you, to be funny, but then it sort of evolved. He's got the whole set of us under the tree."

Carter set Troy on the floor. Their son sat upright and bounced enthusiastically in his red footie pajamas, shaking the figurine in his hands. "Da," he was saying, "Da da da."

Carter raised an eyebrow. "You think he knows?" he teased Dana.

Dana laughed. "Not yet," she told him. "But someday. Someday he'll get to hear all about his famous family."

Carter picked up Troy under the arms and plopped him in his mother's lap."And then he'll never hear the end of it!" He looked under the tree. "We did get him more than just Power Ranger stuff for Christmas, right?"

"Joel got him a Sky Cowboy hat to match his cousin Anton's," Dana replied. "I tried to talk him out of it."

"That'd be a Christmas miracle," Carter muttered.

"But um….just from what I know of what the others got him…" Dana bit her lip. "It's probably going to be more of a red Christmas than a blue one around here."

"He's going to hate the color red when he gets older," Carter shook his head. "Maybe he'll outgrow it like Mommy outgrew pink." He blew raspberries on Troy's stomach and his son kicked out, narrowly missing his nose.

"Let's hope so," Dana greed. "Because his Daddy's got more red than Santa Claus in his closet!" she said while tickling Troy behind the ear. Troy squeezed his head close to his shoulder to try to get her to stop.

"Wed," Troy announced. "Wed wed wed wed."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "Red?" she clarified, looking over the top of her son's head at her husband. "Seriously? That's what he's going with for first word choice?" She sighed. "I was hoping for 'Mama.'"

"Now that'd be a Christmas miracle," Carter countered, and Dana smacked him in the arm.