Mike just finished wrapping the last of Gabs' Christmas presents when he heard the door to the hotel room open. Ottawa was covered in snow outside his window.

"I can't get her to eat, Harvey. It's crazy. The girl usually eats anything I put in front of her, and now? Nothing. It's been two days and she won't talk to me. Ever since I picked her up from daycare." David let out a frustrated groan from the living area in the suite. "She won't even talk to me. What if it's serious?"

Mike came to the doorway to find David hanging uselessly over the back of the couch. He head was buried in the back pillow.

Harvey patted his brother's back. "If it helps, she's probably been sneaking food while you aren't looking."

"That doesn't help."

Mike shook his head. "She'll talk when she is ready to talk. I'm sure whatever's got her down won't keep her there when she sees the boat load of presents she got from Santa in the morning."

David straightened, stretching his back with a sigh. "Probably. I hope she's not sick again. She hasn't had a fever but she had those really bad ear infections back in October. If it's that McCormick kid again I might kill him. That kid hasn't been a problem since August but—" The door opened again with Alisa coming in. Gabrielle was quiet in her mother's arms, a small frown on her face and looking disinterested. That was new. In the six or so months since she became his niece the kid was only not smiling when she fell or that one time she was picked on.

Mike hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving though and this kid was completely different. "Hey kiddo." He approached cautiously.

"Hi, Uncle Mickey." She said it so softly he would have missed it if the hotel room hadn't gone silent.

"My poor big girl is bummed? So close to Christmas?"

At 'Christmas' Mike saw Gabrielle's eyes swell up with tears and she reached out for him. Mike took her from her mom. "It's okay, Gabs. I got you."

Alisa watched him, looking stunned. She and David exchanged a look of concern. "Is this progress?" the little girl's mother asked.

David grabbed Harvey and Alisa and began pushing them out of the room. "I've got an idea! Everyone but Mike out. We'll be in Grammy's room if you need us!"

The door slammed shut behind them and Mike stared at it in horror. "Really? Are you serious right now?" But just then Gabrielle began to cry softly into his shoulder. "Baby girl, it's okay. You take all the time you need, alright?"

Seriously, though? They hadn't been together for ten minutes. Mike sighed and sat on the couch in the common area of the hotel room with Gabrielle in his lap. He helped her out of her puffy winter coat and boots, and she cuddled in Mike's shoulder. They sat there for an hour or so, just holding on. Slowly, Gabrielle's tears subsided and she eventually sat up on her own and moved off Mike's lap into the seat next to him.

After a few minutes, Mike smiled down at her with a sigh. "That was quite the hello, munchkin." She didn't respond, instead she picked at a thread in the couch. "You know my favorite part about this hotel? It looks like a castle. Makes me feel like we're in a fairytale."

Her tiny fingers traced the antique pattern in the threads, all her concentration focused on the threads.

"And every good fairytale needs a leading lady. Would you like to be the heroine of this one?"

After a moment, she nodded.

"And the good girls in stories tell the truth when it matters, right?"

She nodded again, blonde hair bouncing.

"So why the waterworks, milady?"

Gabrielle looked up at Mike, puffy red eyes sad and lost. "Santa isn't real."

Mike's eyes went wide.

No.

No.

And no.

This was not his job. This was not the thing Mike thought it would be. "What do you mean?"

"I heard the big kids talking about it. They said that Santa isn't real. The presents are put under the tree by mommy's and daddy's. He's not—" She looked back down, mumbling to the threads in the cushion. "He's not real. Why would Mommy and Daddy say he was real if he wasn't real?"

"Awe, Gabs." Mike got on the floor to kneel in front of her. "You are too young to have the magic ruined already."

"Why would they lie?"

Mike sighed and cupped her head in his hands. "Santa is supposed to be… an unbiased mediator… do you know what that is?" Gabrielle's blank stare said it all. "Santa is fun. He's a game. If you're good all year, he gives you presents. If you aren't he leave you coal."

Gabrielle's face scrunched up. "He's a fib."

"Let me tell you the real magic of Christmas. Christmas is a time when all your family and friends get together without any excuses—no work, or school, or anything. They buy you things they know you want, because it will make you happy and you've been so good this year. You really deserve that happiness. They say it's Santa because they don't want the credit. How excited you get this time of year is enough… do you understand?"

He could tell she was trying at least. "… So, they lied because they love me?"

Mike nodded. "Yes. It's a story grownups tell. The truth is hard after lying so long."

Gabrielle nodded. Mike wasn't sure it was because she understood or if it was simply for his benefit. If it was for him, then she grasped the concept better then he thought. "So Santa is a game of make believe. So we can have fun and stay up late to see him and leave him cookies."

Mike nodded. "Exactly."

Gabrielle nodded again, this time more certain. "Uncle Mickey, can you… can we not tell Mommy and Daddy?"

It was then that Mike realized that this moment was important. She was looking at him like whatever came out of his mouth would forever define their relationship. Before she had trusted him blindly, but this? This would be him earning it. Mike held out a pinky. She took it with her own smaller one and they shook it once.

It was then Mike saw their future. He saw her coming to him with secrets—ones she knew he would keep. He hadn't lied to her, hadn't treated her like a kid even though she was one. This was too important. Even if she didn't quite get it, she understood that. Most kids got another four or five years with Santa.

"You can tell them when you are ready, okay?" Gabrielle nodded. "How about we go say hi to Grammy? She is dying to see how big you've gotten since Thanksgiving."

Gabrielle grinned for the first time since she arrived. "I haven't grown that much," she protested. Mike stood and scooped her up. It was getting harder to carry her around. She was getting so big. He would carry her around while she let him. One day she'd outgrow Uncle Mikey. But it was not this day.