Christine sat at the counter doing her Scholastic Magazine worksheet.
"Mommy, how come the reindeer in this week's magazine don't look like the ones in' Rudolph's Shiny New Year'?"
Brennan put down the carrot she was cutting, "Because the reindeer in the movie are cartoon reindeer. The reindeer in your magazine are real…The reindeer that Santa uses to pull his sleigh look just like the ones in your magazine."
"Oh. How come they didn't make the cartoon reindeer look like real ones?"
"I don't know. The cartoon reindeer look more like the deer we sometimes see in the woods behind our house."
"Yeah, maybe they made the reindeer look like that because they're kind of cute. Real reindeer aren't that cute."
"Maybe."
Christine went back to her worksheet and Brennan went back to chopping carrots.
"Mommy, how come they didn't take Rudolph's picture for the magazine?"
"Because Rudolph is so very, very special he stays in the stable most of the time resting to make sure he's ready for the Christmas Eve flight. Santa has a few reindeer to fill in if something happens to one of his eight reindeer. Santa doesn't have another reindeer with a red nose to fill in for Rudolph, so he just gets to stay in the stable."
"Oh. Mommy, what happens when Rudolph dies? How will Santa know where to if he doesn't have another red-nosed reindeer?"
"Rudolph is only 18 in Christmas reindeer years, so he'll be alive for a long time and able to guide Santa's sleigh."
"But what if Rudolph gets sick and can't fly one Christmas?"
"Then people will leave their Christmas trees and Christmas lights on like they did before Rudolph was born so Santa will know where to go."
"Oh. How old is Rudolph in people years?"
"He's 81 in people years…."
"That's old…"
"Yes, that's why Santa's reindeer's ages are calculated in Christmas reindeer years…"
"So, they can pull the sleigh longer?"
"Yes. Are you almost done with your homework?"
"Yep, I'm done…"
"Good. go put your things away and set the table."
"Okay." Christine put the worksheet in her folder and left the kitchen. Booth came in and pulled Brennan to him. "Thank you."
"Thank me for what?"
"For going along with Santa Claus, Reindeer, and Christmas. Also answering Christine's endless Christmas questions."
"You're welcome. I don't like lying to the children, but I make an exception for Christmas because the whole myth brings them so much joy. I enjoy giving them some of that joy."
Booth kissed Brennan, "I love that you enjoy giving the kids Christmas magic… how did you know how old Rudolph is and that his age is calculated in Christmas reindeer years?"
"Michael Vincent asked Angela, she googled it and told me incase one of ours asked…"
"Oh. Parker never asked who old Rudolph is, he just asked how reindeer fly…"
Brennan laughed, "What did you tell him?"
"I told him Santa gave them special food that made them fly if they ate a lot of it."
"And he believed you?"
"Yes, he was only three…" Brennan laughed and kissed Booth.
A/N: Scholastic Magazine is what used to be Weekly Reader back in the day. Also, if you google, 'how old is Rudolph' you find out that he really is 18 in Christmas reindeer years and that equates to 81 in human years…