A/N: Chuck and Sarah's youngest daughter, Kathryn, age eight, has her own challenge, or rather is finding other kids at school to be a challenge at this time of year.

Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter. The two grannies were popular.

MyNameIsJeffNImLost again beta'd for me. He didn't have to correct so much this time. However, if you find any mistakes, they are all mine.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or the lyrics I have used, but, as always, recommend listening to the song or watching it on YouTube, as well as watching the show.

After You, Christmess
Kathryn

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the Virgin Birth
I remember one Christmas Morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas Tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a Silent Night
They told me a fairy story
'Till I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in Father Christmas
And I looked to the Sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first Light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your Heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
Hallelujah, Noel, be it Heaven or hell
The Christmas we get we deserve

"I Believe in Father Christmas"
Greg Lake

= ! = = =

Becky Stranks is stupid. So are all the boys who sit at the back of the class.

Everyone knows Santa Claus exists. Not the pretend ones that stand outside or inside stores, but the real one IS real.

Somehow, though, this doubt seems to be catching. Becky had been a believer until last week, when her brother convinced her that he didn't exist. Is it always the boys that do that? Liars and cheats, all of them. Well, apart from her little brother, Liam. He isn't like that. He's nice. Is that because he's too young to know how to lie?

Kathryn is lucky to only have sisters older than her, then. They don't lie. Well, not about things like this. Sometimes Kathryn's not sure about Gwen's stories, what she says she and her friends get up to; they all seem, what's the phrase, farfetched. Who would even want to hang down holding onto a rope, while sliding down another rope with nothing below for twenty feet? That has to be a lie.

Maire wouldn't lie, though. Gwen calls her goody-two-shoes. That is supposed to mean she never does anything wrong. Kathryn doesn't know why it means that. Maire has lots of shoes, lots more than two, but she is good, though.

Maire is everything Kathryn wants to be when she gets old. Old like Maire. She's tall, oh, so tall. Not as tall as Mommy, but no one is as tall as Mommy. Apart from Aunty Carina, and daddy, Uncle Devon and Uncle John, but they're men, so they don't count. Maire is much taller than all her friends. She is so sporty and very clever, as well. Kathryn is sure she could do anything. And she Is beautiful, everyone says so. Long blonde hair, just like Mommy's. In fact, Kathryn is sure Mommy would have looked just like Maire if she had been allowed to. Her dad must have deliberately made her look like that picture daddy had shown them. Thankfully, Daddy didn't do things like that to any of them.

Kathryn has definitely seen Santa and his sleigh and reindeer; she saw them all two years ago. She had gone to bed and then woken and looked out the window. Santa was flying towards their house. She didn't see or hear him when he got there, though. She must've fallen asleep again. Becky said she must have dreamed it, when she told her friend, her ex-friend, last week, but that couldn't have been true.

This Christmas, she is going to stay up and catch him when he comes into the house, when he puts all the presents under the tree. She knows she isn't supposed to, but this is important. She needs proof that he exists.

Becky said that the person coming in with the presents is either her mommy or daddy. That couldn't be true. Her daddy is too tall and too thin to be Santa. Her mommy is too and she's a woman. Kathryn would recognize her mommy's smell. She doesn't know what it is that her mommy wears, but she always smells wonderful. Anyway, although Mommy is wonderful, and she is very good at disguises, even she couldn't pretend to be a big, fat, jolly man with a beard!

Her daddy isn't even home from his trip to Japan and Mommy is worried he might not be back before Christmas. So, that is another reason Santa Claus couldn't be him. Daddy is a lot of fun, and could go, "Ho, ho, ho!", but even if he did get home in time, he is still too tall.

She has just listened to what she had always thought was a lovely Christmas song. "I Believe in Father Christmas" sounded so Christmasy, but now she realized the words are all wrong; they are not what she had thought. She'd really listened to them carefully, this time. The words are not full of happy thoughts about Santa, or Father Christmas as the man sings. Her mommy had told her that the singer is British and they often called him that, rather than Santa Claus.

This song seemed to be saying the opposite of what was in the title, that Father Christmas didn't exist, that he was just a man in a disguise, like Becky had said. Kathryn must not tell Becky about that song!

Of course, Kathryn knows that even if he doesn't exist, which he really does, Christmas would still be wonderful. It is a time for everyone to be with their families. 'Peace on Earth' was the phrase she had heard in that song, amongst all the other confusing messages. Peace on Earth sounds good, though. And everyone getting what they deserved. She knows Santa will bring what they deserve, even if that singer didn't believe it.

Anyway, she will prepare to catch Santa when he does arrive on Christmas Eve, so she can prove he does exist. She really will.

A/N: Will Kathryn catch him on the night of Christmas Eve?

The song here, "I Believe in Father Christmas" reached #2 in the UK charts when released in 1975, beaten by 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen. It was released in the US too, but didn't do so well. It's a great song, delivered really well, full of happy Christmas feel and sounds. Just the lyrics don't match that. I have included all of the lyrics this time.

Next chapter will be about Gwen Bartowski, the middle sister. She's eleven-years-old.

I am always keen to hear your thoughts on what I write, so a review of this chapter would be great.