David sighed as he walked into the apartment. He was glad the day was over. He knew he still had homework to do, but it was a relief to be home, at least.

Niles looked at his son and immediately knew something was wrong. David was usually excited. He'd normally come home full of enthusiasm, telling his parents about what he'd learned that day. "What's wrong?"

Another sigh escaped as David sat down on the fainting couch beside his father, setting his backpack on the floor. "My teacher says we should do a Secret Santa for the holidays. We all picked somebody, and we have to give the person a gift."

Niles nodded. He was familiar with the Secret Santa concept. "After dinner, I'll take you out to the store to pick up a toy. How much are you allowed to spend?"

"That's the thing," David said, handing his father the sheet the teacher handed out. "We're not supposed to spend any money."

"OK, so what's the problem?" Niles asked.

"How can I give a gift to someone without spending money? Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

"Not always. A gift doesn't have to be expensive, if it comes from the heart."

"But you always spend a fortune on Mom." Every Christmas, birthday, and anniversary led to his father visit a local jewelry store. Daphne owned enough earrings for several lifetimes.

"You're right, I do," Niles said. "But it's not because I have to. I do it because I want to. I love your mom, and I want her to know."

"Yeah, but why? Aren't there other things you could spend money on?"

Niles couldn't help feeling a bit frustrated. It was clear what David's implication was. Why wasn't money being spent on him instead? After a moment, he was able to speak calmly. "For a long time, I didn't really show your mom how I felt about her. It's a very complicated story, and you're probably too young to hear about it now, but take my word for it. I'm just making up for lost time."

Just then, Daphne came in from the kitchen. "Oh, David. I didn't hear you come in. How was school?"

"OK." He shrugged. "I was just telling Dad about our Secret Santa. We're not supposed to spend money."

"Yes, and I was just explaining to David that a gift doesn't have to cost a lot to be meaningful."

"Your dad's right," Daphne said. "When I was growing up in Manchester, I had nine brothers. And me dad wasn't always the best provider. Gifts were hard to come by."

"Oh." David didn't know that. His mom never talked much about her family or her life before meeting his father.

"That's why I'm so grateful to your dad. He not only works hard so that we have more than enough, he's also a wonderful father. Isn't he?" She slipped her hand in Niles', silently telling him everything she couldn't say in front of David.

"Yeah," David agreed. He was beginning to see their point. "But what am I going to do about a gift?"

"Well," Niles said, looking at the sheet. "According to this, you've picked a girl named Kate. What does she like to do?"

David shrugged. "I dunno. I think she reads a lot."

"You have lots of books you haven't looked at in years," Daphne pointed out. "Maybe you could part with a couple."

"Yeah, but she probably wouldn't want to read any of my books. I bet she likes to read about girl stuff!"

Right, Daphne thought. He's still at that stage. The were was an undeniable relief in that; she was in no hurry for her son to grow up. But she still had to deal with the matter at hand. "You could write her a story. That way she'd know you didn't cheat by buying something."

It took a moment for David to digest the idea, but he slowly nodded. That wasn't the worst suggestion.

One week later, David brought his completed story to school. It was simple. He knew he couldn't write about comic books or any of the subjects he was interested in, so he'd chosen a much tamer subject. A tale about talking forest animals who learned the value of cooperation. It hadn't been easy to come up the premise, but he was pleased with the outcome.

When it came time to exchange their gifts, David slowly walked over to Kate's desk to hand over the story. She was clearly touched by what he'd done. Her shy smile made David wonder briefly if this was anything close to what his father had felt when he first saw his mother.

He tried to put the crazy thought out of his mind as he returned to his seat. He was surprised to see what was now on top of his desk. It was a comic, drawn by one of his closest friends. He looked it over, pleased with both the story and the illustrations. David himself was the superhero, bursting into the classroom, tying up the teacher in order to prevent homework from being assigned. All his classmates regarded him as a hero. He found he liked that feeling. This is pretty cool, he thought. Maybe Dad was right after all. Maybe gifts aren't just about money.

The End