It was wintertime in the village. The month of December brought snow and frost throughout. Everyone in the village was working hard preparing for the Christmas holidays. Even Geppetto was busier than ever. The Christmas season was always his busiest time when it came to customers because of the children whose families but them all sorts of new toys as presents. Fredrico managed to generously help out during the holiday rush as he knew Pinocchio also needed extra care too. Geppetto would normally run the shop while Fredrico took care of Pinocchio and played with him, other times Geppetto needed to handle Pinocchio himself and allowed Fredrico to take over on the sales and transactions. Even during his busiest time of year, he wanted to be able to spend his first Christmas with his son, as he felt no father should ever miss such as special occasion.


One night, Geppetto woke up to hear Pinocchio whimpering in his room. It was a rather cold night, so he had to check on Pinocchio to make sure he didn't get sick or catch a cold. When he got into Pinocchio's room, he saw the boy whining and fussing as if something was wrong. Pinocchio was shaking in his bed sheets. Geppetto quickly figured out why. The fireplace in the room had gone out and the firewood was all used up.

He walked over the crib and placed his hand on Pinocchio's forehead and felt a chill running through the boy. Pinocchio, still grumbling and shaking, moved his head slightly to the side to look at his father.

"Are you feeling cold, son?" Geppetto asked quietly. Pinocchio was so chilly; he couldn't properly answer. All he could do was nod.

"Come on, I can't have you getting sick. You mustn't catch a cold."

He grabbed a small blanket, placed it around the boy and picked him up out of the crib. Geppetto held him close to his chest as Pinocchio cuddled himself close to him.

"Dada," Pinocchio muttered with a shiver. "Dada. C-cold."

"Alright. Let's get downstairs and sit by the fire. That'll help you get warm. I'll keep you safe."

Geppetto took him to the living room and sat in his chair holding Pinocchio close to him, babbling as he smiled.

"Dada," Pinocchio whispered happily. "Dada."

Geppetto looked down and rubbed his boy's head.

"Yes, dada's here. Dada's got you, Pinocchio" Geppetto happily replied.

"Mama?" The boy suddenly unexpectedly asked.

"What did you say?" Geppetto asked puzzled.

"Mama," answered Pinocchio.

"No. No, Pinocchio. Mama's not here," Geppetto told him. "Just me. Just dada."

"Dada," Pinocchio happily exclaimed nuzzling his head against Geppetto's chest.

They suddenly heard a soft meow. It was Figaro.

"Oh, Figaro. Are you cold too? Come lay on my lap."

Figaro ran over to them and jumped into Geppetto's arm.

Geppetto scratched behind Figaro's ears making the small kitten smile with a sweet meow, but Figaro looked up at Pinocchio.

"No, Figaro. There's no room for you both, tonight. Pinocchio needs to be kept warm tonight."

"Cwickee?" the boy suddenly mumbled. "Where Cwickee?"

Geppetto realized what he trying to say. They had left his cricket toy in the crib. Pinocchio started to whine.

"I want Cwickee!"

"alright, Pinocchio. alright." Geppetto said as he bundled up Pinocchio in the blanket to keep him safe and placed him down on the chair. Then he turned to Figaro.

"Now you stay right here and look after him, Figaro. I've got to get his toy. I'll be right back."

Pinocchio's whine started to turn to weeping. But Figaro looked at the boy and walked over to him. Wanting to calm the boy down, he gave him a little lick on the nose and nuzzled his chin. Pinocchio placed his arms around the little black cat and with his small hands, petted him gently.

"FeegWo."

Figaro let out a purr of happiness.

"Wuv FeegWo."

A moment later, Geppetto walked in the room. He picked up Pinocchio, unbundled the blanket and held him in his left arm.

"Here you go, son. Dada's got Cwickee for you."

Geppetto held out his right harm to hand the toy to his son.

"Cwickee!" Pinocchio exclaimed happily, grabbed his toy and hugged it tightly.

Geppetto chuckled.

"Alright, son. Let's sit down and have some hot cocoa together. I've got yours in your bottle for you."

So Geppetto placed Pinocchio in his lap and gave him the bottle. This was Pinocchio's first drink of hot chocolate, so Geppetto had to hold the bottle to make sure Pinocchio didn't gulp it down all at once. Thankfully he did let it cool for a while, before giving it to him. As Pinocchio held the bottle, Geppetto gave him a little tickle on the chin making him giggle and smile, watching as a bit of the cocoa dribbled down his lips. After Pinocchio finished the drink, Geppetto wiped his chin, picked him up and patted him on the back.

"Feel better now, Pinocchio?" he asked happily.

Pinocchio nodded with a happy smile then he babbled with a giggle.

"Oh good," Geppetto said as he drank the last of his hot chocolate.

"It's too cold in your room to replace your firewood now. We'll have to wait until morning. You can sleep with Dada tonight."

Geppetto walked over to the boy and picked him up with his cricket still in his hand.

"Blankie!" Pinocchio squealed. "Blankie."

"Oh, of course. Your blankie. We can't leave that."

Geppetto picked up the small blanket and gave it to Pinocchio. He then carried Pinocchio to his room with him and held the boy tightly in his arm and Pinocchio cuddled his blankie and his cricket close to him snuggling himself against his father as he cuddled himself tightly and closed his eyes.

As Pinocchio snoozed away, babbling in his sleep, Geppetto whispered to him.

"Just think, Pinocchio. It'll be Christmas day soon. Our first Christmas together. The very thought of it brings warmth to my heart that I will get to spend my first Christmas with you."

Geppetto closed his eyes and fell asleep as Figaro jumped into the bed and placed himself close to both Geppetto and Pinocchio.


Two weeks later, it was Christmas eve. Geppetto finished with the last of his customers for the day and decided to close early to spend the rest of the day with Pinocchio.

As Pinocchio played on the living room floor with his blankie and his Cricket, while Geppetto closed the door and placed the closed sign on the door, he noticed a glowing candle and went to observe it and thought, "Ooooh, nice!" He placed two of his fingers in between the flame before bringing them back. Geppetto walked over when Pinocchio cried out holding the candle, "Wook. Pwetty!"

Geppetto saw what has happening and yelled out, "Oh, Help!" He picked up Pinocchio but dropped the candle onto the rug, setting it a flame. The old man panicked running around!

"W-w-where's the bucket?!"

Figaro couldn't get out of the way, and Geppetto accidentally stepped on his tail making him yelp in pain!

"Water! I need water! Help! Oh!" He put Pinocchio down, placed Cleo in a small glass of water, and threw the water out of her whole fishbowl, extinguishing the flames. He quickly refilled the fishbowl and placed Cleo back inside. Geppetto let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close."

Pinocchio giggled and laughed at the commotion he accidentally caused until Geppetto stared at him with a frown. He stopped laughing and suddenly felt a sudden flicker of fear. Nevertheless, Geppetto couldn't stay mad at Pinocchio. He was just a baby after all.

He picked Pinocchio up and told him, "Pinocchio, don't you ever play with fire again! You could have been seriously hurt. I know you're just a baby, but don't ever play around with candles. That is dangerous!"

Pinocchio lips started to tremble. He was about to cry because he had gotten in trouble. But Geppetto quickly hugged him so that he wouldn't cry.

"It's alright. It was an accident. Just don't play with fire again. Now come along, it's story time." So Geppetto took Pinocchio to his room upstairs and sat down near Pinocchio's crib placing the child in lap and read to him "The Night Before Christmas".

"And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight," Geppetto read finishing the story. "Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night."

Pinocchio clapped happily as Geppetto went to get himself a warm coat and winter hat and one for Pinocchio too.

"Come on, son. We don't want to be late for the gathering at the town Christmas tree."

Geppetto placed his son around his arms and carried him to the town square, where carolers gathered to sing Christmas carols around the town Christmas tree. Everyone turned up for the occasion, Including Beatrice, Fredrico and Martina.

"Hi, Pinocchio," called Martina.

Pinocchio smiled and waved at the girl. Fredrico hugged his friend and Geppetto shared the same thing with Beatrice.

Geppetto told them about the living room rug fiasco with the candle earlier. Martina snickered and found it funny.

"It's been quite a year for you, hasn't it?" asked Beatrice. "Must have been hard for you without Francesca."

"Yes, I believe it has," replied Geppetto. "But at least nothing this year has brought me any more joy and happiness than Pinocchio has."

Geppetto turned to Pinocchio and kissed his forehead.

"He's been quite a challenge, but I still love him. I can't believe in just two months; he'll be a year old."

"And Martina turns eight shortly after," added Fredrico. "Which reminds me, next summer, we've decided that Martina will be helping out with you. So that you can have extra help running the shop while you take care of Pinocchio. But just for the summer."

"Well, that's glad to hear," Geppetto said with a warm smile. "Even if she's only allowed to work for me for the summer, she's still welcome to visit anytime and play with Pinocchio."

"Well, at least he won't be lonely whenever I do," the little girl said happily.

Before long, everyone gathered to watch the nighttime fireworks around the Christmas tree. Pinocchio stared in amazement as the sky was lit with color after color of bright lights and colorful explosions

After the fireworks everyone went home. But Pinocchio was crying, he had dropped his cricket toy. A man walked up to them with it.

"Excuse me, Mr. Geppetto. I think your son dropped this."

Geppetto grabbed it and gave it back to Pinocchio who stopped crying.

"Thank you, sir. And Merry Christmas to you and your family."

"Merry Christmas to you and your boy as well, sir. Have a good night."

As Geppetto carried Pinocchio home, he looked through the windows of the other houses and watched the other families gather around with each other. Each one he looked at made him shed a tear for Francesca. Although he had started coping better with her tragic death, he still missed her.

Geppetto and Pinocchio were very tired when they got home. Pinocchio was already asleep with his head on his father's shoulder.

"Did you have fun, my little wooden head? Well, I certainly enjoyed spending every minute with you out there. Now, let's go to bed by our nice cozy fires and tomorrow morning we'll be able to open presents."

So Geppetto changed Pinocchio into his sleep garments and placed him in the crib, covering him up nice and tightly to give him extra warmth. Then he rubbed his head gently and walked away.

As Geppetto readied himself for sleep, something came to his mind.

"Why did Pinocchio say Mama the other night?" he asked himself. "I've never heard him say that before. He couldn't possibly remember Francesca. He was only a few minutes old."

Geppetto was puzzled, but he decided not to let it bother him. All that mattered was he was enjoying his first Christmas with Pinocchio.


The next morning it was Christmas day. Pinocchio was still asleep when Geppetto went over to his crib and looked in smiling. He gave the boy a small poke and then a slight nudge.

"Wakey-wakey, little wooden head. It's Christmas morning."

Pinocchio yawned and rubbed his eyes before he opened them to see his father looking as him.

"Good morning, Pinocchio," he said. "It's our first Christmas day together. It's just us and Figaro and Cleo. Come on. Let's go open presents."

With a smile and a giggle, Pinocchio lifted his arms to Geppetto asking to be picked up.

"Up. up," the boy muttered.

"Oh, you want uppie. alright. let's go." Geppetto picked up his son and carried him downstairs as Figaro followed.

"Look, Pinocchio. a little something for each of us is under that tree. That one in the middle is for you. I think you should open it."

Pinocchio crawled over to the gift wrapped in the paper and placed his hand on it, as Geppetto walked over to it.

"hehehe. I think you might want to let me help you open it. Would you like that?"

Pinocchio nodded yes. Geppetto unwrapped the present and presented a brown stuffed bear to the boy. Pinocchio's face lit up with joy at the sight of the teddy bear. Geppetto had a smile on his own face too.

"This teddy bear belonged to me when I was young," the old man said. "And now it's yours, Pinocchio. I held on to it knowing one day I could have a child of my own to pass it onto.

"Teddy mine?" the baby boy squeaked.

"Yes. It's yours, son. Take it."

Baby Pinocchio reached out grabbed the bear and hugged it tightly.

"Merry Christmas, Pinocchio," Geppetto muttered with tears of joy.

The young infant stood up and walked over to his father and gave him a hug. Geppetto warmly returned the embrace. Though he missed Francesca still, there was nothing he felt happier about than spending Christmas with his infant son for the first time. He knew in his heart though, that she would still be happy to see him trying so hard to carry on without her. That the last 10 months of trial and error, he had done all he could to be the father she would have wanted him to be, and that he taken good care of Pinocchio in that time.

The next gift they opened was a special new food bowl for Figaro. Figaro smiled at this new bowl of his. Ever since Geppetto adopted him from the streets, he was grateful for all the love Geppetto and Pinocchio had given him. But this new bowl for his fish and cat food was probably the single greatest thing they had ever done for him. And best off all, hand carved by Geppetto himself.

"and let's not forget Cleo, my little mermaid."

Cleo blushed as she saw a shiny new miniature castle for her fish bowl. Geppetto held Pinocchio over the bowl as the child placed it in the bowl for her, she jumped out and gave Pinocchio a kiss on the cheek. Pinocchio blushed and giggled.

"Thank you for that, my little water baby." Geppetto said to Cleo.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Shouted Geppetto.

The door opened and Martina entered.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Geppetto. Merry Christmas, Pinocchio," she told both of them carrying a large box inside.

"Hello, Martina," said Geppetto.

"Hi!" squealed Pinocchio.

"Daddy and I made this for you. We thought you'd like it. You can use it to entertain Pinocchio sometimes."

Geppetto opened the box to reveal a wooden marionette puppet in the shape of a little boy.

"Why, Martina. It's wonderful. It looks just like Pinocchio. Well, almost does. It's beautiful. Thank you."

Geppetto was so touched by this generosity he hugged the little girl. Then Martina walked over and knelt to Pinocchio.

"And Merry first Christmas , Pinocchio. I hope you're enjoying your time with your daddy today, sweetie pie."

Pinocchio wrapped his arm around Martina.

"oh. He really likes you, Martina."

Martina couldn't help but hug him back.

"I gotta go. Mommy and daddy are waiting for me. Goodbye, and merry Christmas."

Pinocchio and Geppetto watched as she walked off and ran back home.


A warm smile fell on Geppetto's face as he turned back to the boy he was holding. As he sat down, Figaro jumped into his lap and Geppetto petted the little kitten. Pinocchio sat happily on his father's knee cuddling both his new teddy bear and his cricket as Geppetto held him close. Cleo from her fishbowl watched with a smile.

Geppetto not only had a son he cherished most and two wonderful pets, but even without Francesca, he had in the last 10 months managed to make quite a happy little family for himself with them all. And all he ever needed for Christmas was nothing more than them right there with him. And one thing was absolutely certain. The old man had never been happier.

But another special occasion was fast approaching soon. Within two more months would be Pinocchio's first birthday.